Loch of Kinnordy

Laura's Leaving Blog

Fiona M — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:58:00 GMT

On Friday we said goodbye to the lovely Laura, one of our residential volunteers. We would like to say BIG thank you to Laura for all of her hard work, and endless enthusiasm! She has even written an excellent account of her time here, please enjoy:

"I have just spent 3 weeks residential volunteering at Loch of Kinnordy in beautiful sunshine and have thoroughly enjoyed the experience!

I am midway through a biology degree so I wanted to volunteer with the RSPB to gain some on-the-ground conservation experience, to see how a nature reserve is run and to improve my bird ID skills. Whilst there, I was given the opportunity to assist Fiona the warden and Mike, the other residential volunteer, with many aspects of reserve work. Every day was different, but we usually started with a quick scan of the loch to record what species were out there. Other tasks included creating interpretation signs, invasive species control, upkeep of visitor areas and people engagement, as well as getting to know the birders who visit regularly. We also did breeding bird surveys, wildfowl surveys, black-headed gull surveys and wader surveys, which involved early starts but worth it to see all the birds. We ran a successful Marsh Harrier event one Saturday to give people a chance to learn about these magnificent birds, which are nesting at the loch. Right on cue, we even witnessed a food pass between the male and the female.

Loch of Kinnordy is advertised as a wetland oasis and it certainly lives up to its name! I was lucky enough to see the nesting Marsh Harrier several times, as well as a pair of Garganey, a Turnstone in full summer plumage, Sedge Warblers, Reed Bunting, Curlew, Snipe and a variety of ducks, amongst many others. It was always a privilege to watch the Osprey fishing at the loch and then returning either to the nest or a post where it sat and devoured its fish. The Osprey chicks are expected to hatch anytime now. Lots of cygnets, ducklings, goslings, oystercatcher chicks and coot chicks hatched while I was there. It wasn’t all about the birds though, as we carried out a wild flower survey (and found 17 different species in a small area), saw lots of butterflies, roe deer, and red squirrels tucking into the peanuts we put out for them. A new highland calf also arrived!

We also spent a day every week helping at Loch Leven, which has a much bigger staff base, plus visitor centre and café, so it was interesting to compare and contrast the two reserves. Whilst there, I enjoyed helping Judy, the education officer, with the Forest School. A class of excited children loved exploring the area, and learning bush craft skills as well as play. It is a great way to get children engaged with wildlife. We also helped with radio tagging a group of lapwing chicks, to help work out what predators are taking them to give an indication of why their numbers are decreasing nationally. It was amazing to see the chicks up close.

The accommodation for volunteers is a comfortable shared flat above the reserve workshop. We saw 30+ species on the feeders outside the flat alone, including a pheasant with 9 chicks, a Spotted Flycatcher and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. We also did a couple of afternoon trips to the nearby Balgavies loch and Forfar loch. The scenery and wildlife of the area is incredible. The reserve is only a mile from the small town of Kirriemuir, JM Barrie’s birthplace, and I enjoyed cycling there along the Kirriemuir path network.

I would definitely recommend volunteering a Loch of Kinnordy. It really is a haven of peacefulness. The variety of wildlife you will see is amazing and the people are very friendly and welcoming. I hope to return to volunteer there in the future. Thankyou for having me!"

Terrific Turnstone, Ostentatious Osprey, Gregarious Garganey and Magnificent Marsh Harriers too!

Fiona M — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 09:27:00 GMT

Thank you to everyone that visited the reserve yesterday, it really was a wonderful day. The weather played ball for the majority of the day and the wildlife came out on cue! In the morning we were entertained by a visiting Turnstone in full summer plumage – a very unusual visitor to inland sites. Please keep an eye out on the bogbean islands in front of Gullery Hide for this bird and let us know if it is still around.

My badly zoomed in pictures of Turnstone (Lapwing in background)

Then at lunchtime we had wonderful views of Osprey fishing in front of Gullery Hide, then sitting on its favoured perch - to the right of the hide on the North shore of the Loch. We watched as the magnificent bird devoured its fish lunch as we tucked into our sandwiches.

