Winging it: Osprey family fly their nest for the last time this year

An osprey family followed online by 400,000 people from around the world this summer have flown their nest for the last time this year.

Scotland’s most famous osprey pair, Louis and Aila, have occupied the nest at Loch Arkaig Pine Forest in Lochaber since 2017.

This year, a record 400,000 viewers worldwide have logged on to a webcam funded by players of People’s Postcode Lottery to watch the birds as they fledged three chicks for the first time.

The public named the chicks Doddie, Vera and Captain in honour of Scottish rugby legend and MND campaigner Doddie Weir, the late Forces sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn and fundraising hero Captain Sir Tom Moore.

Woodland Trust Scotland, the conservation charity that owns the pine forest, said all of the birds have now begun their 3,000-mile migration to West Africa, where they will spend the winter.

The raptors, including Vera, are likely to pass over the “white cliffs of Dover” on route to their winter destination. And it is hoped the adult pair will return to the nest site in April 2021 to breed for a fifth consecutive year.

Woodland Trust spokesman George Anderson said: “Their success has been terrifically cheering given what many people have had to endure in 2020.”