Well, apparently winter is here! The reserve is looking tranquil and snowy, with a small area of open water in the main loch visible from East and Gullery Hides. Despite many inches of snow, the reserve remains open, although please do be very careful if you do venture out there. The road past the reserve has been cleared and gritted, but the reserve car park has not been cleared, and has up to 7 or 8 inches lying.
Thanks to very hard work from our volunteers the path between East and Swamp hides has been cleared though, so if you choose to walk up from Kirriemuir the going will be a little easier once near the hides.
Obviously the birds are feeling the effects of the harsh weather also. With the majority of the wildfowl confined to the open area in the main loch. Around 80 mallard, 24 mute swans and a few goldeneye were gathered there, mostly with heads tucked under wings unsurprisingly. At the far west end we did also find a few wigeon another group of mallard in an unfrozen pool. 10 whooper swans were about yesterday, and a few greylag geese flew in today, so do look out for these species even where there appears to be no open water - last year the whoopers were mainly on Swamp lochan.
The red-head smew was last seen before the weekend, so the cold weather may have driven it to find an alternative wintering site, but it is still worth a few minutes to check.
As well as clearing the paths our volunteers are doing their best to keep the feeders topped up, and the blue tits, great tits, chaffinches and robins certainly seem to appreciate that. As I was leaving I also heard bullfinch calling near the car park, so plenty to listen and look for on a winter stroll.