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Loch of the Lowes Wildlife Diary

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Wildlife Diary 13 January 2010

Well, it’s certainly been cold up here – with temperatures dropping to -17°C on a few nights although seems to have warmed up to a comfortable 4°C yesterday.

In this harsh weather, the birds are really having a hard time so it is important to keep on feeding your local garden birds; if you live nearby we stock a wide range of bird food at the centre with members getting a 10% discount.

Our feeders are still really busy – counting up to 12 robins a day, 20 odd pheasants and literally hundreds of chaffinches plus all the regulars. Interesting sightings though have been brambling most days (one female every day and an occasional male) so inspect the chaffinches closely and it may be a brambling. Another sighting which proves how tough this weather is for the birds is a solitary reed bunting showing up at the feeders on consecutive days.

Still no pine marten appearances on our cameras but a mystery animal was seen by Peter at roughly half five this morning scampering across the meadow, low to the ground which stopped and looked directly at the car, eyes about an inch apart glowing in the headlights…but don’t get too excited it could still be a cat.

Our loch is still frozen, with little pockets of water appearing where the ducks appear to be congregating. We would like to put out a wee warning regarding the ice on the loch. We’ve had reports of people walking on Craiglush loch and would like to reiterate how dangerous this could be with no idea of the depth of the ice. So, it may look safe but please do not take any risks.

21 December

The snow this morning has been very revealing – we have definite otter tracks from one side of the loch (the canal from Craiglush) straight past the hide and along the loch until it reaches some perfect footprints and a spraint just outside the artificial Holt. Some other slightly mysterious footprints were discovered leading underneath the centre although these were a bit of a mess they could be from a pine marten or unfortunately from a cat. The snow has also revealed some possible mink evidence as small footprints and urine marks were found on the banks of the loch and even just onto the frozen ice of the loch. We are now monitoring the mink using rafts with wet clay in them which the mink should investigate leaving their footprints behind so that we can assess the best areas to continue our trapping effort.

We hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and a guid Hogmanay.

Peter, Jenny and Fiona

20 December

This will probably be the last update before Christmas to fill you in on what’s been happening. First off, the loch is frozen – you can check it out on our webcam – it looks amazing because snow has now fallen on the ice so its quite magical out there although very few birds this end of the loch due to the big freeze.

What has been spotted though is one of our resident water rails – very elusive birds – forced out of the reed beds to feed, dotting around the front of the centre for around 20 minutes so some mealworms have now been scattered on the ground to help it out should it return. Still got the odd Whooper hanging around on the loch although like I say they are fast swimmers and can make it from one end of the loch to the other in about 10 minutes when its not frozen solid!

The wee birds at the feeders are frantic in this weather with another (gigantic) brambling popping up and a solitary goldfinch appearing multiple times a day along with the usual suspects. Squirrel action is still good – the baby one popping up most days although it isn’t going to stay tiny for long the amount it’s been eating. After some advice from our SWT red squirrel officer, an antler (from a fallow deer) has been put in the feeding area, for the squirrels to knaw on, as a diet of just peanuts can lead to calcium deficiencies so this antler should provide some of the minerals etc missing from peanuts to help our baby grow.

16 December 2009

We have had some beautiful frosty, Christmassy weather up here – putting us all in the mood.

On the loch, we’ve been having regular sighting of Whooper swans with up to eight seen at one time from the hides, although its got to be said they are fast swimmers and can get around the loch a fair bit. The wigeon can be heard whistling away and every coot has about five wigeon surrounding it and mugging it of the pondweed which it has dived to the bottom of the loch to reach. The greylag geese numbers are starting to rise and sightings range from tens to hundreds clustering on the loch. We have also had a few sightings of the smallest duck in UK, a little gang of teal have been scooting around the reed beds with the regular tufties, goldeneye, grebes etc.

The viewing window is really busy – chaffinch numbers are hitting over a hundred and the tits, other finches, robins, dunnock and blackbird numbers are also rising. The squirrels are still out in force and there has been a baby squirrel visiting regularly for the last couple of weeks – nicknamed tiny Tim. He is really wee and we think we’ve even seen him cuddling up with his mum as on the feeding tray when one squirrel approaches another on the tray one will usually run away but these two were happily cuddled up and munching away.

Recent webcam action has been the loch by day which we have been trying to vary by zooming in and panning round the loch to try and give different views and at night we have a resident blue tit roosting in one of our nestboxes. So at around half past three we try and catch the little bird coming into roost before settling down for the night. The other camera is on our feeding area which by day is birds and squirrels and at night we have been putting our usual pine marten food out but also some extra nibbles for the fallow deer which seem to be visiting most nights.

17 November

Just a wee update to let you know that we have had really good sightings of mixed flocks of fieldfare and redwing on the rowan trees at the front of the centre for a few days. Such a good view in fact that we didn't even have to leave the centre which was lucky cause the weather was awful. On the same rowan we have also been seeing bullfinch which is very unusual for the lowes and there have also been a wee flock of long tailed tits in the trees behind the centre.

Also forgot to mention last time, the daily visits at the feeders by two jays which are quite tricky birds to see most of the time but are in and out all day on the peanut feeders.

One more bird was added to the loch this week although it is unlikely we will see it again – a water rail which had been found in a garage in Blairgowrie. This small, wading bird was cared for until strong enough to be released and then brought to our reed beds – which already support water rail – to be re-homed. The water rail is particularly elusive due to its lifestyle in the reeds therefore unlikely to be seen any time soon although we do have some particularly good footage of one which was forced out of the reeds to find food when the loch partially froze last winter. There has also been a new bird on the loch in last few days – pintail duck.

