Expecting eggs
We are all eagerly expecting eggs to be laid by our osprey pair in the next few days. There has certainly been plenty of matings and lots of nest additions and 'cup scraping' which are all good signs of the birds being well bonded to the nest site and being ready to lay. Luckily it looks like the black plastic which was adorning the nest has gone as it could pose a real risk to chicks, by entangling or smothering them which has happened elsewhere.
Visitors have been asking how we will know which of the two male birds may be the father of the eggs and whether there is any risk of the male AW destroying them if the are his rivals' (as happened at Loch Garten a few years ago). The answer is all in the timing- ospreys generally lay eggs 7-10 days after mating so if any had appeared last week we'd have know they were fathered by the first male. Since the 7th of April only AW has been mating with our female ,so if the eggs are laid from now on, they will be his. Let's hope thats the end of any domestic dramas for the year!
Osprey eggs have now been laid at several UK sites this season, such Wigtown Bay, Glaslyn, Tweed Valley , Loch of the Lowes, and Loch Garten, so hopefully our birds will join the list very soon.
