21 November 2023
Good Morning Everyone,
November is always a very challenging month for me. Do you have those months when good and bad events are all clumped together? My mother was born on the 26th of November, and my beloved grandmother died on the 26th. My mother died just shy of the 26th – on the 24th. I had flown down for a big birthday bash. It had been less than two months since I had seen her, but I was in for a shock. She knew things were not going well, so instead of having all her still-living friends meet us for a big birthday bash at her favourite restaurant, she asked me to cancel and get her a burger and fries from Sonic.
We spent the afternoon of the 20th writing her holiday cards, putting on the stamps, and getting them in the post. She always said she wanted to live to be a 100 – she died two days shy of 90 years. Reflecting back. Congestive Heart Failure was a blessing. No pain. Just a slow slipping away. She was an interesting woman. It took me til recently to fully appreciate her. I would love to sit down and have a long conversation with her. She was not like the mother of any of my friends. IT would be much later that I would hear the term ‘Tiger Mum’. My mother was that – and I am eternally grateful, although I don’t think I appreciated it then. I went off on a tangent. Apologies. Our parents profoundly impact us, and we all recognise that there are days or months we think of them more than others. Today (I am writing this at 18:24 on the 20th), twelve years ago, she and I were writing cards to all her friends. We never said anything but we both knew they would be the last ones she ever sent. We made sure they were gorgeous and sparkly.
Well, here we are so far! Superbeaks. Captiva. Kistachie National Forest E-3. So now, who is going to be next?
Oh, there is such good news. Karl II’s offspring, Waba, made it through the kibbutz in Israel and is in the Sudan!
Alex and Andria, the Bald Eagles at the Kisatchie National Forest E-3 nest, have their first egg. So – Superbeaks, Captiva, and Kistachie E-3!
The camera was down so we did not know when Andria laid the first egg. Tonya Irwin had a poll on the chat and I missed it altogether. Remember I said do not place bets on things like I do – I am usually wrong. Well, here we are in the pitching rain and it looks like Andria has laid the second egg at 18:51:24 or close to it. The eggs are four days apart just like last season according to Irwin.
The other good news is that Nancy and Beau were on the MN-DNR Eagle Cam by the old nest tree. You might recall that Nancy was the mate of Harry who is presumed dead. She bonded with Beau. They had a single surviving eaglet that was killed when the nest collapsed last year due to heavy snow.
Mum and the Osplets are waiting for Dad or the fish fairy! The chicks were digging in the nest early. Did they find a leftover?
They are still waiting but gosh, golly. These osplets are so cute and standing so well on that uneven stick nest!
Itchy.
Still waiting.
The osplets are so well-behaved. Still waiting.
Dad arrives with a headless fish at 13:24. Good for you, Dad.
Wow. Then the fish fairy shows up with a monster size fish and it has been slit so that the osplets can practice their self-feeding. Great insights, Fish Fairy! Mum is munching away – letting the kids nibble.
Mum is getting a good feed. This is wonderful.
Heidi Mc got the feeding on video – check it out. Much better than stills!
‘A’ sends us the observation board from Port Lincoln:
If you have wanted to donate money for the Fish Fairy at Port Lincoln and have had difficulties, there is now a PayPal button to make this easier.
There is also news of Ervie although there were no photographs. So reassuring that he is flying around fishing and continuing to come into Port Lincoln! Go Ervie!!!!!
At Orange, Diamond slept on the ledge of the scrape. Xavier came in later. Maybe for a rest after a prey delivery? Talons look bloody.
There was some lovely bonding in the scrape with Diamond and Xavier.
‘A’ gives us some sad news: “The important news comes from Orange, where big sister Marri has not been sighted for nearly a week now. I kept saying that there was no definite ID of the juvenile that has frequently been seen on the roof of the water tower, often with a parent nearby. I believed that juvenile to be Barru. So it seems I was right about that, though I am not happy about it. I was hoping that we were seeing both juveniles, sometimes one, sometimes the other. But no. Apparently Cilla has not seen Marri since the day after she fledged, which is horrible news. I cannot countenance the theory that she has ‘already left the area’ because she has not learnt to hunt, and hunting for a peregrine is not a matter of finding some road kill! So I have been super worried about Marri for a week. It surprises me though, given how strong she was and how well she was flying. We can only hope she is smarter than we think and has somehow been able to get food for herself. Still, it is more likely that she has come to a sticky end – we never found Rubus’s body either, so that’s no indicator. Now we have to pin our hopes on Barru. Perhaps female chicks are never going to come out of this scrape. “
At the Parramatta River, there was a sighting of an eaglet.
