Well after 21 years as our farm manager and 24 years before that working at Mersehead has brought Eric to win the D&G Life  Environmental  Champion Award 2013- please read the article

Colin

Well winter has arrived on the reserve this week with more arrivals of barnacle geese and wintering ducks to the reserve. These are the lastest sightings from Mersehead

Bruaich Hide- shoveler, teal, mallard, pintail, snipe, reed bunting, wigeon, tufted duck, canada goose, lapwing, meadow pipit, redwing, fieldfare, yellowhammer

Meida Hide- Little grebe, barnacle geese, treecreeper, pintail, mallard, gadwall, canada goose…

Well winter is arriving, we have got wintering ducks and geese here, including

390 Barnacle geese

49 Mallard

390 Teal

275 Wigeon

60 Pintail

2 Scaup

2 Gadwall

41 Shoveler

1230 Pink footed geese

And we have got 4 glossy Ibis

Friday, 20^th September: last day of a two-week volunteer placement for me, and wife, Sue.

It’s been a thoroughly enjoyable two weeks. We arrived late on Saturday afternoon, after driving for nearly 400 miles from our home in Hampshire, and were immediately made welcome. We lived in “the roost” which proved to be spacious, clean, tidy and (thanks to Dan and Kirsty) very friendly.

We didn’t have any…

Well winter is upon us and the wintering wildfowl and geese are back on the reserve. We have had sightings of a red breasted goose this afternoon and the barnacle geese have started to arrive with 200 on the reserve. Below are the recent sightings from around the reserve

Visitor centre- blue tit, chaffinch, goldfinch, great tit, robin, teal, mallard, sparrowhawk, great spotted woodpecker, meadow pipit, starling and y…

Here are the recent sightings at Mersehead Nature Reserve

Trails- Whitethroat, Whinchat, Goldfinch, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Starling, Wheatear, Reed bunting, Meadow pipit and Linnet

Beach- Greenshank, Oystercatcher, Curlew and Turnstone

Visitor Centre- Wheatear, Blue tit, Great tit, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, House sparrow, Swallow, Willow Warbler, Blackbird, Goldfinch and Robin

Hides- Pink footed geese, Lapwing, Greylag…

Here are our recent sightings from around the reserve

Meida Hide- snipe, willow warbler, teal, mallard, sedge warbler and whitethroat

Bruaich Hide- shoveler, greylag goose, kingfisher, lapwing, mallard

Visitor centre- wren, robin, chaffinch, reed bunting, whitethroat, greenfinch, linnet, house sparrow, blue tit, sparrowhawk, lesser redpoll, blackbird, great tit

Trails- meadow pipit, reed bunting, goldfinch, whitethroat…

Well we have had the hot weather and the rain has now come as well but there is plenty of wildlife still around the reserve. Here is the recent sightings list

Media Hide- Marsh Harrier, reed bunting, reed warbler, sedge warbler, green sandpiper, heron, sand martin, merlin and tawny owl

Woodland- Pair of Spotted flycatcher with 4 juveniles and a pair of wood warbler with 3 juveniles, jay 

Visitor Centre- yellowhammer…

Here is a fantastic account of Elli's time at Mereshead on the Residential Voluntering Scheme

I arrived at Mersehead on a cold windy Saturday, and the first thing that struck me was the peace – not a car engine to be heard! After unpacking I took a walk down to the beach that gives the reserve its name, a breathtaking stretch of sand that at low tide goes as far as the eye can see. The site is an area of flat saltmarsh…

Hi RSPB Mersehead Community,

Even though the weather has turned from gloriously sunny to blustery with rain showers there is still plenty to see on the reserve. Lots of birds have chicks at the moment, flowers are blooming and there are plenty of insects on the wing. This means plenty of food for birds including swallows and house martins. As you can see in the photo below house martins have been busy building a nest…

Hi RSPB Mersehead community,

A great blog from the most recent residential volunteers, Martin and Assumpta O'Connell. 

After the coldest winter of almost fifty years we arrived in Mersehead in weather that made a mockery of the idea of spring; then the sun came out, warm showers moistened the soil and the delayed spring came in like the Flying Scotsman. In the Merse, the Lapwings wheeled and spun uttering their unique…

Hi RSPB Mersehead community,
I'm just back from a short break and so much has happened on the reserve in two weeks!

The barnacle geese left this time last week, Friday 10th May. They have flown to Svalbard to breed and will return to the Solway coast in late September. There are a few lapwing nests on the reserve and yesterday we were delighted to see three small balls of fluff, lapwing chicks, that you can just spot…

Hi everyone, here's a blog from Dan, our newest long term residential volunteer at Mersehead.

My name is Dan Snowdon, and I’m volunteering at RSPB Mersehead for 6 months this summer. I’ve been here a month now and it’s been great, so I thought I’d share with you some of my experiences so far!

On my very first night I joined one of the guided walks to help me get to know the reserve. We were…

Here's a blog by one of our current residential volunteers Jim Beattie:

In mid April, after being involved with the RSPB Residential Voluntary Wardening scheme for 21 years and assisting at over 18 reserves or locations, I headed for Mersehead RSPB reserve excited at what lay ahead.

Halfway through my time here I can say I have not been disappointed. The staff were welcoming, the work variable and the wildlife amazing…

Hi all,

It may not feel like summer yet, but we're seeing some of our summer migrants arriving; swallow, house martin, sand martin, wheatear, chiffchaff and willow warbler have all been seen on the reserve in the last couple of days. Black cap, little grebe and goldeneye have also been seen. Natterjack toads have started calling, Daubenton's bats are out in the evening and green-veined white butterflies in the daytime…

What a difference a week makes! It was with some trepidation that I set off from Leeds last Monday to begin two weeks of residential volunteering at RSPB Mersehead. I had been trying to reach the reserve for three days, but the deep snow made it impossible, so I packed all my layers and was braced for freezing weather when I arrived.

And now here I am and although it’s cold, the beautiful sunshine has made my stay at…

he sun is shining, the last of the snow is melting, barnacle geese are flying around and birds are singing across the merse. What a beautiful day! Far too nice to spend it indoors. 

We have a busy Easter school holidays planned, starting with an Easter Scavenger Hunt on Sunday from 11-4. Drop in to the Visitor Centre to pick up a challenge sheet. Then there are family activities on Wednesdays and Fridays and guided…

The reserve is open today, come down and watch birds from the visitor centre with a hot cup of coffee!

Morning all,

The reserve is closed today due to snow. Enjoy the snow from home and please remember to feed the birds in this cold weather!

Liz

The reserve is closed today due to snow and wintry conditions. We'll keep you updated for the weekend.

Yesterday signs of spring were around the reserve, including these daffodils:

What signs of spring have you seen or heard?

Liz

Hi all

With regret we have had to cancel this evenings star gazing event due to cloudy and rainy weather.

kind regards Colin 

 Get outdoors and get involved with the ‘Boots and Barnacles’ sponsored walk.

Walk 5km or 10km to raise money for work supporting vulnerable wildlife such as lapwings and barnacle geese on the reserve. Taking part in this fun and interactive walk will be a great way to find out more about the wildlife on the reserve, explore the stunning landscape of the Solway coast and get the whole family outdoors!
We’re aiming…