At 1.58pm today the first osprey of the 2014 season arrived at Loch of the Lowes to huge excitement amongst the staff, volunteers and lucky visitors.

The bird landed on the nest only briefly, but then landed again nearby on one of the lochside perches frequently used by our resident birds. As I write, it is fishing over the loch in front of the hides.

The brief glimpses we’ve had make us think it is a male bird ( very pale chest, and lighter in frame) and it could very well be our breeding male from last year – we will need a closer look to be certain. The other possibility is that it could be a passing bird just dropping by on route.

The behaviour is certainly consistent with a resident bird, having arrived ‘home’ and checked in at the nest, going to get something to eat after a long journey. If the bird returns to the enst later today, we will be able to be more certain that it is our male .

Exciting times- more news as we have it!

Ranger Emma