Lochwinnoch

Not stupid...

Paula Baker — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 09:44:00 GMT

Hi everyone,

Firstly, I want to apologise for leaving the blog so long. I'm hoping we can get back to our weekly entries again soon, especially as we have an additional two members of staff to assist us over the winter months!

It has continued to be a great month for otters, with visitors and volunteers seeing them almost every day on either the Barr Loch of outside the Aird Meadow hide! Definitely worth coming along to have a look before the water starts to get much frostier. They are still being seen in the middle of the day as well, so worth popping down any time you have a few spare minutes. Also, more regular sighting of hen harriers and lots of winter migrants around. Find out more by visiting www.rspb.org.uk/lochwinnoch and going to 'recent sightings'.

You may be wondering about the title of todays blog. This is in aid of the film show that we are having on Tuesday 24th November (7.30pm - 9.00pm). Some of you may have already read about this, but if not, we are holding an exclusive showing of the critically acclaimed climate change blockbuster 'The Age of Stupid'. We have managed to get hold of a licence to show this in the visitor centre for one night only and I have been told it is very inspirational and would like to invite as many people as possible to come along and watch it.

For those who are not familiar with the film itself, it is directed by Franny Armstrong (who also directed McLibel) who has become famous recently not because of her film making, but because Boris Johnson (Mayor of London) recently rescued her from an attempted mugging! It stars Pete Postlethwaite (Brassed Off, The Usual Suspects) as a man living in the year 2055 on a now devastated planet, looking back at archive footage from 2008 and wondering, why didn't we do something when we had the chance?

So, why not come along and find out more? Watch the film and see what you think. It may not change your life but perhaps it will be the first step to helping change the lives of others and protecting our planet at the same time. I personally can't wait to see it and prove that I'm 'not stupid'.

For more information and to book tickets for the showing, please contact us on 01505 842663 or email lochwinnoch@rspb.org.uk. Tickets cost £4 and most be booked in advance.

Otters and birds galore!

Paula Baker — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:47:00 GMT

What a great week it has been for birds and wildlife on the reserve, with otters, hen harriers, ducks, geese and swans around to delight us and that's not including all of our feeding station birds, including daily great spotted woodpeckers, lots of chaffinches and goldfinches and plenty of house sparrows.

There has been an otter seen feeding outside the Aird Meadow hide at least once a day this week, and on the Barr Loch several times as well. We have been very lucky with the quatity and quality of sightings that we have been having, some visitors have been reporting that they are getting very good photos as well. I have not yet seen it myself, too much time on the computer and not much time for otter spotting, but if I manage to get any good photos, I will put them on the Lochwinnoch Facebook page...please feel free to add your own as well!

Wednesday saw the first hen harrier for the winter as a male bird swept across the Aird Meadow, attempted to hunt and then was promptly mobbed by three crows, who chased him away. Great views though as the crows forced the harrier to come very close to the building, providing us and all of our visitors which a superb swooping display.

There have been very good counts of duck, geese and swans on the Aird Meadow, towards the beginning of the week (8th - 10th) including a ring necked duck, lots of gadwall (our second highest count, ever!), great crested grebes, canada geese, wigeon, teal, goldeneye and over 30 swans. There have also been more sightings of whooper swans on the Aird Meadow, moving over to the Barr Loch, but not yet settling as they will do later in the month.

But it looks just like a leaf!

Paula Baker — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 11:16:00 GMT

This weekend we have been running our 'Amazing Autumn' event - one of my favourites! and for the most part the weather has been kind to us, giving us lots of time to go outside searching for fungus, crunchy leaves and making homes for mammals and insects for the winter. The fungus hunts have been very interesting, turning up at least 20 different species (some of which we can't identify and some which we can!) including honey fungus, sulphur tuft, common puffballs, milkcaps & birch bracket fungus (otherwise known as a polypore). Some other interesting finds have included plenty of toadlets still finding their way, and fox, deer and vole footprints, as well as the obvious and pugent smell of a fox that has been territory marking.

In our craft room we have been making new displays for the tower entrance hall, by decorating a variety of leaf shapes. We have also been making autumn garlands using leaf rubbings, which have worked really well!

