All of the staff and volunteers are holding their breath and watching the skies waiting for the first glimpse of another osprey arriving at Loch of the Lowes. So far, there has been very little in the way of other osprey visitors, although the reported bad weather in Europe appears to be delaying many ospreys on their migration back to the UK. Whilst patiently waiting for a mate, our male has been working very hard on the nest over the weekend – adding large sticks to the edges and improving the nest cup lining with extra clumps of soft moss. Last year our veteran resident female “Lady” returned on the 31^st March at 6.49am, so will tomorrow be the day? Only time will tell…

Meanwhile elsewhere on the reserve there have been many other birds who are also preparing for the breeding season. Currently we have 2 pairs of beautiful Great Crested Grebes who are residents of the loch. They are regularly providing us with displays of their elaborate courtship dances, mimicking the movements of one another and occasionally rising out of the water and shaking their heads. They have also been busy gathering material which is often used to create a floating platform anchored to vegetation upon which their nest is built. In previous years, their nests have sustained severe damage during heavy storms so we are all hoping for calm weather and success for them this year.

I’m sure many of you will be anxiously watching the webcam, hoping to see the return of our female. As ever, we will keep you well informed and up-to-date with any new developments as and when they happen.

Charlotte,

Perthshire Ranger.