Minibeast Magic
The good weather recently has seen a surge in the number of "creepy crawlies" making an appearance around the reserve. The above photo shows the caterpillar of the Elephant hawkmoth and is just one of the many moth caterpillars we come across. We have also been seeing a lot of Small tortoiseshell butterfly caterpillars and it is worth looking them up before making a visit to get your eye in. The adult Small tortosieshells are loving the flowering plants in the Wildlife Garden, while Wall brown, Peacock and Small copper butterflies can be found out in the Meadow and River Walks. Visitors were reporting a good number of Damselflies and Dragonflies around yesterday, with a Four-spotted Chaser observed basking on the bench down the Saltcot Loaning this morning. Greenshank have been heard around the Folly Pond this morning, just not seen yet, and a Little Grebe is present on the Flood Ground.
As part of our management of the Meadow area of the reserve we carry out a regular cut and removal of the arisings each Autumn to promote wiildflower growth. Due to August increasingly getting wetter, we are having to move forward the date of cutting to earlier in the month. We anticipate that machinery will be on site in the next week (all being well with the weather!) and as such we will have to temporarily close the Meadow and River Walk when works are in operation. Information about any closures will be available from staff at the front desk when visiting. The Pasture Pathway will remain open during this time.
High Tide: 10:03, 7.4m
Opening times:
10am - 4pm
Last entry 3pm
Photo Credit: Alex Hillier
Meadow and River Walk
Lesser Redpoll
Pied wagtail
Sedge warbler
Willow warbler
Chiffchaff
Blackcap
House martin
Swallow
Reed bunting
Common sandpiper
Curlew
Roe deer
Brown hare
Otter
Peacock butterfly
Small copper butterfly
Small tortoiseshell butterfly
Wall brown butterfly
Red admiral butterfly
Blue-tailed damselfly
Pasture Pathway
Reed bunting
Sedge warbler
Swift
Sand martin
Swallow
Meadow pipit
Skylark
Kestrel
Sparrowhawk
Raven
Brown hare
Roe deer
Red fox
Small tortoiseshell butterfly
Flood Ground
Mallard
Teal
Wigeon
Pintail
Shoveler
Grey Heron
Little Egret
Mute Swan
Moorhen
Brown Hares
Roe Deer
Longhorn Cattle 2
Folly Pond
Lapwing
Redshank
Greenshank
Black-tailed godwit
Curlew
Snipe
Mallard
Teal
Shoveler
Pintail
Moorhen
Canada goose
House martin
Swallow
Saltcot Merse Observatory
Marsh harrier
Linnet
Skylark
Meadow pipit
Starling
Common whitethroat
Chiffchaff
Willow warbler
Sedge warbler
Blackcap
Brown Hares
Roe Deer
Hebridean Sheep 12
Avenues & Feeders
(notable species)
Reed warbler
Blackcap
Chiffchaff
Willow warbler
Sedge warbler
Reed Bunting
Sparrowhawk
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Robin
Blackbird
Chaffinch
Long-tailed Tit
Goldfinch
Greenfinch
House Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
Dunnock
Song Thrush
Great-spotted Woodpecker
Webcam
Our webcam is live 24/7 so you can tune in to get your evening fix of wildlife. It is focused on our Badger feeding area. Watch the badgers as they come out to feed every evening! You may even be lucky enough to spot other wildlife such as otters, foxes or barn owls! Let us know what you see...
https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/caerlaveroc...
Twitter, Facebook & Instagram
Follow us on Twitter @WWTCaerlaverock for instant WWT Caerlaverock bird news, wildlife news and upcoming events to your mobile phone or computer. This is a great way to get instant news as we update from our mobile phones as we are finding the birds.
You can ‘Like’ us on Facebook https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/caerlaveroc...
You can also follow us on Instagram wwtcaerlaverock where pictures of the reserve's daily happenings can be found.
rhiannon.hatfield@wwt.org.uk
