Loch Kinord - Dinnet

Loch Kinord is a small, freshwater loch at Muir of Dinnet, Aberdeenshire just north of the River Dee and 5 mi (8.0 km) east of Ballater. The loch is also known as Loch Ceander and Loch Cannor. It is approximately 1 m (1.6 km) in length and was formed from a glacial kettle hole. The loch sits within the Muir of Dinnet National Nature Reserve and is immediately south of Loch Davan It contains several islets, as noted in a 19th-century book giving a brief description of the loch, and is forested with birch trees. 

Due to its shallowness, light penetrates to the loch floor. Consequently, many species of aquatic plants exist including water lobelia, quillwort and shoreweed. In the summer white water lilies bloom on the loch. Around the perimeter reeds, sedges, horsetails, bulrushes and willow scrub are found and a beechwood forest fringes the edge. The loch is also home to pike, otters, goldeneye ducks, migrating geese and other wildfowl. An iron age crannog was built on the loch, probably for defensive purposes. Oak tree trunks were driven into the loch bed and stones built up around them. A hut was then built on top of the structure. One of the remaining crannogs can be seen as a