24 September 2020
Good Evening!
It has been a gorgeous 17 degree C afternoon in Manitoba. The dreary morning left around noonish, and it was lovely to be outside without a jacket. I cleared up some plants and have not gone to work on the images of Little Red eating up the suet cylinder, but I will try to get to that sooner than later. He has just about finished it today! The Crows have had lots of their sandwiches and dry corn, the squirrels are still about but, there have been fewer and fewer songbirds.
I thought we would just check in on the Australian nests as their day is beginning.
The breakfast feeding at Port Lincoln was terrific. Mum rose around 06:29:19 and found an old piece of fish on the nest sufficient to fill up the three youngsters and she could get a couple of bites herself. Hopefully another nice fresh fish will land on the nest shortly.
Little Bob was sleepy. It took him a few seconds to figure out what was happening and get himself turned around the right way.
Ervie learned really quickly that you need to be up front if you are the short one. Let’s see how long it takes Little Bob to figure that out.
It wasn’t a huge piece of fish that Mum found and Big and Middle sure put down a lot of huge pieces. I thought they would eat it all.
Little Bob got 4 bites while Big Bob had about 17. Then…Little Bob got a couple more.
Then for a second, Big Bob had a food coma. Middle Bob is still standing and it sure put down the fish early too – and some big pieces. But Little Bob is right up in the sweet spot. Let’s hope he remembers where it is.
Mum filled Little Bob up and ate some of the skin herself. All of the kids were full and out in food comas. Now she can brood them until Dad comes in with the fresh fish. He has been having some trouble getting there early. I wonder if it is windy seas or gulls??
What a gorgeous morning in Melbourne. Mum is waking up.
This is the old dad. He has come to tell her where her breakfast is stashed.
He looks over the eggs for a bit – from a distance – and then flies off. I am noting that the second male has not made an attempt to rid the nest of the eggs and this is a good thing.
Mum is back safely on the eggs. We are two days from hatch watch! The 27th. OK. Technically that is less than 2 days. Oh, goodness.
It was a misty morning in the Sydney Olympic Forest. SE29 and SE30 spent a lot of time looking over the rim of the nest. At the point in the first image below, it looked like the pair were having a great conversation. Perhaps they are wondering if Mum will bring in a fish and eat it all herself again?? Or almost eat it all.
Look at that adorable face.
Some wing flapping going on. The wings of the eaglets are almost as wide as the nest. Amazing.
As the sun comes up in Orange, Australia, Xavier is on the ledge of the scrape box hoping that Diamond will give him some time with those eggies. Did I say that hatch watch is now only 5 days away!
Thank you for joining me at this quick peek of what is going on in Australia. Take care everyone. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park, and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam at Orange.
Thank you Mary Ann for these updates and great pictures! First of all I’m so thankful you were not in the hurricane we saw on the news. Prayers for everyone who is going through this🙏
So glad the young male falcon isn’t bothering the eggs at Melbourne 🙏
So happy to hear the third little Bob at Port Lincoln is getting fed. 💕💕💕
The juveniles sea eagles have a lot to learn and I hope they do but not so quickly Mom and Dad. Give them some time. ❤️❤️
Thanks again Mary Ann and for the updates on your birds in the garden.
Take care and hope to hear from you again soon !
Linda
Well, I can’t tell which male falcon it is. Looked like old dad from one side and then on the other had that hanging coloured part so it could be the second male. I plan to look at that more carefully tomorrow against images of them. If it is the second male this could turn out very interesting.
Check out TS 10:49 of Port Lincoln nest. one of the chicks heads’ is sticking out from the nest, and then sneezes. Very cute.
Oh, thank you, Jill. I will do that!
I am not certain that is the old male. It doesn’t look to have the huge yellow rim around the outside of the eye. It also looks larger. Here is a short video of old dad on 29 August https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTaWIhB3K0M. Mum flies away and it is good to see the male not approach the eggs. Later, at just after 08:07 we hear old dad, who lands at the far end of the ledge around ten seconds later. Mum runs down the ledge to greet him (she does not do this when the new male lands on the ledge).
Meanwhile, at Port Lincoln, mum is doing a great job of feeding Baby Bob, who got to the front for the feeding around 9am. Great work Baby Bob! It’s a feisty little osplet, and with such a great mum, I think all will go well, as long as dad keeps the fish coming!
The two males at Melbourne are literally driving me crazy.
We would like to express our deepest sympathies to all those affected by the recent torrential rains and wish for a speedy recovery.
Thanks for the newsletter!
I am glad Mary Ann is feeling better.
I am so excited about Port Lincoln! Please pray that Little will grow up safely this year.
Oh, thank you so much, Akane, for your warm wishes for the people of Canada. As you know, too well, the oceans and wind are powerful and those living right at the shore on the rocks lost everything. It is very sad. And thank you. I am feeling 100%. Good health and feeling good is to be valued at the highest. — Yes, Little Bob is a darling. Fingers crossed for that cutie pie.
The 17:22 feeding at Port Lincoln this afternoon was mayhem. Baby Bob was front and centre at the start of the feeding and got a lovely mouthful, but the fish was still alive, and as it was thrashing around, at 17:24:36, it squashed Little Bob and sent Middle Bob flying! Baby Bob was back at the front, beak wide open, within seconds (poor Middle Bob was still facing the wrong way), but only managed one small bite (it dropped a second, which was too large for it) before being shunted to the back. I know they were all a bit damp at this feeding, but Baby Bob’s wings looked so tiny. Once Big Bob went into a food coma around 17:33, Baby Bob got at least half a dozen good mouthfuls, but then ended up facing the wrong way, mouth still open but to no avail! Oh, how I would love to see a crop on Baby Bob the size of the one on Big Bob (or even Middle Bob’s). At least there has not yet been any bonking. How we love and worry about these brave little third hatches!
Oh, we surely do. Little Bob did get some good bites but that Big Bob is big in comparison. I always worry at the day 8 stage. Going into the reptilian phase with the itchy feathers just seems to be the trigger that sets the older siblings off at the smaller ones. — I am so glad no one was injured with that flapping fish. I should see if I can catch it and get some images…and yes, that little wing is so tiny. He was so wet and it really worried me because of infections in the damp cold.