New Male at Fortis Exshaw delivers 2 fish…Saturday in Bird World

15 July 2023

Good Morning Everyone,

Before I forget…there are two Dmitri’s with storks that live on their roof. One is in Belarus, and the other in RU. I mentioned Dmitri in my Friday blog, thinking it was the one who had surgery in the RU. No, that was the one in Belarus. Sorry – my confusion. I have not heard how Dmitri has done from his surgery.

It was another nice day for a walk and I went to check on the goslings and ducklings at Fort Whyte. It is impossible to describe how the landscape changes there on a weekly basis never mind the size of those little ones. At Fort Whyte there are two large lakes. They are now pumping the water from the lake to a human built wetlands area that is elevated at the beginning and then that elevation goes down. The water is kept free of algae by the fountain type aerator and then flows down and through several water falls. It was crystal clear in spots today having been so clogged with algae the waterfowl wouldn’t even go in the separate water areas. Today, they were everywhere. Whoever designed this put so much thought into how it would work – for the wildlife. So happy.

There are tiny ducklings and goslings of every age. What joy! All of these had just come out of a nice swim in the ponds.

A handsome male American Goldfinch.

A female Shoveler.

So, as a result of this beautiful day – and things going well in the nests for a change, my report is rather slim this morning. But we are going to start with Fortis Exshaw because that is the nest that I was watching along with Mn Landscape yesterday more than some.

Fortis Exshaw is the dream story of the Osprey season. How often does a male come to the rescue of a female and help her raise another male’s chicks? Who might be the first bird that you think of to do this? Alden? How many others? Can you think of an Osprey male?

‘H’ reports: “July 14 turned out to be a wonderful day for these Ospreys.  By 1038, 4 fish had been delivered to the nest, including 2 from Louise’s new male friend, ‘Mr. O’.  But, as the day wore on, it seemed as though Louise was thinking that ‘Mr. O’ would continue to provide fish.  He did come to the nest a few times to defend against intruders.  When 6 1/2 hours passed since the last fish, I was hoping that Louise would just go fishing herself.  And, boy did she ever . . Over the next two hours Louise brought 4 fish to the nest, and ‘Mr. O’ delivered another.  There were a total of 9 fish for the day!   ‘Mr. O’ defended the nest, brought in nesting material, and delivered 3 fish.  Louise and her two  27 day old Osplets are very lucky that ‘Mr. O’ came along. Notice in one of the photos, ‘Mr. O’ is standing on the nest perch while Louise feeds”.

There is an uproar brewing over the death of Hope and Beau’s chicks at the Newfoundland Power Company platform in St. John’s. It appears – although I cannot independently confirm this – that some structural changes might have caused those two chicks to get ‘caught’. Feel free to Google Newfoundland Power and let them know what you think. This young wildlife rehabber hopes to change their policy! You can also write a comment on the FB page of Newfoundland Power.

We have fledges happening in the UK and, at the rate, that all the osplets are developing, it looks like this could be a daily event til all have had their first flight.

The male of Idris and Telyn flew Friday morning.

Always some nice fish at Dyfi! Rewards for the chicks and their fantastic Mum form Dad, Idris.

Blue 8C3 took off at Foulshaw Moss this morning. That is the nest’s second fledge of the season.

The two chicks are doing fine at Collins Marsh. In fact, it is hard to believe that I am writing this blog on a Friday and that all of the nests are relatively stable. It is about time!

Did I say that I love the Boulder County Fair Grounds nest? The three osplets are dreaming of the big world while Mum feeds Dad some fish behind them. What a loving family. They pulled together and made certain that the tiny third hatch survived. Remarkable.

All is well at Cowlitz PUD. I caught Dad delivering several fish today.

The only chick I am currently worried about is the one on the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum nest. The left-wing seems to be turned the opposite way from the right. You have to look closely. It almost reminds me of ‘Angel Wing’ in ducklings. We need to keep a collective eye on this little one keeping in mind that as long as it is on the nest, no permits are generally given to intervene.

If you happen to get some good screen captures of that left wing, please send them to me. I intend to write the local wildlife rehab clinic and the USFWS next week. Thank you.

The chicks are wanting to take the fish that Dad delivered at Seaside. Dad is wondering – where is Mum?

Victor. Harry dropped a fish at 1323 which Victor enjoyed so Dad is still bringing in fish. Victor is waiting at dusk to see if Dad will bring a late night meal.

All is well at Oyster Bay!

And now to go and check on PSEG’s other nest, Patchogue and Mini.

