As Liz has blogged, the reserve is rather icy today due to overnight weather conditions. But it was wonderful over the weekend for our Scandinavian inspired event. In an earlier blog Liz told us about the reindeer and story teller that would be coming.
Thankfully, although it was cold, there was little wind, the sun came out and we could open the paths. Rentareindeer brought their reindeer, then the waxwings came and settled in the tree just by the reindeer! Lots of visitors who came to see the reindeer had their first chance to see these wonderful birds up close, and they may be here for a little time yet even though the reindeer have gone home. In summer the Waxwings live in Northern Europe - Scandinavia and Northern Russia - which is where the reindeer also live. Recently some have become established in the wild in Scotland although they had not been a UK wild animal in modern times.
Liz took this picture from the path between the Visitor Centre and Watchpoint Hide on Sunday and the Waxwings are in the top of the tree. If you want more information about Waxwings then have a look at Toby's blog
And I think this one is called Pancake.
In the Visitor centre there were demonstrations of seasonal flower arranging, and the opportunity to build a Santa.
To delight our younger visitors Chris Connaughton, our wonderful story teller, was kept very busy.
A fantastic start to the festive season.
Peter