A free walk showcasing Loch Leven’s wetlands takes place on Saturday, 4 February, led by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) staff.
Loch Leven is an internationally designated wetlands site, and the walk is part of the celebrations for this year’s World Wetlands Day. Craig Nisbet, SNH reserve officer at Loch Leven, said: “We’re again seeing high numbers of birds at Loch Leven this winter, so the walk should be a terrific one. We recently counted over 12,000 pink footed geese, plus almost 500 greylag geese, lots of whooper swans, a few grey partridges and a kingfisher. Plus there’s the chance to see the sea eagle which has been spotted lately at the loch.”
World Wetlands Day marks the anniversary of the Ramsar convention, which was established 41 years ago to protect wetlands internationally. Loch Leven is celebrating the event with wetland sites from over 160 countries. Each site is committed to preserving important habitats.
The large extent of breeding, in wintering wildfowl and ducks, has made Loch Leven national nature reserve one of the UK’s most prominent Ramsar sites. Loch Leven is one of 168 Ramsar sites in the UK, and one of about 2000 internationally important wetlands sites in 160 countries.
The walk begins from Findatie car park at 10am and will take about two hours. Call the SNH office on 01577 864439 to reserve a place. Walking boots, water-proofs, and binoculars are recommended.