The big clean up on our Perthshire reserves continues after the last week of gales, with yet more strong winds predicted this week.

Unfortunately Loch of the Lowes was hit unusually hard by the winds and we have lost a lot of trees. The winds got up speed across the nearby open farm land, and across the open waters of the Loch and hit the woods on our loch edge with awesome force. Approximately 50-60 trees have been completely uprooted by the force of the gales, particularly where the soil was very wet, and many more have lost limbs or snapped.

Our priority at the moment is removing all the fallen and snagged timber from paths and road edges to make things safe for visitors and our neighbours alike, and this in itself will take us more than a week. We will try to get the walking path at Lowes open before Christmas, but please be aware it may take some time as we find more and more that needs to be done.

 Your ranger has also been assessing damage at the other reserves this week and currently the walking path at Balnaguard, and down to the Tummel Shingle Islands, are both impassable, these trails will remain closed until the new year, so if you are planning a visit please contact us to check the track status before going.

On a brighter note, the feeding station at Loch of the Lowes has seldom been so busy with fantastic numbers of woodland birds visiting – yesterday there were several hundred Siskins alone! Why not pop in and enjoy them for yourself before Christmas and pick up something from our shop too – full of Christmas ideas. Remember we are open this weekend, but will then be closed until the 6^th January.

Lastly a wee picture of our team at our local Dunkeld Santa day – well done Sandy the Squirrel and thanks to all the volunteers who helped make it such as success!