Osplet over board at Osoyoos, Little Bit 17 in care and other news in Bird World

30 June-1 July 2022

There are reports coming out of the Osoyoos Osprey Nest that moss and baling twine were brought into the nest at around 0531 and that sometime later, at 0645, a chick fell off the edge of the nest onto the ground below. Dr Greene has been warning people of the perils of bailing twine use – certain kinds – because of the impact on the osprey nests in Montana. This is all I know. The closest rehab is in Oliver, BC and today is a national holiday in Canada. I have left a message for them and will keep you posted if I hear anything. Additionally, two locals appear to be going to also check.

We are all very joyous today that Little Bit ND17 is in care – finally. It is unfortunate that those who were giving the park staff advice did not realize that he was sitting in the bushes starving to death. We can never assume that the adults are feeding their eaglet when it is off the nest. You must have a scope or a long lens camera and actually see them feeding and take the date and time. You also have to check frequently to see that they continue. Do not assume that Eagles feed young off the nest – never. Thunder and Akecheta made Ahote get himself back up to the nest! Little Bit 17 could not fly. There is a whole lot of difference. In the future if you see or hear of a situation like Little Bit’s, please recommend care. It never hurts the birds to be checked. ——What a relief though. I hope he had an entire plate of quail last night. He certainly deserves it.

Remember if you want to help your local wildlife rehabber clean old towels are always needed. Look what is in Little Bit’s enclosure! Save them and drop them off or ask someone to do it for you. They also need donations of laundry detergent, etc. Most have wish lists on their websites.

So far the clinic with Little Bit has over $1800 in donations. Thank you to everyone for showing your love.

My plan is to write to the clinic. There was an incident this year with a WBSE fledged from the nest in the Sydney Olympic Forest – WBSE27. Found starving and emaciated. Taken into care. Released when strong. Then found starving and emaciated and being attacked on a public sidewalk. It is essential that these fledglings be taught how to fly and how to hunt. This takes quite a long period of time. It is not weeks. So fingers crossed for our baby that he is being given the best care and love he could possibly have.

The ND-LEEF nest continues to fall apart but there is a fledgling up there waiting for a feeding!

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One of my readers, ‘c’ reminded me today that the Lobby that is against Nature is huge. It is! But that does not mean we cannot have an impact or that we should back down in our care and concern. No matter how big or how small, never give up working for the betterment of those who cannot – in my case, I am talking about our beautiful feathered friends. Thank you for everything that you do — and if you are reading this, I know that you are concerned and doing whatever you possibly can. Just spread the message.

There is a big intervention experiment happening in Estonia. You might remember the Black Stork nest of Jan and Janika. There were five storklets and then Jan disappeared and is presumed dead. Janika could not get enough food for the storklets – two died. In an effort to save these rare and beloved birds, Urmas, the senior ornithologist for Estonia, worked with Dr Madis Vialis at the Estonian Veterinary College at EMU. They removed the three surviving storklets and placed them in the clinic where they had a decoy mother and a step father Toto who delivered fish.

This experiment appears to be successful. So Urmas has now tried something else. He has introduced the largest of the three storklets from the clinic to the nest of Karl II and Kaia in the Karula National Forest. He did this when he ringed the storklets two days ago. The 4th storklet is named Bonus!

This is bonus in the nest around 17:45 on 30 June with his step siblings. Bonus is the large one to the left – that is not a parent!

It is now Friday morning and the sun is rising. Karl II and Kaia have seen their new off spring. On the first day in the nest, Bonus is treating the adults, Karl II and Kaia, like intruders and is hissing! You might recall that Little Bit ND17 also hissed when anyone came close to him in the bushes. They also raise their wings.It is a natural way of trying to protect themselves.

