A female osprey has laid her second egg of the season at the Loch of the Lowes Wildlife Reserve in Perthshire.

The egg was laid shortly before midnight on Monday and experts believe a third could arrive by the end of the week.

Ospreys were extinct in Britain for much of the 20th century. They began to recover in the 1960s and around 260 pairs of ospreys now breed in the UK each summer.

Rachael Hunter, Perthshire ranger at the Scottish Wildlife Trust, said: "It's great to see a second egg in the nest and this means we could have a full clutch by the end of the week.

"Thanks to support from players of People's Postcode Lottery we're watching the nest around the clock to protect it from human disturbance and to ensure the pair have a strong chance of successfully fledging chicks.

"In the last few days we've seen fewer intruding ospreys at the reserve. That's a good sign as it means that our male osprey can concentrate on bringing food back to the nest for his mate.

"Last week he managed to bring back four fish in one 24-hour period, this attracted crows and a buzzard but they were quickly chased off by the larger and more powerful ospreys."