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What a fantastic day! The day started off well with a peregrine flying in close proximity to the visitor centre, a perfect way to start a cold morning. Though the highlight of the day was watching one, of the two, male hen harriers fly around the flood being mobbed by the resident ketrels. Other raptors...

What a stunning day, the ground was frozen white and the sky clear and blue. And with the cold weather came one of our annual white tailed sea eagles, which was seen around castle island! On the loch there were plenty of ducks, including teal, mallard ,tufted duck and goldeneye and a mixed flock of whooper...

Apoligies for the lack of blogging. What a fantastic day! The morning started well with a peregrine perching near the flood, and plenty of the usual buzzards and kestrels. Though even better than all that, in my opinion, was the female smew that showed well on the loch, it even got out of the water...

The loch this morning was picture perfect, with blue skies above and a flat calm loch. The change of season has also brought with it thousands of pink footed geese, that were today feeding on the reserve and the adjacent fields. We now also have some whooper swans at loch Leven with six of them feeding...

What a wet day! The rain hasn't stopped all day, though that has not put off a lot of the birds. There are plenty of gadwall on the flood, along with large numbers of tufted ducks and some cute little shelduck chicks. Talking about chicks, our goslings are now huge and have formed a huge group on...

First of all apologies for posting the blog on a Monday, I could not gain access to it over the week end. It seems like ages since I last posted a blog- two weeks ago I was checking gull nests on St Serfs island (they are doing well and now the eggs are beginning to hatch) and last week I was at the...

First of all apologies for posting the blog on a Monday, I could not gain access to it over the week end. It seems like ages since I last posted a blog- two weeks ago I was checking gull nests on St Serfs island (they are doing well and now the eggs are beginning to hatch) and last week I was at the...

We now have a large crèche of greylag goslings, all feeding with their parents. On the wetland there are plenty of teal, mallard, a surprisingly large number of tufted duck and shelducks everywhere. A single osprey has been seen from the visitor today, though there was also one at burleigh sands this...

The reserve today is full of ducks, all feeding in the ponds. There are gadwall, teal, wigeon, tufted ducks and a couple of pairs of shell duck. We also have the first group of greylag goslings on the reserve, with a smaller group also on St Serfs. The lapwings on the reserve are busy nesting along with...

What a fantastic day, I have seen a new species for myself at the reserve- a tundra bean goose. Also I have seen my first osprey of the year flying over the loch, towards the Kinross pier. The bean goose was mixed in with a flock of pink footed geese, two of which had neck collars on but they were too...

Well, I'm just back from a fantastic week on the isle of Mull where I was lucky enough to see sea eagles, golden eagles and hen harriers. Though there's no eagles here at loch Leven there are plenty of other great animals to keep us occupied. Again, this morning, a tawny owl flew over the picnic...

What a beautiful day it has been, the sun is still shining over the whole of the reserve. And with this spring weather many of our spring birds are starting to arrive- the lesser and greater black backed gulls are beginning to arrive on St Serfs, though there are still many pink footed geese on the island...

It's spring again on the reserve with all of our garden birds in search of a site for a nest and great crested grebes displaying on the loch. The wonderful dance of the great crested grebe has begun and it won't now be long until their fluffy chicks are sitting on their backs. With the cafe now...

The loch still has some ice on it, though it has definitely been a lot milder today. When I arrived this morning the birds were calling loudly and the feeders where as busy as ever, there were also a few blue tits beginning to investigate our array of nest boxes. On the loch there are loads of pochard...

The reserve is full of birds today, especially curlew which have been probing in the damp mud all day. There is also a small flock of teal and mallard feeding close to the first hide, a great opportunity to see the wonderful colours of the teal up close. On the loch there is a variety of ducks including...

Unfortunately the two sea eagles have not been seen today, though there are plenty of other birds to hold our attention. There are pochard, teal, mallard.and tufted ducks all grouped together in the bay along with a small group of fishing gooseander. Smaller numbers of whooper swans are still present...

I hope that you have had a great Christmas period and new year! Today the new year has started well with fantastic sightings of the two sea eagle(wing tag H and X), they were preying on a bird this morning and soaring over St Serfs Island. Away from the sea eagles there are plenty of tufted ducks, pochard...

After not seeing the sea eagle last week, I was rewarded today by seeing two sea eagles. We had great sightings of them flying and some lucky visitors saw them catching a duck. Staying on the raptor theme we have had a peregrine on St Serfs island, buzzards all over the reserve and a single kestrel hovering...

We have really got in the Christmas spirit here at Vane farm and the cafe now looks like a winter wonderland with tinsel and stars. After my optimism last week, in request for a sea eagle , we were rewarded with our annual visitor. Though as usual I didn't see the sea eagle today, it was seen on...

We have had a real "seal of approval" for the work that was carried out on the reserve as many whooper swans, teal, wigeon, mallard and some pink-footed geese have taken up residence on our new reserve. On my first trip down to the 3rd hide today I was totally amazed with how at one you were...