At the feeding station today we have been seeing a lot of house sparrows, between 15 - 20 at any one time! And 6 goldfinches all hanging onto the clinger feeder is a wonderful sight as well.

Friday and Saturday evening were also National Moth Night. For those that don't know, NMN falls at a different time each year, as moths have such varied flight seasons that one date wouldn't capture enough information. So this year the dates fell at the start of autumn, in the hopes of catching some of the beautifully camouflaged autumnal moths. Friday night did not disappoint, with 15 species including Canary Shouldered Thorn, Pink Barred Sallow and Sallow - showing their beautiful autumn colours - "They look just like leaves!" one child exclaimed. As for Saturday, as some of you may have felt at home, the temperature dropped, so there were only a few moths in the trap this morning, but a good number and variety over the two nights. For more information about National Moth Night, visit http://www.nationalmothnight.info/.

Canary Shouldered Thorn and Pink Barred Sallow, by Paula Baker 2009

Nice weather for ducks & sparrowhawks!

Paula Baker — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:30:00 GMT

The heavy rain overnight has left the roads around us flooded, as well as the ends of both trails. Hopefully the weatherman will be correct and the rest of the week will be a lot drier. Over the past few days the main highlights on the reserve have been a sparrowhawk that has been sitting very close to the visitor centre - it seems to be a young bird and has been doing this for a few weeks now, but it is a very welcome sight for our visitors to be able to have such a close up view of these birds.

Apart from that, the juvenile woodpeckers have been providing some entertainment - especially when they are down when the sparrowhawk appears! It is amazing how still they sit on the feeders when they know a predator is around, and they really do wait until the coast is clear before they even consider flying away or feeding again.

There have also been quite a few mallards around, having a splash around in the full to bursting pond, and as the water levels have risen, quite a few snipe have been seen flying away as well.

Paula

Bats, weasels, butterflies and bank voles...

Paula Baker — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:54:00 GMT

It has been a very interesting week and the weather has not even been half of it! The water level on the reserve got pretty high, but we weren't worried, the road wasn't flooded and we've seen the water level marker in the Aird Meadow pond disappear before, and the centre has still remained high and dry. Touch wood...

Last night was the second of our Bat and Moth nights for this year, led by the brilliant Clyde Bat Group, who kept everyone thoroughly entertained. The rain stayed off for us mostly and we managed to get plenty of Soprano Pipistrelles. No Daubentons this year (water level was too high to go to our usual spots.)

This morning we came back to empty the moth trap, it looked like it would be a good evening when we left, warm, cloudy and drizzley (perfect moth trapping weather!). We were not disappointed, and got a good variety of moths in the trap. The complete list is as follows:

Large yellow underwing, lesser yellow underwing, copper underwing, lesser common/common rustic, crescent, double lobed, butterbur (?), small phoenix, rosy rustic, small square spot, iron prominent, small wainscot, common marbled carpet, flame shoulder and dark arches.

I spent my lunch break photographing butterflies on our buddleia bush, a spectacular sight including red admiral, painted lady, small tortoiseshell, peacock and large white butterflies. It has been great to see so many on the bush this year, let's hope they continue to thrive.

Peacock butterfly by Paula Baker, 2009

Then, after heading along the trails to investigate a query, I stopped by our woodland feeding station to see what was about and was amazed by the amount of bank voles I saw there. There must have been at least 5, all of them feeding at some point whilst the others ran in and out of their holes and hid in the bushes. It was fantastic to be able to get so close to them and I can now understand why we ended up with so many pictures of them in our photography competition this year!

However, the highlight of the week has to be the weasel vs magpie face-off that I witnessed this morning. On my way out to get the moth trap, I popped into the photography hide to alert the photographers that I was coming, and one of them pointed out that there was a weasel trying to get past a pair of magpies. What followed was hilarious, the weasel kept running out of the bushes and leaping into the air at the magpies, which then proceeded to chase the weasel back into the bush. This happened several times, each time the weasel appeared from a different spot in an attempt to out-wit the magpies. Finally, the weasel just went for it and shot past both magpies who looked as surprised as the rest of us did! Fantastic!

