A newborn osprey chick is "doing well" on its first day in the world despite its parents not feeding it yet.

The first chick of the season hatched at Loch of the Lowes Wildlife Reserve near Dunkeld on Wednesday afternoon and a second egg is now beginning to hatch.

The newborn chick, which has no name, has made it through its first night being incubated by its mother and is "being well looked after" say staff.

Jonathan Pinnick, assistant manager at the Scottish Wildlife Trust reserve, said staff are very pleased with the chick's progress so far but said: "We are still waiting for its first feed. Although the male has come in with fish the female hasn't taken it to the chick yet."

He said the yolk from its egg would sustain the chick for around 24 hours from birth so there are no immediate worries.

The first chick took almost 12 hours to hatch so members of the public should have time to see the second chick emerge.

Mr Pinnick said: "We wait for all the eggs to hatch so it is a big relief when that happens and it is great for the public who can log on and watch via our webcam."

Parents LM12 and LF15 has one more egg which is expected to hatch within two or three days.

Mr Pinnick explained: "The eggs were laid at three-day intervals so they normally hatch within two to three days of each other.

"Ospreys try to hedge their bets as when the chicks first hatch they have a high demand for food.

"Because of the staggered hatching the first bird should have a head start before its siblings are born.

"The female went off the eggs for about 15 minutes, which was a concern to us, but thankfully it didn't do any harm.

"Fortunately it was a mild day but there was a risk predators could have spotted the eggs."

Rangers and volunteers at the reserve had other reasons for concern after a human intruder ventured into the osprey exclusion zone and scared the parents away from their eggs last Thursday.

The chick started to peck its way out at around 3am this Wednesday morning and emerged at 3.18pm about 12 hours later after a long wait for the watching volunteers and webcam viewers.

It is the 79th egg to hatch at Loch of the Lowes since the Osprey Protection Programme started in 1969.

Charlottte Fleming, Perthshire ranger at the Scottish Wildlife Trust said: "The chick gave us an anxious 12 hours' wait as the crack in the shell got slowly bigger and bigger so we were delighted when it finally hatched.

"It just goes to show that the hatching of osprey chicks can take a very long time."

Osprey chicks are covered in down but start to grow new feathers within days. They grow very quickly and are ready to fly after seven to eight weeks.

This rapid growth is fuelled by a high protein diet of pike, trout and other fish brought to the nest by their attentive parents.

Once extinct in the UK, there are now around 240 breeding pairs of ospreys thanks to the efforts of nature conservation charities including the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

The Osprey Protection Programme is supported by players of People's Postcode Lottery.