Fledge at Cal Falcons, San Jose Eyas goes Walk about, Hatch at Glacier Gardens, River and DH17…Saturday in Bird World

27 May 2023

Oh, gosh. Canadians complain about the cold and then when we get hit with 32 C (89.6F), we complain about the heat. I know that temperature is nothing compared to where some of you live but gosh, for May and Manitoba, it is unheard of. Give us 22-24 C and we will smile all year! The farmers must be happy. My garden is. The climbing Kentucky Wonder beans are already 15 cm (6 in) high, the cucumbers are growing, the herbs could provide me with a second career. The visitors to the feeders have been scarce with the heat…just the locals, Mr Crow and Mr Blue Jay and their family, along with a handful of sparrows and Grackles having long drinks in the bowls and bird bath. Exciting things are happening in Bird World – good things. That always makes up for the quiet in the garden. Oh, Mr Grackle is washing a peanut in the bird bath. So cute.

Yesterday the Supreme Court in the US gutted the protections for wetlands under the EPA in the US and today, Geemeff sent me an article that shows Australia is looking at wetlands. Do these ‘people’ who have authority not understand the importance of wetlands to the planet’s overall health? As Isabella Tree reminds us, “Wetlands are incredible habitat, and vital for storing water. They also sequester carbon. But over the centuries they have been catastrophically lost of land drainage, mostly for agriculture. Restoring or creating natural water bodies is something most rewinders can do, at any scale, and the rewards for wildlife are enormous.” (96-97). “Rewilding water systems at all scales is key to the recovery of nature.” (97). Remember that and start yelling. Once these areas are lost, it is doubtful those in authority who destroyed them will create new areas…unbelievable. For those of you in Australia, let your politicians know why wetlands are important.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/27/should-a-wetland-home-to-endangered-birds-become-13bn-worth-of-shops-high-rises-and-a-marina

Here is the EPA’s article on wetland importance so you can educate yourself on why this destruction must be halted.

This is a very good thing. At 11:52 Friday morning, River successfully delivered a prey item to DH17 on the nest. Smile. This is such fantastic news.

Latest update from the AEF regarding DH17.

Of course, River did not stop at a single fish. She is a fantastic Mum and has lured DH17 back up to that nest and now she can feed her properly.

This is real joy…the fledgling back on the nest being fed while it gets its wings and flying strong…like E22.

Liberty and Freedom welcomed their first hatch – Hope – on the 26th of May in the Glacier Gardens in Juneau, Alaska. Congratulations!

All of Lou and Annie’s chicks at Cal Falcons fledged on Friday, the 26th of May, from The Campanile. Thanks, ‘B’, for the head’s up! All on the same day! Wow. I thought Luna might stay behind, but they didn’t want to miss all the fun. Annie and Lou will be busy with these three – flying lessons and prey drops!

Reports of Zephyr have come in:

And for Rosa. Rosa flew first!

Rosa returned to the balcony! Excellent. Just like the eagles..nice to see them at home near the nest for at least a few days. Thanks, ‘A’.

https://youtu.be/P1Muyp8D8K4

SK Hideaways did a great video of the fledge day highlights!

For some incredible fledge day stills – and I do mean incredible – go to moon_rabbit_rising’s page: Thanks ‘H’.

https://www.instagram.com/moon_rabbit_rising/?fbclid=IwAR3EYeEjI6Pio3aySb3TeNiUd0A8YcM9TZBVdyUu1VuU540OlHynlXRSSK

You are going to have falcon withdrawal so head over to Hartley and Monty’s scrape on the San Jose City Hall. That little eyas is so cute and these two parents seem to be figuring out their first year just fine now.

This little one got out of the scrape. Thanks, SK Hideaways! But check out the crop on that much loved only chick before he goes for a walkie.

https://youtu.be/oDGvegR1xGQ

Here is the link to their streaming cam.

https://www.youtube.com/live/EgrE4WhRmk4?feature=share

Annie and Lou are beginning a new phase of their relationship…they have fledglings to train! In Orange, Australia, Xavier and Diamond continue to bond in the scrape box..it will be the end of summer and eggs before we realise it.

Everything is fine at the Dyfi nest of Idris and Telyn…right now I am feeling that everything is as right with Bird World as it can be. Telyn has made her Mum, the beautiful Maya, at Rutland a grandmother again!

The three chicks of Maya and Blue 33 at Rutland, are doing fine. So much fish!

The two osplets of Laddie LM12 and Blue NC0 at Loch of the Lowes are getting their reptilian plumage. All appears to be well.

I didn’t see the youngest eat any fish at the last meal at Llyn Clywedog but, I could have missed a feeding and it is passed out in food coma. Dylan is a great Dad and this nest gets some really nice fish from the local reservoir and sometimes nice Brown Trout.

CJ7 at Poole Harbour refused a couple of fish from Blue 022 today when she was incubating. She must be hungry…are we close to pip?

E22 was on her perch at the SW Florida nest of M15 in Fort Myers first thing in the morning so she is safe!

RTH5 had a little field mouse for breakfast around 0750. This nest has really turned around with Tom helping Angel. Looking forward to next season when our young dad really understands his role! Lots of deliveries continue. Tom is about three years old. Angel is about six years old. The average life span of a Red-tail Hawk is approximately twenty years. Tom brought in a rabbit and RTH5 tried to self-feed. Then Angel flew in with a lizard and fed the chick. What a variety of prey this little one is getting. It is fantastic. The chicks imprint the prey items into their memory so when they are hunting on their own they recognise ‘food’.

