A busy winter at RSPB Lochwinnoch

A busy winter at RSPB Lochwinnoch

We have a busy few months at RSPB Lochwinnoch! We are lucky enough to be in a position to deliver a few different projects at the reserve, but unfortunately this will result in a little disruption to our visitors:

Jan – March 2023:

From Aird Meadow Hide to the end of the trail:

• Due to use by heavy machinery, this section will be closed during the majority of the next 5 weeks, up to the end of March. It will be opened at weekends if not in use, but please note that work will take place on some weekends. 

• This area is currently in poor condition due to work vehicles. This condition may prevent people with mobility issues or using equipment such as wheelchairs or mobility scooters from accessing that part of the trail. 

• We are really sorry for the inconvenience. Whilst action is being taken to improve the condition of this part of the trail, full reinstation of its previous condition is unlikely to occur until after the work on the boardwalk is complete. 

We are installing a new boardwalk, from the end of the existing Aird Meadow Trail, to the recently consolidated scheduled ancient monument, Peel Tower. The Peel Tower is a relatively unknown ruin of a 16^th century fortified dwelling that most of our visitors are unaware of. The boardwalk will allow more people to see this hidden gem, as well as a beautiful part of the reserve. The boardwalk will also allow us to better manage access to the area. Currently when access does occur it can take place in a damaging and unmanaged manner. 

Mid-Feb to Mid-March 2023: 

Pond dipping area, Bug area & Fairy Trail: 

• Unfortunately access to these areas is currently not permitted. We apologize for the inconvenience and will try to open up these areas as soon as we are able. 

We were very sad to discover the highly invasive aquatic plant, Crassula helmsii, also known as New Zealand pygmyweed, in our pond dipping pond in September. This plant is very damaging to wetlands and very difficult to eradicate, but very easy to spread! All in all, it is causing a bit of a headache… We have worked closely with NatureScot and our own ecologists to develop a method that we hope will eradicate the plant from the reserve.

 
Crassula helmsii by Dan Snowdon

As a result, we temporarily contained the area with a porous liner that would catch the plant in the event of a flood. We also covered it with black plastic as that has shown to weaken the plant significantly. We are now creating a new pond to take the water, once filtered, and then the old pond will be buried with spoil from the newly excavated one. The new pond will be monitored closely for a number of years, just in case the filtration didn’t work as well as hoped. Unfortunately, this all means that we won’t be able to offer pond dipping for the foreseeable future, but hopefully we will prevent the Crassula from being spread further. [The site is part of the Castle Semple Loch and Barr Loch Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).]