From April onwards, the shallows of the lake witness an orgy of frogs and toads spawning and swans will hatch their several cygnets on the island sanctuary, proudly parading them during the summer months. Numerous wild duck including teal, mallard, tufted, pochard and shoveler nest among the reeds and bulrushes and their little rafts of ducklings can be spotted eddying about.
Favourite summer residents are of course the swallows, house martins and swifts who scythe and scream about their lofty nest-sites along the battlements, while occasional bramblings, redstarts, flycatchers, garden warblers siskins and yellowhammers are all here for the quiet observer to find. Waking from their long hibernations, hedgehogs and pipistrelle bats are out in the evenings scuffling and flitting through the majestic beeches along the lakeside. Shy roe deer may be glimpsed, or a bustling badger, as well as foxes and stoats. There are even otters and mink which love to play around the waterfall.
All this bounteous nature means there’s no shortage of prey for our numerous raptors. Tawny, short-eared and little owls patrol the night, and the spectral form of a barn owl can often be seen even during the day. Buzzards, sparrow hawks and kestrels are all regulars, as well as peregrine falcons and goshawks. The newly re-established ospreys of the Tweed Valley are even occasionally seen. The elegant heron stops off to dine on toad as he makes his way up the Eden burn, and starlings, jackdaws, crows and jays engage in raucous banter as the evening draws in.
