13 April 2023
Good Morning Everyone!
It is a balmy ‘summer day’ on the Canadian Prairies. The temperature was 12 C with a blue sky and winds of 19 kph. It was a perfect day to go to the park and check on the arrival of the Canada Geese.
Several Ring-billed Gulls were enjoying the water. Ring-billed Gulls have white markings on their outer wing feathers. You can see these in the image below. They also have pale eyes with a red eye-ring. I like to think of them as celadon eyes, that coveted green-grey glaze from China. There is also a black band on the end of the yellow bill.
There were geese everywhere…at least 75 in a small area around the pond.
In the garden, there has been much joy with the arrival of the first European Starling around 1700. Also, there were three Blue Jays today. Last year, we had Junior and the three babies. Will there be another arrival tomorrow? We wait to see if four return from migration to join the Dark-eyed Juncos and the arrival of the Starlings.
This is the older Blue Jay, Junior.
Blue Jays are incredibly picky over peanuts. They test and shake each one for its weight. No sense in using all that energy for an old dried-up nut. Smart. About 1/3 of the peanuts in the ‘new’ bag appear not good enough to make the cut.
A blurry photo of the first European Starling for the year.
This woodpecker prefers this type of feeder while his friend is at the log suet feeder.
Migration counts continue across southern Manitoba where I live. At one site in part of an afternoon, 825 Red-tail Hawks, 130 Bald Eagles, and 3 Golden Eagles flew over. Fantastic.
The giggle for the day comes from Sharon Pollock!
The two little falcons are adorable. Lou doesn’t quite seem to know what to do but he is bringing in prey items, thankfully. Things work out. Maybe there will only be two!
‘A’ notes “Lou is a bit nervous of the little ones – as I mentioned, he trampled through the scrape and trod on one of the chicks’ heads today when retrieving prey from the back corner! He may have a bit to learn on that front. But Annie has it covered, and as long as he keeps the pantry full (which it seems he is doing so far), he will be doing his job. After all, he will be way too tiny to brood chicks for very long! What a cutie. And those little white fluffy babies with their tiny beaks open wide whenever they hear mum e-chup. Oh how gorgeous are they? Don’t you just want to snuggle them up? Well, no, that would upset Annie greatly, but you know what I mean. Such darling little creatures.”
SK Hideaways gives a good video of these two darlings!
Well, it doesn’t get much better. Murphy abandoned his ‘rock baby’ to care for a little eaglet that needed a parent. It was an experiment and it looks like it has worked.
The little eaglet gets a parent and Murphy gets to share his love. Win-win.
Wild Bird Sanctuary has just done a late posting. It is fantastic. Looking for a place for a donation, however small or large. Think of donating specifically for Murphy and the eaglet at Wild Bird Sanctuary!
Bella and Smitty’s little only eaglet is doing very well indeed. Check out the crop and it is going to have a second meal right away. There are so many advantages to eagle parents having only one to care for.
Meanwhile, at the Manton Bay nest of Blue 33 and Maya, the couple now have their third clutch of four eggs! The couple previously fledged two clutches of four eggs. They are heading for a record. These two are not going to let anyone else get the Super Couple award! Better put some more stock in Rutland water! Thanks, Geemeff!
Our beautiful couple need all the rest they can get during incubation!
At Glaslyn, it appears that Aran and the unringed unidentified female osprey have also come to an understanding. Aran has been sky dancing and bringing fish and she is at the nest. She is a beauty, too. Like Murphy and the eaglet, Aran is lucky that this young lady chose him when Mrs G did not return from migration.
Oh, it was wet from all the wind and storms but as the day progressed, things began to dry out a little in Wales.
Telyn and Idris have been having some discussions. It was believed Telyn laid an egg but I see no evidence of this. It was storming badly and both ospreys took to the ground so they would not be blown about. I hope Telyn did not lose her first egg of the season.
It has been a bit miserable for Dorcha and Louis up in Scotland at Loch Arkaig, too.
Gracie Shepherd posted a sweet screen capture of E21 and 22 sitting together near the pond. Oh, how we are going to miss these two. M15 has done an amazing job teaching them and they have certainly experienced more than most. Each knows how to defend a nest!
I have received word from Sassa Bird that my favourite white-tailed Eagle, Milda, whose nest is near Durbe in Latvia, has a pip in her egg! Milda is gorgeous and she has had a very tragic two years after losing her long-time mate, Ramos, just when she had laid her eggs in March 2021. We are hoping for a wonderful year for her and her new mate, Voldis.
Wondering what happened at Centreport, New York with Mum? Well, she is incubating two eggs with D3.
Cape Henlopen had a tragic 2022 season. There is a new platform this year and hopefully a new couple. Heidi McGrue brings us news of a visiting osprey. Fingers crossed.
One of the reasons that we love Jackie and Shadow so much is the fact that they love each other sooooooo much. Today Shadow brought in a massive fish just for Jackie in the nest. We know both of them would have liked to have had a replacement clutch. Might they still? We wait. Regardless, they are adorable and every day brings another giggle and smile.
