Notices and a bit of fun!

I was going to blog this at the end of my last entry, but as Grahame says mine are very long I thought I’d best do a new one! :-) There are a couple of things we’d like to let you know about.

Open to All!

First, the fun bit! We are very pleased to say that Scottish Wildlife Trust has agreed to Cullaloe Local Nature Reserve having an Open Day during the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Wildlife Week :-) Grahame and I are VERY excited about this as we are understandably proud of the reserve and would love to show it off to as many people as possible! :-)

As this blog entry goes to press the details are still being finalised but there is talk of guided walks, pond-dipping and maybe even a treasure-hunt to take part in, so it would be really great to see some of our blog-readers joining in and helping to make the day a success! :-) The details are as follows:

Place: Cullaloe Local Nature Reserve!

Time: 11am – 3pm

Date: Saturday 07 June 2008

We will post further details as they become available! :-)

And now for something a little different…

Dusk till Dawn

Many of our visitors may have noticed that there is a gate near the top of the slope, just after the disabled parking bay. You may also have spied the sign there which lets you know that the car park gate will be locked at dusk or 9pm. It has been quite some time since this sign has been accurate, however, following a recent meeting at the reserve the decision has been taken to begin locking the gate over-night. This is to try to prevent much of the littering in the car-park which has become a bit of an issue.

Anyone who wishes to visit the reserve once the gate has been lock is still more than welcome to do so. We are very happy to encourage genuine wildlife watchers to park their cars in the disabled bay if they wish to take a walk along to the lochside and listen out for nocturnal manoeuvres in the dark! Please do take care if you are visiting the reserve at night as it can be quite easy to wander off the path and there are many ruts and bumps in the ground that are well-hidden by grass.

Thanks for your attention!

Dew-covered grass means wet feet!

Something possessed Grahame and I on Saturday night and made us think it would be a great idea to go to the reserve at 7.30am on Sunday morning – and you know something – it was worth it! :-) I’m serious – it really was! Don’t believe me? Then read on…

It was a truly beautiful morning and we pulled into the reserve (doing the usual 1 mile an hour!) wondering what we might see. Well, how about a couple of roe deer grazing at the end of the dam to kick us off? :-) I have to admit – much as I love my birds, I truly enjoy catching out the larger mammals we have around the reserve – and deer are my absolute favourites! I love the way they can be standing stock still one moment, and the next they leap sideways and take off into the undergrowth – sometimes so fast that you can’t really be sure you saw them at all! :-)

Once I’d calmed myself down – and Grahame had taken his hands down from his ears – we sat in the car quietly for a minute or two and were amazed to see a fox slinking along the back of the filter beds! It came from the direction of the dam and headed towards the right hand side of the car park. What really tickled us, though, was the fact that it appeared to be carrying a hedgehog in its mouth! I have no idea whether the amount of eating in a hedgehog warrants the danger of dealing with the prickles – but I suppose the fox knows what he is doing! It did remind me of hedgehog flavour crisps that were on sale for a limited time when I was a kid at high school circa 1990 though! ;-)

After we finally exited the car, disturbing the nesting moorhen on the filter beds as we did, we heading on up the steps to the top of the dam where we were hit by the cacophony of songs from the various warblers (garden warbler, another LBJ, now added to the species list! ;-)) along with our resident song thrush singing his heart out at the very top of the highest tree and the swallows zipping around playing tag in the sky. It is nice to stand at the top of the steps and take a deep breath of the sweet smelling fresh air – not least because the steps are quite steep and can take it out of you a bit - but also because you get a great view looking easterly over the reserve with a fair spread of the mature willow trees, younger trees of various types and the boggy grasslands being so successfully reclaimed by the work of the Conservation Team and local Air Cadets.

The daffodils have now almost entirely disappeared, but are gradually being replaced with violets, pink campion and other meadow varieties. This is going to help Grahame in increasing species numbers when completing the butterfly transects as we are seeing more butterflies every day. Sunday marked the appearance of the Orange Tip Butterfly (see photo below) – although I am quite sure when Grahame goes out to do his timed walk, the Orange Tip will be very well hidden along with the rest of our flying beauties! ;-) I am noticing all the different types of bees a bit more this year though! I have to say the most involvement I usually have with a buzzing insect is standing still and hoping it doesn’t want to sting me – but I am trying to take a greater interest. I am quite taken with a smallish variety that has an orange bottom and a single orangey-yellow stripe across its back! :-) I’m afraid I haven’t managed to identify it… answers on a postcard! ;-) I spent a good couple of minutes just watching as he moved in a zig-zag from one flower head to the next, gathering up pollen as went. Bees are quite pretty really and I’m glad I’m not as scared of them as I used to be… although my hands are still firmly rooted in my pockets while I’m watching! ;-)

We reached the loch side and were pleased to see 3 different little grebes, 2 of whom seemed to be a pair and the other appeared to be nesting in the rushes. A single swan was gliding about in the centre of the loch and the mallard and tufted ducks were keeping to their usual corner – towards the back left. We didn’t see the mallard chicks this time but I’m sure they will still be around! :-)

We left the waterfowl to their foraging and walked down the slope towards the spillway with the usual tits and finches flitting about in the trees. There are plenty of them but they don’t seem to be using the feeding station as much now. Fresh bugs probably taste much better than dried seed! ;-) When we reached the spillway, we glanced down at the water – then did a double take at the hundreds, if not thousands, of tadpoles we could see!! Little black dots swimming this way and that – big black groups of them in some places – so thick you couldn’t make out individuals! They are on both sides of the spillway bridge so I can only assume that some have even tumbled down the stream to the pool at the bottom of the spillway!! No wonder a female and juvenile heron were taking such an interest in our loch earlier in the week!! There are very easy pickings just now.

