A bird walk on 30 December, led by Scottish Natural Heritage staff, will showcase the winter spectacles on offer at the Loch Leven national nature reserve.
Winter is a surprisingly good time to see some fascinating bird life at the Loch Leven reserve. The pink-footed geese congregating often steal the limelight from the many other impressive wildfowl, including teal, wigeon, pintail and pochard. And there are also winter migrants off the loch to see in action: large flocks of fieldfare and redwing, having travelled south from Scandinavia, and waxwing may appear in variable numbers each winter to feed on the plentiful rowan berries in fruit during the colder months. A white-tailed sea eagle has also been spotted at the loch over the last few weeks.
Iain Jamieson, Loch Leven reserve officer, said: “We should see all kinds of birds during the walk – and it’s a great way to work off some of those Christmas meals! Many people don’t think of coming out to the reserve during winter, but it’s actually a terrific chance to see some interesting birds which we don’t see at other times of the year.”
The walk will begin from Findatie Car Park, 10am until noon on Thursday 30th December. Please call the reserve office on 01577 864439 to book a place on this walk. The answering machine will be checked over the festive season.
In other news at Loch Leven reserve, both the Kingfisher (Burleigh) and Boathouse (Kirkgate) hides are now closed, as once again Loch Leven has demonstrated its power with the shifting ice pack, which covers 1300 hectares, damaging the hides, despite the galvanised steel reinforcing framework added to them this year. The hides were also damaged last year. The hides have been dismantled and will be reinstated when the weather improves.
Loch Leven is Scotland’s largest lowland loch and one of the most important sites for waterfowl in Britain. It’s a unique environment that attracts not only the largest concentration of breeding ducks found anywhere in the UK, but also many thousands of migratory ducks, geese and swans every autumn and winter, as well as boasting an interesting variety of wildlife, plants and trees.