Recent Sightings Week 31st March to 6th April 2018
With another chilly weekend and persistent wind and rain throughout Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we recorded 36mm of rainfall over the 3 days. Around 8pm on Wednesday evening the skies cleared and we awoke on Thursday morning to a thin layer of ice covering the wetlands and flooded areas on the reserve. However, without a cloud in the sky, it was business as usual as the skylarks rose and the lapwings danced in the morning sun.
Photo Credit: Jon Foot
After such gloopy weather, watching the garden birds jostle for position on the visitor centre feeding station in the bright sunshine was mesmerising. Side by side, the contrast of colour between a male yellowhammer and a male reed bunting dressed up in their full breeding plumage was incredible.
With such an improvement in weather conditions on Thursday, we set out to conduct our weekly reserve wetlands count. Numbers of ducks on the reserve are noticeably decreasing, as they start to head back to their breeding grounds, however with more water around and water levels on the wetlands higher than usual for this time of year on the reserve, the ducks have larger choice of places to go and feed, therefore are not concentrated in the usual areas, and may just be out of sight.
Although the weather has not been a good indicator, another reminder that showed us that winter is finally over, was the dispersal of the large flocks of dunlin, knot and oystercatcher we have been recording on the sands towards Southerness. This week instead of thousands of birds, we only counted 33 dunlin, 18 ringed plover and 5 curlew. As we approached our viewing point to count the oystercatchers roosting at the other end of the reserve, where the Southwick water meets the Solway at high tide, we were greeted, eye to eye, by a raven as it soared up and along the cliff.
As the winter spectacles come to end, summer migrants begin to arrive and delight us with their song. Increasing numbers of Chiffchaff are being heard around the reserve, and we have seen our first wheatear along the dunes.
Photo Credit: John Bridges (rspb-images.com)
Today, Friday we have completed our yearly fox scat survey. Two weeks ago we traversed the reserve along a 15km transect following linear features, clearing evidence of fox scats (faeces). As a fox patrols its territory, it will follow linear features on the land such as fence lines, ditches and treelines. Today we followed the exact same route, and recorded evidence of new scats which gave us an idea of the fox population across the reserve.
Along the route we saw a kestrel hunting over the Preston Merse, 3 sand martins feeding over the reed bed, stonechats on fence posts, and a pair of common toads mating.
Photo Credit: Lana Blakely
With night time temperatures forecasted to rise next week, we are eagerly anticipating the sounds of our Natterjack Toads calling for the first time this year. Natterjack Toads require a constant night time temperature of +7 degrees to venture out from hibernation. After all our hard work over the winter, restoring and creating favourable habitat for the Natterjacks, we can’t wait to hear their unmistakable chorus drift across the reserve….fingers crossed we’ll have exciting news for you next week!!
Jon Foot - Residential Volunteer