By Dave Lord

THE RESIDENT female osprey at a Perthshire reserve has witnessed the hatching of her 50th chick.

The incredible landmark comes as the osprey enjoys her 17th season at Loch of the Lowes near Dunkeld.

Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) staff have been keeping a close eye on developments within the nest and were delighted to witness the hatching on their new “high-definition” cameras.

“We are proud to announce the arrival of the first osprey chick of this season at Loch of the Lowes,” said Graeme Walla, ranger at the reserve.

“This is the 50th hatching for the resident female.

“The chick made its way out of the shell at around 4.15 on Sunday morning, having taken a few days to break through.”

The spokesman revealed that staff had endured a dramatic weekend as a crack first appeared in the egg on Friday afternoon.

“The crack had widened to a small hole on Saturday evening and freedom at last came early on Sunday morning, confirming that the old bird still has it in her,” Graeme continued.

“We had been patiently waiting for the final hatching so we are all absolute delighted.”

The safety of osprey eggs at Loch of the Lowes is taken very seriously and SWT staff monitor progress on a “24/7” basis.

“The volunteers working through the night to ensure the protection of the eggs were lucky and delighted to be able to watch the arrival of the chick close up on our high definition screen,” Graeme said.

“The pictures live from the nest were fantastic to watch and we are absolutely overjoyed that we have yet another osprey chick here at Loch of the Lowes.

“We will now wait expectantly for the other two eggs to hatch, hopefully over the next few days.”

The unringed mother first arrived at Loch of the Lowes in 1991 and has returned each year since. Meanwhile, the same male has been returning since 1994.

The female has now laid 52 eggs and an amazing 43 chicks have successfully fledged from the nest site.

“The pair have significantly added to the endangered osprey population which is quite an achievement considering that the mother is possibly the oldest breeding female in Scotland, being over 20 years old,” said Loch of the Lowes’ visitor centre manager Peter Ferns.

“Thanks must go to around 70 volunteers who take it in turns to man the round-the-clock watch to safeguard these magnificent birds.

“Without them, the Loch of the Lowes osprey nest would be rich pickings for egg thieves, something we were particularly worried about this year as it was the 50th egg.”

Once a common species in Britain, by 1916 ospreys were all but extinct.