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:
Thursday 23rd May
N2 Hangry bob throws a strop 19.03.32
19.03.30 Dorcha is brooding the bobs and slips out and starts raising its neck and begging for food over and over.
She takes no notice as there's no fish available, but bob carries on, and throws itself down dramatically, having a strop.
After a couple of minutes of this, Dorcha gathers the bob under her.
Thanks to forum member BrendaJ for spotting this.
Louis brings a second fish and Dorcha feeds it to the eager bobs
19.47.46 Fish number two, whole small trout, arrives. Dorcha takes it immediately and commences feeding, two gaping little beaks demand attention
19.48.21 Louis departs, leaving more room for the watchers to better see the chicks
Daily summary Thursday 23rd May 2024
This time last year, we were mourning the loss of an egg to owl-strike. No such misfortune today, just a bit of drama around whether or not Egg3 was hatching. It wasn't - just the discarded shell belonging to one of the bobs had fallen and covered Egg3. The two bobs go from strength to strength, one even went walkabout, escaping from under Dorcha who looked at it for a while before changing position to gather it safely back under her again. Louis brought two fish, taking his tally to one hundred and thirteen, but one of the bobs clearly thought he should have brought more, indicating hunger by throwing a bit of a strop, however when Louis had tried to feed them earlier, neither bob was interested. Nest One saw another visit from Garry LV0 who brought moss and did a bit of nest prep. No sign of Aida, has she ditched him and flown off? Like most things to do with Nest One, the answer remains: wait and see. Tonight's forecast is for light cloud and light winds, with a prospect of sunshine tomorrow.
Night cam switchover (day cam): Nest One 23.00.34 (04.08.17); Nest Two 22.30.44 (04.23.58)
Today’s videos:
https://youtu.be/MZVDQe95bwI N2 Fish number one, headless trout 09.21.14
https://youtu.be/AMc8ReE8Fg0 N2 Louis is desperate to feed the bobs but no takers 11.41
https://youtu.be/H9vFCtETUbs N1 Garry LV0 visits bringing moss 16.55.46
https://youtu.be/-6rc08zRuJ8 N2 One of the bobs goes walkabout! 17.52.36
https://youtu.be/yYi4PLT4xp8 N2 Hangry bob throws a strop 19.03.32
https://youtu.be/GPmJrgBkVkQ N2 Fish number two, whole small trout 19.47.46
Bonus info - have a read, or a re-read, of fascinating facts and behind the scenes info about the family and the nest cams:
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/faqs/
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/behind-the-scenes/
Blast from the past, this day in various years:
https://youtu.be/7byHnytYgDM N1 Aila ejects Louis with a tail lift 2020
https://youtu.be/A9chb-WGhQY N1 Comical changeover: Aila employs multiple methods to eject Louis 2020
https://youtu.be/oOWKR2b9cTU N1 Aila mis-times her landing 2020
https://youtu.be/jUoQitP_8dQ N1 & N2 RAF Atlas A400M caught on both cams 2022
https://youtu.be/EYJRrJjvcnc Owl strike! Hard and fast strike on Dorcha 2022
https://youtu.be/rvztzDEpikI N2 Owl strike - the tragic moment the egg is lost 2023 (real-time)
https://youtu.be/cjyUqfJ7Q40 N2 Owl strike - the tragic moment the egg is lost 2023 (super slo-mo)
https://youtu.be/sf1pbQvpwQU N1 Blue 152 pays a solo visit 2023
https://youtu.be/vc8PmGAE7L4 N1 Louis visits Nest One 2023
Nest One Little songbird visits 05.45.18
05.45.18 A little song bird, Great Tit? flies onto the centre perch
05.45.40 it departs, flying up to the cam pole and directly past the lens, looking huge in extreme closeup.
Nest Two Oh no! Little bob goes flying!
08.12 Dorcha starts fussing with the nest furnishings, and moves a stick.
Unfortunately, one of the bobs happened to be hanging on to it
08.13.14 Little bob goes flying off the end of the stick!
Luckily, it lands unhurt back into the nest cup. A lucky escape for that one.
Meantime, Dorcha drops the stick and stands on the other one!
08.54.30 Dorcha stands up, and the two bobs square up to each other.
While they attempt to battle each other, it's seen that the third egg has a pip in it.
Hatching has begun, the third and last chick is on the way.
These first two bobs two are so precocious- exhibiting behaviour much earlier than chicks of previous years.
(zoomed)
I think Louis and Dorcha are going to have their talons full this season with these feisty little Osplets!
Fingers crossed for a third successful hatch, Geemeff
Looks like it, Sandra, the bobs seem very precocious for still only hours old. And E3 is coming along nicely - at 16.20, the hole has widened and cracks are appearing, not long now..
Fish number one, a whopper whole trout 12.25.28
12.25.28 Louis arrives with a very fine trout - it's whole, and it's huge. Dorcha grabs it immediately
12.25.55 Louis departs. The two chicks are squealing but Dorcha feeds herself a few big mouthfuls before offering morsels to the bobs
12.40.41 Dorcha is feeding the two bobs from the enormous trout brought by Louis a few minutes earlier.
Suddenly the remaining egg rotates towards the camera, and the egg tooth is clearly visible as the third chick struggles to break free of the confining eggshell.
(zomed)