BIKE RIDE: WWT Caerlaverock, Dumfries and Galloway
Skeins of the solway
Autumn is a season of flux for Britain’s bird populations, as waders and wildfowl arrive in their thousands in search of food and refuge. One of the most dramatic places to watch this spectacle unfold is the Solway Firth, says Fergal MacErlean
Surely, if there is one sound that heralds the change of the seasons, it is the honk of geese arriving from their breeding grounds. After months away from our shores, their return is simultaneously magical and reassuring.
Chances are you will hear the geese arriving before you see their outstretched necks slicing through the crisp air. Then, once you have your eye in, you will note the long, wavering skeins. Until, remarkably quickly, the sky is almost filled with beating wings and evocative calls. Watching these flocks touch down for their first autumn day in the UK is very special.
WINGS FROM THE NORTH
Many of our feathered winter visitors will have flown vast distances from regions to the north and east – Greenland, the Arctic, Iceland, Scandinavia, Siberia and eastern Europe – to overwinter here, where the weather is milder and food is easier to find. It’s a journey they make every year, before returning in spring to their breeding quarters.
Migrating species include Bewick’s and whooper swans, bramblings, redwings and many species of ducks, geese and wading birds. There are partial migrants, too, species we see year-round, such as robins, starlings and coots, but whose foreign breeding populations overwinter in the UK. And many of our waterbirds – common scoters, red-necked grebes and great northern divers – fly to the coast to spend winter at marine and coastal sites.
Farmland, wetlands, heathland, woodlands and estuaries also attract overwintering birds.
There are dozens of excellent sites around the UK for autumn birdwatching. Knots from Canada can be seen at Blakeney Point in Norfolk; short-eared owls from Scandinavia at Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire; and hen harriers at Burton Mere in Cheshire. Bu t for sheer abundance and drama, one of the very best spectacles is the arrival of pink-footed and barnacle geese at Caerlaverock on the Solway Firth in south-west Scotland.
From the Arctic’s Svalbard archipelago, these sociable, attractive geese have a creamy-white face, black head, neck and breast, white belly and blue-grey barred back and black tail.
CAERLAVEROCK AUTUMN
Caerlaverock National Nature Reserve (NNR) stretches for 10 miles along the north coast of the Solway Firth in Dumfries and Galloway. This estuarine area of mudflats, sandbanks and saltmarsh, or merse, is a haven for wildlife. Thousands of waders and wildfowl descend here in the autumn, including the entire Svalbard barnacle goose population, to overwinter and feed on the expansive marshes, tidal pools and excellent grazing land. A 10,000-strong flock of pink-footed geese may be seen alongside overwintering whooper swans, Bewick’s swans and regulars such as shelduck, pintail and golden eye. It’s a mesmerising place at dusk and dawn, wrapped in an autumn mist, and with views to the granite dome of Criffel.
WHEELING TO WETLANDS
Birdwatchers should visit the Caerlaverock Wildfowl and Wetland Trust (WWT) r eserve beside the NNR. This boasts two observatories, two viewing towers (one with giant binoculars) and three large log hides on the 566-hectare site. All 10 WWT centres in the UK exist to fulfil founder Peter Scott’s vision of connecting people with nature and are accessible to everyone. Flat, wide avenues lead to the Caerlaverock hides and wheelchairs are available to hire. Tea, coffee and snacks are available, too. And there are picnic tables where you can bring your own food.
An interesting and peaceful 23-mile cycle can be taken to the WWT centre. Along the way, you will pedal beside the sweeping River Nith before arriving at a formidable medieval castle.
Listen!
Living World presenter Trai Anfield visits Caerlaverock to witness the incredible spectacle of barnacle geese making landfall on the Solway Firth. BBC Radio 4, available on BBC Sounds
BIKE RIDE
23 MILES/37KM | 3–4 HOURS | MODERATE
1 TO THE RIVER
From Dumfries train station, head west along Lovers’ Walk for about 300m to meet Edinburgh Road. Turn left and pedal on to take the first right on to Irving Street. Now away from the main roads, turn left on to George Street, then shortly after take a right on to Nith Avenue, which leads on to Burns Walk. Here you will pass sites linked to the poet Robert Burns, who spent the last years of his life in Dumfries.
Cycle downstream to join an excellent cyclepath beside the wide, tidal River Nith, and simply follow this onwards. This part of National Route 7 leads through Dock Park, where the coppery gold and red hues of the beech and acer leaves are stunning.
2 STRIKING SOUTH
Further on, the Sustrans route leads by tiny Kingholm Quay. A landing place has existed here since 1707 and in the mid-18th century a quay was built when it was part of the port of Dumfries.
An on-road climb then leads to a roundabout, and a quiet (outside rush hour) B-road.
The cycling remains nigh-on perfect beyond Glencaple with views across the mudflats and merse to Airds Point and Criffel. Old oaks dotted by the roadside wear their October finery.
3 FABULOUS FORT
Caerlaverock Castle (access restrictions currently in place) soon appears by a bend in the road. This well-preserved, partially ruined sandstone fortress is unique in being triangular and moat-ringed. Naturally, lying so close to the English border, it had a beleaguered history; it was barely complete when it was successfully besieged by Edward I. Autumn colours brighten the coppiced oaks in adjacent Caerlaverock Wood.
4 BRILLIANT BIRDS
Continuing inland, turn right at the sign for the Caerlaverock WWT centre at Eastpark. Cyclists get a 15% discount on the entrance fee.
From early October, the barnacle geese, affectionately known as ‘barnies’, arrive. As many as 40,000 birds overwinter here – testament to a WWT-led conservation programme that has seen the population recover from a mere 400 in the 1940s. But, last year, bird flu killed between a quarter and a third of the population, and this year staff will be anxiously counting their numbers.
5 BACK TO DUMFRIES
The return leads uphill to Bankend. Follow the road for Dumfries and, after descending from its scenic high point, turn left down the unmarked Stanehouse Loaning (if you reach a speed limit sign, you have overshot this road) to rejoin the outward route back to Dumfries.
Fergal MacErlean is an outdoors writer who loves exploring Scotland on foot and by bike.
FOUR MORE WWT RESERVES TO VISIT IN AUTUMN
WWT MARTIN MERE, BURSCOUGH, LANCASHIRE
Witness the noisy autumn spectacle of up to 50,000 pink-footed geese flying in to roost. The reedbed walk leads to a new hide with great views of the flock and whooper swans, as well as the reserve’s shelducks.
WWT CASTLE ESPIE, COUNTY DOWN
See the autumn arrival of several thousand light-bellied brent geese on the shores of Strangford Lough. Some 90% of the bird’s population, numbering up to 30,000 individuals, use the waterbody to feed on eel grass that grows here in abundance. The geese numbers reach their peak in October.
WWT LLANELLI, LLANELLI, CARMARTHENSHIRE
Paths lead through reedbeds to hides with great views of flocks of wintering brent geese and whooper swans. You may even spot the secretive water rail and jack snipe.
WWT ARUNDEL, ARUNDEL, WEST SUSSEX
Colder temperatures drive big numbers of teal and shoveler to these shores for the winter. Enjoy a 20-minute guided boat trip through towering reedbeds.
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