A haven for wildlife in the Cairngorms National Park where unforgettable Scottish nature awaits.
Loch Garten RSPB in Abernethy Forest is famous for its breeding ospreys and offers a diverse wildlife experience with red squirrels, crested tits, and live feeds from eagle and goshawk nests.
Where is Loch Garten?
Loch Garten is located in the Abernethy Forest, part of the Cairngorms National Park in the Scottish Highlands, near the village of Nethy Bridge, Scotland.
Ospreys at Loch Garten
No RSPB reserve is more synonymous with a single type of bird than Loch Garten. Ospreys have bred here in nearly all of the past 70 summers, attracting up to 45,000 visitors a year to admire the nesting pair through telescopes at what was long called the ‘Osprey Centre’.
When do the Osprey arrive at Loch Garten?
Ospreys typically arrive at Loch Garten in March or early April. However, the exact arrival date can vary from year to year.
When to visit Loch Garten
The recent name change from the ‘Osprey Centre’ to ‘Nature Centre’ implies, there is much more to this reserve than ospreys.
Open April– September, the revamped centre treats visitors to live feeds from white-tailed eagle and goshawk nest-cameras.
Outside the building, peanut stuffed feeders coax red squirrels down to eye level, while feisty crested tits draw attention with their purring call.
Is Loch Garten connected to RSPB’s Abernethy Forest reserve?
Loch Garten is part of the RSPB’s Abernethy Forest reserve. Principally protecting Britain’s largest remaining Caledonian pine forest, Abernethy is home to 5,000 species of plants, animals and other life forms.
An understorey rich in blaeberry and cowberry harbours capercaillies (our largest grouse) and mounds of wood ants. Abernethy even stretches 1,100 metres up to Ben Macdui, where summits host dotterel and ptarmigan.
Find out more about a quest to find the rare dotterel in our podcast, The Plodcast
For more information
Check out our guide to a walk around Loch Garten, and read about Monty the osprey, and Louis osprey chicks, as well as our comprehensive round up of UK birds of prey.