The second osprey chick at the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Loch of the Lowes Visitor Centre and Wildlife Reserve in Perthshire has successfully taken flight.
PT4 fledged at 1:53pm on Sunday, less than 24 hours after his sibling PT5, took his own maiden flight on Saturday evening.
Earlier on Sunday morning some over-enthusiastic flapping caused PT5 to crash out of the nest but luckily the young bird was unharmed, and he returned to the nest a few minutes later.
Sara Rasmussen, Perthshire Ranger, Scottish Wildlife Trust said: “We’re delighted that both chicks have fledged successfully. This milestone makes the long hours that our dedicated volunteers and staff spent watching the nest earlier this year feel very worthwhile.
“The next challenge these young birds face is learning to catch their own fish. It’s a good time for people to visit Loch of the Lowes to see fantastic aerial displays before the ospreys head south at the end of summer.”
Loch of the Lowes Visitor Centre is open daily from 10:30am – 5pm with 24-hour access to the reserve hides. The 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 today around 250 pairs breed in the UK each summer.
This recovery is thanks to the efforts of conservation charities including the Scottish Wildlife Trust, whose Osprey Protection Programme is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