Next on the Kinnordy stage were the magnificent Marsh Harriers. The male showed first, carrying food then the female popped up out of the reed bed to take part in a food pass. A truly spectacular thing to witness – birds flying upside down! Then
the afternoon Garganey show began just as Gullery Hide was filling up with spectators. The male showed extremely well just in front of Gullery hide for some time. As if all of this was not enough for our lucky visitors, the Osprey decided to put on another fishing show not once but twice!

Male Garganey showing well in front of Gullery Hide (close enough even for my humble camera)

Male Garganey next to male Mallard - size comparison for anyone not familiar with Garganey.

Loch of Kinnordy is just so green, lush and full of life at this time of year. The reeds are alive with the sound of sedge warblers, reed bunting and water rail (if you’re lucky). We have bold red squirrels scampering around the paths and feeding areas. Tree creepers and wrens are easily seen around the hides and paths too.

If you love this site as much as we do, let us know about your experience. Perhaps you are a regular visitor and would like to write a blog yourself? Maybe you have ideas for walks/events at the reserve, or local ones the reserve could get involved in? Please do not be shy, get in touch and get involved. Also please send your pictures from the reserve! Email: fiona.mckenna@rspb.org.uk

Magnificent Marsh Harriers Event Saturday 1st June

Fiona M — Thu, 30 May 2013 20:08:17 GMT

Loch of Kinnordy is home to many species, but this weekend we would like to show you our nesting Marsh harriers. These birds have undergone a remarkable recovery and are only just returning to Scotland. We are very honoured that they have taken up residence at our reserve. I am looking forward to meeting the local human residents of this area too! Please drop in and say hello on Saturday and it’ll be lovely to meet people.
Gullery Hide will be the venue for this wildlife watching and a scope will be trained on the marsh harriers, as well as allowing people the chance to see other nature spectacles here.

Call by anytime between 10am and 4pm on Saturday. Entry is free.

Photo of a marsh harrier taken by Chris Gomersall.

Hello Kinnordy!

Fiona M — Sat, 25 May 2013 12:29:59 GMT

I would like to introduce myself – my name is Fiona and I am
the new assistant warden at Kinnordy. I fell in love with this beautifully wild
site and it’s wonderful wildlife instantly! Having volunteered extensively with
the RSPB, this is my first role with them as a member of staff. Please bear
with me while I get to grips with everything! I will endeavour to bring you up
to date reserve news regularly, and to keep the place in great condition so it
can be enjoyed by all. I will do this with the help of my lovely residential
volunteers Mike Andrews and Laura Collins, and our excellent team of regulars to! We
are being kept very busy with bird surveys at the minute, but we will be
organising some events on the reserve in due course – so watch this space!
Please keep sharing your photos and news on here, and feel free to get in touch
if you have any questions or suggestions.

P.S. I don't always dress a Siskin :)

Just when I thought the snow had gone...

Kim — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 12:24:11 GMT

It comes back and blankets the reserve again! Hopefully the snow shouldn't last for long this time. Finger crossed.

I thought things were almost starting to get back to normal: at the weekend the whole car park was finally free of snow making it the most accessible it has been in the past two weeks; the paths, although still snowy, were also less tricky to walk on; and I could finally do some bird watching from the hides with success - on Friday the drake smew was presenting himself really well right outside Gullery hide. However, the majority of the loch is still frozen, especially at Gullery and East - so I think it was very lucky that the smew found a nice little hole in the ice to swim by the reeds at Gullery on Fri! - and if it's not snow covering the path then its water flooding the path - especially at the boardwalk towards Swamp hide. Just typical that its very difficult to get to the hide with the most activity without wellies!

Don't let that put you off though - if you've got your wellies you should be fine. And with the excess of water from last weeks thaw flooding the majority of the reserve (not just the paths) we have seen an influx of whooper swans, greylag geese, mallard, teal, wigeon, goldeneye, tufted duck and goosander.

