Oh, Tiny Little!

Oh, what a relief to go to the Foulshaw Moss Osprey Nest and see all three of White YW and Blue 35’s fledglings on the nest. Big Sibling 462 had the fish.

Of course, Tiny Little had her back of tricks open to try and get that fish and sibling 462 knows that Tiny Little is getting much better at stealing fish.

So, 462 decides that the best approach is to take off with the fish in talon! Meanwhile, 464 is at the back of the nest, only partly paying attention.

Tiny Little reminds me so much of Tiny Tot from the Achieva Osprey Nest. No matter what, Tiny Tot would dig around in the nest and find food. That is precisely what Tiny Little is doing right now. The first thing she eyes is a nice fishtail.

She eats all of the fish and horks down that tail like the pro at self-feeding she now is.

Then after digging around a little more, look what she finds. Wow. A great big piece of fish. Way to go, Tiny Little.

When she finished those treasures, Tiny Little began to move sticks around. Was this to pass the time? Or was it in search of more hidden treasure?

Both Tiny Little and 464 ‘think’ that a fish drop is imminent. They have seen an adult, and they are both food calling.

Each has tried to find the perfect position to get in close and take the fish from dad, White YW.

And now both have flown off the nest! That fish drop must have been made somewhere else, off-camera. It was so good to see all of them but, particularly, Tiny Little. She is looking really well.

News has come in from the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation that this year’s chicks, eight of them taken from nests in Scotland, were successfully translocated to Poole Harbour. They were placed in cardboard boxes filled with moss and closed – kept in a temperature-controlled van. The party stopped in Staffordshire for the night. The chicks were fed then and fed again in the morning. They have all been at Poole Harbour for about a fortnight and will be released the first week in August. Let us hope that the birds that have been translocated return and help build up the population of Ospreys at Poole Harbour in the future.

Roy Dennis’s website is full of information. You should check it out when you have time. Roy Dennis is one of the main individuals responsible for bringing back the Ospreys and other large raptors to the UK. Here is the link:

There should be another hatch – WBSE 28 – today. Indeed, maybe Lady isn’t given up secrets, and we already have two soft little chicks. Meanwhile, WBSE 27 could not get any cuter. It is hard to imagine that this little soft ball of down will be a big sea eagle by October!

I did check on the Collins Marsh chick before things got hectic. By 13:13, the wee babe had at least three feedings. Oh, that was really wonderful to see. This is not a popular Osprey nest. When I look down and see ‘3 people watching’, I know precisely who those three are! This is an image of the last fish delivery around 13:00.

Despite two earlier feedings, our wee babe is happy to tuck in. So three feedings in one morning. That is sometimes better than what happens in an eight hour period on this nest. Yeah, dad! Keep it up. This wee one needs to really grow and begin to put on some fat, too.

Ferris Akel has been out finding that beautiful Roseate Spoonbill, and he has made another video of it fishing. In past images or videos, this gorgeous bird has been in the trees. Here that is for your pleasure:

The White Storks at Mlade Buky are doing fantastic. They come to the nest for food, but it also appears that they are now spending time off the nest doing their own fishing. Here are some images from the late afternoon.

There were always only two storks on the nest. The other one must be catching enough fish to try and be on the nest when Father Stork returns to feed.

They did a lot of preening.

They also did a lot of looking for Father Stork, but he did not show up.

One flies off to the left. That bird will fly over the rooftops and fly beyond the highway on the other side of the tree line about 3/4 from the bottom of the image.

Then the other one departs. What beautiful wings.

Tomorrow I will bring you some more news from the Gough Island Recovery Project to eradicate the mice and rats killing the Sooty and Tristan albatross chicks and adults.

The only news in my garden included the ‘usual gang’ was a Golden-Crowned Sparrow this morning. Not very exotic for sure, but since the heatwave came through, there are fewer ‘visitors’ to the garden despite plenty of water and food.

“Golden-crowned sparrow” by jimculp@live.com is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Thank you so much for joining me today. We will hope that Tiny Little landed another fish before the fishing stops for the day. Regardless she looks really great – and that necklace of hers is more prominent along with her stout legs. I hope you are all doing well. I will look forward to bringing you updates and news about the Gough Island Recovery tomorrow. Take care! Stay well.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screenshots: Cumbrian Wildlife Trust and the Foulshaw Moss Osprey Nest, Sea Eagle Cam, Birdlife Australia, and the Sydney Discovery Centre, Collins Marsh Nature Centre Osprey Nest, and the Mlade Buky White Stork Cam.

5 Comments

  1. Linda Kontol says:

    Oh how exciting to see Tiny Little finding fish and fish tails on the nest. I wonder if mom and dad left them there for Tiny Little. The little sea eaglet is so cute.
    Thanks for the spoonbill hoot and video. They are beautiful! Happy for the storms too !
    The golden crown sparrow in your garden is very pretty/handsome! The bush it is sitting in as well. Thanks for sharing!
    Take care and we look forward tot he next newsletter Mary Ann!

    1. Oh, Linda, it was so wonderful to see that big fledgling poking around for tidbits like Tiny Tot. Such a sweet bird this one in the Foulshaw Moss nest. I hope she got a fish of her own later. We don’t got anything exotic like that Spoonbill in the garden but it is always nice to have visitors.

  2. Sabine says:

    Hi, Mary Ann! Really love your blog..I hate to be the bearer of bad news and probably you have heard already…one of Mlade Buky storklets Bonifac has unfortunately suffered the same fate as his mother by getting electrocuted. Many hearts now ache for this extraordinary stork family. We still need to look for the silver lining though – there are two beautiful young storks who have survived against all odds thanks to a caring stork father and passionate people!

    1. Dear Sabine, Oh, thank you. That makes me very happy.
      I was just videotaping a segment from a late afternoon at the nest and Father Stork came and so did the female storkling but not the two males. I am so sorry to hear that Bonifac has died, like the mother, in such a senseless manner. With so many storks one mind wonder why the hydro companies were not burying the cables or trying to find inexpensive ways to protect the birds in areas where these deaths happen frequently. I understand that they might not be able to afford to do this for the entire country but now with two – sad. But, yes, we should celebrate the good health of the other two who survived along with Father Stork through the love and generosity of those amazing people in Mlade Buky. Thank you for writing to tell me. I did not know, Sabine, so I am terribly grateful.

  3. Sabine says:

    Thank you for your kind words. I am glad I can be a tiny bit helpful in the great job you are doing. I have sent some more information to you through the Contact section regarding the situation with the power lines, hope it will reach you.

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