SOC Walk - Three Lochs 4th June 2011

We met at the Three Lochs Caravan Park car park at 11am for our morning walk. We decided on the shorter walk around Loch Heron for the morning and then a longer walk in the afternoon. The receptionist informed us of birds we may see, such as the 2 pairs of Great Crested Grebes nesting. They also sometimes get Hen Harriers and even a fishing Osprey.

Our first sighting was an abundance of Blue Tailed Damselflies by the side of the loch.

Blusher Toadstool.

A very noisy Sedge Warbler heard and then seen!

Greylag Geese with young.

There were lots of moths to look out for and identify, the first one was a Silver Hook Moth.

Common Heath Moth…

...and underside.

Not a moth this time but one of our smallest butterflies-Small Heath.

Swallow on fence.

Next it was back to the Cafe on the caravan site. Some of the group had brought a picnic with them, whilst others were tempted by the Bacon and Egg rolls, which I would thoroughly recommend!

Details of the Cafe can be found here.. http://www.3lochs.co.uk/about-three-lochs/cafe.html

Our moth sightings continued in the afternoon with a micro moth Aethes cnicana.

Red Necked Footman Moth.

Clouded Border Moth. 

Several beautiful Pearl Bordered Fritilliaries about.

Friendly shire horse came to say hello!

Mallards by Loch Heron. We did see the Great Crested Grebes but they were too distant for a photo!

Cormorant by Loch Ronald

Although I didnt get many bird photographs, we did see or hear about 40 species in total:

Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Cormorant, Feral Pigeon, Garden Warbler, Goldfinch, Great Crested Grebe, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, Lesser Redpoll, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Rook, Sand Martin, Sedge Warbler, Siskin, Song Thrush, Swallow, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Wood Warbler, Woodpigeon and Wren.

I would like to thank the staff at Three Lochs for allowing us to use their facilities.

The Three Lochs is a delightful place to camp, particularly for wildlife lovers, they even have a Red Squirrel hide. For locals it is a beautiful place to enjoy a walk, have a picnic or enjoy a great value meal or snack in the warm, friendly cafe.

Full details can be found here:

http://www.3lochs.co.uk/about-three-lochs.html