We have had several enquiries to our dedicated Osprey email address ( Ospreys@swt.org.uk) ) regarding the testing of the failed eggs taken from our osprey nest at our Loch of the Lowes Wildlife Reserve this summer.

 The eggs were removed from the nest under license and the initial assessment showed them to have been fertile, but that the development of the chicks failed at an early age.  This seems to be part of a trend in North Eastern Scotland this year, where awful cold late spring weather (in May) affected a lot of nests. The eggs have since been stored for further investigation.

 Every year a national veterinary lab tests a percentage of all failed bird of prey eggs in Scotland, and our Osprey eggs will be part of this process this year. This is designed to look for levels of contaminants etc which may be implicated in egg failure. This process is done once a year round about now, so we await the results of this more detailed assessment.

 Unfortunately this means we may not get any results until after Christmas, but please be assured that as soon as we know anything the information will go onto our website and blog.