3 April 2025
Good Morning Everyone!
Well, I am over the moon with the arrival of Louis and Dorcha at the Loch Arkaig 2 nest on Wednesday. I mean, seriously, this is magical. I couldn’t believe it and then I couldn’t stop smile and quietly giggling to myself. Just like the miracle eagle babies in the US, it just doesn’t get much better than this in UK Osprey World!
‘The Girls’ divide themselves into couples.
Hugo Yugo and Missey are always together. Always.
Calico and her only surviving kitten, Baby Hope, are likewise always together. Hope waits for Mum to finish eating before she eats – just as she did when she was a kitten.
I am showing it again just for you to get the idea. Hope is very good friends and plays with Hugo Yugo and she doesn’t mind Missey. Calico and Missey are not pals. They do not like one another and so, today, I am off to get some more of that diffuser that should make them ‘love one another’. Wish me luck!
While they are curious about the feral cats and tolerate Brock, they do not like the new ones that are arriving. To keep the stress down for them, the plan is to move the feral feeder to the back of the garden area away from our garden door. I can still keep an eye to see if Brock is coming and if he needs our help.
This blog contains the mention of Louis’ arrival home at least three times. Here are the videos in case you missed them. This in response to the more than 400 e-mails of you with tears in your eyes and the following from one of our long time Bird World friends. ‘B’ writes: “Oh, thank goodness!! Thank you Mary Ann! It has been such a difficult year, with the loss of Annie and Archie, and Thunder and Akecheta, E24 and E25, and (so far) the loss of Chase and Cholyn’s eggs at Two Harbors. We have to be thankful for every blessing we get with Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear, Audacity and Jak at Sauces, Bodie at NE Florida, and now the return of Louis (Louis the Legend!!) and Dorcha at Loch Arkaig.”
‘B’ is so right. There are miracles and blessings and each day with our feathered friends has to be treasured and never taken for granted. We love them dearly.
Welcome home Dorcha! Resident female Osprey returns to Loch Arkaig Nest Two 2nd April 2025 (zoomed):13.58.57 An Osprey call is heard off camera – is it Louis? Sounds like him. I boosted the audio the better to hear the call. 14.04.19 An Osprey lands with a chirp – but it’s Dorcha, not Louis! Welcome home!
14.06.20 She departs, flying lochwards and disappearing into the distance. Where is Louis?
Welcome home Louis! Resident male Osprey returns to Loch Arkaig Nest Two 2nd April 2025 (zoomed):19.43.55 An Osprey comes unseen from the cam side and lands on the cam post with a thunk and a soft cry. 19.47.30 The Osprey takes off, circles round, heads back to the nest
19.47.44 It lands – it’s Louis!! Welcome home, it’s so good to see you.
https://youtu.be/8WyDfBGdXgYTogether again! The reunion of the resident Loch Arkaig Ospreys Louis and Dorcha 2nd April 2025:
20.11.35 Louis is on the nest and starts displaying, flapping his wings 20.12.00 Dorcha arrives and is reunited with Louis Louis starts coy-mantling, she just stands there quietly 20.21.54 Dorcha leaves, Louis remains behind and starts nest prep, doing some nest scraping 20.46.57 Louis leaves for the night
Heidi’s US Osprey Report:
4/2 – Venice Golf Club: Congratulations to Mom and Dad on their first hatch. The baby hatched sometime overnight.
4/2 – Brevard County: Mom was very secretive, but the first baby hatched at approximately 13:30.
Updates to the hatches from Heidi!
4/3 – Brevard County: A pip was first seen 4/2 at 21:00, and the second baby was out of the shell 4/3 by around 00:30.
4/3 – Venice Golf Club: The second baby arrived sometime in the overnight hours.
4/3 – Havre de Grace osprey nest: The first egg of the season was laid this morning at 06:59.
Heidi asked me to make a correction: CORRECTION: PLEASE CHANGE DATE OF Maryland Western Shore egg #2 to 4/1.
And I missed this one from Heidi!
Kent Island: 3/30 – Kent Island, Maryland (Chesapeake Conservancy): ‘Tom’ arrived home on the same day that he returned last year. Nice to see you, Tom. Tom is waiting for Audrey, who is currently a week past the date that she arrived last season.
Mary Ann’s Osprey News:
Rutland Mantou Bay: Maya lays her first egg on 2 April.
Golden Gate Audubon: Richmond and Rosie welcomed their first egg of the 2025 season on Tuesday 1 April.
Loch Arkaig: If you missed it, Louis and Dorcha are home. More from Geemeff below but I had to mention it twice. My inbox flowed with over 400 e-mails about this fantastic couple. We all remember Louis and Aila and their triplets during the pandemic. We miss Aila, we embraced Dorcha, and then we worried ourselves to death that Louis might not return this year. Well, he fooled us and I hope that he has recovered from whatever ailed him last season.
Glaslyn: Elen is home waiting for Aran. Now we have a visitor, a male.
Cowlitz PUD: Electra arrived at the nest on 30 March.
Goitzsche Wildnis : J Castnyer writes: “If yesterday it was Herbert, from the Eschenbach nest, who brought a red fish to the new couple, today Zeus did the same to the one from Goitzsche Wildnis. Very attached to the claws, yes. There was a moment of tug-of-war between him and a Fjona who was very interested in the teak, not only because of the color, but because of the appetite it had.” From this it would appear that the original Fjona has not returned but I hope this is just my misunderstanding. Stay tuned for clarification.