We carried on up to the sheep field and saw that our cheeky lambs were inside the field boundary this time… Trust me – this is become a rare occurrence – despite the efforts of our shepherd, Tim, to make the fence escape-proof! ;-) Even though they are growing quickly now, I still love to see them skipping about. However, there was one very large (and at the same time, very small) distraction for Grahame and I this time… A lizard! :-) Grahame spied it sitting on the path and very quietly crept up alongside it. As it was still very early in the morning, the lizard (Grahame identified it as a common lizard) hadn’t yet been out in the sun long enough to warm up properly, so Grahame was able to get close enough to touch it! :-) I doubt very much I would have seen it but our Convenor has eagle-eyed vision sometimes! :-)

We walked to the end of the sheep field and then turned to walk back – and surprise, surprise the lambs were on our side of the fence this time! Man – I wish I could stay annoyed at them for it – but I can’t resist their cute wee faces and wagging tails! :-) We walked very slowly towards them and they obliged us by scrambling back under the fence and running to their mama! If you should see the lambs outside the fence – and you need to walk past them – please walk slowly and make as little noise as possible. They should run back into the field without any trouble. I will just ask dog-owners to keep their dogs on leads in this part of the reserve again at this point though – I’m sure you can appreciate our concerns.

Have to laugh at Grahame at this point… We had obviously walked through a fair amount of grass in getting beyond the sheep field – and it was as we reached the slope beside the loch that he looked miserably down at his trainer-clad feet and said “yuck!” ;-) I myself had worn walking boots because dew-covered grass and trainers invariably mean wet feet! ;-) You’d think that with all his experience of the outdoors, Grahame would know that, wouldn’t you? ;-)

Butterflies, Ducklings and Electronic Alarms!

I have been inspired by nature to write the blog again today! :-) After the torrential rain of Monday, its lovely to get some sunshine and, reminiscent of Sunday’s visit to the reserve, the air smells fresh and fragrant with the spring blooms bursting into life all around and its making my fingers twitch!

As Grahame and I drove down the slope to the car park, the daffodils were still waving their heads in the slightly more gentle than normal breeze blowing across the top of the old dam, but their pale beauty is becoming more and more eclipsed by the wealth of deep golden yellow offered by the gorse which surrounds you as you pull up into the car park.

Sometimes it is easy to forget that the entry road and car park have a whole lot of interest to offer in their own right, and so I’d like to make a small suggestion here… When you turn onto the reserve, slow your car, wind down the windows, turn off your music – and just enjoy! :-) On recent trips to the reserve Grahame has spooked 2 heron off the filter beds, and a moorhen is regularly to be found floating in and around the edges, so it is worth taking your time to make your approach as quiet as possible :-) Who knows what you might see… Grahame has even seen a stoat slinking off into the tall grass!

As we parked up, a buzzard swooped lazily down from one of the telegraph poles up the hill to the right and made a leisurely circuit of the area, while on the filter beds the moor hen poked about in the vegetation for the choicest nest-building materials. Having brought lunch we decided to eat it right there and take in the sights and sounds for a while – and the noise was incredible! :-) In direct contrast to the lazy meanderings of the buzzard, the blue tits were in full voice, and at full speed, darting through the trees before rising into the sky to give an amazing aerobatics display! There were at least two pairs involved and plenty of chattering back and forth as they criss-crossed the air. They were so caught up in their game that one of them nearly ploughed straight into Grahame – missing him by about a foot! There were also a few Reed Bunting in the area, occasionally living up to their names by hanging on to the stalks of the tall grasses leading up to the slope of the old dam!

The main reason for visiting the reserve on Sunday was to take advantage of the lovely weather and walk the route of the Butterfly Transect Grahame set up as part of the Butterfly Conservation Society’s UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. This is basically one of a series of 26 visits, undertaken on a weekly basis between April and September, where butterflies are recorded within 5m of a set route. I am pleased to say that after 3 weeks of zero, we have finally logged our first two butterflies for this year! They were both Peacock Butterflies and were found at the opposite ends of the reserve, so we can be sure they were not the same one twice!

The trip was by no means wasted even though these were our only two sightings! :-) Grahame has always been a lover of the LBJ’s (little brown jobs!) such as the warblers, chiffchaffs, whitethroat and buntings, and they have not been disappointing him so far! The melodic song of the willow warbler accompanied us on every step of the route, with the birds themselves being content to sit among the catkins of the willow trees. It was easy to see where they might have taken their name, given that the pastel shades of their plumage are perfectly reflected in the colours of the willow tree itself! The more sharp bark of the chiffchaff was also prominent, and the loud croak of the pheasant added to the music :-)

The loch is becoming more interesting as each day passes and Sunday provided its own little surprise! Grahame and I were just scanning around the edges looking for the dabchick (little grebe) when both of us happened upon something small and dark towards the far bank… Following a small adjustment of the binoculars and a couple of gasps, we were delighted to see 7 little mallard ducklings paddling like crazy after their mum! :-) Neither of us had really expected to see chicks just yet – although granted we are nearly at the end of April now. I suspect the dodgy weather has been fooling us into thinking that its still winter!

Just a small apology here for anyone who likes nipping to the loch-side to check out the birds at the peanut feeders… We have gotten a little lax in filling the feeders just recently due to a number of other personal commitments, however, now that the lighter evenings are rolling in normal service will be resumed. One of the peanut feeders does need a bit of repair work, so it may be just two of them being filled for a little while… a bushy tailed visitor has been a bit impatient about getting his hands on our peanuts!

Sadly, there was a little bit of disappointment as we neared the sheep field. We were really hoping that there might be more than two bouncy lambs for us to see – but it is common practice for ewes to be taken indoors during the lambing season these days and the flying flock are no exception so the field is looking very empty :-( However, the mother with the two lambs that have already been born are still in residence, so please do check on their progress if you are at the reserve – they are getting bigger very quickly but are still very cute with their wagging tails :-)

As we continued the Butterfly Transect beyond the sheep field, Grahame suddenly stopped and put his finger to his lips. It was the unmistakable call of the Grasshopper Warbler! Another item to be added to the species list for the reserve! :-) We tried very, very hard to spot the singer, but he was far too well hidden in the trees. As we had stopped to look and listen, we were treated to a fist fight by two male bullfinches who showed amazing agility in chasing each other through the winding branches of the willow trees! I don’t know how they were able to avoid them all, although there were a couple of close calls!

