The national flags of Iceland and Norway fluttered in the stiff breeze to welcome the party of Field Naturalists after their long drive up from Rochdale to the WWT reserve at Caerlaverock, near Dumfries in south west Scotland. The flags signify two of the great attractions of the reserve in winter – over 130 Whooper Swans who spend their winter here rather than in their Icelandic homeland, and even more impressive a staggering 7000 Barnacle Geese, from Svalbard, halfway between northern Norway and the north pole.
Peter Scott, the founder of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) recognised that the bill markings of the Whooper Swans were unique to each bird, and could therefore form the basis of research into the life history of these magnificent birds. The reserve warden provided a fascinating commentary on the swans during the afternoon feeding session, when the lake in front of the hide became alive with squabbling swans.
The entire breeding population of the Svalbard Barnacle Geese, with their distinctive white face and belly and black neck, spend their winter feeding in the fields and marshland on the Solway estuary and around the reserve, and presented spectacular scenes as skeins flew noisily from field to field, seen well from the reserve’s tower hides that offered panoramic views over the area.
There were, however, many other bird species of great interest to the party, nearly 60 others in fact. Waders such as Curlew, Golden Plover, Redshank and Blacktailed Godwits were in abundance, as were waterfowl such as Shelduck, Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler, Tufted Duck and Pintail. Of particular interest was the presence of a Green-winged Teal, a species that normally lives in north America but occasionally turns up in the UK. It is distinguished from our homegrown Teal by a vertical white stripe on the side of its chest and the lack of a horizontal white stripe on its flanks. By careful scanning of the teal flocks, helped by an enormous Japanese World War 2 pair of mounted binoculars in one of the hides, many members of the party were able to pick out this vagrant, a long way from its normal home.
Such is the variety of habitats at the reserve the party also enjoyed a good range of other birds, such as raptors like Hen Harrier, Sparrowhawk and Peregrine, passerines like Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting and Tree Sparrow, and other wetland birds like Water Rail and Little Egret.
It wasn’t just the birds that were of interest however, as roe deer and flowering daisies, gorse and snowdrops were also welcome February sightings. Regretfully, though, the reserve’s resident otter and badger failed to put in an appearance.
A welcome hot drink and cake in the reserve’s café fortified members of the party before they boarded the coach for the drive home, well satisfied with an exhilarating mix of wildlife.
Rick Cowley