Loch Leven

Wednesday 22nd May

Ken Brown — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:06:04 GMT

Just a quick update to yesterday's blog with some photo's of the recent Little Gull and the Little Ringed Plover from Sunday, 19th; all images courtesy of regular visitor Stuart Gillies.

Little Gull

Little Ringed Plover on Carden Flood

Tuesday, 21st May

Ken Brown — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:49:00 GMT

Lapwing Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)

With May being Lapwing Month at Loch Leven, it should come as no surprise that this iridescent wader has been prominent, both visually and vocally, all month. So far 36 nests have been identified, of which 19 are still active. The first chicks were seen on the 7^th and, to date, there are a minimum of 25 chicks (minimum since they can be pretty hard to spot sometimes).

Lapwing Nest with Chicks and Eggs Image courtesy of Vicky Turnbull

The Carden Flood continued to attract waders; those having been seen include: Redshank (seen regularly), Greenshank (7^th), Ruff (7^th and 14^th), Ringed Plover (6^th and 9^th) and Common Sandpiper (20th). A few Black-tailed Godwits were spotted occasionally, and a Water Rail was heard to call on several occasions over the month, but as for seeing it..... !.

The status of Little Ringed Plover has been upped now from seen on the reserve to breeding on the reserve, with a pair nesting on the Carden Flood.

The place is ‘fair hoachin wi’ Greylag goslings at the moment (at least 100) and several Mallard families have also been spotted swimming on the pools.

A few Pink-footed Geese are still present, probably injured or ‘winged’ from shooting, as are a few Whooper Swans. One Whooper has been reported to be nesting at nearby Levenmouth Pools.

In addition, a Little Gull was seen on the Carden Flood, on the morning of the 19th, staying for several hours, before flying off towards St Serfs.

As usual for this time of year, visitors to the Centre should look out for the low flying Swallows, which are nesting in the passageway and underpass.

Friday 3rd May, 2013

Ken Brown — Fri, 03 May 2013 16:37:00 GMT

Spring migration has been the main highlight of the past week.

The Black-tailed Godwits are still around in numbers, with 28 being seen on the 29^th (April) and 22 on the 3^rd (May).

Black-tailed Godwit feeding on Carden Flood (courtesy of David Veitch)

After the Ringed Plovers from last week, two Little Ringed Plovers were present around the Carden Flood on the 2^nd.

Little Ringed Plover {Ben Hall (rspb-images.com)}

In addition, a Common Sandpiper has been present around the Flood, from the 30^th.

Common Sandpiper (image by Lars Falkdalen Lindahl )

Pink-footed Geese have still be hanging around in large numbers, approx. 1700 being counted on Kirk Hills and Carden Point on the 29^th. Also, 5 Whooper Swans have been dawdling around. As for the regulars, Redshank were seen regularly on the Flood; 4 Snipe were on the west side of the reserve on the 26^th and a Water Rail was heard on the 2^nd. The number of Lapwing nests on the reserve now stands at 25, and guides to viewing these can be found in the Café and in the Waterston (2^nd) and Carden (3^rd) hides.

As for the passerines, Lesser Redpolls are still visiting the feeders regularly. White Wagtails have been common around the pools and scrapes. The abundance of insects, at least when the wind is absent, has meant lots of Swallows, with a pair now beginning to nest in the passageway.

P.S. Don't forget the Scottish Bird Fair next weekend at Hopetoun House.

Saturday 27th April 2013

Ken Brown — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 20:07:00 GMT

It's been a busy month for breeding birds on the reserve.

Lapwing have been active all month, and can be regularly seen mobbing and chasing off predatory Crows. There are, as of now, a minimum of 19 nests, with most of these on the east side of the reserve. Visitors can view the nests from the cafe window, where a panoramic guide to the positions of the nests is located.

Lapwing

Our first Swallows were seen on the 13th of the month and , as usual, a pair have started to nest in the passageway by the toilet block. The other habitual site in the underpass has not seen any activity as yet.