The remainder of the Transect, which basically ends at the point where the Dour Burn crosses the path at the east-most end of the reserve, was pretty quiet with the occasional chaffinch call and the bleeting of the sheep belonging to the farm east of the reserve. However, as we crossed the last open grassland area, I startled a hare (and myself!) out of the grass! I was amazed as I’d just walked past it and hadn’t seen a thing! Wildlife really is the master of disguise sometimes – which is why you should always walk slowly and talk quietly when you are out and about! :-) Grahame was happy as he’d just spotted a lapwing taking to the skies. They really are beautiful birds – but with a song that frankly sounds like an electronic alarm! :-)

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, but still a lovely walk from one end of the reserve to the other all the same :-) We jumped back into the car with 2 butterfly sightings and a couple more amazing wildlife experiences under our belts and the feeling that we’d had a good day - and isn’t that really all that matters sometimes? :-)

More arrivals, plus outings

First of all, apologies for the slow update to the blog. Janie and I have been away up north for a few days for a spot of R & R. We're back now, though, so I promise I'll keep it up to date, particularly with all of the new arrivals we're getting.

On April 12th we had an outing to the reserve from the Edinburgh Natural History Society. It was a relativley pleasant day, though the wind was bitingly cold. Despite the late spring we've been having this year, plenty was to be seen. The highlights were the Roe Deer up on the hills, the Hares in the neighbouring field and the Snipe which were flushed from the Snipe Bog. Several different plant and fungi species were identified on the reserve, and I'd like to express a big thank you to everyone who came along and particularly those who helped me understand and identify the various plants on the reserve.
I have to admit, plants really are not my strong point (I normally leave those to Janie) so it was good to get an insight from such knowledgeable people.

Recently we've had the arrival of Willow Warblers on the reserve. We had our first sighting on Sunday 13th April and they've been there ever since. When i went along yesterday evening, i counted at least 10 singing birds, along with 4 or 5 singing Chiffchaffs. We've recently had an increase in Reed Buntings to the reserve, with 4 males and 2 females sighted this morning.
The most interesting new sighting on the reserve over the past little while was a Common Lizard found on Sunday. I found it in the early morning near the field where the flying flock are resident.

Janie and I have also invested in some pond dipping kits, which we've taken out for a little outing to the reserve. It's still early yet for a lot of the pond life, but there were still plenty of water boatmen, beetle larvae, beetles, snails and flatworms to be found. We'll definitely be doing that more regularly. Who knows, i may even be able to persuade Janie to update the blog again with some of our findings!

Ringing in the Trees

Hey all! :-)

Firstly, a quick apology for the lack of update on what is becoming quite a busy and exciting time for the reserve! Grahame, who is the primary writer of blog updates, has been very busy recently as we are involved with conducting a few surveys and building our species lists as quickly as we can with new items are appearing all the time. On the reserve, homes are being built, mating songs are being sung, and new arrivals are popping in for the day or even being born on site so plenty of jostling for position can be seen at the feeding stations! So, given that there is a fair bit to be said, I thought I’d do the update again this time and share a bit about what has been going on! :-)

Spring has sprung at Cullaloe and every day there is something new to see, hear or smell. It is quite a feast for the senses and, on Sunday, the Dunfermline RSPB Wildlife Explorers came along to see what all the fuss was about for themselves! Just as a bit of background, RSPB Wildlife Explorers is a membership of the RSPB that is open to children aged 4 – 19 years old. Mark, our local bird-ringing expert, very kindly agreed to come along and show the Explorers what ringing is all about, which was brilliant news as this is definitely something that appeals to wildlife devotees of all ages! ;-)

Now you may have noticed that the weather has been rather changeable of late and the drive to the reserve was a little hairy in the blizzard-like conditions! I have to admit, I did wonder whether the snow might put a dent in the day by persuading the Explorers to stay indoors, so it was great to see so many people starting the trek up the hill from the car park (and yes – I’m afraid I was late again – but there was snow… and no grit yet… and… *blush*). Luckily Grahame and Mark had both arrived in plenty of time and the group were well buttoned and booted up against the chill of the morning air :-)

We started by taking a walk along the top of the old dam to the viewing point that overlooks the willow scrub on the one side and the filter beds on the other. Grahame took a moment to explain some of the history of the reserve and its previous life as a water refinery. The weather had dampened the level of bird activity around us and the only accompaniment we had on the first part of our tour was the beautiful sound of a song thrush, singing from the very top of one of the tallest trees on the reserve… or so we thought! As we all made our way back to the path leading to the Loch, we were amazed to see a chain of bird-prints running along the path where only moments before the crisp new snow had only been broken by an occasional human footprint! After a bit of consideration it was suggested that the culprit may have been a Snipe, and sure enough as we walked along towards the Loch, a group of 4 Snipe rose into the air from the willow scrub area. I have to admit I was pleased to see that many together as it suggests that all the hard work we and the local cadets have put into clearing some of the scrub for the benefit of Snipe may just be paying off! :-)

Just on the subject of the Loch, regular visitors may have noticed that the bamboo section of the screen overlooking the Loch has been removed. This is due to damage caused over a period of years which was finally brought to a head by the recent high winds. We are currently seeking funding for timber to erect a permanent replacement for the screen in the hope that this will stand up to the pressures of time, weather and the occasional enterprising visitor! If anyone thinks they may be able to help, please get in touch.

Mark met our group as we entered the trees beside the Loch and gave a bit of background on bird-ringing, the equipment used, the purpose behind ringing, and the qualifications required. Then, once the mist net had been set, we went to take a look at the Loch to let the birds come and settle around the feeders again.

