As spring arrives and the days draw out we’ve been able to enjoy the last of the light over the loch at the beginning of our shifts and some beautiful sun rises as we wind down for the night.

We’re really happy that the resident female now has four eggs to incubate and hope that she can have a successful brood once again, adding to the population of this still rare and magnificent species.

The female still takes charge of the overnight incubation with the male generally turning up at around 5 a.m. to relieve her of her duties enabling her to leave the nest to stretch her wings.

The early mornings on the loch are the most enjoyable part of our shift as the peace and quiet of the night is replaced by the early comings and goings of the reserves wildlife and we are often joined by an oyster catcher sitting on top of the Crannog hide who appears to be taking as much pleasure from the sunrise as we do!

Further to the graph produced last week, we thought it might be interesting to compile mating attempts now that our female has laid. Below is a summary of mating attempts before and after the eggs were laid.

Guy and Ainoa