Welcome to Loch Arkaig Ospreys season 9
Will both Louis and Dorcha return to Nest 2
Will Osplets fledge safely on Nest 2
Will someone take up residence in Nest 1
Will any of Louis' chicks with Aila and Dorcha be sighted
Link to previous thread:
Loch Arkaig June 2024 - February 2025
A rollercoaster season in 2024: triumph, tragedy, and plenty more! Season's highlights 2024:
Season Eight for the Loch Arkaig Ospreys was a strange roller coaster of a season with unrelenting bad weather plus Louis going AWOL for days, probably due to illness, leading to a lack of fish deliveries and ultimately the deaths of Chicks 2&3. But Chick1 survived to fledge, thanks to Woodland Trust arranging for a placement on a translocation programme under the auspices of the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and Fundación Migres in Valencia, Spain, and Louis & Dorcha are still strongly pair-bonded, and we expect to see them back this year.
2024 season:
Louis arrived 15.18.38 Thursday 28 March
Dorcha arrived 14.21.27 Saturday 30 March
First Egg laid 11.13.47 Sunday 14 April
Second egg laid 05.55.52 Wednesday 17 April
Dorcha is injured in an Eagle attack 11.08 Friday 19 April
Third egg laid 02.26.08 Saturday 20 April
First chick hatched 06.16.48 Wednesday 22 May
Second chick hatched 22.26.15 Wednesday 22 May
Third chick hatched 16.36.10 Friday 24 May
Sad death of little Chick3 approx 19.02 Sunday 16 June
Louis last seen Wednesday 26 June
Louis returns with fish, uninjured, but clearly not not well Saturday 29 June
Chicks1&2 are removed to a translocation programme, both assessed male Monday 1 July
Chicks ringed with Spanish yellow Darvic rings: C1 - 1JW & C2 - 1JR Thursday 11 July
Sadly 1JR started having seizures and succumbed to a heart condition Tuesday 23rd July
FLEDGE! Surviving chick 1JW found his wings and flew 3pm Thursday 25 July
Dorcha last seen on Nest One 11.19.43 Saturday 27 July
Louis last seen on Nest Two 13.31.18 Tuesday 30 July
reserving..
Hi Geemeff, thanks for the fab opener to the new season. I’m just a month behind in finding it! I hope this is a more straightforward year with healthy ospreys, better weather and a good outcome for Louis and Dorcha.
Hi Geemeff, a great opening for the 2025 thread, fingers crossed for a safe return of our birds and more settled season
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Just caught up, many thanks Geemeff for all this wonderful info which brings us up to speed in time for new season which I hope goes far better than last year
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
Great to see both arkaig cams up and live
Nest Two: 12.11.14
small raptor lands on Dorcha’s perch.
I checked the nest cam 20 minutes ago and my heart skipped a beat when I saw the bird Geemeff! Goshawk I’m thinking? It’s still there now, 12.45.
Mine did too, just for that split second, Glider! I thought maybe Sparrowhawk, isn't a Goshawk bigger? But really not sure and googling didn't help much.
The bird departed at 12.55
I'm going to say Sparrowhawk
Richard B