Things have been great for birds this month with a pair of Little Ring Plover showing well on the bogbean islands and Lapwing, Redshank and Oyster-catcher regularly visible from the Gullery hide. The first wader survey has been completed and indicates we have good numbers of Redshank, Lapwing and Snipe, with some likely to be breeding within the west end of the reserve. We have both a male and female Marsh Harrier regularly…

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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:

 

Full access has been restored to the Swamp and Gullery hides at Loch of Kinnordy. So the reserve is back to normal.

 

The weather looks like it will be mostly dry over the weekend and with early spring in the air, it's a great time to visit.

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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:

Due to a fallen tree the Swamp hide is currently closed. The Gullery hide is also closed. Both hides will remain closed until we have checked that there is no risk of more trees falling.

There is also no through access on the core path to Kirriemuir due to concerns about some of the trees. Please adhere to the safety signs and barriers on site.

The East hide and car park are open as usual…

Please find November's blog in the attached word document. Thank you Thomas Pringle (Warden)

This time of year is great for taking a stroll around the loch, if you can faze out the mass of singing wrens there are many great birds to listen out for and observe. Willow warblers, blackcap and sedge warblers are always vocal and if you are persistent you can catch glimpses without traveling far from the car park. With a little more effort you can make your way to the Lilly pond (east end if the reserve) where you…

As the seasons change Loch of Kinnordy has provided us with some new star attractions. The smew, bittern and whooper swan have all moved on and I keep my fingers crossed for their safe passage. The returning Osprey, Marsh harrier, Lapwing and Redshank are now the entertainment on a daily basis and are not bad replacements. The 2013-2014 winter was recorded as the wettest on record and all regulars to the site can see…

The breeding season is now fast approaching with lapwing displaying and the black-headed gulls building in number, providing the reserve with that spring time feeling. Our bittern is still showing itself to lucky visitors and the Smew is still making regular appearances. Added to this the reserve has again attracted a male marsh harrier seen floating over the reed beds in front of the Gullery hide, let’s keep our finger…

Finally February brings some rest bite from the constant winter rain, with the water levels finally starting to drop I am keeping my fingers crossed it goes down enough for the incoming waders. The sightings of the Bittern and Smew are still regularly showing up in the sightings book and thank you to Andy Paton for confirming a sighting of the drake Smew and Bittern on the 14/03/2014 via email. This footage of Kinnordy…

January, like December, has been a good month for birds at loch of Kinnordy however the same cannot be said for the Gullery hide. A theft has resulted in someone gaining a white board of recent sightings, handles and plyboard for their own building project. Very disappointing showing even a place like Kinnordy can be affected by the less attractive side of human nature. On the other hand I would like to thank the member…

Happy New Year from Loch of Kinnordy.

I hope everyone enjoyed their festive period and were not too badly affected by the recent storms. The month of December was a relatively short month work wise and most of my time was spent repairing wind damage throughout the site. I did however get some good sighting s of our Bittern with short flights from one reed bed to another. I have also counted a few pintail on site,…

Hello All

My name is Thomas Pringle, I have recently joined the RSPB in my new capacity of Tayside reserves assistant warden. My time is split between Loch Leven and Kinnordy reserves but I also occasionally assist at the Tay reedbeds. I started on the 30th of September and there has been a lot to take in, so I hope I can be forgiven for my lack of blogging to date.

My aim with this blog is to document the goings…

As the glorious summer moves on and makes way for the darker, colder months – so does the Kinnordy team. This time we are all leaving sadly. My short but sweet contract has finished, Mike’s placement finished last week and he returned to university in beautiful Wales, and the lovely Camille has to move to Loch Leven for the rest of her placement. It is the end of an era as the residential volunteer scheme is not being…

I am extremely proud to present Kinnordy's first ever self led homes for nature activity trail! A joint effort from my brilliant residential volunteers, Simon made all the homes from scratch out of recycled materials and scraps of wood. Kath came up with the signage, created it and helped with installation. Then Mike also helped with the finishing touches, a real team effort. It is not only a fun activity for families…

