Loch Kinord is a small, freshwater loch at

Muir of Dinnet Muir of Dinnet is a national nature reserve (Scotland), national nature reserve (NNR) situated close to the village of Dinnet in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The reserve extends 1166 hectares from the River Dee to Culbean hill, and encompasses a ...

, Aberdeenshire,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

just north of the River Dee and east of Ballater. The loch is also known as ''Loch Ceander'' and ''Loch Cannor''. It is approximately in length and was formed from a glacial

kettle hole A kettle (also known as a kettle lake, kettle hole, or pothole) is a depression/hole in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters. The kettles are formed as a result of blocks of dead ice left behind by retreating gla ...

. The loch sits within the ''Muir of Dinnet National Nature Reserve'' and is immediately south of

Loch Davan Loch Davan is a small, triangular, freshwater loch approximately northeast of Ballater, Scotland and lying immediately north of Loch Kinord. It is approximately in length and was formed from a glacial kettle hole. The loch sits within the ...

. It contains several

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanen ...

s, as noted in a 19th-century book giving a brief description of the loch, and is

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

ed with

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains ...

trees.

Flora and fauna

Due to its shallowness, light penetrates to the loch floor. Consequently, many species of aquatic plants exist including water lobelia,

quillwort ''Isoetes'', commonly known as the quillworts, is the only extant genus of plants in the family Isoetaceae, which is in the class of lycopods. There are currently 192 recognized species, with a cosmopolitan distribution but with the individual s ...

and shoreweed. In the summer white

water lilies ''Water Lilies'' (or ''Nymphéas'', ) is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840–1926). The paintings depict his flower garden at his home in Giverny, and were the main focus of his artisti ...

bloom on the loch. Around the perimeter reeds,

sedges The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' wit ...

horsetails ''Equisetum'' (; horsetail, snake grass, puzzlegrass) is the only living genus in Equisetaceae, a family of ferns, which reproduce by spores rather than seeds. ''Equisetum'' is a " living fossil", the only living genus of the entire subclass ...

bulrushes Bulrush is a vernacular name for several large wetland graminoid, grass-like plants *Sedge family (Cyperaceae): **''Cyperus'' **''Scirpus'' **''Blysmus'' **''Bolboschoenus'' **''Scirpoides'' **''Isolepis'' **''Schoenoplectus'' **''Trichophorum'' ...

and willow scrub are found and a

European beech ''Fagus sylvatica'', the European beech or common beech is a deciduous tree belonging to the beech family Fagaceae. Description ''Fagus sylvatica'' is a large tree, capable of reaching heights of up to tall and trunk diameter, though more ...

forest fringes the edge. The loch is also home to

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

otters Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes weas ...

, goldeneyes, migrating

geese A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the she ...

and other

wildfowl The Anatidae are the biological family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating on ...

Cormorants Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven gen ...

have also been spotted nesting on one of the islets near the loch's shore.

Archaeology and history

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

crannog A crannog (; ga, crannóg ; gd, crannag ) is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes and estuarine waters of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Unlike the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, which were bu ...

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 small island covered with trees. On the north shore stands a 9th-century, cross slab

Pictish stone A Pictish stone is a type of monumental stele, generally carved or incised with symbols or designs. A few have ogham inscriptions. Located in Scotland, mostly north of the Clyde-Forth line and on the Eastern side of the country, these stones are ...

. It is carved with intricate knot work and indicates that there may have been a small monastery or chapel located nearby. At some point in history, the cross was lost and buried; however it was dug up again in the 1820s and erected at

Aboyne Castle Aboyne Castle (historical name: castrum de Obeyn; alternate names: Castle Of Aboyne or Aboyne Castle Policies; also Bonty Castle or Bunty Castle) is a 13th-century castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland north of the town of Aboyne (Grid Reference N ...

. In 1959 it was returned to its current location. During the period when the Romans were in Britain (80 - 399 CE) a fort was built on the southern promontory in response to rumours of a Roman invasion. The castle, which used to stand on one of the islets, was first known to have been recorded as a refuge and hunting lodge for the

Earl of Atholl The Mormaer or Earl of Atholl was the title of the holder of a medieval comital lordship straddling the highland province of Atholl (''Ath Fodhla''), now in northern Perthshire. Atholl is a special Mormaerdom, because a King of Atholl is repor ...

after the

Battle of Culblean The Battle of Culblean was fought on 30 November 1335, during the Second War of Scottish Independence. It was a victory for the Scots led by the Guardian, Sir Andrew Murray over an Anglo-Scots force commanded by David III Strathbogie, titu ...

in 1335. There have been archaeological finds at the loch including a medieval bronze jug. A history of the loch was published by the Reverend John Grant Michie in 1877 and has been reprinted on at least two occasions.

Recreation

There is a circular walking route around the loch with vantage points for bird watching and wildlife spotting. The starting point for the walk is Burn O'Vat car park on the Ballater to

Aboyne Aboyne ( sco, Abyne, gd, Abèidh) is a village on the edge of the Highlands in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on the River Dee, approximately west of Aberdeen. It has a swimming pool at Aboyne Academy, all-weather tennis courts, a bowling green and ...

road. Since 2009 the Kinord Hall Committee has organised a 10 kilometre run around the loch. The first race was held on Saturday 24 October 2009. ''Six Striped Rustic'' - a film which heavily features the loch by artist Chris Dooks was made in 2013, commissioned by Woodend Barn Arts in Banchory as part of their ''Atomic Doric'' season of cultural works about the area.

Survey

The loch was surveyed on 10 July 1905 by T.N. Johnston and L.W. Collett and later charted as part of the Sir John Murray's ''Bathymetrical Survey of Fresh-Water Lochs of Scotland 1897-1909''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinord Freshwater lochs of Scotland Lochs of Aberdeenshire Dee Basin