Things continue to go well at the Moorings Park Osprey platform in Naples, Florida. Yes, Abby can eat a lot of fish but, we can assume that because she is a female she needs that for her extra growth in body mass and feathers.
It seems that Indigo has left to find his own way in the world. Diamond blocked him from the scrape on Saturday and he could be heard or it was thought. May he have a long and productive life full of adventure and prey.
A good way to end a great day is an update from Dr Sharpe and his team at the Channel Islands. He goes through all the nests and, of course, gives an update on Thunder and Akecheta. You get to see the most beautiful landscape – and yes, there are at least two eaglets in Thunder and Akecheta’s nest. You can see them!
Dale Hollow and Achieva, brief report: River brought in a small fish to the nest on Wednesday around 0900 despite being chased by intruders. One of those intruders sadly ate part of DH19’s body that had been left on the nest. It was a male. Many hope that River will accept him as her new mate – he did not harm 18 and 19. Then he could help raise the eaglets. That would be wonderful!
Harriet, Jack and the two surviving osplets at Achieva have eaten well. A visitor landed on the nest while the adults were away. I presume Harriet is out fishing!
The Ventana Wildlife Society is being so pro-active in the battle of HPAI with the goal of it not wiping out the Big Sur and Pinnacle Condors. Our hearts break for the Arizona condors losing a battle against this deadly disease.
| Dear Mary,Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provided an update on HPAI infection in the Arizona condor flock stating that as of April 12, 2023, eighteen condors have succumbed to this terrible disease (6 of which were confirmed to be HPAI and 12 are suspected). In addition to these deaths, five condors are currently in treatment. Our thoughts continue to be with our partners in Arizona and The Peregrine Fund. In addition to the measures taken since 2022 to prevent the spread of HPAI, we are now working closely with partners to develop even more contingency plans. This week, we raised $80,000 in support of the purchase of 10 quarantine pens which will arrive in two weeks. SPCA for Monterey County has approved the temporary use of their land on which to setup these pens. Once placed, these pens can be used for treatment, vaccination (when available) and even safeguarding healthy condors from HPAI. We are especially thankful to our partners at SPCA for Monterey County for their collaboration. These new quarantine pens will be crucial in the fight against this disease, but we still need support for our staff to care for the flock. We will be sure to keep you updated as we know more. |
Kelly Sorenson
Ventana Wildlife Society, 12 April 2023
Here is a story that shows you that hard work and persistence – and believing – can pay good dividends when it comes to our raptors.
While the UK is gleeful over the success of the restoration projects for the Ospreys in North America, citizen scientists are needed to help understand the impact of climate change on birds. You can be one of those that help. Read the article and please do a daily count and send to eBird. Thanks to my eagle-eyed daughter for this one!
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/bird-migration-timing-climate-1.6800129
Thank you so much for being with me today. I am checking on Milda but no word of a hatch for our Latvian WTE yet. She is rolling eggs and being coy. Take care, everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams where I took my screen captures that helped make up my blog today: ‘Geemeff’, ‘T’, ‘J’, ‘A’, Sassa Bird, SK Hideaways and Cal Falcons, Sharon Pollock and Orange Australia Peregrine Falcons, World Bird Sanctuary, Deb Stecyk and NCTC, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, Friends of Lock Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Gracie Shepherd and Raptors of the World, Latvian Fund for Nature, Rob Schwartz and Bald Eagles of Centreport, NY, Heidi McGrue and Raptors of the World, FOBBV, Moorings Park Ospreys, IWS, Dale Hollow Eagle Cam, Achieva Credit Union, and Ventana Wildlife Society.
Thanks so much Mary Ann for all the photos of the geese and birds! So enjoyable to see the bluejay and woodpeckers too! So glad and happy to see Murphy and the little eaglet doing well together! ❤️🦅💕. Thank you for sharing their photos with us and the info. Congratulations to Maya and Blue 33 on their 4th egg!
I enjoyed the video of Bella and Smitty’s little one eating. Thanks for the pics of them also! Thank you for all the updates and videos and links and info for all the UK and other nests here as well.
Have a good Thursday evening and see you soon again here Mary Ann!
Linda
Thank you so much for including the video from Dr Sharpe. It is frustrating to be unable to watch Thunder and Akecheta, who were one of my favourite couples last season, but great to hear they have at least two and possibly three eaglets again this year. Are those peregrines in the video brooding on sand?
The story of Murphy and his rock baby is just so bizarre! How wonderful for them both that he has adopted the foster eaglet. Don’t you just love the look on Murphy’s face as, after an hour of caution, he finally approaches the chick and leans down to see what this small non-rock baby is? The way he studies the chick is SO cute. And the confidence with which chicks simply assume any adult is a food source is amazing. It reminds me of little Malala, the baby red-tailed hawk – it didn’t know it was brought in as lunch for the bald eaglet. It just knew it was hungry and there was an adult in front of it who might feed it if asked. It’s obviously a powerful instinct, as is the adult’s instinct to respond by feeding it.
It sure is. We so enjoyed the West End last year…I do wonder if the adults feared that another chick might fall and not be able to be saved.