The feeding station, when filled by myself and a star volunteer, Darell, has busy during the snowy period - Coal tits, great tits, blue tits, chaffinch, greenfinch, brambling, robin, blackbird, redpoll and treecreeper have all been regulars. Not forgetting the red squirrels who love the peanuts left out for them in the peanut boxes.

The Konik Ponies, like myself, haven't seemed to enjoy the snow as much as everyone else. With the reserve being at least a foot deep of snow, my main job has been to do my best to keep the ponies in top shape by supplementing their feeding and giving them some hay for the past few weeks. Although I can't say it's been the easiest job I've had to do at Kinnordy; lugging hay out to the back field where the ponies are in knee deep snow with the snow showers and wind hitting me face on most of the time -it was not an enjoyable experience. Which is why I'm slightly disheartened to see more snow at the start of this week. Oh well, this is what winter weather should be like so I can't complain. However I can see the sun trying to break through the snow clouds so hope is starting to creep up...

So although the snow might have been a pain in the bum for me, and the poinies, the reserve has still been a hive of activity and is always worth a visit.

January Snow

Kim — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 11:56:03 GMT

Afternoons are slowly stretching out and love is in air with wigeon and mallard busy with courtship displays. The nest boxes have been emptied of last years nests ready to welcome new occupants shortly – but it is still very much winter. The reserve is blanketed in snow and the numerous water bodies created by the recent floods are now ice. The ponies stand in a stoic huddle surveying the frozen wastes. Hundreds of teal, mallards, wigeon, swans and geese are roosting on the partly frozen loch. Goldeneye, the solitary snowy drake smew and goosanders are fishing in the remaining puddles and a small number of shovellers, gadwall and tufties occasionally emerge from the reeds. Mute swans are busily big and territorial while the whoopers quietly snooze among the reeds with intermittent bursts of conversational hooting and dabbling in icy waters. Noisy skeins of greylags come and go from local fields during the day and in the evenings their honking can be heard as they stream overhead in the dark, returning to Kinnordy for the night. A flock of lapwings is almost invisible hanging out amongst snowy bog bean and rushes.

The woods are full of hyperactive tits – coal, blue, great and long tails, siskin, chaffinches and redpolls, some Christmassy robins, ticking wrens and blackbirds. Treecreepers and reed buntings are also around and a small flock of brilliantly red bullfinches. A large flock of brambling has been in trees at the edge of the reserve, diving into a nearby field while I have been hacking back a hawthorn hedge and a flock of redwing have passed by too. Buzzards are mewing overhead and the crows in the pines do a noisy late afternoon murmuration almost as good as starlings as they settle for the evening. I have seen two snowy white ermine with black tipped tails scurrying around, lots of squirrels running up and down the trees and dark hares and white bottomed roe deer lolloping across white fields. The snow provides a record of where the deer hang out at night, where the fox has been, zig zag hare tracks, big goose feet and pheasants dragging their tails.

Alison – residential volunteer

Winter arrives!

Kim — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 15:19:00 GMT

Winter definitely arrived this week at RSPB Loch of Kinnordy; it has been sunny but very cold. Amoung our slightly unusual visitors recently we have had a Bittern, Bearded Tits, Water Rail, and a Green-Winged Teal, normally a North American resident. There are still some Whooper swans around, as well as Mute swans, Teal, Wigeon, Mallard, Goldeneye, Goosander, and today (29/11/12) over 500 Greylag geese, many of which roost on the loch at night and then can be seen on surrounding farmland during the day. Other birds to be seen about the reserve include Reed Bunting, Bullfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Treecreeper, Buzzard, Brambling, and down towards the sluice, Dipper. Roe deer have been seen at the eastern end of the reserve and Red squirrel activity has been high around Gullery hide and at the bird feeders. In other news, RSPB Lock of Kinnordy is having a CHRISTMAS FUN event on the Sunday the 9th of December: make your own bird feeders, join the guided walk, or just take a look around the reserve at your own leisure. Entry is only £1 per person.