This second phase will also allow the smallest and the middle storklet in care to grow larger because they will have more fish. It also solves another problem. Urmas and Dr Madis wanted the storklets to be in a real nest in the forest. Fish would be brought but there was no one trained that could do that work – and it would take a lot of effort. It will be interesting to see how this works out but – what we have to remember is that they are trying to make the lives of the storklets better so they can be free and live in the wild. (Thank you ‘T’ for clearing up where Bonus originated!)

Bonus is eating along with all the others!

He also ate well when Kaia brought food today and this is excellent. After eating some are resting, some are preening. Bonus is standing but he has rested on the nest in a clump with the step siblings. By the end of 1 July perhaps he will not react to the adults at all!

There are also four storklets on the nest of Betty and Bukacek at Mlade Buky in The Czech Republic. The red iron rich clay makes such a mess on their beautiful feathers and legs. It has been raining but I hope that some nice new straw might by some miracle show up for them!

I find Lindsay and Grinnell Jr fascinating. Cal Falcons caught them playing at night! Remember Alden hunts at night – how much more of Alden’s behaviour is going to influence the behaviour of the two fledglings?

I wonder how many reading my blog saw the efforts of Daisy the Duck to hatch her eggs and have ducklings? in the White-bellied Sea Eagle nest of Lady and Dad? Daisy took me down a rabbit hole and when I came out of it — I loved ducks and all manner of water fowl.

Out of all the long lists of waterfowl I want to see a Loon. Seriously I have never seen one! There should be Loons all around me but, no. So part of this summer will be a hunt to locate these loons. In the meantime I have found a Loon nest in Central New Hampshire. They are attempting to restore Loon populations to the state. The information under the streaming cam states, “LPC’s mission is to restore and maintain a healthy population of loons throughout New Hampshire; to monitor the health and productivity of loon populations as sentinels of environmental quality; and to promote a greater understanding of loons and the larger natural world.” LPC is the Loon Preservation Committee.

The nest has two eggs – laid on the 17th and the 18th of June. Hatch should be about the middle of July. The amount of information about the nest and its challenges is under the streaming cam images. LPC also keeps an archive and has their own YouTube channel so if you miss something you can go back and see it. I am impressed. So many have nothing as ‘H’ reminded me yesterday.

Here is the link to the cam if you are interested:

You might just want to ‘listen’ to the sounds from the nest area. It is incredibly relaxing. Here is a very short clip of a female Wood Duck and her duckling visiting the nest two days ago.

The size of Idris and Telyn’s largest female is almost shocking. She is the largest female in the history of the Welsh nests. Just look at Paith! She is also the youngest and weighed 1830 grams at 32 days. Incredible. We often worry about the third hatch being brutalized and being much smaller but..not in this instance.

It is a good thing Idris is such a good fisher — or is it because Idris is such a good fisher that she is so big? Some people are joking that they won’t be able to fledge they will weigh too much!!!!!!!!

I promise not to show it again but this image of the three of them and those amber eyes of the juveniles is simply stunning. Juvenile ospreys are incredibly beautiful – their plumage is magnificent. More so than their parents. I wish they could keep it!!!!!!

I want to stay with the Dyfi Osprey Project in Wales for a moment. If you are reading this blog, you not only care about wildlife but you also care about the environment. How environmentally friendly is your nearest nature centre? (I must find out). This is the report from Dyfi – it makes for really really interesting reading and a positive change for the environment.

In terms of Osprey nests, the Boathouse Ospreys on Hog Island are being watched. It is unclear how much food the third hatch is getting. Fingers crossed for this new Mum, Dory.

The Fortis Exshaw chicks in Canmore, Alberta appear to be doing fine. The concern is the nest – there is a very deep nest cup and most platforms are not solid on the bottom.

Oh, the joy of Little Bit in care and now the worry of another gone overboard. It has been a very challenging year.

Thank you for all you did to help Little Bit. Keep sending good wishes his way. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Humane Wildlife Indiana, ND-LEEF, Explore.org and Audubon, Osoyoos Osprey Cam, LPC Loons, Dyfi Osprey Project, and Fortis Exshaw.