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 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
.
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:
Daily summary Monday 10th June 2024
Much more settled weather today, and Nest One saw a visit from a charm of Siskins, while over on Nest Two, the chicks fought despite plenty of fish, albeit the first fish arrived much later than usual. Louis brought five fish to the nest, including the third flatfish of the season, and his tally now stands at one hundred and eighty five. Dorcha did a good job of dishing out the fish, although middle chick seems to be attempting to get all the fish for itself by intimidating the other two but the day ended with all three chicks having huge crops full of fresh fish. Tonight's forecast is partly cloudy and light winds, and the prospect of a dry day tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 00.05.19 (03.23.01); Nest Two 23.25.02 (03.42.20)
Today’s videos:
https://youtu.be/b9h6sZY_Nog N1 A charm of Siskins (Spinus spinus) pay a very brief visit 04.31.35 (slo-mo repeat)
https://youtu.be/x-dM1-WszI0 N2 Tempers fray as the chiks have to wait for the first fish 12.13.42
https://youtu.be/QVM9Tn8MxMo N2 Big chick attacks C3 during feeding 12.14.53
https://youtu.be/teeOKym65Nw N2 Fish number two, flatfish, everyone queues up nicely, no fighting 15.12.51
https://youtu.be/XOB5q4pPKLI N2 Fish number three, whopper trout - looks like one chick wants to hog the lot 16.32.07
https://youtu.be/Kn5O6_IHcEg N2 Fish number four, headless trout 19.10.17
https://youtu.be/9T8QpyZ7SLY N2 Fish number five, whole trout, all three chicks gather round despite full crops 21.44.11
Bonus info - raptor anatomical terms:
https://www.themodernapprentice.com/gen_biology.htm
Blast from the past, this day in previous years:
https://youtu.be/y6Xv5QjmtT4 N1 Eeek! Aila nearly throws bob3 out of the nest 2020 (slo-mo)
https://youtu.be/Er2bFIWVR3E N1 Aila only just avoids bashing the bobs with huge logs 2020
https://youtu.be/eBk3mIRU_bc N1 Bob3 rides the slippery slope of the fish to get a mouthful or two 2020
https://youtu.be/te0rHGZfiWo N2 Pesky crow harasses Dorcha 2022
https://youtu.be/zEmjQK41hzI N2 Sudden gust forces Dorcha to do an involuntary headstand 2022
https://youtu.be/5i2j1JmAauY N2 Little bob3 finally gets a bit of fish 2022
https://youtu.be/5-rYbkudNYU N2 Size matters - little bird visits Dorcha 2023
https://youtu.be/8rb8h0ZTO6c N1 Affric gets no response, flies to Stick Tree 2023 (zoom)
https://youtu.be/aFW075n_WWQ N1 LV0 brings Affric a fish 2023
https://youtu.be/7W_NxX2pt0I N1 Affric doesn't want to mate with LV0 and leaves quickly 2023 (zoom)
https://youtu.be/Z-iI78_2FH4 N2 Louis helps sort out the cot rails now that the chick is more active 2023
Fish number one, and a fight breaks out - Dorcha keeps calling10.35.58
10.35.58 Louis arrives with fish number one, whole something, probably trout.
Dorcha seizes it and starts dishing up, but keeps calling constantly. Why is she doing this?
10.36.37 Louis departs
10.39 C2 is getting all the food and pecking the other two!
Middle chick is reversing the usual order and becoming the dominant one. Is C1 male, and C2 and C3 female?
Chicks do housework while Dorcha preens 15.06
15:06:11 Everyone is having a go at tidying the nest.
C3 enjoying picking up the bigger twigs while C1 is letting the other two do most of the work. Dorcha is preening while this is going on.
No aggression among the chicks during this little interlude
15:15:50 All three chicks work together to place a stick
Hello Louis - where's our fish? 21.25.57
21.25.57 Dorcha is very very vocal as Louis has finally turned up, but with empty talons, and he’s getting it from all four on the nest.
Louis was last seen at 10.35 leaving the nest after delivering fish number one.
He appears to have a full crop and bits of fish on his beak - where's the fish for the family?
21.34 Chick2 goes ballistic when Louis arrives without fish, and attacks the other two, not leaving them alone even when they've gone very submissive.
