Print pageSeasonal highlights
Each season brings a different experience at our nature reserves. In spring, the air is filled with birdsong as they compete to establish territories and attract a mate. In summer, look out for young birds making their first venture into the outside world. Autumn brings large movements of migrating birds - some heading south to a warmer climate, others seeking refuge in the UK from the cold Arctic winter. In winter, look out for large flocks of birds gathering to feed, or flying at dusk to form large roosts to keep warm.
Spring
The glen is beautifully carpeted with wild flowers such as lesser celandine, primrose, wood sorrel, wood anemone and bluebell. The woodland is alive with birdsong as all birds prepare for the breeding season. Listen for song thrushes, wrens, chaffinches, tits and others. Summer migrants, including willow warblers, return for the breeding season. The rookery is a hive of activity as rooks busy themselves with repairing their nests after the winter. Frogs and toads leave their distinctive spawn in the millpond, wher grey herons hunt for a meal.
Summer
Water avens, sweet cicily and meadowsweet are abundant, the latter filling the air with its heady scent. Adult birds busy themselves with feeding hungry mouths. Watch for dippers, flying low downstream and settling on a rock before plunging into the water looking for water invertebrates. Grey wagtails too, can be seen along the burn. Treecreepers climb up tree trunks, searching for invertebrates. On sunny days, buzzards may be seen and heard wheeling overhead. Dragonflies and damselflies emerge at the millpond and busy themselves with finding a mate. Pipistrelle bats take advantage of the rich invertebrate life and can be seen flitting through the trees on summer evenings.
Autumn
The Norway maple looks spectacular in its vibrant autumnal colours.
Winter
Members of the tit family gather in flocks. Roe deer come down to the shelter of the glen and are easier to see through the bare trees.