On the wetlands, Mallard, Gadwall, Shoveller, Teal, Tufted Duck and Shelduck are all breeding. A pair of Pochard have been seen regularly amongst the Tufted Ducks on the Carden Flood. Several Mute Swans are nesting on the reserve, one on the reed bed near the Gilman Hide, easily seen from the cafe window.

A large number of Pink-footed Geese (~1000) can still be seen around the loch, regularly visiting the areas of grassland on the reserve; small numbers of Barnacle Geese on passage have also been sighted. Similarly, there are still a few Whooper Swans hanging around, yet.

Snipe and Redshank have been seen, and heard, throughout the month. Over the last week, a pair of Ringed Plovers were regular visitors to the Flood. Up to 16 Black-tailed Godwits have also been spotted.

Ringed Plover

Black-tailed Godwit

Out on the loch, pairs of Great-Crested Grebes could be seen performing their courtship dance.

Over the month, the Skylarks have become increasingly vocal, as have the Song Thrushes and Blackbirds around the Visitor Centre. Migrating Redpolls have been frequent visitors to the window feeders. Wheatears, one of our earliest summer visitors, are now relatively abundant around the reserve.

Saturday, 23rd March

Ken Brown — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 13:43:36 GMT

We’ve had fairly stable weather conditions over the past ten days. Unfortunately, it’s consisted of cold easterly winds and almost constant light snow showers. On the plus side, the ground temperature has remained above freezing most of the time, allowing the birds to continue to feed on the reserve.

View of RSPB reserve and Vane hill on the 21st.

Oystercatcher numbers increased, with 29 counted on the 21st. Usually, largish numbers of Curlews (100+) were seen daily, along with Lapwings (40-50); solitary Lapwings could be seen seeking out nest site on the grass sward in front of the Waterston Hide.

Curlew on the Carden Flood

Flocks of Wigeon (100+) and Teal (50-60) visited regularly to feed, and a few pairs of Gadwall have been seen on the Carden Flood.

A pair of White-tailed Eagles were seen on St Serf's on the 14th, and a male Hen Harrier on the reserve on the 20th.

A female Bulfinch was seen at the start of the Heritage Trail on the 14th, and a male Yellowhammer visited the feeder station below the Cafe on the 21st.

Other items of note: around the reserve, keen observers will have noticed that some new signage has been erected, and for the scientifically minded, our new weather station, located in the “close”, allows you to see the atmospheric pressure, temperature and humidity. Work is almost finished on the aquatic wildlife ponds outside the Gilman hide. Also, in a slightly longer-term project, the old tired hedge between the visitor centre and the main road is being rejuvenated and extended along to the underpass with new planting of native hedgerow species

Finally, visitor reports of a miniature highland cow nesting on the reserve have been greatly exaggerated!

First day volunteering wet and windy

Caroline Rance — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 12:23:00 GMT

This blog comes to you from Richard, 15, who has just started volunteering as a reserve guide here at Loch Leven, along with his dad Martin.

Richard takes great photos and has kindly agreed to share them on the blog with you, so look out for more from him in the future. And if you're around the reserve at weekends, why not take a trip out onto the reserve or down to the hides with him and his dad and they'll show you what's about?

It was me and my dads first day volunteering at loch leven it was wet and windy with snow blowing through making the day extremely cold we didn't see much just the usual suspects. we took a walk to all three hides and luckily we made it back alive through the extreme weather.

I caught this lovely male Chaffinch by the feeder near the car park.

Moorhen came out of the water walking to the feeder

From the carden hide we saw Grey lag geese feeding and braving the cold weather.

At the cafe window there was a scuffle at the dinner table.

The Siskins enjoying the seed by the shop window.

In the picnic area by the bird feeders we saw a male Pheasant but he thought we couldn't not see him hiding

Tuesday, 12th March

Ken Brown — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 12:52:19 GMT

We’ve had a couple of seasons in the past few weeks.

Spring-like weather with clear skies and sunshine resulted in large flocks (100+) of Lapwings returning to the reserve, with many birds actively displaying over the grassland. Pre-breeding flocks of Curlews too, have been prominent, with regular sightings of flocks of 80-100 birds feeding. Oystercatchers were frequently observed.

