Handsome Ervie, you have come a long way!

Dad brought in two fish to celebrate Ervie’s 4 month birthday on the 16th of January. They were delivered at 18:57 and 20:41. Port Lincoln also gave us some wonderful close up time with the Erv.

From the moment Ervie hatched at 00:51:50 on 16 September 2021, he watched the behaviour of the adults and, in particular, Mum. In the images below, Ervie mimics what Mum did when Dad was bringing in a fish.

I think this is a great image for a fridge magnet.

Ervie sees Dad coming and starts prey calling.

Ervie begins to back up prey calling louder. Have you noticed how the recipient on the nest moves around calling trying to figure out where the adult delivering the fish will land.

Dad lands.

Ervie grabs that precious food.

It isn’t long until Dad comes in with another fish and Ervie repeats his actions.

That was a nice fish and Ervie went to sleep on his birthday with a full tummy.

It was not clear how the third hatch at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge would fare. Sibling #1 Bazza hatched at 22:03 on 13 September and sibling #2 Falky hatched at 02:30 on the 14th. I was particularly worried even though the hatch time difference was only 53 or 54 hours, not 4 or 6 days.

Ervie’s first feeding. He was roughly 5 hours old.

Ervie is a week old. There he is on the left of the trio. You can see that he has a little crop. When Mum finishes he will have a nice one. By the time Ervie was a week old, a lot of the thunder had been taken out of Bazza and he was not attacking Ervie so much. Ervie was also becoming very clever.

The following day Ervie and Mum took advantage of Bazza and Falky sleeping and Mum filled Ervie to the brim! The parents really were amazing at bringing in food and helping Ervie that first week or so.

Ervie learned how to stretch his long neck to get the food from Mum’s beak. He is 9 days old and he is losing his soft down. You can easily distinguish who is who because of the plumage. Bazza and Falky are getting the copper red feathering on the back of their heads and neck. There are a few sprinkles of copper red on the back of Ervie just coming in.

Ervie is 25 days old in this image. Look at that crop. Ervie always loved his fish – he still does! – and he had figured out how to survive around Bazza. Most of you will remember Ervie demanding to be right up at Mum’s beak. We were no longer worried about Ervie! Indeed, Ervie will become the dominant bird on the nest. Well done little third hatch!

Other Bird World News: The second egg at Berry College appears to be coming along for a hatch. B15 is crying for food but it is raining so hard that Missy cannot risk feeding it and having it chill. Last night the nest got some icy snow and the temperature remains unseasonably low at -16 C or 3 degrees F. To put that in some perspective it is only -5 C in Winnipeg at the same time. I have concerns for this nest. The weather does not appear that it will improve for several days. I feel really sorry for this family. I hope there is a break so that B15 can have some fish.

Both R1 and R2 have eaten well at the WRDC nest in Miami-Dade County. No signs of any effects of rodenticide! That is wonderful. However, they are under a severe thunderstorm and tornado watch until 15:00. In fact, the nest is right in the centre of the storm area. The nest is really beginning to rock and roll. Hang on little ones!

If you want to check in on the eaglets periodically to see how they are doing, here is the link to the streaming cam:

Everything is fine at the KNF nest. Louis continues to fill the pantry and the little eaglet and Mum continue to eat well.

Send all your positive wishes and energy to the Berry College Nest and the WRDC. They are going to have a tough time of it for awhile. We are on egg watch at Duke Farms.

Thank you for joining me today. It is always my pleasure to write about Ervie! Take care. Stay safe. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, WRDC Bald Eagle Nest, KNF, and Berry College Bald Eagle Cam.