I am just home from a wonderful day outside. Did not see a single bird! Yes, seriously. I did spot a lot of nests and it was just nice to be outside in the fresh air on a beautiful sunny day.
The image below is the nest of Anna and Louis in the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana.
What caught my eye was an invitation by the Wildlife Biologists Steve Shively and Cody Austell of the US Forestry Service at the Kistachie National Forest for people to come and get up close to the Bald Eagles, Anna and Louis. OK. Not that close. They have a great eagle viewing area set up with spotting scopes and they will be giving private tours.
If you live near Central Louisiana and are free at 10 am on either February 10, 17, or 19 at 10 am, give them a shout to sign up. The e-mail is visitKNFeagle@gmail.com
I am also super excited. Cody and Steve will be setting up another camera stream with the same super sound they have for Anna and Louis for the other Bald Eagle family in the forest. Last year there were three nests. Sadly, both adults in area 2, were found dead. They had been shot. At any rate, there will be two different streams watching both nests next season. Fantastic. I wonder if the male on the nest is as great a fisher as Louis? There were 10 new fish on the nest today. The duck and the Coot have been eaten and I am not sure where the turtle is.
Just a couple of quick comments about happenings in Bird World. The camera is now back on in Port Lincoln on the Osprey barge. Ervie had been there earlier so he is fine. A huge storm ripped through the area and did tonnes of damage. Just waiting to see how everything is with the hearts that beat and run Port Lincoln Osprey Project. There is not an egg yet on the Achieva Osprey Nest even though Diane has been on the nest for long periods.
The winds and rain seem to have subsided at the NEFlorida Bald Eagle Nest of Samson and Gabby. I have not been home long enough to see how NE26 and 27 are behaving but there are at least five fish in the pantry so food is not an issue!
They look like they are getting along. Fingers crossed!
OGK is busy being a great dad down in New Zealand at Taiaroa Head. This little Royal Cam chick is going to gain lots of grams! Sooooooo very sweet.
Lots of beautiful water birds were out on the Mississippi Flyway this morning.
If you like Roseate Spoonbills as much as I do, you need to check out this streaming cam in St Augustine Florida. Spoonbills forage in shallow water. This is an adult in the nest. The juveniles are a pale pink while the adults have that bring cherry red/pink on the wings. Their head is bare and is a yellow-green colour. Their name comes from the flattened beak that looks like a spoon!
B15 at Berry College seems to be doing just fine, too. The worry over an injury to the wing is gone. It is a really sweet little eaglet.
So if you are anywhere near to Central Louisiana and want a personal tour to see the Bald Eagles nesting in the Kisatchie National Forest, please do get in touch with Steve or Cody. I would love to go on one of their tours. They are so knowledgable and – need help identifying prey on a nest – they are great at answering those questions. I have learned all about turtles this year! Send all your positive and warm wishes to all the nests (and people) who are going to get really low temperatures in areas that do not normally have them!
Thank you for joining me today. Take care everyone. See you soon!
Thank you to the KNF FB Page, Berry College, NE Florida and the AEF, Explore.org, Achieva Credit Union, Cornell Bird Lab and NZ DOC, and KNF Bald Eagle Cam for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures.
Thanks Mary Ann for these updates and pics of them all. The little one at Berry is adorable. I’m so glad it’s little wing is ok 💕. The spoonbills are really beautiful colored birds and thrpeir bill is amazing looking! The little albatross is so wonderful and already growing so fast too!
The little bittys at Samson and Gabby’s nest are Adorables. Hope they keep getting along well 💕💕. I would love to go to the KNF nest too! It’s only one state away. I’ll have to check the mileage since I’m on the gulf coast. Hope all goes wells to Achieva nest!🙏 Sure wish Tiny Tumbles would come again. Hope Ervie and his family is ok after the bad weather there. 🙏
Have a great evening and I’ll be looking forward to the next updates. Thanks Mary Ann!
Linda
Isn’t that little eaglet at Berry just adorable. I was worried about it but it is fine. Pa Berry and Missy don’ seem to like food on the nest. I hope he has a stash somewhere with the cold that is going to bear down on that SE area (and you I guess). This is the year for cute eaglets! So glad their hatches were spread apart so we can see the development change in all of them. — I thought about you and that lovely personalized tour to see the eagles. Maybe make a mini-holiday out of it! Steve and Cody are real characters. So knowledgable and so ‘excited’ about the eagles. I sure wish I had their knowledge of the wildlife in that area. They certainly bring the prey to life. Thank you so much for your comments…let us hope that all of the birds are fine in Australia. Between the storms and the heat it has been horrific in different parts of Australia. Take care!
Mary Ann, I’m glad you were able to get outside for a pleasant walk today. Strange you didn’t see any birds. They must be all hunkered down.
Thanks as always for another newsy post. I always love all the photos! I’m especially glad for the Albatross baby (so sweet with his affectionate dad). He seems to have grown already!
Also glad to hear B15’s wing is okay. Crossing fingers for all the nests and birds during the severe cold once again. What we need is an early spring this year.
Thanks again for everything you do, Mary Ann!
I am ‘forcing’ myself to get moving, Betty. I now have winter gear for -45. It is incredibly warm although the coat is rather heavy and stiff but it has about 15 pockets all with zippers, many big so I don’t have to carry anything but the camera. But no birds. Not a single bird. It was nothing short of eerie. Did find about 30 nests so tomorrow in the bid to add a little more distance to the walk every day, I will be photographing nests and trying to find out which of the birds they belong to. — Yes, it is supposed to be terribly cold. I am surprised at how well the eagles do in the cold. There is one here in our City I have been trying to photograph. It decided not to go South and Minneapolis is not so far and they have eagles nesting there. Fingers crossed for all of them. It has been an unusual year for weather – as you know so well.