Lady of the Loch by Helen Armitage

Lady is the oldest and best known osprey in Britain and is considered an ambassador for this species that once had disappeared from the country but has resurged in population since reintroducing itself in the 1950s.

This book records a year in Lady's life, the year of 2010 which was worthy of being made into a soap opera. That year lady's long term partner had not returned to Loch of the Lowes (Scottish Wildlife Trust reserve) where they had nested together for several years. Instead Lady paired up with a young, inexperienced bird, Laird, who at first seemed to be a liability, failing to fish and being obsessed with piling extra large branches onto the nest. He finally proved himself as a good mate when he started to bring fish in regularly and even took over all the parenting duties when Lady fell ill. She was so ill for a while that many observers feared she would die, but she recovered and successfully set off on her migration to Africa. (Lady continued to breed at Loch of the Lowes until 2014, she didn't return this year and a new female has taken her place.)

Alongside telling Lady's story this book looks at the wider picture of Loch of the Lowes - outlining some of the many other amazing species of birds and other animals that live there), outlines the tale of how the osprey population has recovered in this country,  and investigates some of the many pressures on ospreys and other birds, including illegal hunting and egg collecting.

Lady of the Loch by Helen Armitage published by Constable 

You may also be interested in A Life of Ospreys by Roy Dennis, which I reviewed here.