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Loch Arkaig Ospreys - 2018

SheilaFE
05/02/2018 21:55

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/

  • 12/03/2018 17:54 in reply to Ian S

    You make a good point Ian as I am sure Caerlaverock, Tweed Valley and some other FC cams are solar powered and they are always a bit later going live.

    I do however think Louis might arrive a bit earlier this year!   Last year was his first year as a resident/breeding male and he may very well be keen to get back a bit earlier to claim and defend "his" nest.  Just my thoughts :-)  

  • 12/03/2018 18:10 in reply to Karen

    Karen, you could well be correct, given what we have both just seen at Manton Bay, what we can say is that it is impossible to predict when they will return. Ian

  • 12/03/2018 22:47 in reply to Ian S
    Ian S said:

    Thinking a bit more about the camera. It is solar powered & last year I recall it lasted longer than was anticipated, despite some pretty terrible weather, nonetheless stopped working when Louis & Lachie were still thought to be around, Aila having started her migration. On the not unrealistic assumption that there won't be dawn to dusk sunshine on a regular basis this year, I suppose we have to think that the earlier the camera is switched on the sooner it will die on us. Louis was first seen on 10 April in 2017, so maybe an end of March switch on might be good timing bordering on being a bit early. Ian

    Hopefully the Woodland Trust will have included some "enhancements" to the system this year to enable the camera to keep going for longer. I'm sure that, as with everything in its first year, they will be hoping to "better' the previous experience :)
  • 12/03/2018 23:19 in reply to Mary C

    Mary, I hope the People's Postcode Lottery have been generous enough to allow them to enhance the camera. I have to say though that it was one of the better ones already. Ian

  • 13/03/2018 00:11 in reply to Ian S
    Ian S said:

    Mary, I hope the People's Postcode Lottery have been generous enough to allow them to enhance the camera. I have to say though that it was one of the better ones already. Ian

    Yes I agree Ian, not that I've got the experience that you have with the various cams, but as my first nest watch was with Loch Arkaig I enjoyed the sound aspect, which I now realise isn't the norm with every nest.
  • 13/03/2018 00:18 in reply to Mary C

    Mary, I am just an amateur compared to most of the other forumites, no need to mention names as they know who they are :) Ian

  • 13/03/2018 00:22 in reply to Mary C

    Hi Mary, the sound was indeed terrific.  Can never forget little Lachie's loud demands for fish!  I'm sure they can hear him all over West Africa right now!

  • 15/03/2018 14:01 in reply to Lisa K

    Feeble attempt to bump this up the thread list!, nothing on the WT page or blogs about the switch-on date. Ian

  • 16/03/2018 05:52 in reply to Ian S

    Thanks, Ian.  I imagine that all will become clear in due course.  I expect that some Osprey Projects across the country are in a bit of a panic if they have not been able to check and upgrade their nests yet (presumably due to the weather).  The early arrival of the Manton Bay pair might mean that many Ospreys will be arriving early so there may well be a bit of rushing around to prepare various nests, webcams, etc..

    Edit:  All speculation on my part, of course!

    Kind regards, Ann

  • 16/03/2018 12:54 in reply to Gardenbirder

    Ann, I think you are about right. The worst thing is the weather forecast for this weekend which will certainly not help!

    Birdies LG DU update.