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

Nest One - 09.58.01 Prince brings moss, Affric arrives, and then the little bird who had practically taken up residence arrives and scares Affric off the nest!

10.24.34 High drama on Nest One - Prince and Affric are there when an intruder literally drops in! I had to zoom to spot that it's 2020 Loch Garry male LV0 back again. He doesn't get to land though as the other two go into full defensive mode and get rid of him. Very encouraging that they're thinking of this nest as theirs.

15.11.58 Louis delivers a third fish. The bob is going to double in size every day at this rate, as there's no sign of the remaining egg pipping so bob could well have the undivided attention of Dorcha & Louis.

20.34.21 Another fish arrives - number four today. There's half-eaten fish on the nest and in this heat, there'll be more flies than ever. Luckily, they don't seem as bothered as me about all the insects.

20.38 This is very promising - mating attempts on Nest One. Too late for a second clutch this season though, but important pair-bonding in view of their failed nest at Bunarkaig. But why does Prince need such a long run-up?

Happy first birthday Sarafina!

Hatched 2/6/2022 on Jubilee Day Darvic ring LW6 (egg laid 27/4) fledged 31/7 last seen 9/9/2022

Glider said:

Thanks for all your updates Geemeff, as well as seeing Louis and Dorcha doing so well, it looks promising on nest 1. I’m also loving all the happy birthday messages and clips.

It does look very promising on Nest One. Sad for Prince and Affric that their Bunarkaig nest failed, but good news for us if they take up residence on N1. 

On Nest Two, there’s no sign of the other egg pipping.The cam has been further zoomed in so we’re getting lovely closeups.

04.06.36 Prince arrives early on N1, waits an hour, just quietly perching and doing a little preening. Affric doesn’t appear so he departs.

When did Prince appear first Geemeff please ? I'm not familiar with  him. With all the 'stray' 2 year old females around I'm disappointed he has yet found a mate

Unknown said:

When did Prince appear first Geemeff please ? I'm not familiar with  him. With all the 'stray' 2 year old females around I'm disappointed he has yet found a mate

Are you sitting comfortably?

Prince turned up on the nest on 7th April 2021, before Louis turned up. He was moved on when Louis arrived, but of course, Louis didn't stick around once Aila failed to return so Prince returned from time to time. At that stage he was referred to as The Stranger. However, a young male turned up in Bunarkaig and was referred to as Prince and also the Young Pretender (or YP) after Bonnie Prince Charlie and the legend of the lost Jacobite gold hidden in Loch Arkaig. 

A young ringed female, Blue 152, also turned up on Nest One, first time on 26th April 2021, and gradually throughout 2021 they started to pair-bond. But he was clearly young and inexperienced and didn't bring her fish, and the few mating attempts didn't seem successful. We saw them on the nest multiple times throughout April and May but not after that. However there were reports of a pair on the Bunarkaig nest who appeared to be showing incubating behaviour, and one had a blue Darvic but never seen close enough to read it. It was presumed it was this pair. On 18th May we got Blue 152's ringing info: Blue 152 is one of a brood of two females and a male ringed on 5 July 2018 in Glen Affric, which is about 25-30 miles (as the osprey flies) due north of Loch Arkaig. Glen Affric is one of the most beautiful places in Scotland and home to some very spectacular ancient Caledonian pinewood. This is the first sighting of her or any of that brood since ringing so the ringer was very pleased to hear about her. She was then named Affric.

At ringing time Lewis Pate reported one nest had infertile eggs and another natural nest on the other side of the loch had collapsed. Around this time, early July 2021, Affric (Blue 152) and The Stranger started turning up on Nest One again for brief visits and it was decided it was the same male and he was now just called Prince. 

We didn't see them after July 2021, but they both turned up again on the nest in April 2022 and hopes were raised. However they stopped coming and in May we got reports the Bunarkaig nest was occupied again. When Lewis did the ringing rounds in July last year, that nest had one chick - named Fishy by Lewis' young son! - but he didn't see the parents close enough to verify identity. 

This year we had reports of the Bunarkaig nest being occupied and incubating behaviour witnessed, we even got a couple of long-lens photos, but the shape of the nest means you can only see the adults' heads, not into the nest cup. There was mention again of a possible blue flash but no definite ID. However it was generally agreed that logically it was Prince and Affric. Then suddenly the nest was abandoned, and they started turning up again on Nest One late last month. In fact, Affric turned up first, but with Blue LV0 and no sign of Prince, on 20th May. Prince only showed up on 31st May, and he's been hopping on and off ever since.

We don't know what happened to their Bunarkaig nest - predation of the eggs, or did something happen to Prince causing Affric to abandon the nest? LV0 tried to intrude on them on Nest One yesterday but was furiously repelled by both Affric and Prince and they returned last night and indulged in some mating activity so it looks like they are still firmly pair-bonded.

This morning Prince turned up on Nest One very early, waited an hour but Affric didn't arrive so he left again.

That's his / their history up to date. Will be fascinating to see what happens next, especially now LV0 is around again - he intruded on Willow and Sarafina on Nest Two last year. LV0 is a 2020 male from nearby Loch Garry. (I'm glad he wasn't named Garry, doesn't seem right for an Osprey!)