There were a few birds to be seen on and around the Loch, most notably the first sighting of a swallow for this year – thanks to Matthew for spotting it skimming over the Loch! Our resident male swan from last year has returned but this time with a different female as this one features a ring. I was surprised at this as I had thought that swans mated for life, however, I read up on it a bit and, where it is necessary, they are not adverse to taking up with a new partner. They seem to be getting on very well and have already established their nest in a spot close to where last year’s was sited. Also to be seen were coots, tufted ducks and a dabchick (little grebe).

It wasn’t long, though, before our attention was taken by one of the young Explorers who had been keeping an eye on the mist net and spotted that some birds had already become caught up in it. Sure enough, when we all went to take a look, some blue tits and great tits had gotten tangled in the very fine mesh of the net. Mark carefully untangled each bird (a task that required great skill and patience!) and popped them into individual cloth bags ready for ringing. Once he was ready to start, you could feel the anticipation as Mark gently brought the first bird out of its bag, with children and adults alike leaning forward to see as much as possible. It was definitely one of those “I love my job” moments for Grahame and I as everyone’s faces as Mark carefully measured the bird’s wing, noted its age and weighed it in what one visitor described as a “piping bag” were full of amazement and interest :-) We even found that one blue tit had been ringed at Cullaloe by Mark before – 5 and a half years earlier! That amazed even Grahame who didn’t think that blue tits lived that long. He was equally impressed that it was happy to still be living at Cullaloe after all that time! :-)

Although we only captured blue tits and great tits in our net this time around (no woodpeckers much to Grahame’s disappointment!), bird numbers appear to be on the increase on the reserve with more species being recorded all the time. We have well over 40 different birds on the species list now and it should be noted that this is the best source for the latest information on the species on the reserve. Although we try to update the blog on a weekly basis, the species list is updated immediately after any visit during which a new species is recorded, so be sure to take a look.

There are some other new additions to the reserve this week but who are not from the world of birds. Cullaloe is currently host to the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s flying flock (in the field beyond the Loch) and some of the ewes have begun to give birth. If you happen to be visiting the reserve and would like to see how our bouncy spring lambs are doing, please feel free to take a look. We would ask that you be as quiet as possible so as not to disturb the sheep too much, and would appreciate it if dogs were not walked beyond the spillway for the moment.

And finally, just to advise, the Edinburgh Natural History Society will be making a visit to the reserve tomorrow (Saturday 12 April 2008) and will likely be on site for the best part of the day. Grahame will be present to act as a guide and to share his knowledge of the reserve where he can.

The return of the migrants

It seems that the first of our migrants have finally returned to the reserve. I went to the reserve on Monday, as it was such a lovely day. As i was walking along the path, just past the screen, i could hear the tell tale call of the Chiffchaff. It only took a couple of minutes from there to see it.
Hopefully, this will mean that the rest of our African summer visitors will be arriving within the next few weeks. I suspected we will see swallows or sand martins next.
The lone Little Grebe on the loch has been joined by a partner, so I'm getting quite hopeful that we might have some breeding success for them this year. We also had a pair of Shelduck stop over on Monday for the day, but they didn't stay long. From reports, they have attempted to breed on the reserve in the past, but it doesn't look like this year will be another attempt.

Just to advise, we have the RSPB Wildlife Explorers visiting the reserve this Sunday. They'll be getting a guided tour and a bit of a ringing demonstration from Mark.

Keep an eye on the species list. It gets updated more regularly than the blog does, and right now it's constantly changing

New Arrivals

The migrants from abroad have not yet arrived on the reserve, but there are several reports of them arriving in the south of England now, so it shouldn't be more than a week or two till they are here.
We have, however had some new bird species arrive on the reserve in the past week or so. There has been a pair of Bullfinches on the reserve, which I've seen a couple of times. I've also had sightings of Pied Wagtail. The most interesting addition was the arrival of a Little Grebe to the reserve today. They have been reported as breeding on the reserve for quite a few years, but did not appear to be last year. Hopefully this new arrival will be followed by a partner and we'll get a successful breeding year for them!
Although in saying that, the pair of Mute Swans have now returned to the loch, so once they become territorial, they may scare off some of the smaller birds that might nest on the loch. I guess time will tell on that front.
Some of you may have already noticed that there is a mound of clay and rubble on the reserve at the car park right now. I know it isn't the prettiest sight in the world, but it shouldn't be there for all that long and hopefully it will be put to good use by SWT, either at Cullaloe or on the other reserves in the area. Cullaloe was chosen as the place to store this as it has what is probably the best access for large vehicles of all the reserves in the area.
In an additional note, i saw a mammal species today which i have not seen on the reserve before. There was a Stoat roaming around the car park this morning, which was really good to see!

Showing signs of spring

I'm away for the weekend, and i suspect as a result i'll miss some interesting arrivals to the reserve.
I went down today and the daffodils have started to bloom. I also saw my first red-tailed Bumblebee of the year. A sure sign that Spring is edging ever closer! I suspect it won't be long now till we hear the familiar 'chiff chaff, chiff chaff' of the first warbler arrivals to the reserve.
Our male mute swan has returned to the reserve as well. Here's hoping he's soon joined by a female and we get another successful year.
The most interesting sighting today was just as i was about to get into the car and drive off. I heard a very loud croaking noise and when i looked up, there was the familiar diamond tail of a Raven! They're not particularly common in this area, so it was good to see. I only saw ravens once last year at Cullaloe, so if i see it again, i'll have improved on the record!Anyway, i'm now off on a trip to Ayr for the weekend for College. If anyone is planning on visiting the reserve this weekend, please feel free to let me know what i miss!
On that note, if you see something that isn't on the species list, I'd be grateful if you could let me know so i can add it to the list.

The Flying Flock

The weather has been pretty awful the past few days, so I've not had much chance to get to the reserve. Last time i was there was on Thursday, which was simply a quite trip to top up the seed feeders.
Mind you, i did get my first Sparrowhawk sighting of the year then, so I'm certainly not complaining! The Species list continues to grow. I don't think it will be too long now till we start seeing and hearing the first arrivals of the spring and summer migrants.

