The Orcadian Features - Special places for special birds

Special places for special birds, orchids, toads and marigolds
The Loons and Loch of Banks RSPB Reserve are wetland wonderlands. Keith Fairclough, senior site manager for the society's Orkney Reserves, looks at their importance in the fifth of this series of occasional articles highlighting the work of the RSPB.
(From The Orcadian dated February 12, 2004)

The Loons reserve from the air. (Pictures: RSPB)

Up in the northwest corner of West Mainland, you can find perhaps the finest patches of wetland in Orkney.

The Loons and the Loch of Banks are technically termed basin mires and comprise more than 100 hectares of marsh, grassland, mire, flush, swamp and open water, of which 81 hectares are owned by RSPB.

Although they are two separate sites, in fact over one kilometre apart, the society lumps them together into one nature reserve: The Loons and Loch of Banks RSPB Reserve.

This is because their habitats are very similar; they hold a similar suite of breeding birds; they are managed in a similar way and in the not too distant past, they were linked by a natural drainage channel.

The reserve at The Loons is situated to the north and west of the Loch of Isbister.

The best time to visit is probably in the spring when all of the wading birds are displaying and the sky sings with their magnificence.

A slightly raised, roadside viewpoint with information board, gives a wonderful overview but further along the road, there is a bird hide. This small hide has served for nearly 20 years but its ageing and creaking timbers will be replaced for next spring by a larger version with a ramp for wheelchair-users and more space to accommodate school groups.

Although most people in Orkney will be aware that the term loons usually refers to the group of birds known as divers, this is in fact not the reason for the name, as loons have never been known to breed at this site.

In this case, the word Loon is an anglicised form of the Old Norse ‘Lon’ meaning a flat meadow strip alongside water.

The Loch of Banks covers about 40 hectares but only half of this superb site has reserve status.

At present it can only be viewed from the roadside along the A986, so careful and considerate parking is essential.

Both of these sites have been designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and The Loons/Loch of Isbister has been put forward as a candidate for designation as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the European Habitats Directive.

So what is it about these sites which makes them so good?

The rich, basin mire complex at The Loons is a habitat type of high, national importance and one which is particularly scarce in Orkney.

It has a history as a grazing marsh and was cropped for marsh hay and cut for peat within living memory.

It can flood entirely in winter and remains very wet through the summer.

The wetland areas and the surrounding ground support up to eight species of breeding waders and up to 11 species of breeding ducks.

Left: The drake pintail. Fifteen per cent of the UK population of these birds breed at The Loons reserve.

Densities of breeding lapwing and redshank are particularly high in an Orkney context but it is the lovely suite of wading birds which is also special. Wigeon, shoveler and pintail breed in nationally important numbers, with six pairs of the latter species representing 15% of the UK population.

The Loons is also particularly important for wintering waterfowl, including more than 70% of the Greenland white-fronted geese that winter in Orkney. These birds have been given a special mention because of their international or national importance but there are many more which use this special habitat in one way or another. In fact, 118 species have been recorded, of which 36 are regular breeders.

The reserve holds high densities of small birds; everything from sedge warblers and reed buntings in the reedbeds to twite, linnet and skylarks in more open ground.

The areas of rough grassland also provide perfect cover for the Orkney vole. It is therefore not surprising that the reserve is a magnet for hunting birds of prey such as hen harriers, kestrels and short-eared owls.

The reedbeds at Loch of Banks were once a very important winter roost site for hen harriers. These days, however, although a few birds still use the site, most birds now roost in the heather banks on Greeny Hill at Durkadale and at Cottascarth in Rendall.

From a botanical viewpoint, it is not only the habitat-type itself which is of national importance.

There are two nationally scarce plants: a water-starwort and a pondweed as well as the regionally-scarce gem of a plant, the fragrant orchid.

Add to this, frequently occurring otters, a toe-hold of toads, dazzling damselflies and meadows ablaze with the pinks and yellows of lady’s smock, ragged robin and marsh marigold and it is not hard to see why these are very special places.

However, having said all this, we are not completely happy!

From the point of view of wading birds, particularly redshank and lapwing, we are sure it could be better.

Above: Fragrant orchids are one of the scarcer plants which can be seen at the Loch of Banks reserve.

At The Loons, the main problem is that for a variety of reasons, about two-thirds of the site has not been grazed heavily enough to remove the ranker grassland, a vegetation-type which is not ideal for breeding waders.

Indeed, it is well known that grazing with cattle maintains habitat diversity and one reason for this level of undergrazing, is because the ground has been too wet to carry stock in sufficient numbers in the autumn.

Over the next five years, therefore, the reserves team on the Mainland intends to install systems to allow increased but controlled drainage during the late summer months. We think that there is the potential to double the densities of breeding waders, whilst maintaining the important wildfowl areas.

Very detailed hydrological surveys have been undertaken, advice has been taken and we are now ready to get stuck in (hopefully not literally!).

The work would involve the installation of simple pipe sluices, creating more open water by opening up and re-profiling the existing clogged ditches, creating new, shallow, surface drains and simple, low bunding.

Control of water levels in the hide pools should also improve the numbers and variety of birds viewable by visitors including school children.

For years, the hide has been a very popular venue for educational visits. Hopefully, this will continue. With the new hide planned to be nearly twice as big as the last one, it will be less of a squeeze and obviously doubly enjoyable!

* The reserves team on the Mainland consists of Keith Fairclough, senior site manager; Andy Knight, Mainland warden, Derren Fox, assistant warden and Karen Judd, contract warden .