News Update - what's happening!

Hamish Brown at 90.

Our patron, Hamish Brown, celebrated his ninetieth birthday in style by abseiling down the Forth Rail Bridge. He raised a big sum of money for the Chest, Heart and Stroke charity. Hamish has managed a lifetime of achievements including climbing all the 289 Munro peaks in Scotland in one trip in 1974. He is an author of many books on the outdoors including two books on the Fife Coastal Path. We know him locally for all the snowdrop bulbs he has planted over many years which we enjoy around the loch and in the woods each early spring. 

This year, he gave a presentation on the Coastal Path, but the first one only reached from the Bridges to Aberdour, there being such interest, questions and discussion from the audience.  So he agreed to another presentation, but even this one has only reached Leven.  Plenty of evening talks to come before getting to the Tay Bridge!

Report on the Walking Festival  of 20th March to 10th April.

Treating the loch water with barley straw - the annual task in the depths of winter.

The ducks love the straw and are in to the pile before it is out in the water.  Once on the rafts it is a free-for-all to rummage around and then get nesting.  The swans take prime position to build a high nest and are there for a month before cygnets hatch.

It is all hands to the deck to fluff up and get the barley straw out on the rafts.  The weather was wonderful this year (the photo is from a rainy 2023) and put out in record time with two boats employed for the task.  Sixteen volunteers from all the sports clubs and the Trust make light work of the task.

Once the rafts are loaded, the straw is slowly degraded at the interface of the atmosphere and the water surface.  Over several months the large pile of fluffed up straw diminishes and is just about gone by late autumn.

For a downloadable explanation including contemporary photographs please click on button below:

Photo Competition Winner 2024.

"Puffins on Inchkeith"

Photographed by Ian Archibald.

For more information on the Puffin, click the picture to the left.

Competition is always really keen at the photo presentation.  This was the twelth annual show, and this is only the second time that the same person has won the trophy twice.  Well done to Ian.  Friends vote for the best photo and this year it was announced at the Annual Summer BBQ, after counting of the online and paper votes.  The weather was very kind to us, given the poor summer we have had, and mild enough to sit out and enjoy the country air.  You can check out all the entries through the link below, but congratulations to Ian for this wonderful entry.

The small colourful group of puffins made a sharp contrast

with the display of wild flowers

Comment from Ian Archibald:

"The photograph of the puffin ‘couple’ was taken recently by me in July on Inchkeith. A few others and myself were very fortunate to be invited by Ron Morris [Conservation Officer for the islands in the Firth of Forth] to join him and members from the Fife Seal Group. Following a tour of the islands and islets we landed on Inchkeith. Ron did advise us to be careful on the crest of the island because the puffins were known to nest in their burrows there … but none were seen. Then not far from the harbour on the west side of the island we looked down from the path and spotted this group on the edge of the cliffs."

The puffins arrive in April for the breeding season and leave the island in August.  July is best month to see puffins on the islands - particularly Isle of May.