What'a Lotta Otter!

Paula Baker — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 14:18:00 GMT

As you may have guessed from the title of this post, we've been seenig otters on the reserve this week. One was spotted slinking into the water outside the Aird Meadow Hide on Friday afternoon and other visitors have reported seeing them in various places around the reserve. Gary (one of our volunteers) found spme spraints (for those that don't know, that's otter poo!) along the Dubbs Water trail, a surefire sign that they are going along that way quite regularly. Excellent!

However, we have also been spotting mink on the reserve, one of the few species that can be easily mistaken for an otter. Mink are non-native predators in the UK that have been proven to locally affect some breeding bird populations.

To tell the two species apart, i've often heard people say that, 'otters are cute looking, mink look mean' - well i guess that depends on you definition of 'mean' (and cute for that matter!). To clear up any confusion, here are some quick otter/mink comparisons that might help you work out which it is you are seeing:

European otter (Lutra lutra):

Appearance: Otters are always brown with a pale coloured stomach with long bodies, strong tails and webbed feet to help them swim quickly through the water. Their eyes are located at the top of their heads and they have sensitive whiskers growing around their snout which can help them detect prey. Otters benefit from a double-layer of fur: a thick waterproof outer coat and a warm inner one

Size: Males measure 115cm from nose to tail. Females are slightly smaller at 100cm

Weight: 7-9kg

Lifespan: Up to four years. There are rare instances recorded of otters living up to 12 years

Diet: Mainly fish and crabs but carnivorous otters also eat birds, small mammals and frogs

Family: Otters belong to the Mustelid family along with badgers, polecats, weasels, stoats and mink. Otters are the only amphibious family-member

Lakes, rivers and rocky or coastal areas are the otters' natural habitats, and they can also be spotted hunting their prey in quiet stretches of the canals. Otter territories are vast, covering up to 25 miles (40km) of watercourses and dense vegetation or wooded areas, which they use for resting purposes and for breeding holts. However, otters are timid and not often observed by humans. You are more likely to come across one of their smaller and more confident cousins, the mink.

European otter by Chris Gomersal (rspb-images.com)

American Mink (Neovison vison):

Appearance: Feral mink are naturally a chocolate-brown colour but farm-bred animals can vary in colour from white or grey through to black. Limbs are short and tails are approximately one third of their body length

Size: 42-65cm

Weight: 600g-1kg

Lifespan: Up to 8 years. Few survive beyond their second year in the wild

Diet: Mink are opportunistic predators who will happily eat a variety of fish, small mammals, birds and invertebrates

Family: Mustelidae

The Mink's long slim body is covered in glossy, thick dark brown fur with a white patch under the chin. They have short legs with partially webbed feet, which make them excellent swimmers. They can be found in wooded areas and fields near streams and lakes. They do not dig burrows, but instead take over dens abandoned by other animals.

Mink are semi aquatic predators able to hunt both aquatic and terrestrial prey. They can dive under water like an otter to capture fish, crayfish, and frogs. They can also capture terrestrial prey like birds, snakes, mice, voles, and rabbits. Mink are generalist predators focusing on whatever prey is most available and easily captured. These animals are mainly active at night and do not hibernate.

(Thanks to Wikipedia & British Waterways for this information)

So, next time you see a large water mammal, have an extra peek and see if it happens to be a mink, or if you are very lucky, an otter, and be sure to let us know either way!

Paula

Ospreys Ahoy!

Paula Baker — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:28:00 GMT

What a great time we've had on the reserve for ospreys during the last few weeks...at one point it seemed as if one was visiting every day! On one day in particular, we saw the same bird three times, at 10.30, 12.30 and 16.00. The first time it managed to catch a small fish, but this obviously wasn't enough as we saw again two more times, although it didn't manage to get anything as the wind picked up making the water below very choppy indeed - not good for any sort of fishing!

Now, with all of the osprey excitement at Loch Garten, this pales in comparison. So, to put this into perspective we usually (if we're lucky) get about one or two osprey sightings PER YEAR at the reserve, so to see 3 in one day is excellent, and for the bird to keep returning to fish in the loch is superb. Our visitors got excellent views and one lucky person even managed to get a few shots of the bird carrying its 'catch of the day.'

