Loch Arkaig welcomes first osprey chick of breeding season

The first osprey chick of the season has hatched at Loch Arkaig Pine Forest.

Woodland Trust Scotland that the tiny addition hatched around 6.15am on Wednesday.

Loch Arkaig Pine Forest has gained a global audience since Woodland Trust Scotland began operating a live nest camera at the Lochaber woodland in 2017.

The father of the newest chick, Louis, will be familiar with viewers who have been coming back over the years.

Louis the Osprey soaring over Loch Arkaig. Supplied

Laura Chow, head of charities at People’s Postcode Lottery, which supports the nestcam, said the camera is “Britain’s wildest soap opera”.

“It has been so lovely to share the adventures of our osprey father Louis through the years.

“We have followed him from awkward novice in 2017 through to poised parent now.

“He has seen eleven chicks through to migration and we hope this latest arrival will be number twelve,” she said.

The trust is hopeful that the remaining two eggs in the clutch will hatch by the weekend.

The Arkaig ospreys proved a huge hit during Covid lockdown in 2020 and gained a worldwide audience thanks to the nest cams.

Louis and his current mate Dorcha have been together since 2021. He was with his first mate Aila from 2017 to 2020 but she failed to return the following year.

The forest is also home to wild boar, sea eagles, golden eagles, pine martens and deer amongst many other species.

Loch Arkaig is not only home to some of the worlds most famous Osprey’s but was the location for a sequence in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Harry, Hermione and Ron cling to a dragon as it flies above the forest before jumping off into the Loch below.

Woodland Trust Scotland and Arkaig Community Forest bought the woodland site in 2016 from Forest Enterprise Scotland under the National Forest Land Scheme.

Their aim is to restore native woodland habitats; re-connect local people with the management and stewardship of the site, and use the woods to underpin sustainable rural development in the nearby communities of Achnacarry, Bunarkaig and Clunes.