Loch Spynie

The loch is surrounded by wet woodlands, fen meadow and the largest freshwater reedbed in Scotland making it a haven for ducks, geese and swans.

A Scots pine plantation means the reserve is also home to a variety of woodland birds.

Take a stroll along short trails and enjoy peaceful views of the loch from the hide where you can regularly spot otters and red squirrels too.

The RSPB is working in partnership with Pitgaveny, the landowners, to restore and maintain the wetlands and continue to look after the water quality of the loch. The wide range of habitats makes Loch Spynie special. The loch is internationally recognised as an important home for wildlife through its designation as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Protection Area (SPA). It is also a Ramsar site.

In summer, common terns and black-headed gulls use the artificial nesting platform as a protected spot to make their nests, while the loch and surrounding reedbeds provide a safe haven for local ducks and geese, with mallards, wigeons, teals, tufted ducks and several pairs of mute swans all breeding at the reserve. When autumn arrives, they are joined by more adventurous travellers including whooper swans that return to the loch from their breeding grounds further north, along with goldeneyes, pintails, gadwalls and more wigeons and teals.

The reserve stretches further than the loch edge and encompasses areas where the reedbed transitions into wet woodland and fen meadow. It also includes an area of old Scots pine plantation behind the hide. These venerable old trees provide homes for creatures large and small. In the summer, you can hear the herons nesting high in the trees from the track and all year round you can be delighted by the antics of the red squirrels that call Spynie their home.

The reserve and much of the surrounding land are owned by Pitgaveny. For many years, a local volunteer group has helped look after the hide here and monitor the wildlife. Since 2016 the RSPB has been working with Pitgaveny and the local community to provide even more homes for nature.

There is a hide overlooking the loch with feeders nearby for the woodland birds and squirrels. This can be reached by a short walk from the car park.

The landscape around the loch appears static and as if it has been this way for centuries, yet even over the last 200 years remarkable changes have taken place. The Laich of Moray was once a huge sea loch. In the 1700s engineers were commissioned by local landowners to design the Spynie Canal to drain much of the loch and create the surrounding farm land. Thomas Telford added to this feat of engineering in the mid-19th century and Loch Spynie is the remaining body of water. An extensive area of farm land continues to be drained by the canal to this day.

The loch, as it is now, was created during this process for fishing and wildfowling. Shooting at the loch stopped during the mid-1980s and it has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) because the fen meadow, the loch, the wet woodland and the reedbeds, along with the breeding birds they support, have international importance.

Please note at certain times of the year there are livestock on this site, and you may encounter them on your visit.

RSPB Scotland welcomes responsible access, in line with the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.