Since i haven't been on the reserve much and can't update you on what is happening just now, i figured I'd use the opportunity to explain what the flying flock is and why they are on the reserve.
I mentioned in my last post that some sheep have arrived from the flying flock and are grazing one of the meadows on the reserve. The flying flock is SWTs own flock of sheep. They travel around various sites both in Fife and in other predominantly lowland areas. I think in total the SWT have over 300 sheep now, although only 25 of these are currently resident at Cullaloe.
The purpose of the flying flock is to provide practical management for some reserves in the form of grazing. By regularly grazing certain areas, they can actually help preserve the variety of plant species in the area. They can help prevent areas from becoming overgrown and dominated by particularly invasive species.
Currently at Cullaloe, they only graze one meadow, but there are plans to have them start grazing a second meadow on the reserve. We don't have them at Cullaloe all year round. That would result in the meadows being over grazed and little growing there. It is done at specific times of the year to preserve plant species.

So there you have it. I probably could have written for hours about the flying flock, but i figured it would be best to give just a small indication of why they were there.

Hopefully the weather will improve so that i can give a good report of things happening on the reserve next time!

The Willow Screen

I went down to the reserve today to fill up the feeders to find that the willow screen had been tampered with. There is now a gap, almost one foot high at eye level of the average person in the screen.
This infuriates me. It is an act of pure vandalism, and the thing that annoys me most is that i am certain that the people responsible for this are bird watchers!!
Do people not understand the purpose of hides and screens? Yes, it to to give people the opportunity to see the wildlife, but more importantly, it is there to prevent DISTURBING the birds. The way things are now, there is little to no chance of any birds breeding close to the screen or at that side of the loch because some thoughtless individuals have taken it upon themselves to create a gap in the screen so they can see better.
I just can't believe that bird watchers would be so inconsiderate to the actual birds and so self-centered. They are clearly only interested in what view they get of the birds, not on the impact this has on the birds themselves. For me, the first rule of bird watching is to do so WITHOUT disturbing the birds.
If the people responsible for this read this, i hope they are ashamed of themselves. They've clearly put no thought into the disturbance they have caused and the results will continue to cause to the birds and also no thought about the time and effort David Blair and his conservation team put in to erect the screen for the benefits of the birds and for the people. I don't expect the people responsible for this to come forward or to make amends. I suspect that they will show true cowardice on this front.
Please be aware that anyone seen tampering with the screen, or on any other part of the reserve will be reported to the police for vandalism. Enough is enough now. It is a nature reserve, for the benefit of nature. We don't need these bad elements spoiling it.

On a slightly different note, please be aware that some sheep from the Flying Flock are now using one of the meadows on the reserve. Please keep dogs under control at all times to avoid worrying the sheep.
And on the dog front. Please pick up after your dog. I don't like stepping in it, and i'm sure nobody else does either. It has no benefit to the nature interests on the reserve, so please remove it.

Anyway, i think I've ranted enough for now. Again a reminder that anyone seen causing damage to any part of the reserve will be reported for vandalism. I welcome any comments, both positive and negative to this post.

First signs of Spring

I've been visiting the reserve quite a bit the past few days for stress relief and to work out some pain while i recover from a car accident last weekend. It has been good, and there's definitely some signs that Spring is in the air!
We've got snowdrops in bloom down at the car park right now, and some of the birds have started singing. It's a real cacophony of bird noise along there right now. I could sit at the screen all day and just listen to the bird noise!
We've also had quite a few birds added to the species list in the past week or so, taking the total up to 35 for the year so far. I'm pretty sure that figure will double before the year is out, too!
I've modified the species list a little to include the date of last sighting of birds (I haven't done it for the other species - butterflies, mammals, insects, plants, etc) since i suspect the majority of visitors to the reserve are there for the birds. I think it may be best to have a last sighting date so that people can see the chances of seeing any given bird species currently. I've also tried to sort it in date order, with most recent sightings first. If you take, for example, the Jay. I only saw one in the whole time i was visiting last year, yet i saw one just a couple of days ago. I wouldn't expect to see them anytime soon, but people might be under the impression from the species list that they can be seen all the time.

Just a reminder that we will be having the local air cadets on site doing some work this weekend. The forecast looks good, so for a rare change, we might actually get a decent amount of work done!

Raising the water level

On Friday i went to the reserve and I sealed the valve which allows us to lower the water level. The water level should remain pretty high now until the end of summer, when we'll lower it again.
We had planned to do a number of things at the edge of the loch this winter, when the water level was lower. Not least of which was to scrape away some of the encroaching rushes to create an area of bare mud for the Mudwort to establish itself on. Unfortunately, due to the high volume of rain we've had this winter, the water level has never stayed low enough for long enough for us to do any of this work. It is slightly disappointing, but sometimes these things happen. We'll probably try again later in the year, once we lower the water level again.

I'm going to have to make a point of ignoring the weather forecasts for ever, now! I'm slightly annoyed that I've cancelled the latest planned visit by the local air cadets for today due to forecast adverse conditions. Looking out of the window just now it's a little overcast, but it's still dry. It hasn't really rained for 3 days, despite numerous weather warnings for the met office for blizzard conditions! I feel bad about not having them come on site. Apparently they've become quite enthusiastic about the reserve and the work they've been doing and I'd really rather utilize that enthusiasm than let it dwindle.
On the plus side, thanks to Janie, we should have a back up plan for the next time they're due to visit. She's managed to find a source of wood, so if the weather prevents us from going on site, we can use the cadet hall to have the cadets building nest boxes for the birds on the reserve.

When i was on the reserve on Thursday, i managed to see something I've never actually seen on the reserve before. Foxes! We've always known they were there, with prints and scat clearly showing that they've been using the reserve, but this was the first time I've seen the actual animals. I saw one not far from the peanut feeders and another one on the hill near the car park. It sat and stared at me while i sat in the car warming my hands up after spending 2 hours on the reserve in freezing conditions.
As I've mentioned in a previous post. Finding field signs of mammals on the reserve is quite easy, but normally we wouldn't expect to see the mammals themselves. It makes it a real treat when you do, though! I won't be forgetting it for a while, that's for sure!

