Osprey is a mother again – for 50th time

Published on Monday 19 May 2008 22:37

THE grand old lady of Scotland's ospreys has hatched a record-breaking 50th chick.

For 17 years in succession, the 20-year-old bird has returned to the Loch of Lowes Wildlife Reserve near Dunkeld, Perthshire, to breed.

While most female ospreys are unable to produce chicks by the time they are 14, this one has astounded staff at the Scottish Wildlife Trust by continuing to attract male suitors every time she has returned to Scotland following her winter migration.

In late March, when she set up home in her nest again, she was spotted mating with two males – one her regular partner – before the interloper was driven off.

The trust yesterday revealed she had clocked up her half century on Sunday. And there may be two more chicks on the way. Graeme Walla, a ranger at Loch of the Lowes reserve, said that all the staff were "egg-static" about the new arrival.

He said: "The volunteers working through the night to ensure the protection of the eggs were lucky and delighted to be able to watch the arrival of the chick close up on our high-definition screen. The pictures live from the nest were fantastic to watch and we are absolutely overjoyed that we have yet another osprey chick here at Loch of the Lowes, while waiting expectantly for the other two eggs to hatch."

Peter Ferns, the reserve's visitor centre manager, said: "She's a great old bird. She must have produced more chicks than any other osprey in Scotland."

He praised the 70 volunteers who had kept a round-the-clock vigil to safeguard the nesting site.

The live ospreys' site can be accessed at the SWT's website at www.swt.org.uk