The nightshift for protection of the Loch of the Lowes Osprey pair began on Thursday 12^th of April after the suspected delivery of the seasons first egg; our resident female portrayed typical egg laying posture and traits the previous evening so round the clock manned monitoring was initiated.

We have had a real mixed bag of weather conditions over the last few days, with sunshine, showers, hail, wind and frost! This hasn’t upset our Osprey pair one bit and the first egg duly arrived on the evening of the 14^th.

This is the second year I have been lucky enough to accept the post of Species Protection Officer for the Loch of Lowes Ospreys and it didn’t feel like a year since I last sat in the top hide looking out into the night sky of this beautiful part of Scotland.

Although sight may be at a disadvantage in the darkness, hearing becomes keener and the sounds of wildlife go on throughout the night; the ducks move around at the waters edge, an occasional ‘honk’ from a Canada Goose, the Tawny Owls call to one another and the sound of Roe deer barking in the distance all make each night a pleasure to be out in.

While enjoying all these things, a watchful eye is kept on the nest cam monitor and around the reserve, looking for anything suspicious that may interfere with the birds breeding season.

As the hours pass, darkness gives way to the light of a new day and the dawn chorus emanates from the surrounding woodland; the birds are all busy at this time of year finding mates and building nests.

In forthcoming nightshift posts we will aim to bring you all the night time events from the nest such as incubation traits, first morning sighting of the male Osprey and feeding patterns; these times will change over the course of the season as the nights become shorter and daylight hours grow, giving the birds more fishing time to rear their 2012 brood.

 Species Protection Officer

 Douglas Thomson