We are also putting out a call for photos – taken on the loch or feeders at the lowes – in order to decorate the hides a wee bit and show people what can be seen on the loch especially when the ospreys are away. So you could post them, drop them in to the centre or email them and we will get them up and start showing them off.

29 October 2009

The Wildlife Diary is back because even though the ospreys are away to West Africa for the winter there is still a fair bit going on at the feeders and on the loch.

There is always a change over of species at the lowes as autumn turns into winter. So far we have had the arrival of goldeneye with numbers up to 20 at a time and even more wigeon, up to 60 have been counted recently, both in their winter plumage, the wigeon are looking particularly good. The great crested grebes which are here year round have also moulted into their winter look and there are still some tufted ducks left from the 200 that stayed for the summer. A family of five Whooper swans have also been hanging around recently and there was also a sighting of what could have been a lesser snow goose although probably an escapee as opposed to a rare vagrant.

So at the feeders we've had the usual chaffinches, tits, siskins, robins, dunnocks, treecreepers, wrens and great spotted woodpeckers. We have had our first goldfinch of the winter, a relatively common bird in gardens but not of woodland so that was quite exciting and another visitor from the north has also been showing up, brambling have been visiting our feeders and more have been seen so far this winter than all of last winter.

We are also still receiving daily visits from our population of red squirrels usually seeing around three individuals throughout the day although their main foraging times are mornings and afternoons as they go for a little sleep in the middle of the day so in the hope of spotting them its best to visit early or after lunchtime. Most of the squirrels are looking pretty fat and glossy which is good but there is one little one with bald patches who looks a bit scrawny burying loads of nuts so hopefully he'll remember where he's buried them all for the winter.

Still quiet on the pine marten front although the cat sightings seem to have also ceased. The natural food sources of pine martens such as berries are plentiful at this time of year so hopefully as the cold weather sets in and natural food declines they will be forced back to our supplementary feeding and once they start showing up again the pine marten evening will be up and running again.

Last bit of news, a juvenile sparrow-hawk flew into the one of the centre windows and quite badly bruised its wing so has been recuperating at the centre, eating lots of chicken from an unnamed supermarket and limping around the office – hopefully ready to release in a few days.

Osprey Diary

Read the 2008 osprey diary and view live images from the osprey webcam!

Do you know the difference between the osprey calls? Listen to the osprey begging call.

18th September 2009

It is getting a lot colder here and you can really feel winter coming. We have discovered yet another feral cat hanging around the bird feeders which will be why our pine martens have not yet returned. We have once again placed traps out in an effort to catch it and have baited them with fish cat food but having watched the cameras we are now aware that this in unlikely to catch the cat in question. The cat was watched both last night and the night before eating the peanuts believe it or not. Last night we put out large chunks of peanut butter for the fallow deer which are starting to come to the feeders and instead of them eating it, the feral cat did. It spent at least two hours wandering around the tree eating the nuts off the ground and licking the peanut butter and even ironically enough sat on top of one of our traps cleaning itself. At one point whilst the cat was sitting in the tree eating peanut butter a fallow deer came across and both stood inspecting each other with about a foot between their faces before they both went back to munching on the nuts. We will try peanut butter as bait to see if we can finally catch this peanut loving cat and remove it so our pine martens will finally return.

We had also placed out apples for the deer and I discovered yesterday that the red squirrels have been taking them away up the trees. Whilst I was setting one of the traps a red squirrel which was hanging about above me and becoming irritated with me being near its peanuts so it started shouting at me. Yes squirrels actually do shout at you! I spoke to it then carried about my business when an apple fell down from the tree missing me by only a few inches. When I inspected the vicinity there was no one around and there are no apple trees at Loch of the Lowes, all the trees overhead were hazels or silver birches. On looking at the apple I noticed bite marks created by a small mammal which has led me to the conclusion that the squirrel was trying to make a point that I was too close to its nuts and chucked an apple at me. This type of event has occurred to the visitor centre manger as well but with grey squirrels. The squirrels were throwing chestnuts at three dogs which were close to the tree but unfortunately enough for him he was also in the firing line.

As well as cheeky red squirrels we also have the mallard ducks which are becoming very sneaky. The fence we constructed to keep them out of the feeding area has generally worked and there are usually no or only a few mallards which get inside the enclosure during the day. The problem is that the ducks have gotten wise that although they get chased away during the day, there is no one watching them at night. As soon as the shutters go down the mallards flock into the enclosure to get to the nuts and seeds. I think we can safely say that animals are not stupid and they certainly have their own little personalities.

25th August 2009

Our ospreys have still not been seen on the nest but there have been quite a lot of sightings of ospreys on the loch over the last week so it is uncertain whether or not ours are still around. Adult and juvenile ospreys have been spotted flying and fishing on the loch and on Friday, what appeared to be a very inexperienced juvenile, was watched trying to fish in front of the hides. Instead of diving down when it spotted a fish, it slowly glided down to the water then dived at the last minute. It did this on four occasions before finally giving up and moving on.

Although no ospreys have been seen on the nest we have seen a few other interesting sights. We have some nice footage here at the Loch of the Lowes from Friday of a juvenile woodpecker hanging upside down from one of the pine cones where it pecked away for a short time before another woodpecker came and chased it away. Also on Saturday a red squirrel was watched running around in the nest before scurrying off back down the tree. The red squirrels can also be watched from the viewing window burying their nuts preparing for the winter setting in.

