Hello, I am Chantal, one of the two winter residential Volunteers at Loch of the Lowes.

It has been a great week so far, as I have been able to participate in the daily bird counts on the loch where I’ve observed lots of waterfowl including Teal, Wigeon, Greylag and Canada geese. On the feeder station, I got to see my first Brambling as well as watching local birds such as Siskin and Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

Last Thursday was an exciting morning as I got to assist the Ranger with cutting down any trees obstructing the road after the strong winds the night before. Not as many as last year apparently! I’ve also had the pleasure of going round to the other reserves such as Brerachan, where we helped to remove the grass cut on the meadow like a traditional hay crop.

Sunday was a fun day as several of the SWT staff and volunteers were manning the SWT stall at Dunkeld Christmas market. It was a lovely atmosphere; with lots of people enjoying the festivities. Sandy the Red Squirrel even made an appearance and the children loved him!!!

Also if you have the time, please take a look at our new videos of animals that we recently caught on our camera traps; some were a real surprise as they are our secretive tiny mammals and we also filmed a Water Rail for the first time! http://www.youtube.com/user/swtlowesranger

We’ve currently got a raffle (£1 per strip) for a very impressive Gingerbread House, with the shared proceeds going to Loch of Lowes and Butterstone Hall.
So please come along, check out our raffle and enjoy watching our winter migrants!