8 August 2026
Hello Everyone,
Friday was a busy day. The plumbers have almost finished making our main bath ‘accessible’ in case Don needs mobility aids. They were working hard today, and it was often loud, so Don went with Ann to our Zoo, and he got to see Lumi, the little lynx that was rehabilitated by Wildlife Haven. It was exciting, as they had missed seeing Lumi on three previous occasions. This evening, Don’s second cousin, a budding Vancouver photographer, was here visiting her Mum, and Susan agreed to do some photos for us at King’s Park. It was ideal, and there was more – we had some photos taken near a waterfall and pool where Toby had his first swim!!!!!!! I am going to get him a kiddie pool. You would have thought that he went swimming every day – Toby is a real duck.
Susan will edit the images but she did send us one.
As you are aware, Jackie’s latest red blood count has dropped below 10%. She has returned to the critical care unit and has to have oxygen. I feel for this beloved eagle. Without asking you, I am pretty certain that each of us would love to see her fly back to the nest to be with Shadow. The truth is – she is hanging on to life. I have seen the craziest comments – like let her fly up to Shadow, give her another transfusion. First of all, she can’t fly. Secondly, a second blood transfusion is very dangerous. I believe that, at this point, we have to trust the highly qualified vet team and Jackie to know whether she has the strength to continue fighting. Some of you will recall that at the end of June, Jackie’s behaviour was a bit off. She had a fight with Shadow over a fish. She had to have been sick then. The team are desperately seeking answers and getting more clues daily but our girl is more than extremely sick.
No matter what happens, I will be forever grateful that Jackie used all the energy she had to bring two beautiful eaglets into the world, Sandy and Luna, with Shadow this year. I suspect she was ill at the time, and that must have really taken its toll on her body. Poor thing. If it is to be, then I hope she soars into the ether with Sandy Speers, who loved Jackie so much, and that Shadow, like M15, finds another very good mate. Until then, I continue to hope for Jackie’s full recovery.
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Friday 7th August 2026
Today was heavy with fish deliveries but light on key players – neither Dorcha nor Garry LV0 turned up today. Aurora spent a little time on Nest One but on her last appearance this evening just perched silently before flying away, clearly Garry wasn’t in the neighbourhood. The Nest One fish total remains at one hundred and ninety four. Louis however was very much in evidence, delivering eight fish to his two chicks who were stuffed so full, neither turned up for the eighth fish and he took it away again. The Nest Two total now stands at three hundred and eighty nine, four of which were brought by Dorcha. Has she left on migration? It would be an early departure for her, she usually waits until the chicks are around seventy five days old, and today Juniper and Amber are sixty seven and sixty five days old respectively. She has been known to stay away from the nest for a day or two before leaving, popping in occasionally, so perhaps we’ll see her tomorrow. It was very wet today with heavy rain showers throughout the day, and the rain will continue lightly overnight with a low of 13°C, then heavy again tomorrow with a high of 17°C.
Today’s videos:
https://youtu.be/u8OvfLOFDDI N2 Juniper crash lands too late – Amber’s already got fish one 06.24.08https://youtu.be/EKjatdnyNxI N2 Juniper gets fish two and doesn’t let go 07.39.56https://youtu.be/X2qE9z_sP5A N2 Louis waits with fish three on an empty nest 08.44.00https://youtu.be/oThXmsFRh2Y N2 Amber’s alone on the nest waiting for fish four 10.15.20https://youtu.be/Y2AthKRU0FI N2 Again it’s Amber who gets fish five 13.18.03https://youtu.be/Y6UGSEGtJdg N2 Fish number six is a very large, very lively trout 18.19.16https://youtu.be/wHjquYUZyP8 N2 Is an intruder around when Louis brings fish seven? 19.33.20https://youtu.be/2CBec3aUa9U N1 Aurora waits silently then departs as Garry doesn’t show 20.05.48https://youtu.be/V030Nw9v4jo N2 Louis takes fish eight away again as no one’s there 21.29.00 (zoom)
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
Geemeff sends us a good news story – boy do we need it.