We have a little shrew which has taken up residence between the female toilets and the store room and is regularly seen running through the grates hunting for food. Goldeneyes and pochards have also returned to the loch after travelling down from the north for the oncoming winter so the loch is getting busier than during the summer breeding months.

Volunteers and staff are currently in the process of upgrading an artificial otter holt in attempt to make it more suitable for otter use as it was regularly becoming flooded in the winter. When it is finished we are planning on fitting it with a camera so hopefully you will be able to see otters regularly running in and out of the holt.

14 August 2009

We have not seen the osprey chicks or the father since yesterday morning which is leading us to believe that they may have left for their wintering grounds in equatorial West Africa. It will take them about a month to get to their wintering grounds and it will be a very dangerous journey for the juveniles who have a higher mortality rate during their first migration.

Even though our ospreys may have left I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you about a story I was given about an osprey and a great crested grebe at Blatherwycke Lake in Northamptonshire. The osprey visited the lake in early August to hunt, but this day took an unexpected twist. The osprey dived into the water for a fish and came out with non other than a great crested grebe. Understandably the grebe was not amused by its attack from the osprey and was squawking and flapping about desperate to get away, mottling several of its feathers in the process. The osprey quickly released the grebe which dived back under water in a desperate attempt to get away and the osprey went back to hunting for fish completely unperturbed by its catch. Whether the osprey mistook the submerged great crested grebe for a fish due to its streamlined body we will never know but I am sure the grebe will always be wary from now on when its dives under water when an osprey is overhead!

10 August 2009

It appears that the mother osprey has finally returned back to equatorial West Africa. We believe that she left last Wednesday (5 August) as she has not been seen by any member of staff here at the centre since then. This is normal for the mother to leave around three weeks after the chicks fledge as she is no longer required to feed or protect the young.

Some viewers have requested an easy way of identifying which juvenile is on the nest. We have come to distinguish them from their size and the markings on their head. The youngest chick appears to be the largest and the brown markings on its head are a lot more splayed than the older chick whose brown patch is more of a barred shaped. The youngest chick also spends the most time on the nest and makes the most noise which, combined with the size, suggests that it is likely to be a female but it is hard to be certain.

Now that it has been over three weeks since the chicks fledged they will be getting alot more adventurous when they fly, using thermals and soaring through the sky. In another two to three weeks, when they reach about 11 or 12 weeks old, they too will also be ready to migrate to Africa for their first experience of seeing and living in their wintering grounds. This is usually done during a period of good weather and can take about a month to get there. It is a very risky trip for juveniles as this is when the highest mortality of fledglings occurs as they are at risk of flying off course and finding themselves out in the sea. Because the oldest chick is now hunting for itself, it relies less heavily on dad and will probably leave a lot sooner than the youngest chick.

As well as deer and the wide variety of birds seen on the reserve we have also had the opportunity to see the otters swimming on the loch at around 4 pm on last Friday. It is always lovely watching them swim past the hides within a few feet of our budding wildlife watchers. The kingfishers are also starting to make an appearance on the loch now that the breeding season has past so there is always plenty to see here.

3 August 2009

We have had a very eventful week here with the ospreys. Whilst out in the canoe on Thursday evening monitoring the reserve, we spotted what we thought was probably the male getting repeatedly attacked by a gull. The osprey did not even bat an eyelid at this aerial attack and continued staring into water surface looking for a tasty meal. When the attack got too much, the osprey retreated to find a quieter area to hunt. The osprey returned on several occasions and each time was met by an aerial attack from the same gull no matter how far away the gull was when the osprey made an appearance. At one point we heard the gull yelling from half way down the loch where it made a beeline straight to the top of the loch where the osprey had just appeared over the tree line so the gull appeared to be spending its whole time watching for the osprey's return.

Friday was an even more eventful day but for the chicks this time. We have video footage of the ospreys fighting very aggressively on the nest. One of the juveniles was on its siblings back pecking it repeatedly and grabbing it by the neck, pulling it with all its might. The other juvenile finally gave in and flew off the nest leaving its sibling feeling very smug about its defeat. This is normal behaviour for ospreys as it is their way of saying ‘this is my nest so get off’. The juveniles also regularly fight over fish which has been brought in the nest so it is not uncommon to see them laying into one another.

We also have footage from Friday of one of our chicks getting dragged off the nest by the father. The father arrived at the nest with a fish which the juvenile appeared to try and take hold of but we think it may have grabbed hold of dad's talons instead. The male took off with the juvenile still attached and dragged it over the edge of the nest. Thankfully the juvenile was not hurt and arrived back on the nest after several minutes. It must have been clinging onto the nest for dear life as when it returned it was clinging to a stick. The shock of falling out of the nest also seemed to make it forget how to open its talons as it acted like the stick was stuck to its foot before realisation dawned on it and it opened its talons and let it drop.

Juvenile osprey with fish © Neil MacDonald After saying in the previous post that it is very rare for juveniles to hunt at this stage and before they leave for Africa, one of our juveniles did the unthinkable and was spotted catching a fish on Sunday. This would have been spectacular to see and a few lucky spectators also managed to take photos of this fantastic event. This photo of the juvenile with a fish was kindly sent in by Neil MacDonald who has also very generously let us post it on the web for everyone to see. Thank you again.

In other news, if you have noticed wire mesh on the cameras of the bird feeders, it is actually a pen to try and keep the mallard ducks out since they can no longer fly at the moment. This is because they are going through an eclipse where they moult all of their flight feathers at once. You may also notice at this time of year it appears that all the male ducks have gone. This is not the case. The males actually lose their breeding feathers and take on the colours of the females. The ducks have been secluded to try and encourage grass re-growth below our bird feeders because the ducks have not only eaten all the grass or pulled it out whilst looking for seeds, they have also exposed tree roots with their constant trampling. With any luck the grass will soon regenerate and the ducks will be discouraged from coming to the feeders.

