RSPB - giving nature a home
Search
Close
Skip to content
Shop | Community
Log in | Sign up
  • About the RSPB
      About us
    • Our History
    • Our mission
    • How the RSPB is run
    • RSPB Media Centre
    • RSPB job vacancies
    • At home & abroad
    • International
    • England
    • Northern Ireland
    • Scotland
    • Wales
    • Get in touch
    • Contact us
    • RSPB offices
    • Connect with us your way
      Our activities
    • Gardening for wildlife

      Gardening for wildlife

      See our ideas to keep you connected to nature during coronavirus

    • Connect with us your way

      Connect with us your way

      From our regular emails to your favourite social media, there’s more than one way to keep in touch with nature

    • Our History

      Our History

      Discover how a campaign against feathers in fashion sparked a global force to save nature with more than a million members

  • Our work
      Nature conservation
    • Conservation and sustainability
    • Projects
    • Landscape scale conservation
    • Centre for Conservation Science
    • Satellite tracking birds
    • RSPB News
    • RSPB News
    • 'Our work' blog
    • Policy and Insight
    • Policy and Insight: England and Westminster
    • Casework
      Featured news
    • Mindful mornings

      Mindful mornings

      If you can’t get outside, why not bring the outside in by downloading our bird song radio app?

    • How nature can help protect our homes

      How nature can help protect our homes

      Following the floods this winter, watch how one area is using nature as a natural protector.

    • Casework

      Casework

      Catch up with the RSPB’s own nature detectives on the case as they look to save some very special places.

  • Birds & wildlife
      Wildlife guides
    • Identify a bird
    • Bird A-Z
    • Other garden wildlife
    • Guide to birdwatching
    • What is the Red List for UK birds?
    • Nature's Calendar
    • Nature's Home magazine
    • About Nature's Home magazine
    • Birds and wildlife articles
    • RSPB Podcasts
    • Nature's Home blog
    • Birds & Wildlife Advice
    • How you can help birds
    • Gardening for wildlife
    • Ask an expert
    • Wildlife and the law
    • How to report crimes against wild birds
    • Bird songs
    • Which bird song is that?
    • Most popular bird guides this month
    • Bird migration

      Bird migration

      Migrating birds have travelled thousands of miles just to get here. Find out why.

    • Who to contact if you spot an injured or baby bird

      Who to contact if you spot an injured or baby bird

      Read more advice about what to do if you find a bird that needs help

    • In for a duck

      In for a duck

      It’s nesting season for our waterfowl too but what are the rules you need to follow for ducks, geese or swans?

  • Get Involved
      Activities
    • Big Garden Birdwatch
    • Nature on Your Doorstep
    • RSPB Competitions
    • Dolphinwatch
    • #MyClimateAction
    • Community & advice
    • Join our local groups
    • How green are you?
    • RSPB Community
    • Get involved blog
    • Volunteering & fundraising
    • Volunteer
    • Fundraise
    • Help nature thrive as a corporate partner
    • Our grant funders
    • Campaigning
    • Campaigning in Scotland
    • Campaigning in Wales
    • Campaigning in England
    • Campaigning in Northern Ireland
    • The nature and climate emergency
    • Protecting wildlife sites
    • Campaign with us
    • Top activities to do
    • Nature on Your Doorstep

      Nature on Your Doorstep

      Great ideas on how your garden, or even a small backyard or balcony, can become a mini nature reserve

    • How green are you?

      How green are you?

      See some of the ways you can get into green living.

    • Campaigning

      Campaigning

  • Reserves & events
      Reserves A-Z Events Find a reserve
      Top reserves this month
    • Marshside

      Marshside

      This fantastic wetland site is located north of Southport town centre and has some of the best wildlife in the region.

    • Lytchett Fields

      Lytchett Fields

      The reserve has seen more than thirty species of wading birds.

    • Arne

      Arne

      Heathland home to more than 2565 species.

  • Fun & Learning
      For teachers
    • Supporting resources
    • Wild Challenge
    • School outreach visits
    • Big Schools Birdwatch
    • Sign up for the newsletter
    • School trip ideas
    • For kids
    • Fun factoids for all the family
    • Games and activities
    • Kids stories
    • RSPB kids competitions
    • For families
    • Big Wild Sleepout
    • Wild Challenge
    • Nature reserves for families
    • Robin Robin
    • Cameron's Cottage
    • Your Support
    • About Cameron's cottage
    • Latest kids' activities
    • Wild Challenge

      Wild Challenge

      Nature is an adventure waiting to be had. Get out, get busy and get wild!

    • Fun factoids for all the family

      Fun factoids for all the family

      Find out more about the nature and wildlife outside your window.

