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:
Who's causing alarm to Garry LV0 on his unexpected visit to Nest One?
05.44 A distant speck is seen on Pole Tree then flies towards the nest
05.44.19 Garry LV0 lands on the nest, he’s very alert and alarm chirping, he keeps looking skywards, a bird can be heard sky dancing.
Whoever disturbed him, it wasn’t Louis as he was on Nest Two at this time
It's good to see him back after a long absence, he was last seen on the nest on 9th May.
05.49.05 After arriving and alarm chipping, constantly sky-scanning, Garry LV0 relaxes and does a bit of half-hearted nest prep
05.51.14 Garry departs and flies to the Pole Tree (zoom)
05.16.42 Louis arrives with fish number one, a whole trout.
It’s another record-breaking season’s earliest fish, and the dawn chorus is heard all around as he lands
05.17.22 Dorcha departs with it
Garry LV0 pays a second visit - and brings moss! (zoomed)
07.07.23 Garry LV0 leaves Pole Tree and flies to the right, then turns back low to the ground. He must be looking for nesting materials.
07.08.53 Garry returns to the nest with moss, and gives a couple of chirps.
This is his second visit today, after an absence of ten days assuming he didn’t show up when the cam was down on the 13th.
He does some nest scraping and tidying
07.18.06 Garry departs, flies back to Pole Tree and perches
14.35.50 Louis arrives with a headless trout, second fish today. It’s quite small but Dorcha seizes it eagerly
14.36.12 Dorcha flies off with it and Louis settles down to egg-sitting duty
Nest One: Garry LV0 returns a third time today and brings more moss!
16.04.23 Garry LV0 arrives with more moss, does a little tidying
16.09.59 He departs and flies off to perch in Pole Tree
16.10.03 Garry departs Pole Tree and flies left out of sight (westwards)
Daily summary Sunday 19th May 2024
Another day with lovely weather, although perhaps a bit too much sun as Louis & Dorcha were gular fluttering again today. Louis brought two fish to the nest, taking his tally to one hundred and five. The big surprise of the day was the welcome reappearance of Garry LV0 on Nest One - he paid not one, but three visits, bringing nesting materials and tidying the nest to his liking. No sign of the new female Aida however, so it does look like the wait for a resident pair goes on. The forecast for tonight is partly cloudy and light winds, with more sunshine expected tomorrow. Also expected, or perhaps more accurately hoped for, tomorrow is a sign that hatching is imminent - we'll be on pip-watch, and the nest cam view will zoom in close so we don't miss any of the action. The first egg could hatch on Tuesday so all eyes will be on the nest bowl - this is usually the time that Louis brings in a huge stick and plonks it down right in front of the cam view!
Night cam switches over (day cam): Nest One 23.02.48 (03.09.49); Nest Two 23.20.33 (03.36.00)
Today’s videos:
https://youtu.be/LpbL20wejy4 N2 Another record early fish 05.16.42
https://youtu.be/7VpUP7pU9LU N1 Who's causing Garry LV0 alarm? 05.44.19
https://youtu.be/pEE0XSRGEiw N1 Garry LV0 does some nest prep after a long absence 05.49.05 (zoom)
https://youtu.be/73Bvt21AH5k N1 Garry LV0 returns bringing moss 07. 08.53 (zoom)
https://youtu.be/LLle366zcQg N2 Louis brings a second fish 14.35.50
https://youtu.be/dX1RADsAqbs N1 Garry LV0 returns a third time, brings more moss 16.04.23
Bonus podcast - Loch Arkaig Woodland Walk with Adam Shaw:
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/07/loch-arkaig-podcast/
Blast from the past, this day in previous years:
https://youtu.be/4gYRLpvvSRs N1 What startles Aila? 2020 (slo-mo)
https://youtu.be/rZ424IJOGjg N1 Aila chases an intruder Osprey 2020
https://youtu.be/hgdwz6wYRbU N1 A tiny toy deer grazes by the nest 2020 (slo-mo)
https://youtu.be/haFOLmUsLbQ N1 Has Aila swallowed a fly? 2020
https://youtu.be/bcSQSQaeRGE N2 Dorcha is disturbed by an intruder Osprey 2022
https://youtu.be/Ts2KcLv9_YQ N2 Unringed intruder female is back 2023
https://youtu.be/T7OstzxP05A N1 Little songbird serenades as dusk falls 2023
First fish arrives even earlier than yesterday's early fish - Louis is upping his game as we go officially into pip-watch
05.01.45 Louis delivers fish number one, another record-breaking early delivery. It's a headless trout which Dorcha grabs immediately
05.02.06 Dorcha departs with her fish leaving Louis on egg-duty
Nest One 11.05.30 An unexpected visitor arrives - it's Affric 152, not seen since 24th April -
Very interesting, wonder if it was Prince overhead, unseen, disturbing Garry LV0 on Nest One yesterday morning?
A male Osprey can be heard skydancing very faintly as she arrives and departs.
11.05.58 after a very half-hearted fiddle with the nest furnishings, Affric departs, flying to the right (eastwards)
Nest One: Lochenders cast last seen:
Affric 152: today 11.05 (prev 24th April)
Garry LV0: yesterday x3 (prev 9th May)
Aida: 8th May
Prince: 23rd April