As ever, it’s been a dramatic season for the ospreys at Loch of the Lowes thus far. Our Perthshire Ranger, Sara Rasmussen, tells us more.

 

Things had been fairly quiet since the return of resident female NC0 on 17 March, but that all changed last week, with the appearance of some new faces – and a familiar one.

 

 

All in all, there are now six ospreys attempting to lay claim to the nest! Firstly, NC0 herself and a new male with whom she spent a few days, although no successful mating, nest building or fish exchanges were observed in that time.

 

NC0 (left) and the new male © Scottish Wildlife Trust

 

A further three females are also in the mix, none of whom have an identifying ring. The first, a very dark individual with a heavy ‘bandit’ eye mask, ‘eyebrows’, markings under her chin and a line from her beak, was briefly seen on the nest on 27 March and was booted off the nest on 1 April by NC0.

The second female can look similar to NC0 in certain light or when her feathers are roused. However, she has distinctive ‘eyebrows’, a heavier forehead and chest than NC0, a marking that looks like a Cluedo piece on the back of her head and white line under her eye. NC0, on the other hand, has a break of white between her eye and her brown mask, and of course still has her silver BTO ring on her right leg.

On 2 April, this female spent around 10 minutes on the nest with the male that was seemingly rejected by NC0.

She returned on the morning of 3 April, this time spending just over half an hour shuffling furniture around the nest, before another quick visit around lunchtime.

Then a few hours later, a key player from last year made his first appearance of the season – the unringed male osprey known as the Dark Intruder.

For those of you who were following in 2024, you will know that after the death of the long-term breeding male, LM12, the Dark Intruder was accepted by the resident female NC0, and together they successfully defended the territory until their migration in August. As is convention for unringed birds holding territory on the reserve, the Dark Intruder will now be known as LM24 (Lowes Male 24 – to reflect the year he first established himself on the site).

 

LM24 in one of his favourite spots in 2024 – atop the camera © Scottish Wildlife Trust 

 

After a brief visit to the empty nest in the afternoon of 3 April, LM24 was back at first light the following day, sitting on the camera and on a perch below the nest. He then took to the skies to perform a sky dance for the unringed female with the Cluedo marking on her head.

The pair spent over an hour together together on and around the nest, partaking in some ‘nestorating’, a possible botched mating attempt and some loud fish vocalisation by the female, before departing together.

LM24 has since been a regular presence on the reserve, often alongside this female. On Monday 7 April, the two spent around five hours together, with plenty of nestorating, sky dancing and fish calling, as well as a few breeding attempts (some the wrong way round!). As is often the case with new pairings or inexperienced birds, their communication isn’t quite on point, as evidenced by LM24 bringing fish back to the nest on a few occasions when his potential partner was nowhere to be seen.

But you’ll recall we said there were three females now in the mix (in addition to NC0). Just when we thought things couldn’t get any more dramatic, another unringed female made an appearance on the nest on Monday afternoon. Confusingly, she has markings very similar to those of LM24’s mate – the male must have thought he was seeing double when both females were on the nest at the same time!

 

LM24’s mate (front) adopts a defensive mantling position upon the arrival of the latest female © Scottish Wildlife Trust

 

With so many unanswered questions, it’s certainly proving to be a memorable osprey season. Will LM24 and his new partner successfully breed? Will we see any more bids for the nest from the other birds? Will NC0 come back and reclaim the territory? After all, she is still a bird very much in her prime and has bred at Loch of the Lowes for five years now, during which time she has fledged seven chicks.

We will just have to wait and see how things pan out – and do our best to follow the unfolding osprey drama!

You can watch some of the interactions between the LM24 and the unringed female in the video below.

 

 

Don’t forget to follow the livestream on our website, or even better come and visit us at the reserve! You can also read more updates on the Loch of the Lowes Facebook page.