Author Archives: SimonR

It’s my favourite time of year! The Pink-footed Geese have arrived back from Iceland and Eastern Greenland. Every year in mid-September, the ‘Pinkies’ make their annual journey from their breeding grounds to spend the winter in the UK. Here at … Continue reading →

We are rapidly descending into Autumn, sorry summer lovers….on this date in 2019 I had my first flock of Pink-footed Geese flying high over Montrose. We will soon be graced by their presence in the next fortnight! Our resident population … Continue reading →

During the summer months, we have a regular survey of ducklings on the loch. This is known as a ‘brood count’. Every week to two weeks, we are out on the loch at dawn in the electric boat and we … Continue reading →

This week we were out on Carsehall Bog completing our annual Lesser-butterfly Orchid (Platanthera bifolia) counts. Lesser-butterfly orchids are fantastic little plants, although not so little as they can grow to 30cm! Lesser-butterfly orchids are white/yellow in colour and are … Continue reading →

This week we have been out conducting our annual Duck Nest Surveys on St Serfs Island. Loch Leven NNR has one of the most important duck colonies in Europe! We have a large breeding assemblage of ducks, and the data … Continue reading →

14 months since the burning down of the Mill Hide. The Phoenix Hide has now been opened! We had our opening ceremony last week where we were joined by donators, locals, Kinross 1st beavers and NatureScot Chair, Mike Cantlay. We … Continue reading →

Sadly, we are now saying goodbye to our long-standing Reserve Manager, Neil Mitchell. Neil first came to Loch Leven in 2009 as a fresh-faced, new-in-post Reserve Manager. Moving from his previous role as the ranger at Montrose Basin and having … Continue reading →

The first main news of the week is that the Phoenix hide is now open! It’s absolutely fantastic. We are having an opening ceremony on 6th May, so ill talk a bit more about this and the hide in a … Continue reading →

As the title suggests, this week we launched our new ‘Tufty the Tufted Duck’ themed brass rubbing trail. The trail circumnavigates the 13 mile heritage path around the loch and there are 10 brass rubbing posts to find. The posts … Continue reading →

A true spring title for this blog. Spring has been the running theme this week; warmer weather, wildflowers, avian migrants and insects. The week started off with the first Sand Martins of the year. While out doing our last WeBS … Continue reading →