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

  • Hopefully I can give a couple of clues to juvenile ID, apart from the rings obviously! Rannoch is the bigger of the two (remember there was some speculation that Mallie might be a boy) and has a much more pronounced necklace/bib (probably the difference easiest to spot). Of the two, I think Mallie has the lighter feather colours & sometimes I think I can see a similar "flamenco dancer" marking on the back of her head to Louis. Generally (although not exclusively) Mallie is the noisier of the two :) Ian

  • Mallie just landed after Aila shot off the cam post. Fish ahoy??

    (c) WT Loch Arkaig

  • Rannoch's got a WHOPPER but Mallie's waiting... and may have taken it as I type :o

    I'm doing catchup so will cover it eventually.

  • CATCHUP

    The overnight buffering merged into the regular 4am buffer, from which the cam emerged recovered :)

    Louis managed to fish (and eat!) this misty morning:

    Aila joined him in a second:

    Then Mallie:

    Feed soon over, Mallie had a prance around and left, as did Aila not long after:

    Mallie paid another brief visit then came back and got another FISH!

    Rannoch turned up (that's a relief, where's she been?!):

    But she only managed to get a cast-off morsel, which took a long time to eat, then she gave up waiting and left, Mallie finished fish and left:

    Short visits:

    Very vocal Aila:

    Up to campost, didn't see her leave:

    Aila brought some invisible twigs, then up to Robin's perch and away:

    Rannoch had tantrums ;) and off she flew:

    Both turned up:

    Mallie did a little stick-shifting and left:

    No intruder alarms but Rannoch played safe:

    What a nice surprise she got!  Maybe not a 'whopper' but a very good whole fish:

    Trouble?

    Rannoch managed to keep the fish :)  EDIT - but not for long !!!

    To be continued...

  • A lovely update, Scylla. I have a soft spot for Rannoch, possibly because she was last to fledge and I sort of got to know her! Was that fish a mackerel?

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

  • ENS and the gentle sounds of plip plops.  It looks a rather wet nest even if it isn't pouring

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

  • Now you mention it, SHEILA, maybe it was a mackerell :)

    scylla said:
    Rannoch managed to keep the fish :)  EDIT - but not for long !!!

    But she did get it back... when Mallie had had enough:

  • Having had a look at the fish I reckon it is a small Coalfish or Pollock. Difficult to tell which one when only that size, but I would opt more for Coalfish due to its dark colour and white line along the flank, but still an unusual catch.

    Richard B

  • A noisy brief visit by Mallie, in the rain.  She called well before she landed!  Called, and moved a stick

    and called again

    She got up close and personal with cam, but I deleted it instead of saving it - amid a cold caller that I ended up shouting at too!!

    © The Woodland Trust Loch Arkaig OP

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

  • Someone is on the cam post, calling!

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