LOCH ARKAIG - THE WOODLAND TRUST - February 2024 - May 2024

Welcome to Loch Arkaig Ospreys season 8

Will Louis and Dorcha return to Nest 2? White check mark

Will someone take up residence in Nest 1? Question

Will any of Louis' chicks with Aila and Dorcha be sighted? Question

2024 season:

Louis arrived on Thursday 28th March at 15.18.38

Dorcha arrived on Saturday 30th March at 14.21.27

They reunited on Saturday 30th March at 16.13.37

First egg laid on Sunday 14th March at 11.13.48  Congratulations!!

Second egg laid on Wednesday 17th March at 05.55.52

Dorcha is injured in an eagle attack on Friday 19th April at 11.08

Third egg laid on Saturday 20th April at 02.26.08 

Welcome little bob - first chick hatches! Wednesday 22nd May at 06.16.45 

Welcome little bob - second chick hatches - it's twins! Wednesday 22nd May at 22.26.15

Welcome little bob - third chick hatches! Friday 24th at 16.36.10

.

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

Link to 2023 thread: 

https://community.rspb.org.uk/placestovisit/lochgartenospreys/f/loch-garten-ospreys/282446/loch-arkaig---the-woodland-trust---march-2023-to-february-2024

Brief history of the nests:

2016 Woodland Trust acquire the Loch Arkaig ancient Caledonian rainforest remnant and manage it in partnership with Arkaig Community Forest. An Osprey pair is seen.
2017 A nest cam is installed on a refurbished ancient Osprey nest. The old pair don't return but 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.
2023 Louis & Dorcha return, and raise one male chicks to fledging: Ludo LY7. No residents on Nest 1 but male Garry LV0 spent a lot of time flirting with Affric 152 despite her mate Prince still being around.
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Louis is a father of eleven, six with Aila (2017-2020), and five with Dorcha (2021-)
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In hatch order 2017 - 2023:
2017 Lachlan (JH4)
2019 Mallie (JJ0), Rannoch (JJ2)
2020 Doddie (JJ6), Vera (JJ8), Captain (JJ7)
2021 Aspen (LW3), Alder (LW4)
2022 Willow (LW5), Sarafina (LW6)
2023 Ludo (LY7)
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Highlights:
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2023 Nest Two highlights https://youtu.be/frFhrnS7Vvo
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2023 Nest One highlights https://youtu.be/qpxRv2OIsFQ
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All captures in whatever format are copyright Woodland Trust - with many thanks for allowing captures from their nest cam livestreams.
Osprey cams funded by People's Postcode Lottery
  • Nest One 

    00.23.52 Owl seen flying quickly from under the nest, disappears left

    00.24.40 Barn Owl lands, perches on the centre perch

    00.25.36 Owl departs

    .

  • Nest One Crazy times! Affric 152 and Garry LV0 have been on and off the nest today - Affric was divebombed by an Osprey carrying a fish - looks like it was the one-ringed stranger from a few days ago!

    So maybe it is a female, and she fancies this nest?

    Meantime, Chaddie has reported from Bunarkaig, two Ospreys very settled there but too far away to identify who they are.

  • 15th April:

    Chaddie's Bunarkaig updates, and three long-lens videos of that pair:

    The Bunarkaig nest has been busy these last few days with a pair of Osprey, perhaps Prince and Affric but we dont know for sure, nesting, mating and generally in residence - at last!! And today the weather finally allowed me to get some images. Available on youtube as follows


    Please forgive the image quality. These were taken across 700m of Bunarkaig Bay on 70x magnification with a spotting scope fitted with a Tactacam camera on 4x zoom with our kitchen window open to avoid any glass infringement. Trouble is that the merest puff of wind wobbles the scope at that magnification and every atmospheric condition is magnified, hence the fuzzy image variations as heat and rain and mist effects are magnified. 
    I am a total novice at Youtube so hope this works. Most important, if anyone can positively identify these two birds please let us know. We have tried every which way to spot any leg rings but just cannot be sure - cant even see a flash of blue but we rarely see the legs due to the upward view angle. I will continue to try to get some better images as and when the awful weather we have been having improves (hopefully!!)

  • About the actual nest - Chaddie says:
     
    there was a natural nest tree very close by which was occupied, (all before WT nestcams existed) but it blew down one winter.
    Lewis Pate then built this one and he checks/maintains it.

    WTS George says:

    For newcomers - the Bunarkaig nest is to the east of Loch Arkaig, off Woodland Trust/Arkaig Community Forest land. 

    You might also see reference sometimes to a nest at the far west of the loch which is also off our patch.
    Lewis Pate, who rings the chicks from our nests also visits these two trees on neighbouring land so we often see good quality images of the chicks at ringing time.
    .
    Background:
    This is the nest that Fishy LV7 fledged from - he was ringed by Lewis  in 2022, and named 'Fishy' by Lewis' young son who accompanied him that day. (Oh to have a dad who's a licensed Osprey ringer!)
    It's suspected the Bunarkaig pair - and Fishy LV7's parents - are Prince & Affric 152, but not confirmed.
    However, we know that nest failed mid-season last year, and about the same time Prince and Affric started showing up at Nest One, so it does seem likely they are indeed the Bunarkaig pair.
     
