Loch of Kinnordy

It’s been a turbulent year for the marsh harriers and we’ve been watching their progress in suspense!

The pair nest every year at Loch of Kinnordy and have relatively good success. They can be seen gliding over the reeds hunting for their prey, with moor hens and pipits seen in their grasp. This year however, their nest failed, which was a real shame for the pair and disappointing for those who follow their…

Ted Logan managed to capture these images of a father reed bunting hard at work.Over just a couple of hours at Loch of Kinnordy he caught many different insects. As Ted said he is "obviously providing a demanding new family a varied diet".

Happy New Year from all of us at RSPB Scotland Loch of Kinnordy!

Looking back, here is our year list from Kinnordy for 2017. We had 123 bird species last year and we are hoping for just as good a year in 2018 or maybe even better.

Let us know if you think we have missed anything!

Mallard

Black throated diver

Osprey

Blue tit

Sand martin

Teal

Water rail

Marsh harrier

…

Brilliant news, this year the marsh harriers at Kinnordy have fledged three chicks! Amazing family photos from Ted Logan:

Because we have marsh harriers breeding at Kinnordy we are able to see some of their wonderful behaviors up close and from the comfort of the hide!

One such behavior is the food toss. When the female is busy incubating the eggs the male will catch food for her. When he has caught his prey he will fly over the nest and call to the female. She will then fly up from the nest to collect the spoils from her mate. The birds…

We are getting plenty of sightings of both the osprey and marsh harriers at Kinnordy. Here is a wonderful photo by Ted Logan showing perfectly the size difference between the osprey (below) and male marsh harrier (above).

What a week for raptors at Kinnordy. We've had the return of the marsh harriers and the osprey, frequent sightings of red kites, a sparrowhawk over the car park and a peregrine outside swamp hide!

These photos by Ted Logan show the male and female harrier over the reedbed.

The first osprey that has returned to Kinnordy in 2017 is a familiar bird! She was frequently seen hunting over the Loch last year. We know…

Work is now complete and the trees have been felled so the hides are open. Thank you all for your patience!

Unfortunately the strong winds over the weekend have caused two trees, both near the footpath, to fall. This wind damage has meant for reasons of safety we have closed both Gullery and Swamp hides. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause you. We aim to have the problem solved as soon us possible.

Thank you for your patience.

On Thursday the 6th of January 2017 we found something quite rare at Kinnordy, some hair ice! 

Hair Ice (aka frost beard or ice wool) is a frost formed in very specific circumstances. It is produced by the fungus Exidiopsis effusa and only forms on deadwood, in humid air and when temperatures are just less than 0 degrees centigrade. So we were lucky to see it!

The bittern has been spotted at Kinnordy!

Ted Logan photographed the bittern on the morning of the 4th of October 2016.

If you are planning on coming to the reserve to see the bittern, the best place to look is from the Gullery Hide. From the hide look across to the reedbed on the far shore, this is where we most often see it.

Good luck!

Anna

Now that the woodland is turning russet and the geese are starting to arrive back at the reserve I am finally getting around to updating you all to what has been happening this summer! And what a busy summer it has been. (Apologies for the delay)

Species

Loch of Kinnordy has been filled with species highs and lows. You may have seen that we installed a nesting raft for the black headed gulls early in the spring. They…

On Thursday the 11th of August we are holding an Open Day at RSPB Loch of Kinnordy. Hopefully we will see you there!

Here is the start of our April list for Kinnordy. 48 species so far:

Greylag

Pink footed goose

Mute swan

Whooper swan

Mallard

Teal

Tufted duck

Wigeon

Goldeneye

Gadwall

Shoveller

Goosander

Oystercatcher

Lapwing

Snipe

Curlew

Redshank

Little grebe

Moorhen

Grey heron

Black headed gull

Buzzard

Osprey

Marsh harrier

Reed bunting

Yellowhammer

Starling

Rook

Treecreeper

Robin

Chaffinch

Long tailed…

Thanks to Ted Logan for  this lovely photo of a male Marsh Harrier who was seen at Kinnordy this morning (1 April 2016)

Thank you to Ted Logan for sending us these wonderful photos of the osprey fishing pike at Loch of Kinnordy on the 30 March.

From the 17^th to the 28^th of March we will have a contractor on site working on some of the channels and ditches. This is necessary maintenance work to allow the flow of water through the site. We do apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause. And if you have any questions please just get in touch. But here is a quick explanation to the work we are doing.

Kinnordy is a nutrient rich, shallow loch and wetland…

 There is going to be necessary machinery work conducted at Loch of Kinnordy on Thursday the 17th of March. We are very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. Please contact me if you have any issues.

Anna

Assistant warden

Anna.jemmett@rspb.org.uk 

We will be doing some necessary tree felling at Kinnordy on Saturday so for a few hours Swamp hide will be inaccessible.

Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

Anna

anna.jemmett@rspb.org.uk

07795 978 246

We have been having some wonderful otter sightings at Kinnordy this week. A family of what looks like one adult and two juveniles have been using the bog bean islands in front of Gullery hide to fish. Not only have they been fishing close to the hide but they have also been doing so at very sociable hours! Today we were watching them at 10.30 am.  We watched from the hide as the otters gave a wonderful display of just…

If you are planning to visit the reserve that please be aware some of the paths are flooded. Access to both East and Swamp hide is not possible today (7th January 2016). We will keep you updated on the situation over the next few days.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

RSPB Loch of Kinnordy, reserve staff.

A big thank you to all of you who have visited and supported Loch of Kinnordy in 2015, it has been a successful year. We hope that you all have a wonderful festive period and wishing you all the best for 2016. 

 

Another rarity has been spotted at Loch of Kinnordy. This time its the great white egret, Egretta alba. It was first spotted on the 1st of November and has been seen since from all the hides. We even had incredible views of it perched on top of the pine tree! If you go to try and see it don't forget to look out for the female Smew Mergellus albellus and the two bar-headed geese Anser indicus that have been showing…

Just a super quick blog to let you all know the bittern (Botaurus stellaris)  is back at Kinnordy. As well as a couple of reports from visitors, yesterday we were lucky enough to see it for ourselves. We spotted the bittern as it flew across the reedbed past the Gullery hide.  I was particularly excited as this was my first bittern sighting, and this rare bird is one I have always wanted to see!  

 

So if you are at Kinnordy…

Having said a sad goodbye to Tommy as he heads off for a new role in the Cambridgeshire Fens, we are delighted to welcome a new assistant warden to the Tayside team...

 

My name is Anna and I am the new Assistant Warden for the Tayside reserves. I am from the Highlands and for the past two seasons I have been working as Information Assistant up at RSPB Forsinard Flows. Although I loved my time up in the Flows I am very…