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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

  • 07/09/2023 23:54

    Giant spider caught on Nest One night cam (21.12)

  • 07/09/2023 23:55

    Daily summary Thursday 7th September 2023

    The only action was a Great Tit visiting Nest One today, either the same bird on three occasions, or different individuals, and a spider getting up close and personal with night cam, also on Nest One. Our family should be well on their way to Africa now, or perhaps they'll join the growing number of UK Ospreys who overwinter in Spain and Portugal. Tonight's bonus is an Osprey-eye journey from Scotland to the Gambia.

  • 08/09/2023 23:27

    Blast from the past - on this day last year we had our final sighting of Louis in 2022 before he returned in April this year.

    We will be counting the days until we see him again next April..

  • 08/09/2023 23:30

    Daily summary Friday 8th September 2023

    A few small birds and another visit by the RAF, heard not seen, was the only activity today. Sarafina (LW6) was still here on this day last year, but we had our last glimpse of Louis before he returned this year to start the season which has just ended. The family's gone, but we'll have the nest cam views available via livestream for as long as the solar panels hold out, with many thanks to Woodland Trust and People's Postcode Lottery.

    Some bonus feelgood moments:

    Together again: the reunion of Aila & Louis (2018)

    Together again: the reunion of Aila & Louis (2019)

    Together again: the reunion of Aila & Louis (2020)

    Together again: the reunion of Louis & Dorcha (2022)

  • 10/09/2023 00:29

    Blast from the past:

    Confirmed - final sighting of Sarafina LW6 9th September 2022

  • 10/09/2023 00:30

    14.01 Three Bullfinches (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) visit Nest Two

  • 10/09/2023 00:31
    Daily summary Saturday 9th September 2023

    This day last year saw the final appearance of Sarafina LW6 on the nest, which means that apart from a few occasional visitors to the nests and the atmospheric scenery of their surroundings, there'll be no more videos to pad out the increasingly thin daily summaries. Therefore tomorrow will be the last summary for this season, and will include my highlights video for 2023.
  • 10/09/2023 21:38

    Final daily summary: Sunday 10th September 2023

    Here's my Loch Arkaig Ospreys season 2023 highlights - captures from Nest Cam Two. I'll be doing a separate highlights video for Nest One in due course which will be on my YouTube channel and I'll also post it here and on our winter home on Adam's site, https://walkingwithdaddy.com/osprey/. We've been richly entertained by the events on both nests, wonder how the love triangle on Nest One will resolve itself? Hoping for two resident families next year!

    Many thanks to everyone for their company during the season, special thanks to George and Woodland Trust for allowing me to clip bits off their livestreams for my amusement, and Postcode Lottery for funding the nest cams.

  • 11/09/2023 20:29 in reply to Geemeff
    Absolutely fabulous recap video Geemeff. Thank you so much. “Fair winds and plenty of fish” indeed. Hugging
  • 13/09/2023 12:02

    Last night's colourful sunset seen from Cam Two. Part of my Artistic Ospreys series. In 25x quicktime, set to Prelude in B Minor by JS Bach (the Siloti arrangement).