Latest sightings
Latest Sightings - Friday 25th January - Happy Burn's Day!
Opening times: 10am - 5pm every day except Christmas DayThe reserve has finally thawed after two days of hard frost and mist. We have been able to get out with the tractor to manage some of the rush on site, where it has begun to dominate in the Flood Gro
25 January 2019
Latest Sightings - Wednesday 23rd January - Whoopers in the mist
Opening times: 10am - 5pm every day except Christmas DayA hard frost last night has covered the reserve with ice. The Whooper Pond and Folly Pond are the only areas of open water on the site so most of the birds are using them. The Barnacle Geese are prob
23 January 2019
Latest Sightings - Saturday 12th January
Opening times: 10am - 5pm every day except Christmas Day No sign of the Green-winged Teal yet this morning, but it could still be around. Not as many Teal on the Folly Pond first thing, so it could have moved to the Flood Ground or Teal Pond. A large floc
12 January 2019
Latest Sightings - Friday 11th January - Green-winged Teal is back
Opening times: 10am - 5pm every day except Christmas Day The drake Green-winged Teal has reappeared on the Folly Pond today, currently best viewed from Sharp's Lookout. Named Whooper Swan arrivals: YHS - Solway Siren Lost Darvic - Hagar YJL - Linda H YSJ
11 January 2019
Latest Sightings - Wednesday 9th January
Opening times: 10am - 5pm every day except Christmas Day A frosty and sunny start to the day, with plenty of geese in the fields. The swans are doing their best to break the ice in the Whooper Pond which the ducks seem grateful for! Named Whooper Swan ar
9 January 2019
Reserve Update Monday 7th January
Blustery start to the day but this is proving ideal for wader watching. Mixed flock of over 300 Golden Plover and Lapwing in the Lochar field. This field has also been good recently for Redshank, Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit and Dunlin so do have a sca
7 January 2019
Latest Sightings - Saturday 5th January
Still no sign of the Green-winged Teal since it was seen on the 2nd January. The two Greater Scaup are still on the Whooper Pond, one of them appears to have some Tufted Duck in it's ancestry as it shows a Tufted Duck bill (completely dark tip, as opposed
5 January 2019
Reserve Update Thursday 3rd January
Happy New Year to everyone. Cooler start to 2019 which has drawn the smaller birds back into the Avenues, Treecreeper seen down Saltcot Loaning as well as Yellowhammers and Reed Bunting back in front of the Peter Scott Observatory. Two male Hen Harrie
3 January 2019
Reserve Update Monday 31st December
Usual suspects around this morning, waders in the fields, ducks on the ponds and Yellowhammers in the hedgerow! Hen Harriers were around yesterday with two male birds observed foraging over the outer merses. Tomorrow we will be holding our annual New
31 December 2018
Reserve Update Sunday 30th December
Exciting afternoon yesterday with reports of a small Canada Goose mixed in with the Barnacle Goose flock down at Avenue Tower. There has been a Todd's Canada Goose over on the Cumbrian coast so it could presumably be the same bird. A period of wild go
30 December 2018
Reserve Update Saturday 29th December
Wader numbers have been good around the site the previous couple of days with Oystercatcher and Redshank currently on the Folly Pond, no doubt to be joined by some Black-tailed Godwit later on in the day. The Curlew were present feeding in Newfield in g
29 December 2018
Latest Sightings - Friday 28th December
A dry and bright start to the day with a slight breeze. We have noticed an influx of newly arrived Whooper Swans on the reserve in the past few days, including some of our named swans. T. J. Whooper and Whoopie being the most recent, although they have
28 December 2018
Latest Sightings - Thursday 27th December
Another cloudy but dry morning on the reserve. The Great Egret is on the merse at the moment, usually to the west of the Saltcot Merse Observatory. A Sparrowhawk has been using the Saltcot Loaning and a Kestrel hovering over the Corner Field. Curlew, Lapw
27 December 2018
Latest Sightings - Wednesday 26th December
The mist of yesterday has cleared so we can at least see the reserve this morning. It's a dry start to the day, with plenty to see. Barnacle Geese are all around the site, duck numbers are high in the Flood Ground and Folly Pond. Waders have returned to t
26 December 2018
Latest Sightings - Monday 24th December
A frost last night has frozen many of the ponds and fields. Whooper Pond, Folly Pond and the Flood Ground are mostly ice free and that's where most of the birds are at the moment. A Mistle Thrush in the Avenue this morning is a fairly unusual species f
24 December 2018