Scotland Visit Day 7 : WWT Caerlaverock : 14th September 2011

Scotland Visit Day 7 : WWT Caerlaverock : 14th September 2011

Although we were due to return to Manchester this day, we still managed to get a couple of hours in at Caerlaverock again before continuing our journey. We started off by doing the short circular of the Peter Scott trail and in the woods there we saw some small passerines and also heard a Chiffchaff still calling away.  A Robin and Tits were to be seen as were the resident Swallows, House Martins and House Sparrows. There are two hides there, one overlooking the Back Pond and the other overlooking the Back Field. From the hide overlooking the Back Field we saw a Buzzard perched on a post and another in a nearby tree. We had a quick look at the Whooper Pond but that was even quieter than the day before having mainly Mallard and the odd Tufted Duck and Shoveler.

We then went on to the Folly Pond hide where there were eight Mute Swans, Lots of Teal and Mallard and some Moorhen. As we sat there a flock of Canada Geese landed on the water and mooched around before taking off again ten minutes later. On the island there wasn’t much happening but we did see a Goldfinch tucking into Teasel and a Pied Wagtail bobbing around but otherwise it was fairly quiet. However it was a nice start to the day but reluctantly we had to leave to get get back to Manchester. Just as we were about to leave, however, a warden mentioned to us that he had just seen a Raven land in the fields behind the Whooper Swan Pool so we hotfooted it back to the Peter Scott hide from the top floor of which we got an excellent view of the bird sitting on a post motionless. We watched for as long as we felt we could before heading off with the closest views of a Raven either of us has ever had – except at the Tower of London !

Bird List