17 March 2022
Good Morning Everyone,
Happy St Patrick’s Day to all our Irish friends. Growing up, I was always told that the paternal part of my father’s family was from Scotland. No way. They were from Donegal and Cork!
There is so much happening in Bird World that I am having difficulty keeping up this morning. Eagle eggs pipping, hatching, eaglets branching (yeah, 21), and ospreys arriving in the UK as they all got on the Eurostar together! Even so, the kittens would feel entirely left out if I didn’t include some pictures. They enjoyed and were spoiled by the young ladies looking after them while I was away. It also seemed that they were as delighted to see me! Lewis decided to help put things in the fridge – yes, he did get in there – and also helped block the cashmere sweaters. That is a tip if you come to Canada during the winter – a cashmere turtle neck will be your best friend! Or other real wool clothing. Makes all the difference.
Lewis is the smallest, but he can take over the entire dog bed! Missy is too nice to him.
I have not watched the SW Florida nest much today – just on and off. I know the prey deliveries vary by day. Both eaglets continue to do fine as they approach their 11th week, and 21 branched on the spike. They had both been working on breakfast Dad had brought in, and 21 jumped up and down. Is this a real official branch up to the tree? Well, maybe not. If so, that won’t be long!
This is a compilation video from the 5th of March – so 12 days ago. It is lovely, and I thought it would inspire the rest of our Friday—beautiful images from one of the on-ground photographers in the area. It gives us an entirely different sense of what is happening. M15 is magnificent. Thank you to The Real Saunders Photography!
For awhile it was in doubt but R5 made it into the world when Dad, Ron, was on the nest. I cannot wait to see Rose’s face when she returns and finds two babies in the nest needing her attention instead of that pesky R4. Oh, R5 you are going to have to be strong little one.
Ron got up from brooding so that R5 could break free.
Well, R4. You are a spunky little character. Poor R5.
It seems that R5 is pretty strong, too. It was up hoping to get some fish after its feathers had dried off! My goodness. Ron and Rose make healthy robust eaglets!
Ron has been doing a fantastic job feeding R4, and he will undoubtedly be of great help with R5. Rose continues to give big pieces and, well, as ‘A’ notes, she loves her fish. Fingers crossed for this new Mum as she navigates two growing babies demanding food!
I do hope, as ‘A’ mentioned this morning, that Rose will stay on the nest more and let Ron out so that he can fish and hunt and protect the territory.
There are now two eaglets at the Dulles-Greenaway nest! Congratulations Martin and Rosa!
The beaking is still going strong on the Moorings Osprey nest. Harry continues to bring the food in, and I hold my breath every time I see the oldest one go after the youngest.
Will be happy when this period of their lives evaporates! There had been little beaking at meal times, but, it appears this has begun, and Abby is being very dominant. So far Sally has fed them both – so, go for it Sally. Give those 8 or 9 feedings with one an hour long. Fledge two!
So far, there have been five feedings on the 16th of March: 12:26; 02:34 (yes 2 in the night), 0803; 10:43, and an hour-long marathon at 13:14. I caught another feeding at 15:51 and another at 19:19, and I am presuming that there were others that I missed. The osplets, Abby and Victor, are getting plenty of food.
Oh, these two are changing so much. Nothing appears soft and cuddly anymore. The dark eye line has given away to almost spooky white goggles, and bald heads with black and copper coming through. Abby and Victor hatched on the 3rd of March. Today they are two weeks old!
Sally is a very relaxed and observant Mum. A piece of nesting material, a strip of bark, had covered Abby’s head. Sally casually went over and lifted it off with her beak and put it to the side. Well done, Sally!
Blue 33 was on the nest at Manton Bay working hard after eating his fish. Oh, he wants Maya to arrive! What a cute couple they are. Tradition has it that they will sleep together in the nest duckling style! It is beginning to rain and it is 1832. Blue is there hoping his gal will arrive.
Well, Geemeff writes this morning that there is a soap opera brewing at the Manton Bay nest. Remember the female that arrived first? Blue 25? Well, she is making a play for Blue 33 and he is falling for it (for the moment!). Geemeff warns us that Blue 33 has landed on Blue 25’s back a couple of times and there could have even been a successful mating at 13:21. Oh, and gosh, there is sky dancing heard off camera!!!!!!!!!! Maya will eat Blue 25 for breakfast if she catches her at that nest.
Oh, Blue! Did you happen to check that band number? Blue 25, go home!
Laddie and Blue NC0 have both arrived at LOTL on the same day! It looks like Blue NC0 arrived first.
Getting acquainted again.
The female has arrived at the Cromer Peregrine scrape!
My eyes have been on Jackie and Shadow on Thursday. They were at the nest early, working and they returned after 1900 to do some more nesting. Will there be a replacement clutch? Gosh, it is beginning to seem a little more of a possibility. We wait….birdwatching requires a lot of patience and a lot of waiting, no matter what species and what circumstance.
Look at that crop! Someone had a good breakfast!
During the evening restorations, Jackie even tested out the nest bowl. Are these two teasing us? I hope for a miracle – a replacement clutch and a single healthy hatch, just like Spirit last year!
At the Berry College Eagle Nest, B16 is 55 days old today. He is a little more than two weeks younger than the Es. As the apple of Pa and Missy Berry’s eye, B16 is – well, can I say it? A nice-sized young lady! Beautiful eaglet and doing so very well. LOL. The gender is just my guess based on the size of B16.
As the sun sets over Captiva, Connick is growing and flapping his wings. Just like 21, he is getting some air under there but, he still loves to be fed by Mum, Connie, or Dad, Clive.
