Loch Gruinart – Islay's Winter Geese
A few hours.
The route
Every winter Islay holds most of the world's Greenland barnacle geese, and the RSPB's reserve at Loch Gruinart, on the island's north coast, is one of their great roosts.
Its hides and viewing platform look over the flooded fields where they feed.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
None of ours is close by: the nearest is The Hollies, 43 miles away. Sleeps 18.
The day
Loch Gruinart
An hour or two at the hides and the viewing platform, with the geese on the fields in front of you. Bring a flask: there's no café at the reserve.
About two hoursAbout 1 mile on foot
Loch Gruinart
An attraction
RSPB Loch Gruinart lies at the head of a long sea loch on Islay's north coast, down a single-track road signed from the A847 between Bridgend and Bruichladdich, three miles from the turn. Entry and parking are free. The visitor centre in the farmyard, with toilets beside it, has its hours posted a week ahead on the RSPB's opening-times page, so ring 01496 850505 before going; the reserve itself is open at all hours. A second car park, 360 metres on, is for the hides and trails: the viewing platform is 40 metres from it on the level Woodland Trail, the South Hide 300 metres and the North Hide 800 metres. From October through the winter, Greenland barnacle and Greenland white-fronted geese feed on the flooded fields and roost on the loch, with hen harriers, brown hares and roe deer about too. Come for the last hour of daylight, when the geese fly in to roost, or first thing, when they leave: the times to see them in the air, though no visit can promise them. Keep to the hides, trails and passing places. Dogs under close control are welcome on the trails, where livestock graze all year, but only assistance dogs may go into the hides.
If it rains
The hides keep the rain off, and the viewing platform is 40 metres from the hide car park; the walks to the hides are in the open.
Where to stay
Photographs by Archita Nanda and Hez Elle via Google