6 April 2023
Good Morning Everyone,
The snow stopped and it is now 1816 and it is starting up again with huge flakes. They are dancing about like large cotton balls or marshmallows. Lewis is having quite the time hoping that he might be able to catch one of them. Of course, he does not want to pose for a photo!
Just think. A few days ago everyone on the Canadian Prairies was sure winter was gone, and spring had arrived. I bet that early-arrival Canada Geese wish they were somewhere else. Mind you, maybe they flew north fast to miss those US storms.
Thursday morning. It is beautiful. No snow falling. Woodpeckers busy at that the suet. Photos tomorrow of them and the kittens.
Taken with the iPhone.
A reasonable guess would have been over 400 birds visited the feeders today. They were mostly House Sparrows and Finches with the regular woodpecker visits and Blue Jays. I know the Black-capped Chickadee has been around because I heard them, but they are quick to flit about, and I have yet to see them getting seed. Mind you, I was not watching them all day.
My head continues spinning with all the news coming out of Bird World. Almost immediately, one new hatch is negated by another nestling dying in a nest, Oklahoma, simply disappearing at collapse or, as at Bartlesville night.
So I hope to bring us a few lighter moments as we begin the blog for the next little while. Stress is not good. Then I plan to put in the golden moment of the day and today it comes from Sydney, Australia!
We are going to start with Murphy, ‘Rock Daddy’. He has now been incubating his ‘rock egg’ for some time and has become overly protective of the territory. So, he is being moved. They are not giving him his own hatchling because they are not certain that he would feed it regularly. Too bad, he could be a great Dad!
M15 does not get away without a giggle. This guy has been through so much! Gets his two kids home and all they want to do is fight!
He has brought 21 a fish and 21 spent some time resting in the nest. 21 was away for 5 days. It reminds me of Legacy from the NEFL nest of Gabby and Samson – flew out, away six days, finally found the nest and didn’t leave again for nearly a month (or so it seemed).
The surviving WBSE (White-bellied Sea Eagle) from last season’s Sydney Olympic Forest hatchings has been released. Jump up and down. She has been in care for such a long time, and we are ever so grateful to everyone who helped transport her and care for her so that she could live in the wild. Here is that great news. What a beautiful moment.
The news is that Connick is going to be alright after his slip and fall. Here is that moment on 4th of April caught by Deb Stecyk (you can go to 4:55):
Message from Window to Wildlife:
This is the latest message…older ones are below. It appears that dear Connick could be impacted by rodenticide poisoning. His two half-siblings died two years ago of rodenticide. It broke Joe’s heart, and he left the nest. This is just tragic. CROW and all their volunteers need to spread the word and find a way to prohibit this nasty poison from Captiva. In many ways, it was a real blessing that Connick fell out of the nest so he could get help.
There is a FB fundraiser for Connick’s care. Just look at him at CROW. He is in such good hands. If anyone can save him from this dreaded designer poison, CROW can!
There have been some further tragedies due to the winter storms pouring through the US. The eaglets at Standley Lake Regional Park have died from a nest collapse. Another nest in Minnesota has collapsed.
One of the eaglets at Bartlesville, Oklahoma got out of the egg cup and could not get back and appears to have gone over the edge of the nest. Today, the third egg hatched. So some good and bad for Oklahoma.
As storms continue, it is likely there will be further deaths, sadly. As we mourn, new eaglets are hatching and eggs being laid. Nature does not stop.
I wrote congratulations yesterday but now little DH1 has died. ‘A’ left me a note for when I woke up. So sad for the hatchery parents. As Paul Kolnik points out, the second egg is pipping. Perhaps this family will get one healthy chick. Send good wishes.
Congratulations Decorah. DH1 arrived in the early morning of 5 April 2023.
US Steel has only one egg. There is a hatch in progress. USS6 hatched at 23:58 on 5 April. Congratulations!
While we were delighted to see E21 back at the nest, landing right beside Dad on the 5th of April, E22 wasn’t quite so sure.
Until now 22 has had the area around the pond and nest tree all to himself. He had a right dust up with 21 over ‘bathing rights’.
