Insh Marshes are an area of

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

of the

River Spey The River Spey (Scottish Gaelic: Uisge Spè) is a river in the northeast of Scotland. At it is the eighth longest river in the United Kingdom, as well as the second longest and fastest-flowing river in Scotland. It is important for salmon fishi ...

between

Kingussie Kingussie ( ; gd, Ceann a' Ghiùthsaich ) is a small town in the Badenoch and Strathspey ward of the Highland council area of Scotland. Historically in Inverness-shire, it lies beside the A9 road, although the old route of the A9 serves as th ...

and

Kincraig Kincraig ( gd, Ceann na Creige) is a village located north of Kingussie and south of Aviemore in Highland, Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Brita ...

Badenoch and Strathspey Badenoch and Strathspey is a former district of Highland region, Scotland. The district was created under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 as one of the eight districts of the Highland region. The same legislation abolished countie ...

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. The marshes are said to be one of the most important

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s in Europe. They lie at altitude of approximately 240 to 220 m above sea level, and form one of the largest areas of floodplain mire and fen vegetation in Scotland. The marshes cover around 11 km², and hold a number of conservation designations. 7 km² of the area is owned and managed by the

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales and in Scotland. It was founded in 1889. It works to promote conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment throu ...

(RSPB), and forms a national nature reserve. The RSPB have laid out several waymarked trails, and provided two

bird hide A bird hide (blind or bird blind in North America) is a shelter, often camouflaged, that is used to observe wildlife, especially birds, at close quarters. Although hides or hunting blinds were once built chiefly as hunting aids, they are now comm ...

s to allow visitors to appreciate the area and its birdlife.

Flora and fauna

The marshes are dominated by sedge plants, with the boreal species

string sedge ''Carex chordorrhiza'', commonly called creeping sedge or string sedge, is a species of perennial plant in the family Cyperaceae with Holarctic distribution growing in acidic bogs. Growth form and classification ''Carex chordorrhiza'' has an u ...

and water sedge being present. The site is one of only two in Britain for string sedge (the other being Loch Naver at Altnaharra). It also supports many other flowering plants including least water-lily,

awlwort ''Subularia'' is a genus of plants in the family Brassicaceae. ''Subularia'' species are annual herbs that grow in moist or even flooded soils. There are only two species of the genus: ''Subularia aquatica'', which is widespread in North America ...

cowbane Cowbane is a common name for several plants and may refer to: * '' Cicuta virosa'', a poisonous species of ''Cicuta'', native to northern and central Europe, northern Asia, and northwestern North America * '' Oxypolis'', a small genus of North ...

and shady horsetail.River Spey - Insh Marshes SSSI Citation. p. 1.River Spey - Insh Marshes SSSI Citation. p. 2. Many rare wetland invertebrates can be found at Insh Marshes, including various species of flies, beetles and moths. It is the only site in Britain at which the spider ''

Wabasso replicatus ''Wabasso replicatus'' is spider species from Scotland to Russia. See also * List of Linyphiidae species (Q–Z) This article lists all described species of the spider family Linyphiidae as of May 14, 2020, from Q to Z. Some genera have been ...

'' has been identified. Other notable invertebrate species present include the aquatic beetle '' Donacia aquatica'', the fly '' Tipula marginella'', the horse-fly '' Hybomitra lurida'' and the snipe-fly '' Thereva inornata''. The birch woodlands above the marshes are home to several moth species, including Rannoch sprawler and cousin german. In October 2014, a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

called ''Molanna angustata'', a type of

caddisfly The caddisflies, or order Trichoptera, are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the ...

that inhabits

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

up to the Lake District and

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

was identified here. Genevieve Dalley, a

RSPB The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales and in Scotland. It was founded in 1889. It works to promote conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment throu ...

trainee ecologist discovered and identified two males caught in a moth trap at the marshes near

: the species had not previously been recorded in Scotland.

Arctic charr The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes and arctic and subarctic coastal waters. Its distribution is Circumpolar North. It spawns in freshwater and populat ...

spawn along the River Spey and its side-streams, and the area provides an ideal habitat for otter. The Insh Marshes are most noted for the many species of birds that breed here each summer. Breeding species include

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

, ducks such as

Eurasian wigeon The Eurasian wigeon or European wigeon (''Mareca penelope''), also known as the widgeon or the wigeon, is one of three species of wigeon in the dabbling duck genus ''Mareca''. It is common and widespread within its Palearctic range. Taxonomy T ...

shoveler The shovelers or shovellers are four species of dabbling ducks with long, broad spatula-shaped beaks: * Red shoveler, ''Anas platalea'' * Cape shoveler, ''Anas smithii'' * Australasian shoveler, ''Anas rhynchotis'' * Northern shoveler, ''Anas cl ...

and

goldeneye ''GoldenEye'' is a 1995 spy film, the seventeenth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 agent James Bond (lit ...

, and waders including redshank,

snipe A snipe is any of about 26 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, and cryptic/ camouflaging plumage. The '' Gallinago'' snipes have a n ...

curlew The curlews () are a group of nine species of birds in the genus ''Numenius'', characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been in ...

and

lapwing Lapwings ( subfamily Vanellinae) are any of various ground-nesting birds (family Charadriidae) akin to plovers and dotterels. They range from in length, and are noted for their slow, irregular wingbeats in flight and a shrill, wailing cry. A ...

. The marshes also receive winter visitors including

greylag geese The greylag goose or graylag goose (''Anser anser'') is a species of large goose in the waterfowl family Anatidae and the type species of the genus ''Anser''. It has mottled and barred grey and white plumage and an orange beak and pink legs. A ...

from Iceland and up 200

whooper swan The whooper swan ( /ˈhuːpə(ɹ) swɒn/) (''Cygnus cygnus''), also known as the common swan, pronounced ''hooper swan'', is a large northern hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan, and the type specie ...

Conservation designations

In addition to being a national nature reserve (NNR), the marshes hold several other conservation designations. The marshes, together with a stretch of the River Spey, form a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) entitled "River Spey - Insh Marshes", that covers just under 1160 ha. The area of the SSSI is also designated as both a

Special Protection Area A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cert ...

(SPA) and a

Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and a ...

under the

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

programme, as well as being a listed site under the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on W ...

. The Insh Marshes national nature reserve is classified as a Category IV

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natur ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

Scotland's National Nature Reserves
*
Special Protection Area designation
* - case study at Caledonia Centre for Social Development website {{RSPB sites in Scotland Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reserves in Scotland Special Protection Areas in Scotland Badenoch and Strathspey Ramsar sites in Scotland Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Badenoch and Strathspey Special Areas of Conservation in Scotland Protected areas of Highland (council area) Floodplains of Europe Marshes of the United Kingdom National nature reserves in Scotland