Natural history

The site is a designated 'Local Wildlife Site' following a survey in 1981 by the Scottish Wildlife Trust

Scottish Wildlife Trust

The Scottish Wildlife Trust is a registered charity dedicated to conserving the wildlife and natural environment of Scotland.-Description:The Scottish Wildlife Trust has over 32,800 members...

 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

Carex aquatilis

Carex aquatilis is a species of sedge known by the common names water sedge and leafy tussock sedge. It has a circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout the northern reaches of the Northern Hemisphere. It grows in many types of mountainous and Arctic habitat, including temperate coniferous...

. 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

Cicuta virosa

Cicuta virosa is a species of Cicuta, native to northern and central Europe, northern Asia and northwestern North America. It is a perennial herbaceous plant which grows up to 1–2 m tall. The stems are smooth, branching, swollen at the base, purple-striped, and hollow except for partitions at the...

).

Kestrel, Reed Bunting, Water Rail, Robin, Starling, Snipe, Mallard, and Swans have been recorded here. Rare species are Carex aquatilis

Carex aquatilis

Carex aquatilis is a species of sedge known by the common names water sedge and leafy tussock sedge. It has a circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout the northern reaches of the Northern Hemisphere. It grows in many types of mountainous and Arctic habitat, including temperate coniferous...

, Brown edge (Carex disticha

Carex disticha

Carex disticha is a species of sedge, whose common name is Two-ranked Sedge. It is native to parts of Northern and Western Europe, where it grows in moist spots in a number of habitat types, and it has been introduced to the Great Lakes region of southern Canada...

), Cowbane (Cicuta virosa

Cicuta virosa

Cicuta virosa is a species of Cicuta, native to northern and central Europe, northern Asia and northwestern North America. It is a perennial herbaceous plant which grows up to 1–2 m tall. The stems are smooth, branching, swollen at the base, purple-striped, and hollow except for partitions at the...

), White water lily (Nymphaea alba

Nymphaea alba

Nymphaea alba, also known as the European White Waterlily, White Lotus, or Nenuphar, is an aquatic flowering plant of the family Nymphaeaceae....

), Ivy-leaved water crowfoot (Ranunculus hederaceus), and Bay willow (salix pentandra).

Micro-history

Lochend Farm was partly constructed from whinstone taken from the nearby quarry.

Middleton Quarry was for a time used as a site for testing explosives by Nobel Explosives, Ardreer. The quarry has been infilled.

Several other Blae Lochs are located in North Ayrshire and elsewhere in Scotland.