The Daisy Chronicles, Day 9 – updated

It is actually still Day 8 for Daisy as I write this. The clock on the streaming cam says that it is 19:28. It is 02:28 on the Canadian Prairies. Daisy remains on her eggs.

Does she know that the two Ravens are on the branches above the nest? She must. They are right above her. One on one side and one on the other.

Every once in awhile they make a noise. They know that sooner or later Daisy is going to have to leave the nest. When she does, they will take her eggs. I am hoping that Daisy can sleep a bit and conserve all of her energy. She has not left the nest for at least 14.5 hours. Unlike raptors that have true crops to store food, ducks have an enlarged esophagus that is capable of handling large amounts of food before it moves into the a thin-walled area of the stomach called the proventriculus.

The White-Bellied Sea Eagles, Lady and Dad, are not at their River Roost.

Daisy has been very vigilant about the Ravens but she had another intruder. That was the Ring-tailed Possum who has its own nest in that big nest. This possum will not harm Daisy’s eggs. It might scare her – which it did but it is the Bushtail Possum that likes the eggs. That possum wanders around at night. Daisy remained on the nest until the possum quieted down. Poor thing they will wear her out by not letting her eat! I wish there was some type of sci-fi invisible protective dome we could place around Daisy and her eggs.

Daisy flew off the nest at 1:40:55. She waited for the Ravens to leave and then had to wait for the possum. By leaving in the middle of the night she outwitted the Ravens. She will have a few hours to forage before she has to return to her eggs. I hope our little duck got lots to eat. She must be tired fighting off all these intruders who want her eggs!

It is now 03:50 in the Sydney Olympic Park Forest. Daisy should be returning to her eggs within an hour. It appears that the on line camera continues to go on and offline. I cannot access live after 01:59 – so, for now, this is my Daisy report. So many of you have dropped all your other bird watching to cheer Daisy on. Continue to send your good wishes to her. She needs all she can get. Will the little duck outwit all of them? We wait. It appears we have 8 eggs – hopefully no more. Daisy did a bit better covering. Fingers crossed.

Daisy returned to her nest at 04:59 ahead of the Ravens. Our little girl is smart!

Our girl looks good and the down coming around the nest will make it easier for her to cover. Cloudy today but no rain forecasted for Daisy.

Thank you so much for joining me. Take care everyone. Be safe out there.

Thank you to SeaEagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre for their streaming cam where I took my screen shots.