A FEMALE osprey has laid her first egg of the season despite strong winds battering her nest, with more eggs expected be on the way.
The egg was laid by osprey NC0 at the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Loch of the Lowes Wildlife Reserve just after 10:45 this morning.
Around the size of a duck’s egg, the mottled egg appeared after a six-minute labour during a lull in the strong winds that the ospreys have had to endure in recent days.
Sara Rasmussen, The Trust’s Perthshire ranger, said: “We are delighted that NC0 has laid her first egg of the season despite the strong winds that have been battering the nest of late.
“This is a crucial point in the season when an osprey pair must work as a team: if the eggs are left uncovered they can cool quickly, reducing the chances of successful hatching.
“Fortunately, we’ve seen this pair successful raise seven chicks together in the last four years so they have already demonstrated that they can do that.”
Female ospreys typically lay between two and three eggs in a season, so there’s an expectation that further eggs will appear in the coming days.
A female osprey will base herself exclusively at the nest to incubate her eggs for around 5-6 weeks before they hatch.
Generally a mother will incubate the eggs for around 80% of the time, with the father taking over for brief periods while the female takes a break to feed on the fish that he has brought back to the nest.
The Trust’s Osprey Protection Programme at Loch of the Lowes Visitor Centre & Wildlife Reserve is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
Loch of the Lowes Visitor Centre is currently open seven days a week from 10:30am to 5pm, The Trust’s live osprey webcam ensures people from around the world can follow events as they happen.
