Loch Gruinart

We're working hard to make our nature reserves safe and ready for our staff, visitors and wildlife. Many have now re-opened in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, although some facilities are not yet available. Some reserves remain closed for now. See our COVID-19 updates page for the latest information (link below).

Address: RSPB Loch Gruinart, Bridgend, Isle of Islay, PA44 7PP

Grid ref: NR275672

See our reserves Covid-19 updates page for which sites are open and other important details.

Loch Gruinart is one of the top wildlife sites in Scotland, with a wide range of habitats and a dedicated in-house farming operation. This provides opportunities for an extraordinary range of key Hebridean birds and other wildlife, including Greenland barnacle and Greenland white-fronted geese, corncrake, hen harrier and otter.

Plan your visit

Covid-19 update: The visitor centre, toilets and hides remain closed at the site. We are working to open these as soon as it is safe to do so. The car park and trails are open.

The reserve is open at all times.

The visitor centre is open daily from 10am - 5pm except Christmas and New Year.

Free entrance to RSPB members: Yes

Adults: Free, but donations are very welcome.

Children: Free, but donations are very welcome.

Other discounts: There is a small charge for our guided walks.

Facilities

Visitor centre is closed
Car park
Toilets are closed
Accessible toilets are closed
Guided walks is closed
Viewing points are closed
Nature trails
Educational facilities

Accessibility

Full accessibility information (external website)

How to get here

By bus

No bus to the reserve. Nearest stop 3 miles (4.8 km) away. Passengers should alight at the junction on the A847 Bridgend to Bruichladdich road, then there will be a three-mile walk. Or if on the Port Askaig route, alight at Bridgend - a six-mile walk to the reserve.

By road

Signed from A847 Bridgend to Bruichladdich road, 3 miles (4.8 km) from turn-off.

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.

Other ways to get there

Ferry from mainland, Kennacraig to Port Askaig or Port Ellen on Islay. Contact Caledonian MacBrayne tel: 08705 650000. Flight from Glasgow. Operated by Loganair tel: 0344 800 2855.

Get directions from Google Maps

RSPB reserves on Google Earth

11 degrees, Cloudy

Downloads

Helping you find your way around. PDF, 337Kb

Loch Gruinart and The OA trail guide

Contact Loch Gruinart

RSPB Loch Gruinart, Bridgend, Isle of Islay, PA44 7PP
loch.gruinart@rspb.org.uk
01496 850505

What will you see?

Our star species

Barnacle goose

Large numbers of the Greenland population of barnacle geese arrive at Loch Gruinart in the autumn.

Hen harrier

All but extinct from England, the hen harrier has a strong population on Islay.

Corncrake

Listen in spring and summer for the repetitive, rasping call of the male corncrake.

Lapwing

Watch the nesting lapwings here chasing predators that may come too close.

White-fronted goose

Large numbers of Greenland white-fronted geese spend winter on the reserve and are generally present between late October and early April.

Nature spectacles

In the autumn, Loch Gruinart really comes to life with tens of thousands of Greenland barnacle geese and Greenland white-fronted geese arriving en masse to over-winter on Islay, along with ducks like pintail and shoveler and waders such as golden plover and black-tailed godwit.

All year round, hen harriers often take centre stage with their ghostly flight over the heather as they hunt.

Roe deer can be seen from our hides with their new young close behind.

The wintering ducks and geese leave for their northerly breeding grounds. Hundreds of birds begin their displays; wading birds like lapwings and drumming snipe. The first call of the corncrake can be heard in mid-May. Roe deer begin their 'barking' in the woods. Boxing brown hares start up their fights in our flat pastures.

See the lapwing chicks grow in the fields. Watch for hunting birds of prey, such as hen harriers and buzzards from our hides. Corncrakes are calling throughout the night. On the coast watch for otters as well as common and grey seals.

Barnacle and white-fronted geese return from Greenland. Migrating waders like dunlin arrive on the floods and estuary in their hundreds. Fieldfares and redwings feed on the trails. Wintering ducks arrive including pintails and shoveler on the floods by the hides.

Watch hen harriers, peregrines and barn owls hunting, and wading birds including dunlins, bar-tailed godwits, redshanks, golden plovers and turnstones on the estuary. The buffet of barnacle geese is too good an opportunity to waste for both golden and white-tailed eagles!

About Loch Gruinart

Habitat

The reserve consists of a variety of habitats, including mudflats, saltmarsh, wet grassland, moorland, blanket bog and broadleaved woodland.

Conservation

Farming for wildlife is complex, but we have developed a system that benefits many different species throughout the year. The grasses we grow provide breeding cover for vulnerable corncrakes, while in the winter they feed huge geese flocks.

The interaction between wildlife and people is so important that if we stopped all agricultural work on the reserve, some of our iconic species would simply disappear.

Partners

Thanks to SNH Peatland Action Fund.

Site information

This nature reserve is important for wildlife and a working farm. RSPB Scotland welcomes responsible access, in line with the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.

Loch Gruinart is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), as well as a Natura 2000 and Ramsar site due to its importance as a habitat for wildlife.

Activities and events

Leisure activities

A particular favourite for some is the cycle from Uiskentuie on the A847 along the B8017 to the RSPB Loch Gruinart visitor centre, and then on to Ardnave (a total of 7.5 miles, or 12 km, one way). Just two miles into the ride you are surrounded by birds as you cross the Gruinart Flats; in the spring: lapwings, redshanks, curlews and snipe; in the summer: the sound of corncrakes reverberates and in the winter, thousands of Greenland barnacle geese fill the fields.

Stop at the RSPB visitor centre for a coffee and visit the hide. Then head north from the visitor centre through more areas of the nature reserve and eventually to Ardnave Loch.

You pass the beautiful Celtic chapel ruins and cross at Kilnave on the journey. At Ardnave you can walk to the many beaches and enjoy the sight and sound of choughs in stunning scenery.

This ride can be linked with many circular routes, completed as a return journey or part of a huge Islay tour.

Marshside

Lytchett Fields

Arne

Loch Gruinart