Mersehead Recent sightings 5th August to 15th August 2019
This was our first time volunteering at Mersehead reserve having done a couple of stints at South Stack on Anglesey in previous years. We certainly brought the weather with us and we had several days of downpours. The “wetlands” became even wetter and unfortunately the reserve had to close over the weekend due to a flooded access road. It was a new experience being confined to the reserve by the weather and one of the highlights was having our food shopping delivered by tractor!
Flooded access road. Photo credit. R. Flavelle
Despite the visitors not being able to get in for some of the days there was still work to be done on the reserve and we were kept busy with lots of physical tasks. From cutting back brambles from the paths to helping move fencing supplies we were tired and achy at the end of each day but we slept soundly after all the work and fresh air.
During a tour of the farm and reserve we glimpsed a Barn Owl in flight. We found some interesting wildlife whilst clearing the polytunnel including toads, field voles, harvestman spiders and two rather pretty fig wort plants. On the coast we saw huge numbers of shells washed up and some amazing sand creatures created for the children’s competition including a turtle, some mermaids and a dinosaur. Birds spotted from the beach included Ringed Plovers, Sanderlings, Sand Martins and flocks of Curlew flying past. Around the reserve we regularly saw Roe Deer and Brown Hare as well as Grey Heron, Cormorants and pairs of honking Greylag Geese in flight.
A nearby Badger sett are making their presence known in the Wildlife Garden. The badgers are the ones that can be viewed from the Sulwarth Centre at the regular Badger Banquet events. We spent several evenings listening to them from our accommodation and getting the occasional sighting. However, they have taken to digging large mounds of earth onto the path to the pond dipping platform. We were very pleased with ourselves when we cleared the path during our visitor checks tour but, when we reported this, we found out that this is a regular occurrence and sure enough by the next day the path was blocked again. We cleared it a second time in preparation for the pond dipping event and this time, thankfully, it remained clear for a little longer.
One of the tasks for our stay was helping to clear the Japanese Rose that has taken over the hedgerow on the path down to the Bruaich hide. These pretty flowers are non-native and are so virulent that they form a monoculture in the hedgerows. To encourage biodiversity, they are being cleared and native species such as Hawthorn planted to replace them. We have been helping by raking up the roses after strimming. We were treated to more sighting of toads and a large, salmon pink frog.
Our butterfly transect around the reserve was interesting. We are not butterfly experts but, using the picture guide, we were able to identify a Small Copper along with an abundance of Small and Large Whites, Painted Ladies, Red Admirals and Peacocks. We managed to get lost towards the end (no mean feat given the simple route we were given!) and ended up along the estuary where we found the remains of several small crabs. Interesting because we had found no crab remains on the beach amongst the shells. The butterfly field was full of butterflies and lifted our spirits at the end of a long day although counting them all at once was challenging.
Painted Lady butterfly. Photo Credit. Dave Jackson
During the weekend, whilst we were flooded in to the reserve we went out to the Meida hide in the hope of seeing the Kingfisher that had been reported as sighted from there by a visitor or even one of the Otters known to be on the reserve. We saw a single bird on the water, at first we thought it was a female Mallard but then the beak was wrong, excitedly we hoped it could be the elusive Water Rail. Of course, it was nothing of the sort, after checking the books it turned out to be a juvenile Moorhen, the pumping head movement gave it away. Our only consolation for our misidentification is that the big bird book in the visitor centre lists the juvenile moorhen as a confusion species with the water rail.
Overall, we really enjoyed our time at Mersehead. It was quite a different experience from our time at South Stack not just because the reserve is wetlands rather than cliff birds but also because getting hands on with the physical conservation work was interesting and rewarding.
Short-term Volunteers,
Charlie and Yvette Pow