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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

  • 09/06/2023 08:38

    8th June 13.41.12  Louis brings fish number two

  • 09/06/2023 08:44

    8th June 15.51.00 When fish number three turns up, the chick initially faces dad, but eventually realises its mistake and turns round toward Dorcha.

  • 09/06/2023 08:47

    8th June Nest One 17.42 Careful! LV0 arrives and lands awkwardly on Affric  - he slides off and she picks herself up. No sign of Prince.

  • 09/06/2023 08:53

    8th June Nest One  20.25 LV0 attempts mating, Affric  but she rejects him emphatically with lots of wing action until he moves off her.

  • 09/06/2023 08:55

    8th June: The wind picks up and by the time Louis paid a final visit at 22.01 - checking up on his family? Quick chat with Dorcha? -  it's blowing a hoolie. Bob is safely tucked under Dorcha. The egg is also tucked away - we're informed the ringer will remove it if it's still there in a few weeks.

  • 10/06/2023 09:45
    Daily summary Friday 9th June 2023

    It was a quiet day on Nest Two, except for the bob throwing another strop, which Dorcha handled by taking a timeout. Not sure what the tantrum was about as there was plenty of fish from the five deliveries made by Louis, which raised the tally to 150. The main action was over on Nest One where Affric and LV0 made regular appearances with and without fish, and he tried his luck with her again, and was rejected again. Ringed birds on the nest made it easy to confirm what was going on, however it got a bit confusing when there were pursuits of and by unringed birds not seen very clearly, was it Prince or Louis or both who were getting involved? Looking forward to what tomorrow brings.
  • 10/06/2023 09:54

    Apologies for late posting - with the forum being teeth-grindingly slow recently, lots of activity on both nests at Loch Arkaig and lots going on personally,I'm finding it easier to post the following morning. Perhaps RSPB will sort out the forum soon...

    Here are the first two of five fish delivered Friday 9th June:

    Fish number one 04.22.08

    Fish number two 09.23.28

  • 10/06/2023 09:59

    Friday 9th June 08.34 - bob threw another strop and Dorcha eventually dealt with it by taking a timeout. I did a long video clip in quicktime, the beginning and end are in real time. That bob is really feisty! Would it have been the same with two older, bigger siblings? I'm beginning to think it would!

  • 10/06/2023 10:19

    Friday 9th June

    Fish number three  11.07.11

    Fish number four 16:08:25

  • 10/06/2023 10:27

    9th June Nest One 12.45.33  Affric arrives with a fish followed by LV0  - she must have received it off-nest and initially fooled me thinking LV0 was the one with the fish, as is usually the case. She stayed only a few moment before departing, leaving him on the nest with no sign of Prince.