Two exceptional visits in one week...

Kim — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:37:00 GMT

Isn't that just typical?! I've come back to work, after a week off, only to be in-undated with two quite spectacular sightings at Kinnordy last week! I swear these birds know when I've booked time off and delibrately make an appearnce because I'm not there!

So first of all, not 1, not even 2, but 3 bearded tits were seen from East Hide on Sunday 11th Nov, flitting between the reeds close to the hide. It's not the first time they have been seen at Kinnordy but the are not a very common visitor. It is usually around this time of year that you'd be lucky to get even a glimpse of them passing through. I, unfortunately, wasn't one of the lucky few...

Not only did I miss the magnificent beardies but I was also told of the first bittern sighting of this winter which was seen on Firday (16th Nov) morning. The reserve has been quite busy over the weekend, no doubt with everyone wanting to catch a peek of the infamously secretive bird. Hopefully, though, this won't be the last we see of the bittern this winter...

Winter visitors finally arrive

Kim — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 16:21:50 GMT

Excellent news from Kinnordy this week as the first Whooper swans of the season arrived. On monday (5th nov.) four were sighed on the loch at East hide, two adults and two juviniles, and today (8th nov.) there were at least twenty-seven individuals. Greylag geese can now be seen in and around the loch in considerable numbers (over 400) as well as substantial gatherings of Mute swan, Teal, Wigeon, Gadwall, Mallards, Tufted Duck and Common Gulls. There have also been smaller numbers of Canada geese, Shovelers, and Goosander as well as a few Coot and a lone Cormorant. Also today a single Scaup appeared, a female. This is relatively unusual since Scaup tend to winter of the coast, but of course Kinnordy isn't so far from the sea. Other birds to be seen around the reserve at this season include Great spotted woodpecker, Great, Blue and Coal tits, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Robin; Buzzard, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk. Red squirrels are also conspicuous, especially around Gullery hide: four were seen today.

A cold start to November

Kim — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 11:29:13 GMT

Although it's rainy and miserable today, yesterday (1st Nov) gave me a real sense of the start of winter. The sun was out and the landscape around the reserve was sprinkled with a light dusting of frost. The car was completely frosted over and took a good 15 minutes to deforst before we could start our working day. Although we managed to get the car derfosted I noticed that as the day wore on, some of the frost managed to stay on the grassy verges round the path, where the sun couldnt quite get to it. There was even a small patch of ice on the edge of the water just outside Gullery Hide that remained there all day. And if the weather hadn't convinced me that winter was almost upon us, then the noise coming from the group of around ~250 greylag geese we've had on the loch for most of the week really tells me that it's the biginning of winter. Talking of geese, pink-footed geese skeins fly over-head very regularly and occasionally a few groups of canada geese have stopped to rest on the loch.

The number of wintering wildfowl has also been slowly increasing over the past few weeks; as well as ~200 mallard, ~200 teal, ~40 wigeon, ~ 20 gadwall and ~15 shoveler, there as also been ~50 tufted duck ~10 goosander, ~20 goldeneye on the main body of water. A cormorant has also been seen regularly from East hide.

Flying over-head across the loch are a grey heron, a few buzzards, a kestrel and more recently a merlin - seen by local volunteer, Darell, last weekend.

Along the paths, specifically at the feeders, robins, chaffinch, bullfinch, coal tit, blue tit, great tit and long tailed tits can all be seen - there are more easy to spot now that most of the leaves have fallen from the trees. This also makes it very easy to find a few red squirrels and 2 great spotted woodpeckers. Also seen recently along the paths have been siskin, mistle thrush and redwing.

Disappointly there are no whooper swans at Kinnordy...yet! We are waiting with baited breath for the first group of whoopers to visit. There is still the usual group of mute swans - two family groups with young and another group of around 20 swans. Once the whoopers are at the loch, I'll know it will definitely be winter time then!