The iconic image of the day comes from Dulles-Greenway where there are currently three very healthy eaglets. Baby has a really nice crop.
DH19 continues to self-feed to stay alive at Dale Hollow. A survivor – send all your good wishes. River has her hands full.
This was at 1006 Wednesday morning. You can see the huge crop on the two larger eaglets. DH19 fed itself last evening and got a big crop and is now picking away at this carcass. This little one wants to live.
‘A’ reports that D19 had no food later and that it is raining hard and she is worrisome for this baby. It is not good at Achieva either. We will all hold our breath. These two nests may only have two to fledge. Send good wishes.
In the UK, there are two male Ospreys waiting for their mates to return from migration. One of those is Louis at Loch Arkaig who is looking for Dorcha and the other is Aran at Glaslyn looking for Mrs G. As many will know, Mrs G is not a youngster. Glaslyn Osprey Group reminds us ospreys that reach breeding age have a life expectancy of eight years. Mrs G is the oldest living osprey in the UK. We know that Mrs G has been raising chicks for 19-20 years. We do not know how old she was when she began. Glaslyn is preparing everyone for her not to return just in case that is what happens.
Of course, everyone is also waiting for the return of Iris who is approximately 28-29 years old this year and has her nest at Hellgate Canyon in Missoula, Montana. Her favoured date to return is 7 April – tomorrow.
Wind, rain, encased in ice…nothing stops Big Red from keeping her eggs warm. Her and Arthur now have three they are incubating. Last year, Big Red surprised us with her very first clutch of four since she has been on a streaming cam.
Gabby and V3 were at the nest. At times they were vocalising. Intruders in the area?
Victor is over at Sally’s beak. Just look at Abby standing on those beautiful strong legs! And, yes. My friend ‘R’ believes that juvenile Osprey plumage is the most gorgeous in the world. I totally agree.
There are still three growing osplets at the Venice Golf and Country Club. The camera is, like Achieva, not good, and it is difficult to tell what is happening in the nest. As a result, I do not monitor it closely.
The two eaglets at Pittsburgh-Hayes are doing well. There are a lot of flies in that nest, though. Terrible. I hope that this does not do anything to cause the eaglets distress. (We have seen raptors jump out of nests to escape flies in the past).
I found this entry by Elfruler this morning, and I thought it might shed some light on this year with the bald eagle hatches. They clarify that the eaglet at Bartlesville would have died of hypothermia/falling out of the nest. It is so sad when the eaglets get out of the egg cup. I marvelled at how Harriet had ‘rolled’ one of either 21 or 22 (I cannot remember which now) back under her after pondering the situation for some time. Harriet had experience, many don’t, and their babies die. Their beaks are so big that picking them up would injure, if not kill, them also.
They are so cute. I wish they were not so terrible to our eagles….those GHO chicks. Bonnie and Clyde’s owlets are out in the sun this morning.
And some good news. People like David Attenborough can convince people that birding is not a silly, useless hobby and guess what? Birding can be good for the local economy! Tourists are willing to pay top dollar to have their tours organised, their hotels and meal plans arranged so they can get up at dawn to go and see Puffins! Or in the case of Ferris Akel recently – Sand-hill Cranes in Iowa. It is time other locations stepped up and cleaned up their wildlife habitats. In several locations, ponds and lakes stocked for fishing have made their owners more profit by having people with cameras taking photos of ospreys fishing!
What a wonderful world it would be!
Thank you so much for being with me. I wish I had news about the eggs in the Channels Islands. We wait to see if they are viable. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their observation notes, their posts, tweets, videos, and streaming cams that helped to make up my blog this morning: ‘A’, Terry Carman and Bald Eagles Live Nest and Cams along with the World Bird Sanctuary, Harley Jeffery Thames and SWFL Eagle Cam-Harriet and M15, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Eagle Cam, Window to Wildlife, CROW, Sutton Centre, Paul Kilnik and Bald Eagles 101, Raptor Resource Centre and Explore.org, US Steel, Dulles-Greenaway, Cornell RTH, NEFL-AEF, Moorings Park Ospreys, VOCCO, PIX Cam, Elfruler, Farmer Derek, and The Guardian.
