Female osprey NC0 has arrived back at the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Loch of the Lowes Wildlife Reserve in Perthshire at the end of a long migration.
She landed on the nest at 6:14pm yesterday, and reunited with her mate, male osprey LM12, when he visited the nest around half an hour later.
The Trust’s Perthshire Ranger Sara Rasmussen said: “We’re delighted to see NC0 back at Lowes for her third season.
“Despite living totally separate lives during the winter ospreys settle into life on the nest almost immediately. It wasn’t long before she was loudly demanding fish from LM12, and the pair were seen attempting to breed early this morning.
“Since LM12 arrived back on 13 March he’s been busily preparing the nest for the season ahead. It’s exciting to think that in just a few weeks’ time NC0 could be incubating her eggs.”
NC0 was ringed as a chick near Loch Ness in 2016. She first bred with LM12 in 2020 and the pair have successfully raised three chicks.
Laura Chow, Head of Charities, People’s Postcode Lottery said: “Our players will be thrilled to hear that the ospreys have reunited at Loch of the Lowes Wildlife Reserve. With funding raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, the Scottish Wildlife Trust works to protect these iconic birds of prey and help people discover more about their amazing lives.”
Loch of the Lowes Visitor Centre is currently open seven days a week from 10:30am to 5pm. The Scottish Wildlife Trust’s live osprey webcam ensures people from around the world can follow events as they happen.
Ospreys were extinct in Britain for much of the 20th Century. They began to recover in the 1960s and an estimated 300 pairs of ospreys now breed in the UK each summer. Most of these birds migrate to West Africa but some winter in Spain and Portugal.
The recovery of ospreys is thanks to the efforts of conservation charities including the Scottish Wildlife Trust. The Osprey Protection Programme at Loch of the Lowes Visitor Centre & Wildlife Reserve is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.