The high winds across Scotland have taken a terrible toll on the nation’s birdlife, according to the RSPB.
Breeding birds of prey have had nests blown from trees and chicks killed while ground-nesting birds near water have been swamped.
Experts monitoring red kites, ospreys and eagles have recorded some incidents where nests and eggs have been damaged or blown from trees.
Near Callander, a red kite nest was blown 60 metres out of a wood onto farmland and a chick was found dead.
RSPB Scotland species policy officer Keith Morton said, “Perhaps the most surprising thing, given the ferocity of the wind, is that there wasn’t more damage to nests than we have so far recorded.
“For species that are otherwise doing well, in conservation terms, this will have been just an unfortunate blip in their long-term breeding record.
“But for birds that are already under pressure because of chronic threats to their habitats, or because they are just numerically very scarce, this sort of event is more worrying.”
Reports suggest some ground-nesting birds or those who nest on or near water, may be the worst affected.
The charity is looking into incidents where nests were flooded, destroyed or badly damaged by the elements.
On its Insh Marshes reserve, heavy rain and winds have left over 1000 nests submerged, including those of wading species such as lapwing, snipe, redshank and curlew.
Insh Marshes site manager Karen Sutcliffe said, “Waders were already struggling in Strathspey so this is a disappointing blow to the local population. A flood mid-April washed away many early nesting attempts.
“Around two thirds of the birds tried again and, before this bout of bad weather, we had been expecting chicks to be hatching in the next few days.”
“The water levels are receding now but with the breeding season so far advanced it looks unlikely that many birds will make a third attempt.”
Experts on monitoring projects have recorded problems with rarer species too.
Staff studying the Slavonian grebe, a striking bird whose UK population is restricted to northern Scotland, have found evidence that nests in sedge beds have been washed away.
Meanwhile, a programme radio-tagging 16 ring ouzel chicks has lost almost half of its subjects in the bad weather.