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
  • Louis gets blown backwards as he comes in to land with fish number four in a gust of wind:

    13.16.45 Fish number four, another lively whole trout. Dorcha takes it immediately and the chicks sit up.

    He actually got blown backwards as he started to land on the nest.

    13.17.05 Louis departs quickly. The wind is howling, or at least sounds like it over the mic, not the 'light winds' of the weather forecast. 

  • What a whopper!

    15.39.12 Fish number five arrives - It's HUGE! Louis flies in from the left with a massive whole trout

    15.40.37 Louis departs and the fish can be seen in all its glory

    15.42.21 Chick3 leans in for a quick peck at the fish. Don’t think it actually got any, but an excellent sign of progress.

  • I can’t get over how big the chicks look now, very strong. Of course they’re lucky they’ve got such great parents. Blush

  • Wow! Another 6-fish day!

    20.41.21 Fish number six! Louis stays on the nest and stands guard as there are Hooded Crows around, heard nearby but not seen

    20.41.38 Dorcha uses her crow voice and she and Louis are both looking over the edge every now and then.

  • Daily summary Thursday 6th June 2024

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    Another six-fish day today! Louis is excelling himself, and just as well as the chicks are growing by the hour and constantly hungry despite sporting golf-ball crops. His tally rises to one hundred and sixty eight, and Dorcha carries on doing an excellent job of sharing out the fish. She might not need to for much longer as even chick3 tried having a nibble today, didn't succeed in getting any, but is definitely showing progress - and chick3 also knows to stay out of the way when the older two start their dominance wars. The only action on Nest One today was a visit from a Jay. The weather was very unsettled, the wind seemed stronger than the light wind which was forecast, it rained on and off throughout the day, and tonight's forecast is for heavy rain and a gentle breeze.

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    Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.34.10 (02.35.54); Nest Two 22.53.15 (03.51.39)

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    Today’s videos:

    https://youtu.be/gRHFJ3guckM  N2 Fish number one, whole trout, flapping 04.26.48 

    https://youtu.be/Hc8vi0Cu3Ow N2 Fish number two arrives an hour after the first 05.31.36

    https://youtu.be/vyeodgjScdQ N2 Fish number three, another flapping trout 11.28.16

    https://youtu.be/ix7t4W1kjlg  N1 A Jay visits and perches for a few moments 11.44.55

    https://youtu.be/5R1dTZvaJqM  N2 Fish number four, lively trout, arrives in a gust of wins 13.16.45

    https://youtu.be/T6gbL4s71z0  N2 Fish number five, an absolute whopper whole trout 15.39.12

    https://youtu.be/Zw8u--WlwOo N2 Fish number six arrives and Louis stands guard against crows 20.41.21

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    Bonus retail therapy - Woodland Trust are having a sale, bargains galore, have a look:

    https://shop.woodlandtrust.org.uk/summer-sale

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    Blast from the past, this day in previous years:

    https://youtu.be/PSpl1ZDtGM8  N1 Bob1 bashes Bob2 to prevent her getting fed 2019 (slo-mo)

    https://youtu.be/pEGDvB-G8QE  N1 Acrobatic Aila does handstands 2020

    https://youtu.be/2bkBBksOu4g  N1 Be careful mum! Aila drags Bob3 out of the nest cup 2020 (Slo-Mo)

    https://youtu.be/RPu-hNcphjc  N1 Be careful dad! Louis stands on the bobs 2020 (Slo-Mo)

    https://youtu.be/oQ7tWwuWHRw  N1 The bobs play poo sticks 2020

    https://youtu.be/LQf4pBL8axQ  N2 Breakfast for the chicks including day-old Bob3 2022

    https://youtu.be/2HAt_Xj2qIA  N2 One day old Bob3 demands and gets a really good feed 2022

    https://youtu.be/L0A9BO_sEwU  N2 Tawny Owl strike 2023 (real time)

    https://youtu.be/vwV0CSTXDcI  N2 Tawny Owl strike 2023 (slo-mo)

    https://youtu.be/au75jd0XBi4  N1 Ménest à trois? Affric & LV0 together without Prince 2023

    https://youtu.be/SYD_vlEqAoo  N1 LV0 brings a tv aerial 2023

    https://youtu.be/Bkflj5NDmc4   N2 Indignant chick has a go at mum when food's not offered 2023

    https://youtu.be/3-P2RHjTOa4  N1 Prince brings a small fish snack to Nest One 2023

  • Glider said:

    I can’t get over how big the chicks look now, very strong. Of course they’re lucky they’ve got such great parents. Blush

    They grow as you watch, Glider! C1 & 2 are 15 days old today and C3 is 13 days old. They are amazing - can no longer fit under Dorcha, she's having to extend her wings slightly to shelter them from the rain, which must be very tiring for her.

    Louis is great at providing fish, and Dorcha is great at sharing it out. Makes me sad for those nests which struggle because of inexperienced or inattentive adults.

    This nest is a pleasure to watch even if Louis keeps me on my toes trying to keep up with recording him.

  • Fish number one arrives on a soggy day 07.18.28

    07.18.28 Fish number one, headless trout,unusually late for Louis, but that's probably due to the foul weather

  • 09.13.15 Dorcha returns with a chunky stick and proceeds to cause havoc.

    She moves around with it for quite a while so I speeded up the sequence x3.

    Eventually she settles down but one of the chicks gives her quite a look as if to say - are you done with that now, are we safe yet? 

  • Dorcha causes havoc with a stick Round Two!

    10.11.00 The chicks are home alone minding their own business peacefully for once

    10.11.16 Dorcha arrives with a huge stick and proceeds to bash the chicks.

    10.13.25 She finally places it to her satisfaction and flies off again 

  • 14.10.49 Louis delivers fish number two, a big whole trout

    14.11.34 Louis departs, didn't stay long, 46 seconds, just a drop and go really.