Yesterday’s Braemar walk was of the hilly type. While continuing our post-Coast and Castles North tour in Aberdeenshire, today’s walk around Loch Kinord promised to be a more gentle affair.

The loch is a small freshwater lake in the Muir of Dinnet National Nature Reserve, situated a few miles east of Ballater. We parked just off the B9119.

There is a circular walking route around the loch. We set off in an anti-clockwise direction following the blue/white duck waymarkers.

We immediately entered one of the many small forests around the lake.

Of course, at this time of year many of the flora and fauna are in full bloom.

Guinness, Clive and Sally’s dog, may be getting on a bit now, but he still loves playing in the water.

For a while the path follows the shoreline.

Before moving away slightly through another one of the little forests.

We ignored the sign to turnoff towards the nearby village of Dinnet.

And instead followed the path which took us through a dry-stone wall.

At various points it is possible to see out on to a small island in the middle of the lake. This was the site of an iron-age crannog.

There are also some fantastic views of the surrounding moorlands.

We passed a Pictish stone symbol thought to have built in the 9th century. On one side is a cross. It suggests there may have been a small chapel located nearby. The stone was lost and buried for many years before being re-discovered in the 1820s when it was dug up at a site near where it now stands.

Finally, we climbed back up through another small forest, this one with the floor densely covered by ferns.

Our walk around Loch Kinord had been a pleasant meander of just over 4.5 miles, taking in some beautiful scenery.

Afterwards, we headed off for lunch to At the Sign of the Black Faced Sheep in Aboyne.

Ordinarily, this might have been a normal lunch sat outside enjoying the summer weather with some enjoyable food. This wasn’t a normal lunch!

We were joined by a blue parakeet. This was fun at first. It was playful and obviously used to being around humans. However, it tended to bite your ears, and when you tried to put a stop to it, it would bite your fingers too.

And it wouldn’t leave you alone …

We are not sure what happened to it in the end. The  shop eventually put it into a box, while awaiting responses on social media from anyone local who had lost a parakeet!

For us, however, it was time to head back to Ordiefork.