14 August 2026
Good Evening Everyone!
We hope you had a good end of the week and that this weekend you take time to breathe and get outside. The summer is quickly coming to an end, and we can already see a tinge in the leaves across our back lane. Today, the birds were in a big flurry around 1500. The Crow family was all in attendance, along with the six Blue Jays – and hundreds and hundreds of sparrows of various types. We noticed a lactating grey squirrel, but it was not Dyson. Since the disappearance of Brock and the other cat, Charlie, we have also noticed a decline in the number of grey squirrels. Down by half. As I have mentioned previously, there is some concern that someone is using rodenticide. That deadly poison goes through the food chain – it can even kill the hawk that comes several times a week! Please do not use it, and if you know of others who do, don’t attack them but do educate them. So read up – there is lots of information on the dangers of this deadly poison on the Internet.
I want to thank everyone for their notes while you grieve, Jackie. She was so loved, and her influence has touched so many. I am grateful for the excellent care she received, from the first responders to the staff and volunteers at the Ojai Raptor Centre. Jackie died a natural death – and whether she knew it or not, she was surrounded by love. Tributes are still being made, and many want a permanent memorial to her at Big Bear Valley. Flower tributes have been left, and I know from your notes and comments that many people have a big hole in their hearts. Luna and Sandy are fine. I find it very interesting that Jackie stayed strong until they had left the area. As you know, raptors hide their vulnerabilities. Otherwise, others will try to take their position. At some point, however, when one is so very, very sick, that illness cannot be hidden anymore, and that is what happened to our dear Jackie. Shadow will be fine. He misses Jackie. He calls out for her, but no one answers. It is not breeding season, but like M15, he will need a strong mate to help him keep the Big Bear nest. It looks like the one female, nearing five years, KD1, is hoping to fill that spot. We need to send Shadow our best wishes just like we did Bella (NCTC), Connie (Captiva), Gabby (NE Florida) and M15 (SW Florida) – to name a few of the eagles who have lost their mates in the past five years.
CBS LA has a lovely thirty-minute tribute: https://youtu.be/B2od9c1IlDo?
I am delighted to report that one female osprey, Blue NC0, whose mate, Laddie LM12, died two years ago, appears to have found another nest and mate. She lost her nest at Loch of the Lowes last year when she failed to bond with the Dark Knight. She has recently been at the Alyth SS Substation nest that previously belonged to Harry and Flora. Harry disappeared, and Flora lost her nest (or that is what it appears). Clyde is the current male, and he has been bringing fish to Blue NC0. Loch of the Lowes and Alyth are approximately 18 km away from one another. I wish Blue NC0 the best.
I want to begin with Geemeff’s summaries and videos from Loch Arkaig:
Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Friday 14th August 2026
Today’s big story is the Nest Two camera being taken out by an electrical storm. Unfortunately, as it’s in a remote area, it’s going to take a while to restore service but it is being worked on, and luckily Nest One cam is still streaming live. Garry LV0 wasn’t seen today so his fish tally remains at two hundred and one, but Aurora 536 came to the nest and preened quietly for a few minutes before departing. Thanks to off-nest reports from local resident LizB, we know the chicks were around today both on and off the nest, and Louis was seen delivering fish. Fishing stats guru Steve Quinn has worked out a formula for estimating deliveries by Louis during the cam outage and the Nest Two tally has been raised to four hundred and nineteen. Dorcha has not been seen on cam since Saturday 8th and off-cam on Tuesday 11th. Meanwhile, all the main events of Season Ten are available on Woodland Trust’s playlist, details in the bonus section. After a stormy night, the weather was reasonably settled today but at the time of this report, midnight, it’s raining and due to continue overnight with a low of 12°C, changing to light showers with sunny intervals and a high of 18°C tomorrow.
Today’s videos:
https://youtu.be/3abZkT-QbX8 N2 The moment the storm takes the camera out 04.29.31 https://youtu.be/e3GDrR-jrtc N1 Aurora arrives, preens quietly, no Garry so she departs 08.41.36
Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Thursday 13th August 2026
Garry LV0 and Aurora spent time on Nest One today, and he brought her one fish, taking his tally to two hundred and one. The two chicks were on and off Nest Two being very competitive, squaring up to each other, slapping wings, pushing each other off the nest and chasing, and generally doing their best to get as much fish as possible. Louis only brought three fish, all flatfish, and Amber got the first two and Juniper the third. The Nest Two tally now stands at four hundred and fourteen. Dorcha wasn’t seen today, either on or off the nest, and it looks like she might have headed south – we wish her fair winds and plenty of fish and look forward to seeing her safely back next year for Season Eleven. The weather was damp and overcast, with Nest One shrouded in mist at times, and the damp weather is set to continue with thundery showers and light winds and a low of 16°C overnight, continuing tomorrow with light rain, a gentle breeze, occasional sunny spells and a high of 19°C.
