Here are the recent sightings from Mersehead 

Visitor Centre- wren, robin, goldfinch, chaffinch, greenfinch, blackbird, blue tit, great tit, jackdaw, starling, yellowhammer, tree sparrow, house sparrow, dunnock, willow warbler, collared dove, pied wagtail

Meida Hide-buzzard, pink footed geese, barnacle geese, sparrowhawk, goldcrest, hen harrier, stonechat, marsh harrier, little grebe, greylag geese, shelduck, wigeon…

Here are the recent sightings from Mersehead 

Visitor Centre- wren, robin, goldfinch, chaffinch, greenfinch, blackbird, blue tit, great tit, jackdaw, starling, heron, yellowhammer, tree sparrow, dunnock, willow warbler, collared dove 

Meida Hide-buzzard, kestrel, pink footed geese, barnacle geese, sparrowhawk, spotted flycatcher

Bruaich Hide- whinchat, hen harrier, curlew, buzzard, stonechat

Trails-skylark, swallow…

Giving Nature a Home

Last winter our residential volunteers recreated their own version of the Giving Nature a Home campaign outside the Visitor Centre to inspire our visitors and show them how easy it is to get involved.  Ideas taken from the advertising campaign include a hedgehog campsite, bird cafe, bug hotels and a frog pool.  Our Tuesday volunteers have completed the display by growing wildlife friendly flowers …

Here are the recent sightings from Mersehead

Meida Hide- water rail, reed warbler, spotted flycatcher, lapwing, sedge warbler, kestrel, reed bunting

Bruaich Hide- linnet, snipe, oystercatcher, sand martin, whitethroat, sparrowhawk, heron, siskin

Trails- curlew, wheatear, swallow, house martin, barn owl. osprey, peregrine, willow warbler, buzzard, starling

Visitor Centre- magpie, greenfinch, house sparrow, goldfinch…

Ailsa Craig is a tiny island in the Firth of Clyde, off the West coast of Scotland, famous for its granite being used to make 60-70% of the world’s curling stones.  However, as workers for the RSPB we were going there for the 73,000 breeding seabirds, including the UK’s third largest gannetry! 

After a slightly rocky crossing from Girvan, we set up camp and re-fuelled with a round of tea (an integral part…

when you walk around mersehead you might see this shy bird hiding in the hedgerow or feeding at the visitor centre. Tree sparrow is smaller than house sparrow and has a chestnut brown head and back of the neck where as a house sparrow has a grey cap. The most obvious feature which helps to identify tree from house sparrow is its two black cheek spots. Tree sparrows are usually found in small colonies on farmland and rural…

Well at Mersehead it has been sunny and all the birds have been singing. As you walk around the reserve it is full of bird song, you can hear the sedge warbler in the reeds, the chiffchaff and whitethroat in the woods and the swallows darting around catching flies. During the day the birds rule the reserve but at night there are other creatures that lurk around which include the Natterjack which have been croaking away…

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…

It now seems that the breeding season is fully underway here at Mersehead. Many chicks are starting to emerge, making interesting viewing as the chicks eagerly follow all their parents’ movements. Good sightings of fuzzy lapwing chicks continue as do sightings of many mallard families with broods of up to nine chicks. I have also seen little grebe chicks from the Bruaich hide which was a bit of a surprise as they are…

Well summer has arrived and we have also had our two new long term residential voulnteers arrive. I will let them tell you about there first couple of weeks here

So that’s my first week in. And what an interesting week it has been. I have just started a residential voluntary placement here at Mersehead and am looking forward to spending the summer on the glorious Solway Coast. I am fairly local but have seen and heard…

Well summer is in full flow here are Mersehead with loads of summer migrants arriving and birds breeding around the reserve. At the moment outside the visitor centre we have got eight lapwing chicks running around enjoying the sunshine. As summer is approaching all of the summer migrants are arriving and the reserve is full of song. We have had whitethroat, sedge warbler, willow warbler, chiffchaff, grasshopper warbler…

At Mersehead the summer migrants have started to arrive with chiffchaff singing, wheatear on the saltmarsh and sand martin. We still have some Barnacle geese but some have started to move now and head back North to Svalbard. Below are the recent sightings from Mersehead

Trails- yellowhammer, skylark, barnacle geese, linnet, pied wagtail, chiffchaff, wheatear, nuthatch, great spotted woodpeacker, goldcrest, twite, curlew…

On Saturday 15th March we had our first treasure hunt and i would like to thank everyone that part in this event. The answers to the treasure hunt are:

Treasure point

Nature Challenge

History Challenge

1

How Tall am i?

