The Loch Garten Osprey Centre is a bird-watching facility on Loch Garten that focuses on the nest of two
ospreys. It is an
RSPB facility located in the Abernethy Forest. The Abernethy Forest RSPB reserve protects a habitat of
Caledonian pine forest and in turn forms part of the wider Abernethy
National Nature Reserve. The birds return to the nesting site every year and the numerous
binoculars and
telescopes within the centre allow for effective bird watching. Visitors can also see
red squirrels and other small birds feeding in front of the bird hide. A pair of ospreys have nested at the site every year from 1959 to 2019, although no chicks fledged there between 2016 and 2019. The tree which houses the nest died due to the droppings and remains of prey from the nesting birds, and in the winter of 2021 the nest (which was largely artificial) was relocated to a healthy Scots pine a few metres away. The tree canopy surrounding the nest was also lowered in an effort to make the nest site more appealing to ospreys. In 2022 a new pair of ospreys took over the new nest site and raised two young. Two chicks fledged in 2023. The surrounding forest includes walking different paths passing by a large loch which is also known as Loch Mallachie. Some of the trails link up with the
Speyside way. ==See also==