by Lindsey

Another quiet incubation day on the nest with both taking it in turns, although she was off for quite a while and he was quick to change over when she returned. He’s being doing a great job today with the incubation, there’s been two intruder Ospreys and some Buzzards getting a bit too close to the nest yet he sat tight and didn’t flinch or alarm call. He also brought her a, more or less complete, big Pike this morning . There was a lovely moment at lunchtime when they briefly left the eggs unattended and the two of them flew around each other circling for a short while before he returned to egg duty.

We’re also starting to see single Great Crested Grebe suggesting they have paired up and their mate is on a nest somewhere.

It’s been a busy day here at the Reserve with lots of visitors joining us for our Otter Mayhem family fun day with much painting, puzzling and creating going on.

There’s been some interesting Peregrine behaviour going on at our sister reserve Falls of Clyde. The falcon (female) had been neglecting her egg, choosing to eat rather than incubate so unusually the tiercel (male) , who’s a third smaller, berated her for this. He then took the dominant role in their relationship telling her when to incubate and when she could leave – certainly a big difference from our nest here at Loch of the Lowes where the female calls the shots! If you’d like to find out the whole story about what’s been going there check out their blog by Andy Murphy the Peregrine Ranger.