The Goose are Loose

RSPB Mersehead Blog 1^st – 7^th October 2022

This week marked the first official count of the returning Barnacle Geese, as well as the first wetland bird survey for our new resident volunteers. It has rained an awful lot in the past few weeks, and although it has made for wet and muddy working conditions, it has transformed the reserve. Where there were once dry fields full of cows there are now full ditches and muddy ponds perfect for dabbling ducks and geese, and boggy fields full of Snipe, Lapwing, and Curlew. As you walk across the site you can often hear nothing but the honks of the iconic barnacle geese, and I’m told it will only get louder as the season goes on. One visitor described the sound of thousands of barnies taking off as ‘like a jet engine’. I’m sure that for all of us living on-site there will not be many morning lie-ins.

Barnacle geese in flight, photo credit D. Jackson

The official barnacle goose count reports that around 2,000 birds have arrived on the Solway so far, with about 1,400 of those at Mereshead. If you come to the reserve you may see groups of them feeding in the fields next to our coastal path, or flying over our forest walk, or roosting on the mudflats. With thousands more expected to arrive in the coming weeks, I’m sure they will soon blanket the whole reserve. The wetland bird survey has also shown the return of other winter visitors to the reserve, with highlights including Pintails, Shovelers, Wigeons and Teal in the pond in front of the Media hide, Canada, Greylag, Pink-foot and Barnacle geese in the fields, and Plovers, Oystercatchers, curlew, lapwing and Dunlin on the mudflats. A table of the survey results can be found below, and I’m sure as the weather gets colder and wetter we’ll get even more.

View from the Meida hide

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

Jess Lister, Resident Volunteer

Reserve Announcements:

Take action against marine litter and join us at RSPB Mersehead for our next beach clean in collaboration with the Solway Firth Partnership.

The state of our oceans has a massive impact on the birds and wildlife which rely on the beautiful wetlands and shores which surround our coastlines. Find out how green you are and what positive changes we can make by reading the RSPB’s Green Living facts. If everyone did something, it would add up to something big!

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.