    • Youth membership

      Youth membership

      As well as a free gift and magazines, you’ll get loads of ideas for activities to try at home.

  • Join & Donate
      Join us
    • Choose a membership
    • Family membership
    • Youth membership
    • Gift membership
    • Make a future richer in nature. Become a Life Fellow today.
    • Renew your membership
    • Donate
    • Philanthropy & Major Gifts
    • Our appeals
    • Make a one-off donation
    • Make a regular donation
    • In Memory Donations
    • Plant a celebration tree
    • In memoriam booklet download form
    • Leave a gift to nature in your Will
    • Why Include a Gift to Nature in Your Will
    • How to Include us in Your Will
    • Information for executors & solicitors
    • Download your free guide
    • Other ways to help
    • Gift Aid
    • Support us when you shop
    • RSPB Images
    • RSPB second-hand binocular scheme
    • Win with the RSPB
    • Payroll Giving
    • Stamp out albatross deaths
  • Login to your account Sign up for an RSPB account
  • Shop
  • Community
  • Home
  • Reserves & events
  • Reserves A-Z
  • Black Devon Wetlands

Black Devon Wetlands

gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
Address
RSPB Black Devon Wetlands, Alloa FK10
Grid ref
NS891915
What3Words
jubilant.themes.leotard

Black Devon Wetlands is a quiet gem of a reserve, an area of untouched wet grassland and wetland habitat which includes freshwater pools, brackish pools and reedbeds. This new site is being developed by RSPB Scotland to be better for the people and wildlife of the Inner Forth.

Plan your visit

Opening times

Open at all times.

Entrance charges

Free entrance to RSPB members
Yes
Adults
Free, although donations are very welcome.
Children
Free, although donations are very welcome.

Facilities

  • Viewing point
  • Nature trails

Accessibility

How to get here

By train

Alloa train station is 2.5 km from the reserve.

By bus

The nearest bus stop is on Bowhouse Road, this is on the Tillicoultry to Glenochil route (C2). From the stop, turn into Riverside View and take the public footpath to reach the reserve.

By bike

The nearest Sustrans route is route 76 (round the Forth). We have cycle racks on the reserve, in the nature trail area.

By road

From the A907, take Auld Brig Road, at the roundabout take the 2nd exit onto Greenside Street. Turn left into Broad Street. Turn left on to Bowhouse Road. Turn left onto Riverside View, the reserve can be reached via the public footpath at the end of Riverside View.

There is currently no designated parking for the reserve but there is limited parking in the small car park at the junction of Bowhouse Road and Riverside View. The postcode for sat-navs is FK10 1BZ. This is a residential area, so please park responsibly.

Sat nav POI file: If you have a satellite navigation system that can accept POI files, please see our POI page for a download link and instructions.

Get directions from Google Maps
View on What3Words
RSPB reserves on Google Earth

Contact Black Devon Wetlands

  • RSPB Black Devon Wetlands, Alloa FK10
  • innerforthreserves@rspb.org.uk
  • 01324 832853
  • Find us on facebook

What will you see?

Our star species

    Mute swan adult

    Mute swan

    Watch mute swans and their cygnets bobbing about on the water in summer.

    Water rail

    Water rail

    Listen for the screech of a resident water rail in spring.

    Grasshopper warbler adult

    Grasshopper warbler

    Listen out for the unmistakable sound of a reeling grasshopper warbler in spring.

    Male teal

    Teal

    Teal can be seen here in autumn.

    Pink-footed goose

    Pink-footed goose

    Look out for the first of the pink-footed geese to arrive in autumn as winter approaches.

Seasonal highlights

  • Spring
  • Summer
  • Autumn
  • Winter

In spring, listen out for the unmistakable sound of a reeling grasshopper warbler, the harsh, scratch call of a sedge warbler (both summer migrants) or if you are lucky the distinctive squeal of a water rail. Reed buntings set up territories and you may spot a singing male perched up high. Ducks, swans and grebes often build their nests on the edge of the pools.

Summer is all about raising young, so watch out for swallows, house martins and sand martins hunting insects over the pools in large numbers to feed their chicks. Mute swans and mallards can be seen bobbing about on the water with their cygnets and ducklings, while dragonflies emerge from pools and butterflies and bees weave among wildflowers and grasses.

Autumn is generally a quiet time on the reserve, but it's worth looking out for more unusual passage migrant waders as they move from their breeding grounds to wintering grounds. Duck numbers begin to build up in the Forth and the first of the pink-footed geese arrive back in the estuary as winter approaches.