Some of you may or may not know, that we have erected two osprey platforms on the reserve, one next to each loch, in the hope that we might be able to attract a pair to breed here. Fingers crossed with all of the recent activity, one of the birds has noticed our hard work and is considering using it as it nest next year.

Bird Ringing Demonstration 2009

Paula Baker — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 11:05:00 GMT

Hi all,

I must apologise for the lack of blogs recently - hopefully things here should be back to normal now so the normal weekly service should resume!

The summer has been very kind to us so far, our events have all been running smoothly and the weather has been good! Whether it has been for mini-beast hunting, tree bingo or the school holidays club, we have been having a great time!

Yesterday we had our yearly bird ringing demonstration. This event has increased in its popularity over the past few years as people realise what a great opportunity it is for close up views of some of our common bird species. The event was led by Dave Grant, British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) trained A-licence ringer. We had a great turn out of people (25) and a great turn out of birds...some of you may remember last years demo was quite poor for birds except for the exceptional highlight of a tawny owl (See blog entitled Early Morning Tawny Treat). This year was quite a different story. We had: 10 sedge warblers, 1 willow warbler, 3 robins, 7 great tits, 3 chaffinches, 2 blue tits and 2 carrion crows. Also, one of the highlights of the event was the recapture of one of the blue tits that was rung last year. Considering how many blue tits there are on the reserve, this was a turn up for the books and great to see the bird doing so well, plus we discovered that blue tits and great tits are the most vicious birds that ringers ever come into contact with - who'd have thunk it??

Dave explained about the process of ringing, explained about ageing and sexing the birds, took measurements, weighed the birds and gave further details about why ringing is done. We thank him for all of the time an effort he and his team put in to make the event a success.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the BTO, so to find out more about their work, or to find out more information about how you could become a ringer, visit www.bto.org.uk.

Paula

Springwatch discovery day & nestbox update.

Paula Baker — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 14:30:00 GMT

So, today has been our annual 'Springwatch Discovery Day' one of the many fun and exciting events that we hold here on the reserve. Todays activities included pond dipping, bug hunting, a tree challenge, a scavenger hunt, wildlife challenge and bird bingo! Phew! And it has been nice and busy, lots of happy customers and lots of great discoveries including azure and large red damselflies, garden chafer beetles, another giant caddisfly larva and two as yet unidentified caterpillars, which i'm hoping the excellent members of the Scottish Moths forum will be able to help me with.

For those of you wanting to have an update on our two nestboxes (apologies for the delay), the blue tits have now fledged, 5 out of 8 were succesful with three being left behind. We're not sure what happened, but in previous years all of the birds have left at once. This year, five left and three remained in the box for a few days. The parents appeared to still be feeding them but i suspect eventually they chose to look after the fit and healthy family that had already left the nest and had to leave behind those that hadn't developed quickly enough. Eventually, it seems, the adults stopped feeding them and the three remaining chicks died, sadly.

For the great tits, a similar story. All five chicks appeared to be doing fine, but we arrived to the reserve one morning to find that one had unfortunately died during the night. Shortly after, two more faced the same fate, leaving just two healthy, lively birds behind. The remaining two appear to be doing fine, the parents are still regularly feeding them and they have started flapping their wings in preparation for their first big flight.

Although sad, the reason that blue tits and great tits have such large broods is because it gives them a better chance that some of them will survive to adulthood. The harsh winter ahead will not be kind to slow developers and, indeed, many of our garden birds do not make it past their first winter. Survival of the fittest helps to keep a strong and healthy population of a species and well as a strong gene pool.

For those that did make it, we wish you the best of luck over the months to come, and maybe one day, those same birds will return to use our camera nestbox.

Paula

Tadpole-tastic!

Paula Baker — Sun, 24 May 2009 11:06:00 GMT

The sun has been shining on us in Lochwinnoch, and not a moment too soon as we prepared ourselves for our annual tadpole hunt (part of our fantastic frogs series). Swarms of people decended upon us at 11am to come and look for the wiggley wigglers (also know as tadpoles, and in some countries, polliwags!) and also to find out some facts about tadpoles, look for frog food and generally have lots fo fun!

