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Well following on from an amazing week last week - sunshine for 5 consecutive days, I was surprised during a stroll today to see the first signs of autumn - rowan and hawthorn berries are starting to appear and replace the wild flowers. The Swallows and House Martins are starting to gather on the telegraph...

Well what a glorious day it has been today, at long last! The sun has been shining and I am sure I speak for us all when I say it has really lifted my mood to glimpse the sun! We have some new arrivals on the reserve that have also been enjoying the rare sun too - a family of baby Moorhen swimming in...

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...

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...

Well after what seems like days of bad news to pass on to you about the floods I can at last say that I come bearing good news for a nice change!! We have been noticing a pair of Oystercatcher in the field behind the Visitor Centre recently that have definitely set up home in that field, we can now confirm...

Not sure if my other blog got through so in danger of repeating myself here, but the expected floods didn't occur today, hooray! So the reserve will be open as usual tomorrow!! We will be continuing to monitor the situation tomorrow but at the moment everything looks fine! We hope to see you soon...

Well as I sit here I can't help but have a creeping feeling of anxiety as we wait to see what the next couple of hours will bring!! At the moment the rain has stopped and although the burn is high and full of water the drive is dry - however all this is likely to change as the high tide starts to...

Well the horrible weather continues!! At the moment the access road is clear and the reserve is fully accessible to all, however we are anticipating flooding this afternoon as we await a high tide at 2.50pm. Therefore we have taken the decision to open the reserve until 1.30pm but we would strongly advise...

Well here we go again, it is with some regret that I announce we are having to close the reserve again today due to flooding. This time it is not only caused by a tremendous amoount of rain in the last few hours but also we have a high tide of 7.6 due at 2pm which is likely to cause flooding over the...

Great news, after two days being cut off to the world and some moments when we wondered if we should start googling "how to build an ark" I am pleased to tell you all that the flood water has subsided and the reserve is now accessible to all again!! Therefore the Visitor Centre will be open...

The flood waters are slowly going down and the reserve is now accessible to those with a 4x4 however we would still advise caution when driving through the water and would still not advise anyone with a normal vehicle to try getting through just yet! We'll keep you updated throughout the afternoon...

Just a quick update on the situation here at Mersehead! Although the rain has eventually stopped and we now actually have sun, the main drive onto the reserve is still flooded! Adam has just cycled down to check and the water is still too deep to pass through in a normal car. So unless you have a tractor...

Despite my claim in my last blog about not being put off by the weather sadly the rain has had another idea. due to heavy rain fall overnight, the drive onto the reserve is currently flooded making the reserve temporarily inaccessible to vehicles (unless you have a tractor handy!) The reserve will remain...

Well what a surprise, it's raining again! However we have had some good weather recently and lets face it if we let the weather rule our plans we probably wouldn't risk doing anything outside would we?! For those of you that decide to pay us a visit but don't fancy venturing too far we...

Just a quick blog to remind you all to watch Countryfile at 6.25pm tomorrow (Sunday 20th May) on BBC 1. The programme is coming from Dumfries and Galloway and features a section from Mersehead where Ben talks to Ellie Harrison about our resident Natterjacks! There is also a bit from Hannah over at the...

Glad to report that despite absolutely horrendous weather yesterday all at Mersehead have survived pretty much unscathed although some of oour paths are a little water logged and muddy! We even had 5 intrepid visitors who braved gale force winds and torrential rain to visit us yesterday! Four of them...

Well we've had a very mixed week with our weather this week, with strong winds blowing soil and sand off the fields on Wednesday making the main drive onto the reserve seem like the set of a remake of Laurence of Arabia! However things have settled down a bit and today has been sunny and much calmer...

Well at long last it is with great excitement that we can announce the arrival of our first Swallow of 2012!! Spotted twice yesterday, firstly by Eric near the Sulwath Centre and then later in the day by me flying over the lane between the two hides! I know one swallow doesn't make a summer but it...

Happy Easter to you all from everyone at Mersehead. We hope you all have a good one whatever you choose to do! If you are still unsure how to spend your Easter Sunday and you are going to be near Mersehead, why not come along to the second day of our Easter Craft Fair which is taking place in the Sulwath...

As a degree student of Animal Science, I decided it would be both interesting and beneficial for me to do some voluntary work in a field related to my course. I looked long and hard for places to go and things to do, until I happened upon a reference to residential volunteering with the RSPB. One of...

There was great excitement on Thursday when Ben our Assistant Warden and a team of volunteers were down at the Natterjack pools giving them a bit of a facelift, they spotted 3 Natterjacks newly awakened from their winter slumber! One was still in it's whole, flat out on its back snoozing! Literally...

Well signs of Spring continue on the reserve, the first Chiffchaffs were seen on Friday last week and Ben, our Assistant Warden saw a Sand Martin today! We're eagerly awaiting the arrival of more spring migrants including Willow and Sedge Warblers, Swallow, House Martin and Redstart! There have...

The green winged teal was seen again today on a number of occasions from the Bruaich Hide. Also someone reported seeing a ruff from the hide last night. There has been some lovely bird song today, particularly from the skylark that are singing over the merse and also over the car park. The red breasted...

Well luckily the keeping the fingers and toes crossed and the little sun dance that we were all doing on Friday evening worked and we had a glorious day on Saturday for our first ever "Wildfowl and Wader Wander" sponsored walk! The day started well with 120 Whooper swans flying over the reserve...

We are still having regular sightings of the Green Winged Teal from the Bruaich Hide at Mersehead. Today we have also had reported sightings of a Ruff, Goldeneye, Tufted Duck from there too, just to name a few! Other recent sightings have included Whimbrel in fields near the beach, a Wheatear in woodland...