Climber's Bums #2

Last July I brought you Climbers Bums, today I bring you the same bum, but this time pulling over the overhang on The End.

Another trip to Craig a Barns above Dunkeld and today's routes were:

Cuticle Crack ** 30m Severe 4a
Bollard Buttress Direct * 35m Severe
The End *** 35m VS 5a
Recess Route * 30m Very Difficult

Last July we did five routes, today four. Last July we did two VS's, today only one. Last July we were younger!

It was a cracking day with a couple of very minor showers, but basically warm and sunny with just enough breeze to keep any midges away. Mick was still recovering from his exertions in the Slioch Hill Race attempting (and not quite managing) to beat a couple "youngsters" from our group, while for me it was the first outing on rock since last July, so the agenda was definitely social with a little stretch on the rock. For a man with an injured leg and allegedly a bit rusty (as in rock climbing, not as in leg) Mick seemed in pretty good form, while for me, even if there was a protracted dangle while I attempted to start the second pitch of The End it was a very satisfying return.

After the climbing I popped into the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Loch of the Lowes Wildlife Reserve to check out the ospreys.

For 21 years, one remarkable female osprey has returned time and again to the astonishment of ornithologist and experts in conservation, as well as wildlife enthusiasts across the globe. Affectionately known by some as "Lady" or "the Lady of the Loch", this individual osprey is thought to be the oldest known breeding osprey ever recorded in Britain. She has some impressive statistics to her credit.

Estimated age: 26 years (the average lifespan of an osprey is 8 years)
Number of eggs lain in her lifetime: 58
Number of chicks fledged from her nest: 48
Estimated number of miles travelled in her lifetime: 123,000 miles (3000 miles x 2 - from West Africa to Perthshire and back again - every year for approximately the last 20 years, plus 3,000 miles back this year).

Unfortunately the three eggs she's laid this year have passed the point where they should have hatched, it may be that time has caught up with "Lady".

Although there were better photos of her mate, RCB insisted on blipping "Lady" as she left the nest with a headless salmon that her mate had brought in for her, leaving him to incubate for a while.