Here is that ‘red fish’ that Herbert brought to the Eschenbach nest yesterday:
Geemeff’s Daily Summary for Loch Arkaig!
Daily summary Wednesday 2nd April 2025
What an eventful day – apart from the Really Dark Female (RDF) turning up on Nest Two this morning, the main action took place in the afternoon and evening. Louis and Dorcha have returned! We heard Louis’ characteristic call off-camera then an Osprey arrived, but confusingly, it was Dorcha! Looking a little hollow cropped but otherwise in good shape. She left and the nest stayed empty as the light started to fade but then a chirrup was heard and a wingtip seen from someone up on the cam post, then the Osprey departed, flew off, circled round and landed on the nest – it was Louis! He is looking in magnificent shape with a nicely rounded crop. He stayed on the nest looking around then suddenly started displaying and the reason soon became obvious when Dorcha arrived. Their reunion was quiet, no noise, no mating attempts, just some coy-mantling from Louis, with Dorcha not calling for fish as judging by her crop, she’d eaten since first appearing on the nest. Had she caught her own fish, or had she met up with Louis earlier and he’d given her a fish off-nest? We’ll never know, but what is certain is the resident pair are both safely home, and the nest cam community is absolutely thrilled. And for a bonus, the weather cooperated too.
Night cam switches on (day cam):
Nest One 21.10.08 (05.41.53)
Nest Two 21.23.55 (05.58.36)
Today’s videos, all Nest Two:
https://youtu.be/GdxCrcgFs9w First visit by an Osprey – and it’s the RDF! 10.35.35 (zoom)
https://youtu.be/0at1Hn1OO68 Welcome home Dorcha! 14.04.19 (zoom)
https://youtu.be/8WyDfBGdXgY Welcome home Louis! 19.47.44 (zoom)
https://youtu.be/drkXe1oXJ6E The resident pair are reunited 20.12.00
Bonus link – several members of the community have kindly made donations to celebrate the return of our Ospreys, here’s the link if you’d like to join in: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/support-us/give/donation
If you prefer to show support in other ways, you can buy from Woodland Trust’s shop: https://shop.woodlandtrust.org.uk/
Or become a member: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/support-us/woodland-trust-membership/
Or link your Nectar points and donate them to WT: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/support-us/join/nectar/
Blast from the past, all from this day last year:
https://youtu.be/jKAmWUAhVTY Dorcha stars on BBC Breakfast TV
https://youtu.be/xopDMmwwx2E Louis delivers the first fish of the day
https://youtu.be/GVX93Gmg5KI George on BBC Radio Scotland
https://youtu.be/ziFi6Kiqclc Prince brings another fish to Nest One
https://youtu.be/5eWslEsf8-A Freeze frame comparison of the stranger with Garry LV0
Come and join the friendly community at Woodland Trust’s Osprey forum, it’s free and everyone’s welcome:
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam
Bald Eagle News:
‘J’ sends news that we have a pip/hatch underway at Fort St Vrain in Colorado!
Big Bear: Sunny and Gizmo just cannot stop growing. Snow has started falling but let us all wish that this nest misses any big storms heading for the north of California. https://youtu.be/3rTqyFDnlXE?
More cuteness from the FOBBV Cam: https://youtu.be/CLYP4TJXuYs?
NCTC: It might have been horrific year for Bella last year, but this year is an entirely different story. Bella and Scout’s triplets are doing very well.
John Bunker Sands: The kids are really wanting to fly! https://youtu.be/R06mn7eepQQ?
Other Birds:
Cornell Red Tail Hawks: I reported that Big Red laid her third egg Wednesday morning. Oh, I love this 22 year old incredible Mum and dear Arthur. Here he nudges her off the eggs so she can have a break and he can have some incubation time. I always wonder if Arthur senses that she is more tired than she was 8 years ago? And he is really stepping up to help. Love them. So glad to have the privilege to watch them raise another family. https://youtu.be/ih0pGF7rguQ?
Great Spirit Bluff: Newmann and Elaine have their third egg on 2 April.
‘T’ sends us a video of the Imperial Eagles in RU welcoming a new breeding season.
Calico’s Tip for the Day: Please read this and educate everyone you know.
I don’t want to end the blog on a negative note so I am putting this article here. I want you to pause and think about how many billions of animals we – humans – kill in the factory farms across the world and the inhumane conditions those animals live in. Now, the EU is allowing the shooting of doves. Seriously? I get an ‘acidic’ stomach just thinking about this. What is wrong with people?
Turtle doves to be shot for sport again across Europe as EU lifts hunting banhttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/02/turtle-doves-to-be-shot-for-sport-again-across-europe-as-eu-lifts-hunting-ban?CMP=share_btn_url
Huge storms heading east from Arkansas could impact many of our beloved birds. Stay safe everyone.
Always nice to see a utility company helping our beloved raptors:
Utility company trying to help nesting Ospreys find suitable nests and prevent electrocution and / or power outages:
Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care everyone. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for giving me help with my blog today: ‘B, Geemeff, Heidi, J, T’, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, VGCCO, Brevard County, LRWT, Kent Island/Chesapeake Conservancy, Golden Gate Audubon, Jeff Kear and Byryd Gwylld Glaslyn, Cowlitz PUD, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, FOBBV, SK Hideaways, NCTC, John Bunker Sands Wetlands, Great Spirit Bluff Ospreys/Explore, Joan Castnyer, Eschenbach Osprey Platform, Goitzsche Wildnis Osprey Platform, SK Hideaways, The Guardian, CapeCod.com, Kaitlin Wright Meterologist, RU Imperial Eagle Cam