Snow that buried osprey EJ's nest melts away
Snow that buried a female osprey and her nest in a tree at a nature reserve in the Highlands has melted away.
The bird, known to conservationists as EJ, refused to leave her clutch of eggs even after being buried under snow earlier this week.
The latest webcam images of the nest show what the RSPB described as EJ's "snow doughnut" has gone.
EJ has been visiting RSPB Scotland's Loch Garten reserve near Grantown on Spey in the Cairngorms for 15 years.
Staff at the reserve said EJ had experienced wintry conditions before and the snow could even act as an insulator.
However, the staff added that they could not remember EJ, whose large nest is in a tree, encountering so much snow during her visits to the loch.
EJ and her mate Odin are the most successful breeding pair at the Loch Garten site.
Over previous seasons 17 of their chicks have fledged.
Ospreys migrate from west Africa to Scotland to breed and can be seen hunting for fish from rivers and lochs.