Last week did not start well with storm damage from heavy rain to the paths and car park, and lightning had knocked out our phone and internet access (I am using my home connection to bring this update to you as we are still without communication at the reserve). Probably the worst week to try and organise and run a bioblitz – having never been to one before myself, and Kinnordy having never hosted one! But with the help…

A great blog from our newest residential volunteer Kath:

"As I wandered through the reserve the other morning, I suddenly noticed a strange noise coming from the peanut feeder by Gullery Hide. Just as I stopped to look at it, the lid burst open and a Red Squirrel burst out from inside and scampered away into the trees. Obviously frustrated with scraping food out of the opening, it had worked out how to climb inside and…

Hi, I’m Simon, the latest residential volunteer based at Kinnordy.

I chose to apply for the residential position as I am currently studying ‘Countryside management’ at Aberystwyth University in Wales and am hoping to make my way up to a wardening position somewhere within the RSPB in the future. I also spent a month of my summer last year volunteering at Hawswater reserve in the Lake District where I developed…

Firstly I would like to welcome our newest member of the team – Kath Halsall. Kath is residential volunteering with us until mid August and is a zoology student. She has got stuck into work on the reserve this week, along with Simon our other resi-vol. Seeing as the RSPB has given them a home for a short while they are both repaying the favour to our wildlife. They have been working hard on making homes for nature…

The latest update from the reserve is that we had a lovely
little Wood Sandpiper drop in on Thursday! There are a small number of birds that breed in the highlands each year (estimated 4-8 pairs)  but in England it is only seen as a passage bird on migration. It was a very wet morning and the
bird was sheltering in the bogbean on the islands infront of Gullery hide.
There were also three juvenile redhsanks skulking around…

Sorry  that I haven’t updated you all recently, I had a few days off last week while my family were visiting. What a lovely area to explore! I have now seen Dunnottar castle,  RSPB Fowlsheugh (complete with puffins, razorbills, kittiwakes, guillemots and fulmars), Glamis castle, Scone palace, Dunkeld hermitage, Pitlochry and the Queen’s view, Loch Leven heritage trail and the Trossachs National Park!  Phew!

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On Friday we said goodbye to the lovely Laura, one of our residential volunteers. We would like to say  BIG thank you to Laura for all of her hard work, and endless enthusiasm! She has even written an excellent account of her time here, please enjoy:

 

"I have just spent 3 weeks residential volunteering at Loch of Kinnordy in beautiful sunshine and have thoroughly enjoyed the experience!

I am midway through a biology…

Thank you to everyone that visited the reserve yesterday, it really was a wonderful day. The weather played ball for the majority of the day and the wildlife came out on cue! In the morning we were entertained by a visiting Turnstone in full summer plumage – a very unusual visitor to inland sites. Please keep an eye out on the bogbean islands in front of Gullery Hide for this bird and let us know if it is still around…

Loch of Kinnordy is home to many species, but this weekend we would like to show you our nesting Marsh harriers. These birds have undergone a remarkable recovery and are only just returning to Scotland. We are very honoured that they have taken up residence at our reserve. I am looking forward to meeting the local human residents of this area too! Please drop in and say hello on Saturday and it’ll be lovely to meet people…

 

I would like to introduce myself – my name is Fiona and I am
the new assistant warden at Kinnordy. I fell in love with this beautifully wild
site and it’s wonderful wildlife instantly! Having volunteered extensively with
the RSPB, this is my first role with them as a member of staff. Please bear
with me while I get to grips with everything! I will endeavour to bring you up
to date reserve news regularly, and…

It comes back and blankets the reserve again! Hopefully the snow shouldn't last for long this time. Finger crossed.

I thought things were almost starting to get back to normal: at the weekend the  whole car park was finally free of snow making it the most accessible it has been in the past two weeks; the paths, although still snowy, were also less tricky to walk on; and I could finally do some bird watching from the…

Afternoons are slowly stretching out and love is in air with wigeon and mallard busy with courtship displays. The nest boxes have been emptied of last years nests ready to welcome new occupants shortly – but it is still very much winter. The reserve is blanketed in snow and the numerous water bodies created by the recent floods are now ice. The ponies stand in a stoic huddle surveying the frozen wastes. Hundreds…