World Wetlands Day
Why are wetlands so important?
Monday 2 February was World Wetlands Day. An opportunity to celebrate wetlands, highlight the wildlife they are home to and promote their conservation.
Wetlands are defined as land areas that are saturated or flooded with water either permanently or seasonally. They include inland wetlands such as rivers, floodplains and swamps, coastal wetlands such as saltwater marshes, mangroves and coral reefs and human made wetlands including rice paddies and fish ponds. All these habitats are vital for a range of wildlife. The RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) wrote recently about the range of wildlife supported by wetlands.
WWT, the wetland charity have a page full of links to resources about wetlands. These resources include a brief introduction to river names (scroll down for a beautiful photo of Edinburgh’s Water of Leith as it flows through historic Dean Village); an illustrated article about how wetlands have inspired art and a history of human connections with wetlands.
Our favourite wetlands include, in Edinburgh, The Water of Leith, which flows through the city from the Pentland Hills to the port of Leith. It’s a haven for wildlife including Kingfishers, Grey Herons, Dippers and Otters. I’m a volunteer with the Water of Leith Trust and regularly ‘patrol’ a section of the river, recording wildlife and collecting rubbish left along the walkway.
In Dumfries and Galloway, our regular holiday destination, our favourite wetlands are Caerlaverock WWT Reserve and Mersehead RSPB reserve. Both of these places are home to impressive arrays of waterfowl in winter and a host of other wildlife all year round. Caerlaverock is a hot-spot for dragonflies and damselflies (one year, we visited in the midst of a mass emergence of dragonflies, I’ve never seen so many of these amazing insects!). Caerlaverock is currently closed, while they reorganise, a reorganisation that should strengthen their conservation work, which will sadly also mean the removal of the shop and cafe.
You can read a wee bit about a trip we made to Caerlaverock below
Nature Notes
It’s February and there are early signs of Spring everywhere! At the weekend we were delighted to hear Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming in the woodlands on Edinburgh’s Corstorphine Hill. In the Walled Garden on the hillside, the Witch Hazel was in full, beautiful bloom.
