Yesterday we heard about the premeditated destruction of a nest elsewhere in the UK, and this, along with the empty nest at Loch Arkaig as Aila fails to reappear and Louis sets up home nearby, has left the Woodland Trust nest-chat bereft. I’m one of the chatters; people are angry about the destruction, worried about Aila, and feeling adrift without the prospect of an osprey family on the camera nest this year.

A while ago, I said I might try to paint that scene; the nest, the colours, the magnificence of it; and probably no one noticed. But I did paint it, using artistic licence (like Bond’s without the Martini) and a clip from the live stream to imagine an osprey there. It isn’t quite Louis, the sharp-eyed osprey watchers will notice that immediately, but I’d say it stands in for him. My best hope though is that it looks enough like an osprey not to offend anyone.

While the majority of the canvas is painted using acrylics, the nest is made from a collage cut from screen-clip photos of the branches and twigs, the hills and the trees. Sharp, angular, and bright.