June and July bring the longest days of the year to the northern hemisphere with the summer solstice this year falling on the 21^st of June. With only a few hours of twilight in the weeks surrounding midsummer’s height there is plenty of light for the wildlife (and us!) to take advantage of.

Now is a great time to spot new life emerging out into the world with the woodland here at Lochwinnoch already filled with…

It's my favourite time of year here at RSPB Lochwinnoch and it's not hard to see why as the reserve is full of new life. 6 mute swan cygnets were spotted on the scrape this month. Mute swans tend to mate for life and will work together to build a huge nest with the male gathering the materials and the female building the nest. Cygnets will stay with their parents for around 4-5 months after hatching. It's been cuteness…

April showers bring May flowers as the saying goes, and in May you'll find an abundance of flora springing to life at Lochwinnoch. But the flowers you see around you aren't just pretty to look at; they can tell you a lot about the character and quality of the habitat you're in.

In Scotland ancient woodland is defined as any woodland area that has existed since 1750 with much of what remains occurring in small…

We are fully into spring here at RSPB Lochwinnoch - it's my favourite time of year as all the birds build their nests and prepare for their chicks. The scrape has been particularly busy as black-tailed godwits, curlew, whimbrel and other waders, wildfowl and gulls continue to make use of it. We have had sightings of both ringed plover and the very similar little ringed plover. Both have a distinctive black and white head…

Our scrapes have proven popular with a wide range of birds with everything from ducks to geese, gulls, waders and more taking advantage of the habitat. However, you may already be aware of a very special species from last year – the little ringed plover (Charadrius dubius).  Their successful breeding was a first for the reserve as they reared three chicks to fledging; a cause of great celebration for everyone at…

April is peak migration time for our springtime migrants with a massive influx of birds arriving on our shores over the next few weeks. You may have already heard your first chiffchaff of the year or spotted large flocks of lesser black-backed gulls passing overhead but many more species are still to join them.

Two more incoming warbler species that didn’t get a mention in our last ‘what to look for’ blog are the grasshopper…

Spring has finally arrived at the reserve, which means the departure of some of our winter visitors and our first spring migrants. Bird song can be heard all around the reserve and many species are now busy gathering nesting materials in preparation for the breeding season. The Aird Meadow loch has been busy with large numbers of goldeneye, wigeon and teal, although the majority of these will soon be moving off to their…

February has brought some much-needed brighter weather to the reserve along with lots of exciting wildlife sightings. Wetland bird species have been abundant, with large numbers of wigeon, tufted ducks and goldeneye on both the Aird Meadow and Barr lochs. There have also been sightings of a male Gadwall on the Aird Meadow loch, which is a grey coloured dabbling duck with a black rear end and a white wing patch which can…

The 1^st of March marks the start of meteorological spring and the wildlife certainly knows it.

We’re already seeing lots of breeding behaviour from the wildlife at Lochwinnoch. Black-headed gulls and lapwings have been performing aerial displays over the scrapes while frogspawn has already been spotted! But did you know that in particular Lochwinnoch is an important breeding site for the elegant great-crested grebe? March…

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…

With February comes a month on the cusp of spring and though it might not always feel like it the signs are beginning to show themselves.

The trees might be bare for several weeks yet but look to the undergrowth and you might be surprised to find a variety of flowers peeking through. Delicate snowdrops are already flowering around the visitor centre but there are other early spring blooms to look for as the month progresses…

 It’s a brand-new year at the RSPB! There has been no shortage of wildlife activity in what we have had of 2023 so far. There have been many geese around the reserve this month with over 30 Canada geese counted on the Aird meadow loch. There has also been a small number of barnacle geese on the scrapes in front of the visitor centre, barnacle geese are medium size birds that breed mainly on the Arctic islands of the North…

December here at the reserve brought with it a bout of ice-cold conditions that even the wildlife struggled with. Despite the freezing weather there has still been plenty of exciting wildlife seen around the reserve this month. The highlight of the month was definitely the drake smew which was first spotted by our assistant warden. The males are very distinctive as they are all white with a black mask which led to its…

