Raise the champagne glasses please! Our dear darling Louis has arrived home to Scotland six days later than his most late date. Dorcha was seen in the afternoon. I sure hope they find one another!!!!!!!
What overwhelming wonderful news – Geemeff phoned me and I wish you could have heard the excitement.
He even scraped the nest cup!!!!!!!
If nothing else happens this year – having Iris return and now Louis, believed MIA, showing up – well, that means a great osprey year for me.
Take care all.
Thanks, Geemeff! Thank you to the Woodland Trust for their streaming cam.
I am writing today’s blog with a very heavy heart. Louis has not returned to Lock Arkaig 2. There was rain late on Saturday. Still, a part of me hopes that he will land on the nest and shock us all. The reality that he is not returning lingers, and it is a difficult pill to swallow. Jean-Marie Dupart has monitored the youngsters staying over in Senegal til they return to their birth homes at two years. He also notes this week that there remain some older ospreys, either setting off on migration late or deciding to stay in their winter homes. I would like to think that Louis has decided to retire, living his life out catching fish in the sun and sand of West Africa.
I am counting on Geemeff to put together a terrific memorial video to Louis if he does not turn up in the next few days. It will not be easy as Louis was such a big part of so many learning to love ospreys.
Windy and not so nice at Lach Arkaig 2 Sunday. Dorcha has not been seen at the nest on Sunday. Has she left to check out other possibilities?
Geemeff asked me if I remembered life before Toby. I do, but it is a life that will never return. We had a vacation in Guadaloupe – the last big holiday that Don and I will ever take, the February before adopting Toby in April. Don’s health began to deteriorate about a month after Toby arrived. What I didn’t say in my response is that I am very happy. I can’t turn back the clock. Don’s health is such that I can actually begin monitoring the ospreys more closely this year, since there are no long trips to see birds. We walk Toby and go to the park, watch the animals in the garden, and Ann is so helpful in getting him to The Leaf and The Zoo, places that Toby can’t go. I have good support. Toby also means I will be spending much time in the garden, as he loves company and patrols the perimeter in case any of those ‘cats’ come inside. Today, we worked on spreading birdseed and peanut shells and painted a lidded bench that Ann gave me for his clothes. Don was content to sit in front of the telly (yes, that is where we are). I am not complaining – life is just changing, and Toby and the Girls and I are adjusting ourselves to this changing reality.
We are also putting out all the signals that spring is arriving. The forecast says it will be 18-20 C on Wednesday. You have to be kidding me. Or is it another year of roller coaster rides, with up-and-down temperatures from extreme heat to cold? Toby says a barbecue might be good!
What are the things you do that signal a change from winter to spring in your mind?
The RSPB is advising individuals to remove their birdseed tables and feeders and use suet and solid seed cylinders instead. We are going to do this when my last batch of seed bags runs out this year. The aim is to prevent avian flu. Have a read to see how you can help. Avian Flu is not restricted to the UK; it is a global phenomena that probably killed our much beloved Annie, the peregrine falcon from The Campanile, in San Francisco and the thousands of geese here in Manitoba.
At Rutland’s Manton Bay osprey platform, Maya laid her third egg on Saturday. Blue 33 would like to have four again!
We can’t forget about the wonderful Bald Eagles, and SK Hideaways has put together some memories of Eve and Kai at the nest of Gabby and Beau before these two beautiful eaglets depart. It has been a magical year at this nest. https://youtu.be/yLkrhOSwPmQ?
Bety and Bukacheck have returned to the Mlady Buky White Stork nest.
At Fort St Vrain, the two eaglets are already scooting out of the nest bowl. The youngest did so at five days old! I am impressed. I also hope that those remaining eggs do not hatch despite Mum continuing to incubate them and brood these characters! It is pip watch for the last one.
You can clearly see the ‘ears’ on the triplets at the Fraser Point nest of Andor and Cruz in California.
‘J’ keeps me up on the latest kakapo news:
“Andrew Digby made a comparison with 2019:
This year’s #kakapo breeding season has been the biggest on record: – 256 eggs (252 in 2019) – 148 fertile eggs (116 in 2019) – 105 eggs hatched (86 in 2019). It’ll be 2+ months until we know how many chicks will fledge (73 in 2019). There are currently 95 alive.”
Thanks, ‘J’.
SK Hideaways also sent me a link to share with everyone – the return of the Golden Eagle!
We have our first egg for Dylan and Seren Blue 5F at Clywedog! 13:27 was the time.
If you are wondering why I am not reporting on many of the North American nests, I’m so glad that Heidi is keeping up with them – I don’t know how she manages it. I track a small number, a very small number. Heidi will begin her reporting when there are chicks hatching.
Heidi reports: “4/12 – The Venice kids are doing great. They are 23, 22, and 20 days old.
The chicks at Brevard have had lots of fish as the wind in the region has diminished. Achieva chicks are doing OK, too much to my surprise. I would still like to see a pile of fish on that nest, but Jack doesn’t leave them there, as that could easily attract predators.
It continues to rain and with all the snow melting, all manner of wildlife are coming into our neighbourhood including frolicking deer! Posted on our FB community page:
Screenshot
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. We will see you soon!
Thank you to SK Hideaways for continuing to create videos even while on holiday, to all the individuals, including Heidi, who post recent nest information and images on FB, and the owners of the streaming cams, so that we can watch these wonderful avian families. Thanks, ‘J’, for not letting us forget about the kakapo!
Oh, what a day it is going to be. Dorcha, the mate of Louis at the Loch Arkaig nest, arrived home earlier than usual this morning. Aran, who also arrived late in 2025 only to lose his nest to Teifi, has arrived home early and as far as I know, Teifi is no where to be seen. Elen is home waiting for ‘someone’ as hormones leading up to osprey breeding season increase.
Aran arrives at 1005 and leaves returning with a fish around noon.
Aran was always one of my favourites and I hope that Elen gets home and this year there are chicks on the Glaslyn nest once again!
Other arrivals are Blue 647 at Kielder Forest, mate to UV. The terrible weather is bringing in the ospreys to their nests quickly this Easter weekend. (They tell me this bad weather is from Canada – sorry folks).
There is other wonderful news – news that we have waited for and seriously get the tissues. Happiness has arrived for Jackie and Shadow. It sounds cold and windy at Big Bear!
There are always conflicting reports now about Jackie and Shadow. Jackie is really chatting with Shadow, who is on the nest, and you can hear the raven in the background. There is a rumour that egg 1 has almost hatched or has hatched. i cannot independently confirm this and there is nothing on chat or the events sheet other than pip began on the 3rd. At the moment Shadow has brought in a nice fish and is eating it next to Jackie. (new restrictions mean I cannot post images – which I personally think is a huge mistake on the part of the owners of the cam – they are wanting donations to save this nest!)
At 0738:12 you can see the egg is almost completely cracked all the way around! We are going to have a baby at Big Bear soon. Get the tissues, pop the champagne!
Thank you for being with me this morning. It is going to be a gorgeous Saturday on the Canadian prairies. It feels ‘warm’ , but I have not even checked the temperature. We hope to see you again soon with more exciting news from Bird World
Thank you to Geemeff for the video of Dorcha’s arrival, and the news of that arrival along with Aran. Thank you to the owners of the streaming cams for letting us view these amazing birds, and to Jeff Kear and Mary Cheadle at UK Osprey Information for keeping us abreast of new arrivals. To Kielder and Usk Valley, your reports are so valuable – thank you.
