David Carnduff

The RSPB nature reserve at Lochwinnoch, near Inverclyde, features the Aird Meadow and Barr Loch, wetlands, woodlands and an accessible boardwalk that attract resident and migratory birds. Reserve warden Dan Snowdon reports record breeding-bird results in 2024 and 2025, with 60 species and 551 breeding pairs or singing individuals recorded in 2025. Habitat projects have helped increase breeding lapwings from one or two pairs annually to nine, while the reserve also supports great-crested grebes and large wintering populations of wildfowl. Visitors may also spot a returning great white egret known locally as Eddie.

A woodland walk near Inverclyde prompts discussion of the underground fungal networks through which trees may exchange warnings, nutrients and support, as described in Peter Wohlleben’s The Hidden Life of Trees. The column also relays Royal Society for the Protection of Birds guidance on reducing the spread of trichomonosis: pause seeds and peanuts during summer and autumn, use foods such as mealworms and suet, and replace unhygienic flat bird tables with hanging tube feeders during winter feeding.

Photographer Kenny McCormick captured one of two surviving barn owl chicks emerging from a nestbox in Skelmorlie Church’s bell tower. The chicks, raised under the monitoring of licensed bird-ringer Callum Leonard through a livestreamed camera, hatched from an original clutch of seven and are expected to remain nearby while learning to fly and hunt. The nestbox may be used again, while five kestrel chicks in another Skelmorlie box also fledged successfully after one was taken by a crow.

David Carnduff describes how warm summer weather has encouraged flowers and wildlife in Inverclyde gardens and coastal areas. He highlights viper's bugloss, lavender and buddleia as important nectar sources for bees and butterflies, and explains how to spot migrating hummingbird hawkmoths. He also discusses the possibility of a major painted lady butterfly influx in 2026 and encourages readers to participate in Butterfly Conservation's Big Butterfly Count.