27 July 2009

Our wee osprey family are doing brilliantly here at the Loch of the Lowes. The chicks are spending most of their time off the nest and flying around building up their wing muscles for their long trek to Africa whilst the father is actively fishing and making sure they are well fed. The mother will soon make her return trip back to Africa in around three weeks time now that both chicks have fledged and then the chicks will follow at the end of August along with the father.

The chicks have been spotted playing in the water, practicing their diving and figuring out how to take off from the loch. In the past chicks have also been seen coming out of the water with sticks as they practice their hunting technique. It is unusual for osprey chicks to start catching prey for themselves at this stage as they normally begin after they leave for their wintering grounds so they are still totally reliant upon the father to be fed.

We have a great number of birds visiting our feeders and we have as yet not had any reoccurrence of the parasite which is brilliant. If you were having lunch in the hides on Wednesday you would have also had the luck of spotting a pair of otters swimming by which is a brilliant sight when you are relaxing beside our peaceful loch.

20 July 2009

Both of our osprey chicks have finally fledged and are having a brilliant time learning to fly. The second chick took its first flight on either Thursday night (16th) or early Friday morning. Unfortunately even though one member of staff waited patiently until late Thursday night, the osprey chick did not decide to leave the nest until later so we were unsuccessful in obtaining the footage of the first flight.

The oldest chick has had a few interesting landings over the last week. It was seen swaying precariously on top of the dead tree next to the nest trying its best to balance and at one point it landed on top of its sibling sitting on the nest, so the landings are still a bit messy but they are rapidly improving. Both the chicks are spending less time on the nest and appear to prefer to spend the night on a perch close by. They are still taking fish from the father and remain within close proximity of the nest, watching for their father's return with fish so they can fill their bellies and then resume their flight, soaring over the loch and landing haphazardly on a perch. The chicks will spend the next month trying to perfect their flight ready for their 3,000 mile flight to their winter residence in equatorial West Africa.

13 July 2009

I am absolutely thrilled to announce that our oldest chick has finally fledged. All the staff were perched on the edge of their seat on Sunday waiting for the chick to make its leap off the 60-foot drop to take its first flight into the sky after it spent the whole day flapping at the very edge of the nest building up its courage. It was not until 7.55pm that the chick finally took that leap into the air with very little hesitation and flew about for around 10 minutes before finally coming to rest on the tallest pine tree across from the hides. The chick did not return to the nest until 4.47am the following morning even though the male brought in a fish for the mother and youngster at 9.37pm. The chick landed perfectly on the nest and has since been enjoying soaring over the loch on numerous occasions taking in the sights of its beautiful home. The youngest chick should also be taking off in the nest few days as well to join its sibling in flight, building up their muscles before their long, arduous flight to equatorial West Africa where they will remain for about five years before they mature and return back to Scotland to start breeding.

Our birdfeeders have been replaced outside our viewing windows and all the birds are having a feast on the nuts and seeds left out for them. The pine martens have unfortunately still not returned but we are not giving up hope and continue to leave out food for them to entice them to the feeders.

6 July 2009

We had quite a big storm brewing yesterday with thunder and lightning which cut off our web cameras on quite a few occasions. The chicks kept ducking every time they saw a flash of lightning or heard thunder and the mother did her best to try and keep the chicks covered to stop them getting soaked. One side of the visitor centre was flooded with the heavy downpour but the weather did brighten up later on and the ospreys finally got relief from the bad weather.

There has been plenty of fish brought in for the ospreys and the oldest chick has now started to feed itself. On Saturday the male presented the mother and chicks with a fish which the chicks then proceeded to fight over. The youngest chick was the first to grab the fish when the older one came over and grabbed the fish from the other end. A tug of war ensued with one chick using its beak to pull the fish and the other grabbing it with its talons. The battle ragged on for a few minutes and one chick was close to going over the edge of the nest when finally the oldest chick won the battle and took its prize for itself to eat. The mother attempted to gain access to the fish but the chick went for her and continued to eat the fish itself.

The chicks are due to fledge any day now. They have been practising hard and strengthening their wing muscles and it is just a matter of days before the oldest chick takes its first leap off the nest and into the sky. We are all waiting in anticipation to see how successful the first flight and landing attempt is and if it is a smoother one than last year’s chick.

A pair of otters was spotted swimming in front of the hide yesterday and an otter was also spotted the day before so they are becoming more of a regular sight here on the loch. Our bird feeders will be returned in a week’s time and we have not seen any more infected finches around the area so hopefully the parasite will have disappeared at last.

The pine marten evenings are still cancelled due to the absence of pine martens at the feeders but we will keep looking out for them and as soon as one is seen the pine marten evenings will recommence.

30 June 2009

It has been another beautiful weekend here at Loch of the Lowes. The chicks are spending a lot of time flapping their wings building up their muscles ready for their first flight. Because their wings are so large, when the chicks are flapping about there isn’t much room on the nest for the mother as well so she spends most of her time at the side or on the dead tree next to the nest shouting words of encouragement to the chicks. The oldest chick should be taking to the skies in the next week or so and the youngest one will soon be following suit.

The male has been bringing in lots of fish and excelled himself in his hunting skills on Thursday when he managed to catch five pike in the space of 20 minutes. There was definitely no shortage of fish on the loch that day and the male has proven that he really is an efficient and spectacular hunter.

