page_title: Blae Loch (Beith)
section_title: Natural history
hierarchical_section_title: Blae Loch (Beith) / Natural history
caption_attribution_description: English: North end, west bank, Lochend Farm, Blae Loch, Hessilhead, Beith, North Ayrshire, Scotland.
context_page_description: The Blae Loch is a small freshwater loch situated in a hollow in a low-lying area beneath Blaelochhead Hill in the Parish of Beith, North Ayrshire, Scotland.
context_section_description: The site is a designated 'Local Wildlife Site' following a survey in 1981 by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and others. The survey recorded that the site is a 'Phragmites dominated area with open water'. The surveyors record that "The loch is surrounded to a great extent by  bed of reed canary grass with a dense zone of the sedge Carex aquatilis. There is a good admixture of marsh species, and an admixture of willow (Salix) species in the north-east section. In the surrounding fields there is an interesting interaction between the field ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) and the marsh ragwort (Senecio aquaticus), giving rise to a substantial amount of the hybrid Senecio x osterfeldii. There is a good floristic structure at the site and it is also of real importance due to the presence of the very rare Cowbane (Cicuta virosa).
caption: The northern end with resident swans.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "E4600", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "E4600v1.1", "Image DateTime": "2011:03:18 15:59:43", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "284", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4596", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7964", "EXIF ExposureTime": "5/233", "EXIF FNumber": "49/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "50", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2011:03:18 15:59:43", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2011:03:18 15:59:43", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "57/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2288", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1712", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1026", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "34", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}