C2 is taking its frustrations out on the other two, while Dorcha screams at Louis
21.41.43 Louis departs after Dorcha tells him off - will he come back with a fish?
Did he drop the rest of the fish he’d clearly been eating, or eat it all?
Will C2 start eating C1 and C3 if it doesn’t get some fish soon?
Next exciting episode coming soon!
Full unedited sequence of the stramash erupting from his fishless arrival at 21.25 to his departure at 21.41
21.25 Louis arrives and causes consternation.
Dorcha screams at him non-stop, the chicks try pecking his beak for fish then chick2 starts attacking the other two, and this continues until he leaves .
21.41 Louis departs and never did return with fish that night, leaving cross and hungry chicks
Daily summary Tuesday 11th June 2024
The weather was settled but the occupants of the nest certainly weren't - Louis only brought one fish today, quite late at mid-morning, and then went missing until after 9pm. His arrival however caused consternation as he didn't bring any fish, which left Dorcha screaming at him non-stop, and the chicks first begging for food from him, then pecking him, then pecking each other. Actually, it appeared to be middle chick2 doing all the pecking, at times attacking the other two quite viciously, is this a dominant female in the making, or just a hangry youngster throwing a massive strop? There were some calm times when the chicks worked together tidying the nest while Dorcha preened, but not many. Louis' tally now stands at one hundred and eighty six, and he'll need to make up for today's low fish deliveries with a decent supply tomorrow to prevent more aggression from chick2. No action on Nest One. There was more than twenty hours on day cam, and tonight's forecast is partly cloudy and a gentle breeze.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 00.06.41 (02.42.17); Nest Two 23.20.30 (03.33.32)
Today’s videos, all Nest Two:
https://youtu.be/HiKXdWuQ6Vs Fish number one, and a fight breaks out 10.35.58
https://youtu.be/qnuJM6ufSEY Chicks do housework while Dorcha preens 15.06
https://youtu.be/w_n5eC7_3Fo Hello Louis - where's our fish? 21.25.57
https://youtu.be/DMs71z6YJYE C2 attacks the other two while Dorcha screams at Louis 21.34
https://youtu.be/O_dw1p-GGTE Louis departs after being told off 21.41.43
https://youtu.be/npYHeJjqMRs Full unedited sequence from Louis' arrival to his departure 21.25 - 21.41
Bonus action - Woodland Trust wants you to make trees an important part of this General Election:
https://www.instagram.com/woodlandtrust/p/C8Bt_qnNCdY/?img_index=1
https://youtu.be/tegK6JTrCqE N1 Louis brings a log and promptly loses it overboard (2019)
https://youtu.be/I40hGDuk6ow N1 Aila leaves and the bobs take lumps out of each other (2019)
https://youtu.be/G5ccJ8SQQZU N1 Feisty bob3 gives bigger sibling what for (2020)
https://youtu.be/nRL8UTESZPU N1 Pecking order: bob1 takes on the younger two (2020)
https://youtu.be/vrFI8LKkzXg N1 Louis has a little chat with Aila (2020)
https://youtu.be/4WfHLrPd_PE N2 Stretch and shake after a wet & windy night (2022)
https://youtu.be/z_4B96iW9Q8 N2 Breakfast for the bobs, little bob gets a share (2022)
https://youtu.be/lPoCS6I2HjA N2 Bob3 faces the wrong way again but eventually gets fed (2022)
https://youtu.be/dP2-EKmSSGY N2 Dorcha clouts the chick with a stick then stands on it! 2023
https://youtu.be/XKmwGghcGkQ N1 Affric rejects LV0 and sends him for fish 2023
https://youtu.be/NWUgq_YJ63s N2 Fish number three, season's first mackerel 2023
https://youtu.be/ALJ3XnQA8yc N2 Surprise late night fish turns up at 11pm 2023
05.54.41 Fish number one arrives to great excitement, whole small trout
05.55.21 Louis departs
It wasn’t very big, and it disappears quickly, as soon as it was gone, chick2 attacked the other two until Dorcha stepped in and they all settled down again
11.33.09 Fish number two, whole small to medium trout.
Chick2 started beating up C1 when Dorcha started calling, even before it landed, so it would get an exclusive feed.
C3 hunkers down out of the way.
11.33.24 Louis departs