Afternoon all,

Events from the nest today:

Our resident male and female have been mating throughout the day again here at Loch of the Lowes. We are all hopeful this will lead to our female laying eggs in the near future. Last year the first egg was laid on 13^th April and the male, known as 7Y returned on the 4^th April – a day alter than this year, to commence mating.

At around 1.05pm today, our resident male brought a headless fish to the nest (it is usual for the male to eat the head in this way). Our resident female then took the fish and flew off with it, presumably to enjoy in another location.

 Other wildlife at Loch of the Lowes:

Out on the loch today there were sightings of goldeneye, tufted ducks, oyster catchers and mute swans.  There was also a sighting of a female goosander following yesterdays sighting of a male! An exciting spectacle to watch this morning was the mating display of a pair of great crested grebes. This ‘courtship dance’ can be mesmerising to watch, where they rise out of the water and shake there heads. Perhaps we can all hope to see some striped young this season, hitching a ride on their parents’ backs.

Out on the feeders today, we have once again seen a yellowhammer, along with chaffinches, great tits, coal tits, blue tits and siskins.

Anna

Perthshire Reserves Seasonal Ranger.