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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

  • 30/06/2023 15:28

    12.56.22 Nest Two

    Mind the gap! As anyone who's ever travelled on the London Underground knows, this is very important - luckily chick does just that and like a rugby player taking a penalty, aims and fires neatly in the gap, missing both Louis on the centre perch and Dorcha on the right.

  • 30/06/2023 16:02

    15.18.03 Fish number three arrives and disappears in five minutes 58 seconds!

  • 01/07/2023 00:14 in reply to Geemeff
    Geemeff said:

    Thursday 29th June 18.47

    Four week old chick looks enormous exercising its new wings - hatched 31st May so four weeks on the 28th - phenomenal rate of growth, a privilege to be able to observe every step of the way.

    https://youtu.be/CtkFrypee0Y

    —————————————————————————————————————

    Agreed Geemeff, this is indeed a very large 4 week old chick!

  • 01/07/2023 19:14

    Friday 30th June 17.39.27

    Fish number four, headless BT

  • 01/07/2023 19:15

    Friday 30th June 17.46

    Affric departs Nest One for the day - no further action on that nest

  • 01/07/2023 19:17

    Friday 30th June 21.04.28

    Louis brings a fifth fish. Fish number five is a headless flatfish - first of the season

  • 01/07/2023 19:20

    Friday 30th June 23.02.33

    Louis leaves the nest after delivering fish five, and flies to the Scots Pine and perches for nearly two hours.

    He keeps watch over the chick while Dorcha goes flyabout. and only departs for the night from his perch at 11pm

  • 01/07/2023 19:20
    Daily summary Friday 30th June 2023

    Wet and windy overnight and into the morning but both Louis and Garry fished successfully and brought early breakfasts for their partners. Garry tried his luck again with Affric, received the inevitable refusal, and no further fish was forthcoming although she waited around until late afternoon before leaving Nest One. Dorcha on the other hand was the recipient of five fish which included the first flatfish of the season and took the tally to 218. She was clearly hungry, polishing off one fish in under six minutes, and calling for more fish when Louis perched on the Scots Pine after delivering the fifth one. The enormous chick is very well fed, but what goes in comes out, and the chick showed remarkable aim by finding the gap and eschewing the opportunity to decorate both parents.
  • 01/07/2023 19:23
    Woodland Trust website maintenance:

    The planned website upgrade appears to have been completed today with minor disturbances, however some were having problems accessing the Woodland Trust site - if you're affected, try changing your browser or clearing cookies.

    Or just wait a while, refresh and / or reboot, and you should get in with no problem. The livestreams weren't affected.
  • 01/07/2023 19:25

    Saturday 1st July Nest One 05.01.23

    Skydancing heard before Garry arrives with a twig. He does a little tidying, looks around, no one turns up - who was skydancing? and departs ten minutes at 05.11