EARLY AUTUMN AT MORTON LOCHS


On a fine September's afternoon a group of 20 Scottish Ornithological Society and Scottish Wildlife Trust members met at the Morton Lochs car park on the northwestern edge of Tentsmuir Forest. We were greeted by the SNH (Scottish Natural Heritage) warden, Tom Cunningham, who gave us an introduction to the history, geology, nature conservation interest and management problems of the reserve before guiding us round.


<>Five thousand years ago the B945 Tayport to St Michael's road was the high waterline. The lochs are man-made and were excavated for trout fishing in 1906. In 1952 Morton Lochs was the second National Nature Reserve to be designated in the UK because of its importance as a freshwater habitat for wildfowl. As a result of recent reviews it is now managed as part of the wider Tentsmuir Point complex. In the last few years much work has gone into maintaining the open water habitat of the lochs and the provision of more educational and recreational facilities. Part of the charm of Morton Lochs is the quietness, but the members who joined us late would have welcomed the proposed signposting.


A walk round the southern half of the reserve revealed Grass of Parnassus still in flower on the old railway line. A more recent acquisition is an area of cleared plantation to the north which is being restored to heathland habitat. We managed to squeeze into the two hides at the north end of the North Loch and watched Heron, Dabchick and duck in eclipse plumage whilst we ate our lunch. Sadly 2004 was not a good season for the breeding wildfowl because of the actions of the landowner, who severed the main inflow to the loch in early spring.


A snapshot of the wildlife away from the lochs included Buzzard overhead, a photogenic clump of toadstools (Fly Agaric), the odd dragonfly and the hawthorns laden with berries ripe for collection for the tree nursery. For those not familiar with the reserve, Morton Lochs is well worth a visit, with interesting birds, mammals, insects and flowers in a peaceful unspoilt atmosphere - provided Tom doesn't put street lighting on the new path!!


Paul Blackburn