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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

  • 23/08/2023 00:15

    12.07 Ludo's on the nest with his fish - a Hoodie appears off to the right side. Ludo gets agitated but eventually takes a few bits of fish.

    12.08 The Hoodie suddenly lunges forward and bites Ludo's tail! Hoodie is seen off by an indignant flapping Ludo but doesn't go far

    12.42.12 Cheeky Hoodie hops up on the nest again and Ludo's had enough and departs with his fish

  • 23/08/2023 00:17

    Corvid conference: three Jays and a Hoodie 12.42

  • 23/08/2023 00:20
    Daily summary Tuesday 22nd August 2023

    The weather was foul overnight, clearing up during the day but still very windy. Given the conditions, Louis did well to get one fish to Ludo, a big juicy trout which he'd munched on before delivering. The tally now stands at 388. The Hoodies were around a lot, and one cheeky juvenile actually hopped up onto the nest and tweaked Ludo's tail! All caught on nest cam, courtesy of funding from the players of People's Postcode Lottery and the far-sighted folk at Woodland Trust who made the genius decision to install the cameras. Later a Corvid conference took place on Nest Two, with three Jays and a Hoodie in attendance, and before that, two pairs of songbirds investigated Nest One, meaning other species outnumbered Ospreys today, preparing us for the fast-arriving time when we won't see any Ospreys at all.
  • 23/08/2023 13:22

    Wednesday 23rd August

    Last sighting - on this day in 2020 we saw Captain JJ7 for the last time on the nest. He flew to Pole Tree and perched there for a little while before flying off behind the knoll at 09.58, not to be seen again:

  • 24/08/2023 00:40

    06:47.37 a visitor on the left branch, with a speckled back with a white chest - it's a TreeCreeper.

    Such a fleeting visit so I zoomed in. Looks like a plump little juvenile, but my knowledge of little birds is low to zero..

  • 24/08/2023 00:42

    08.16.51 A Coal Tit pays a quick visit

    08.17.24 A male Chaffinch pops up on the centre edge

  • 24/08/2023 00:45

    18.34 Ludo is on the nest ready and waiting, it's been 18 hours since his one and only fish yesterday

    18.34.47 Louis lands with fish number one, a medium whole trout.

    It's been a busy day for him, intruder alarms and choppy water have prevented him fishing until now.

    Ludo grabs it and Louis departs quickly

  • 24/08/2023 00:46

    19.38.05 Fish number two, flatfish

    19.33.56 Osprey seen flying right to left

    19.34.30 Osprey flies towards the nest cam, disappears off to the right

    19.35.00 Ludo lands, calling

    19.38.05 Louis lands with fish number two, a whole flatfish

    19.38.13 Louis departs, Ludo starts tucking in, turns to watch the distant small shape of Louis head back towards the loch

    Louis is looking very thin, he should keep number three for himself.. not bring it to the nest.

  • 24/08/2023 00:47

    20.47.07 Ludo departs without his fish.

    Will the Hoodies get there first tomorrow, or will Ludo have leftovers for breakfast?

  • 24/08/2023 00:48

    Daily summary Wednesday 23rd August 2023

    For a while it looked like Ludo LY7 might have headed south, but soon his familiar call was causing the volume to be lowered on multiple devices around the world. He had to wait a while as Louis was busy chasing intruders, judging by the alarm calls heard, but patience paid off and he was rewarded with two fish. Those deliveries took the tally to 390, perhaps we will see 400 before the season ends, although SteveQ's latest fishy stats show a drop off in deliveries compared to this time last year. No activity on Nest One, but Nest Two had a few other birds visiting - Dyson, a Jay, a few of the usual passerines, and a plump little TreeCreeper.