In 2007 we had a major project at the Loch of Strathbeg aimed at reducing the sediment and nitrogen inputs into the Loch of Strathbeg – an international important dune loch that was in danger from changing from a higher plant ecosystem to an algal dominated system. After this project SEPA monitored the water quality and the data showed that the aims of the project worked well. However, the water crossing the reserve before…

10 months. How much can you learn within 10 months? It turns out quite a lot. I started this internship with a passion for nature but lacked practical skills and knowledge. My time here at Strathbeg has provided me with skills I never thought I’d learn and given me knowledge I never thought I would possess.

Right off the bat me and the other intern, Freya, were thrown into the deep end, right into the thick of it…

This is a list of species observed at RSPB Loch of Strathbeg over the past week, detailing when they were last seen:

• Black-tailed godwit (18/06/23) 
• Sandwich tern (18/06/23)
• Teal (18/06/23)
• Common gull (18/06/23)
• Snipe (23/06/23) 
• Common crane (24/06/23) – 2 individuals over low ground
• Great white egret (24/06/23) – 1 individual 
• Reed bunting (24/06/23)
• Marsh harrier (25/06/23) 
• Shelduck (25/06/23)
• Red-backed…

This is a list of species observed at RSPB Loch of Strathbeg over the past week, detailing when they were last seen:

• Marsh harrier (12/03/23) 
• Ruff (14/03/23) 
• Snipe (14/03/23) 
• Whooper swan (14/03/23) – 70 birds
• Common crane (15/03/23) – 2 individuals over low ground
• Gadwall (15/03/23) 
• Great white egret (15/03/23) – 1 individual 
• Little egret (15/03/23) – 2 individuals 
• Pintail (15/03/23) 
• Shelduck …

Hello all!

My name is Calum and I am one of the residential volunteer interns at Strathbeg. Time sure does fly when you’re having fun, I’ve been here for four months already and what an amazing four months it’s been! From the get-go we immediately got stuck in, from putting up fencing for a new area for the konik ponies, to taking part in goose counts and building bird boxes. Here I am presenting a beautifully crafted…

Summer is my favourite time of year, and there is one main reason for that – I love insects, and in summer you find them everywhere! Over the last few months I’ve been conducting a variety of surveys around the reserve to monitor our insect populations.

Six-spot Burnet Moth by Calum Maclure

Pollination is an extremely crucial role in our ecosystem, so I decided to survey the pollinators found around the reserve…

Naomi High spent the winter as a residential volunteer at Loch of Strathbeg with us and she reflected on her time spent here in the blog below:

I have spent the past 5 months volunteering and living at Strathbeg and have gotten stuck into all aspects of reserve life (sometimes literally!)

I arrived mid October being greeted by the site manager and taken to my new home for the next few months. I was in awe of the beauty…

Here are some sightings from the Loch of Strathbeg reserve from the last night three weeks. Dates shown are the most recent recorded for each species:

- Marsh harrier (03/11/2021)

- Little egret (03/11/2021) - 4 birds

- Snow bunting (03/11/2021) - 1 bird seen in front of the VC in the morning.

- Bittern (27/10/2021) - 1 bird seen flying over tower pool hide

- Ruff (27/10/2021) 

- Glossy ibis (27/10/2021)

- Woodcock (25…

Here are some sightings from the Loch of Strathbeg reserve from the last fortnight. Dates shown are the most recent recorded for each species:

- Greater yellowlegs (13/10/2021): seen daily since 28/09/2021

- Lesser yellowlegs (13/10/2021): seen daily  since 30/09/2021

- Little Egret (13/10/2021): 4 birds seen daily 

- Red-crested pochard (10/10/2021) 

- Pink-footed geese (10/10/2021)- 1530 birds across whole reserve 

- Whooper…

Here are some sightings from the Loch of Strathbeg reserve from the last fortnight. Dates shown are the most recent recorded for each species:

Greater yellowlegs. Photo by Kat Suchecka

- Greater yellowlegs (29/09/2021)  - Arrived on 28/09/2021 and still present on Starnafin pools at time this blog was posted (16:30). 

- Grey plover (29/09/2021) 

- Little Egret (29/09/2021) - two birds seen daily over past week.

