14 December 2022
Good Morning Everyone,
It is relative quiet in Bird World as things begin to settle down between Gabby and V3 and Annie and the new guy at Berkeley. The first Bald Eagle nest to have hatches that is on a streaming cam is at Superbeaks in Central Florida. There are eggs now at SWFlorida (2), Berry College (1), Kistachie National Forest at both nests E1 and E3, Captiva (2), and Metro Aviation in Northwest Louisiana (2).
Tonya Irwin has created a great chart:
We continue to keep an eye on Port Lincoln and the scrape of Diamond and Xavier at Orange while, at the same time, watching for any news coming out of Sydney Sea Eagles. I am also hoping that the streaming cam at the new Osprey platform for Lena and Andy at Captiva will be on line soon.
There is a big storm brewing that is destined to bring about a foot of snow to areas just south of me. It is unclear if it will impact Winnipeg. However, the birds and squirrels were really crowding the feeders late this afternoon. They are often very good indicators of any bad weather that is heading our way.
Dyson was not prepared to give up her spot on the seed cylinder. These are fabulous. There is no mess and if you are going to be away for a few days and worried about your visiting birds in the winter, they will also give you peace of mind. We feed hundreds of birds a day and if Dyson didn’t love them so much, I think one would last about a week.
Dyson has her thick fur coat on. Isn’t she gorgeous? I like to think that the food we provide helps her endure the cold of our ‘Winterpeg winters’.
The Sparrows and the Starlings prefer the softer cornmeal and peanut butter cylinder that has a substantial amount of suet in it.
Junior is looking for peanuts! All of Dyson’s kidless have taken them. Junior is not happy.
Sharpie of course would not mind having one of those House Sparrows for his lunch. I think he is out of luck today.
Making News:
A major investigation as to how 13 Bald Eagles were poisoned at the Inver Grove Heights landfill is underway. Three of the eagles have died and the other 10 are recovering at The Raptor Centre at the University of Minnesota. What terrible unnecessary suffering and death.
https://www.facebook.com/TheRaptorCenter/?mibextid=ZbWKw
The last episode with Sasha Dench and The Flight of the Osprey on BBC 4 Radio is here. The programme is about 13 minutes long. I urge you to have a listen. Thank you, Geemeff, for recording the programme and sending us the link. Very thoughtful as so many do not live in the UK.
The announcement that an enormous number of budgies are being taken into care and need homes in the Baltimore area came on my Cornell Hawk Cam Chatters FB. If you or someone you know might be interested in providing a home, please read the posting carefully and make that call.
News has come in from the Kakapo Recovery that all of the transmitters have now been changed on Anchor Island. The last bird was Alison and she was found to be in good health. Wonderful news. It has to be difficult trying to find these pesky little non-flying parrots to treat them and change the batteries in their transmitters so they can be found!
It’s the first egg of the season for Pa Berry and Missy at Berry College in Georgia. Happened at 0950 13 December. Congratulations!
Pa Berry flying in with more nesting material and seeing their first egg for the first time.
The soap opera at the NEFlorida Bald Eagle nest continues. Will Gabby choose the bachelor behind door 3, V3?
He flew in with a nice catfish. It was obviously for Gabby but she was not home. Later they worked on the nest together.
‘H’ sends news that V3 is now playing ‘hard to get’. Order some more popcorn!
Harriet and M15 have an alternative nest on the property of the Pritchett family. A GHOW has taken up residence there and this owl could be the one that attacks Harriet and M15. Two days ago, that owl was attacked by a trio of Crows. Thanks EJ for sending us this link!
Jackie and Shadow have been pair bonding/mating at Big Bear.
Checking in on our Australian birds:
Diamond was not happy to have the scrape box cleaned by Cilla!
At Port Lincoln, Zoe is 87 days old today. Yesterday, Dad brought his girl 3 fish. Well done, Dad! At one time 06:55 Zoe was on the ropes with what looked like a fish. Did she catch it? No one knows.
I just love this image from yesterday with that crest. Today Zoe has been on and off the nest.
In California, Annie and ‘the new guy’ have been pair bonding in the scrape. He is cute. So tiny. I wonder if he will be the one? He is sure a good scraper! But will he be a good provider for Annie and the eases?
Migration News: Waba continues to feed at the Nile River. There has been no transmission from Bonus since he was flying through the Eastern Desert of Egypt. It is likely we will not hear from him until spring. Send your good thoughts your way.
It is that time of year when people are thinking about suet and putting out tasty treats for the birds. Here is some advice from the RSPB in the UK.
