Falls of Clyde Recent Sightings- 8-14 May 2017

So this week was another fantastic week for sightings. I could talk about how on our first badger watch we saw three cubs and an adult for a good 30 minutes. There are however other species important to our reserve. We have seen hairy rock cress blooming in the gorge which is great news.

© Lizzie Wilberforce- Hairy rock cress
Hairy rock cress – © Lizzie Wilberforce

 

So as mentioned we have seen badger but also fox, rabbit, pipistrelle bat and roe deer with a fawn for our mammals. These were all seen in one night on our badger walk. So there is definitely more to see then our badgers.

For our wildflowers we have wild garlic growing on the corehouse side of the reserve. We also have wood anemone, dandelion, great wood rush, lesser celandine, marsh marigold, dog’s mercury, cuckoo flower, alternate-leaved golden saxifrage, opposite-leaved golden saxifrage, red campion, common dog violet, wood sorrel, bluebell, wild strawberry and pink purslane. We also have the addition of wavy bitter cresscreeping forget me notwhite dead-nettle, meadow saxifrage, water avens, crosswort, sweet woodruff, greater stitchwort, pignut and globe flower.

For our insects we have had sightings of orange-tip butterfly and green-veined butterfly and with our bumblebees we have had buff-tailed bumblebee, white tailed bumblebee and common carder bee. I continued with my moth trapping and managed to get one early thorn, four Hebrew character, one brindled pug and one nut-tree tussock.

On the reserve for our birds we have a pair of common sandpiper often pipping just outside the office often accompanied by the dippers. We have had three mute swan fly over the reserve and can constantly hear chiff chaff, willow warbler and blackcap all regularly singing.  There have been numerous sightings of dunnock, grey heron, great spotted woodpecker, robin, wren, great tit, blue tit, coal tit and starlings. This is has been the week where our young birds are starting to come out with a young mistle thrush and fledgling robin on the boardwalk so do please be careful of your dogs as we don’t want our baby robins gobbled up!

Finally to what has been seen off the reserve. There has been a sighting of osprey just outside Lanark at Hyndford Bridge. At Merryton there have been reports of a lesser whitethroat. At Barons Haugh there have been reporting’s of wood sandpiper, great white egret and drake eider.

Feel free to send in your local sightings to fallsofclyde@scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk.

Mike Butler – Falls of Clyde Seasonal Ranger, Scottish Wildlife Trust
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Preface

So this week was another fantastic week for sightings. I could talk about how on our first badger watch we saw three cubs and an adult for a good 30 …

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