Events from the nest today:

This morning, a fish was delivered to the nest at 4.41am by our male. As usual, our female osprey took the fish and flew off with it to eat elsewhere. Our female then did not return to the nest site until 8.26am, leaving her mate to incubate for 3 ¾ hours!!! Our male, 7Y, then took over incubation again at 10am. Our female then returned briefly for 30mins at 11.26am, before 7Y took over again at 11.55am. Our male then incubated until 2.40pm (a further 2 ¾ hours!) when our female returned who is now still incubating. We will not know if our female has caught a fish for herself during the time that she has spent away from the nest. At 5.08pm 7Y returned to the nest, this time with a fairly large headless fish. Our female then accepted this fish and flew away with it, leaving her mate to incubate.

It has now been over 4 weeks since the first egg was laid by our female on the 13^th April. Since then we have seen a dedicated period of incubation from both male and female osprey here at Loch of the Lowes. All we can do now is continue to wait to find out if any eggs will hatch. We can reasonably expect this to begin happening on around the 20^th May, if indeed the eggs are viable. Our team working hard during Osprey Watch will continue to guard the nest from any egg thieves or unintentional human disturbances that may cause the pair to abandon the nest and eggs.

A question we received via ospreys@swt.org.uk asked whether our female osprey was moulting while she was incubating the eggs. During the incubation period, female ospreys do tend to moult. This is because it is a good opportunity for them to renew their feathers. It is a different story for male ospreys as they need to be on top flying form during this time in order to successfully catch fish and see off any intruders.

For any more queries into our ospreys that you may have, check our dedicated FAQ page and see if you can find the answer you are looking for:

http://www.swt.org.uk/wildlife/ospreys-at-lowes/frequently-asked-questions/

Other wildlife at Loch of the Lowes:

4 great crested grebes were out on the loch again this morning, along with 8 mute swans, one Canada goose and several mallards. 10 tufted ducks and an oystercatcher could also be seen, while 5 swallows and 3 swifts flew overhead.

At the feeders 3 great spotted woodpeckers could be seen this morning, as well as a blue tit, a coal, 3 great tits, a tree creeper, a greenfinch, 2 siskins and a yellowhammer. A red squirrel was also spotted this morning at the box feeder.

 Anna

Perthshire Reserves Seasonal Ranger