“A remarkable story – this little rescued nestling has gone on to have a long and well-travelled life!”
https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/26439373.hastings-blackbird-rescued-15-years-ago-found-newcastle
I love Blue 33 – everyone knows that – and his mate Maya. A lovely image of two of the fledglings from this year.
I am so proud of the individuals who are stepping up to stop the gill net fishing of Menhaden. There will be a survey that can be sent in to a meeting in November. I will send that link, but please educate yourself on the impact of this vacuuming of fish and the use of spotter planes has had on the entire ecosystem, including our dear ospreys dying before our eyes. Many have lost their businesses as well to save 196 jobs at Reedsville, Virginia.
Viki is still feeding three ospreys including that fledgling! She writes, “Indeed, your language is nothing compared to my anger language. ONE flipping living chick in 3 flipping years. Fed this morning. On the search for another box of bait to keep it up. Good to know that they learn to fish at migration.”
Viki was worried that the chick would not be taught to fish so I sent her a couple of articles. There are no fish for the ospreys – the nests were in sight of her porch. She is distraught but determined – like those fighting against a 0- 50% reduction because no one knows how many fish Omega are taking. It is the most frustrated I have been in years. So when the time comes to step up and speak, I hope you will join me.
George and Hope are at the Osprey House Environmental Centre in Griffins, Australia. They have three lovely osplets this year. All very healthy!
The West Midlands (no streaming cams) had a very good year for ospreys. Congratulations. Here is the total for the 2026 class:
Good news out of Rutland – chick wasn’t lost, just looking over the territory!
Wensi follows Iris to the nest to claim a fish! Listen to dear Iris call her baby. https://youtu.be/pG2fvUB51aA?
C22 slept on the nest at Charlo and has been flying around Saturday morning with Chloe – always heading back to the nest in hope of fish! Doing well.
The fledglings are all eating at Blackbush Beach Resort in Prince Edward Island, Canada.
I was very distressed this morning to see that there are proposals for an upgrade at the park near where I live. Our mayor doesn’t like geese, apparently. So this year they culled the eggs and greased others to get rid of the population. I think they don’t know much about geese or ducks. People bring their families to see the wildlife. Why not hire a few high school students during the season to power-spray the sidewalks? It would allow the families to continue to enjoy the ducks and geese; paths would be cleaner, and the wildlife would have the right to their nesting spots they have used for aeons. 3.4 million is the cost. We have lots of crime now, lots of people who are homeless with drug issues…our City is rapidly becoming not a great place to live. Many blame it on the current group of suits that are at City Hall, not just the mayor.
I agree. We need to be outside more and not on our screens. One artist is hand-drawing 1,000 birds to try and get us to do just that. But how would an app keep us off our phones? Please read.
“Hansen, a renowned ornithological illustrator and author, has a monumental task – a hand-painted compendium of every one of the roughly 1,000 bird species ever recorded from the US and Canada, including those found in waters up to 200 miles from shore, Hawaiian birds not included. When finished, it will complete the visual backbone of an app called Flock, whose mission, compared with that of most apps, is quietly subversive.
For rather than seeking to monopolize and monetize its users’ attention, it deftly employs elements of computer gaming and social networking to draw people outward, into the world of birding, with the broader aim of cultivating a community of conservationists.”
The ornithological artist drawing 1,000 birds by hand – all for an app that wants you off your phone
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/08/birds-artist-flock-app-california?CMP=share_btn_url
am signing off. We are going outside today. Rain is predicted for the beginning of the week and today the temperatures will go up to a wonderful 23 C. Take care all. I hope you are well.
Thank you to Geemeff for their wonderful summary and videos from Loch Arkaig, the UK Osprey Info with Jeff Kear, to all those who post on FB, to Susan Thompson for the great photos at King’s Park yesterday, and to the owners of the streaming cams that allow us to watch our bird families. We are so very grateful to each and every one of you. Thank you as always to The Guardian for including interesting wildlife stories every day.