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
  • Daily summary Monday 10th June 2024

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    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.

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    Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 00.05.19 (03.23.01); Nest Two 23.25.02 (03.42.20)

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    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 

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    Bonus info - raptor anatomical terms:

    https://www.themodernapprentice.com/gen_biology.htm

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    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

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    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.

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    Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 00.06.41 (02.42.17); Nest Two 23.20.30 (03.33.32)

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    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

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    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

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    Blast from the past, this day in previous years:

    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