As autumn draws to a close and winter creeps ever closer there is still plenty of colour to be seen around the reserve. Sunrise at this time of year can be particularly stunning, mixtures of fiery reds, glowing oranges and mellow yellows reflecting off low sweeping clouds can make the sky seem alive.
Sunrise at Mersehead
And of course it is around sunrise the reserve comes to life. Starlings sweep from the reed beds in large groups and head off in various directions in search of food, large flocks of barnacle geese that have spent the night roosting out on the mudflats resume their endless grazing amongst the fields, tree sparrows, linnets, finches and tits busy themselves searching for food to replenish their energy levels after long chilly nights and a multitude of ducks including pintail, shoveler, teal and wigeon can be seen on the open water in front of the hides.
Throughout the day yellowhammer, chaffinch and the occasional bullfinch add to the variety of colour in the hedgerows, lapwing, snipe and curlew patrol the wet fields, probing the soft soils with their bills, great spotted woodpecker and goldcrest are sporadically seen in the woodlands and small flocks of twite along with infrequent stonechats can be seen as you walk along the trails.
As the day draws to an end and the sun begins to set over the Solway, once again providing stunning visual displays, the majority of birds begin to settle back down for the night and as the starling’s murmurate over the reedbeds they are often joined by a sparrowhawk searching for a late night meal.
Sunset at Mersehead
Badger and fox often appear around dusk, and at this time of year we are taking the opportunity to carry out maintenance and improvement work on our predator proof fences in readiness for next spring. Other maintenance work going on around the reserve currently is the removal of excessive growth of willow in unwanted areas and the thinning of scrub along some of the dunes to improve the habitat for specialised plants and the creatures that rely upon these areas, such as the rare natterjack toad which our Events and Learning Officer, Kirsty Griffiths was recently interviewed about by Ray Mears on ITV (Follow the link here to see it if you missed it first time around)
Recent Sightings
A recent survey of geese recorded just under 4,200 barnacle geese around Mersehead and West Preston.
Other recent sightings include goldeneye, black-tailed godwit, scaup, hen harrier, moorhen, mute swan, little grebe, redshank and kingfisher from the hides, fieldfare, redwing, blackbird, heron and buzzard from various locations around the reserve and from the feeding station at the visitor centre there has been great tit, blue tit, coal tit, chaffinch, greenfinch, goldfinch, house sparrow, tree sparrow, yellowhammer, dunnock, pheasant and robin.
Upcoming events
If you are planning a visit to Mersehead in the near future be sure to check out our upcoming events by clicking here . We have a Christmas Crafts event on 30th November, an Optics, Bird Feed and Bird Care event on 6th & 7th December and a Mulled Wine and Geese event on 13th & 17th December