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

  • With reference to Louis taking away the fish he initially brought in, I think this is because Rannoch made no effort to take it from him, which surely she should be doing. From the young chick who was brave enough to pick a regular fight with her older sister to this apparently timid juvenile is not a welcome transformation. Ian
  • Ian S said:
    With reference to Louis taking away the fish he initially brought in, I think this is because Rannoch made no effort to take it from him, which surely she should be doing. From the young chick who was brave enough to pick a regular fight with her older sister to this apparently timid juvenile is not a welcome transformation. Ian

    (1) The fish was definitely taken away because Rannoch didn't take it.

    (2) I "imagined" that I noticed a change in Rannoch right after she initiated a fight and very much got the worst of it, IAN.  I don't mention it because it's difficult being sure - I only see live events out of the corner of my eye, and there isn't time to watch many episodes in real time while scrolling thru recordings doing catchups.

    Incidentally, per Glaslyn: The average age for females to fledge the Glaslyn nest had been 53.5 days old up until now. KA0 was 59.5 days old when she took her first flight, officially making her the oldest chick to fledge not only the Glaslyn nest, but any nest in Wales. Maybe Rannoch will surprise us.

    IMAGICAT

  • Scylla, I think Rannoch is 52 days today, so based on the "average" of 7 to 8 weeks she has a few days yet to be "normal". In the meantime both Rannoch & Aila have had a piece of the last fish with Mallie nowhere to be seen. Ian

    EDIT - After a while, Mallie duly arrived. Aila is now feeding her.

  • Louis delivering fish:

    Rannoch got a feed from Aila:

    Rannoch took over at this point:

    And ate until this point, after a very slow start:

    Then Aila fed herself:

    Mallie turned up and got fed, while Rannoch started to feel the lift of the wind under her wings and got some height without really trying.  She stood for a while with wings outstretched, appreciating the feel:

    After some more leaping about she's now looking out from the back of the nest:

    IMAGICAT

  • And a big chunk of the last fish is lying on the nest baking away nicely :) Ian

  • 14.24 (ish) Aila is feeding Rannoch from the cooked fish, Louis arrives with another fine (headless) fish. Mallie follows Louis in. Aila feeds Mallie from the old fish while Louis wonders why no-one wants the new one. Ian

    EDIT - looking back, Mallie had been sitting atop Louis' perch, known on WT chat as the stick tree. A good vantage point from which to spot the fish arriving on the nest.

  • Some great helicoptering from Rannoch :)

    IMAGICAT

  • One is tucking in and the other having a fantastic preen underneath the camera
    Going by scroll back it is Rannoch preening and Mallie has the fish that Rannoch had previously