  • 12.27 - 12.51 Interesting triangular encounter on Nest One - with a new player! Lightly edited version with slo-mo and zoom

    Here's how it happened (buckle up - it's a bumpy ride!

    One-ring divebombs or flies overhead eight separate times! So I think this is indeed a female - surely a male would have been more welcoming towards Affric? - who wants her off a nest she might very well fancy for herself. Wouldn't that be nice. 


    12.27.19 Affric 152 flies into view, from right to left
    12.27.21 Affric 152 lands
    12.27.24 One-ringed Osprey carrying a fish flashes past over her - surely the one from 2nd & 4th April
    12.27.35 Affric 152 leaves the nest flying towards the right, Garry LV0 flies from the knolls over towards her and drops some nesting material as he goes
    12:32:28 Affric 152 returns and lands on the nest
    12.32.30 One-ring flies over clutching the fish
    12.32.44 Garry LV0's feet are just visible overhead
    12.38.00 Affric 152 flies up to the perch
    12.48.58 Garry LV0 comes into sight on the right, lands on Affric for an unsuccessful mating attempt
    12.49.03 Garry LV0 flies off to the left
    12:49:35 One-ring still with the fish divebombs Affric152. The intruder's silver BT0 ring is clearly visible
    12.49.39 Affric 152 watches something overhead, acting defensively
    12.49.43 One-ring and fish flies very low over Affric 152 on the left
    12.49.50 A bird flies rapidly from left to right in front of the knolls
    12.49.57 Garry LV0 flies in from the left as the other bird flies out of sight, and circles towards Affric 152
    12.50.00 Garry LV0 lands on the nest next to her perch, defensive, mantling, giving warning calls
    12.50.11 Garry LV0 departs left in a hurry
    12.50.12 One-ring and fish storm in from the right directly over Affric 152
    12.50.35 Affric 152 prepares for another onslaught
    12.50.37 One-Ring and fish comes in again from the left (just eat that fish, for goodness sake!)
    12.50.45 One-ring is seen overhead on the right a little distance from the nest, flies to the left out of sight
    12.50.53 She must have circled back - appears from the right and divebombs Affric 152 again
    12.50.58 Osprey appears on the left in the distance, flies out of sight to the right, watched by Affric 152
    12.51.04 Affric 152 has had enough and departs flying to the left departs as a wingtip appears above her.



  • Dorcha doesn't take long to sort out Louis' awkward stick! 13.11.23

  • Nest One 

    13.17.01 LV0 lands

    13.18.49 A Hoodie lands on the centre perch, stays four seconds, LV0 looks at it and it departs.

    13.21.45 LV0 departs

  • Louis delivers fish number one and only, a headless Brown Trout very late 15.23.40

  • Daily summary Tuesday 16th April 2024

    It was an exhausting day over on Nest One - and that was just the watchers trying to keep track of it all! A new triangle appears to be developing, as the one-ringed stranger who's visited twice before made her? presence felt. Affric 152 was divebombed repeatedly as One-ring made eight separate incursions in the space of 14 minutes. Garry LV0 put in an appearance while this was going on, but seemed to think it was a great opportunity to attempt mating. The stranger was carrying a fish during all the action, with luck it didn't die in vain and she got to eat it eventually. It was much quieter on Nest Two, Louis and Dorcha shared egg-sitting duties and had fun with an ungainly stick, but only one fish was delivered, so the tally now stands at forty. The weather was much more settled, and the forecast for Inver Mallie is partly cloudy and light winds tonight.

    Night cam switchover (day cam): Nest One 21.40.03 (05.23.11); Nest Two 21.35.13 (05.28.03)

    Today’s videos:
    https://youtu.be/qYLZK_Iym44 Barn Owl visits Nest One 00.23.52
    https://youtu.be/g4S95JxjN_k Interesting triangular encounter on Nest One - with a new player! 12.27-12.51
    https://youtu.be/GH6XNHVJR1M Dorcha didn't take long to sort out Louis' awkward stick! 13.11.23
    https://youtu.be/OI9pOORSzXA Nest One A Hoodie lands, interrupting Garry's nest prep 13.17.01
    https://youtu.be/dgfkz-rei40 Fish number one and only, headless BT 15.23.40


    Bonus action - if you're eggcited by the first egg, anticipating a second tomorrow and have any spare funds...
    https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/support-us/give/donate/

    Blast from the past, this day in previous years:
    https://youtu.be/I-VmcgzVveY Aila watches a Red Deer near the nest 2020
    https://youtu.be/7_XmXGafimM Louis skydances in vain 2021
    https://youtu.be/CJl9LiQ23eQ Louis is vertically challenged 2021
    https://youtu.be/XNiNQjkUSBs Louis does his demented penguin impression 2022
    https://youtu.be/3g5njmmeykE Comedy as Louis forgets he's got a fish and tries mating! 2022
    https://youtu.be/mJrYkJieaSo N1: A Robin sings in the dark 2023
    https://youtu.be/krmpSP7wVU0 Louis does a flypast with fish number two 2023
  • Congratulations on the 2nd egg this morning 05.55 Hugging TadaTadaTada

    There is so much going on between these two nests Geemeff, I don’t know how you keep track of it all, your updates/videos/photos and extra bonus videos for us to watch. Thank you. Clap