Of Merse and Mud

RSPB Mersehead Blog 11^th - 17^th February 2023

It’s hard not to mention the onset of spring at the moment, with the sight of snowdrops peeking up from the ground and the sound of birds singing filling the air. In particular it has been lovely to hear the musical notes of the Skylarks while out in the fields at Mersehead this week as they show off their distinctive flight pattern.

While maybe less musical than the songbirds, of course the honking of the Barnacle Geese can always be heard as they continue to be seen in good numbers around the reserve with 5409 geese recorded in this weeks count.

A skylark in flight. Photo credit C. Farrell

Another familiar sight are the distinctive yellow catkins dangling gently from the branches of hazel. Look a little bit closer and you’ll spot the tiny female flowers too – they might be inconspicuous till you notice them, but once you do the delicate, bright red styles are hard to miss. A wind-pollinated plant, the male catkins mature over the autumn and winter till they open up at this time of the year to release pollen which is blown onto female flowers. 

A sign that spring is coming - the conspicuous male catkins and tiny red female flowers of hazel. Photo credit S. Doyle

On Tuesday there was a beach clean with the help of the weekly volunteers. While the continuous amount of rubbish washed up is always sobering, it was nice to be down on the beach with the calls of curlew and redshank in the background. The find of the day was a Darth Vadar helmet!

Beach clean. Photo credit P. Radford

An interesting find from the beach clean on Tuesday! Photo credit S. Doyle

Habitat management work for the Natterjack Toads has been a focus recently as it won’t be long before they start emerging from their hibernation and head for the breeding pools. This week work has included strimming alongside one of the ditches to create a short sward. The other side of the ditch had previously been reprofiled to help create a gently sloping bank to create a shallow area as the ditch fills up with water. All this will hopefully benefit the natterjacks as they breed in shallow, warm pools that are relatively free of vegetation, and short sward is their ideal foraging habitat.

Strimming to create a short sward for the benefit of natterjack toads, with the reprofiled bank visible on the opposite side. Photo credit P. Radford 

Another task this week was walking the livestock fenceline at Kirkonnell Merse, checking for winter damage and any repairs needed. It will then be ready for the cattle which will be out grazing the merse from April. The grazing will help to keep the merse in a favourable condition with a mosaic of sward heights providing habitat for breeding, passage and wintering birds. Fortunately, mainly just minor issues were found, and the biggest challenge was crossing some of the creeks - where two residential volunteers managed to get slightly stuck and very muddy!    

Walking the fence line at Kirkonnell Merse. Photo credit S. Doyle

All in all, while working on a nature reserve will always involve a bit of mud, with getting mud splattered from strimming by the natterjack toad ditch, getting stuck in the mud at Kirkonnell Merse as well as digging to repair a leak in a water pipe in one of the fields, this week has been a particularly muddy one!

Fixing a leak in one of the water pipes that feed the water troughs on the reserve. Photo credit S. Doyle

On Friday a wetland bird survey was done back at Kirkonnell Merse, with highlights including 11 Goldeneye and over 1000 Barnacle Geese. A full summary of the count is shown in the table.

Kirkonnell Merse count 17 Feb 2023

Bird sightings at Mersehead this week included

• Wigeon
• Pintail
• Teal
• Shoveler
• Ring-necked Duck
• Mute Swan
• Redshank
• Black-tailed Godwit

To learn more about these and other birds, check out the RSPB wildlife guide: Birds A- Z | Bird Guides - The RSPB

Sorcha Doyle, Residential Volunteer 

Upcoming events:

*Flooding - Please note that Mersehead nature reserve is prone to flooding during periods of high rainfall and/or strong winds and tidal surges. To avoid disappointment at these times, please contact the reserve in advance of your visit by email in the first instance at mersehead@rspb.org.uk or check the RSPB Dumfries and Galloway Facebook Page for daily updates.

*Holiday Cottages - Discover the breath-taking scenery, wildlife, cultural and history of Dumfries & Galloway whilst staying in one of the Mersehead cosy semi-detached holiday cottages – Barnacle and Shelduck – located in the heart of reserve