Coldingham Loch is a loch

Loch

Loch is the Irish and Scottish Gaelic word for a lake or a sea inlet. It has been anglicised as lough, although this is pronounced the same way as loch. Some lochs could also be called a firth, fjord, estuary, strait or bay...

 in the parish of Coldingham

Coldingham

Coldingham is a historic village in Berwickshire, Scottish Borders, on Scotland's southeast coastline, north of Eyemouth.As early as AD 660, Coldingham was the site of a religious establishment of high order, when it is recorded that Etheldreda, the queen of Egfrid, became a nun at the Abbey of...

, in the Scottish Borders

Scottish Borders

The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...

 area of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, in the former Berwickshire

Berwickshire

Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...

, between Coldingham Moor and St Abb's Head

St Abb's Head

St. Abb's Head is a rocky promontory at the village of St. Abbs, Berwickshire, Scottish Borders, and a National Nature Reserve administered by the National Trust of Scotland...

. The loch is a natural spring-fed 22 acres (8.9 ha) loch, about 300 yards (274.3 m) from the sea and about 300 feet (91.4 m) above sea level; it is used for fly fishing

Fly fishing

Fly fishing is an angling method in which an artificial 'fly' is used to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. Casting a nearly weightless fly or 'lure' requires casting techniques significantly different from other forms of casting...

 for rainbow trout and brown and blue trout. The area is also used for pheasant

Pheasant

Pheasants refer to some members of the Phasianinae subfamily of Phasianidae in the order Galliformes.Pheasants are characterised by strong sexual dimorphism, males being highly ornate with bright colours and adornments such as wattles and long tails. Males are usually larger than females and have...

 shooting.

The Scottish Borders Council has described Coldingham Loch as "eutropic open water, with high levels of plant nutrient, turbid water caused by high plankton

Plankton

Plankton are any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. That is, plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification...

 levels; coarse fish generally dominant; in natural state supports high levels of biodiversity

Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...

; often important wildfowl sites".

Reference

• 'Freshwater Biology', vol.17, issue3, pp. 419-428: A. E. BAILEY-WATTS: Coldingham Loch, S.E. Scotland. II. Phytoplankton succession and ecology in the year prior to mixer installation

External links

• RCAHMS record of Coldingham Loch, or Biter's Craig
• CANMORE/RCAHMS record of Coldingham Loch, Long cist
• National Archices of Scotland: Parish of Coldingham
• Scottish Borders Council: Standing Open Water Habitat Action Plan
• British Listed Buildings: Coldingham Loch, Boat House, Coldingham
• Geograph image: Coldingham Loch Panorama