Welcome to Loch Arkaig Ospreys season 8
Will Louis and Dorcha return to Nest 2?
Will someone take up residence in Nest 1?
Will any of Louis' chicks with Aila and Dorcha be sighted?
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
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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:
Great summary Geemeff, many thanks!
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
09.43 Louis alarm calls and circles a white van before returning to the nest
Louis brings a stick to the nest at 14:38:40. It's an excellent potential cot rail.
However at 14:39:04 Louis carefully drops the new addition over the edge of the nest.
Cut to him returning at 14.49.28 riding in on a new stick. That one stays on the nest, and he does a bit of nest-prep.
Nest Two 08.03.26 A Great Tit (Parus Major) visits but didn’t stay long. Interesting that there’s been very little visitor activity over the winter, unlike N1, but as soon as Louis appears, a songbird does too.
Steve Q noticed that last night when Louis was on the nest, chaffinches, great and coal tits all started to sing, nice to have a welcoming committee..
Me: "Why do birds suddenly appear,Every time you are near,Just like me, they long to beClose to you" (The Carpenters 1970)
Nest One also had a visit from a songbird, a Coal Tit. It hops up at 10.54 and spends just a few seconds before disappearing underneath it.
Just to let you know that the bird in the second clip (17 secs) is a Coal Tit
Richard B
Daily summary Friday 29th March 2024Today was a quiet day, with no sign of Dorcha, unless she sneaked in and out while the cam was down ( 04.57 - 07.15). But that's highly unlikely as she would have returned demanding fish from Louis, whose arrival has been noted in the media with many national newspapers picking up the story of 'Lockdown Louis'. He spent a great deal of time on the nest either keeping watch, unusually from her perch, or doing nest prep. He brought sticks, and lost sticks, and went off to investigate a white van, but if he caught any fish, he didn't bring them to the nest, so the count is at zero. Louis departed for the day at 15.23.Today's videos:https://youtu.be/7gEKOhl8AZs A Great Tit (Parus Major) visits Nest Two 08.03https://youtu.be/nHGOQy5BO08 Louis alarm calls, circles a white van, returns 09.43https://youtu.be/xDUpjiPcuUI Nest One has a visit from a Coal Tit (Periparus ater) 10.54https://youtu.be/Q6Oybclbep4 Louis brings a stick, loses it, brings another 14:38Bonus read - Lockdown Louis in the news:https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/louis-highlands-lochaber-postcode-lottery-b2520593.htmlBonus action - different ways to support Woodland Trust:https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/support-us/give/Blast from the past - some recent visitors before the comments re-opened:https://youtu.be/qLoeVvcWses The Buzzard returns to the nest very agitated and is chased off 15 Marchhttps://youtu.be/KrB3y3jyPs8 What snack does the Buzzard bring to Nest One? 15 March (zoom)https://youtu.be/2WY9KbmSHBY A Barn Owl (Tyto alba) pays a midnight visit to Nest One 17 Marchhttps://youtu.be/345_uOM5h6Y Tawny Owl visits Nest One 19 March (zoom)https://youtu.be/pZLT8JiWdVs Dramatic fight on Nest One as one Buzzard sees off another 22 March (zoom)
Richard G B said:Just to let you know that the bird in the second clip (17 secs) is a Coal Tit
That's me getting complacent, thinking I've sussed small-bird ID! Thank you Richard, now amended.
BBC One 07.22 George and Louis starring on BBC Breakfast with Roger Johnson and Naga Munchetty. Nice big segment, at least 5 minutes.
Aww, lovely wee feature on Louis. Thanks Geemeff.