Sadly the youngest chick at Loch of the Lowes died this morning after being attacked by its older sibling.

A sudden drop in the number of fish coming to the nest during the recent period of strong winds seems to have triggered an aggressive response in the second chick. While it might seem brutal this is a natural response to food scarcity, which helps the strongest chicks survive to adulthood.

As you may have seen on our live webcam the youngest chick was constantly blocked and attacked during feeds, preventing it from accessing any food over the last few days.

We’re not sure why LM12’s fishing rate dropped off so quickly. The weather clearly played a part, but intruding ospreys and another minor eye injury (which has now healed) may also have been factors.

Despite fish deliveries picking up slightly, the aggressive behaviour continued. The youngest chick was attacked this morning during a feed. Sadly the chick was too weak to defend itself and quickly passed away soon after the attack. It is incredibly hard to witness this behaviour, but it is a natural process that occurs on many nests at this time of year.

Thanks for your kind messages of concern for the youngest chick. We’re unable to reply to every message but we understand it has been difficult to watch the live webcam over the last few days. The silver lining to today’s sad news is that the two oldest chicks appear to be in good health and will have sole access to any food coming in to the nest, helping them continue to develop towards adulthood.

Loch of the Lowes

The Osprey Protection Programme at Loch of the Lowes is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.