11 September 2022
Good Morning!
I hope that you had a lovely Saturday – and welcome to Sunday!
How many of you have used eBird ID? I would love to hear from you. I was so hopeful in finding an ID for the waterfowl below but, Merlin ID said they were Crows. Is Merlin serious?
After consulting many books and looking and looking at these birds, they are juvenile American Coots.
Every nook and cranny might just have a duck or two at our nature centre! Only when someone walks by on the boardwalk do they come out of hiding – sometimes.
The reeds are so tall and thick and abundant. They are making excellent hiding places for the ducks, the Coots, and the geese. You can see that some of the foliage is turning colour. Autumn is upon us. Our temperature dropped to 7 degrees C Saturday evening. The coolest it has been in a long time.
This one scurried out of the reeds.
This Mallard was feeding near to where I saw the baby duck the other day. I looked and looked and could not find the wee one today. Hopefully I will spot it sunning itself in the next couple of days.
There are geese everywhere.
This little fella was flitting around the trees. It looks like a juvenile Least Flycatcher with its dark pointed beak and the white circle around the eye. The wings should show two white bars. They do not just feed on flies – all insects and flies are welcome.
This female Downy Woodpecker was working very hard to try and get some peanut pieces out of this feeder! She had them all to herself!
Making News:
Ospreys are making the news in the UK as re-introduction efforts continue.
NZ vets see huge rise in storm weary sea birds arriving at their clinics.
The Dyfi Osprey Project announced they would be shutting off the live streaming cam and chat today at 8pm nest time BUT they have changed their mind and will leave it on until Padarn and Idris are gone from the nest.
A group of White Storks escaped from a zoo and went to the beach – they were rescued.
Nest News:
The Sydney Sea Eaglets are walking stronger and working their wings – just like they are supposed to be doing right now. It is nice when they turn back to the centre of the nest with all that jumping. Your heart can fall out if they get near the edge!
Lunch arrives for these two hungry eaglets.
Padarn is still on the Dyfi nest keeping Idris busy bringing in some fish. She is breaking records everywhere in the UK for the longest lingering female Osprey (or any Osprey). She hatched on the 26th of May. She is now 108 days old. How many days will she stay on the nest?
Enjoy this beautiful gal.
Blue 497 remains at the Glaslyn nest also. Aran continues to bring in nice fish – the boys and Mrs G have left the area.
Let’s go back to Australia. That is where the action is!
The new female at the 367 Collins Street scrape is sure not giving the cute little male much time on those eggs this year! Perhaps she doesn’t know too or maybe she is like Diamond and reluctant at times. Hopefully it will all work out with a chick or two.
At Port Lincoln, it is less than a week til hatch watch!!!!!!!!
L4 seems to be enjoying being back on the Cornell Campus after 5 weeks in the rehab centre. It is lovely to see her flying so strong and doing her own hunting. Suzanne Arnold Horning caught her this morning looking out on the territory. L4 has a lovely necklace, just like her Mum, Big Red.
Migration News:
Loch Arkaig appears to be empty with Sarafina on her way to the south for her migration.
News for Karl II’s family: Karl II has not sent any tracker information since 4 September. He is in an active war zone near Kherzon, Ukraine. It is not expected that we will hear any reports form Karl II for 5-6 weeks form that date as per his normal behaviour and time staying at this location during past migrations.
Waba is still in Ukraine.
Kaia is still in the Desna River area of Ukraine.
Bonus remains in the Prypjat River area of Belarus.
From the Archive:
Who is the eaglet? Gold stars if you can name the nest and the parents! Hint: This was the natal nest of the eaglet’s dad.
The eaglet grew up into this beauty.
There is not a lot going on in Bird World. We are seeing migratory birds moving throughout the UK some landing on nests for a rest. There are still Ospreys at Dyfi but all of the other birds from the streaming cams seem to be gone now. Incubation continues at three of the Australian nests. Hatch watch is coming up for Port Lincoln Osprey barge. Some of the Bald Eagles are returning to their nests in the southern US. Avian Flu is still about as owners of factory poultry farms continue to cull birds. The latest was 3 million.
Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope all of you are well and that you got a chance to see the beautiful harvest moon last night. The skies cleared on the Canadian Prairies just in time to enjoy it rising above the tree tops.
