Loch Oich is a part of a 95 kilometers long waterway: The „Caledonian Channel“.

It connects the Atlantic Ocean with the North sea, between the Firth of Lorne in the southwest and the Moray Firth in the northeast. The channel prevents the ships from taking the long way around the Highlands in the north and creates a substantially more favorable connection between the Irish ports and Eastern ports of Scotland such as Aberdeen and Dundee.

The „Caledonian Channel“ was opened in 1822 after 19 years of construction.

The Loch Oich wild life is rich with a wide variety of fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds end mammals.

Every autumn the Atlantic salmon (salmo salar) migrates from the Sea using Loch Oich, Loch Lochy and Loch Ness as their spawning nests. After two years when the fingerling are up to 20 cm long they migrate back to the Sea where they grow rapidly and weigh from 3,5 – 17 kg after two years.

The area around the Loch Oich is, particulary, in the winter months a hideaway for a very rare specie of bird named „Oich“, who starts its annual migration in the spring to the northern edge of the Alps. There, at the Elbsee, a lake at the Eastern part of the Allgaeu region, the birds find a place to stay for their breeding season. In the autumn they return to the Loch Oich who never freezes up like other Lochs in the Scottish Highland.

Even nowadays, the reasons why this specie of bird feels so well by the Loch Oich, are still not fully understood. An explanation could be: The abundance of fish, specially the young Atlantic salmon, are believed to facilitate their hibernation in this northerly area.

The name of the Oich is derived from the primary observation at the hole Oich.

More pictures from the Oich -> nesting place in Germany

Weblink:
- Loch Oich (Wikipedia)
- Wolpertinger im Allgäu