News - Caerlaverock
Goodbye to the geese
The last weekend of March was jam-packed with events centred around saying goodbye to one of our favourite winter migrants, the beloved barnacle geese. The weekend started with a dusk Wardlaw walk, where lots of geese were seen flying into roost, despite
10 April 2024
Wetland Word of the Week 6
Our 6th wetland word is... ... petrichor meaning the pleasant scent that occurs when it rains on dry ground. I don't know about you but for me, it evokes the feeling of a summer sky, pregnant with heavy clouds when suddenly a drop at a time, the downpour
8 April 2024
Seasonal Sights
With a fresh spring breeze in the air, I head towards Sharp's Lookout to try and get a glimpse of the black tailed godwit in breeding plumage that has been showing well recently on the Folly Pond. Binoculars up, scanning the horizon with sunlight sparklin
6 April 2024
A spring walk
A wren calls from somewhere, as yet unseen. It seems to be yelling at me to pay attention and I eventually spot it, on a little branch shouting with all its tiny might. A loud voice for one so small.Then there is the drone of a bee, a queen most likely. S
4 April 2024
Wetland Word of the Week 5
For week 5, the wetland word is our name... Caerlaverock. It is the name of our reserve, the neighbouring NNR, a local castle and the parish we are all in. The word comes from 'caer' meaning castle and 'laverock' meaning skylark. We love knowing the origi
1 April 2024
A clattering of jackdaws
As part of Words for Weltands, our team have been turning their hand to nature writing in whatever form that takes. So in the spirit of that, here is a poem about jackdaws.One voice followed by another followed by dozens.Shouting, yelling, cawing.Look up
31 March 2024
A knee injury won't stop me
Normally I'm running about the reserve, fixing fences, cross-cutting wood, building nest boxes the list goes on. I almost never sit still. However, for the last couple of weeks this has not been the case. A knee injury has left me predominantly stuck indo
29 March 2024
Between showers, spring arrives
We've been enjoying a seasonal shift in some of our wildlife sightings here at Caerlaverock. Spring showers, between blue skies and rainbows, are beckoning tree buds to leaf, blossoms to emerge and more flowers to begin blooming. Since the rafts have been
27 March 2024
Wetland Word of the Week 4
For week 4, our wetland word of the week is...... firth. A firth is a narrow inlet of the sea or an estuary. It comes from the old Norse for fjord. In Scotland, famous firths include the Firth of Forth, the Moray Firth and of course, our own Solway Firth.
25 March 2024
Spring sprang sprung
A lot of change is happening across the site. It feels as if the moment you start to appreciate and grow accustomed to the bleakness of the winter, a flash of colour appears suggesting the changing of seasons. The longer days bring more warmth and energy,
20 March 2024
Nighttime escapades
Pitch black. Jacket zipped up. Torch at the ready. It is night and a group of us are standing in a field at Powhillon, one of the northern holdings of WWT Caerlaverock. We get the go ahead and switch our bright torches on. We are looking for eye shine.
19 March 2024
Wetland Word of the Week 3
Our Wetland Word of the Week for week 3 is...... dabchick which is another name for little grebe. It's name comes from the word 'dap' which means to dip lightly or suddenly under water. Dabchicks are known for their fantastic diving, clumsy walking on lan
18 March 2024
Nature... a force to be reckoned with
Lynda attended our writing workshop on the 9th of March and very kindly has shared her writing with us.A morning Thumbnail Nature Writing workshop at WWT Caerlaverock. The theme was to explore “haecceity”, a term new to me. A quick Google search state
17 March 2024
Making a mess at Powhillon: The Wilder, Wetter Caerlaverock Diaries no.1
My first week as Project Officer has been as busy as you’d expect for Caerlaverock. We had a digger out at Powhillon (one of our northern holdings) with the aim of making some scrapes, channels and blocking drains. The site looks very messy now but it w
14 March 2024
What is WeBS?
Ever heard someone referring to webs and then when they started talking about birds instead of spiders were a bit thrown? Well that's because they were talking about WeBS, the British Trust for Ornithology's monthly Wetland Bird Survey. It is a UK-wide su
13 March 2024