Our young Osprey Blue44 made another important step towards independence today: his first successful fishing attempt.

Eager watchers in our shore-front hides were enjoying watching him this morning taking dives into the water around the ‘headland’ to the right of the nest ( as you look at it from the shore) ,  but he was teasing us , disappearing behind the big Scots pine on the point. Then suddenly he came back into sight with something small in his talons- we believe it was his first ever self caught fish!

It was too small and distant to distinguish what species it was, but it was never the less a really exciting milestone passed for him. He proudly flew over his dad with the fish in tow (who was perched up on a lochside tree), then  dad took off and joined him in flight over the bay. They both went down in the woods behind the nest- presumable to scoff the prize on a favorite only to emerge about 20 mins later when an intruder osprey came by.

Significantly our young osprey has also been venturing further afield over the last few days as the latest satellite date shows: visiting next door Craiglush loch and the farther side of Lowes. He is getting bolder and stronger by the day- which is a great sign. Follow his progress on our interactive map here: http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/things-to-do/osprey/

To celebrate our wee Ospreys big day we thought we’d share with you another fantastic photo our Blue 44 taken by Tom Taylor- many thanks for sharing such a great portrait with us Tom.