Latest sightings

Caerlaverock saltmarsh as a carbon sink

Wetlands are hugely diverse habitats and, as a bonus, are major players in climate change mitigation. They help us to cope with the effects of global warming as well as limit it through carbon capture. This is the process of removing carbon dioxide from t

31 July 2024

Wetland Word of the Week 22

This week, our wetland word is... ... DREICH. Dreich is a Scottish word meaning dreary, gloomy and damp when used to discuss the weather. It comes from a Middle English word meaning long suffering and is still commonly used as an adjective meaning mise

29 July 2024

Our July highlights

A badger was seen wandering around near the Saltcot Loaning and the Peter Scott Observatory. Mostly, badgers are nocturnal and come out at night to look for food but when they are youngsters or if food is scarce, they venture out during the day. The reser

27 July 2024

Wetland Word of the Week 21

Our word this week is... ...QUAGMIRE, a soft, boggy area of land that gives way underfoot. It also is an awkward, complex or hazardous situation. We often use quagmire to refer to an area that has undergone a transformation to become boggy: "the heavy

22 July 2024

Summer Botany

Light burst upon the meadow, Reflections of colour afar. Wings on wind overhead, Beasts abound roaming, foraging. Rattles quaking throughout, Rusted cocoons splitting apart Seeds fly, memories lost. Youthful roots, memories’ origins In the s

21 July 2024

Tranquillity even on a rainy day

Working and living on site, it's safe to say that currently I spend most (if not all) of my time on WWT Caerlaverock grounds. And now it's summer (despite what the weather may suggest) a lot of my time is spent in our wildflower meadow conducting butterfl

17 July 2024

Wetland Word of the Week 20

This week's wetland word is...... CRIFFEL. Criffel is the name for the hill that dominates our skyline. It is solitary and imposing. It's name is suspected to come from the Norse 'Kraka-fjell' or 'Krakkaval' meaning 'Raven’s Hill', despite it actually b

15 July 2024

Nature's approval: The Wilder, Wetter Caerlaverock Diaries no.4

Years ago, drains were laid in many parts of the reserve to remove water from the fields to make it easier to farm the land. A gallant attempt but it’s very hard to force nature to be something that it isn’t. Even though the field drains were working,

10 July 2024

Wetland Word of the Week 19

Our wetland word today is... ... bitterie which means sand martin in Scots. The word comes from 'bite the bank' because this is the technique they use to remove material from the sandy cliffs to excavate their nests. Sand martins are a summer visitor to t

8 July 2024

Marvellous Moths

As I stroll down the Saltcot Loaning one morning, heading down to check on the sheep, something fluttering catches my eye. It lands gracefully on a leaf so I can get a closer look at it. It’s a moth – a common carpet to be exact. I take a (fairly dece

7 July 2024

What have we seen this week?

We are into July now and have been experiencing a lot of mixed weather, from pouring to bright sunshine in a matter of minutes. The wet weather hasn’t discouraged our buzzing insects though. Meadow brown, ringlet and speckled wood butterflies have been

4 July 2024

Wetland Word of the Week 18

This week's word is... ... pond, a pool of water in a depression made naturally or artificially. Collectively, they support more species, and more scarce species, than any other freshwater habitat. Creating a pond is one of the most important things

1 July 2024

Wetland Word of the Week 17

This week's wetland word is... ... gled, meaning red kite in Scots. Although maybe not the first bird you think of when you think of Caerlaverock, the red kit or gled is a conservation success story so we want to shout about it! After going extinct in

24 June 2024

A new recruit flying in

Hi, everyone. I’m Rebekah and I have just started as the new reserve warden alongside Charlie. I first became interested in conservation through volunteering as a young ranger with the Lake District National Park and with Eden Rivers Trust based in

20 June 2024

Wetland Words of the Week 16

Our newest wetland word of the week is... ... Comlongon. I'm sure you have heard of Caerlaverock Castle but have you heard of Comlongon Castle? Located north of the reserve, it was a tower house built in the 16th century that was then extended with a baro

17 June 2024