‘A’ is so excited. “The hawklet tries some self-feeding, holding the prey down with its left foot, and actually manages to get a couple of bites. Tom was most interested in the little creature taking the food and mantling it. He was fascinated.” Our little RTH5 is developing nicely. Just look at that beautiful image of Angel and her baby. The hawks and the falcons grow and leave us so quickly. Enjoy this little one for as long as you can.

That little Mini at Patchogue is getting fed – and looks to be doing well despite its miniature size.

I am concerned about Little Bob at Severna. Hoping for a private feed for this scared osplet but ‘H’ reports that Little only got 2 or 3 bites and paid dearly for them. The nest is located between two rivers and ‘H’ wonders why the deliveries are down the past while. Let us hope that they return to normal.

A new nest! Noble and Whitley welcomed their second hatch on Friday the 26th. Look at this great couple at Crooked Lake, Indiana doing a dual feeding!

Tears are falling from my eyes. Loch Garten. Brodie delivered Asha a fish…she has been incubating the couple’s eggs for 76 hours without food due to intruders.

https://youtu.be/YY4LVMdNIVY

Alden hunted at night in the urban areas around The Campanile. We have seen others bring prey on to the nest and we have seen ospreys. Last night, an 8th fish ——-yes, you read that right! – came on the Alyth nest but it was very, very late. So if anyone ever asks you if raptors, other than owls, hunt at night, you know the answer!

Both Jack and Diane continue to deliver fish to the Achieva nest and they will continue to help both when they fledge. Middle is often on the nest alone when food arrives. Sometimes Big follows quick on the heels of the delivery. More rain today. People must be cheering!

Big looked awfully dry compared to Middle when she arrived.

All is well with Big Red, Arthur, and the Ms.

The Moorings Park Osprey nest is a little worse for wear. If you look carefully there are at least three of the old Leatherhead fish falling off one side.

Looks like four little storklets still in the nest of Beta and Bukachek in The Czech Republic. They have human debris also but if this were to endanger the storklets or the adults, you can be assured the local community would get up there and remove the materials!

Two cute little eaglets at the Eastern Imperial Eagle nest in Russia. Eastern Imperial Eaglets are known to practice Facultative siblicide. This means that if the environmental and prey conditions are such, both nestlings will survive. Otherwise, the eldest could kill the youngest.

According to my friend, ‘T’ the two eggs pipped on the same day. Fabulous. The female is Sarpike and she has lovely markings like stars on her shoulders and back.

https://youtu.be/dAYEQqjXESY

The May Condor Chat with the Ventana Wildlife Society features Bill Toone who was one of the individuals who worked on bringing the remaining condors out of the wild and into captivity in the 1980s. It is a good listen!

I was much interested in the HPAI updates. In Arizona, 15 confirmed condor deaths due to HPAI and waiting test results on 5 others expected to be HPAI. 5 condors are being treated. There have been no new cases since April 11th. That is great news. In California, they are expecting cases of HPAI because of migration timing. There are 10 pens ordered to quarantine and vaccinate the condors. Six condors in the LA Zoo will be treated. These treatments will start after the test results are in for the 20 vultures and 2 cohorts are in. They commented that HPAI did not seem to show a preference in terms of gender or age in the Arizona birds.

https://youtu.be/kPRhV89Vheg

Why do we need to protect the Chesapeake Bay? what happened to the Great Heron chick that fell out of the nest when its nest was attacked by GHOs? Here is a really good talk by Mike Fitz of Explore.org

https://www.youtube.com/live/Od0G0OT7OhM?feature=share

A Forestry England Wildlife worker in Kielder Forest has discovered a new wild nest on top of a very dead conifer tree. The couple are “are male PY0, a 2017 offspring from the nest at Lanton monitored by Border Ospreys, who has intruded here since 2019 and female 330, hatched in 2019 at a then new nest in the Tweed Valley Project area. She and her sole sibling, 331, intruded here in 2021 and 330 has kept coming back.”

‘H’ reports that R4 and R5 have been all over the tree at the WRDC Bald Eagle nest of Ron and Rita. R4 is 74 days old and R5 is 72 days old.

Our latest update on Murphy and his Eaglet – and giggle a little. It is branching but since Murphy and Baby have no tree…

Thank you so much for being with me today, for all your notes, and all the support to the nests. Take care, everyone! See you tomorrow!

I want to express my sincere gratitude to all those who generously provided me with updates on fledges and nest occurrences. I must say that the videos, tweets, posts, and streaming cams have been extremely helpful in putting together my blog today. I am particularly thankful for the invaluable contributions from ‘A’, ‘B’, Geemeff, ‘H’, ‘SK’, ‘T’, Dale Hollow Eagle Cam, AEF, Celia Aliengirl and Bald Eagles Live Nest Cams and News, Trudi Kron and Bald Eagles 101, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways and Cal Falcons, moon_rabbit_rising, @MsAnthropos, San Jose City Hall, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Dyfi Osprey Project, CarnyXWild, Poole Harbour Ospreys, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Window to Wildlife, PSEG, Severna Ospreys, Crooked Lake Ospreys, RSPB Loch Garten, Sue Wallbans and Friends of Loch Arkaig Ospreys, Livia Armstrong and Friends of Loch Arkaig Ospreys, Achieva Credit Union, Cornell RTH, and streaming c Moorings Park Ospreys, Mlady Buky Stork Cam, Eastern Imperial Eagle Cam, Ventana Wildlife Society, Mike Fitz and Explore.org, Forestry England, WRDC, and World Bird Sanctuary.