Our current residential volunteer Michael had a really exciting evening yesterday whilst taking a wander on the reserve. As he was walking up the lane between the two hides, he was lucky enough to see an otter scampering down the lane towards him. It then ducked underneath one of the gates and disappeared into one of our slightly flooded fields. Continuing up the lane Michael then saw two Hare sitting in a field being watched by a pair of Foxes! Great to hear that Michael managed to experience so much exciting wildlife in one evening!
Well it's been an exciting day today for sightings, considering this is our "quiet" time of year when it comes to birds! The day started well with a close up view of a Great Spotted Woodpecker on a telegraph pole near the Visitor Centre this morning then it continued to improve with 2 independant Osprey sightings, one visitor reported seeing an Osprey flying high over the reserve at lunchtime whilst our current residential volunteer, Michael spotted the Osprey whilst walking across the merse! We then had a couple coming in last thing to say they'd just had good views of a male Marsh Harrier from the Meida Hide, the second sighting of a Marsh Harrier this week!
It's not all about the birds though, Michael got a great photo of a Common Lizard sunning itself (yes you heard me correctly I said sunning!!) on a log on the merse and the masses of six-spot burnet moths have been delighting visitors too! It's not been a great year for moths, due in the main to the poor weather, but these day flying red and black moths are in abundance on the merse! They particularly seem to like the vetch!
A pair of Siskin are still being seen on the feeders behind the Sulwath Centre as well as the Yellowhammer still being regularly seen feeding there too.
In other news, we have a Textiles and Images Exhibition on this weekend, it's only on until Monday so pop over this weekend to see it! There are photos, paintings and textiles, all locally produced as well as felt making and spinning demonstrations and a sales table. The exhibition is in the Sulwath Centre at Mersehead and runs 10am-4pm over the weekend and on Monday.
Hello, just a quick update on our breeding Natterjack toads. We're still surveying every week throughout the summer to monitor progress and we currently have in the region of 300 tadpoles, some of which are becoming rather large! All going well we should begin to see legs and arms sprouting and little natterjack toadlets running around in the next month or so!
Adam
Well great excitement at Mersehead today when a visitor came into the Visitor Centre with some great news, he had discovered a Spotted Flycatcher nest complete with chicks and very attentive parents just inside the woodland on the way to the Meida Hide. The Spotted Flycatchers have chosen a hole in a dead tree to build their nest in and are busily going backwards and forwards feeding their chick(s). So if you are planning a visit to Mersehead in the next 7-10 days be sure to pop into the Visitor Centre so we can give you directions to see the nest. Whilst we'd encourage visitors to have a look at the nest we would also ask that you don't get too close so as not to cause any disturbance to the birds.
This has come at a perfect time when other birdlife on the reserve is a little quiet, especially on the wetland area of the reserve. However we continue to see warblers, namely Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler in the hedgerows and the good old Yellowhammer continue to delight visitors to the centre by coming to the feeders and offering visitors close up views!
If you've always wondered what wildlife comes out during the evenings at Mersehead, then next week gives you an opportunity to find out! We are running a couple of "Things that go bump in the night" guided walks on Tuesday 10th and Thursday 12th July 8pm-10pm. These walks will be led by Adam our intern and will an opportunity to hopefully see our resident Barn Owls or even one of the five species of bats that live at Mersehead, including Noctules and Pipistrelle! Booking is essential for these walks please call 01387 780579 or email mersehead@rspb.org.uk to book a place.