Autumn Fun Event - Saturday 20th October

Kim — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 08:25:00 GMT

Join us this Saturday at the reserve for our Autumn Fun event. Starting at noon, we have a range of activities for visitors to enjoy.

Have your chance to make and take home your own fir cone bird feeders just in time for winter. Or just come along and see for yourself how birds, like coal tits and great tits, love fat feeders at the reserves very own feeding frenzy area.

Stuck for Christmas decoration ideas? Come along and make your own cone decroations for your Christmas tree. These would also make a lovley Christmas gift if your stuck on ideas on what to give loved ones for Christmas.

Fancying joining Darell, one of our dedicated volunteers, for a guided walk around our path network? As Darell describes from his regular blog on the RSPB Community page "The reserve is changing all the time, with duck numbers increasing all the time, the trees changing colours and dropping their leaves. On a lovely day its a magic place and when its raining, its still a great place to see birds etc."

Entry to the event is £1 per person or £3 for a family group. The event runs from 12pm-2pm. Stout footwear is advisable if you are interested in the guided walk.

Autumn is Here

Kim — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 14:44:00 GMT

Although summer never came to anything this year, autumn has definitely made it's presence felt.

I spent this morning clearing up about two weeks worth of leaf litter from the paths between the hides, with the help of Bruce - one of the local volunteers. The storms and winds we've been having this week made our job that little bit harder today as so much leaf litter was picked up in each stroke of the rake and huge piles now clutter the side of the path. We were given a little treat when we stopped for a break by the feeding station between Gullery and East Hide - not only did we see a red squirrel scurrying along by the bench, we also saw a great spotted woodpecker flit about around the top of the birch trees. The usual suspects were at the feeders; plenty of coal tits, blue tits, great tits and chaffinch. I was hoping I would see some of the long tailed tits that had been feeding of the fat squares yesterday, but I was not lucky enough to get them two days in a row.

A few of the trees along the path have not managed to withstand the winds we have been having this week.

This huge beech tree has fallen over the outflow channel just past the sluice bridge. Fortunately the tree has not caused any damage to the path and is not a hazard to any path walkers. From the size of the tree it could have been much worse!

More of our winter visitors seem to be making an appearnce around the reserve now - another sign of autumn. I saw my first goosander of the season today; there was three females in the far top corner of East lochan, although from the visitors book they arrived on Sunday (23rd). Something I also haven't seen for awhile that was around today was a cormorant. Duck numbers have risen in the last few weeks as well; especially wigeon (26), shoveler (9) and gadwall(5). And there seems to be less swallows, house and sand martins around now - only one house martin was recorded today. Have they finally left us now? Speaking of migration, no ospreys have been seen on-site for the last few weeks, and the last time a juvenile marsh harrier was recorded was on the 12th. A female marsh harrier has been seen since then - as recent as the weekend (23rd Sept)! However, from speaking to a few visitors that saw they female, they say it was a tagged female - so seeing as our harrier pair was not tagged, I have to assume this female was passing through.

The Koniks are their usual selves. They are happyily grazing at the West End and are alway content when I go to check on them. Sometimes I treat them with apples and carrots, but seeing as they are quite fat on what they've been grazing on while they've been here, they don't get treats very often. I mainly use treats while I'm trying to halter train them. As they are not domesticated - and we have no plans to domesticate them - trying to get halters on all 4 of them has been a challenge. We are only halter training to get them used to halters and being handled when the vet comes - we've had too much practice of trying, and failing to, get them penned up an hour before the vet has been due!

Reserve Closure Dates

Kim — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 08:04:00 GMT

This blog is to inform visitors, who may not already know, that Loch of Kinnordy reserve will be closed on the following dates;

Saturday 22nd September and Saturday 6th October.

The car park gates will be locked on both these days but will then be opened sometime before late afternoon. Apologies for any inconvience caused.

September starts with some Sun (finally!)

Kim — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 12:31:00 GMT

The last few days have felt more like summer than the whole of July and August put together! The sun has been shinning over Kinnordy and the wildlife has responded in appreciation of the much missed summer.

