Regular readers of this column will know that I belong to the LBJ branch of ornithology. However, even with my very limited knowledge and eyesight, I am able to engage with two amazing feathered spectacles on offer this month.
Firstly, as you will have seen from our front cover picture, LR12 -or Lawrence as I prefer to refer to him - our male osprey, has successfully made it home. This morning I checked on the Loch of the Lowes webcam and was somewhat alarmed to see the nest blowing around in the high winds and Lawrence standing up on the nest looking most annoyed. I’ve just checked now on my way back from work to see if he’s calmed down a bit and he’s gone! I hope he’s not frustrated with the Scottish weather and flown back to Africa. I won’t rest until I see him back on his nest again.
Secondly why not take up the opportunity to go and see the black grouse at their lekking site in Dun Coilllich near Schehallion on either the 13th, 18th or 27th April? I have seen black grouse up at Amulree but never in the numbers mentioned in this article. Admittedly we’ll need to set our alarm clocks for the crack of dawn since we’ll leave from the car park at Dun Coillich at 5:15am… which makes for a 4:30am start from the house. Eeek. However, as Claire Smith, our RSPB Scotland Senior Conservation Officer says, it’s a “must do wildlife experience!” so that ought to be enough to dig us out of our beds. However, if your circadian rhythms are more owl than lark you might prefer to go on the beaver watch at the Loch of the Lowes which happens at 19:00 – 21:00 on 10th and 24th April.
Phew, just checked again on the webcam, and dear Lawrence is back on the nest – however if you ask me he’s still looking a bit annoyed and his feathers are in a bit of a flap. Let’s hope the winds have calmed down by the time his mate, Lassie, (fingers and toes all crossed) makes her welcome return.

STOP PRESS:
News just in … Lassie has made it safely home!

Sally Robertson

Budget day has come and gone at 2 High St. Fortunately with the financial position for the Council not being as gloomy as was forecast many of the proposed cuts to services were found to be unnecessary when compiling a balanced budget and all political groups were able to reinstate funding for many services provided by the Council. Crucially for Strathtay Ward there will be no change to the Public toilet provision in Dunkeld or any change to the service provided by the Amenity skip site at Bankfoot. There was no reduction to the funding for Rural bus services.
Councillor James and myself are joining forces with Stanley Community Council and Stanley residents in the fight to reverse the decision to remove the school crossing patroller at Stanley. We all feel that Zebra crossings are the least safe option of road crossing and the Stanley situation needs the presence of a SCP.
There are now over 3000 signatures for the petition against the ending of Primary school meal production in school kitchens across Perth and Kinross. This proposal by the Conservative Administration will mean that primary school meals will be made at a facility in Dundee, they will then be blast frozen and transported to schools all over Perthshire where they will be regenerated. 50 jobs will be lost in the process. Surely meals for Perthshire schools should be made in Perthshire. I have not met any member of the Public who has stated their support for this bizarre idea.
On a more upbeat note the Community Investment Fund panels have met and decided which grant applications will share the £50,000 of monies available. Across Strathtay Ward many worthwhile groups and schemes have been supported and they will receive their Grants in early April.

Grant Laing
Councillor Grant Laing
Local SNP Councillor, Strathtay Ward 5
glaing@pkc.gov.uk or Tel: 07881 500501 or 01738 475023

Every year, in the week running up to Easter people in churches meditate on the accounts of Jesus’ last days and his crucifixion. It is a cruel story but sadly it is not hard to believe that a good man may die a cruel death – it is something we hear about far too regularly still.
It is not difficult to believe Jesus did die. A more probing question, though, is why did Jesus have to die? The stock answer I was often given in my early days of exploring these things was that ‘Jesus died because of my sin. I nailed him to the cross.’ It was an answer I could never accept because I know I couldn’t inflict that cruelty on another human being. So, why did Jesus die?
I suppose one response is that Jesus didn’t just die – he was killed. A whole mess of reasons conspired to kill him. He was killed because religious leaders objected to him teaching about a God who included all comers, and beacuse they were jealous of his common touch with people. He threatened their exclusive club. Their religion got in the way of love and Jesus put love first.
He was killed because a mob got whipped up into a frenzy and individuals got carried along by the tide of public opinion.
He was killed because Caiaphas, the High Priest that year, thought it was better to sacrifice him to that baying mob rather than bring down the wrath of Rome on the whole nation.
He was killed because Pilate washed his hands of the matter in apathy and claimed it had nothing to do with him. ‘You do what you like while I turn a blind eye.’
He was killed because one of his friends betrayed him for money or power or whatever Judas’s reasons were. He was killed because his disciples ran scared and abandoned him to his fate. Because Peter’s courage failed at the last moment.
He was killed because soldiers who were just obeying orders nailed him to a cross. Theirs was not to reason why, but to do. It was all in a day’s work and what did the decision have to do with them at their pay grade?
None of these was enough to kill him on its own, but together, the sin of the world was enough.
When you think about each of these elements of the story do you not find yourself there somewhere? Not many of us would be able to nail a man’s hands to a cross and leave him to die. Yet. In the mix I see my apathy, my unwillingness to stand up against the crowd.
My desire to protect my own patch and let another be sacrificed. My lack of courage to stand up for what is right – somewhere in there is me – and you! I now understand that Jesus truly did die because of my sin. He took the sin of the world, the spite and spit, the venom and hate.
and the very one who could have said ‘it wisnae me’ said ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.’ Christ died because of people like me and Christ is still crucified over and over in a world where I turn a blind eye, I am easily swept along, I am too comfortable to be bothered to do something, too complacent or afraid to change my ways.
But then on Easter Sunday as we celebrate the resurrection, we remember that the love which suffers is the love which triumphs. Christ could not be kept down even by the sin of the world and that gives us hope that the way of love is still the most powerful way in the world.
Have a happy and blessed Easter!

Fraser Penny