LOCH ARKAIG - THE WOODLAND TRUST - June 2024 - February 2025

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? X

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

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 May at 16.36.10

Sad death of little chick three Sunday 16th June at approx 19.02

Louis disappears, last seen Wednesday 26th June 11.22.56

Louis returns but is clearly not well Saturday 29th June 08.26.37

Decision made to place the two surviving chicks in a translocation programme Sunday 30th June

Licensed raptor team collects the chicks Monday 1st July 10.15

Chicks 1&2 arrive at Pego-Oliva marsh, Spain and ringed Yellow 1JW (C1) & 1JR (C2) Thursday 11th July

Sadly, 1JR (C2) started having seizures and succumbed to a heart condition Tuesday 23rd July

FLEDGE! The surviving chick 1JW (C1) found his wings and flew Thursday 25th July 3pm

Dorcha last seen on camera (Nest One) 11.19.43 Saturday 27th July

Louis  last seen on camera (Nest Two) 13.31.18 Tuesday 30th July

1JW (C1) last seen at Pego-Oliva marsh (Spain) on Tuesday 10th September

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Link to February 2024 - May 2024 thread:

loch-arkaig---the-woodland-trust---february-2024---may-2024

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 & Alder LW4. This is designated Nest 2, no one takes up residence on Nest1.
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 thirteen, six with Aila (2017-2020), and seven 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)
2024 males 1JR, 1JW (Spain)
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Highlights:
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2023 Nest Two highlights 
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2023 Nest One highlights 
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All captures in whatever format are copyright Woodland Trust - with many thanks for allowing captures from their nest cam livestreams.
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Osprey cams funded by People's Postcode Lottery
  • Breakfast for the bobs! (zoomed)

    05:49:55 Louis arrives with the first fish of the day, a very big silvery and lively fish. Think it's a trout as it has spots but could be a Silver Tourist.

    The chicks line up well behaved as Dorcha grabs it ready for dishing out

    05.50.18 Louis departs

    05:55:27 Although most of the head of the fish is gone, the fish gives a strong tail flip and bob3 gets knocked backwards. 

  • 07.21.45 chick fight - bob1 & bob2 square up to each other, B1 attacks B2 then having started an argy-bargy, lies down and stays out of the way

    07.22 bob2 then attacks bob3 who turns around, stands up for itself and fights back. Not for long, as B2 quickly gets the upper hand, gets B3 in a headlock. But it doesn’t last long, and B3 has another go at B2!


    07.22.10 B3 lies down and B2 angrily pecks empty air a couple of times before subsiding.


  • 13.41.40 Louis briefly comes into view at the top of the frame, flying left to right dangling a fish

    13.41.57 Fish number two is delivered - wow, what a colourful whopper!!! Is that really a trout, very bright colours?

    Yes, confirmed as a Brown Trout, albeit one of the most colourful to hit the nest.

  • RAF jets overfly the nests - Dorcha kakes note but stays put 08.50 (zoom) 

    08:50 05 RAF or maybe USAF jets overfly both nests.They fly over the loch and then turn around and head back out to sea over the mountain.

    08:50:26 Dorcha hears them over on Nest Two but doesn't flee.

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  • Nest One  Garry LV0 drops in 16.05.14

    16.05.14 Garry LV0 arrives, flying in from the right (eastwards).

    He brought a small clump of vegetation and spends ten minutes on the nest but just stand there looking around, doesn't do any nest prep.

    16.15.06 Garry departs, returning the way he came.

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  • 21.52.01 Fish! Number three, half a trout

    21.52.01 Late night fish supper arrives! Louis arrives with today’s third fish, half a trout.

    Dorcha takes it and starts the feeding immediately, the chicks sit up and position themselves to get a share.

    Louis stays on the nest.

  • Daily summary Monday 3rd June 2024

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    An interesting day which involved a lot of trying to ID the chicks who are growing almost hourly - bob3 showed confidence by successfully standing up to bob2, and all three chicks have enormous crops and are rapidly losing their baby fluff. Louis brought three fish to the nest, taking his tally to one hundred and fifty four, and Dorcha did an excellent job of sharing it out, when she wasn't being harassed by Hoodies heard but not seen. The RAF, or was it the USAF, was both heard and seen when their jets hurtled past the nests, Dorcha watched them carefully but stayed put. In other news, Garry LV0 dropped in to Nest One for a ten minute visit - it's good to see him, hope he's tucked up somewhere nearby with Aida or another female. It was windy on the nest today, with more wind and some rain forecast for tonight.

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    Night cam switches over (day cam): Nest One 23.37.56 (03.26.34); Nest Two 22.57.46 (03.46.07)

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    Today’s videos:

    https://youtu.be/UQo5-WyryIg  N2 Fish number one, flapping, trout 05.49.55

    https://youtu.be/IFhzO5KsdL8 N2 Littlest chick refuses to be bullied 07.21.45

    https://youtu.be/Doxi8HRjEro  N1 RAF jets overfly the nests - Dorcha notes but stays put 08.50 (zoom) 

    https://youtu.be/BDO2TT57j_8  N2 Fish number two, whole colourful trout 13.41.57

    https://youtu.be/2YM6p3Jri_E  N1 Garry LV0 drops in 16.05.14

    https://youtu.be/MHUgxIYoIYM N2 Late night fish supper arrives, half a trout 21.52.01

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    Blast from the past, this day in previous years:

    https://youtu.be/YCIj4Favinc  N1 Chick Chick Chick! Third Osplet hatches! 2020

    https://youtu.be/b1KUQjFXyZw  N1 A good look at all three chicks 2020

    https://youtu.be/-LyppnxdIvo  N1 Simultaneous feeding of the chicks by both parents 2020

    https://youtu.be/j3jA0FV2U9E  N1 The family stars on BBC Breakfast 2020

    https://youtu.be/R7HdSkERuGU  N1 Louis drops a stick on Aila 2020

    https://youtu.be/VOt1I51zEv0  N1 Aila shows off her impressive ballet moves 2020

    https://youtu.be/zSitgPiYMKE  N2 Littlest chick falls over and struggles to right itself 2022 (zoom)

    https://youtu.be/cxivipxUDHQ  N2 Louis bashes Dorcha with a wet fish 2022 (slo-mo)

    https://youtu.be/r5yWobFb6Ts  N2 Prelude to sunset 2022 (timelapse Classic Ospreys: Bach)

    https://youtu.be/PZqOjIYBNr8  N2 Another owl attack on Dorcha 2022 (slo-mo)

    https://youtu.be/aMpRdGWmD64  N2 First fish returns and bob gets another feed 2023

    https://youtu.be/N3wO7-U4rz4  N2 Is that the egg or chick making a noise? 2023

    https://youtu.be/q_1DDxDkh4o  N1 Little singers visit 2023

  • Oh well done. Thank you Geemeff

  • Even when the weather is challenging, Louis still catches fish!

    06.28.46 Despite the challenging weather, Louis brings fish number one, a whole trout so fresh it's still flapping 

    06.30.38 Louis departs

  • Weather's still poor but expert fisherbird Louis brings a second fish

    10.01.23 Louis comes into view on the extreme right, does a quick flyby, Dorcha sits up

    10.01.37 Louis lands with fish number two, headless trout

    10.04.17 Louis departs - he's amazing, weather's still bad but he can still catch fish!