The Nesting Season at Caerlaverock (and recent sightings)
The nesting season is well underway and our site hosts a wide variety of resident and summer migrants raising chicks which will hopefully fledge in the coming weeks.
Species like great tits will use the natural landscape such as old woodpecker’s holes or cavities in trees. Some species including starlings, jackdaws and house sparrows are currently using multiple buildings on site for nesting. The gaps in buildings and guttering provide a warm, sheltered area for chicks to be raised. Our hides are also in use not just by visitors but birds as well! Our Saltcot Merse Observatory is home to many swallows that use our grass rooves as nesting sites.
Along the avenue, the mature trees are host to over 50 nests that are being used by rooks. These corvids are generalist meaning they eat pretty much anything and everything they can get their beaks on. They nest in large communities called rookeries and you will often see them in big groups feeding with other corvids including jackdaws in fields.
Latest sightings: 14th
– 21st May
Black-tailed godwit Black-headed gull Blackcap Brown hare Canada goose Chiffchaff Common buzzard Four-spotted chaser Gadwall Grey heron | ...... | House martin Lapwing Linnet Little egret Mallard and ducklings Moorhen and chicks Mute swan Oystercatcher Pink-footed goose Redshank | ...... | Reed bunting Reed warbler Roe deer and fawn Sedge warbler Shelduck Skylark Sparrowhawk Swallow Tree sparrow Weasel Whooper swan |
Written by Jacob Campbell
Feature image of moorhen chick by Alex Hillier
