It has been all go here at Mersehead of late so I have plenty to report! I suppose the first thing to mention is that this week we have had Ray Mears here filming our natterjack toads. Ray and his crew are in Dumfries and Galloway for a week filming for his new series of Wild Britain. It was interesting to see the crew going about their business, although I had to keep out of the way as myself and others watching seemed to be inadvertently getting into their background shots!
Apart from disrupting camera crews, I have been learning a bit more about moths, creatures that I admit to not knowing about as much as I should. I never realised how diverse and spectacular moths can be. The sheer variety of colours and patterns that can be found just in Dumfries and Galloway is quite amazing. We have had the moth trap out this week and got a number of impressive individuals such as the Small Elephant Hawk-moth and Poplar Hawk-moth amongst many others.
Small Elephant Hawk-moth
Of course, not all work on a nature reserve is as glamorous as meeting celebrities and identifying moths! Land management is non-stop especially at this time of year where the speed of grass growth means the strimmers aren’t ever to far away. Ragwort pulling and sycamore control have been some of the other activities this week. Both can be hard work however, it’s great to be outdoors, especially in the good weather, doing conservation.
Gordon