Loch Arkaig Ospreys - 2018

Loch Arkaig web cam:  It will be switched back on next month, and should be found here

Here are "All the best bits from the Loch Arkaig Pine Forest osprey camera, Summer 2017, in 2.5 minutes", from the Woodland Trust.

Here is the RSPB Forum for the 2017 Season.

2008       A pair may have started nesting at Loch Arkaig

2013       Chick      White KL(09) f, hatched 2009 Loch Arkaig, Inverness seen in Senegal, 2011 & 2012, 2016 by Rutland team and Chris Wood.                 2013 is the likely first breeding year at Bassenthwaite of White KL(09) and unringed male

2015       No chicks

2016       No chicks

2017       The nesting platform used by the birds for more than ten years has been rebuilt almost from scratch as, with the birds adding new material every spring, it was beginning to sag under its own weight

                Unringed m    10 April named Louis m arrived. Inconclusive whether same 10-yr male, but later concensus was that he was a  first-time breeder

                Unringed f         30 May new unringed female accepted by Louis

                                             4 May 2017 WT named her Aila

                10 May                17.20      Egg #1        Arrives with a grunt from Aila!          

                                              22.39      Owl on the nest. Spooked Aila who flew off.  A slow start but the action is here.

                13 May                19.26      Egg #2    - speckled

                                                              Egg #3                   

                18 June                First chick hatched

                18 June               17.13 Second chick seen struggling out of shell

                22 June                Two chicks alive, just.

                                              One chick survived, and was ringed 22 or 23 July.  Blue JH4(17) m, Lachlan

                                                At 35 days old it has a body mass of 1,305g and wingspan of 291mm.

9 August             Lachlan fledges unexpectedly

 The Loch is home to otters (three orphans were released in the late autumn 2017)  Pine marten have been seen on the nest.  WTE and Osprey breed.  It's about time I tried to get back there!

Where is Loch Arkaig?

Birdie's DU Summaries 2018   https://www.imagicat.com/

  • George Anderson of WT seems to think it a non-starter on the chat page. Ian

  • I really can't add anything that hasn't already been said. Thank you Trying for your posts, must have been awful to watch live.  It's just heartbreaking.

  • CRinger said:

    Speed does not matter at all. The speed part is getting the Loch Arkaig pair sitting again and that is not hard.

    When the Loch Garten three are collected they can be kept in an incubator for a very long time. Maybe up until a few days before hatching. 

    A 'phone call to SNH this morning putting forward a 'hypothetical' potential application and whether this is likely to be approved (if PM defence at LA can be improved) would be my first act. If the answer was positive then 1 visit to the LA nest asap, preferably when the adults were not in sight, to both put dummy eggs in the nest and during the same visit strengthen PM defences, would be my plan. 

    If the adults assumed responsibility for the 'dummy' eggs, then  second visit to replace them with the LG eggs at some stage in the future, assuming they are going to be abandoned.

    As Tiger said - worth considering / exploring.  

    [/quote]

    Congratulations.  Best do something rather than talk about it. 

  • Trying said:

    This is George Anderson’s comment on the Woodland Trust chat page....



    I hope Mary Cheadle will approve of my poaching this, to post here.

    It definitely presents a balanced view... and I cannot fault what is said.
    Nature is nature,,,,and it can be raw to see at times.

    What an excellent and thoughtful post. Thanks so much for sharing this Trying. I agree with you and George - this is nature. If these were the last 2 pairs left in Scotland, there might be a case for some kind of intervention to prevent total extinction. But that is not the case. I think we need to accept what will be, will be.

    Chocoholix shiny new 2018 Interactive Osprey & Chick Chart! (with clickable links!)

  • Below are the thoughts of the WT osprey expert Lewis on the chances of more eggs.

    "There will be no more eggs this year. The adults may be around the nest for a little while and appear on camera, but will likely move on to feed and roost in the wider area and then eventually depart early for Africa".

    Ian

  • Such a 'good' message from George Anderson.

  • Louis brought a fish to the nest at about 08.55, stayed a bit & flew with it. Ian

  • Aila on the nest calling. Ian

  • Louis returned with the fish, which Aila took. Louis is now sitting on the nest as if he were incubating. This is the saddest scene. Ian