Wildlife watching and events planned for Beinn Eighe reserve

The visitor centre at Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve in Wester Ross opened its doors this week enabling visitors to see the first results of a two-year upgrade.

Owned and managed by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) the reserve is a stunning mix of mountain and woodland which rises from the beautiful Loch Maree to the top of the Beinn Eighe ridge. It is one of Scotland’s wildlife hotspots and is home to golden eagle, pine marten, red deer and otter to name a few.

Last year SNH started bringing live images of wildlife into the centre using remote cameras, and reserve manager Eoghain Maclean is hopeful visitors will be able to follow a local pair of sea eagles as they go about their parenting:

“The birds have been busy nest-building and all going well should be laying eggs soon. The actual nest site is 15 kilometres from the visitor centre so it’s a challenge to get the technology working well, but the pictures are stunning,” he said.

Beinn Eighe is a gateway into Wester Ross and in November work started on the £330,000 two-year project to upgrade the visitor centre funded by SNH and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). So far it has comprised new waymarking of the popular short trails around the centre, but after this summer a complete refit of the centre is planned.

The range of public events at Beinn Eighe this year include pond dipping days, mountain trail walks and the regular open air performance from the Feis Rois Ceilidh Trail.

Being Eighe visitor centre is open seven days a week from 10am to 5pm from Monday 31 March to the end of September. There are a number of walks at the reserve including the Beinn Eighe Mountain Trail, Woodland Trail, the Corbett Meall a Ghiubhais and a traverse of Beinn Eighe itself.