Boats and birds.

A few private yachts and cruisers have been braving the elements this week as well as the usual trawlers and working craft. The cruise ship 'Lord of the Glens' glided quietly by with passengers looking forward to their Easter break. I don't think they will be doing much sunbathing on the upper deck though as the temperature has dropped to single figures again and snow is forecast for next week on lower ground. When we moved up here 14 years ago it was snowing in April then and we thought it was really wonderful.
The birds have been singing their hearts out lately and it can be really noisy at certain times of the day, making you feel as if you are in the tropical rain forest somewhere. Flocks of colourful green and yellow siskins have arrived and are gorging on the sunflower hearts on the 'siskin roundabout'.

Down at Loch Garten Osprey Centre EJ, the female osprey, has recently returned to the nesting site for the 8th season and is awaiting Odin her mate. The Osprey Centre opens on April 1st and is a good visit as you can watch these magnificent birds on the giant webcam as they dive for fish and bring up their young.
We will be looking out for Ollie - the osprey who has a nest somewhere near Loch Ness as we often see him from April onwards hovering over the loch looking for a fishy lunch.

Ospreys return.

Ospreys have been returning to their Highland nests earlier this year. At Loch Garten on Speyside a regular female known as EJ was reported on Wednesday evening sitting in a tree eating a trout and then giving her old nest a clean and rebuilding with new sticks. Observers at the site are waiting to see if her 17 year old mate called VS will return to mate with her or will a new rival fly in to challenge him.
Keep up to date with the Loch Garten Blog.
We will be keeping a look out for Ollie, our own Loch Ness osprey who has been a regular visitor since we have lived here. He has a huge 6 feet wingspan and a gleaming whitish/cream underbelly and usually hovers overhead while looking down for the family lunch. We have been lucky enough to see him dive into the loch and emerge with a fish in his talons... a magnificent sight.