As a blog hasn't been written for a over a month, there is quite alot to catch up on. So where to start? Our marsh harrier family are still flying suavely over the reed beds - both juveniles were spotted this morning. Ospreys have been seen, still, regularly fishing over the loch - its great to initmately watch juvenile ospreys being taught how to catch fish by their parents . Swallows, swifts and martins (house and sand), although in small numbers now, are still around - there are a few swallows who still dart under gullery hide; which is where we know at least one or two nests were during breeding season. With all this activity, it does make me wonder when our summer visitors plan to leave us and migrate south?

During the summer, along with the harriers and the hirundines, our other usual summer residents were ever present - mallard groups, sometimes with numbers over 100, and mute swans, were always seen from all the hides. There was two mute swan families - one pair with 4 cygnets and one pair with 5 cygnets - as well as a group of around 18, who took a shine to hiding in some trees which were quite close to the path when they were moulting. I found this summer rather different to the summer I had last year with respect to the mallard and mute swans. Last year there were quite a few mallard broods seen clearly from the hides. Cute little mallard babies are one of my all time favourite things to see; however I found this year that I was not seeing many broods on the Loch! That's not to say mallard were not breeding this year, it's just they were more savvy with hiding their broods from me! In comparison, last year the only mute swan groups that were found on the loch were family groups; there was never a group of swans that reached double figures. But I've now realised that this years bigger group was comprised of adults and last years juveniles, who had never left Kinnordy.

Small groups of teal, wigeon, gadwall and tufted duck have been seen on the Loch at regular intervals during the summer; although I've noticed that their numbers have started to slowly increase and they seem to be around more frequently, making me think that it won't be long until autumn is upon us and more of our winter ducks will be turning up.

We now have a fully functioning "feeding frenzy" feeder area - where a few feeders, bird tables, and a well built bug-hotel are now on display. Almost seconds after the first stockpile of seed went out, the feeders were crawling with a mass of coal tits. It didn't take long for other birds to catch on, and now a range of birds from blue tits to great tits, and from chaffinch to bullfinch, cluster to the feeders. The same can also be said for our resident red squirrels; who realised very quickly when the squirrel boxes were being filled with peanuts.

I know that our 4 four-legged friends at the West end will be happy that we're finally getting some sun! The Konik ponies are still grazing happily at the west end, and I've already seen some positive effects of their grazing. Every time I go over to speak to the ponies I always flush, at least, up to 10 snipe! Theyre are almost as bad a pheasants - they only wait until the last second to fly off and scare the life out of me as I haven't realised they are there before I almost step on them! A nice big group of lapwing (over 100+) have also decided they like the nicely grazed west end and gather there - again, until I flush them when I go over the ponies with some apple or carrot treats. And it's nice to have the Highland cattle back with us - they have been off-site since the begining of July, but they have been sorely missed as the vegetation at the west end is now knee high, so I can't wait until they chomp the vegetation back down to a manageable height.

Marsh Harriers reign on Kinnordy . . .

Kim — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 16:11:37 GMT

Well, I am excited to report the news that we have all been waiting for . . .

I can confirm this morning (15 July) from our regular volunteer, that for the second year running, we have a Marsh Harrier family of 4 consisting of 2 adults and 2 juveniles.

They were seen towards the back of the loch, among willows far left of their original nesting area (of the loan pine tree). The juveniles are flanked by either their mother or both parents, then each would fly some short distance apart. At times, the young ones would bob about in vertical flight, with Mum perched not too far away.

I say young birds but at this early stage, they appear the size of a fully grown adult and their plumage is likened to an adult female though with a gingery-yellow head (female has a cream coloured crown) and overall dark brown feathers. Only time will tell how their colouration will develop, if they are male or female.

This years young birds have fledged it seems about three and a half weeks earlier than last years birds. So now is an exciting time for everyone to come and watch these magnificent birds over the next few months as the juveniles build their survival skills.

Vandana Lake, Residential Volunteer