The fair weather brought the Pink-footed Geese back to the reserve to graze, with ~2200 birds present on the 28^th of February. Three Canada Geese were present on the Carden Flood on the 7th of March. Duck species were also around in larger numbers than previously, both in the bay and on the inland pools. Pochards, absent from Vane Bay in late January and early February, were again present. Shelducks (2-8 birds) and Goosanders (up to 5 pairs) were regularly seen. A Slavonian Grebe was spotted on the loch the 25^th of February. A pair of Snipe were seen from the Waterston (middle) hide on the 4^th of March.

During this spring prelude, singing Skylarks were often heard whilst walking to the hides, and Reed Buntings occasionally observed fluttering along the bunds (as well as at the feeders around the Centre).

Also, some birds spent some time watching birdwatchers!

The last few days have been the sting in the tail, with a sharp return to winter. As a result, yesterday the reserve was very quiet, with the birds hunkered down, sheltering from the bitter north-east wind.

Even our cattle were a bit nonplussed by the weather.

Friday's (8th March) Goose Survey numbers for Loch Leven NNR were :- Pink-footed 4059; Greylag 370; Canada 3

As a result of the wintery weather, yesterdays Wetland Bird Survey numbers on our reserve were very modest. Highlights included 163 Greylag Geese, 65 Wigeon, 36 Teal, 14 Mallard, with 23 Lapwing and 49 Curlew.

We can look forward, hopefully, to spring arriving for real next time.

Big Fairtrade Bake Off

Caroline Rance — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 09:43:32 GMT

It may already have come to your attention that Monday was the beginning of Fairtrade Fortnight, and we thought this was the perfect excuse to combine our commitment to ethical ingredients with our love of cake to bring you... the Loch Leven Big Fairtrade Bake Off!

So, if you've ever been perusing our cake cabinet and thought 'I wish they would make coffee cake' or 'I quite fancy a slice of chocolate beetroot cake', now is your chance to see your cake of choice baked and sold in the cafe!

Fairtrade fortnight runs from Monday 25 February to 10 March. We're giving you the first week (until Monday 4th) to submit your tasty cake recipes either as a comment below this blog, on our facebook page, or drop it in to the box in the visitor centre. Then the cafe team will choose their favourite recipes to try, and will get busy baking in the cafe (using fairtrade ingredients!) for the second week.

So what's all the fuss about Fairtrade I hear you ask? I have blogged before about our commitment to using organic ingredients in our cafe, and now it is time to turn the spotlight on Fairtrade.

Fairtrade is about ensuring better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. When the Fairtrade Foundation first entered public conciousness, a lot of people thought it was just coffee, bananas and sugar; but the list of fairly traded products now runs to wine, cotton, chocolate, flowers, rice, cosmetics and even gold!

It is simple to switch to fairtrade, to make a positive vote for better standards while you're shopping. Not only is choosing fairtrade good for the producers, but there are environmental standards to achieve before being awarded Fairtrade certification and these small scale productions will have less of an impact on the local habitats and environment than huge scale production methods. And as we know, birds and wildlife don't acknowledge international boundaries and passport control, so if we're going to stand up for better environmental standards at home, we must stand up for them abroad too.

We hope you'll join us this Fairtrade Fortnight and pop some Fairtrade ingredients into your basket when you're shopping!

And we certainly hope you'll join the fun and enter our Big Fairtrade Bake Off, we'll be needed people to come and try these tasty cakes!!

Thursday, 21st February

Ken Brown — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 21:33:00 GMT

Whew! What a couple of weeks we’ve had!

Our new multi-coloured sightings board with, using state-of-the-art blackboard pens, is up and running.

The new Cafe library, comprising of a number of wildlife books, generously donated by an unknown benefactor, will allow visitors to browse a book whilst enjoying a coffee or tea.

One of our 2 video cameras is now working again, giving visitors closer views of the birds in Vane bay and the shoreline. Unfortunately, the fault in the St Serf’s camera is proving more difficult to trace.

Last Saturday, our Build a Bird a Home weekend was a great success, with those taking part constructing 25 new bird nest boxes.

