Wildlife
A wealth of wild birds and animals can be seen here such as red deer, roe deer, osprey, buzzard, hen harrier, sparrow hawk, kestrel, ptarmigan, red grouse, black grouse, Scottish crossbill, several kinds of owl, hedgehogs, pine marten, otter and so many more.
We manage Dunalastair in sympathy with nature and are rewarded with this host of wildlife both common and rare. We have lots of red squirrels (but so far luckily no greys) who are very good an extracting the peanuts from the bird feeders. Dunalastair Water/Loch is the breeding ground for around 27 varieties of birds and in winter there are usually around 40 whooper swans and lots of geese and duck on the loch. A pair of mute swans is here all year round and breeds here, the whoopers migrate in spring to Lapland or Russia.
Ospreys can often be seen fishing on Dunalastair Loch in the summer, but if you want to see them up close and personal, you can visit the Loch of the Lowes Scottish Wildlife Trust visitor centre who have a hide for viewing osprey (in season) and other wildlife. The centre is near Dunkeld on the Blairgowrie road.
Sites of Special Scientific Interest
We have a number of Sites of Special Scientific Interest here for plant and bird species and the orchids are magnificent in late May. In fact the wild flowers are everywhere throughout spring and summer.
The famous Black Wood of Rannoch has some of the remains of the ancient Scottish pine forest and is a great place to walk and see wildlife such as Scottish crossbills and red squirrels. There are marked trails from Carie through the forest.