We have some bad news about our bird feeders at our viewing window. Unfortunately they have all had to be removed for two weeks once again due to a couple of finches and a coal tit which was spotted with the parasite. The pine marten evenings will therefore be cancelled for the next few weeks and will resume back to normal when the first pine marten is spotted.

Another pure white fallow deer was watched feeding by the loch on Sunday and two young otter pups were sighted on the canal connecting Craiglush and Loch of the Lowes on Thursday. There is lots of wildlife to see here so why don’t you come down and see if you can spot one of the white fallow deer or even the otters on the loch!

25 June 2009

The ospreys are doing well and the chicks are growing up fast. The oldest chick was attempting to feed itself on Tuesday with a bit of rainbow trout fin but with little success. The chick could not fit the whole fin in its mouth and was struggling to try and grasp it with its talons to rip it into smaller pieces. It tried for about five minutes before eventually giving up and returning to the mother to be fed with the other chick. It just shows that its natural instincts are kicking in and it will soon be learning the way to feed properly.

The male seems to have started his own fast food delivery service if yesterday was anything to go by. He caught a fish in front of the hide then flew back to the nest and dropped it for the female whilst flying past. He barely even touched the nest and didn’t even stop to say hi before he flew off and caught another fish in front of the crannog for himself which he then left with to eat it on a perch close by. Even though he didn’t stop for a visit at least he had the best intentions for the chicks and fed them first. He has been bringing in fish frequently for his family and the chicks are growing big and strong.

An intruder was spotted by the female and chicks this morning which caused her to call in alarm but there was nothing to worry about. After both the mother and the chicks watched the intruder fly off they all settled back down on the nest and everything was once again calm.

We have a lot of new offspring around the loch including some baby woodpeckers which can be watched from our viewing window.

We have had another spotting of our mysterious creature on the loch but we still as yet have no idea what it could be. If you are ever visiting the Loch of the Lowes and see anything out of the ordinary on or around our loch then we would love to hear about it .

22 June 2009

The ospreys are looking great and have been getting lots of fish over the last few days. Today the male was observed diving in front of the hide on several occasions trying to catch his prey and succeeded in catching three small fish on separate diving attempts. He ate two of them himself and the other one was given to the mother and chicks.

The youngest chick was one month old on the 20 June and even though it is the younger osprey, it is the more dominant of the two and gets fed the most fish. The oldest chick is slowly beginning to build up its muscles ready for flight by stretching its wings and flapping them and this behaviour will be done a lot more often in the next few weeks when they will really be trying to get ready for their first flight. Let us hope that it is a smoother one than last year!

The 2008 chick left the nest and took to the skies for its first flight but unfortunately had not yet learned to land properly and ended up hanging upside down at the side of the nest for four minutes when it overshot the nest. The mother returned to the nest and called to the chick several times, no doubt shouting some encouragement and reassurance for it to let go which it finally did and flew around the nest several times before plucking up the courage and landing safely on the nest. It was a bit of a hairy ride for the chick but it got through it and it did not put the chick off trying out its wings again!

Unfortunately we have yet to see any pine martens at our feeders but hopefully they will come back soon. Due to the feeders being away for a month we have not seen the pine martens in the area but now that the feeders are back we expect it to be just a matter of time before they return to feast on the nuts and treats left out for them on the food tray. A beautiful white fallow deer was spotted grazing at the side of the loch today and we have a regular visit from a jay each morning at the bird feeders which is a beautiful bird to watch. The red squirrels are still dashing around the centre and we have the privilege of being able to watch this year's young birds at the feeders and see their progress as they grow up and take to the skies. The Loch of the Lowes really is a tranquil place to be just now to sit and watch the wildlife and relax in the beautiful sun.

15 June 2009

The chicks are growing up quickly and their feathers are really coming through now so you can begin to see their patterns and colours. The oldest chick is one month old today and has started eating things he shouldn’t be like the bedding and small sticks from the nest. He was also observed coughing up a pellet of bark, moss and lichens which is a rare sight in ospreys. Like other birds of prey, ospreys do occasionally bring up food pellets which consist of the indigestible material from their prey, in our ospreys case the bones and scales from fish, but it is very rare to see this happen and the pellets are generally very small. It is therefore thought that the majority of the fish consumed by ospreys is passed through their gut and excreted.

Today we had an osprey intruder flying close to the nest alarming both the female and the chicks but the chicks instinctively ducked down in the nest and the mother guarded the nest until the intruder left them in peace. Fish have still been brought in regularly to the nest and the male even brought in another eel on Friday making that two eels in a week. Seeing a single eel being brought to the nest is rare enough for this pair but two in a week is brilliant. Our chicks are still a bit unsteady and clumsy on their feet but they are healthy and are looking great.

8 June 2009

On Saturday our male brought in the first eel catch of the season. This is a very unusual event as they rarely catch eels so it was exciting to see the male bringing something different to the nest. The last time the male brought in an eel, in 2007, the male arrived at the nest with it held in only one set of talons so it was wriggling about excessively in attempt to free itself from the ospreys razor sharp grasp. Once released, the eel wrapped itself around all three chicks and the male struggled to keep it under control. In a last ditch attempt the male grabbed the eel by the tail with one set of his talons and grasped its head with the other then ripped the head off which killed the eel instantly and provided a great feast for the osprey family. The chicks have had the delight of experiencing eel for the first time and they are still doing great.

Our feeders are back out and the birds are coming back so hopefully we will not have another reoccurrence of the parasite infection and we can continue to view these spectacular birds at the viewing window.