Lets not forget the birds.

Skylarks’ singing last Saturday signaled that spring is on the way. Monday was one of those glorious days, bright sunshine and no wind, when the reserve was full of Curlews and Lapwings.

(n.b. some readers have commented on the lack of pictures in the blog, and so always striving to please, this has been addressed – see below)

Lapwing

Ducks populated the Carden flood and Vane bay. Pink-footed Geese returned to the reserve in numbers (~250).

Finally, one of the White-tailed Eagles was seen again on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Adult White-tailed Eagle in flight

Thursday, 31st January

Ken Brown — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 10:37:14 GMT

We've had quite a contrast here over the last couple of weeks.

During the week before last, with the reserve completely covered in several inches of snow, almost all of the bird activity was confined to the feeder stations. Constant visits by Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Great, Coal, Long-tailed and Blue Tits, Siskins, House and Tree Sparrows, Robins, Dunnocks and Bramblings emptied the feeders within several hours. Similarly, most of our visitors confined their activities to the café and shop.

On the wetland, a few Mallard and Teal could be found on the rare patches of open flowing water, but the majority of ducks remained on Vane Bay. Despite the snow cover, flocks of Greylag Geese (up to 250) visited the reserve occasionally.

Our ‘resident’ White–tailed Eagle (Turquoise H now nicknamed Smeagol) hung around, being seen on the 23rd and 24th, over Carden Pont and on St Serf’s island. The pair of Short-eared Owls continued to be active on St Serf’s. A Red-breasted Merganser was also spotted on the loch on the 23rd.

As last weekend drew to a close, the sub-zero temperatures were replaced by warmer heavy rain, interspersed by periods of lighter rain. After the thaw and four days of rain, the wetland is looking especially…. wet. Just the weather for ducks, and these have returned in large numbers. Wigeon (200+) and Teal (150+) could be seen on Carden Flood, with similar numbers in Vane Bay. Two Shelduck were on the Flood on the 28th.

Our DuckFest has continued, with today’s sightings including a pair (M+F) of Gadwall, ten Pintails (9M+7F), a male Goosander, and six Red-breasted Mergansers (3M+3F).

That's January over for another year. Lets see what February brings.

We're still open!

Caroline Rance — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 10:52:21 GMT

Morning all, its another snowy scene here at Loch Leven this morning.

Despite the snow, the visitor centre, hides and trails are open as usual, and a snow plough is on its way to clear the car park. The surrounding roads are clear too.

So come and see us! Come, build a snow man (or a snow bird? or an igloo!), warm up with a hot chocolate in the cafe, treat your feathered friends to some fine fat balls, and chat to us, we're nice.

Who knows, you might even spot a white tailed eagle!

*If anything changes we'll update on here, and also on our facebook and twitter pages.

Thursday, 17th January

Ken Brown — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 12:17:00 GMT

With the recent mild weather, the White-tailed Eagles had been absent from the area, however this cold spell has seen them return. , Eagle Turquoise H (2009 release) was seen on Reed Bower in the morning. Later in the afternoon, a second bird, Red 2 (2011 release) was seen on St Serf's. Both birds were identified using radio tracking. For most of the day, a Great Norther Diver could be observed on the loch, midway between the reserve and St Serf's.

With the pools being frozen, all the ducks have moved over to the loch shore and Vane Bay, though flocks of Greylag and Curlew were feeding on the areas of grassland. St Serf's continued to provide the day's highlights. In the afternoon, a male Hen Harrier was spotted there, before it flew off towards Kinross. Most of the day was overcast, however around 2pm, the sun broke through, illuminating fantastic views of two Short-eared Owls quartering up and down along the left hand end of St Serf's.

Monday's goose count for Loch Leven returned numbers of ~4300 Pink-footed Geese and ~800 Greylag Geese.

