LOCH ARKAIG (The Woodland Trust) - JULY 2019

Link to June 2019 thread (Following Karen's excellent example of providing useful links....)

On 1 July, chick 1 is 30 days old. Chick 2, from egg 3, is 27 days old. 

Apart from the sad failure-to-hatch of egg 2 , everything has been reasonably settled on the nest, and Louis is in the running for Mary's 'Fisherman of the Year Award'.

Link to webcam, courtesy of The Woodland Trust

  • Looking back 2-3 hours - EDIT - gosh, it's much longer than that, I got interrupted :o

     JJ2 getting more active:

    More bark!

      

    Aila did some stick-shifting, disturbing the kids in the process but the stick doesn't show up well at those times:

    It looked as tho she was going to perch but she hovered a bit and disappeared:

    More bark !!! !!!

    The kids were left alone for quite a while, they made themselves comfortable:

    They did get a bit of exercise before FISH time :)

    After the feed Aila suddenly took off with the small remains of the fish!

    She was still watchful on her return but the kids weren't pancaked:

    Off she went again:

    She returned with more bark :o

    And a lovely wing-spread on landing:

    Still watchful!

    And off she went again:

    This time she returned with little clumps, what a relief ;)

    Off she flew again and hasn't been back yet:

  • A MONSTER FISH just caught my eye. Needs checking :o

    EDIT - He flew in the wrong way, dang.

  • 17-18 Fish - What a beauty

    Edit: Leave you to do the honours and show it off sylla Slight smile

  • 'You put your right leg in, your right leg out....'

    '...shake it all about'

    (c) WT Loch Arkaig

  • 22-18 Fish, supper is served... not easy to say whether headless or what size.
  • 04-35 First Fish of the day .. Whole and smallish

    And by 04-42, it had all gone!!

  • Aila with a clump:

    JJ2(?) tried to eat a fishtail but had to give it to Mummy in the end:

    Aila landed a stick onto the chicks, she didn't seem to notice until they got up:

    And again:

    She was quite busy with sticks:

    Aila had just flown off alarm-calling, chicks pancaked:

    As reported, the supperFISH was indistinguishable on the way in, it was not seen during feed either:

    Surprisingly, JJ2 had exclusive access, JJ0 just watched, did some exercises, went back and watched again.

    Eventually got about 2 bites from the tail:

    Aila had to ward off someone.

    She started being suspicious:

    Presented a strong front to the enemy:

    Checked the chicks:

    Kept her eye on the blackguard:

    Relaxed :)

    Safe for a flyabout:

    Checked the chicks:

    Had a very good check over the side, her face went out of shot:

    Then she settled and eventually got some droopnaps:

    Another flyabout:

    During which time the kids woke up, each did a shadowy poop unworthy of snapping:

    That was a 10-minute break - I'd love to know where she went:

    She was looking over her shoulder now 'n then, did Louis have a fish already?

    Doesn't look like it, off she went again:

    Both chicks flapped, JJ0 more than JJ2 as usual, then they settled down to wait for breakfish:

    A very unkind view of the fish's arrival, but we can see it's whole and not large - it was not seen during the feed:

    Only the nearer chick got fed:

    Until the other got 3 bites at the end, after which Aila fed herself:

    She's off the nest now, both chicks lying down.

  • Then the stick nearly went over the side! Plus mama didn't seem to notice she trod all over one of the chicks to boot!
    Thanks for video and captures Scylla.
  • Chicks alone wobbling about and flapping