Events from the nest:

With the first egg hopefully due to hatch this weekend things are looking very positive, with the resident female observed listening to the eggs at 00.47 this morning.  This is an excellent sign that at least one of the eggs may be viable and hatch soon

So far today the resident male, 7Y, has not brought any fish to the nest, but last night he delivered 2 large fish, one at 17.55 and another at 18.55.  Today has passed away peacefully on the nest with egg turning and regular swapping of incubation duties.

Queries we have received via ospreys@swt.org.uk have been regarding the satellite tracing programme. Full details of this can be found on our dedicated webpage; so for answers to any of your questions, follow this link:  http://www.swt.org.uk/wildlife/ospreys-at-lowes/osprey-tracking/

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:

We are now seeing a lot of new life around the feeders with 2 families of ducklings visiting regularly and the hive of activity around the blue tit nest box as the parents try to feed their large brood of chicks.  Some visitors to our feeders today included a male bull finch, 2 male green finches, a female green finch, 5 siskins, a yellow hammer and the usual compliment of chaffinches and tits.  A bank vole and a red squirrel also took advantage of our bird food today, with the squirrel sitting out on the bird table for about 20 minutes this morning.

Flying over the loch this morning were 4 black headed gulls and around 10 sand martins.  Out on the loch today there were 2 great crested grebes, 4 mute swans, 18 mallards, a tufted duck and a pair of red breasted mergansers.

The red breasted merganser (Mergus serrator) is part of a group of birds known as sawbills.  This name comes from the serrated inner edge of their beaks which enable them to catch the fish that are their main prey.  A study done in Lake Windermere suggested that a young merganser could eat 20kg of fish in 100 days and they are capable of eating eels up to a foot in length.  This efficiency at hunting can bring them into conflict with anglers, but the protection afforded to them under the Wildlife and Countryside Act means that they have been able to increase in numbers throughout the UK.

Lindsay

SITA Species Protection Officer