It is a dull, wet day here at the Loch of the Lowes but the birds are still singing and flying around in front of the viewing window and the red squirrels are scurrying about and chasing one another. The female osprey is sitting on the nest trying to keep the eggs warm and dry and the male has been hunting for fish. At 7.40 am the male returned with a perch and offered pieces of it to the female before giving her the whole fish. The male has been feeding the female on a regular basis, usually in early in the morning and later in the evening.  Tuesday evening appeared to be a bit of a tough time to fish due to choppy water as the male was seen hunting over the loch but was unsuccessful in each attempt to catch a fish.

Ospreys are opportunistic feeders and eat a variety of different species of fish, which is dependent on the country they inhabit. This can include pollock, flounder, mullet, trout, carp and roach to name but a few. The ospreys at the Loch of the Lowes catch rainbow trout, perch and pike which are readily available in the lochs surrounding the area. Although ospreys are known to only eat fish, ospreys on Tiran Island in the northern Red Sea have expanded their diet to also include molluscs. They have learned to crack open the shells by dropping the conchs on steel drums allowing them to get to the mollusc within. Clever birds those ospreys!