The Loons and Loch of Banks

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

Address: RSPB The Loons and Loch of Banks, Loons Rd, Orkney KW17 2NB

Grid ref: HY246241

See our updates page to see which reserves are open.

Discover a wonderful landscape where the sounds of breeding birds fill the air. The Loons and Loch of Banks reserve is the largest remaining wetland in Orkney and the perfect place to see wildlife up close, including wigeons, pintails, white-fronted geese and perhaps even a rare great yellow bumblebee.

Plan your visit

Open at all times.

Free entrance to RSPB members: Yes

Adults: Free, but donations are very welcome.

Children: Free, but donations are very welcome.

Facilities

Car park
Picnic area
Viewing point
Educational facilities

Accessibility

How to get here

By bus

Bus route 8 passes the Marwick end of the road along which The Loons Hide and Listening Wall is situated. From there it is a short walk to The Loons Hide (0.3 miles/0.5 km) or the Listening Wall (0.7 miles/1 km). Bus route 7 passes directly by The Loch of Banks. Up to date travel information can be found on travelinescotland.com.

By bike

Cycle route 1 of the National Cycle Network passes by the Marwick end of the road on which the Loons Hide and Listening Wall are situated. Follow the brown tourist signs for the reserve along the minor road that connects the B9056 and A986. The Loch of Banks is sandwiched between the A986 and A967, just south of Twatt church.

By road

The Loons Hide and Listening Wall are on the minor road that connects the B9056 and A986, north of the Loch of Isbister. Brown tourist signs direct you to the reserve from either end of the road. The Loch of Banks is sandwiched between the A986 and A967, just south of Twatt church. There are no viewing facilities at the Loch of Banks – please pull off the road safely if you are stopping to view the birds.

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

For flights and ferry information to Orkney, contact VisitOrkney at West Castle Street, Kirkwall, KW15 1GU. Website: visitorkney.com Tel: 01856 872856.

Get directions from Google Maps

RSPB reserves on Google Earth

Group visits are welcome. For more information, please contact the Orkney office on 01856 850176.

School visits are available on our Orkney reserves on a variety of topics. Please contact the Orkney office on 01856 850176 for further details.

10 degrees, Light rain

Contact The Loons and Loch of Banks

RSPB The Loons and Loch of Banks, Loons Rd, Orkney KW17 2NB
orkney@rspb.org.uk
01856 850176

What will you see?

Our star species

Black-tailed godwit

A summer visitor, this large wading bird can be very secretive at its breeding grounds.

Lapwing

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

Pintail

The reserve holds around 12 per cent of the national breeding population.

Redshank

Keep an eye out for the redshanks' towering display flights over the meadows in spring.

White-fronted goose

Our white-fronted geese come all the way from Greenland each autumn.

Nature spectacles

Visit The Loons Listening Wall in spring and immerse yourself in the spectacular natural symphony of sound created by the many inhabitants of the thriving wetland in front of you. The Listening Wall was inspired by the concrete listening walls on the south coast of England which formed part of Britain’s early-warning system at the start of the Second World War, with the parabolic shape of the wall designed to concentrate the sound at its centre.

Sit on the benches beneath the vast open skies above The Loons, close your eyes and enter a different world, alive with a myriad of calls.

Visit the Loons Listening Wall, specially designed to amplify the wealth of sound created by the breeding waders and wildfowl in the wetlands ahead or listen out for the frenetic song of sedge warblers from the Loons Hide. See if you can spot the noisy displays of one of our rarer breeding waders, the black-tailed godwit. Watch out for ruffs passing by on their way further north – if you’re lucky you may catch the spectacular males displaying to each other in their weird and wonderful plumage.

Scan the open water areas for broods of ducklings such as gadwalls, teals, shovelers, tufted ducks and the rarer pintails. Look out for the starry white flower of the bogbean in the pools in front of The Loons Hide. On a fine day, check the flowers around the Listening Wall for great yellow bumblebees. Keep your eyes peeled and if you are very fortunate you may spot an otter crossing one of the pools.

Watch the autumn light shimmer off swirling flocks of golden plover in the fields. Spend a relaxing hour in The Loons Hide looking for hunting hen harriers patrolling the reserve for prey.

Check the surrounding fields for flocks of Greenland white-fronted geese – look for the barcodes on their bellies! Catch a glimpse of a water rail on the reedbed edges in front of The Loons Hide.

About The Loons and Loch of Banks

Habitat

The Loons and Loch of Banks reserve is the largest remaining wetland in Orkney and the perfect place to see wetland wildlife at its best. Large areas of open water are surrounded by a mosaic of marshy grassland, swamp fen, mire and reedbeds, all dotted with smaller pools, providing a home for an abundance of wildfowl and waders. The area around the Listening Wall has been planted up with wildflowers native to the area to encourage bumblebees, including the rare great yellow bumblebee, adding to the diversity of the site.

Conservation

The Loons and Loch of Banks is a rich wetland area which has been managed by the RSPB since the early 1980s to provide ideal breeding conditions for a variety of wading birds and nationally important numbers of breeding black-tailed godwits and pintails.

Cattle graze the marshy grassland, creating a mosaic of vegetation heights and providing ideal ground conditions for nesting waders. As a result, the populations and densities of breeding waders are exceptional, being amongst the highest recorded on Orkney. The wetlands also regularly support 15 species of breeding wildfowl, with the pools perfect places for them to raise a family.

Management work is carried out annually to ensure that these vital open areas of water are maintained. The area around our Listening Wall at The Loons is being managed to encourage bumblebees, particularly the rare great yellow bumblebee. Green hay (cuttings from flower-rich meadows, full of native plant seed) has been spread on the grassy area below the wall to encourage its development as a meadow, and native flower species rich in nectar have been hand-planted around the Listening Wall itself.

Site information

The Loons and Loch of Banks reserve covers an area of 93 hectares, and forms the largest and best remaining example of an extensive wetland complex in Orkney. Many of the plants and varied vegetation communities are scarce or rare and it holds a nationally important community of breeding and wintering birds, as recognised in the area’s designation as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

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Activities and events

Activities for children and families

Our fantastic Listening Wall at The Loons, designed to amplify the sounds of the bustling wetland below, is an ideal place for a family picnic in spring and summer. See if you can guess the birds whose local names are inscribed in the stones beneath your feet, and look out for short poems by Dounby Community School along the pathside, inspired by the noises of the birds.

Leisure activities

Wildlife Photography: The Loons Hide in winter offers one of the best places on Orkney to try for a photo of a water rail, appearing briefly at the edges of the reed bed. Each year we cut rides into the reed bed to increase the chances of seeing one, and with a little bit of patience and some luck, you may get the chance to catch a glimpse of one. While you are waiting, the hide and surrounding area can provide fantastic photo opportunities for hunting hen harriers and short-eared owls, and flocks of Greenland white-fronted geese and hundreds of golden plovers can gather on the surrounding fields.

Marshside

Lytchett Fields

Arne

The Loons and Loch of Banks