Name the Eagle, Connick’s Crop Popping, and the Es eat…Friday in Bird World

3 February 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

Remember to head over to the streaming cam of Kistachie National Forest Bald Eagle Nest E3 to vote on 02’s name! Here are the choices…let’s make sure little one gets a great name!

I saw this and simply had to share it with everyone. Or maybe it isn’t that funny. I do love Condor humour!

Making News:

Little Boots is 20 days old today. He looks so young. With good care and good food, he will catch up we hope.

Just look at that sweet face. Little Boots is in care. As everyone noticed, he was extremely weak in the nest. Let us hope that he can be stabilised and that apparent feet and leg deformities can be repaired by the loving folks down in Houston at the Wildlife Center of Texas.

Here is the posting. I would like to draw your attention to “nest cam footage showed him to be struggling to sit up and move around in the nest, impairing his chances for survival.” There is the perfect wording to get help for an eagle on a nest that is not thriving. I am impressed. Nothing caused by a human just good old compassion and perhaps some monofilament line in that egg cup.

If you are interesting in donating for little Boots care, please do so. Here is the information. I went on line and went to their website: Wildlife Centre of Texas. It was quick and easy. Go Boots!

A British Columbia juvenile Bald Eagle got itself into some mischief and is being flown to OWL.

Continuing with the issues raised in the movie The Albatross, young people are doing amazing drawings. Will this make them better environmental citizens? How many of us can take a pledge to stop using plastic? Let’s try it. Maybe it will catch on like a bad cold.

‘A’ wondered what it would take to get rid of those plastic gyros in the oceans. Certainly people have tried various methods. And we know from The Flight of the Osprey that countries are having a hard time dealing with plastic…so, let’s just not buy anything with plastic. Do it a day at a time. It is frightening what we have done with our oceans. I remember when I first moved to Southern Manitoba eons ago and I wanted to purchase a cream separator. People laughed. They were hard to clean and they just shoved them down the river bank. I kid you not. Out of sight, out of mind — like the oceans.

In my province, groups are joining forces around Brandon to build nesting boxes for Bluebirds! Wow. What a great idea.

Groups join forces to build nesting boxes

Some of you will remember that the adult Ospreys were chased off their platform at the Cape Henlopen State Park last year. The male was killed. The female appears, from the announcement, to be alive. The three osplets starved to death on the nest in front of viewers and were carried off by the intruders. It was a tragedy that tore our hearts out. Well, there is a new platform going up!

And yet another story about lead poisoning. Seriously lead is something that could happen rather quickly if there was a will. Continue to lobby everyone you can. Take 15 minutes or 30 minutes one day and send an e-mail to your elected officials. Get others to join in. Tell them no more lead. And how about adding plastic to that, too?

Now something to give us hope. A good news story about a Bald Eagle in rehab for 6 months being released. YES!

Zoe continues to explore the area around Mt Hope. She has also started heading south…will she return to the barge? That would be a bit crazy. Let us all hope she is finding her wings and some fish!

Checking on the nests:

I do not see any Osprey eggs at either Achieva or Captiva on Thursday.

At the Captiva Eagle nest, little Connick is such a darling.

Oh, just look at these later images. Connick really likes to spread out and sleep….and two proud parents!

What a great image of the three – Clive, Connie, and Connick.

At 16:55 Connick had a huge crop!

It looks like the parents are smiling at Connick with his almost ready to pop crop. Their baby has grown and thrived.

There must be a fishing contest at the lake near Superbeaks. It is only mid-afternoon and PePe has brought in 8 fish! Yes, you read that correctly. 8 fish to the nest for Pearl and Tico (and of course, the rest of the family, Mum Muhlady). PePe you better eat some of these fish if you aren’t eating the heads!

It’s a gorgeous day out in California at Jackie and Shadow’s nest. The question of the day was: What was the name of Jackie’s former mate? Do you know? It was Mr B. Shadow landed on the nest and wanted the nest and Jackie and wouldn’t leave — Shadow got them both! That was 2018 after Jackie and Mr B’s fledgling, Stormy, had flown. The three of them could not persuade Shadow to leave…oh, you gotta love this guy.

Do you realise that pip watch will begin on 15 February? That is only 12 days away!!!!!!!!!!!

Are Harriet and M15 moving E21 and 22 into another phase of training to be an independent eagle? No good food left on the nest just what looks to be pieces of a dried up catfish. 22 was pecking on that. Then sadly, 22 got up to the table first with 21 moving up and 22 went into submission. Things seem terribly wrong on this nest but, it is Harriet and M15. They are pros and they want their eaglets to thrive. So are we to think of this lack of food and little pieces as a teaching moment? Not every day will see a full crop. But, let’s do keep an eye. It is worrying a lot of people.

You can see the primary feathers coming in on that outstretched wing. Note the milky transparent tube – the quill – that holds the blood feather. One of the reasons that eaglets preen so much is to release the feather from that transparent quill.

Now we all know that 22 is a bit of a stinker…let’s watch and see what Harriet and M15 do tomorrow. Certainly no peace today and 22 was crying for food and hoping to get some that M15 brought in. In fact, every time that 22 even tried to eat that old dried fish, 21 started beaking its younger sibling. 22 is quick to go into submission. So what has set 21 off? Is it the lack of food on the nest? Again, let us see what tomorrow brings. Harriet has never lost an eaglet. Never. In fact, there could be a windfall of food on the nest tomorrow – just like there is in the wild – some days there is too much food and for many others, nothing.

Ah, there is food this morning, Friday. Both Es have a crop. 21 ate first with 22 in submission and then 22 was fed and had a nice crop. Let us all take a big sigh of relief.

Lady Hawk caught 22 walking Thursday – hey, a giant step!

Gabby and V3 are a gorgeous couple. 18:24 Thursday evening on the nest together.

And last another Canadian story but not about Bluebirds this time…it is from David Hancock and the Surrey Bald Eagle Nest. Two new bonded eagles working with a meal and a stick. Have another laugh as we wait to hear how Boots is doing.

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, tweets, announcements, videos, and streaming cams that make up my screen captures: ‘A’ Sherri van Syckel and California Condor Recovery Group, KNF, Wildlife Centre of Texas, Heather Simms and the Webster Texas Eagle Watchers, Terry Carman and the Bald Eagle Live Nest Cams and News, Joyce Hartmann and the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatross and Petrels, Brandon Sun, Friends of Cape Henlopen State Park, MLive.com, JET/FOX/YourErie, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Achieva Credit Union, Window to Wildlife, Superbeaks, FOBBV, SWFL Eagles and D Pritchett, Lady Hawk and SWFL Eagles and D Pritchett, NEFL Bald Eagles and the AEF, and the Dave Hancock Wildlife Foundation.