Country diary: Ungainly and wet, the osprey chick is ready to fledge | Merryn Glover

Badenoch, Cairngorms: There's nowhere to hide in such an open nest, when the cloud decides to shed its loadAs we walk down to the lochside, the warm afternoon sun is muted by growing towers of cloud. Arriving from the south, they mass on the far side of the loch above the Feshie hills, where a faint mantle of light still shines. The air cools. A high-pitched repeated note carries from an island of trees, ringing like a piccolo. It is the osprey chick, hidden in the nest that sits precariously at the top of a ragged larch.This year, we have seen only one. When we get to the water's edge, a soft rain begins and we shelter under a spread of oaks. Their layered canopy keeps us dry as the shower swells, casting a veil over loch, shore and forest. Continue reading...