By Species
Birds. There are many resident species of bird who have made the Regional Park their home. Others will simply pass through as a migrant and some will stay for either the summer or the winter.
There are ample places to birdwatch in the Regional Park whether you are just a casual observer or a more enthusiastic ‘twicher’ we are sure to have somewhere to your liking.
Bats. 2011 is the ‘Year of the Bat’ and we are lucky enough to have Countryside Rangers on site at Castle Semple who are bat specialists. Look out for our exciting bat events where you can see (and hear) these elusive creatures as they search for their prey in the darkness.
Seashore. Lunderston Bay is the Regional Park’s only beach front location and home to some intriguing rock pool residents. The movement of the tides make this habitat a constantly changing one, forcing the animals that live there to evolve ways of coping with the high tide and low tide levels
Water Vole. Once a common sight on our waterways the water vole is now one of our most threatened native mammals. It is a UK priority species and biodiversity action plans have been set up for its conservation (UKBAP). In our area a species action plan (SAP) aims to increase the water vole population. It is estimated that in the last 20 years there has been a 94% drop in the pop ulation of water voles. The main reason for this decline is direct habitat loss and predation by American mink. In 2009 one of the seasonal ranger’s summer projects at Castle Semple established and prepared a site suitable for surveying water voles along the watercourses that run through Parkhill wood. To improve the habitat for water voles, vegetation that was clogging up the waterways was removed to allow an open flow of water. Although, there were no sightings of water voles their droppings are a distinctive field sign for identification, so several monitoring platforms were placed along these open waterways. The platforms should act as latrine sites for boundary marking of droppings by water voles.
As escaped American mink are one of the main reasons for the drastic decline in water vole numbers, in 2010 several mink rafts were placed within Parkhill to establish if predation by mink is a factor in this area. The last positive sighting of a water vole in the Lochwinnoch area was at the Barr Loch in 1976.
On a brighter note, UK surveys completed in 2009 have called this a ‘bumper year’ for water voles. Hopefully work done on improving waterways, placing platforms and ascertaining mink numbers will lead to the sighting of a water vole within Parkhill wood in 2010.
Juniper. What does Juniper look like? – Juniper has green, feathery foliage and is a hardy conifer. The shape of the plant can range from a low growing bush to an upright shrub, usually depending on where it is growing. Juniper cones, which resemble berries, were used medicinally and for flavouring Gin. The wood was burnt for its sweet smell and the plant was traditionally used for warding off evil. Birds such as the Stonechat and the Wren sometimes nest in Juniper bushes, and it also provides winter cover for Black Grouse. The berries are eaten mainly by Thrushes and this helps to disperse the seeds.
Most wild Juniper is found within two main areas – the Chalk Downs of Southern England and in the Scottish Highlands. However there is now less than half the amount of Juniper in Britain compared to levels in the 1960s and it is now a species for conservation concern. We are lucky to have a small number of bushes within the Regional Park, in the hills above Muirshiel. There are only six bushes of which two are definitely male and two are female.
Due to its rarity in the area there is an ongoing project to conserve and protect the Juniper in Central and Southern Scotland. There is one based here in the Regional Park – the Cample Burn Project, at Misty Law.
