Loch of the Lowes is a small wildlife reserve run by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, a couple of miles from Dunkeld in Perthshire. The ospreys are what most people come for. They nest here through spring and summer, having flown up from West Africa, and the female on the nest has become a bit of a local celebrity over the years.

Start inside, at the visitor centre. There's a big picture window looking straight out onto a feeding station, and you can sit and watch the comings and goings without lifting a finger. Red squirrels are the favourite, and they show up often. Woodpeckers too, plus siskins, chaffinches and a steady traffic of garden birds. Inside the centre there are live cameras trained on the osprey nest, so you get a close view of whatever's happening up there, the birds coming and going, feeding, sitting tight in bad weather. It's a good way in for anyone who isn't sure where to look yet.

There's plenty for children. Activities and things to spot, and staff happy to point out what's about and answer the daft questions as well as the good ones. It's the kind of place a curious seven-year-old leaves wanting to come back.

Then you head out. Three hides look over the water, each with a telescope you can use for nothing, and the main one's open round the clock. Out on the loch there are great crested grebes doing their courtship in spring, plus ducks, swans and geese. Stay late and keep quiet and you might catch a beaver at dusk, or an otter. No promises on those.

There's a shop in the centre too, and a small charge to get in that goes to the Trust's work. Members get in free. Take your time with it.