The first osprey chick of the season has hatched at a Scottish wildlife reserve.

The hatched egg is one of three laid by female osprey LF15 at the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Loch of the Lowes Wildlife Reserve in Perthshire.

Volunteers spotted a crack in one of the eggs at around 7.30am on Tuesday, and about half an hour later the female osprey stood up to reveal a tiny chick.

The other two eggs are expected to hatch in the same order as they were laid.

Perthshire ranger for Scottish Wildlife Trust, Rachael Hunter, said: "It's exciting to have our first chick of the season.

"All being well the eggs will hatch in the same order as they were laid, and roughly the same amount of time apart.

"I'd encourage people to keep their eye on our live osprey webcam to try and catch a glimpse of the chicks!"

"Spring has had a relatively slow start this year and the ospreys are no exception," Ms Hunter added.

"They are about a week behind where they were in 2017 but we could have a full clutch of three eggs by the weekend, and if LM12 can keep up with the large numbers of fish he will have to bring to the nest we're fairly certain that we'll have another successful season."

This is the ninth chick that has been born to the resident pair LM12 and LF15 since 2015.

Osprey chicks are initially covered in down, but start to grow new feathers within days, and will begin to stretch their wings in preparation for migration after just a few weeks.