- Common…

Here are some sightings from the Loch of Strathbeg reserve from the last fortnight. Dates shown are the most recent recorded for each species:

- Marsh harrier (15/09/2021) - birds seen regularly on reserve

- lapwing (15/09/2021) - flock of up to 400 birds

- Pink-footed geese (14/09/2021) - 13 birds, first few back 

- Common crane (14/09/2021) - 3 birds (one adult + 2 juveniles) 

- Ringed plover (13/09/2021) - 8 birds on…

Here are some sightings from the Loch of Strathbeg reserve from the last fortnight. Dates shown are the most recent recorded for each species:

- Common crane (01/09/2021) - 4 birds seen regularly since 29/08/2021

- Marsh harrier (01/09/2021) - Male, female and juvenile birds seen across the two week period

- Peregrine (01/09/2021)

- Spotted redshank (01/09/2021) - 2 adults, juvenile seen on 27/08/2021

- Greenshank …

In 2020 we had a number of beach cleans planned but with the pandemic we had to postpone them until this summer. So various members of the team completed two cleans at Rattray Head, just south of Loch of Strathbeg and one at St Combs, both on and off reserve. They weren’t the busiest of beach cleans we’ve done but it was good to get out and help keep our local beaches clean.

On the 26^th June Kat and Ed were…

During Autumn 2020 there was some building conservation at RSPB Loch of Strathbeg alongside the wildlife conservation. Jill Harden, the RSPB’s Archaeologist in Scotland explains:

1 The tower from the visitor centre before works began

Since 2014 the RSPB has been exploring ways to save the 230 year-old windpump tower at Loch of Strathbeg. And now it’s done!  And it’s all been made possible by a 40% grant from…

I think to say that a lot has changed over the past year is an understatement!

How we carry out our work on reserve has changed and current restrictions have led to the closure of our hides and the visitor centre. Our trails and toilets are still open and viewing of the low ground is available in front of Tower pool Hide. It's all very strange

But there are some changes to the reserve that pre-date the current situation…

Like for everyone else, life on our reserves changed very suddenly earlier this year. We started working from home, the reserves team taking in turns to do the daily checks on the ponies at Loch of Strathbeg and making health and safety visits to the different reserves we look after.

Being folk who normally have an extremely varied workload, and although we do have office work, we are lucky enough to be able to mix that…

Work on the track has finished (for now) and access to the VC is open again.

The work has much improved the track, but can we ask that visitors keep their speeds down (10 mph max) for safety of other visitors, wildlife and the longevity of the surface!

We've been told work starts on Monday 24 February, and there will also be some preparatory work happening this Friday, 21st - please be aware that large machinery may be involved and take care if you are visiting. From Monday until further notice the track to Starnafin will be CLOSED to all vehicles and all pedestrians (except staff).

A cautionary word about the repairs - don't get too excited! We're going to have…

WEATHER UPDATE.

Anyone visiting Strathbeg will have noticed the ongoing battle we have with our access track to the Visitor Centre. However, after years of unrelenting pothole wars, we are finally getting an upgrade! CHANGE TO DATE - Starting from 24 February, work will take place to repair and resurface the track - this will take around three days and is weather dependent, so we can't predict when it will start. What…

On Saturday the 18^th of January, 8 members of the public and 3 RSPB staff and volunteers came together headed out onto St Combs Bay to clean the beach. We were blessed with the weather so in the bright sunlight, with the surf beating and the oystercatchers bleating, we set to work.

It wasn’t long before our binbags started to fill up and numerous piles of collected rubbish started to grow. It seemed that 90% or more…

The trouble with working on a reserve the size of Strathbeg is you don’t get to see all of it very often, there is a lot to do that doesn’t involve binoculars, and rarities can slip through without us noticing unless someone who’s actually here to do some birdwatching lets us know! Add to that several lightning strikes which have disconnected us from the internet for a total of about two months and you end up with perhaps…

If you visit the reserve in the next few weeks, you’ll see that there is something afoot in front of the Visitor Centre at Loch of Strathbeg.

Starnafin Pools, Lorna Dow

This view will be changing, just slightly. As many folk will know, the predator fence that was put up to protect the nesting terns and gulls on the islands was extremely successful. We went from approximately 20 pairs of common terns before fence…

During my internship at Loch of Strathbeg I got the chance to take part in water vole surveys here and at Loch Spynie.

Water voles are widespread but have suffered declines due to habitat changes and predation by American mink.  Carrying out surveys is important to firstly find out whether water vole are present on the reserve but also to provide a picture of how the habitat is being used. This is carried out yearly on…

Interns Katie (L) and Julie (R), Lorna Dow

From March to September 2019, I have been one of the Reserves Interns on the RSPB North East Scottish Coastal Reserves, based at Loch of Strathbeg. I chose to immerse myself in this voluntary internship as a stepping stone to returning to work in Scottish nature conservation after spending far too long in a city office-based job.

I can’t believe how quickly the season has flown…

We’ve been a bit quiet of late on the blog as we’ve been super busy out and about on the reserves. It’s now time to catch up!  

A big event for us on the reserves early in the year, was a change on personnel. The end of February saw us say goodbye to the interns of 2018/19, Kim Grant and Sally Dunbar. Our interns very much become part of the team and it’s always sad to see them go. Hopefully, it’s on…