19 April 2026
Good Evening Everyone,
I hope that the weekend was kind to you and that you were able to get outside and listen to some birdsong! In our garden, they were singing their little hearts out as the sun came up and temperatures warmed up. Everything that breathes, including our plants and trees, wishes for spring to arrive as soon as possible!
Ann was here today with Don and Toby. They had a nice long walk, and I ran a few errands. My sympathy goes out to anyone who has only the weekend to do their shopping. My goodness, it is busier than a Tuesday! Won’t be doing this again – my current ‘dream’ is a super warm day to sit on the bench at our local park and read with squirrels running about and the birds singing.
It has been, so far, a simply great day in Bird World.
New Guy 2 arrived home to Iris yesterday, and today he brought her a huge fish, which she readily accepted and took away to eat. Our sweet ‘girl’ is being treated like the very special osprey she is.
The USS eaglet that had to be rescued might be able to be returned to the nest! How wonderful is that? There is nothing like being raised on the nest with Mum and Dad. In this instance, Irv and Stella and they are marvellous parents. So happy for this baby and so very grateful to everyone who acted swiftly to get the help it required (along with all those permissions!).
We were so afraid that the middle osplet at Achieva would pass last night. Heidi counted 64 bites of fish for Saturday. Today, the little one had a nice crop and will live another day. Each day makes it stronger – at some point in time, Heidi and I figured out that after 28 days the survival rate goes up much higher.
Big sibling is getting those lovely soft juvenile feathers while middle is in the Reptile phase. Enough fish yesterday to calm the nest a bit. Again, Mum is doing an incredible job in a challenging situation. Continue sending them big puffs of positive energy!
1246 Baby is getting some good bites. It is in a great position to get food off Mum’s beak. Dad Jack watching from the perch.
The meal ended at 1311. I have no idea how much fish little got. Somehow that baby managed to get itself tangled up in the rim of the nest after.
I think Mum has gone off fishing. Well done if she has. This wee sweet baby might have a full crop which will make it feel so much better when it goes to sleep.
Mum returned, as believed, with one of her catfish. Little kept its head down til Big was full. Very smart move. Mum ate and so did Little who is going to go to bed with a very nice crop. Smile. This is a brave and resilient female and if both of these beautiful chicks fledge, it is down to Jill and her catfish, a determined female to not let her family die. I am delighted tonight.
I have received really good news from Viki who monitors twenty-one osprey nests right near her home. “It is remarkably hopeful here, osprey wise, although I nearly hourly try to rein myself in, unable to believe in a normal osprey year after the bad, worse, and steadily worsening years since 2020. But to keep on the hopeful side, here is the good spring news:
Synopsis: 21 nests; 11 w/ active pairs; 5 w/ at least 1 returned; 1 taken over by goose; 3 abandoned.
I can observe 21 nests that have been more or less active since 2020. A 22nd nest that has had a pair for years was destroyed in winter storms and no efforts at repair attempted by birds or humans.
Pairs have settled in 11 of the 21 and many appear to have begun laying eggs this week. I only feel confident of one pair actually incubating.
I have only been able to observe one osprey returned to each of four nests that had pairs last year.
I have also observed a single osprey on a fifth nest, but foliage often hides this nest from me so I cannot vouch for its history, nor feel confident in a full accounting this year.
Three nests, inactive last year, are abandoned, although Nest 3 has become the exclusive property of Nest 4 which is very close. A goose successfully kept 6-year resident Ethel off Nest 1 and probably has laid eggs in it. Nest 2 seems oddly still up for grabs, its story below.”
This is rather joyful. Two years ago all the osplets nearly died. Last year the adults abandoned their eggs after two weeks. So….it is all systems go. Can’t wait to see how things turn out this year. Thanks, Viki.
We have first eggs at Glaslyn for Teifi and Elen and at Usk Valley.
Jeff Kear and the UK Osprey FB Group have wonderful lists. Oh, I do love lists. Now, how can we get the date in there – or shall I go to the other forms???
I continue to dream that every osprey nest on a streaming cam or in a place to be monitored could have its history saved. It is so important to understand the osprey population – its growth and decline.
With all this good news, I am disappointed that there was not a single penalty imposed on the individual who destroyed the Peregrine Falcon eggs at St. Albans Cathedral last year.
