With the storms came flooding, some of the heaviest in living memory. Here is an aerial picture of the castle completely underwater!
It has also affected us here at the reserve.
A picture of the bridge washed away!
Loads to do!
About Us
- NTS Dumfries and Galloway Countryside Team
- As members of the National Trust for Scotland Dumfries and Galloway Countryside Team, we manage properties across Dumfries and Galloway, including Threave Estate and Nature Reserve; Rockcliffe Property; Venniehill; The Murray's Isles and Bruce's Stone. Our task is to conserve and maintain the variety of habitats and species present, at the same time managing the sites for the education and enjoyment of current and future generations.
24 January 2014
Barnacles!
A dozen barnacle geese mixed in with the Pink-footed geese on my front lawn, just before Christmas..................
Also spotted since!
The festive season was not kind to the trees....
Some of the storms that battered our shores were the worst in over 20 years. There was absolute DECIMATION in some parts (the word decimate came from the Roman times when the battalion leader took 10% (dec- meaning 10) of the soldiers and killed them, as a warning to the others. Thanks for that pearl of wisdom Dave).
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| A familiar site... |
160 odd year old trees were being knocked down like matchsticks. However it’s not all bad, it creates LOADS of work for the team and I, bring on the season of the chainsaw!
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| A picture of me Chainsawing... |
However the death of these trees creates a new life for others, as they slowly replace their predecessors, given the new space and light they will receive. Some of the timber will be extracted for firewood but most will be left in the forest. Creating a smorgasbord* of deadwood of differing thicknesses decaying at different rates, useful for different taxa.
*Smorgasbord is the word of the week at the reserve. It means ‘a varied collection.’
20 January 2014
Highland Cattle at Rockcliffe...
Go see the Highland cattle on the bottom meadow at Rockcliffe. Winter grazing of the meadows, keeps the grass down over the winter, so it doesn’t overtake in the Summer. Keeping a richly biodiverse wildflower meadow!
Mystery Tracks???
As well as birds Judy also took a picture of these tracks on the main beach at Rockcliffe! (One of our other properties). Can you guess what it is.................?
It’s an otter.
Hapy New Year!
Merry Christmas and a happy new year to one and all, hope you all enjoyed the festive season. I certainly did, I think I ate my own body weight in mince pies, cheese and port.
With the New Year come fresh objectives, goals and outlook on life. One of mine is to get out, explore and appreciate the natural world. Sometimes, what is on our doorstep is just as thrilling as being in the back and beyond. Anyway I digress. Get down to Threave NNR (National Nature Reserve) and appreciate the wildlife there. Winter is still here and is such an exciting time of year as far as wildlife is concerned. There are still thousands of geese and wildfowl about; noteworthy species include pintail, shovelar, goosander (ducks), 4 species of goose (Pink-footed by the thousand, Greylag, Canada and White-fronted) and a fair few Whooper Swans. Also one of our dedicated volunteers also spotted a black swan from upper blackpark hide mixed in with a bunch of Whoopers, hopefully I can get a picture of it soon.....!
18 December 2013
Threave Female Osprey Identity 2013
Further information for all of you interested regards our female Blue KC she was ringed as a chick in 2009 in Stirlingshire, from a brood of 4 young, which is exceptional.
Also here is another image of our 2013 chicks to wet your appetites. we are all really looking forward to see what the Threave Osprey 2014 season will bring to us.
Best Wishes
Karl
Also here is another image of our 2013 chicks to wet your appetites. we are all really looking forward to see what the Threave Osprey 2014 season will bring to us.
Best Wishes
Karl
15 November 2013
Spartina/Cord Grass Control
As far as work on the estate and wider properties we also run, myself and the team have been very very busy bees indeed; over at Rockcliffe a lot of our time has been dominated by Spartina! Spartina is a non native invasive cord grass which can rapidly take over mud flats, so we started an initiative to control this pest 3 years ago, by covering them in plastic, pegging it down and waiting for the plant to die.....
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A action shot of Dave and Judy pulling up a plastic sheets with a tonne of mud on.
Yesterday, the Coastal Ranger Nick, from the Solway Firth Partnership came to help with a team of dedicated volunteers. Thanks for your help Nick!
At the mains, the winter tree work starts! I’ll keep you posted...
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Filming at Night at the Reserve
Some guys were doing some filming at night on the reserve yesterday, with some pretty sophisticated bits of kit. Check out their website... http://www.thenightvisionshow.tv/
Super Cool Moth
Check out this super cool moth Judy found under an Oak tree we were cutting up;
The food plant for the caterpillar is Oak leaves and it is rare and only locally distributed in Scotland.
Autumn and Geese!
We are well and truly within the grips of Autumn, Red deer are rutting, the trees are heaving with berries and it hasn’t stopped raining for 2 weeks!
Most importantly the Autumn means the changing of the guard on the reserve, the summer migrants leave and the winter migrants arrive. Bringing with them Geese, Swans and Wildfowl (Anatidae family). The gathering of these in such high densities is one the things that makes Threave NNR such a special place, giving it it’s RAMSAR designation – a wetland of International importance.
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| 12 Whoopers coming into the newly flooded marsh! |
Currently on the wetland we have copious amounts of pink-footed and greylag geese, whooper swans in large family groups regularly visiting and probably most exiting of all Greenland White-Fronted geese, look out for these rare geese (sometimes mixed in with the pinks), 200 approx have been spotted on the reserve.
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A photo, of a few thousand geese coming in to roost on the wetland at the reserve. What a sight and sound!
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On the wider estate Thruses (Turdidae), Redwing and Field fare mainly, from Scandinavia, have been seen in their hundreds moving through, a good place to see them is along the railway line, picking off the berries.
06 October 2013
Event: Autumn Art Attack & Autumn Creatures
Autumn Art Attack &
Autumn Creatures
Dates: 16th and 23rd October - 2pm to 3.30pm:
This is an event for kids. Make an autumn collage from different tree leaves. Create a creature from acorns, horse chestnuts and pine cones.
Location: Threave Nature Reserve, Kelton Mains Farm, Castle Douglas DG7 1TJ.
Price: Adults - £2, kids - £1. Booking Essential: Tel. 0844 4932245.
04 October 2013
Explore Threave Nature Reserve
Explore Threave Nature Reserve
This Autumn and Winter!
* Come see the amazing spectacle of geese gathering on the wetlands at dusk. Greylag, pink-footed and Greenland white-fronted in good numbers.
* Large numbers of duck such as teal, pintail, wigeon and shoveller.
* Look out for otter, kingfisher and birds of prey.
A great day out for all the family and it’s free!
Location: Threave Nature Reserve, Kelton Mains Farm, Castle Douglas DG7 1TJ
For further information please call the ranger service on 01556 503702.
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| Pink-footed geese at dusk - Threave Nature Reserve: |
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