Scotland Holiday Day 1: WWT Caerlaverock : 29th May 2016
On our way up to Dumfries we stopped off at WWT Caerlaverock. It was a lovely day but there wasn’t anything special on show just a smattering of ducks and hedgerow birds. We took the path down to the Avenue Tower and diverted, halfway down, on to the “Summer Walk” that leads through meadows down to the river where we saw Otter tracks and heard plenty of Sedge Warblers. It goes a long way following the river but we did not have time so returned the way we came (you cannot get to the Avenue Tower from this path) and went down to the tower.
In truth it was a pretty unspectacular day and this site is probably more interesting in the winter but it was such a lovely day we could not resist going there and we had a really nice walk.
After our break we continued on to Dumfries where we were staying at the Premier Inn but we stopped for a recce at the weir on the River Nith. This area is a spectacularly under-developed area and it looks like a prime place for riverside restaurants and bars etc. but, as a local we met later on our holiday informed us, it has never been developed because the whole area is subject to regular flooding and the water comes up our of the sewers rather than over the river banks! We did, however, see some interesting birds at the weir including a nice family of Goosander and a Grey Wagtail.
Bird Sightings : WWT Caerlaverock
| Species |
Count |
| Mute Swan |
10 |
| Common Shelduck |
2 |
| Mallard |
20 |
| Common Teal |
4 |
| Common Pheasant |
1 |
| Little Grebe |
1 |
| Grey Heron |
1 |
| Common Moorhen |
2 |
| Eurasian Oystercatcher |
4 |
| Northern Lapwing |
6 |
| Black-headed Gull |
10 |
| Rook |
8 |
| Carrion Crow |
8 |
| Common Raven |
1 |
| Barn Swallow |
10 |
| Willow Warbler |
4 |
| Sedge Warbler |
6 |
| Eurasian Blackbird |
4 |
| Pied Wagtail |
1 |
| Meadow Pipit |
2 |
| Common Chaffinch |
6 |
| European Greenfinch |
4 |
| European Goldfinch |
4 |
| House Sparrow |
20 |
Bird Sightings : Dumfries Weir (River Nith)
| Species |
Count |
| Goosander |
4 |
| Eurasian Oystercatcher |
2 |
| Lesser Black-backed Gull |
1 |
| Grey Wagtail |
1 |
