Events from the nest today:

Our famous osprey pair continue to incubate the three eggs here at Loch of the Lowes, with our female incubating throughout the night. At 4.18am our male osprey, 7Y, could be seen perched nearby on in a silver birch tree, with a clear view of the nest. The male then arrived at the nest this morning at 5am to take over incubation duties. 7Y incubated for 1 ½ hours until our female returned at 6.30am. The pair then took turns over incubation duties for the morning; turning the eggs routinely. Then, at 1.35pm our male osprey delivered a fish, which the female began to eat on the nest. The male then arrived to take the remainder of the fish away, but returned with it at 3.07pm. At this point, both ospreys ate some of the fish on the nest, before 7Y again took off with the remains. Later, at around 4.30pm, our male arrived at the nest with another fish, this time a salmon. Both ospreys remained on the nest for some minutes with our male still grasping the headless salmon in his talons. Our female then took the fish and flew off with it leaving her mate to incubate.

For any more questions regarding our ospreys that you may have, please 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:

Early this morning at 4.15am, an otter was seen in the reeds in front of the hides here at Loch of the Lowes. This member of the Mustelid family was once widespread throughout Europe, but suffered from persecution and loss of habitat. The otter population declined rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s and is now afforded full protection under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The semi-aquatic mammal requires freshwater for feeding and bathing, but also needs terrestrial habitat for building resting and breeding holts. The reed beds around the loch here offer a suitable habitat for the species, while the loch itself is a wonderful food source.

Also on the loch this morning were mallards, tufted ducks, and mute swans, whilst overhead were black-headed gulls.

At the feeding station were pheasants, great spotted woodpeckers, blue tits, coal tits, great tits, 6 long-tailed tits, chaffinche, greenfinches, siskins, a yellowhammer and 2 bullfinches. Three red squirrels have been seen throughout the day, with regular visits from a juvenile.

 Anna

Perthshire Reserves Seasonal Ranger