There has been a lot of coming and going today on our Osprey nest and plenty of activity out on the loch. The juvenile Blue YZ has been doing lots of flights to and fro, and has spent a lot of time sitting on the large tree on the headland opposite the hides. She has certainly been very vocal too- you can hear her shouting from the reserve car-park!

The male brought in a very large half salmon and this has been recycled on the nest a couple of times already. Our female has been tenderly feeding her chick seemingly all  afternoon , despite it now being able to feed itself perfectly well. Perhaps she is trying to stuff it as full as possible as she knows it won’t have her to rely on much longer.

There have also been at least four times today when an intruder osprey has flown over close to the nest and our birds are still responding defensively when this happens, despite their breeding on the nest being over- defending their territory.

The incidents of intruder and visiting birds will go up over the nest few weeks as more and more ospreys start to head south at the end of the breeding season- Loch of the Lowes has always been a popular resting place for passing birds.

We have been asked  by lots of people when the female osprey will leave and the truth is , we can’t be sure, as only she knows when the time is right. Last year she left on the 3rd August, so it may be very soon, though with a southerly wind blowing, we think she will stay a bit longer as this is unfavorable for her journey.

It is entirely normal for the female osprey to leave first and alone- after such a long fairly sedentary breeding season, the female ospreys seem restless to move, and who can blame them.

It is also normal for the male parent to stay around ‘ supervising’ the juveniles until later in August, and we hope Blue YZ and her father will be no different this year.

So why not visit us this weekend to see the whole osprey family on the loch before they head south? There’s lots to see and do at our Visitor Center,  and  a Wildlife Tracking and Camera Trap event tomorrow 1-3pm. There are also lovely local walks and of course all the attractions of Dunkeld- especially the cakes.