I have had a message to say that an osprey was seen on the reserve yesterday.

...we have a new highland calf on site. As you drive past you may notice one coo away from the others and it is her with the first youngster of the year. For those who know the herd it is the black coo, and the wee one is ginger.

Unfortunately however, there is still no sign of the osprey!

...but as I see so many more people at the reserve at the moment I realise others aren't waiting for spring necessarily, but rather for the return of the osprey! We are keeping our eyes peeled, but no sign so far at Kinnordy. It shouldn't be long now.

Meanwhile myself and the volunteers are enjoying the early spring sunshine, listening to the redshank as they call over the background noise of the black-headed…

After being so excited about spring being just around the corner I was disappointed to return from sunny Devon last week to find yet more snow. The cold weather does seem to have slowed things down a little, but that is probably no bad thing just at the moment.

We are starting to be greeted with the sound of black headed gulls now, rather than the call of whoopers. Most of the whooper swans seem to have left, although…

With fresh snow lying on the hills not so far from the reserve, it is a relief to us that the loch is thawing a little more each day. It seems to be a relief to the birds as well, with the site looking busy again now. Spring is definitely on its way, with signs including the return of gadwall, shoveler and tufted duck within the last week. Although there are still plenty of mallard around, many are pairing up now and…

Today has been such a wonderful day at the reserve, one of those days that just excites me!

The loch is still frozen, although there are some growing areas of open water, but the sun had some warmth today, and you could almost watch the remains of Monday's snow melt away. The loch is quite quiet still, although the Smew is still showing well in front of Swamp hide, and there are a few more mute swans around again…

There has been a report this morning that the red-head smew which has been around the area this winter is back at Kinnordy.

Although there is still plenty of ice, this warmer weather (and rain today) is helping small areas to open up, and a variety of wildfowl are in the area just waiting to return to the loch!

The loch quickly froze over again after my last blog entry, and some of the wildfowl moved off to other sites. Much of what remains at Kinnordy is towards the west end where there is plenty of food available. There is a group of teal in the channel between main loch and swamp lochans though.

There was also a sighting of a bittern yesterday. It was seen from the Gullery hide just before 9am and apparently flew from the…

Great excitement from certain staff and volunteers at the reserve this morning as not only is it safe to park in the car park, and the paths are more or less clear, but there were also birds to be counted.

The warmer wet weather at the weekend has had an amazing effect at the reserve. There are now several patches of open water around the reserve, and the marsh is looking wet, rather than icy. All this has encouraged…

What a beautiful, eerie day it has been. Although we started with a fair bit of rain, that soon cleared away, but the mist was down to stay. It taunted us a couple of times by showing us glimpses of clear blue sky above, but then it would close in again so that even though we could hear whooper swans and geese flying around us above the carpark, we couldn't see them at all. A little later we did see a small flock of 9…

There are signs of a slow thaw at Kinnordy now, mainly the sheet ice in the carpark, and in patches on the path - please take care.

I was delighted to hear a Whooper swan yesterday, although it did look very lonely stood out on the ice in the Swamp Lochan, with nothing else around it. A pair of mute swan did make an appearance a little later, and in a patch of open water between Swamp lochan and the main loch there…

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.

The reserve will remain open through the Christmas period, but please remember that the carpark may be slippery. Some areas have been cleared so that there is minimal ice (close to the gates) and there is a safe path from here to the reserve trails, so please take care.

The loch, however, is still frozen, with very few water birds to be seen. The woodland was busy with bullfinch…

The reserve, unsurprisingly, is still looking like a Winter Wonderland. That means there is plenty of ice around.

Volunteers have worked exceedingly hard to keep the paths open, however, please be very careful if you choose to drive to the reserve as the carpark is very icy. Compacted snow has turned to sheet ice over the last week, and it will be easy to get stuck. We have cleared space for a couple of cars near to…

When I look at the reserve now I am glad not to be a bird, it is picturesque, but with virtually everything now being buried under a foot or so of snow and the loch almost entirely frozen it can't be an enticing place for wildfowl. As if struggling to keep warm and find food wasn't bad enough, the threat from predators is also increased. This is an aspect I hadn't really thought about much until an early morning visit…

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…

When we arrived at the reserve today, all seemed peaceful with plenty of goldeneye & tufted duck out in front of East hide, with the majority of the mute swans. It was easy to see the teal, mallard and shoveler in front of Gullery hide as the geese have been doing an excellent job of grazing the islands down, giving the wildfowl a few less hiding places.  

A quick hunt revealed the smew feeding close to one of the islands…

Hard frost within the last few days has seen frozen edges to Swamp lochan, and yesterday there were patches of frost still visible at dusk. As if I needed a reminder that winter is all but here, a few whooper swans (2-5) have been around the loch since the end of last month, and even if I haven't seen them everyday, I have already grown used to their haunting call.

Today has been a lovely birding day, with many…

The last few days at the reserve have been lovely.

Watching for starlings the on Tuesday evening was the perfect way to unwind after a busy day. I arrived just after 7pm and caught a glimpse of an osprey leaving the reserve. It was carrying something, but I'm not convinced it was a fish, the youngsters seem to be having trouble this year, but they are going to have to learn quickly, they should be starting their trip…

Now is the time to head to Kinnordy if you want to get outstanding views of Osprey fishing. With the youngsters now trying to fish for themselves there is frequent activity, and often more than 1 bird at a time. On Saturday apparently a juvenile was less than successful, eventually leaving the loch with a piece of grass - not sure how useful that would have been!

On Sunday, however, we had great views as a bird circled…

It was a quiet start at the reserve this morning. There are some contractors replacing a fenceline to the north of swamp lochan, but they didn't appear to be disturbing the wildlife at all.

A flock of around 150 lapwing were still sitting on mud on the north shore of swamp lochan as the large posts were being driven into the ground not too far behind them. In amongst the flock there is still a greenshank, only one…

The loch is showing signs of the breeding season being over. As the burr-reed pokes it's leaves up through the surface of the loch, the ducks are  gather into larger groups and with most of them now in eclipse plumage (see this link for more information: http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/watchingbirds/identify/eclipse_plumage.aspx)  it is more challenging to identify them all, especially to spot a gadwall in amongst the…

Yesterdays Osprey Watch event was a great success, mostly thanks to the very obliging osprey(s). Our regular male made an appearance just over half an hour into the event, and gave us a wonderful display, as he struggled to find good fishing areas due to the choppy water surface.

He was eventually successful, and struggled off into the wind with a fish in his talons, but it obviously wasn't good enough for the family…

Over the last week the black headed gull colony has dissolved. A few birds are still hanging around at swamp lochan, with a few of them being youngsters, but the majority now seem to have moved off presumeably to better feeding grounds. A few were still persistent enough to kick up a fuss when the osprey came over in search of lunch, so he landed on his post and let them settle for a while before fishing.

The immature…