We had an interesting sighting on the loch in the late hours of the evening when an unidentified animal was spotted fishing in the loch. We have as yet no idea what it could have been and it continues to be a mystery so if anybody sees something out the ordinary on the loch we would love to know.

4 June 2009

It has been another brilliant week for the ospreys. The sun has been shining and the weather has been spectacular even though it is getting a bit cooler now. The week has been fairly uneventful apart from on Monday when one of the chicks managed to get itself stuck on its back and was unable to turn over. It struggled for several hours to right itself and get back on its feet with very little success and the mother kept it sheltered for the sun throughout the whole ordeal. Eventually, when the day got cooler, the mother sat on the chicks and manoeuvred the chick back onto its stomach where it could get back onto its feet and carry on as normal.

Both chicks are changing by the day. Feathers are developing, mainly on the head of one of the chicks and are they are both looking very healthy. The male has been seen hunting and catching fish in front of the hides on numerous occasions, which is spectacular viewing being able to watch this large, exquisite predator diving into the depths to latch onto to an unsuspecting fish below then flying off with his prey to feed his hungry family. The fish are plentiful, the chicks are growing up fast and everything is wonderful here at the Loch of the Lowes.

1 June 2009

Our little chicks are growing up and have become little wild toddlers, learning to use their feet and move around the nest to the dismay of the mother. She has to continually come back and block the path of the chicks and force them back into the centre of the nest before they work their way over the edge. They are being typical kids, fighting each other until one backs down, usually the youngest, and goes into the submissive pose of lying down and not moving. The youngest one is fighting back and is becoming a lot more dominant, pushing itself into the front of the feeding queue to get the first dibs on food.

The male is bringing in lots of fish and both chicks and mother are being fed regularly. Although our chicks look a bit scraggy just now by next week we will be able to see their feathers emerging properly. The weather has been wonderful here and it is another scorching day, perfect for the chicks to get up to plenty of mischief. On Tuesday we had a very determined female osprey trying to take over the nest by continually swooping and trying to land on the nest but our female never lost sight of her and made sure she was unsuccessful in her attempts. We also had a bit of rivalry on Saturday when the male spotted another male fishing on the loch. As the intruder dived to catch a fish the male swooped in and stopped him then sent him on his way.

Our bird feeders are still away due to a sick greenfinch which appeared when we placed the feeders back outside but they will be replaced on Friday. Even though we do not have nuts out for the squirrels they know where we keep the food and have spent the last week making a hole in the lid and breaking into the bins to steel the nuts!

If you have ever wondered what the scratching noise on the osprey camera is then we recently found out. Our once fluffy microphone has now been stripped at the top and the fluff on the better-protected middle section is being removed by great tits to line their nests. We have a brilliant video of a great tit being caught in the act, stealing the microphone lining and there is a great twist at the end of the video which is sure to make you laugh. So if you are ever at the centre then be sure to watch our little clip before you leave to give you a wee smile for the day.

22 May 2009

It has been a very eventful and hectic week here so the best place for me to start would be where I left off on Saturday 16 May. On Sunday at around 3 pm we were a bit concerned when the male returned to the nest and started making alarm calls whilst looking down below the nest. This led us to believe that there was either an unwanted predator stalking below the nest or someone was out for a stroll and perhaps unaware that there was an osprey nest above them. We then spent the nest hour watching him and driving around to ensure there was no-one near the nest. He seemed to calm down after circling around the nest a few times before finally leaving to perch on a tree close by. The presence of deer on our excursions around the reserve told us that there was no-one nearby as the deer would have been scared off by any walkers. This left us at a bit of a loss about what caused the male to react in this way. The male had brought in fish at noon and at 4:15 pm and the female was feeding the chicks but unfortunately, as had been from the start, the first chick appeared to be getting the majority of the food. The following day the female started to act odd in the morning and behaving the same way as the male had done. When she flew off and returned we soon discovered what had caused all the commotion the day before. It was not a predator or human presence which got the male so riled up, it was simply that he had dropped a fish down the side of the nest and could not get to it. He certainly gave us something to think about!

The mother and chicks were fed both in the morning and the evening on the 18th but by then the second chick was already getting incredibly weak and the lack of food the next day combined with the bad weather we were experiencing did not help matters. Unfortunately the youngest chick passed away at around mid-day which left everyone upset and concerned for the wellbeing of the remaining chick if the weather did not improve to provide the male with the right conditions to fish. The male did bring in three fish later that evening between 4:45 pm and 9:25 pm but it was all too little to late for the youngest chick.

Our sorrow was replaced with joy on the morning of the 20th when our third egg hatched. We noticed a crack in the egg on Monday 18 May but it had taken two days for the little chick to finally muster all its strength and break free form the shell at 8:25 am. The mother and the first chick were fed at 5:12 am and it was just a matter of time before the male would return with a fish for the newly born chick. Weather conditions were ideal for fishing and it was a beautiful day so we had great expectations for this chick if the weather remained good. We waited in anticipation all day, constantly reassuring ourselves that he would come in with a fish soon, but it never came. We were seriously concerned for the chicks wellbeing by tea-time because there was still no fish in sight although the male had returned twice to the nest empty handed so we knew there was nothing wrong with the male. By 9:50 pmhe finally brought in a very small fish but the female only fed herself and the oldest chick. The lack of fishing by the male recently has concerned us slightly but the female has certainly seemed to have had a good word with him because over the last few days he has been returning with quite a few fish and both chicks are getting fed and looking healthy. She has even had to leave parts of the fish for later because she is getting too much food to eat in one go so hopefully her stern words have kicked him into shape and he will bring in fish more regularly.

