NATURE enthusiasts in Helensburgh and Lomond are keeping their eyes to the skies in the hope of spotting the springtime return of one of Scotland’s iconic birds of prey.

Ospreys return in March from their wintering grounds in West Africa and their arrival here is a welcome sign that spring has well and truly arrived.

These large, fish-eating eagles are frequently seen over Loch Lomond and the inner Clyde estuary where they can be seen making dramatic dives, talons outstretched, to pluck food from the water.

This year’s return of Scotland’s ospreys was heralded at the Loch of the Lowes nature reserve near Dunkeld when one of their regularly breeding males - known simply as LM12 - arrived on March 15.

Staff at the reserve, run by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, believe he managed to make good use of the warm southern winds from Africa a few weeks ago and sneaked in ahead of the recent storms and snowy weather.

It’s an exciting year for the Loch of the Lowes as it is celebrating 50 years of managing the reserve and 50 years of breeding ospreys.

The trust says it can’t wait to see how the season unfolds and - all being well - are looking forward to welcoming LM12’s mate back in the next week or two.

Closer to home, several pairs of breeding ospreys have set up their summer homes in the Loch Lomond national nature reserve and around the south end of the loch, near Balmaha, between April and October.

Ospreys were persecuted into extinction in the UK during the 1800s. They were shot for taxidermy and collectors took their eggs.

The last recorded breeding took place in Scotland in 1916 and ospreys also disappeared across much of Europe – reaching a low in the 1920s and ‘30s.

The RSPB says it was a combination of good luck and legislation to protect these birds which enabled the osprey population to recover.

It adds: “The return of the osprey is shrouded in some mystery.

“In the 1950s, birds migrating to Scandinavia began to turn up in Scotland, and the first confirmed breeding was in 1954.”

In 1958, the birds began breeding at the now famous Loch Garten site in Strathspey, where the RSPB set up Operation Osprey, a 24-hour protection watch.