V2 and Gabby, GHOW strike on M15 and other news from Bird World

6 December 2022

Good Morning Everyone from the beautiful island of Grenada. I hope that you are well and are so glad that you are here with me today.

My Monday was lovely. How can you come to the Caribbean and not go and spend time in the sea or the pool when it is -30 C where you live!?! What fascinated me was that once again – no camera – I was surrounded with birds. The Bananaquit were busy catching insects climbing on the stems of the Hibiscus plants while the Hummingbirds were busy getting the nectar from the Firecracker Plants. Tropic Mockingbirds serenaded everyone from the trees and one couple from the back of a lounge chair!

The plan for tomorrow is to once again get up before the sun rises and check out the area from where I am staying all along Grand Anse Beach and the ponds in the gardens. A Blue Heron flew over the pool today and landed on top of a waterfall and I am told that there is a small pond where I will find them in the morning – hopefully. With all birding, we live in ‘hope’.

I adore Samson. It has been so difficult to concede that he might no longer be with us. He has been gone for 8 days. Others have been gone longer. There are so many eagles that have gone missing right at the beginning of nesting season when adrenalin must be running higher – amongst all the eagles in an area – than normal. I continue to think about all of the eagles who have been absent and returned – Shadow at Big Bear and Bella at NCTC amongst others, and Sassa Bird sent me another story today to remind all of us that there is still hope. Thank you Sasha Bird!

https://www.fox5dc.com/news/justice-the-male-bald-eagle-returns-to-dc-nest-after-missing-for-weeks?fbclid=IwAR0Lkv-C1Y8QMg2aDSFxmznj3_nM1sPppXm8FzWgoNAkB5ldv8_7XWtl0eA

I want to continue to believe that Samson might fly in there and everything will return to what it has been for the past three seasons.

But as ‘A’ reminds me – Gabby has only 2 fertile weeks in a year. Would she give up raising eaglets and wait? or does she realise that Samson is not returning and has now transitioned to accepting a new mate? This is the latest news on the happenings at the NEFlorida Bald Eagle Nest, ‘The Hamlet’ near Jacksonville, Florida. And thank you ‘H’ for keeping my feet grounded.

This is an image of Gabby with V2 close to one another on the branch of the nest tree. He apparently mixed up the signals from Gabby about mating. So we will see what happens here and at the WRDC nest where we know that Ron will not have a mate this year. Going back to what ‘A’ said and remembering my old eagle friend, the eagles will move on with their lives much quicker than us humans can adjust to it – it is breeding season and the hormones and all drive them. They are faithful to the nests and if their mate does not return ‘in time’ then they will accept a new partner if they are available.

V2 chortles for Gabby. Now, I want to see him bring her a big – yes BIG fish! (The image above and the one below are, I believe, not VS with his sooty head).

Gabby and V2 spend time together in the nest.

This is the latest announcement from the AEF that I can find on the situation with Gabby and Samson:

It is congratulations to Anna and Louis at the E1 nest at the Kistachie National Forest in Louisiana. These two are a great young couple. This will be their third season together. Looking forward to that huge pile of fish that Louis is going to bring in once the eaglets hatch! If he carries on like past years, viewers will be amazed at his excitement. In 2020, there were so many fish on the nest that Louis could have fed all of the nests in Louisiana and Florida that are on streaming cams! Seriously. It was incredible.

I know that we have all been concerned about the GHOWs knocking Harriet and M15 about on their nest. Well, it appears that those GHOWs are actually using the eagle’s old nest as their own! All I want to say is oh, dear. Here is the reason. Last night the GHOW attacked M15 and knocked him off the nest. Harriet went into protective mode with those big wings of hers. Oh, send out your best wishes for the GHOW to get occupied with their own owlets and leave the eagles alone. I know precisely what you are thinking – yes, that is some big wish. Thanks, A!

In Orange, Diamond watches from the scrape box as Indigo flies by with a prey drop from Dad, Xavier.

Video highlights from the Orange scrape for 5 December.

Zoe is incredibly beautiful. It remains unclear to me whether or not Zoe had a fish delivery before I checked on her. She did have a Cormorant pay a visit and she has now flown off the nest.

I am reminded by all of the holiday decorations surrounding me in Grenada that this is the season ‘for giving’. Take a moment to consider the amazing birds on these streaming cams that have been returned to the wild by the generosity of the people who rescue them, take them to wildlife rehabilitation centres, and the people there who work tirelessly to save their lives. It has been an incredible year. I will never forget the virtual cheering when Little Bit 17 (Notre Dame 17) was returned to the wild after we had all assumed he was going to starve to death. Humane Indiana did an amazing job in training him to fly and making sure he was ready to live a life off the nest. Ojai Raptor Centre worked around the clock to make sure that Victor was returned to a life in the wild….the list is endless. Right now Rita is recovering from life-saving surgery at the WRDC. Fitting in with this is an opinion piece in The New York Times that ‘B’ sent me today. It is a great essay. And when you are considering, stop and consider those that helped the birds that we love so much. Thank you so much, ‘B’.

Thank you so very much for being with me today. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, their videos, their articles, postings, and streaming cams that make up my screen captures: The New York Times, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Orange, Australia Peregrine Falcons, Elain and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Kisatchie national Forest Eagle Cam Fans, NEFL Bald Eagle Cam and the AEF, Raptors of the World and Gracie Shepherd, SWFlorida Eagle Cam, and fox5dc.com. Thank you to ‘A’, ‘B’, and Sassa Bird who sent me wonderful stories or links. It is much appreciated.