Birds are taking the mic at osprey nest

A furry microphone over one of Scotland’s most famous osprey nests has been vandalised -- by a family of song birds.

Bird watchers around the world are able to follow famous osprey pair Lassie and Laddie at the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Loch of the Lowes reserve near Dunkeld via a live camera overlooking the nest.

But staff at the visitor centre said they had been inundated with comments about a strange crunching noise from the microphone.

The culprits have now been revealed as a family of song birds. The great tits, which have a black head and white cheeks, have been braving the ospreys to steal pieces of the furry cover to line their own beds.

The fluff from the boom mic is perfect as it provides soft and warm nest lining.

Visitor centre assistant Cherry Bowen said: “We’ve had a lot of people saying they love watching the webcam but then asking ‘what is that strange sound?’

“We tell them ‘it’s the vandals’ – great tits pulling apart the fur on the microphone to use in their own nests.

“We had a look and caught them in the act. It’s sweet in its own way but it can be quite noisy.”

SWT said experts will inspect the damage at the nest once the resident ospreys have departed later this year.

Once their current brood has fledged, the ospreys will depart on their annual migration to West Africa.

Cherry said: “We will have a look at the microphone at the end of the season, once the ospreys have gone. By the time we get up there, it will probably be in tatters.”

The birds are stealing the fur from the mic.