Today’s videos:https://youtu.be/Bwa5tZUn8gw N2 Amber’s waiting when Louis brings the first fish 11.48.59https://youtu.be/4C9DHUpEri0 N2 Amber gets the second fish as Juniper loses out again 15.09.25https://youtu.be/AL-CYDZL52M N2 Finally it’s Juniper’s turn and she gets fish three 16.09.41https://youtu.be/-LZhVieT–0 N1 Aurora’s calls are answered when Garry brings a fish 16.47.16
Everyone’s invited to join the friendly community at Woodland Trust’s Osprey forum, it’s fun, free and you’re all welcome:
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam
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Individuals throughout the UK (and elsewhere like myself) are fed up with the medieval practice on the shooting estates BECAUSE it leads to the gamekeepers poisoning, beating, and killing in the most bizarre ways the raptors that come and take a grouse for food. No one tells them they crossed a boundary – and to be honest the pheasants imported, the monies exchanged, never warrant the brutal killing of the raptors.
In the US, people are worried about changes to The Endangered Species Act. Audubon tells us all about it:
As you are aware, I am a big fan of Knepp Farms and their Rewilding campaign. In their latest newsletter, they tell of the most recent introduction: “In our latest episode of the Knepp Wilding Podcast, butterfly expert and old friend Neil Hulme joins us to talk about the Knepp Wildland Foundation’s most recent reintroduction project – the black-veined white butterfly.
Absent from Britain for more than a century, Neil discusses the specialist task of reintroducing a species that vanished this long ago and why we’re hopeful that this rare, striking insect will once again become a UK resident.”
The newsletter also brings up other issues such as the failure of national parks to provide safe environments for wildlife. There are other stories. Have a read.
Oh, you want cute. They look like miniature fuzzy snow persons! SE37 and 38 are adorable.
SK Hideaways has a cute video of the little sea eaglets. You also get to hear the duet! : https://youtu.be/QfxN_k_qH24?
Sadly, it appears that we will not have any Ervie babies this year. We saw him at the nest, but no female! Oh, let’s hope a female comes around. We love Ervie – and I can’t wait til he is a Dad.
Phoenix, from the Sandpoint nest, is doing well in rehab. He is said to be very, very feisty! He won’t leave his wing protector on…but this is good. He will be strong when he leaves care and goes back into the world. (A Bald Eagle injured Phoenix when he flew off the nest).
The females are starting to migrate in the UK. Blue 014 from the Pont Cresor nest in Glaslyn has not been seen since she had a fish on the Glaslyn nest on the 10th. Other females are helping the males fill up the chicks!
Take care everyone. Thanks for being with us. I keep saying I am going to take a day off. Maybe it will be tomorrow. I am hoping to get us on a little road trip if it isn’t raining all day.
Thank you to SK Hideaways and Geemeff for their videos and summaries of nest activities, to Knepp Farms for giving me hope for the future, to everyone who posted information and images on FB, to Ruth T for chasing down the latest raptor persecution news in the UK, and to everyone who owns a camera or posts news somewhere so that we know what is happening in the nests. A big thank you to CBS LA for a lovely tribute to Jackie.
Hearts heavy with the tremendous grief at Jackie’s loss, thank goodness the hatch of the precious sea eaglets at Olympic Park comes as we need something this beautiful to remind us that the bird world keeps turning, emotionally and literally, and that no sadness can overwhelm the joy of a little fluff ball with a shiny black beak and the most adorable tiny pink feet. Mind you, I am very glad to be reminded just how fluffy and roomy Lady’s underfluffies are for two fuzzy hatchlings – it really is FREEZING in the early mornings in southeastern Australia at the moment, worse down here in Melbourne than in Sydney of course, but it’s great to see the dear little creatures snuggled up in their sea eagle doona. Meanwhile, I did adore the celebratory honking duet from Dad and Lady against the background of the ubiqitious currawong chorus. How can two such lovely raptors sound like an old engine on its very last legs?