Loch Arkaig Ospreys season 7
Will Louis and Dorcha return to Nest 2?
Will someone take up residence in Nest 1?
Will any of Aila & Louis' chicks be seen (Doddie JJ6 is a good bet!)
Link to 2022 thread (season 6)
community.rspb.org.uk/.../1394415
2023 season highlights:
Louis returned on Sunday 2nd April at 12.26.54
Dorcha returned on Sunday 9th April 08.09.46
They reunited on Monday 10th April at 12.33.03
First egg laid Friday 21st April at 05.44.19
A Golden Eagle touched down on Saturday 22nd April at 11.50.56
Second egg laid Monday 24th April at 07.03.30
Third egg laid on Thursday 27th April at 07.35.39
Violent Owl strike sends an egg overboard 23rd May at 00.26.46
First chick hatches - and it's Egg3! 31st May at 13.08
Another Owl strike - Bob's unharmed. 6th June at 00.18.16
It's a boy! The chick is ringed LY7 on 9th July around 10am
Fledge! LY7 finds his wings and flies 19th July at 15.05.11
Hello Ludo! The voting results are in and LY7 is named Ludo! 19th July
Dorcha leaves on her travels - last seen on 17th August at 06.30.34
Louis was last seen on 24th August at 15.50.34
Ludo LY7 was last seen* on 25th August at 10.03.28 (*on the nest)
Ludo sighted in France 24th September! Still there 8th October
We wish all of them fair winds and fine fishing, and hope to see the adults safely back in 2024!
Brief history of the nests:
Link to Woodland Trust Osprey page: keeps coming up as blocked! Weird! copy and paste then join up:
https:// www woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/
community.rspb.org.uk/.../loch-arkaig---the-woodland-trust---march-2022-to-end-of-february-2023
Dorcha bringing her one and only fish on 18th August 2022 before departing and not being seen again
Louis incubating the eggs while Aila is seen flying with a fish in the misty distance on 9th May 2020.
All captures in whatever format are copyright Woodland Trust - with many thanks for allowing captures from their nest cam livestreams
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
Oh no! Awful, just awful...
The owl attack in real time - there were three strikes, the first knocked Dorcha off, the second she withstood, but the third was a sustained attack which saw the egg go flying.
The egg is highlighted in this video, skip towards the end. It's mainly in real time but I slow it down at the moment the egg is visible.
Forum consensus is that it's not egg three, but not sure if it's E1 or E2. Hatch date will tell us. That's if the owl doesn't return..
Back to regular business - Louis brought an early breakfast for Dorcha at 05.06
10.09 Blue 152 paid a visit to Nest One. This is the second time she's been seen here without Prince - where is he?
13.53 Louis delivered a second fish. The remaining two eggs are clearly visible - no sign of damage, but we'll have to wait and see if both hatch.
The first egg will be 37 days on the 28th (laid 21st April) and the second will be 37 on the 31st (laid 24th April). The paler third egg is still on the nest, laid 27th April, will be 37 days on 3rd June. If E2 was lost, then there'll be a potential five day gap between chicks - not good for the littlest one.
17.08 Louis must have been out on intruder patrol - he landed on Nest One with a few chirrups and stayed a few moments before flying off again. Didn't bring any sticks this time.