Good afternoon all,

Events at the nest today:

The weather has been glorious today here on the reserve. Our resident female has been basking in the sunshine as she incubates her growing clutch. The eggs continue to be well tended by both parents. There has been much rearranging of the eggs by both birds throughout the day.

Excitingly, at precisely 7:00am this morning the male flew in to the nest with a live trout! The female then took off with it in her talons to finish off elsewhere. This left the male to take over incubation duty. They have been switching regularly throughout the day, allowing the female to get some exercise and time away from the nest.

Other Wildlife at Loch of the Lowes:

Out on the loch were clusters of tufted duck and goldeneye as well as mallard. Two great crested grebes were also seen close to the Crannog hide. Amazingly, at 2:25pm a deer was spotted swimming accross the loch, an unusual occurance!

The raucous call of jays could be heard in the woods surrounding the loch this morning, along with willow warblers and the ever present chaffinch. A yellowhammer was seen at the feeders from the viewing window as well as the seed-eating greenfinch. One of the other visitors to the peanut feeders was a red squirrel, which is always a welcome guest!

This afternoon, two starlings were heard mimicking the calls of such species as curlew and buzzard. These flocking birds have vividly iridescent plumage when viewed in the correct light. As well as having a high-pitched, warbling call of their own, they will often copy the calls of birds that share the habitat in which they live. These calls are sometimes accurate enough to fool the occasional unwary birdwatcher!

We are currently working on uploading footage of the second egg being laid and will be posting it on Youtube. Watch this space for the link!

Simon 

SITA Species Protection Officer