Sightings 08/12/16
A very misty but mild day with some nice sunny spells.
Still no sign of the drake American Wigeon and the bad visibility is not helping. The Eurasian Wigeon numbers seemed to have dropped so it could have moved off the reserve with them for the time being, but there is still every chance that it could turn up again.
There was a decent Black-taled Godwit roost on the Folly pond all day, with numbers peaking at 123. As well as this the Green-winged Teal was still present along with, 2 Pintail, 4 Shelduck, Redshank, Snipe and an Oystercatcher.
A male Hen Harrier put in an appearance late afternoon, were is sat in front on the Saltcot observatory on a piece of drift wood for 30 mins or so.
A Peregrine sat on it's usual fence line looking straight out from the avenue tower throughout the day.
Todays high tide is at 18:08, 7.7m.
Photo - Daniel Gornall
Around the reserve today:
Barnacle Geese: 6,000
Whooper Swans: 140
Whooper Pond
Whooper Swan 140
Mute Swan 38
Mallard 150
Wigeon 80
Tufted Duck 25
Moorhen 6
Gadwall 1
Teal 12
Shelduck 1
Folly Pond
Green-winged Teal 1♂
Teal 80
Wigeon 168
Shoveler 20
Black-tailed Godwit 123
Redshank 2
Moorhen 4
Teal Pond
Teal 3
Mallard 3
Moorhen 2
Avenue Tower
Wigeon 12
Teal 19
Shoveler 7
Longhorn Cattle 3
Saltcot Merse Observatory
Peregrine 1
Merlin 2
Sparrowhawk 1
Hen Harrier 2♂
Kestrel 1
Pink footed Geese 300+
Greylag Geese 20
Canada Goose 300
Pintail 200+
Wigeon 200+
Dunlin 200+
Golden Plover 100+
Knot 200+
Hebridean Sheep 12
Avenues & Feeders
(notable species)
Redwing
Fieldfare
Reed Bunting
Sparrowhawk
Coal Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Goldcrest
Goldfinch
Greenfinch
Linnet
Redpoll
House Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
Treecreeper
Great-spotted Woodpecker
Twitter & Facebook
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 also ‘Like’ us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/wwtcaerlaverock.
Webcam
The winter webcam is now showing the Whooper Pond during the day and the badger feeding area from 5pm onwards.
http://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/caerlaverock/experience/webcam/
The first few Whooper Swans have already shown up and later in the winter we enjoy the superb spectacle of up to 300 of them along with a variety of wild ducks and geese at feed times - 11:00 and 14:00 daily
Daniel.gornall@wwt.org.uk