Squelch!

Hi everyone! Its Janie here, the Reserve Warden for Cullaloe. I thought I would give everyone a little change and do a blog entry for the first time! I’ll apologise now if it isn’t as polished as Grahame’s have become! ;-)

Well, hasn’t the weather been awful the last few days? Thank goodness Grahame and I decided to take advantage of a lull in the rain on Sunday and head along to the Reserve to have a nose around and see what we could see! I know what you are thinking… don’t we do that fairly often anyway? Well, it’s true that Grahame can be found on site most days, me a bit less so, but we don’t normally go far off the beaten track so every once in a while we go exploring! ;-)

Thank goodness most of the flooding has drained from the car park now – although if you are planning to visit make sure you wear sturdy shoes as the mud that has been left behind can get a bit slippy! The filter beds are looking rather dull just now as the water looks a little reminiscent of a weak cup of tea, but there are still plenty of insects and fish going about their business, as evidenced by the occasional break in the surface.

The walk along to the Loch was punctuated by a buzzard swooping around above the rise on the east of the Reserve, great tits alarm calling and a robin who was bobbing along ahead of us, encouraging us to follow him in a charming way. The Loch itself gave its usual bounty of coot, mallard, mute swan and a few teal, and I enjoyed a little entertainment when a heron that had been feeding in the rushes near to the screen startled and rose up into the air right in front of Grahame who hadn’t even noticed it! Admittedly, neither had I, but I didn’t jump the way Grahame did! ;-) It just goes to show that sometimes us bird-watching types need to keep the binoculars on our chests to see what is right there in front of us!

On the way towards the spillway, the chaffinches were out in force in the trees to the left of the path, whereas the feeding area on the right was dominated almost entirely by great and blue tits. Although there has been a lot of rainfall recently, the spillway is still dry from the ledge a third of the way along its length coming from the direction of the Loch. I have to admit that I am starting to wish it would refill now – and I’m sure it will once the valve to the overflow has been closed once more. This wish is partly because I love creeping along that portion of the path and popping my head up just above the tops of the plants to see what I can catch unawares (how else do you spy a kingfisher? ;-)), but also because I am finding it a little frustrating to be counting more than a hundred birds on the Loch one moment and seeing them all rise in a panic the next, only to find someone standing in the middle of the dried up spillway with their binoculars or a scope out! Having only mediocre binoculars myself, I can completely understand the urge to get a little closer to whatever you are trying to identify, but please allow the birds their comfort zone as well. It is much more enjoyable to be able to watch the various waterfowl as they drift sedately around on the Loch before gracefully rising as one into the air in their own time, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Anyway, as I said, the purpose of Sunday was pretty much exploring and our route took us into some of the more-out-of-reach areas of the Reserve. I have to be honest and say that this was one time that, for me, the journey was more productive than the destination as we were constantly stopping to identify birds, prints in the mud or droppings! However, sight was not the only sense being used as Grahame picked up the strong musky odour of the fox at one point (we’d already photographed his print as Grahame’s photograph shows), and there was also the unmistakable sound of prey being turned into dinner for a sparrowhawk as we picked our way carefully along part of the Dour Burn.

The highlight of the day for me though was the sighting of a family of goldcrest in one of the more mature trees just beyond the sheep pasture at the east end of the Reserve. Grahame spotted one first and tried to draw my attention to it as I’ve never seen one but –in the way they do – by the time I’d gotten my binoculars up and tracked it to another tree, it was well hidden! Then Grahame turned his attention to something else sitting in the same tree as the goldcrest had been and I managed to spot another two flitting about from branch to branch! :-) Now, if I do many of these blog entries, you will soon realise that I am not big on the LBJs (little brown jobs – warblers, sparrows, buntings – that kind of thing). I just find them a little difficult to identify. But I don’t think even I’ll manage to forget that gorgeous little flash of gold on the head of the goldcrest in a hurry! Definitely worth the wait and a pleasure to watch.

So, I guess the moral of this story is that even though the Reserve may look a bit bare and even untidy in places right now – there is still a fair bit to be seen if you have a little patience, some warm clothes and some spare time on your hands! Don’t forget that you can comment on our blog entries, so if you see something of interest and want to encourage others to take a look, please let us know! :-)

Flooding

With us having so much heavy rain recently, water levels have been running extremely high on the reserve. The loch is currently up to it's summer levels, even though the valve has not been closed! It's basically filling up faster than it can empty right now.
As a downside, the water had caused quite a bit of flooding at the car park, but hopefully a little dry spell will sort it all out. It's sunny outside as i write this, so who knows!

Below is a photo of the car park taken on Monday afternoon. As you can see, it's not exactly the nicest place to be parking!

Even with all the rain, we've managed to increase the species list by a few species in the past week, so it's not all bad.

Surveying and monitoring

Well, the first week of the year has now passed and we've already got a pretty good bird list for the year, with 25 species having been recorded so far.

This year both me and Janie plan on doing a whole lot of surveying and monitoring of the species present on the reserve. Not just birds, but plants, mammals, insects, trees, etc. The idea is to build up a complete picture of what can be found on the reserve.

The Species list link to the right will hopefully contain a complete listing for everyone to see as it gets completed. Please do bear in mind that we are not experts and that this is a learning experience for us both, so some things will be missed. We will definitely do the best that we can, though.

With regard to the bird list, i plan on doing things slightly differently from how i have recorded them previously. I plan on working in a similar vein to the BTO's Bird Atlas scheme. Basically, birds will be recorded if they are seen or heard on the reserve. Unlike previous years, i will be excluding birds flying overhead from the list. I basically want to create a picture of what is actually using the reserve, not just those that can be seen from it. The 'flying' exceptions will be birds in flight which are clearly using the reserve, such as birds of prey hunting and swifts, swallows and the like.

