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:
09.35.49 Fish number one, headless BT.
It's gusting and she has difficulty holding on but doesn't let go and departs with her fish ten minutes later at 09.46.10 Louis remains on the nest.
17.17.49 Fish number two, whole BT.Louis arrives with fish number two at 17.17.49, a whole Brown Trout. Dorcha seizes it eagerly, and departs shortly afterwards.
She flies right over Louis, causing him to duck to avoid getting slapped by the fish as she passes overhead. Zoomed in to catch that moment!
Nest One around 18.15 Speeded up sequence, part of my Classic Ospreys series
A rainbow starts to form, and then a second rainbow appears too. I speeded up the sequence and set it to Sunrise from Haydn's Creation.
Daily summary Sunday 7th April 2024Another blustery and blowy day as Storm Kathleen continues to rage. Prince paid an early morning visit to Nest One and spent about half an hour looking around watchfully. No sign yet of either his mate Affric Blue 152, or his rival Garry Blue LV0. Over on Nest Two, activity continues as expected at this time of the season - nestoration, fish deliveries and mating. Plenty of the latter but only two fish today, although the second was a large whole trout which would have done for several meals. The tally now stands at 23 fish in the ten days since Louis returned on 28th March. Tonight's forecast for the Inver Mallie area is gusty winds and rain, with a yellow warning for wind until midnight.Night cam switchover (day cam): Nest One (05.57.36); Nest Two (06.02.42)Today’s videos:https://youtu.be/47A4MPiPnpY Prince arrives, stands looking around 06.35.46https://youtu.be/mMdIL-F6zfA Dorcha holds on to fish number one despite the gale, headless BT 09.35.49https://youtu.be/YrwpIJsVq_0 Louis ducks to avoid a slap from fish number two, whole BT 17.17.49 (zoom)https://youtu.be/xqagKOJUIMM A double rainbow appears near Nest One 18.08 (time lapse set to Haydn)Bonus read - The Week In Wildlife (this week in 2023), scroll down for Louis:https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2023/apr/07/the-week-in-wildlife-in-picturesBlast from the past, this day in previous years:https://youtu.be/3d_srbJm93c Demented penguin-lookalike Louis shows off for Aila 2020https://youtu.be/lfhrCwUjWTM Uncooperative Ospreys star on Channel 4 news 2020https://youtu.be/r27apoY0iKs First look at intruder male now known as Prince 2021https://youtu.be/hWEOsacS-KU USAF Hercules caught on both nest cams 2022https://youtu.be/n9cs5MWF__M Louis skydances before dawn 2023https://youtu.be/eMyg4XZt-aE No one's waiting for fish number one 2023https://youtu.be/VkRrbSaTpkY Louis munches a fish alone on the nest 2023
Louis arrives with fish number one at 06.05.29, a headless Brown Trout. He mantles over his fish but Dorcha doesn't seem interested.
Perhaps because it's yesterday night'sleftovers of the fish he was seen with, off -nest by LizB?
He had the odd nibble, and departs at with it at 06:16:32. (zoomed)
08.37 Intruder alert! Louis and Dorcha are on the nest but seem agitated. Louis suddenly flies off and I zoom in on him chasing an intruder.
Hard to see, but looks like an Osprey. He chases from right to left and then back again. Dorcha keeps a close watch from the nest.
You are very creative with your classic Osprey series Geemeff. Just lovely. ️
Glider wrote the following post at 8 Apr 2024 9:19 PM :
Thank you, Glider, glad you like it.
Sometimes the scenery or the actions just call for a little extra treatment.
10.38.39 Louis arrives with a very long stick - in fact he practically pole-vaults onto the nest, using it like a javelin!
He and Dorcha work together to find a suitable space for it.
Dorcha is on the nest, calling very loudly when Louis arrives with fish number two, a headless Brown Trout, at 19.12.42
Dorcha grabs it immediately and quickly departs with it.
Louis stays behind and does some nest cupping.