Tuesday in Bird World

01.03. 2022

I was in great need of a giggle and a smile and Jackie and Shadow provided it. This couple is incredible. Now that pip watch is upon us, Jackie is less and less prone to letting Shadow do any incubation duties. In the short video below, I captured the moment that Jackie returns from her break and wants Shadow to relinquish the nest.

I have re-figured my math (never a strong subject of mine). The first egg was laid on the 22nd of January with the second on the 25th. If we do not count the day the egg was laid, that means that egg 1 is 36 days old today and egg 2 is 33 days. At an elevation of 2058 metres or 6751.9 feet, Big Bear Lake is within the Bear Mountain Ski Resort area.

Because of the elevation of the area, it takes eagle’s eggs longer to hatch than those in nests at much lower sites. It might be, then, that Jackie and Shadow’s eggs will take the full 40 days to start pipping. Each of us and the more than 3000 fans needs to keep up the positive energy for this much loved eagle couple.

News has come that the second Hilton Head Island Trust eaglet of Harriet and Mitch has died. The bodies of both HH3 and HH4 have been sent for a necroscopy. It is believed that both have died from avian flu but this has to be confirmed. Our thoughts go out to Mitch and Harriet and all the people at Hilton Head Island Trust eagles.

The first fish of the morning came in at 08:44 to the Captiva Osprey nest. Lena fed the chicks for nearly an hour. She finished off the skin at 09:44.

Just look at Andy’s long legs or tarsi. These allow him to reach quickly and deep to get his fish. You will notice that the legs of other raptors are not quite as long.

It looks like a different fish than the Sheepshead Andy normally brings to the nest.

Turn around Little Bob!

Little Bob still sports his fuzzy down which is actually unbranched feathers. Alan Poole describes them as being “almost furlike”. Little Bob is changing though. His head is not as soft looking as it was.

Awww. There you are right, Little Bob, up there with that long neck of yours. Dinosaurs. Tomorrow or Thursday you will all look like dinosaurs!!!!!!

These nestlings still cannot regulate their body temperature. It will be another week or 10 days. Until then it is Lena’s job to protect them from the heat of Florida and the rain.

They are, however, quickly entering the period of their fastest growth – between two weeks and a month when they will gain an average of forty grams or .09 lb a day, according to Poole.

From this angle you can clearly see the change in the plumage between one of the older Bobs on the left and Little Bob with its still fuzzy lighter down on the right.

At the Dale Hollow Lake Nest in Tennessee, the third hatch, DH16, is eating along with its twin siblings, DH14 and 15. They are so cute. Here are the fuzzy bobbles everyone loves. Precious.

The nest can only be seen from the water. In May, there is a large group picnic with opportunities to go out and have a view of Obey and River and their eaglets. Check the Dale Hollow Lake website if you are interested.

The second egg has hatched at Duke Farms. Congratulations everyone!

1 March is the first day of meteorological spring. The followers of UK Osprey nests bring out their UK Arrival Sheets and start keeping track of who arrives where and when. The first official sighting of a returning came today from the hide in the Holkham Fresh Marsh in Norfolk. Of the public nests where there are streaming cams, I am hoping for Blue 33 and Maya to get back to Rutland Manton Bay quickly!

Loch of the Lowes is gorgeous. This nest fledged two last year. It is the home of Laddie LM12 and Blue NC0. I adore Blue NC0. She is a great angler and she is not shy about getting a huge fish up on the nest for her chicks if Laddie isn’t delivering food quick enough!

Everyone is hoping that 2022 will be a fabulous year for Aran and Mrs G at Glaslyn. What a serene pastoral setting. Last year their three chicks perished.

There are, of course, many people who fell in love with Ospreys because of this nest, Loch Arkaig. We continue to hope for a miracle to happen and Aila to return after not being seen since August of 2020. That year her and Louis fledged the JJs – they stole our hearts and I personally cannot wait to see if JJ7 will be seen in Scotland this year.

Last year Louis bonded with another female at a close nest and fledged two beautiful chicks but not with the one he shared with Aila.

There are many, many more Osprey streaming cams in the UK and as the birds arrive I will be posting those. One of my favourites is the nest of White YW and Blue 35 in Cumbria at Foulshaw Moss. It is the home of Tiny Little, a third hatch so wee compared to the two older siblings, no one thought she would survive but, survive she did thanks to the ingenuity and hard work of the parents and her very own cleverness and determination.

The sun is out and there is a hint of blue in the sky today. Yesterday it was -8 and today it is a little colder at -13 C. I had a lovely walk accompanied by seven Black-capped Chickadees, a White Breasted Nuthatch and a Red Squirrel. They all knew I had seeds in my pocket!

They were so cute and it was a nice warm day for them, too.

There is still no sighting of Annie at The Campanile. It is very sad to say goodbye to her. She gave us and the world 13 beautiful chicks in the five years she was at the scrape as Grinnell’s mate. I hope by some miracle she returns and is only away quietly healing from an altercation. Send her your warmest wishes.

Thank you so much for joining me today. Take care everyone. See you soon.

My sincerest thanks go out to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures and video clip: Glaslyn Bywyd Gwyllt, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and Woodland Trust, Loch Arkaig, People’s Post Code Lottery, Duke Farms, Dale Hollow Eagles, Friends of Big Bear Valley, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife.