The story of Scotland’s most famous osprey is set to be captured in a book created and compiled by her followers.
Last month, a group of bloggers who have spent several months watching Lady made an appeal through The Courier for help with their project and were disappointed when they received only one response.
However, things soon began to look up for them after Peter Ferns, manager of the Loch of the Lowes visitor centre near Dunkeld, got in touch.
Group member Susan McVey explained how he contacted a fellow blogger who has been responsible for compiling poetry and photographs for the book.
“As far as I know, Peter had spoken to Shirley, wanting to know what was going on with our plan,” she said. “He then spoke to her again recently, telling her that the Scottish Wildlife Trust was going to publish the book for us.
“This has just been fantastic news for us and is a huge weight off our shoulders.
“We were worrying about how we were going to cover the cost of publication but this has been such a big help and we are so grateful for it.”
Having spent the last few months following 25-year-old Lady and her family, including witnessing her miraculous recovery from a mystery illness, the bloggers were inspired to create a lasting reminder of the hardy bird.
Following fears that this may be the osprey’s last year at Loch of the Lowes, their project has attracted massive interest, with webcam viewers from across the world submitting their artistic tributes to the osprey in the form of poems, photographs and drawings.
Susan hopes the book will be released by the end of next month and it has been given the working title of Lady Of The Loch.
The book will be sold at Loch of the Lowes and the money will be used to buy satellite equipment to help track the birds.
The bloggers also plan to start an appeal to buy a new infrared camera for the nest as the current equipment is becoming outdated.
Although Lady has now flown the nest for the winter, you can follow the latest on the Scottish Wildlife Trust‘s webcam and osprey blog.