Monday Morning in Bird World

27 April 2022

Good Morning Everyone. I hope that all of you are well and that the sun is shining bright where you are.

Middle or LittleO at the Captiva Osprey nest roosted on the rim of the nest box. He spotted Andy and started fish crying. You could have heard him all the way to Fort Myers! At 07:30:05 Andy delivered his middle child and oldest surviving of the 2022 season a really nice catfish for his efforts!

Here comes Andy! Good one, Dad. Middle (LittleO) is really hungry.

Andy gets his talon nipped again.

Catfish are really bony and a challenge to eat. I wonder if Lena will come and help?

No. Middle (LittleO) had to work on that bony fish all by himself. He flew off of the nest at 09:02.

The clean up gang came up to the nest to see what was left of that nice fish.

To my knowledge, there has been no sighting of Little (or MiniO) since she fledged.

There was an early morning fish delivery at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest. Civility continues. The time was 08:13.

Both siblings have nice crops and there will be fish left for Mum.

Chase has two big fish on the Two Harbours nest for Cholyn and TH1 this morning. After all the activity with the eaglet falling out of the nest and being rescued yesterday, it is hoped that nothing eventful happens until banding day!

Big Red is not giving much away but that 4th egg still has a lively pip happening. Cornell says that part of the shell is crashing so that is a good sign.

These three have been having a banquet of critters.

Arthur – isn’t he a darling? – got a chance not only to deliver prey to the pantry but also to brood his chicks! Fantastic.

The goslings are hatching at the old Bald Eagle nest in Decorah, Iowa. Mother Goose is really protecting them. So cute! It looks like four so far. Two more to go. There will be six in total if all hatch.

Here is a video of the hatching:

Here is the link to the camera for Mother Goose! Don’t be fooled by the Bald Eagle – this is Decorah’s old unused nest leased to Mother and Father Goose. When will the goslings jump? When they are all hatched, are dry, and have developed their protective fuzz. Probably tomorrow morning.

DN15 and DN16 are having a lovely morning with their Mum, Mrs DNF (Decorah North Female) looking over them. Because of the recent Avian Flu deaths in the Midwest, I will continue to check in to make sure everything is alright on this nest. They are looking good this morning.

All three of Thunder and Akecheta’s eaglets are up on the nest this morning! It looks grey and dreary there.

Rosa and Martin’s Only Eaglet at the Dulles-Greenaway Nest has certainly grown. It is waiting and hoping that someone is going to bring breakfast!

I am very concerned about the MN-DNR and have written to find out the status of the two eaglets. I hope that they are both just very very sound sleepers and this is not another two eaglets taken by H5N1.

At 06:03 both were tucked up under Nancy.

At 08:09 a parent was on the nest checking on them.

One ate at 08:00.

I will report later if anything is confirmed at this nest. This would be such a loss.

I hate to leave on a what could be a sad note. The number of cases of Avian Flu in the Midwest are growing. If you would like to see the spread of this deadly virus, here is a link to the USDA data:

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-2022/2022-hpai-wild-birds

Thank you for joining me. Please take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: MN-DNR, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Explore.Org, Institute of Wildlife Studies, Dulles-Greenaway Bald Eagles, UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey Nest, and Captiva Ospreys and Window for Wildlife.