Bird numbers are at their peak on the Inner Forth during the winter months, so look out for different duck species including mallard, shelduck, teal and wigeon as well as large flocks of wintering waders. You may also spot large flocks of finches twittering as they fly across the reserve to search for seeds from thistles and teasels.

About Black Devon Wetlands

Habitat

Black Devon Wetlands is a mosaic of untouched wet grassland and wetland habitat including freshwater pools, brackish pools and reedbeds. The reserve is set back from the Inner Forth and forms an important area for large flocks of wintering wading birds and wildfowl. Our new wetland ponds and scrapes are starting to be inhabited by frogs and newts, dragonflies and small fish.

Conservation

Our newly created wetlands are already teeming with a variety of inhabitants and with the work we have carried out on the older pools to create a more open habitat, we hope to attract a wide range of wading and wetlands birds.

Site information

The Firth of Forth plays host to an internationally important assemblage of bird species. Black Devon Wetlands is just one kilometre from the Firth of Forth SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) and SPA (Special Protection Area) and RAMSAR area (Wetlands of international importance).

This close proximity means that the site acts as a sanctuary and high tide roost for the birdlife using the estuarine mudflats. Walking our nature trail will take you through our wetland up to the viewing mound where you can enjoy a panoramic view over the site.

From here you should be able to spot some of our hidden interpretation. You can follow the winding boardwalk down to our iconic viewing screen, featuring panels showing a year in nature at Black Devon Wetlands. Which is your favourite panel? The nature trail also takes in the pond dipping pond and specially built platforms to allow visitors and school groups to safely explore what lies beneath the surface.

Black Devon Wetlands is a small and intimate site, designed to give you a new perspective on the landscape and wildlife of the Inner Forth. Still new and developing, we hope you enjoy watching the changes over the next few years.

Latest blog posts

  • RSPB Loch Lomond Events Spring Summer 2022

    (read more)

    Posted 12/04/2022 by Loch Lomond Team
  • Wildlife Trail to Loch Lomond: Construction update (Phase 2)

    We are pleased to update you on the timely progress of constructing the Wildlife Trail to Loch Lomond project at RSPB Scotland Loch Lomond that started earlier this month. Our contractors from McLaren Plant Ltd have been working hard to keep to sched...

    Posted 28/01/2022 by Loch Lomond Team
  • Construction begins on Wildlife Trail to Loch Lomond!

    It seems like a long time since Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park granted planning permission for RSPB Scotland’s ‘Path to the Loch’ project back in May 2020. This, like many other projects, has faced significant delays d...(read more)

    Posted 07/01/2022 by Loch Lomond Team
  • Gartocharn's Goose Guardians

    RSPB Scotland Loch Lomond approached Gartocharn Primary School to co-design a project on geese, several species of which over-winter at the reserve and local area of Gartocharn. To get the project underway we delivered a training session to staff, te...

    Posted 17/12/2021 by Loch Lomond Team
Read the blog

Activities and events

Activities for children and families

We run brilliant drop-in family fun sessions throughout the year. Activities often include pond dipping, bug hunting and birdwatching.

For more information on events and to book tickets, please visit events.rspb.org.uk/blackdevonwetlands

Share this

  • Facebook Facebook Created with Sketch.
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

You might also be interested in

RSPB Giving Nature a Home Campaign

Homes for Nature Fund 2017

You can give nature the space it needs to survive and thrive...

Inner Forth

The Inner Forth is rich in industrial heritage, hugely important for agriculture and home to many thousands of people.
Views towards Loch Leven, Vane Farm RSPB reserve, Kinross, Scotland, July 2010

Loch Leven

Set on the southern shore of the loch, this nature reserve offers a great day out for families and nature lovers.

We spend 90% of net income on conservation, public education and advocacy

Quick links

  • Contact us
  • Online Community
  • Vacancies
  • Media centre

Information for

  • Teachers
  • Policy makers
  • Farmers & landowners
  • Scientists

Our work in

  • England
  • Scotland
  • Wales
  • Northern Ireland
  • International

Follow us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram

Partnering with

BirdLife_logo

The RSPB is a member of BirdLife International. Find out more about the partnership

Fundraising Regulator logo OSCR logo

© The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity: England and Wales no. 207076, Scotland no. SC037654

  • Terms & conditions
  • Cookie policy
  • Privacy policy
  • Charter and statutes
  • About our site
  • Modern Slavery Act

Cookie Preferences

Accepting all non-essential cookies helps us to personalise your experience

Edit settings
Accept all

Essential cookies are required

These cookies are required for basic web functions

Enable analytics cookies

Allow us to collect anonymised performance data

Enable marketing cookies

Allow us to personalise your experience

Save settings
Read our cookie policy