August is the month when we've seen the Loch Arkaig ospreys depart on their journey south. We've enjoyed watching them this year - the wonderful parenting skills of Aila and Louis, and the antics of their 3 chicks, Captain, Vera and Doddie.
Mary GK did an absolutely wonderful video summarising the 2020 season. Thank you so much Mary! And here is Geemeff's great compilation, thank you!
2020 last dates:
Doddie JJ6 was last seen at the nest on Saturday 15th August 2020
Aila was last seen on Saturday 22nd August 2020
Captain JJ7 was last seen on Sunday 23rd August 2020
Vera JJ8 was last seen on Saturday 5 September.
An unidentified osprey was seen off camera on Sunday 6 September eating a fish. This could well have been Louis, having arrived and found no Vera around to feed.
Doddie JJ6 was videod and photographed fishing for over a fortnight at Avalon Marshes in Somerset
Link to July 2020 thread
Link to Youtube channel
Link to Woodland Trust Loch Arkaig page/webcam feed
Louis delivers a piece of biltong to the nest, but Vera takes it anyway, so we're calling it fish number four
Two final videos - a lttle bird visits at 16.37, and another blast from the past: dramatic scenes as Aila fights with an intruder Osprey on the nest 19 June 2019
Passing passerine pays a visit 16.37
Slo-Mo Aila in a dramatic fight 19 June 2019
Thanks GEMEFF Hope the intruder well and truely got the message and doesn't come back
JJ8/Vera giving it her all before she flew off still shouting
C WT Loch Arkaig
Thankfully Janet Sampson on FOA FB Group has suggested the word as being "Stereopsis" which is more like the word I was thinking of for the reason of the head bobbing from side to side, I cannot remember if it was the actual word or not but she has put me out of my misery of trying to remember it
EJ's Memorial Balgavies Loch Ospreys 2023
JJ8 was on the nest at 06.16 shouting for breakfast, and I could hear food calling in the distance as well, so they are both still here for yet another day.
The Heather is getting more colourful as each day passes. I love this time of year in Bonnie Scotland
© THE WOODLAND TRUST, LOCH ARKAIG OSPREY PROJECT - POST CODE LOTTERY
Sorry not to have contributed much to this thread over the last couple of weeks, but I have been off again up the West Coast making up for the months of lockdown.
Louis delivered a fish @ 0648 JJ7 was the victor. JJ8 looked so disappointed when he flew off with it.
MaryGK said:Thankfully Janet Sampson on FOA FB Group has suggested the word as being "Stereopsis" which is more like the word I was thinking of for the reason of the head bobbing from side to side, I cannot remember if it was the actual word or not but she has put me out of my misery of trying to remember it
Mary, that's good enough for me although I was looking for a word to describe the bobbing motion.
Anyway, I was reading a book on birds last night and there was a picture of an owl skull. I turned to the wife and said, look at the sclerotic rings on that skull. She said, I can't make them out very well, I just wish my visual acuity was better. I agreed with her and said if only we humans had double fovea like birds rather than just a single fovea things might be better. She suggested that maybe the absence of the pecten oculi in humans didn't help either. Ian
08.17, JJ8 is on the nest as Louis delivers about half a fish. Ian
(c) THE WOODLAND TRUST, LOCH ARKAIG OSPREY PROJECT - POST CODE LOTTERY
Vera shouting for more fish
(c) WT Loch Arkaig