A great day has been had by all, with everybody catching at least one tadpole, but mostly up to about 30!

Tadpole facts:

1. It takes 16 weeks for a tadpole to become a fully grown adult frog
2. In the first 4 weeks of its life, a tadpole eats its own egg yolk which is stored in its belly
3. Tadpoles have tiny teeth which they use to eat algae
4. Tadpole legs begin to pop out at 6 weeks old
5. At 12 weeks old, a tadpole is old enough to leave the water but it may still have some of its tail left.
6. Tadpoles breathe through gills
7. Tadpoles are also known as polliwags
8. Tadpoles love to eat lettuce
9. If temperatures drop, tadpoles can become suspended and not develop until the water warms up
10. A young frog is called a froglet
11. Water tigers often eat tadpoles
12. Tadpoles are young frongs, toads or newts
13. Tadpoles have a sucker which they attach themselves to plants with
14. Frog eggs are known as spawn

Paula

As I watched, a beak popped out...

Paula Baker — Sun, 17 May 2009 09:20:00 GMT

We have been monitoring the progress of our two nests closely as we estimated the date of hatching for the blue tit family would be this weekend. In previous years we have come in one morning and found 10 hungry mouths being busily fed by two attentive parents and haven't really had an opportunity to witness the hatching process. Two days ago, whilst sitting having a cup of coffee, one of our volunteers said, "I'm sure that egg just moved!" and proceeded to watch the nest for half an hour to see if it would do it again. Alas, it seemed to be a one off, but nonetheless a good sign that things were starting to happen.

This morning, I was sure that we'd come in to find all of the eggs hatched, but it seemed we would have to wait a wee bit longer. However, as I watched more closely, a beak popped out! Only one of eight so far, but I'm sure the others will catch on soon enough. Just one tiny little beak from a tiny little egg to make you realise what an amazing process birds go through to live, thrive and survive.

I'll look forward to watching the rest as they progress.

Paula

Spectacular Swifts!

Paula Baker — Sun, 10 May 2009 13:25:00 GMT

Arriving in early May from Africa, the swift is one of the last migrants to arrive back in the UK, and they will be gone again by mid-August. Our first sighting in the area was on 26 April this year, with sightings on the reserve from 9 May onwards.

Keep an eye high in the sky at this time of year and you may spot this blackish-brown bird with bow shaped wings returning.

Although they have a shorter body than swallows, swifts make up for it with their longer, curved wings giving them their distinctive crescent shape in flight.

Their flight is rapid and fluctuating, followed by long glides. Swifts are known to feed on around 300 different species of insects and spiders. This means that swifts probably eat more creatures than any other British bird (wow!). In fine weather, swifts can be hard to spot as they feed high in the sky, but during bad weather, swifts can often be seen low over water, so this is a good time to get good views of them.

Swifts nest in old buildings with suitable cavities to nest in. They build a nest with a shallow cup of grass they gather on the wing, and cement together with saliva. They lay 2-3 eggs which are incubated for almost 3 weeks. Young then remain in the nest for one to two months depending on the weather. Young are then independent as soon as they leave the nest. They do not breed until their fourth year.

Even though swifts are born in Britain, they spend only one third of their lives in here. Arriving in May and leaving in August - I recommend you get out there and see these amazing birds whilst you can!

Eggstra eggstra!

Paula Baker — Fri, 08 May 2009 09:48:00 GMT

So, following on from our 1 blue tit egg last week, we now have more exciting news. Whilst the blue tit has now finished laying hers (total for this year is 8 eggs) we also have action from the great tits nest, which appears to have 5 eggs this year. This is the first time we've had a camera on the great tits, and its already shown many differences from the blue tits.

One, which i mentioned in the previous post, is the structure of the nest - whilst the blue tit appears very neat and tidy with a perfectly formed cup for its eggs, the great tit has a wider variety of materials and has lined the cup with wool. The cup of the great tit also appears at the back of the box, whilst the blue tit is quite central.

