For an English person on a visit north of the boarder, Loch Leven holds all kinds of amazing sights that frequent visitors might take for granted.
On my first day I was on a walk up Vane Hill with Uwe (the Tayside area manager). Even the sight, smell and taste of bilberries (sorry blaeberries) was a novelty for my southern acclimatised senses, but when three plump birds erupted from the heather and flew into the distance with a bizarre call I was thrilled to be told they were red grouse. Although apparently common here, a first for me.
Tuesday would be accompanied by our native red squirrel. While (sort of) supervising a forest schools’ day of woodland clan warfare, this elfin little character was drawn into the drama and sat on the margins watching. Here's a fuzzy picture of the resident red:
To be honest I was learning as much from the kids as they were from me, many were familiar with the principles of making fire. We all enjoyed the fruits of fire-lighting with some toasted marshmallows.
Wednesday started with some moth-trap checking, with still a few nice 'angle shades' moths around.
The rest of the day put my limited carpentry skills to the test helping the troop of reserve volunteers to install a style (for which we had to dodge heighlan coos in the morning fog) and assist the design and production of a drying cabinet for wet boots, gloves etc (although Allen the retired engineer was the driving force). I was really impressed by the amount of skill and dedication in this team and it demonstrated to me more clearly than before to me just how valuable volunteers are to the RSPB. One of these dedicated souls David Baynes has just received the Presidents award.
Thursday: boats and bitterns
The thermometer said 1.5 degrees when we arrived at the Loch of Kinnordy RSPB reserve about ten degrees colder than I’ve experienced so far this year in Cambridge, so the idea of wading into cold water wasn’t high on my list of preferred jobs for the day.
But with a few extra layers, a dry suit and the prospect of searching for the signs of rare wildlife, I felt more encouraged.
Our excursion turned up a variety of interesting fungi, candle snuff and jelly ears, but a first for me was the sighting of the infamous stinkhorn. Although still white, it lived up to its pungent reputation.
Candlesnuff fungus
As we sat to eat lunch in the comfortable but cold Gullery hide we looked at the view through our binoculars. Without warning Anna (assistant warden) piped up with ‘bittern! bittern!’. And there it was, flying in its orange-brown and black splendour. After this the flock of golden plovers tried hard to impress but fell short after the headline act.
Spotting a stonechat from the canoe was about we could manage when we were on the water as our noisy and unrefined methods of taking out bulrushes temporarily scared off most of the wildlife.
It was a bizarre experience clambering around on pontoons of vegetation, while sometimes sinking to chest deep in the murky water (which stank like rotten eggs). The process is necessary however to stop the rushes getting out of hand and to allow visitors to see the birds present (and it's quite fun).
After two hours of tearing and pulling we were getting pretty tired and constant submersion had allowed the cold water to penetrate a few week points in mine and Vicky’s (the warden) dry suits. Having learned that the alien looking white rhizomes of the bulrushes could be eaten I clambered back into the canoe for a final time with a two in hand.
After escaping the confines of the dry suits we were all knackered and ready for a wash and a cup of something hot.
In the cafe
On the Friday of I was allowed to help out in the cafe. I’d heard good things about cakes and my nose had added credence to the rumours.
I won’t go into the details of the day but Lynn, the cook, is a real asset to RSPB and the secret to her scones is a closely guarded one. Doug the cafe manager is passionate about sourcing the best possible ingredients all from organic, local producers; I walked into the store room a few times while he was in energetic phone negotiations doing just this! Here’s a picture of me with Sandy the coffee wizard.
After a week of days spent with the different component parts that make RSPB Loch Leven a well oiled machine, I was struck by the level off effort a skill that goes into making the whole thing work as a visitor experience.
Ultimately though the whole operation operation is founded on the stunning nature that surrounds this site at Loch Leven. If you've not been you have to go and have a look (on a clear day) to really appreciate this but here’s a couple of photo’s to give you an idea.
Thanks to the whole team for a great week's volunteering. Now, back to the office...