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Sunday 19th April 2026
It was another routine day with no intruders, just both pairs going about their business. Garry LV0 brought two fish for Aurora, although she didn’t want the second one, and spent time bring nesting materials and arranging the furnishings. His fish tally now stands at eighteen, while over on Nest Two, Louis delivered three fish, all eagerly grabbed by Dorcha, and his tally rises to four with a nest total of six including the two brought by Dorcha before he returned. The day started with the lovely sound of Louis skydancing before dawn, while Dorcha called not quite so melodiously from the nest, and ended with both of them on the nest in the dark, Dorcha on her perch and Louis snoozing on the nest. At the time of this report (23.30), they’re both still there, Louis still dozing, not surprising that he’s worn out after all his hard work yesterday and today – mating repeatedly, catching fish, skydancing and doing some enthusiastic nest prep.
Today’s videos:https://youtu.be/H3M5JbuK5rU N2 Dancing in the dark – Louis skydances for Dorcha 05.07.52https://youtu.be/OQExTBwCf9U N2 Breakfast arrives for Dorcha 07.01.23
https://youtu.be/pMoOJLuZggA N2 Louis delivers a whopper second fish 10.39.03https://youtu.be/YQgCZz4zJlg N1 Aurora wrestles the fish away from Garry and departs with it 12.17.31 https://youtu.be/Drr2i4ZyROM N1 Garry offers a second fish twice but Aurora doesn’t take it 16.20.41https://youtu.be/VRo2qRd6Ctw N2 Louis brings a third fish for Dorcha who’s calling loudly 18.47.57https://youtu.be/2Uvtj0H5mlM N2 Lou
is dozes off on the nest 22.13.31
Bonus read – guide to mating and egg production:
https://kielderospreys.wpcomstaging.com/2013/05/04/copulation-and-laying-eggs-a-bit-of-a-biology-lesson
Blast from the past, this day in previous years:
https://youtu.be/eLQgDi2VKIA N1 A stranger follows Louis to the nest 2021 (slo-mo)
https://youtu.be/Pt6-35zGrZw N1 Prince takes a very long mating run-up 2022
https://youtu.be/GLChgTeSpiA N2 Louis chases Prince away from Nest Two 2022
https://youtu.be/9O8JWeQEXeE N2 Dorcha uses her crow voice on a Hoodie 2023
https://youtu.be/kZJTfoKO6GY N2 Dorcha is very vocal when supper arrives 2023https://youtu.be/BCOPgYVTB5s N2 Drama as Dorcha fights with an eagle 2024 (slo-mo repeat with zoom)
https://youtu.be/nHPwQ5xDs5U N2 Dorcha’s injury visible as she takes the first fish 2024 (zoom)
https://youtu.be/G6MmnbWYf90 N2 Affric waits on Nest One but Garry’s a no-show 2024
https://youtu.be/dVOw0D9-zaU N2 Louis arrives chased by a Hoodie as Dorcha rests quietly 2024 (zoom)https://youtu.be/r3HwBnSxQFg N2 Hoodie chased away by Louis 2025https://youtu.be/JZ4karhsVMo N1 Affric touches down and is chased away 2025 (zoom)https://youtu.be/gnysQoRM6G8 N2 Egg number two! 2025 (zoom)https://youtu.be/EzmggXArZEQ N1 Blue 536 gets a fish from Garry LV0 2025
Come and join the friendly community at Woodland Trust’s Osprey forum, it’s fun, free and everyone’s welcome:
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam
‘J’ sends the banner from naturechat.org:
Freja laid 4th egg this morning at Kestrel Cam in Denmark.
1st egg & 2nd egg both hatched yesterday at Peregrine Falcon Cam in Belgium, and pip watch for 3rd egg.
1st egg hatched yesterday at White-tailed Eagle Cam in Latvia, and pip watch for 2nd egg.
I am so excited for Milda and Zorro’s first hatch. Milda is very special to me. I cried when she lost her loyal mate, Ramis, and then again when she stayed on the nest without food for at least 7 days. She was gone for a number of hours. It was winter and cold. No one believed the eggs would hatch, but there were two little miracles. And then…no food, again. The miracle little fluff balls died. Life has been very challenging for this amazing WTE and I am so hopeful that her hatchlings will thrive this year.
Ah, it’s a good night in Bird World! There is lots more going on…stay tuned!
Female birds are often overlooked. Their colouring is not so dramatic as the males. Now someone has studied female birdsong!
‘How much have we missed?’: book tunes in to overlooked world of female birdsonghttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/19/hidden-world-of-female-birdsong-book?CMP=share_btn_url
I am looking forward to tomorrow – the first day for the lovely cleaning lady to tackle a home with four cats, a dog, and two adults, plus a stock of bird seed! I hope she doesn’t run away and never return.
Our little garden is growing.
Take care all! See you soon.
Thank you to SK Hideaways, Geemeff, ‘PB’, the authors of those amazing FB posts, Raptor Persecution UK, and the owners of the streaming cams who allow us to cry and leap with joy with our bird families.