Welcome to Loch of the Lowes Visitor Centre and Wildlife Reserve near Dunkeld. Our reserve covers 130 hectares including woodland, freshwater loch and the visitor centre and hides.
All year round the reserve is host to red squirrels, mallards, swans, great-crested grebes, fallow deer and great-spotted woodpeckers.
In autumn and winter, the reserve is home to Canada and greylag geese, as well as wigeon, tufted, golden eye and mallard ducks, grey heron and much more.
During the spring and summer months the ospreys return to their nest just 150m away from the hides. The loch also hosts breeding swallows and goosander, as well as garden birds in the woodland and three species of bat.
Our four-star visitor centre offers a great day out for all the family in Perthshire.
Tickets are available at the door.
There is no circular path around the loch and no access to the water.
Join today to get free access to all our visitor centres and help protect Scotland’s wildlife for the future.
Please check our Facebook page for the latest updates.
Any questions? If you have a question about planning your visit, please scroll down or email lochofthelowes@scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk
For any press enquiries regarding osprey please contact us via email at communications@scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk
Enjoy an exclusive opportunity to see wildlife at Loch of the Lowes. Bookings last for up to three hours (depending on sunset time) and are available for £30. Scottish Wildlife Trust members get free acccess but must book so please email lochofthelowes@scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk for further information.
Any questions? If you have a question about your hide hire or would like to enquire about hiring it on a different day, please email lochofthelowes@scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk
Why visit?
The Loch of the Lowes Visitor Centre offers spectacular views across the reserve from the hides. Telescopes and binoculars are available to visitors to experience wildlife up close, hot drinks and snacks can be purchased and our wildlife-themed gift shop has a variety of products for all ages.
With a range of children’s activities always available in the children’s hide and our large viewing window allowing you to get up close to garden birds, red squirrels and great-spotted woodpeckers, there’s something for everyone at Loch of the Lowes.
Best time to visit?
- Apr – Aug for ospreys
- Apr – Sept for beavers
- All year round for red squirrels, wildfowl, garden birds and deer
Visit for:
- birdwatching
- woodlands
- wildflowers
- scenery
- mammals
Other information
Events: Find out what events are taking place at Loch of the Lowes in the coming months by checking out our Events page.
You can find out more about Loch of the Lowes in episode one of our Words of the Wild podcast series.
Recap – Failure of Second Egg Like many things this season, the events surrounding the osprey nest at Loch of the Lowes have been complex and curious, including the loss of the second egg on the 8 June, which left staff and volunteers alike with more questions than answers. Having been incubating well as a pair, female osprey LF25 suddenly and inexplicably began leaving the egg exposed, whilst her mate LM24 stopped his usual early morning and regular incubation stints…
RECAP It’s been nearly ten weeks since long term breeding female ‘Blue NC0’ returned from migration and seven and half weeks since she was last sighted at Loch of the Lowes. Female Osprey ‘Blue NC0’ perches with a freshly caught fish © Mark Westgarth The early season has been unusual to say the least, with no less than a combination of four pairings attempting to settle on the nest. A recap of what happened in…
Grab a cuppa and settle down for a full review of this year’s osprey action at Loch of the Lowes. It’s been a complicated start to the season with no fewer than four combinations of osprey pairings appearing on the nest! NC0 & New Male New Male & Unringed Female LM24 & Unringed Female LM24 & Dark Female And this is to say nothing of other individuals that have been spotted on the reserve in recent weeks. After a lot…
As ever, it’s been a dramatic season for the ospreys at Loch of the Lowes thus far. Our Perthshire Ranger, Sara Rasmussen, tells us more. Things had been fairly quiet since the return of resident female NC0 on 17 March, but that all changed last week, with the appearance of some new faces – and a familiar one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az5mGmX3xww All in all, there are now six ospreys attempting to lay claim to the nest! Firstly, NC0 herself…
After losing her long term breeding partner LM12, resident female osprey NC0 has taken the eye of several other male ospreys. A young, heavily marked osprey known to us in the hides as the ‘Dark Intruder’ appears to have been accepted by NC0 as her potential future mate. It is clear from his behaviour that ‘D.I.’ is young and inexperienced, and most likely a 2-3 year old who has never bred before. He is roughly doing the right things by…
Since the sad loss of our breeding male LM12 at the start of the month it has been a tumultuous time on the nest for female NC0. After valiantly incubating her eggs for 5 days, she eventually headed off to feed herself, finally catching a huge fish the next day. NC0 with a rainbow trout © Scottish Wildlife Trust webcam With no male to defend the nest, several other osprey started to take an interest in…
We last wrote updating what had been happening on the nest on Tuesday evening, when the ‘Pale Male’ intruder came in and crushed one egg, flicked the other out the nest and kicked the other onto the edge of the nest cup. Later that evening NC0 returned to find her nest in disarray, rolled the remaining egg into the nest cup and attempted to incubate it for a short period, before leaving the nest for the night. The ‘Pale Male’…
Following the desperately sad loss of LM12, it has been encouraging to observe NC0 spending more time off the nest caring for herself by bathing and heading off on several fishing trips. The eggs have not been viable for several days now, after an extended period of exposure at night in the rain. Given that NC0 would not have been able to incubate them to hatching and raise any chicks without her mate, this was to be expected. Since Thursday…