What is the Connection between the South Pole and Caerlaverock WWT

WWT Caerlaverock Wetland Centre.

(adapted from information from the WWT)

The Centre occupies 1400 acres of saltmarsh, ponds and grassland on the Solway Firth, and is very close to Caerlaverock Castle. It is the only one in Scotland. It provides a winter sanctuary for Barnacle Geese, Whooper Swans, wild ducks, wigeons, teals, pintails which arrive from the Arctic areas - Iceland, Russia, Scandinavia etc... There is also a large number of wading birds such as Oystercatchers, Red Knots, Dunlins and Black-Tailed Godwits.

Peregrine Falcons, Merlins, Hen Harriers, and Barn Owls, can also be seen. (They must have come from my garden!!!!)

Each day a member of staff goes into the hides to count all the birds present on that day, and the numbers of the different types of birds present are written up on a noticeboard in the centre. I have watched this being done, and find it quite amazing, because I always find that when I look at the birds, they are never in the same place twice! as they keep moving.

The Wetlands Trust and Centres are the brainchild of the late Sir Peter Scott, artist and naturalist. In his early years he used to shoot wild fowl, but as he got to know that these birds mate for life, and migrate hundreds, of miles to overwinter in UK, he wanted to make amends for what he had done, so he set up the WildFowl and Wetlands Trust, and designed the site at Caerlaverock.

On the day I took this photo of the bust of Sir Peter Scott outside the hide dedicated to him, I just missed getting a picture of a robin which was eating the seeds which you can see just under his binoculars. Yes these birds just keep moving! I admire wild life photographers greatly, after having tried to get some good photos of moving targets at Caerlaverock.

So now you have a clue to the Connection with the South Pole.

Sir Peter Scott's father was the famous polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott of the Antarctic.

Scott of the Antarctic