It has not been a great day for Lena on the Captiva Osprey nest. She has had only 2 fish for her and the hungry osplets and no break to go down and get that yucky fish juice off of her. In other words, she is loudly calling Andy as the sun sets desperate for a break and to fill those babies up for bed. If the last feeding was at around 13:30 they will be ravenous by the time the fish lands on the nest in the morning.
While Lena might be rather upset, everything seems really good over at the Dale Hollow Lake Eagle nest. Obey came in to see what he needed to bring to the pantry around 17:00. He then helped River with a tandem feeding of the youngsters while also eating some of the pantry himself. This really is a fabulous nest!
I honestly cannot believe that I had never heard about this nest until today. It is wonderful. Very experienced adults and healthy twins. Still one to hatch. Those little eaglets are tucked under River sound asleep. Happy Eagle dreams!
Ferris Akel found both Big Red and Arthur who were sitting on top of Bradfield enjoying the view. Arthur is on the left with his gorgeous scapula V plumage and Big Red is on the right. She is much darker than Arthur.
Arthur is such a cutie pie. I often just want to cuddle him!
Big Red was doing a lot of preening and simply didn’t seem to want to look at the camera.
So gorgeous. Both are busy bees working on their nest on the Fernow light tower on the campus of Cornell University.
There has been an update about HH3 – the eaglet who fell out of the nest at the Hilton Head Island nest.
There has also been an update on the Port Lincoln Osprey Project FB on Ervie’s tracker. It looks like he is extending his travels over to the right of North Shields and the airport.
Ervie always seems to roost at the same spot. I wonder if PLO knows where this is?
Early this morning the cam operator gave everyone a great view of the Calypso Star as she set out for the day. It is a good thing to remember that the Port Lincoln Osprey Project sponsors our camera view of the barge and the barge out of the earnings from the Calypso Star. They take no donations. So, if you visit Port Lincoln, take a tour with them as a way of thanking them.
At the nest of Jackie and Shadow, Mum is being very limited in her movements and allowing us any view of the eggs. She has been aerating the nest cup which improves the softness of the nest cup as well as providing oxygen during hatching and brooding. Is there a chick pipping under there? The answer could be just maybe there is!
The Quarry Track Royal Cam Chick aka QT is really too large for the adults to brood. They must be thrilled that the little one is out of the nest so they can actually rest their legs! I promise you this is one big boy. If not, I will make a donation to the Albatross Centre!
In the image below, YRK has to stand all the time in order to brood the chick. In the image above she is able to lay down! It must be quite nice. I wonder when they will have the contest to name the chick? And when the parents will stop staying with QT only returning to Taiaroa Head to feed their ever growing chick?
If you are in need of more Osprey nests, the male at the Williamsburg Landing has returned to the nest early – on the 23rd of February. He is working feverishly on this nest.
This Gloucester Point, Virginia nest can be viewed here:
This is an overview of a view of the birds that I do not always cover. I really hope that Andy brings in a huge fish for the Captiva nest very early in the morning. Speaking of Captiva, Connie and Clive were working on the Bald Eagle nest at Captiva this evening together. Will there be a second clutch? We should know tomorrow if Jackie and Shadow have a pip! Life is good except when eagles are falling out of nests. Will continue to monitor the Hilton Head situation for everyone.
Thank you for joining me. I hope Ervie visits the barge today! What a treat that would be. Take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Captiva Osprey and Window on Wildlife, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Hilton Head Island Eagles, Ferris Akel Tours, Williamsburg Landing, Dale Hollow Lake Bald Eagles, Friends of Big Bear, and Cornell Bird Lab and NZ DOC.
Mary Ann, thanks for the link to the Dale Hollow Lake nest! I watched it a bit today and enjoyed watching both parents feeding the twins together. You’re right, they’re a lovely eagle family! And I like their names. (There’s that name “River” again.)
Was also watching Lena and Andy’s nest and worried about the lack of feedings. Hopefully there’ll be more to eat tomorrow. I do fear there might be too many boaters out on the water on weekends which makes fishing difficult for Andy.
Really sad about the eaglet that fell out of his nest. Very scary what that might indicate….
Thanks again for all your comprehensive reporting. Hope you’re having a good night! (And I too hope your snow doesn’t melt too fast. Glad it’s warmed up there a little though!)
I am entranced by this Dale Hollow nest. They are incredible parents. Someone on chat commented about River being so experienced which led me to ask her age. That tandem feeding was awesome. It just looked so natural for both of them to do. No fussing over Obey eating out of the pantry, etc. Just serene. I am concerned for the Captiva nest. Week-old osplets need many more feedings especially for the hydration. I fear that BB will become more aggressive. What in the world is going on? Hoping it sorts itself out. Now the second eaglet has fallen off at HH. Will go to care if it survives the night. I fear avian flu and I sent the information to Thijs Kuiken in Rotterdam.
And yes, that lovely name River.
Thanks Mary Ann for this newsletter and you have a good night.
🤗Linda
You are so very welcome, Linda!