We are now fully into the winter months at the RSPB Lochwinnoch reserve which is evident by the sudden drop in temperature. The cold has not put off the wildlife however with lots of winter visitors being spotted around the reserve. There has been an abundance of waterfowl around the reserve this month, with large numbers of goldeneye, tufted duck, wigeon and teal spotted on both the Aird meadow loch and the Barr Loch…

Winter is near at the reserve which is evident by the high numbers of winter visitors. Canada geese have arrived in their large flocks. The Canada goose is an introduced species from North America well known for their distinctive black head and large white throat. They form large noisy flocks and can often be heard well before they are seen.

Canada geese in flight, photo by Richard Bennet

Greylag geese have also arrived…

RSPB Scotland has been managing RSPB Lochwinnoch nature reserve since 1973 when we first purchased parcels of the land or entered into long term leases for other sections. Since that time, with the addition of pathways, viewing facilities, visitor centre and car park along with large scale habitat management and continuous maintenance of the site, we have transformed it into the popular visitor attraction and home for…

Since the start of April we’ve been regularly setting out our moth trap here at Lochwinnoch to have a look at what species call the reserve their home. Moth trapping is a fun and rewarding activity that is usually carried out with the aid of a trap which attracts moths via a bright light and then funnels them into a container. This allows the moths to be harmlessly captured, identified and recorded before they are released…

We are now departing summer and making our way into the autumn months. There have been some really exciting wildlife highlights at the reserve this month. A juvenile white-tailed eagle was spotted being mobbed by 4 buzzards on the 20th of September. The white-tailed eagle is the UK's largest bird of prey with brown body plumage and a pale head and neck. This bird went extinct in the UK during the 20th century due to persecution…

It's been a hot sunny month at the reserve this July with much wildlife around to enjoy. The new scrape has been continuing to attract a wide variety of bird species. There has been a large number of lapwing spotted enjoying the scrape with lots of juveniles around which suggests they have had a successful breeding season. Oystercatchers have also been seen on the scrape with a juvenile in tow. A dunlin has also been…

We are into summer now and the reserve is full of life both new and old after a very successful breeding season. The new scrape is proving itself to be a huge success with a wide variety of bird species. Green sandpiper, redshank, common sandpiper, snipe, dunlin, and whimbrel have all been spotted enjoying the scrape. An oystercatcher was also spotted with its young chick making for a truly glorious sight. The lapwings…

Hi, Carole here with your bi-monthly wellness in nature blog. 

So summer is well and truly here. The sun is shining most days, and the air is warm. So, it is a wonderful time of the year to be active. Why not visit us at our reserve and have a wee relaxing walk along our woodland trails? You can take part in our “Wellness in Nature Walk". Just pick up a free leaflet at our welcome desk and take 30 minutes out of your day…

We are fully into spring here at the reserve and the change in season is evident with all the new arrivals. Lochwinnoch is full of the sound of birdsong and much of it is coming from the warblers, grasshopper warblers, willow warblers and chiffchaffs can be seen and heard around the reserve. Willow warblers are small birds with grey-green backs, a yellow chest and throat and a stripe above the eye. They are often mistaken…

It’s approaching the end of March here at the reserve which means its officially spring and the change in season has brought loads of exciting new visitors to the reserve.  The habitat work on the reserve has led to the development of a new scrape and this has been a huge success in attracting many different species of birds. Lapwing have been spotted enjoying the scrape along with over 30 curlews. Oystercatchers…

It's been a very exciting month for wildlife sightings at the RSPB Lochwinnoch. A couple of woodcock have been spotted a few times flying over the Aird Meadow. These large bulky wading birds have a very long straight tapering beak and are mostly nocturnal spending most of the day hidden under dense vegetation. In the autumn, woodcock will move to the UK from Finland and Russia to spend their winters here. The breeding…