16 May 2009

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that our first two osprey chicks have hatched.The first one hatched yesterday evening at 21:20 and the second less than 11 hours later, at 7:50 this morning.The first chick has already received its long-awaited meal of fish at 6:50 this morning and the second will soon have the luxury of trying fish for the very first time. We are staying hopeful that the third egg will hatch but due to the time lag between the second and the third egg being laid, it has a lower survival chance. If the chick does hatch then it will be a lot smaller and weaker than its siblings and will therefore find it harder to compete for food, but we are still holding out hope that it will make its way into this world and survive to a ripe old age along with its siblings.

Our little orphaned duckling, named Twister after Oliver Twist, is still doing well and seems to be thriving with his new family.We are still continuing to keep the feeders inside and dry to kill the parasites and hope to have them out again in the coming week.

Music: Irina’s Waltz performed by Findlay Napier and the Bar Room Mountaineers (www.findlaynapier.com). Composed by Dirk Powell.

15 May 2009

Good news! One of the eggs has hatched and we have a chick!

14 May 2009

It has been beautiful here over the last few days. The sun is shinning but our female has become increasingly restless on the nest. She frequently gets up to rotate the eggs and listen for any signs within. It’s easy to tell that the female is aware of the chicks moving and calling inside the eggs as she will tilt her head at an angle and listen intently. Unfortunately there are still no cracks appearing in the eggs yet, but there is still plenty of time and hopefully over the coming week the eggs will hatch and we will be blessed with a few osprey chicks. The male continues to add sticks to the nest, bring trout for the female and clear the nest of any fish remains to keep it tidy. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the eggs are fertile and we will have at least one healthy chick this season.

Over the last few days at Loch of the Lowes we have been able to watch otters swimming about in front of the hide, ruddy ducks which have arrived at the loch, and roe and fallow deer going for a swim on the loch before changing their mind half way and swimming back again! We also had an eventful night on Monday when a duckling found all alone at the side of the road was brought into the centre. It must only have been a few days old being so tiny and it started to follow us around the centre! We noticed a mother with two other ducklings outside and decided to attempt to get her to adopt our orphan are bring it up as her own. It was touch and go for a few minutes as the mother ran away when she noticed our presence. Our little duckling came running back to us and stayed by our side whilst stretching its little neck as high as possible to call out for its mummy. The mother slowly built up her confidence responding to the calls and returned with her own two ducklings. Our orphan ran across, they touched beaks and it joined onto the back of the line and was successfully adopted by its new family! So if you visit the reserve and notice a smaller duckling a bit unsteady on its feet, following two bigger ducklings then you will know that this particular little fellow was adopted by a very caring mother!

9 May 2009

It has been another wet day here with the sun briefly presenting itself between the clouds in the morning. The male is continuing to catch fish roughly twice a day and is keeping the female well fed. Yesterday evening at 20:08 he was watched diving down and successfully catching a fish in front of the hide but, luckily for the fish, the male dropped it whilst turning it around for the flight back and the fish managed to make a break for freedom. The male refused to be defeated by a slippery fish and returned 40 minutes later with a fish he had already feasted upon before delivering it to the female. He has been very busy this morning collecting sticks for the nest and rearranging them into suitable positions. Whilst the male was collecting more sticks, the female ripped off the lichens which she then used to insulate the eggs. They are both looking pretty damp just now but hopefully the weather will get dryer over the following days ready for the first egg to hatch on hopefully 14 May.

We were a bit concerned about the wellbeing of some of our small birds when a suspected parasite named trichomoniasis, infecting predominantly finches, possibly infected some of our birds resulting in us removing the birdfeeders from our viewing window.

The trichomonad parasite will take up residence in the upper intestine where it can then block the throats of birds causing them to be unable to swallow food, resulting in death through starvation. The parasite is transmitted between birds indirectly through eating or drinking sources which have been contaminated with regurgitated saliva or directly between birds whilst feeding each other with regurgitated food during the breeding season. The parasite may also spread through the faeces of birds. An infected bird will look lethargic and puffed up but may also show signs of salivation, food regurgitation and difficulty breathing or swallowing. The feeders have been cleaned and sterilised and will be removed for the following two weeks to try and reduce the spread of this disease as it cannot survive for an extended period of time under dry conditions. If the disease is present then we have caught it quickly to ensure there is minimal chance of transmission between birds at the feeders. We still have net bags filled with nuts for the birds which the red squirrels are tucking into so there is still plenty to see here at the Loch of the Lowes.

More information on the trichomonad parasite can be found on the RSPB website at http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbirds/health/sickbirds/greenfinches.asp

6 May 2009

Summer is here which is apparent by the beautiful warm and sunny weather today. A grey heron was feeding close to the nest earlier today which our female osprey did not appreciate but she is certainly looking a lot happier than yesterday as it was pouring with rain and she was looking pretty miserable sitting on the nest. The male was harassing a Canada goose on the loch on Monday morning and has been adding to the nest with sticks and moss. He has brought her a variety of fish over the last few days including pike, perch and rainbow trout which he caught from the neighbouring lochs.

Ospreys living in colonies can actually use their neighbours as a cue for finding fish by watching and waiting for their neighbours return and analysing their catch. If their neighbour brings back a common or desirable fish, one that there is a high probability that they too will be able to find and catch, then the osprey will set off to the same location from which its neighbour came. On the other hand if the neighbour returned with a fish which is rare or difficult to find, for example a flounder, then the osprey will remain where it is as the chances of finding another elusive fish in the same place is small. The colony therefore acts as an information centre, relaying information to its neighbours on the best fishing spots and what can be caught there.

