High flying birds of a non-musical variety could be about to put a damper on Noel Gallagher’s summer as a protected species of birds look set to cause a headache for organisers of T In The Park.
A flock of ospreys have returned to the grounds of Strathallan Castle, the Perthshire venue for this year’s festival. The event, the first since organisers moved from Balado Airfield, is set to be headlined by The Libertines, Kasabian and the former Oasis songwriter.
The birds are a protected species that cannot be disturbed while nesting and police have been called to the site to monitor the situation. Festival organisers and the RSPB have committed to working together to ensure that T In The Park can go ahead, with promoters DF Concerts hoping that the birds will move to a new nest before the event, which runs from 10th to 12th July.
A spokeswoman for the organisers told the BBC that they were confident that the birds would not stop the festival going ahead. She said: "We can confirm that ospreys have returned to Strathallan, but the expert opinion of our ornithologist is that they have not yet nested.
"In the meantime, we’d also like to assure fans that the festival will go ahead. The decision on our planning application will still be made in May and we remain confident that the event will take place at Strathallan."
The osprey (Pandion haliaetus), also known as the sea hawk, exists on every continent other than Antarctica. In W.B. Yeat’s The Wanderings Of Oisin And Other Poems the bird is used to represent sorrow. Fans of St Vincent, Wolf Alice and Hot Chip, all of whom are set to head to Scotland for the festival, will be hoping that the birds are not serving a similar purpose in T’s narrative.