The list does include a section on mammals, and it should be noted that in most cases the date of first sighting will not be the date the actual mammal was sighted, but rather field signs confirming their presence. Most mammals, particularly the small mice and voles are very secretive and you're not very likely to see them, so we must record confirmation of their presence rather than definite sightings.

Janie will be concentrating predominantly on the plant and tree species on the reserve, whilst i concentrate on birds and mammals. Insects, butterflies, dragonflies, etc will probably be done as a joint effort.

I have also added a calendar on the menu on the right. As with the species list, a google account is needed. I'll be updating it with every time we have a group coming on reserve for a tour, any eents on the reserve or any planned work. It'll give people a chance to either turn up or avoid the reserve on these busier days

Happy New Year!

Well, it's the first of 2008, so i figured i would wish everyone who reads this blog a happy new year!

I have big plans for the reserve and this blog for 2008. I hope to have a full species list available here (I might try and do it using google docs and have a link over on the right-hand side, where the other links are for the SWT), not only of birds, but of anything else i see while i'm out and about on the reserve. With a small mountain of reference guides given to me for Christmas, covering all types of insect, birds, dragonflies, butterflies, mushrooms and toadstools, etc, I don't think I will have a shortage of things to update!
I'm open to other suggestions on how to update it, if anyone has a bit of a technical know-how and can code in HTML, i'm happy to hear any thoughts or suggestions. It's got to be better than the bird list i was using for 2007!
The plan is to have a table listing the different species, and when they are first seen, so that you can see what new arrivals there are.

There are several plans for work to be done on the reserve in 2008. Some of them will happen, some of them will not. Almost all of it is based on funding. If you really want to help with funding at Cullaloe, and their other 122 SWT reserves, please consider clicking on the link at the bottom of the page and join the SWT. (Sales pitch over now!)

Some of the things which may or may not happen on the reserve in 2008 are:

• An Open Day in spring/summer. Hopefully to attract new people to the reserve, encourage more use from the place.
• The continued management of the Willow scrub at the Snipe bog by the local Air Cadet Squadron. Hopefully we'll have most of it cleared before Spring.
• Clearing the Orchid Meadow for grazing by the Flying Flock.
• Scrapes at the loch edge in an attempt to reveal bare mud to encourage Mudwort growth
• The raising and lowering of the loch will continue again this year.
• This one is a big maybe, as it requires a lot of funding! - A bridge over the filter beds and a path leading to a viewpoint on top of the hill opposite the reserve.
• Some general Health and Safety work to improve conditions for visitors to the reserve.

Some regular things will continue on the reserve in 2008. The flying flock will periodically be paying the reserve a visit to graze the field they have been grazing over the past year or two, and potentially to graze the Orchid Meadow as well. The feeders will remain on the reserve and Janie and I will continue to try and keep them filled for everyone to see. I'm sure Mark will continue to visit and do some bird ringing.

A couple of different groups have expressed an interest in visiting the reserve, and I will hopefully be guiding these groups around the reserve and showing them what it has to offer. If anyone is interested in visiting the reserve, please do get in touch with me. I am happy to provided guided walks for any interested party.

I'm hoping 2008 will be a good year for Cullaloe, with lots of work being done, both for the benefit of the wildlife on the reserve and for the people who come there to enjoy it!

Update: There's now a link on the right to access the species list for 2008. Obviously right now it's either empty, or as good as. You will need a Google account to view the spreadsheet, but these are free for everyone to create.

Poachers

It seems we may have developed a problem with illegal poaching on the reserve, besides that of the illegal fishing, which is already well documented both on this blog and elsewhere.

When on the reserve on Christmas Eve, there was a visit from the local Police. It appears that they had been called out by someone (Not myself) who had reported poaching on the reserve. I had been on the reserve for an hour at that point, and had neither heard or seen any sign of problems at that time, so it was deemed as a false alarm, i believe. Unfortunately, it seems there may have been some truth in the matter.

Janie called me this morning, advising that she had seen someone on the reserve with two black labrador dogs. From the noise and commands being issued to the dogs, she suspects that these were gun dogs. She said the man had something in his hand, but due to the shade, she couldn't clearly identify it. She does think it may have been a dead pheasant.
I went on the reserve myself this afternoon, and there was no sign of any activity on the reserve. There was, however clearly some shooting going on nearby and voices could be heard commanding dogs, so i have little doubt that Janie was correct and that people were poaching on the reserve.
I suspect the main targets would be the relatively large Pheasant population on the reserve, although Woodcock and Snipe are also known for shooting. With both of these species in decline in the UK, it is definitely a cause for concern that these species could be targetted.
I will be contacting Fife Constabulary regarding this, although there is little that can be done unless the culprits are caught in the act.

I would ask that if anyone is visiting the reserve they are vigilant of anyone behaving suspiciously. If you do see someone or something, whether it is shooting or fishing, please contact Fife Police on 0845 600 5702. Please DO NOT approach these people and leave the matter in the hands of the Police, who are trained to deal with these situations.

Lots been happening

Ok, i know it has been a while since i updated this blog, and first of all, i must apologise. Things have been rather hectic of late and i simply haven't had the time! I promise it'll be back to weekly updates from now on, though!

We're almost at the end of December, and I haven't posted at all this month, even though there's been so much going on!
First and most important of all, we've had the some of the cadets from the local Air Cadet Squadron on site doing some work. We initially had them on site on the 2nd of December, just for a little tour of the reserve. Surprisingly enough, none of the cadets had ever actually visited a nature reserve before. I have to admit, i was more than a little shocked by this. I remember as a child getting dragged to these places whether i liked it or not. The thought of not having been to a nature reserve by the time i was a teenager is almost incomprehensible to me. From reading various sites and speaking with various people, this seems to be the norm these days, which really is a shame.
For me it was even more important when we were showing them about to let them see not only what work we were going to be asking of them, but why we were asking it of them and to give them a chance to see some of the wildlife on the reserve.
We were quite well rewarded that day, too, with Roe Deer putting in an appearance, Teal, Wigeon, Mallard, Mute Swans and Heron on the loch and several of the smaller common bords about. The cadets seemed to have a genuine enthusiasm for the reserve, which i will definitely be trying to cultivate.
With the cold weather we've been having recently, there have been a few days where the loch has been pretty much frozen over. Only a few patches remained where the ducks and swans could access the water. As a result of the cold weather, we did have a large flock of gulls arrive. There were approximately 150 gulls on the loch, predominantly black-headed gulls, but with a few common gulls mixed in.

