Reedbed Acrobatics

RSPB Mersehead Blog 4^th – 10^th November 2023

With some cold but sunny days this week, it has become really noticeable how stark and bright the reserve is in the autumnal sunlight. As the leaves fall from the trees and hedgerows it has become much easier to spot the tiny Goldcrests flitting from branch to branch. Fieldfare and Redwing are feeding on the bright red berries whilst Long-tailed tit follow each other from tree to tree. These tiny tits move in noisy sociable groups during the winter, huddling together in a tight ball to keep warm during the night. 

Photos by Bob Glaister

A highlight of the week was the sighting of two Great White Egret out on the saltmarsh. The Great White Egret is a large white heron, much larger than the Little Egret with a striking yellow beak. Thank you to Bob Glaister for sharing his photographs from Sunday. We have also seen up to 10 Little Egret roosting on the wetlands.

Great White Egret. Photo by Bob Glaister

On Saturday, Harley Mathieson photographed a ringtail Hen Harrier. While males are a pale grey colour, females and young birds are brown with a white rump and a striped tail which give them the name 'ringtail'. Visitor sightings form an important part of our wildlife dataset so it is always fantastic to receive photographs to our email: mersehead@rspb.org.uk. A sighting of Otter has just been reported on the shore this afternoon. 

Hen Harrier. Photo credit: Harley Mathieson

Starling murmurations are an incredible wildlife phenomena thought to deter possible predators by creating a confusing swirling mass. Starlings have roosted in the Mersehead reedbed for at least the past 10-years and have just started to gather again over the past week. An estimated 5,000 birds came into roost on Wednesday evening this week with the murmuration starting at 16:15 and ending at 16:45. As the day lengths become shorter going into winter, the murmuration will occur earlier, usually around an hour or so before sunset. With as many as 40,000 birds estimated in past years, we hope to see the murmuration increase in size over the coming weeks. The Starlings can be just as spectacular when they leave their roost in the morning as thousands of birds erupt out of the reeds all at once.

RSPB Mersehead runs a varied Events Program throughout the year. We are looking for Volunteers who can help with all our Visitor Engagement Activities, from welcoming people on arrival, to leading events and activities. In a nutshell, we are looking for volunteers who can provide a great visitor experience here on the reserve. If you love nature and working with people as much as we do, then we’d like you to join our team! Please get in touch with us here.

There is just one ticket available for tomorrow's Badger Banquet - book through the events link below:

Rowena Chambers - Warden

*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.