A great day of Osprey viewing here at Loch of the Lowes in the sunshine with lots of short flights by our chick Blue 44 and lots of osprey action over the water, and with three fish being brought to the nest by the male: the earliest at just after 4.30 am this morning!

The lunchtime trout was whole, rather than headless, which is more normal, and after some initial uncertainty the chick started eating it himself. When an intruder osprey flew over, the chick mantled over the fish to protect it, just like an adult bird with shoulders dropped, and back arched, which is a great sign of confident behavior.

We have had a lot of intruder activity- last night there were other ospreys around for nearly two hours in all, and a lot of mantling by our family in defense of their nest. None of these intruders are a risk to our chick at this stage but more of an inconvenience and our birds are not going to let another Osprey get too familiar with their territory.

Today there was more intruder action when what is presumably the other osprey pair, plus one (which could been their offspring) again flew over the nest , and our parents were also in flight over the loch- five ospreys in the air at the same time- what a treat to see!

I am just processing the latest batch of satellite tracking data which shows, as you would expect, our chick based mostly the nest but ranging on short flights around the two lochs. I am hoping to have this data on the website tomorrow for all to share.

In other news, our Red Squirrels have been delighting us all with their antics this week and posing for photographers. Don’t forget we have a Red Squirrel Fun Day at the Visitor centre tomorrow: from 11am- 4pm there will be lots of squirrel related craft activities talk buy our local squirrel officer and lots of info on how to help squirrels. You can even make the box for feeding squirrels to take home.

All activities are free with VC admission, expect box making for which there is a small fee for materials.

 Also upcoming: 

How to be a Wildlife Spy: Camera traps and Hidden Wildlife

Saturday 4^th & Sunday 5^th Sunday August 1pm-4pm each day

Discover the secret world of night-time and hidden wildlife all around you. Learn how to spot tracks and signs , use camera traps and nest cameras, with lots of ‘hands-on’ activities– what will we find around the reserve? Join the ranger to discover more!

Loch of the LowesVisitor Centre   Booking advised: 01350 727337

 Cost: £3 adults, £2 concessions/members, £1children – in addition to VC entry.