Mini has had a good day. She had a really good PS, she has been flapping, and also self-feeding. I counted the dark bands on her tail and thought she had only 4 and then when Mini was sleeping on her black bin liner pillow, it was easy to see that there are 6 dark lines. This means that her/his tail is long enough to fly. Still, Mini, you need to stay on the nest longer. We need you to be super strong for that first flight. And really, we aren’t ready to let you go yet. Understood? Mini has awfully long skinny legs…is our girl a boy?

I hope no one was walking underneath that nest when Mini let that loose!

The other reports from ‘H’ – she notes this morning that all the news are doing well! Isn’t this a wonderful change everyone? Maybe the tide has turned the corner, that is what I hope. OK. Let us get into the nests ‘H’ is monitoring:

Patuxent Nest 1 – I was sure that ‘Sibling B’ was going to fledge a couple of days ago.  ‘Sib B’s’ hovers were so high yesterday afternoon, s/he was out of sight for several seconds, and I was watching Foster’s gaze to know that ‘Sib B’ was still above the nest.  Ah, today is the day for sure.  You can do it, ‘Sib B’!

Osoyoos – The two little Osplets are 18 and 19 days old, and they are doing fantastic.

Forsythe – The fish count has been way down for the last three days.  There were 3 fish brought to the nest on 7/14, two by Opal and one by Oscar.  I believe finding fish may be more difficult because of the heat.  The nest is located in a marsh on Reeds Bay at the Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey.  It is situated roughly 8 miles further inland than the Barnegat Light Osprey nest located 35 miles to the north  The Barnegat Light Ospreys are not experiencing fishing difficulties, but the waters surrounding the Forsythe nest may be comparatively more shallow and warmer.  The 53 and 54 day old siblings were taking it easy and conserving energy in this heat.  Smart.

Dahlgren – D11 fledged on 7/12.  At age 54 days, and four days younger than its sibling, D12 has has yet to fledge.  But, D12 has really been exercising those wings.

The story in the UK on Friday at the Osprey nests was rain! Despite this those males did deliver some amazing fish! The nests are doing well. Just soaking.

Dorcha is a great Mumbrella.

It was heavy rain for Poole Harbour but Saturday morning they are missing what is hitting the other areas of southern England – more heavy down pours. It gives CJ7 and Blue 22 a break along with the triplets.

Brodie got a really nice fish to Loch Garten.

The winds are really strong at the nest of Idris and Telyn at Dyfi.

Looks like more rain and storms for Alyth brewing in the distance.

It is a great topic — ending the ‘war on birds’. I did not realise that there was a ‘war’ going on – to me, the word ‘war’ implies killing – but, that is precisely what is going on. The on line journals and blogs are full of tales of poisons, arrows, shootings, and terrible traps all because birds are a little inconvenient. To me, it is the humans – us – that are inconvenient, who have robbed the planet of its life, who have taken the habitat of the raptors, the geese, the ducks, the deer. Every time I hear a person complain about walking in Canada Goose poop, I become outraged.

Those spikes we know are being removed by some birds and being used to strengthen their nests in the wild (from the article in my blog a few days ago). But…we must, in every instance that we can, help our feathered friends. Today, I saw one of those ‘green lawn’ signs. We need to educate people to stop using pesticides and herbicides. The songbirds need the insets. The larger birds need the songbirds. We are all in this dynamic circle of life or death, together.

Thankfully there is also kindness in the world – as it should be. Check out this home in Poland with two stork nests! May their kindness be repaid over and over again.

‘MB’ sent me this and I wanted to pass it along…please keep reading. Are there really solar wipers?

Lots of good information is coming out in the latest journals from the various birding associations, conservation groups, etc. I will try not to bombard you but will add one or two every blog so you can stay up with what is happening to our birds and what some of the solutions might be. In my garden the solution is lots of shade and lots of water! Be sure to put out a bowl of water as an act of kindness for the wildlife.

Thank you so much for being with me this morning. Enjoy your weekend and please take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, their posts, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog this morning: ‘H, MB’, Fortis Exshaw, Sunnie Day, Dyfi Osprey Project, Polly Turner, Collins Marsh, Boulder County Fair Grounds, MN Landscape Arboretum, Seaside Ospreys, Moorings Park, PSEG, Osoyoos, Forstythe, Dahlgren, Margaret Mackintosh and Loch Garten and Other Ospreys, Geemeff and the Woodland Trust, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Dyfi Osprey Project, Alyth, Karla Pilz and Klapper-Treff, The Guardian and Audubon.