Take a look at those great tail feathers. Such a gorgeous eaglet.
Today, Mum and D3 defended their nest at Centreport, New York. Six eagles! Six. Could you talk about intruders?
At the new National Arboretum nest of Mr President and Lotus, BOGS have seen evidence that Lotus is feeding an eaglet!
Gosh, so many eaglets at so many stages of development. Ringo, at the Webster, Texas Bald Eagle nest, is getting some air under his wings.
Do you know the Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki?
For many decades there have been actions in our most western province, British Columbia, to protect the old growth forests. Today, I found a site on the Internet that has discussions/presentations with Suzuki and one of those is ‘The War of the Woods’. I thought you might enjoy it and some of the other topics listed. Last year, David Hancock reported that the British Columbia government approved the cutting down of 141 Bald Eagle nests in the area where the Site-C hydro dam is to be built. British Columbia is home to North America’s largest population of Bald Eagles. Any logging harms wildlife! And also helps to create the atmospheric rivers that have so devastated the region in the past couple of years. Christian Sasse and David Hancock had an on line discussion about these issues. I will check and see if I can find that for the weekend.
https://gem.cbc.ca/the-nature-of-things/s62e10
I will have to get my running shoes on today even to attempt to keep up with a few of these nests! Thank you so much for being with me today. Let us all send wishes for a tailwind for Maya, so she arrives safely home and boots 25 off to her nest! Take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, tweets, videos, posts, and streaming cams that help make up my blog today: ‘A’, ‘Geemeff’, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, The Real Saunders Photography and SW Florida Eagle Cam FB, WRDC, Dulles-Greenway, Moorings Park Ospreys, LRWT, Geemeff and LRWT, Friends of LOTL and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Cromer Peregrine Falcons, FOBBV, Berry College, Window to Wildlife, Centreport Bald Eagles, AEF-NADC, Paul White and Webster Texas Bald Eagle Cam, and the CBC.
Wow! Mary Ann thanks for all these updates!
The kittens are so cute and I know you enjoy them. 💕💕 Lewis and Missy bring so much happiness. I enjoy their pics so
Much!
Congratulations to the new hatches at Ron and Rose’s nest and Dulles-Greenwood! They are adorables.
Hope the bigger osplets at Moorings quit the braking and I’m so glad each one are getting plenty of food !
B16 and Connick are really growing! Congratulations to E21 on branching!
Maybe 22 will branch soon too!
Good luck to Jackie and Shadow and hoping for them a new clutch. ❤️🦅❤️🦅🙏
Good luck to Ringo at the Webster nest
He might branch soon looks like.
I am so surprised to see an eaglet for Mr P and Lotus! Thanks for this update Mary Ann!
Thank you for keeping up with the forests for us! We need that for our birds and wildlife !
Have a good evening and hope to see you here tomorrow Mary Ann with more news ! Take care!
Linda
So glad you are enjoying the kittens, Linda. That Lewis is nothing short of a character. He is into everything! and I do mean everything. We have to constantly check the fridge and the washing machine, all over the house so he doesn’t get shut in a drawer. – The nests are doing well despite some worries…But the miracle continues at SW Florida! M15 will certainly rank high in the history of US Bald Eagles.
Wow! A lot going on and thanks for all the updates Mary Ann! Congratulations to the new little ones that have hatched at Ron and Rose nest and the Dulles-Greenway nest ! They are so cute💕💕
I really hope the sneaking stops at the Moorings and they both get fed. 🙏
Blue 33 better wait for Maya and it kind of seems that he may have thought it was her when he got so excited!
Good to see Laddie and Blue NCO back too! Good luck to them all this season!
Good to see the Mom at Cromer Peregrine nest is home! Dad hurry home!
Prayers for Jackie and Shadow ❤️🦅❤️🦅🙏 for another clutch.
Little B16 and Connick have grown so fast ! The E’s at M 15’s nest
I have no worries at all about the osplets at The Moorings. Victor is starting as much of the bonking as Abby and is a very feisty second hatch. Harry is doing a magnificent job of keeping the nest well stocked and Sally makes sure the chicks are stuffed to the brim as often as if necessary (as you have noticed, sometimes even in the middle of the night)! These are two very good parents and two healthy, well-fed osplets.
Ron is doing a wonderful job of supporting and teaching new mum Rose at WRDC. He is such an amazingly handsome eagle. No wonder Rose pursued him with such determination!
I think E22 is still a full fortnight behind E21 – he has been too busy concentrating on eating nestovers and staying alive to do all the wingercising E21 has done over the past three weeks. I would not be surprised to see E21 fledge within a few days, though, given how strong he looked hovering around 9.30 on the morning of 17 March.
Great news to see so many of the UK ospreys returning to their nests and their mates, although of course we are all waiting to hear that Maya is back. Of course we are all concerned about Karl 2 and Kaia and their family attempting to cross through a war zone on their way back from their winter in Africa. I will not be watching the storks again this year though – I cannot get used to watching storklets being tossed off the nest. Like you, Mary Ann, I would prefer to watch a nest with one healthy chick than one involving fatal bonking or storklet tossing.
Yes, he starts fights he knows he cannot win. He needs to ‘settle’. He had a really good feed Saturday evening late. Abby was full from an earlier one, and Harry arrived with a huge chunk of fish just in time. Abby was in a food coma, and Victor ate and ate – for more than 40 minutes. Then Abby came to the table, and Victor kept eating. He also kept doing crop drops. Smart lad.