Mire Loch is a man made freshwater

loch ''Loch'' ( ) is a word meaning "lake" or "inlet, sea inlet" in Scottish Gaelic, Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough". A small loch is sometimes calle ...

situated on

St Abb's Head St Abb's Head is a rocky promontory by the village of St Abbs in Berwickshire, Scotland, and a national nature reserve administered by the National Trust for Scotland. St Abb's Head Lighthouse was designed and built by the brothers David Ste ...

in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

, just over a kilometre NW of the village of St. Abbs at grid reference . The loch lies on land owned by the

National Trust for Scotland The National Trust for Scotland () is a Scottish Building preservation and conservation trusts in the UK, conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, sha ...

(NTS) and is approximately 600 metres long by 50 metres at its widest point.''"Ordnance Survey Explorer Map"'' Sheet 346 Gives details of position and dimensions of loch.

History

Mire Loch was originally an area of marshy land within the St. Abbs Head Fault. The fault separated the hard volcanic rocks of St. Abbs Head from the softer

sedimentary rocks Sedimentary rocks are types of rock formed by the cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or deposited at Earth's surface. Sedim ...

of the mainland. The glacial channel which follows the fault is marked by a distinctive inland valley across the Head which was fed by rainwater from the high ground on both sides and formed a boggy area which drained into the sea.Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
Gives details of geology. Around the year 1900 it was decided to turn the boggy area into a recreation area. A dam was built to form a freshwater loch to be used for

angling Angling (from Old English ''angol'', meaning "hook") is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated with a fishing rod, although rodless te ...

and

waterfowl hunting Waterfowl hunting is the practice of hunting aquatic birds such as ducks, geese and other waterfowls or shorebirds for sport and meat. Waterfowl are hunted in crop fields where they feed, or in areas with bodies of water such as rivers, lakes ...

, a nine-hole

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

course was also constructed nearby. The use of the golf course was discontinued many years ago although there is some visible evidence of the old greens and tees. A boat house was built on the loch and this too has fallen into disrepair with most of the roof timbers now missing.''"National Trust for Scotland leaflet on St. Abbs Head"'' Gives historical details.Information board at site, Gives details of history.

Present day

Today Mire Loch is a valued part of St. Abbs Head National Nature Reserve providing a home for freshwater birds such as

little grebe The little grebe (''Tachybaptus ruficollis''), also known as dabchick, is a member of the grebe family of water birds. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''takhus'' "fast" and ''bapto'' "to sink under". The specific ''ruficollis'' is from Latin ...

reed bunting The common reed bunting (''Emberiza schoeniclus'') is a passerine bird in the Emberiza, bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. The genus name ''Emberiza'' is from Old High German, ...

heron Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 75 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus ''Botaurus'' are referred to as bi ...

mute swan The mute swan (''Cygnus olor'') is a species of swan and a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Eurasia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, home to ...

moorhen Moorhens—sometimes called marsh hens—are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family (Rallidae). Most species are placed in the genus ''Gallinula'', Latin for "little hen." They are close relatives of coots. They are ...

and

sedge warbler The sedge warbler (''Acrocephalus schoenobaenus'') is an Old World warbler in the genus ''Acrocephalus (bird), Acrocephalus''. It is a medium-sized warbler with a brown, streaked back and wings and a distinct pale supercilium. Sedge warblers are ...

. The fringing vegetation which is composed mostly of high reeds provides shelter and food for nesting birds as well as for migrants in spring and autumn. In early summer hundreds of

herring gulls Herring gull is a common name for several birds in the genus ''Larus ''Larus'' is a large genus of gulls with worldwide distribution (by far the greatest species diversity is in the Northern Hemisphere). Many of its species are abundant and w ...

and

kittiwake The kittiwakes (genus ''Rissa'') are two closely related seabird species in the gull family Laridae, the black-legged kittiwake (''Rissa tridactyla'') and the red-legged kittiwake (''Rissa brevirostris''). The epithets "black-legged" and "red- ...

s bathe in the loch. In recent years the NTS has planted almost 1000 trees around the loch in an effort to provide extra cover for migrant birds. Most of these trees have been planted on the SW shore in a plantation dedicated to a diver who died off St. Abbs Head in 1981.www.xbordercurrents.com.
Gives details of wildlife."Information board at site" Gives details of plantation.

Eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 families, 164 genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...

and

stickleback The sticklebacks are a family of ray-finned fishes, the Gasterosteidae which have a Holarctic distribution in fresh, brackish and marine waters. They were thought to be related to the pipefish and seahorses but are now thought to be more close ...

all live in the loch which is also a breeding site for

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

s and

toad Toad (also known as a hoptoad) is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. In popular culture (folk taxonomy ...

s.Scottish Natural Heritage.
Gives details of water life in loch. The loch has footpaths around its shores and walkers are encouraged by the NTS to include a circuit of the loch during their visit to St. Abb's Head although there is a warning that the paths can be quite muddy after rain. The loch has a stepped outflow which only runs for only several metres before disappearing down a man made drain, finding its way underground to the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

which is just 500 metres to the SE.

References

{{reflist Berwickshire Lochs of the Scottish Borders Freshwater lochs of Scotland