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LOCH ARKAIG - THE WOODLAND TRUST - March 2023 to February 2024

Geemeff
01/03/2023 20:23

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:

2016 Woodland Trust acquire the Loch Arkaig ancient rainforest remnant and manage it in partnership with Arkaig Community Forest.
2017 A nest cam is installed on a refurbished Osprey nest. A young male Louis and a young female Aila take up residence and raise one male chick to fledging: Lachlan JH4.
2018 Louis & Aila return but a Pine Marten steals all their eggs.
2019 Louis & Aila return and raise two female chicks to fledging: Mallie JJ0 and Rannoch JJ2.
2020 Louis & Aila return and raise two male and one female chicks to fledging: Doddie JJ6; Vera JJ8 and Captain JJ7.
2021 Louis returns but sadly Aila doesn't. Louis takes up residence on a new nest with a new mate Dorcha and they raise two male chicks to fledging: Aspen LW3 and Alder LW4. This is designated Nest 2, no one takes up residence on Nest 1.
2022 Woodland Trust install a nest cam on Nest 2. Louis & Dorcha return and raise two female chicks to fledging: Willow LW5 and Sarafina LW6. Still no residents on Nest 1.
2022 season: Louis and Dorcha returned to Nest Two on 12th April, laid three eggs 24 and 27th April and 1st May.
The first chick hatched on 31st May, the second on Jubilee Day 2nd June and the third on 5th June but sadly passed away on 12th June.
The other two progressed rapidly and were ringed LW5 (eldest ) and LW6 (younger) on 12th July, and both gender assessed as female.
Willow (LW5) fledged 25th July and Sarafina (LW6) 31st July.
Last seen on the nest: Dorcha 18th August, Willow 28th August, Louis 8th September and Sarafina 9th September.

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

  • 08/06/2023 11:19

    Nest One 7th June  LV0's turn to visit the nest - no sign of the others 16.08

  • 08/06/2023 11:20

    Nest One 7th June Prince brings fish, but won't give it to Affric, and takes it away 17.51

  • 08/06/2023 11:21

    Nest One 7th June Affric waits for over two hours, fish calling then finally leaves. Half an hour later, Prince turns up to an empty nest with a late evening fish 21.31!

  • 08/06/2023 11:23
    Wednesday 7th June was a very interesting day - summary:

    No disturbances through the night, and super dad Louis turned up twice before dawn with two fish. He delivered another two later in the day, taking the tally from 138 to 142. Neither a huge golf ball crop nor a noisy RAF flypast stopped bob from demanding - and getting - more food, s/he is growing as we watch and the unsuitably large morsels offered by Dorcha today will be easily dealt with next week - plenty of food at this nest.

    However over on Nest One the intrigue continues. Prince and Affric visited throughout the day either together or alone - Prince gave her a fish in the morning but refused to let her have his fish in the afternoon, snatched it back and flew off with it leaving her calling in vain on the nest for hours. When she eventually left, he turned up again with the same or possibly a new fish, looked around as if seeking her, then left again! What on earth is going on? In between their visits, LV0 arrived and also seemed to be looking for someone - Affric perhaps? Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Lochenders!
  • 08/06/2023 12:01

    Thursday 8th June 04.46.15  Louis delivers an early breakfast. Fish number one, medium brown trout

  • 08/06/2023 12:03

    And we're off again! Nest One drama as Louis arrives and sees off LV0 this morning 08.02. I zoomed in and did a slo-mo for the few frames where LV0 is closest to the nest.

  • 08/06/2023 12:07

    Nest One saga continues when LV0 brings Affric a fish, no sign of Prince or Louis!

    10.21.27 Affric arrives

    10.24.15 LV0 brings her a fish

    10.24.27 Affric departs with the fish, LV0 stays and does a bit of half-hearted nestorising including some nest-cupping

    10.29.29 LV0 departs

  • 08/06/2023 15:34

    09.22 Meantime, over on Nest Two, bob's having a tantrum. It's hot, new feathers coming through are itchy, and the nest is full of bugs. Or maybe it's none of these, and just the stage of development - whatever, Dorcha's seen it all before, ignores it and stops the attack by sitting down on top of bob.

  • 08/06/2023 16:03
    Stroppy little kid, good job it wasn't in the middle of Tesco's! Lol

    **Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Lochenders!**
    Love this!!

     

     2013 photos & vids here

    eff37 on Flickr

  • 09/06/2023 08:27 in reply to WendyBartter
    WendyBartter said:
    Stroppy little kid, good job it wasn't in the middle of Tesco's! Lol

    **Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Lochenders!**
    Love this!!

    Ha ha, had a vision of Dorcha in a tracksuit pushing a trolley with the chick throwing a strop by the fish counter  Shopping cart FishRofl 

    This is a feisty one - I wonder if it would have been this feisty with two older bigger siblings? We'll never know, but I suspect it would have. Since all our hopes rest on this little one, it is really wonderful to see this level of determination.