We had the cadets on the reserve again on the 16th December, this time to help with the work on the reserve. There were two tasks that we had in mind for them. To pick up the litter on the reserve, primarily at the pool which has been used by illegal fishermen and to help with the coppicing of the trees which have encroached upon the Snipe Bog.
Upon entering the Snipe Bog, we flushed three Snipe out, which is great news. At least we know the area is still in use for wintering birds.
The cadets were on site from approximately 10:30am to 2:30pm. We had originally planned to have them on site a bit later than this, but it was getting rather cold rather quickly!
Still, they managed to get a fair amount of work done and i was really impressed with them! They really should be proud of their achievements, too!
The picture below shows just some of the area the cadets managed to clear.

Here's some of the cadets working on clearing the scrub


Here's the other cadets on their way to the fishing loch for litter picking, accompanied by Janie in the foreground


And here they all are at the end of the day, looking surprisingly cheerful considering how much work they had just done!

The cadets will be back on the reserve helping out three more times before the end of February, so hopefully we'll have a fair amount of the scrub cleared away.
We're also getting a visit by a group from BirdForum on Saturday the 9th February, where I have agreed to give them a bit of a guided tour. That one will be interesting, since I've been out with some of them before, earlier this year on a visit to the Isle of May. There's some there who definitely have more bird knowledge than I do, so I'm going to have to try real hard not to embarrass myself!

New Additions

There have been several new additions to the reserve, of various sorts, both good and bad over the past week or two.
The first one I'll mention is that my friend Janie is now the Reserve Warden for the site. Basically, she will be assisting me with the work i carry out on the reserve. She's very enthusiastic and approachable, so if you see her on site, feel free to stop her and ask any questions you may have (She's easy to spot - she's the one wearing the SWT fleece with the 'Ranger Service' badge on it!)
In addition, she'll have access to this blog so that she can update it at any time. I think we'll try and stick to the normal routine of updating the blog once a week, roughly. Obviously, if either of us spot anything of particular interest, we'll update the blog as soon as we can!
We have another new bird addition for the reserve in the shape of a cormorant, which was seen on monday flying away from the loch (But not since). That's another one added to the list, which just keeps growing and growing! I suspect next year's list will be even larger, since we'll be starting in January, rather than May and we'll be on site more than we were at the beginning of this year, particularly during the migration seasons.

The most interesting new addition for visitors to the reserve is two new seed feeders, mounted on a pole. The feeders are 26" long and a bright blue plastic, so they should be easy enough for most people to spot! A (bad) photo of them is shown below - apologies for the quality of the shot, but it was chucking it down with rain today, so the camera wasn't playing very nice in the low light conditions.



The feeders were only put up yesterday, but already they've proven a bit of a success. There is a pretty constant stream of Coal Tits, Great Tits and Blue Tits darting back and forth to them right now. Although the birds are not lingering long on the feeders, they're definitely making use of them. It's a positive hive of activity there now as a result, with birds coming and going all the time.

The other new additions to the reserve are the negative ones, sadly. The past week or two have seen a large increase in litter being dumped at the car park and dog mess along the paths. I will definitely be mentioning this at the next advisory group meeting, with the hope that we can get a bin installed at the Car Park so that people at least have somewhere to put their rubbish. Why they can't just take it home with them and put it in the bin, i don't know!

And finally, this Sunday morning, i will be giving some of the local Air Cadets a tour of the reserve with a view to them helping out with the litter and some of the coppicing and scrub removal work over the winter. If you see a group of teenagers on site, but off the path on Sunday morning, don't panic. They'll be with me! :-)

More Bird Ringing

Today was another interesting day at Cullaloe, with Mark coming back on site to do some ringing. Yet again, i had my camera with me and this time i decided to see what it was like in video mode!
For some reason, though Blogger really isn't liking my videos, so i don't seem to be able to upload it.

In total he ringed three Great Spotted Woodpeckers (Making a total of 4 woodpeckers ringed in two trips - three males and one female, all juveniles) more Robins, Blue Tits, Great Tits and Coal Tits.
Annoyingly, we had several groups of Long-Tailed Tit, Siskin and Goldcrest come nearby, but none of them managed to get caught in the net. I would have love to have gotten some photos of a Goldcrest or two!
I was also there to do some work on tree felling at the area which was originally known as the Snipe Bog. This area, we were led to believe originally had Snipe breeding in it. Since discussing this with Mark today, it may be that it is purely wintering birds that have been seen there. He certainly has no recollection of them breeding on the reserve. When going through the area to start work on the coppicing of the trees, i managed to flush two Snipe from the undergrowth, so they are definitely still about!
I didn't manage to get quite as much coppicing done on site as i would have liked, but i still managed to clear a fair amount of the scrub. I plan on returning to the reserve tomorrow to do some more then.
On Monday I'll be giving a talk to the local Air Cadet Squadron and hopefully i will be enlisting their aid with the clearing of the scrub. There is several little projects I would like to get them involved in, if they are willing, but we'll have to see how it goes. We may be hindered a bit by Health and Safety legislation on this one.
The loch has been relatively quiet recently, though we've still got Teal,Wigeon, Mallard, Mute Swan, Moorhen and Coots on it, and normally a Grey Heron or two. Today we did have a Sparrowhawk flying round the edges of the loch, too. (another bird which I would have loved to have seen in the net!)