High ambition as conservationists create treetop nests to attract visiting ospreys
● Two roosts built in Highland pine forest to attract more birds of prey
Intrepid climbers have been working 80ft up in the treetops in a Highland forest to build luxury accommodation for some of Scotland’s most iconic and eagerly awaited annual visitors: ospreys.
The climbers were creating two new nests in Loch Arkaig forest in Lochaber in the hope of attracting more ospreys to the site after the successful refurbishment of an old nest last year saw a pair of young birds move in and raise their first chick there.
The new nest platforms have been erected in native Scots pine trees by weaving branches together with fence netting.
They must be constructed in mature trees that can support the structures and solidly meshed with the branches in order to withstand high winds.
To create the roosts, raptor workers Lewis Pate and Justin Grant spent long hours in icy conditions at the top of some of the forest’s tallest trees.
They have been under pressure to complete the nests as the birds of prey are due to fly in from Africa any day soon, when they will search for a mate and choose a nest site.
The site was recently bought by the woodland trust conservation charity and local group Arkaig Community Forest.
“It is quite a tough job making a platform,” said Mr Pate, a field contractor for the Woodland Trust.
“You spend a few hours up the tree, and it was particularly cold this week.
“We just hope our two new platforms are as enticing as the original one.
“This is five-star accommodation for ospreys.”
Last year saw the first eggs being hatched in around a dec- ade at Loch Arkaig after two novice birds settled in an old nest that had been revamped by the team after it became increasingly unstable.
A nest webcam was also set up, allowing people across the globe to watch the birds – Louis, Aila and chick Lachlan – in their treetop home.
The nest cam has now been activated again, ahead of the expected return of Louis around 10 April and Aila later.
The first ospreys to return to Scotland this year have already landed at sites in Speyside and Perthshire this week.
“It is quite a tough job making a platform. You spend hours up the tree, and it was very cold. This is five-star accommodation for ospreys”
LEWIS PATE