A Sumatran tiger is 76cm or 2ft6in

A red squirrel is 20 cm or 7.8in

A baby giraffe is 1m 15cm or 5ft 11in

Emperor penguin 1m15cm or 3ft 9in

A fox is 40 cm or 1ft…

At the reserve we have had another tidal flood and we are starting the clean up again with mending sea walls, fixing fences and picking up litter again. Although this has not put off the birds and animals at the reserve and here are the recent sightings

Visitor Centre- tree sparrow, chaffinch, greenfinch, blackbird, yellowhammer, coal tit, blue tit, great tit, goldfinch, robin, dunnock, wren, magpie and barnacle …

Hi all

Alas the tide have done major damage on site, serious breecheson the reserve by the tides - the reserve will be closed today the next high tide is at 13.15 and we still have large amounts already water on site.

Kind regards Colin  

Hi all 

We have closed Mersehead this afternoon due to the adverse weather conditions and tide state. We will re-assess on Sunday morning - despite a high tide of 9.2 m tomorrow, hopefully the winds will have died down by then, allowing us to open.

Be safe out there 70mph gusts this afternoon

Kind regards Colin

Hi all

We will be open this morning.

However we are expecting a very high tide at midday (9.2) combined with storm force gales this could flood the access to the site at peak tide time. We will assess the situation at midday, if we will remain open in the afternoon.

To avoid disappointment please call us late morning or from midday onwards for updates 01387 780579

Cheers Colin       

Hi all

Due to the high tides and bad weather we have had to close the site today. We will assess the situation again on Saturady morning - however the outlokk for the next 24 hours is un settling with very high tides combined with very strong storms - please follow us on this blog or on our facebook page for further updates

Cheers Colin   

Come and help us clear up the debris left over from the storm damage at RSPB Mersehead.

 When?  30 January 2014 at 10.00am     

 Where?  Meet at the Sulwath Centre RSPB Scotland Mersehead Nature Reserve, Southwick Dumfries, DG2 8AH

 Bring your wellies, waterproofs and a packed lunch.

 The reserve has teamed up with The Solway Firth Partnership,  http://www.solwayfirthpartnership.co.uk/ 

 We are aiming to clear as much debris…

Happy New Year to everybody and what a start to the New Year it has been. We have already been flooded out by the tide which has caused damage to our sand dunes (picture below) but there are plenty of birds around enjoying all the water on the wetlands. The Highlights that have been seen recently have included a green winged teal, goldeneye and marsh harrier, below are the rest of the recent sightings

Visitor Centre-…

Welcome to the RSPB Mersehead Moorhens Wildlife Explorers Feb-June 2014 programme!

• All meetings take place at RSPB Mersehead reserve, meeting in the Sulwath centre from 10.30 am – 12.30 pm on the 1^st Sunday of each month unless otherwise stated. Please aim to arrive for 10.20 am for a 10.30 start.

• We aim to get outside at all meetings so please wear suitable clothing – warm/waterproof, wellies…

Well with Christmas around the corner you might need somewhere to go to walk off your Christmas dinner, so here are the recent sightings from Mersehead 

Visitor Centre-  chaffinch, greenfinch, goldfinch, teal, hen harrier, tree sparrow, great tit, blue tit, yellowhammer, rook, robin, magpie, curlew, mallard, shoveler, wigeon and barnacle geese

Bruiach Hide- goldeneye, whooper swan, lapwing, hen harrier, fieldfare, redwing…

With the frost around, Christmas lights turned on in Dumfries and Dalbeattie and the Christmas tree up in the visitor centre we can not escape that Christmas is around the corner. So if you need to walk off your Christmas turkey and the mince pies come to Mersehead. Below are the Christmas opening times for the visitor centre:

21^st December 10am-4pm

22^nd December 10am-4pm

23^rd December 11am-3pm

24^th December 11am-…

Anyone guess what we've done here??? Answers on a post card.......................................

I'll give you an answer soon!!!!!.................................................

And the answer is ....

This is a photo by Gavin Chambers of starlings coming into roost at Mersehead and his painstaking method to count of all the birds, producing this fantastic image of 12331 starlings, 'NEVER AGAIN' was Gavins…

The frost has come to Mersehead and it has been cold recently but the birds are still around and feeding on the grass and all the berries in the hedges. Our most recent highlights are a snow bunting on the beach and a sand martin outside the visitor centre. Here are the rest of the recent sightings

Visitor Centre- Sparrowhawk, chaffinch, greenfinch, teal, hen harrier, tree sparrow, great tit, blue tit, yellowhammer,…