Are you ready for part two ? Have you made your cuppa or poured yourself a wine ? Then lets get on with it....
When I was researching my stay at WWT Caerlaverock one of the things that really interested me was the daily Yellowhammer sightings on the website. Along with the Tree Sparrow this is another bird I don't see where I live, and another bird that I have never seen. I presumed I would have to sit and wait for hours in a hide to see one of these stunning little birds, but how wrong I was !!
There's a regular flock of around fifteen birds that feed on the grassy verges along the short walk from the Wildlife Garden to the Peter Scott observatory. Over the last few days we realised people were throwing grain on the verges to encourage the Yellowhammers, and although they were quite flighty when people got too near, it didn't take them long to come back out. So as this is the first time I've seen these little stunners here is a complete overload of Yellowhammer photos.....
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| The Reed Bunting on the right seemed to be always mixing with the Yellowhammers and despite searching several times we could only ever find this one male Reed Bunting |
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| Yellowhammer and House Sparrow |
As mentioned in 'part one' of my blog posts, one of the other reasons to visit Caerlaverock at this time of year was to witness the spectacular Barnacle Geese gathering. It's estimated that at the moment there are around 5,000 of these pretty geese on the reserve and the surrounding fields. They breed mainly along the Norway coast and WWT Caerlaverock were one of the first to really research where they go after leaving the reserve. Below is a passage taken from the WWT website....
Today over 35,000 Svalbard barnacle geese winter on the Solway Firth, with thousands feeding at WWT's Caerlaverock Wetland Centre. Their story is one of an incredible recovery, since the dark days of the late 1940s, when no more than 300 remained.
Establishing WWT Caerlaverock in 1971 was instrumental in improving the fortunes of these geese as it provides an undisturbed refuge after their long migration from arctic Svalbard. The pasture and saltmarsh management carried out over the summer by the reserve staff creates ideal feeding conditions for the geese and the ongoing study of this species migration to and from Svalbard have revealed previously unknown details of the birds’ lives.
Using satellite transmitters, attached as backpacks to selected larger male birds using elasticised harnesses, we have uncovered the mystery of where the geese ‘disappear’ to for a two-week period on their northward spring migration, and identified the important pre-breeding sites they use after leaving Norway. We also charted the lethal effect of a strong Atlantic storm on two of the geese, witnessing one bird struggle with gale force winds for six days before reaching his destination and have been able to calculate the typical amount of energy or fat a goose needs to make the epic journey from the Solway to Svalbard.
Being able to monitor the timing of migration so accurately, and the speeds and heights at which the geese travel over land and sea has helped WWT assess the potential threat of wind farm developments both onshore and offshore along the Scottish and Norwegian coasts.
When they're on the ground they are generally known as a 'gaggle' of geese but when they are flying they are often referred to as a 'skein' or 'wedge' and to really confuse matters when a large group are on water they're collectively known as a 'plump' of geese. For Sue and I the noise when they geese took to the air made them 'haggling honks'. No matter where you were on the reserve, if a 'gaggle' were disturbed and started flying around you certainly knew about it. The noise was indescribable but it made for some fantastic photo opportunities.....
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| a 'gaggle' and 'skein'.... |
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| 'gaggle'...... |
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| a 'skein' and 'wedge'.... |
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| Just three.... |
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| One afternoon we watched a large 'gaggle' and spotted amongst them ten Pink-footed geese. You can just see three of them in the photo above...... |
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| and two Pink-footed geese in this photo..... |
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| A 'gaggle' with a 'plump'..... |
One of the hides that we discovered on our last day of our stay was the little two/three man hide at the bottom of the Wildlife Garden. As with the bird feeding station along the Peter Scott trail, this hide has been well thought out and designed. At the front of the hide are the usual bird feeders but the layout has been specifically done for photographers who want the more aesthetically eye pleasing photos.....
The 'thing' in the middle is a man made reflection pool with mossy stones and twigs arranged at the back of it and the 'constructions' either side are made from tree branches with moss or lichen on them and arranged so the birds perch on them first before going to the nearest feeder.
We had a long wait for any of the birds to use the reflection pool, and my one and only photo below isn't that great, but it certainly shows how creative the pool can be....
and the following photos were taken from this morning whilst it was raining but showing how well the branch perches either side of the pool are used....
And it's not just the usual 'garden' birds that like this area. On Sunday I was in the hide when a Common Snipe suddenly flew in and landed on the ground. It was too quick for me to grab a photo though as it soon disappeared into the long grassy mounds behind the feeders.
But to end part two of my three part Caerlaverock blog, this morning from the same hide a Weasel suddenly appeared between some wood on the right hand side....
I only managed to grab two photos before the little critter 'crittered' away under the fence....
What a great finale to my four night stay..
So are you ready for the third and final part of my blog.......?
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