In an almost exact re-run of the laying of the first two eggs, in little over 10 minutes with only a few obvious contractions our female stood up at 4.18am this morning to show off the latest addition – a third egg to complete her clutch.

Whilst this is an important milestone in the osprey breeding season, there is still a long way to go before we can all breathe a sigh of relief. For at least the next 30 days our pair must sit tight and carefully incubate their clutch whatever the weather, and protect them against whatever predator may dare to intrude. This morning our female did a great job in seeing off a pair of crows that ventured too close to her nest. Rather than being drawn off the eggs into a chase and leaving the eggs exposed, she held her ground alarm calling and mantling to make herself look as threatening as possible.

It is possible for ospreys to lay 4 eggs, and the previous female at Lowes did so on 2 occasions. We will be keeping a close eye on her behaviour over the next few days just in case she has another surprise for us, but all of the staff and volunteers at Loch of the Lowes are more than happy with our 3 eggs!

We hope that life at the eyrie will remain peaceful and hopefully uneventful, but will of course keep you updated on their progress!

Charlotte,

Perthshire Ranger.