It’s been a busy day on the loch today with lots of displaying and mating going on. Our Ospreys have been preparing the nest and our new male brought at least one large fish, which we think was a rainbow trout. He hadn’t brought anything in for almost 24 hours so the poor female was calling for some time before he turned up. When he did turn up he had a bit of trouble with the fish as it appeared to be stuck on his talons but after a short while he manage to remove it and pass it on to her. He proceeded to fly off and return with the same fish twice after she’d had her share! A pair of red kites passed by and were closely watched by our pair.

We’ve also seen extended displays from two pairs of Great Crested Grebe and Mute Swans, with the latter mating right in front of our Crannog hide.  Hundred or so Greylag Geese landed on the loch this morning and stayed for the rest of the day, apparently enjoying a good wash and brush up.

A couple of Reed Bunting appeared in front of the Tall hide and kept us entertained with their antics, while the red squirrels have been seen regularly at our feeders along with two Yellowhammers and a Wood Mouse collecting food for its stores.

Meanwhile we’re on tenderhooks for the next few days waiting to see what will happen – will Green 7Y return? Will she start laying soon? The next few days could be very interesting.

Blog today by Lindsey Gibb, our Wildlife Interpretation Officer