Thursday, 10th January

Ken Brown — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 17:49:05 GMT

Well, here we are again at the start of a brand new year and, unsurprisingly, it's very similar to the end of the old year on the reserve.
This week, a pair of Short-eared Owls were seen on the 3rd, the 8th and again on the 9th. A European White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons) made an appearance on the 4th. Three Red Grouse were spotted on the top of Vane hill on the 5th. Two Redpolls visited the feeding station outside the Visitor's Centre on the 6th. A male Hen Harrier was again observed, on the 9th, with a female also being seen on St Serf's.
Unfortunately, White-tailed Eagle has not made it onto this years list so far, but there is still time!

Monday, 24th December

Ken Brown — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 17:10:00 GMT

‘Twas the night before Christmas’ - Well, really the day.

Unlike the house in the poem, the reserve today was full of activity. The ice of two weeks ago has been converted back to liquid form by the recent mild weather and then topped up by the almost non-stop rain, meaning the water level has risen by around a foot (300 mm in metric).

The morning saw a large flock of Whooper Swans move off the Carden Flood; 300+ Greylag Geese and 11 Barnacle Geese were browsing on the grass between the Flood and the loch, with a flock of Pink-footed Geese grazing behind the Flood.

A male Hen Harrier was seen briefly in the morning, and a turquoise-tagged White-tailed Eagle could be observed, perched on one of the trees over on St Serf’s Inch, for most of the day.

On the Flood and in Vane Bay were Mute Swans, with largish numbers of Mallard, Wigeon and Teal ducks. One Shelduck was present on the Flood for a while, and a few Goldeneyes in Vane Bay. Goosanders were also present, and a pair of Pintail Ducks was spotted in the afternoon.

Bullfinches were feeding amongst the weeds (native plants?) near the Visitors Centre, and a Tree Sparrow frequented the feeders.

Other sightings included several of Roe Deer, and a male Fox was spotted trotting along the edge of the Flood before going to ground in the long grass at the back.

All in all, not bad for Christmas Eve.

Wishing all our readers a Merry Christmas.

Water vole droppings to white tailed eagles: life as an RSPB intern

Caroline Rance — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 13:18:48 GMT

This week's guest blogger is the wonderful Fine Wohlfahrt, who is currently on an internship with RSPB Scotland. .

Fine is at university in Germany, and came to Scotland to volunteer with RSPB to get some practical experience of working within nature conservation. She has been an absolute joy to have around the reserve, pitching in with everything from repairing fencing out on the reserve to working in the cafe, and bird surveys to public events. The next part of her internship takes her to the RSPB's Scottish headquarters in Edinburgh to work with the ecology team there.

Here she shares a few tales of what she' s been up to during her time as a residential intern at Loch Leven....

I’ve been volunteering for the RSPB for nearly three months now, most of the time staying at RSPB Loch Leven Nature Reserve. I started in September, when the swallows were about to leave and pink footed geese and whooper swans were coming in. I learned a lot about wildlife on the reserve - especially waders and water fowl – roosting or feeding here and also how to manage a nature reserve - geese counting, grazing and water management. I loved being out in this beautiful landscape, working alone or with other enthusiastic people.

But RSPB is not all about birds, so alongside working with the other volunteers I had my own project, a little investigation about water voles. After a survey in a raised bog in 2002 there was no further knowledge about the water vole population on the reserve. Once crouched down in the rushes I explored a completely new world, which is easily overlooked while standing. Runways, droppings and burrows in a variety of forms and sizes. Although I found out that our water vole population no longer exists, this survey – my first - was a great experience and good practise for my course (I study land use and nature conservation in Germany) and future work.

Another very exciting project was working with the East Scotland sea eagle team in Perth. After 5 years of releasing birds we collected data about their dispersal. Since they all carry a transmitter we are able to track them, so we not only know their rough position but also the identity of the birds. It’s always exciting to pick up a signal but of course it’s even better to see the real bird! Although they’re not too seldom to be seen in Fife, their massive wingspan is just amazing and it’s always a pleasure watching their majesty while circling above in the sky.
Even if there were no white tailed eagles around, every day tracking was an opportunity to explore Scottish landscape and wildlife. This alone was worth those months away from home, not to mention all the other experiences! Thank you, all the Team of Loch Leven Nature Reserve, for these magnificent weeks of nature experience!