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
  • Fish 3

    11.19.12 Fish number three, big whole trout - the chicks form an orderly queue

    Both chicks are being fed, no aggro, they politely wait their turn

    11.19.26 Louis departs, 14 second handover

  • 12.19.57 Fish number four, very chunky headless trout.

    The chicks don't seem too enthusiastic as they're probably stuffed from huge fish three, but present themselves to Dorcha and accept morsels from her

    12.21.34 Louis departs after pottering around, staying a little longer than usual

  • 18.39.53 Louis arrives with fish number five, a big headless trout, and stays to watch as Dorcha dishes it out.

    The two chicks line up in front of her and take turns getting fed

    18.43.15 Louis departs, the calm feeding continues

  • 19.42.43 Osprey arrives - it’s Garry LV0

    20.45 Still there, now on the left hand perch. Just sitting quietly, looking gorgeous - he is a very handsome Osprey!

    20.52.53 Garry departs, flying eastwards and disappearing into the dark green trees past the square of rock underneath the logo

  • 22.18.50 Louis arrives with a small snack size fish. Dorcha grabs it and starts dishing up

    22.19.11 Louis departs

    22.24.01 The fish is finished quickly and Dorcha downs the tail

  • Daily summary Saturday 22nd June 2024
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    The weather was somewhat unsettled today but no further somersaults were done by Dorcha. Louis excelled himself bringing six fish to the nest and his tally now rises to two hundred and thirty seven. Delivery times included an early breakfast and a late night snack. Dorcha shared out the fish fairly, and the two chicks were models of patience and politemess at mealtimes. Garry LV0 visited Nest One twice today, staying for over an hour the second time. No disturbances for any of the Loch Arkaig residents as the Red Arrows took a different route home. Tonight's forecast is for light cloud and light winds so with luck the family will have a peaceful and dry night tonight. 
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    Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One ? (03.19.51); Nest Two 23.15.27 (03.56.16)
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    Today’s videos:
    https://youtu.be/Bqeq0_3IguI  N2 Fish number one, headless trout, Dorcha blocks the view 04.19.55
    https://youtu.be/2Rqe03hrp0c  N2 Fish number two, small whole trout 06.47.28
    https://youtu.be/M8F0cHIaW1I  N1 Garry LV0 visits, flying in from the right  07.57.38
    https://youtu.be/C9VqBeD-eZY   N2 Fish number three, big whole trout, the chicks form an orderly queue 11.19.12
    https://youtu.be/apsDxegpiMs  N2 Fish number four, big headless trout 12.19.57 
    https://youtu.be/0kqpLR6pgEw  N2 Fish number five, big headless trout, the chicks line up politely 18.39.53
    youtu.be/MjzQ3di6UIM  N1 Garry LV0 returns for a second visit today, stays for an hour 19.42.43 
    youtu.be/pMbvgH-OrHA  N2 Fish number six - late night snack gone in 5 mins 22.18.50
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    Bonus read - Woodland Trust was one of hundreds of nature organisations marching through London today:
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    Blast from the past, this day in previous years:
    https://youtu.be/oifxV_nh8zM Aila has a new technique to keep meal times orderly 2020
    https://youtu.be/2MXmq7YkQiY Slo-mo Osprey flypast with alarm calls 2020
    https://youtu.be/tQxKMmVammE Aila shows she can multi-task 2020
    https://youtu.be/tbu4Qzgy1ww   N1 Chicks squeak with delight to see fish arriving 2020
    https://youtu.be/ecj12yxfelc  N2 Chicks stop fighting when fish arrives 2022
    https://youtu.be/4haONWz16oE  N2 Louis brings Dorcha a Silver Tourist 2022
    https://youtu.be/Q_Dy6uP47I4 N1 LV0 follows Affric, attempts mating, gets rejected 2023
    https://youtu.be/DHUQbsZRyMM N1 Dropped or gobbled? Affric returns fishless 2023
    https://youtu.be/fjF9Mv8xJLk N2 Louis crashes off the nest chasing hoodies 2023
    https://youtu.be/XotPGjAhfAw N2 Louis flies off with the remains of fish three then brings it back 2023
  • Thank you Geemeff for your continuing wonderful coverage of this nest and all the extras you post.Hugging


    It’s good to see C2 has calmed down a bit! 

    It’s nice to see Garry still around too, still hoping Aida is in the area  Pray 

  • Hello Glider, glad you're enjoing my posts - feel free to put some up yourself, I don't have time to take photos, just the videos, but I do miss seeing lots of stills of the nests.

    It is fantastic that the chicks are behaving so calmly, too late for C3 of course, but I wonder would C1&2 be so calm if there was a third competitor for the food?

    Garry looks gorgeous, he's a handsome boy, hope he's getting a chance to breed this year. I'm told there's an established nest at the western end of the loch, been there for years, but there's another nest on private land at the eastern end of the loch, so perhaps he and Aida are there. Or, they could have built another for themselves, who knows.

    When Lewis does the ringing rounds, we'll only know how many chicks there are, not who the adults are as of course they'll fly off when he arrives. But maybe he'll catch enough of a glimpse to say whether or not he saw a blue flash of a Darvic ring.

  • 06.28.23 Fish number one, lively trout, Dorcha seizes it from Louis

    06.28.38 Louis departs, 15 second handover, Dorcha's already begun serving it out despite its flaps

    The chicks are calm despite this being the first fish of the day, there's no aggro or pushing, they wait their turn.

  • 08.26.17 Fish number two, headless trout

    08.26.34 Louis departs, 17 second handover.

    Dorcha grabs the fish and starts dishing out, both chicks calmly await their turn and both get a good feed