Also, it is very obvious that the great tit eggs are speckled and the blue tits are quite plain.

I expect we will discover many more difference over the coming weeks, but for now, a brief fact file about our very own reality TV show stars:

Blue Tit family:

8 eggs laid this year (10 in 2008)
Incubation began on 3rd May
Average incubation time is 13 - 15 days, giving an approximate hatching date of 16th - 18th May
Once hatched it takes approximately 18 - 21 days for the birds to fledge
Blue tit diet consist of insects and spiders, with fruit and seeds eaten in the winter
Egg weight is 1.1g
Fun fact: most birds can see ultra-violet light, but the front of blue tits heads glow under UV light. This is the way that the female chooses her mate.

Great tit family:

5 eggs laid this year (average is 7 - 9)
Incubation began on 6th May
Average incubation time is 13 - 15 days, giving an approximate hatching date of 16th - 18th May
Once hatched it takes approximately 18 - 21 days for the birds to fledge
Great tit diet consists of invertebrates (esp. butterflies and beetles) and spiders, with seeds and fruit in the winter
Egg weight is 1.7g
Fun fact: The black stripe on a male great tit is an indicator of status. Larger stripes are more attractive to females.

Bird facts are courtesey of the BTO's 'Birdfact' pages www.bto.org.uk/birdfact

It's an egg!

Paula Baker — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 09:38:00 GMT

Okay, so we can't quite compete with the Loch Garten ospreys or the white-tailed eagles on Mull in terms of egg-citement (ho ho!), but this morning we arrived to find our very own camera stars, the Lochwinnoch blue tits, had laid their first egg of the year. One tiny white egg sitting in the middle of a perfect cup-shaped nest. In previous years they have laid up to 10 eggs in this tiny nest and we have watched them grow up from tiny hatchlings to fully-fledged members of the bird world! We hope the same will apply this year.

For the first time we also have a camera on a great tits nest, and my what a difference! Whilst the blue tit seems to very carefully choose its nest material and make a perfectly round cup for its eggs, nicely lined with feathers, the great tit appears more like a teenager - chucking stuff all over the box in a completely random order, before finally making the effort to tidy it all up in time for egg laying.

It'll be great to watch how the two birds, so closely related, differ in their behavior in the nest.

The cameras are on show every day at the RSPB Lochwinnoch Visitor Centre, and we will continue to update the blog for those who are unable to make it along.

Paula

So long and thanks for all the...

Paula Baker — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 12:44:00 GMT

As some of you may know, Mike Andrews, our Information Officer, has now left Lochwinnoch to move on to pastures new. He has left Scotland to work in Yorkshire at RSPB Blacktoft Sands reserve (a great reserve by the way!). So today, this blog is dedicated to him.

Mike came to us in October 2006 on a three year contract. He quickly became an integral part of the team, his time, effort and enthusiasm for the job and the reserve showing no bounds. One of Mike's fortes was developing activities, events and games for families and young people visiting the reserve. Some examples include:

Wildlife Challenge:

Our monthly Wildlife Challenge has proven to be a hit with children and adults alike, the idea being to see as many species as possible, with a 'challenge 8' set each month for which stickers can be collected on our special collectors card. This activity now takes place at Vane Farm and Mersehead reserve, one of the first inter-reserve games of its kind, and I should imagine Mike will take it to the Yorkshire reserves as well.

Young Volunteers Group:

Quite early on in his contract, Mike and I were spending some time discussing the increasing numbers of teenagers wanting to volunteer with us here at the reserve. There were very few activities that we ran especially for that age group, so we began discussing setting up an RSPB Phoenix group - however, a better idea came up, and we now have our Young Volunteers Group, who meet once a month to help us out with reserve tasks, planning events and RSPB campaigns. The group will certainly miss his time and enthusiasm, but fingers crossed the group will continue to prosper.

Mike's presence at the reserve will certainly be missed. He became a very recognisable face, was always approachable and put in a great deal of time to make sure our visitor centre was one of the best places to come to see, learn about and discover wildlife.

Bon voyage and good luck!