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Tweedbank Nature Trail Walk

From the car park head down to the loch. Turn right and go around the side of the loch. As you walk around the loch, stop
and listen to the bird calls. Coots call out ‘coot’. Mallard ducks make a quacking call. You can also listen for the call of a black-headed gull. Keep left to head around the loch. As you walk you can count how many mute swans you can see. You may also see young swans (cygnets). Another type of duck that may be present is the tufted duck which is black and white. Watch one dive and count how many seconds it is under the water for.
After an open area with bench seats by the loch, turn right, past the play area and take the second left. By some pine trees look on the ground for a cone. If it has been neatly nibbled it has been eaten by a mouse or a squirrel but if it looks untidy it has been eaten by a bird.
Turn right then left onto the grass area between trees and bushes. See if you can find five different kinds of leaves. At this point you can play the helicopter game; gather some seeds from a field maple tree, throw them up high and watch them spin in the wind.
You will come out to a large grass area. Go straight across to the other side of this area. Look back for a view of the Eildon Hills. After the large open grass area you will come to an area of long grass near the river. Here you may be able to spot spiders, beetles, flies and butterflies on the grasses. You might be able to find snails, ladybirds and earwigs too. See if you can see five different creatures. As you go towards the river you will see an alder tree. The tree can be recognised by its male catkins and female cones hanging on the tree branches.
We join the Borders Abbeys Way and turn left to follow the river upstream. This is the River Tweed. Look out for birds on the river. Heron, dipper and goosander are frequently seen here. Continue to follow the Borders Abbeys Way until you reach a tarmac path. Turn left through the trees. At a junction of paths take the higher path on the right which runs parallel to the backs of the houses.
Continue towards the loch (the easy access path rejoins the route here and from the shortcut should turn left). In autumn when the leaves have fallen off the trees you can make a leaf picture. At the loch you will come to Hazelnut corner where there are three trees together. Try to find
some hazelnuts under the trees. Squirrels and mice like to eat the nuts. You can now head around the loch to the right and return back to the start. Turning left here would bring you back to the play park.

Start and Finish:
Gunknowe Loch car park, Tweedbank

Distance: 1.5km/1 mile

Time: 1 hour

Terrain:
flat hard surfaced tarmac paths, also grass paths which can be muddy