A Perthshire nature reserve is celebrating the first osprey egg of the season.

The female osprey nesting at the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Loch of the Lowes Wildlife Reserve near Dunkeld laid her first egg shortly before 1am on Tuesday.

Charlotte Fleming, Perthshire ranger trust, said the mother, named LF15, had taken her time this year.

She said: "LF15 has given us an anxious wait this year, however, we're delighted that she has laid her first egg. With any luck numbers two and three won't be far behind.

"There were a number of changes in her behaviour including high pitched calling and constant fidgeting that made us sure she was about to lay, and managed to get settled down to incubate soon afterwards.

"The male has visited the nest several times today. Initially he seemed more interested in an old fish tail than the egg but once he had finished his breakfast he returned to the nest, inspected the new egg briefly and then settled to incubate it, giving LF15 a well-earned rest."

LF15 arrived back at the reserve on March 18 last year and was joined by her mate LM12 a week later on March 25.

Since then reserve visitors, rangers, and webcam viewers from all over the world had been waiting patiently for the first egg to arrive.

Ospreys typically lay between two and three eggs in a season.

Once extinct in the UK, there are now around 240 breeding pairs of ospreys after the efforts of nature conservation charities including the Scottish Wildlife Trust, whose osprey protection programme is supported by players of People's Postcode Lottery.