In our garden, Mr Crow and the Blue Jays will be having some special foods during the holiday season. They both like to eat off the deck directly or at a table feeder. I will be putting out Meal Worms, Fresh Cranberries, Hard boiled Eggs, and cubes of streaky bacon along with peanuts in the shell.
Thank you so very much for joining me today. I hope to get back to the list of vulnerable birds in the UK, The Red List, tomorrow. Take care everyone. Stay safe. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their posts, videos, and streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Geemeff for sending me the link to the BBC 4 Radio series, ‘H’ for the video of V3 playing hard to get, ‘EJ’ for the link to the Crows attacking the GHOW, Geemeff and The Flight of the Osprey, BBC Radio 4, Tonya Irwin, The Raptor Centre, Cornell Hawk Cam Chatters, The Kakapo Recovery, Berry College Eagle Cam, NEFL-AEF, FOBBV, Elain and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Cal Falcons, Looduskalender Forum, and the RSPB.
Good afternoon Mary Ann! Thank you for all these wonderful photos and updates and links! Dyson is adorable indeed! ❤️ All the birds and animals are so happy with you! Indeed they get hungry in that cold and snowy weather!❤️
Looking forward to hearing from you again soon ! Have a good afternoon!
Linda
Oh, thank you so much Linda. I am so glad that you enjoyed those photos. Isn’t Dyson such a character. It is so hard to see them outside in the snow and wind. I know they manage but, my goodness…it baffles me sometimes. I hope you had a good day, Linda.
Annie’s new admirer really is adorable. And you are right – he is tiny, but he does seem to have some confidence in his interactions with Annie. I would love to think that Alden is okay, and it is certainly possible that he is simply not around at this time of year and may reappear at the appropriate juncture. But if not, we do need Annie to find a good father for her eyases.
Speaking of which, the soap opera at NEFL continues. It is interesting to note that Gabby definitely has her preferences – she did seem to warm to V2 above any of her other male visitors this season – though she is tolerating V3 a lot better now he has proved he can bring food and be of help in the nest. I would like to think she has made her choice and things will now settle down. If nothing else, V3 does appear to be a good protector. Time will tell.
Counting down the days till we get a hatch at SWFL for my favourite bald eagle couple, Harriet and M15. And far be it from me to wish ill on any bird, including GHOs (seriously, how incredibly cute was Grey last year?), but the pair nesting so close to SWFL are a danger to the coming eaglets, so anything that keeps those owls otherwise occupied is a bonus.
Oh, holiday eaglets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And they will be bopping one another and we will be holding our breath. I have to say that I was rather fond of V2 with his smoky head. I wonder what happened to him. Did V3 chase him away? and if so, I hope that V3 proves to be an excellent mate. We wait…
I totally agree about the GHOs close to Harriet and M15. I do not know if the Pritchett’s will do anything next year to dissuade them. They must have had a nest around close too as they seem to come annually to cause trouble. But, yes, they could certainly do much damage and we hope not! The new guy at Cal Falcons is a cutie. We wait for Gabby…looks like Ron has a couple of females on the go, too. Goodness.
Thank you again for another lovely post, Mary Ann! Oh my, you’re properly spoiling your wildlife visitors with all that beautiful and plentiful food. And thank you for giving me the idea of making treats from peanut butter (unsalted, organic, of course) for my bird visitors. It has been snowing for several days now, and they sure will benefit from more tasty and fatty treats. I would so want for Alden to stay with Annie – as most of you, I grieved for Grinnell, but Alden found his way into my heart almost instantly. But if he’s not to return after all, I so love the idea of him going to save another widowed falcon lady – a guardian angel put on this earth in the form of the cutest and most caring peregrine falcon. It always baffles me how such speed and fierceness coexist with absolute beauty, devotion and loyalty in the world of raptors. Happy anticipation of Christmas, everyone!♥️😇
Well, said. There are recipes on the Internet for Butter Bark which I make in slabs for them. It is that healthy peanut butter and cornmeal. Sometimes I put in cranberries, too. You know. If everyone pitched in, all of the animals would not be hungry and would be healthy. Your birds will thank you!
Of course, it goes without saying how devastating is avian influenza raising its ugly head again. An unbeatable monster, it seems 😔 Great to see that Zoe is thriving. And, though I still miss Samson very much, I hope Gabby accepts V3 since the time to get serious about nesting is steadily approaching.
The Avian Flu is going to be really tough going this year, Sabine. I am so worried about the birds that eat carrion or live birds. I wish it would go away.
Looks like we are way up in numbers at NEFLorida…I feel sorry for Gabby. I hope this last one is a good keeper and life moves on in a good way, undisturbed by the others!