Nature lovers dig deep to help Solway Firth wildlife

● Conservation area set to expand, thanks to £275,000 fundraising drive

A Scottish nature reserve that attracts thousands of migrating geese is set to be extended after a successful fundraising campaign.

More than 40,000 barnacle geese fly 2,000 miles from Svalbard in Norway every autumntospendwinterbythe Solway Firth. About a quarter of these settle at Mersehead reserve, run by RSPB Scotland.

Last October, the conservation charity launched a major campaign to finance the purchase a new piece of land that would join two previously separate areas, and extend the reserve by 112 hectares. The plan hinged on raising £275,000 in just a month.

Now the charity has announced that the site has been secured, thanks to a huge public response to the appeal.

Experts at RSPB Scotland said that many species will benefit from the expansion, as well as the distinctive geese.

Mersehead is home to Scotland’s only population of the country’s rarest amphibian, the natterjack toad.

Birds including yellowham- mers, linnets and lapwings are resident in summer, while autumn brings pintails, teals and widgeons.

Waders such as rare curlews, oystercatchers and golden plovers join the geese during the colder months.

Over the next two years conservationists will work to restore saltmarsh and sand dune habitats on the newest part of the reserve.

This will create more nesting sites for birds including redshanks and skylarks, and more ponds to encourage natterjack toads to spread.

Work will begin in spring with the removal of scrub and non-native plants.

Joining up the land in the reserve will also see burns and ditches revitalised to help to create more wetland areas.

Human visitors will also benefit, with new access trails being created around the firth.

RSPB Scotland’s David Beaumont, reserves manager in south and west Scotland, said: “It really was a race against time when we launched our campaign to secure this site for nature. Thanks to the overwhelming public response Mersehead has now been made whole, which is wonderful news for the special wildlife of the Solway Firth.

“We’re immensely proud of what we have achieved at Mersehead since it became a reserve in 1994.”