See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their posts, videos, photographs, and streaming cams where I took my screen captures: sea eagles@Birdlife Australia, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi Ospreys, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Suzanne Arnold Horning, Tim Mackrill, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Looduskalender, NEFL-AEF.
Answer to From the Archive: The nest is the Northeast Florida Bald Eagle nest that once belonged to Romeo and Juliet and passed on to their son, Samson. Samson and his mate Gabrielle (Gabby) had one hatch in 2020. The eaglet’s name was Legacy and she was a beauty.
Thanks Mary Ann for the photos of the ducks and geese! I do hope you get to see the little duckling soon💕
Diamond and Xavier are such beautiful falcons ❤️❤️ I hope the Melbourne falcons will do well. Prayers for them🙏❤️ The video is so exciting of the little sea eaglets. Thanks for it and all the links and photos you have posted for us.
Padarn is gorgeous❤️ Not only setting a record for the longest on the nest but for her beauty as well! Blue is also a beauty too!❤️ Looking forward to the Port Lincoln hatches! L4 is a beautiful falcon!
The necklace is beautiful indeed and a bit further down the design. I love how they all have their own beauty!❤️
Good luck to Sarafina on her migration❤️ So glad the Rutland ospreys have been seen❤️❤️❤️❤️
Prayers for all
The black storks family that they stay clear of any harm ❤️
Is the photos the nest of Romeo in Florida? They are some beautiful eagles in these photos.
The moon was very beautiful last evening. Thanks for sharing the photo of it with us. Have a great Sunday evening Mary Ann and we look forward to the newsletter tomorrow!
Linda
It is Samson’s nest. That is Gabby with Legacy. Isn’t she adorable?
Yea they are some of the most beautiful eagles I’ve ever seen. So we’re Romeo and Juliette were when they were younger. Liberty and Freedom too especially when they were younger.
Also the new pair at Decorah that Sue and Benny post are beautiful too. We wonder if it is one of Ma and Pa Decorah’s hatches. So many beautiful ones in their on way but Samson is amazingly beautiful indeed.
Thanks Mary Ann
Linda
They certainly are beautiful – in fact all of them are! It is difficult to not have many favourites! Yes, without those rings or some defining physical characteristic (Samson has a flat toe) it is difficult to know where they come from. He is certainly a gorgeous bird.
Yea and I remember that was how they identified him to really be Samson. It was a glorious time. Thanks Mary Ann and have a great Monday:)
Linda
Oh, how nice! He is a fantastic Dad. Gabby should be arriving anytime!
I hope so. I’m looking forward to watching them. ❤️❤️🦅🦅
Sent from AT&T Yahoo Mail for iPhone
Me, too, Linda! I must say that I did really enjoy when it was just Legacy. It is different being able to focus on the specific characteristics and behaviour of one eaglet or one falcon (like Izzi or Yurruga). The time is sure going to pass quickly…
She sure was adorable and such a sweet eaglet too. I hope she is doing well wherever she is. I wish they could all be banded.
Thanks Mary Ann!
Linda
Yes to the banding!!!!!!!! We are only lucky that Samson has such a distinguished toe on his right foot or we might never have recognized him. I wonder how many males turn up to take over their natal nests????????
That is right Mary Ann! It would be good if all on the nests could be banded all over the world. There would be thousands still out there that we don’t even see but at least we would know the ones at the nests or if they are see. Or found outside their nests. I’m all for the banding.
Have a great day Mary Ann!
Linda
Yes, even if they did just the streaming cams along with the ones that have research funds that would be fantastic, Linda. It would really help us understand and appreciate their lives.
What on earth does Melbourne mum have wrapped around her right foot late this afternoon? It looks like a large wad of plastic! She seemed to have some plastic on her foot earlier today, most of which she tore off with her beak and it flew off in the wind. It is a bit worrying.
I think the FB group seemed to think it was fluff from an early dinner but the earlier incident definitely involved a piece of plastic. It floated away when she peeled it off her talon. The food handovers are not taking place on camera but somewhere above – she often looks up and you can hear the male, but he hasn’t been seen much at all of late.
I am glad to hear that plastic is gone. I did see it at one time. There are so many bags and masks and garbage that finds its way into the nests sometimes that it can be very frightening! It is funny you mentioned prey delivery. Someone wrote and asked about that very thing. The little male seems to have lots of places to stash food and keeping it away from the scrape box keeps predators away! Until those eggs hatch and then there is no choice. — Thanks for letting me know about that plastic bag, Alison!