30 April 2009

It is a dull, wet day here at the Loch of the Lowes but the birds are still singing and flying around in front of the viewing window and the red squirrels are scurrying about and chasing one another. The female osprey is sitting on the nest trying to keep the eggs warm and dry and the male has been hunting for fish. At 7.40 am the male returned with a perch and offered pieces of it to the female before giving her the whole fish. The male has been feeding the female on a regular basis, usually in early in the morning and later in the evening. Tuesday evening appeared to be a bit of a tough time to fish due to choppy water as the male was seen hunting over the loch but was unsuccessful in each attempt to catch a fish.

Ospreys are opportunistic feeders and eat a variety of different species of fish, which is dependent on the country they inhabit. This can include pollock, flounder, mullet, trout, carp and roach to name but a few. The ospreys at the Loch of the Lowes catch rainbow trout, perch and pike which are readily available in the lochs surrounding the area. Although ospreys are known to only eat fish, ospreys on Tiran Island in the northern Red Sea have expanded their diet to also include molluscs. They have learned to crack open the shells by dropping the conchs on steel drums allowing them to get to the mollusc within. Clever birds those ospreys!

27 April 2009

The beautiful weather from Saturday has left us and now our ospreys have had to contend with the dull and wet weather from both yesterday and today. This does not appear to have bothered the ospreys too much as the female is still quite content sitting on the nest and the male has been bringing her fish and sticks. Viewers in the hide had a brilliant view of the male catching a small fish right in front of the hide at 18:40 on Saturday which he then took back to the female. At 7:53 am on Sunday the male was watched flying off with a large fish which he feasted upon before taking the remains back to the female for her share. The male and female continue to be bothered by osprey intruders at the nest but they get rid of them pretty quickly so the female can continue incubating the eggs in peace.

A pair of water rails flew past the hide this morning and the red squirrels were quite comical to watch. They were chasing each other around the trees and one was even chasing the birds. One of the red squirrels took up residence in a bird box to get out of the rain and was looking very cute peaking out of the hole whilst sitting eating nuts. Although it is very wet here at the Loch of the Lowes it has certainly not dampened the spirits of the wildlife here.

24 April 2009

We have had quite a bit of excitement here with osprey intruders getting to close to the nest. This has resulted in both the male and the female becoming distressed and calling out in alarm. Once the intruder was chased off the ospreys settled down and went back to their daily routine. The male has also been seen dive bombing Canada geese because they were getting too close to the nest. The male has been bringing back sticks for the nest and in the process he dropped a stick on the females head. She was clearly not too impressed gave him a good telling off. The male was looking pretty fed up and sorrow for himself while he was getting a lecture from the female. The female has been presented with two fish yesterday, one at 5:44 am and another in the evening at 19:05 so she is still being well fed.

There are four subspecies of ospreys around the world which can be distinguished using variations in the size or colour of the osprey. The Caribbean Pandion haliaetus ridgwayi has a very white breast plumage and head whilst the Australian P. h. cristatus is a lot smaller than other ospreys. The Paleartic P. h. haliaetus and the North American P. h. carolinensis can be distinguished from each other by the darker breast band in the Paleartic birds.

22 April 2009

It is a beautiful day here at the Loch of the Lowes and the surface of the water is so calm it is like glass. The birds are singing, the red squirrels are running about and everything is peaceful. The female osprey is incubating her eggs and the male has been feeding her every morning for the last few days. There have been quite a few low flying aircrafts around the area causing the osprey to duck every time one passes and there was a bit of excitement on Monday when a buzzard agitated the female but apart for that everything has been calm. We are already half way through the osprey watch and the volunteers have been brilliant, working around the clock to make sure the ospreys are protected and not disturbed.

Sedge warblers and willow warblers have finally arrived and we have a pair of long tailed ducks and a sighting of a whooper swan on the loch. There are several red squirrels running around the centre munching on nuts left at the bird feeders. They are currently looking a little bit scraggy with a few bald patches due their abnormal moulting pattern but their fur should grow back soon and then they will be back to their lovely little furry selves. It is a brilliant day just to sit and admire the wildlife in the tranquillity that is the Loch of the Lowes.

17 April 2009

It has been a brilliant, bright, sunny and warm day here at Loch of the Lowes. An excellent day for the female to sun herself on the nest and apparently an even better day for the male to fish. So far he has come back with two small fish for the female, one at 10.10 am and a pike at 1.44 pm this afternoon, which she accepted and flew off. After she filled her belly she returned to the nest and relieved the male from his shift incubating the eggs. The male does most of his fishing at Butterstone Loch where he can catch rainbow trout but he also fishes on the Loch of the Lowes and in the neighbouring Craiglush Loch which are inhabited by both perch and pike. He can also be seen skimming the surface of the loch with his talons in order to clean them.

16 April 2009

Both the male and female have been collecting material for the nest today. The female has been adding bark to the nest and the male had brought in sticks. An unwanted guest arrived at the nest at around 5 pm causing a bit of a stir: another osprey tried to land on the nest but the female made sure it knew it was not welcome. She shouted at it whilst flattening her wings across the nest in order to protect the eggs from the intruder. After a few strong words from the female, the other osprey flew off within seconds of landing on the nest and all was still again.

At 10.20 am the male brought back a fish for the female which she took away to go and feed on a perch close by. Ospreys are well adapted to fishing as they can see their prey when flying over 40 meters above the water surface. They will generally hunt between 5 and 40 metres above the surface but this will vary depending on the prey being hunted. Slower prey and schools of fish will generally be hunted from a distance whist fast-moving, surface-dwelling fish will be watched from closer to the wat