News
Folly Pond Finds
Sunday afternoon. Warm but breezy. I have been sat inside all day, working away at my desk, waiting for the moment when I am able to head outside. It comes about three o’clock. It’s been quiet all morning and I’ve finished all the jobs I had on my
31 August 2023
Me, a birder?
I am the first to admit that I am not a big birder. I like birds. I’ve got bird feeders in my garden. But that’s about as far as it goes. I’ve got a cruddy old pair of binos that belonged to a long dead relative and mostly use them to frown at birds
28 August 2023
Isaac Fledges the Nest
When applying for my placement at WWT, I was instantly drawn to Caerlaverock. It held the possibility for many new experiences. Being in a new country, living on a nature reserve, learning about a unique habitat and meeting new people with a shared love o
26 August 2023
Lunchtime wonderings
I’m out on the merse carrying out a butterfly transect.It requires a long, long walk out on the saltmarsh, counting every butterfly I see. Often there are only about seven in total so it makes for a boring morning a lot of the time. It’s going well, I
24 August 2023
Reserve Roundup
An exciting week where we got lots done and said goodbye to one of our placement students. Tuesday saw the volunteers tackle the rush in the paddocks. Jake and Isaac had pre-cut the vegetation in the paddocks so that the volunteers could rake up all the p
22 August 2023
Recent Sightings - 20th August
Where to start with this last week's sightings? A good place would probably be the red necked phalarope that graced us with its presence on Saturday afternoon (possibly brought in with the strong wind) and was still hanging around on the whooper pond on S
20 August 2023
JC's placement comes to an end
My time here at Caelaverock has been an unforgettable experience, every second of my year in Scotland filled with highs and lows. Throughout the past 12 months, I have learnt an indescribable amount of new skills and more knowledge than I would have ever
18 August 2023
Reserve Roundup
On Tuesday Bob, Anita, Joan, and Joanna joined the reserve team out on the Folly Pond islands raking up the cuttings from last week. We cut the islands annually to keep on top of the vegetation levels, ready for when the hordes of wildfowl making their wa
15 August 2023
Recent Sightings - 13th August
It's been a "birdy" week with a few sightings of green sandpiper at multiple spots on the reserve.There's also been wheatear, greenshank and peregrine falcon spotted around the Lochar. You can tell there are juveniles and passage birds moving around now.
13 August 2023
Reserve Roundup
On Tuesday we were joined not only Sophie, Bob and Anita but also a couple of placement students from WWT Washington, Ed and Emily. They came to the site to experience a volunteer task and learn about reserve. The team began the day with some volunteer le
8 August 2023
Recent Sightings - 6th August
The highlight of this last week has to be a green sandpiper on the Folly pond and three green sandpipers seen on the Lochar. This signifies that migration, once again, has begun.Other signs of the changing seasons include a wheatear spotted at Powhillon a
6 August 2023
Reserve Roundup
Last week was another busy one for our reserve team. From conducting nest box checks to maintaining pathways and doing saltmarsh surveys, as well as continuing wildflower seed collection. On Tuesday morning the volunteers and the reserve team were out bir
4 August 2023
The saltmarsh larder
Water dripping down their noses, the volunteers look grimly over to Jake. This was not the day they were hoping for. They set out in the morning, with it already raining a little. A gang of seven volunteers have joined the reserve team today for seed co
1 August 2023
Recent Sightings -30th July
This last week provided some good encounters with birds of prey. On the 21st, the reserve team headed to Powhillon to see and ring some kestrel chicks (under the permit of a licensed ringer). The chicks are quite active and have been monitored for a few w
30 July 2023
Changing tides - discovering the zonation of the saltmarsh
Standing at the edge of the saltmarsh, with the water ahead of me and Caerlaverock behind me, I’m awed by the expanse, by the horizon stretching away for what seems like forever (well, maybe not quite forever because I can definitely see Cumbria but sti
28 July 2023