Stormont Loch Nature Reserve - Blairgowrie

A small loch in Perthshire 2 miles (3 km) southeast of Blairgowrie.

The loch is of glacial origin, formed as a kettle-hole. Fringed with fen, willow scrub and woodland, Stormont Loch is at the centre of a nature reserve managed by the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Noted for its wintering wildfowl and geese, the reserve is also home to small birds, including sedge and willow warblers, long-tailed tit and goldcrest. A complete pollen record has been extracted from Stormont Loch which, supported by radiocarbon dating, allows a full catalogue of environmental change at the site to be determined continuously from the last Ice Age. The record is unusual in providing evidence for a brief but separate period of climatic cooling before the onset of the Loch Lomond Stadial 10,500 years ago. Along with its smaller neighbour Hare Myre, Stormont Loch forms part of the Hare Myre Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).