It’s an eggs-tra special day for Lady, the oldest breeding osprey in Scotland

AN OSPREY which has returned to the same nesting site for more than 20 consecutive years has laid her 62nd egg.

Staff at the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Loch of the Lowes reserve in Perthshire were delighted last month when the bird, nicknamed Lady, flew in for the 22nd year in a row.

The egg was spotted in her nest on Saturday evening via the trust’s live web camera.

It will be incubated by Lady and her mate for the next five to six weeks, when it is expected to hatch.

Lady, who is thought to be the oldest breeding osprey in the UK, puzzled staff and volunteers when she laid a “phantom egg” last week.

Emma Rawling, Scottish Wildlife Trust Perthshire ranger, said: “After a mystery on the nest last week, I’m so relieved that we can confirm there definitely is an egg in the nest now.

“Our 24-hour nest protection now becomes even more important; we will be monitoring the nest for as long as the ospreys are here and we hope we’ll see young hatch in a few weeks’ time.

“I’m sure that her fans watching on the webcam across the world will be keeping their fingers crossed that these eggs hatch very soon.”