From time to time, a ‘different’ bird is seen amongst the flocks of Canada Geese floating around Loch of the Lowes. At the moment, there is a Barnacle Goose, but recently there was a white headed, white tailed water bird which was proving hard to identify.

With thanks to the excellent detective work of one of our members, we can now state that this is a Blue Goose (Chen caerulescens) aka a Snow Goose. Each Spring they breed on the Arctic tundra in the very northern areas of Greenland, Canada and Alaska and then fly south to overwinter in the warmth of Mexico and Texas. Some make occasional visits to Britain and there is a small feral population in Scotland.

Osprey

There was a large female intruder osprey at Lowes this morning (and yesterday), easily identified by a missing wing feather. Today, when the male noticed her, he flew over and mated with her on the flat top tree. We were pleased to see him return to his nest duties an hour or so later by bringing in a large fish.

There’s never a dull day with wildlife to watch! Here’s a lovely photo of the Blue Goose on Loch of the Lowes © William Gillespie.