A campaigner battling to block T in the Park’s plans for Strathallan Castle has claimed that ospreys have started mating at the planned festival site.
A question mark has been placed over the future of the live music extravaganza after the arrival of two birds of prey near the earmarked showground site.
Although Scottish Natural Heritage have advised that a large exclusion zone needs to be set up around the birds, T in the Park bosses have insisted that the show can still go ahead.
Festival boss Geoff Ellis said he would work with RSPB Scotland to ensure the ospreys and the festival “can co-exist”.
He said that so far the birds had not chosen one nest from several on the site and they had been seen mating on another nest, further away from the festival ground.
He said: “We are in daily contact with the RSPB and we will be working very closely with them.
“Whichever nest the birds take to we will work with them to agree an appropriate exclusion zone and manage it accordingly.
“We guarantee to do that and we’d be bound by the law to do that anyway.”
Mr Ellis said he was prepared to make changes to this year’s plan.
“The one thing about a music festival is you build it up from scratch each year,” he said.
“It’s just a case of re-plotting positions of things on site. It’s extra work obviously, but certainly it’s not a show-stopper in any form.”
A spokeswoman for the Strathallan T Action Group said that the birds were spotted mating at the nest just after 6am.
She said: “This was followed by some very impressive mating displays, ending with the male offering a large trout to the female.
“It is beyond debate that the nest is in use and the birds are thriving on it.
“The birds were seen to be nest-building for at least 20 minutes and it seems virtually certain that they will settle on it as long as they are not disturbed.”
RSPB Scotland spokesman James Reynolds said the nest was now active.
He said two members of staff had watched the birds from a nearby B-road.
“In about two hours of watching the nest, both male and female were on the nest,” he added.
“The male came in with a fish presenting to the female. The female flew in with lots of nest material, building the nest up.”
He said the nest was now active until the birds, and any chicks, migrate back to North Africa in mid-August.
A final decision is likely to be made by Perth and Kinross councillors on May 20.