Rohan Geddes just posted these images from the other day. I have still not seen any indication that both juveniles have been seen simultaneously. So the question is: Like Orange, is there only one?
The latest news from Kielder of Blue 432 in Senegal:
Sunday night was apparently ‘owless’ at the SW Florida Bald Eagle nest…isn’t that wonderful? I do hope I got the gossip right. Here M15 has brought his lady a lovely meal.
M15 and F23 have arrived at the nest tree and are both in the nest. Will they thwart the GHOs?
The GHO attacked with talons out!
Why do GHOs attack Eagles?
Some of you will remember Bonnie and Clyde that took over the Bald Eagle nest on Farmer Derek’s property. Here is a video of them this month with a juvie at that same nest.
V3 and Gabby have been at the nest tree. V3 was caught on one of the cameras chasing off an intruder. Wouldn’t we all love it if all the eagles – young and old – would leave Gabby and V3 alone? I do not recall this happening when Samson was king of his natal nest. Does anyone?
They always seem tense – either alerting or watching for intruders. Does it cause difficulties for breeding? Stress?
Rose and Ron have a nice nest coming at the WRDC. Just look. A little Greenery, too.
Bella at the NCTC Bald Eagle Nest. Where is Smitty? Was he here? Bella was doing chortles.
Bella had to defend her nest alone on Monday.
An eagle at Decorah Hatchery.
Did Louis and Anna hope to be Alex and Andria laying the first egg? Sorry you two!
It was windy at the NTSU nest of Boone and Jolene in Johnson City, Tennessee. I am certain they love the wind more than humans would rocking around in a nest high above the ground. LOL.
Gosh, isn’t that setting sun on Big Bear Lake simply gorgeous? Jackie and Shadow came to the nest to enjoy it and check on needed improvements.
Want to see Condors released into the wild? Here is the information to catch all the action and find out what is happening with the Big Sur and Pinnacle colonies. You will have to go to the website of the Ventana Wildlife Society to sign-up for the Zoom chats. They happen every month.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. We hope to see you soon.
I want to thank the following for their notes, videos, streaming cams, posts, and articles that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A, H’, Maria Marika, Joanna Dailey, Tonya Irwin, KNF-E3, KNF-E1, Trudi Iron, MN-DNR, PLO, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Holly Parsons, Sharon Pollock, HeidiMc, Kathryn Palmer, Lady Hawk, Androcat, Woodsy Wisdom, NEFL-AEF, WRDC, NCTC Eagle Cam, Deb Stecyk, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, NTSU Eagle Cam, FOBBV, and the Ventana Wildlife Society.
Thank you Mary Ann for these updates and photos of Hope and all the birds and the links to read.
So glad to hear that Ervie is flying and doing good. Maybe there will be photos soon. Prayers for Marri 🙏❤️. I didn’t know about her missing since fledge. Best wishes for Barri. 🙏❤️. Congratulations to Anna and mate In Louisiana on their egg! ❤️❤️🦅🦅. Hope the owls leave m15 and his mate alone. Maybe they will give up soon and go back to their own nest
I wish Gabby and V3 could do good on their nest. ❤️❤️🦅🦅
Good luck to them all and r the hanks for the links to read today.
Have a good day Mary Ann! It was. Ice to read your story also. 🥰🤗
See you soon again.
Linda
Isn’t Ervie amazing. Ervie just gives me great hope that others will survive and have. There is something though about the ones that stay around Port Lincoln. I did always wonder why they thought Calypso was a female and she was close to home..thankfully we know she is not a she so the knowledge that it is the males that stay close to home and the females that fly further to find a mate should help in determining their gender. I hope that you and your family are having a lovely Thanksgiving today, Linda. Take care.
I felt so much joy about Australian nests. And it was probably premature…However, I will trick myself into wishful thinking for now and believe that both peregrine and sea eagle fledglings are fine and have gone to explore the world. I know, it may seem stupid but that’s the privilege we have – to believe something until proven otherwise. Be that as it may, let’s appreciate what we have for now. Port Lincoln surroundings obviously suffer from a lack of fish and I’m sure there’s a good reason for that, most probably, humans, overfishing, climate, etc. But two beautiful osplets are headed towards fledging which is a nice change from the previous years. In regard to bald eagle world, M15 and F23 will just have to put up with GHOs as a major nuisance this season. There’s nothing we can do about that except hope…Hope, hope, hope…it will definitely be a key in surviving the bald eagle nesting season around various nests…very happy for Ervie and Waba..and any other happy occurences in bird world. We have to hold on to each and every one of them. Talking about parents, my mom (more of a lifelong friend than mom in the traditional sense of the word) is still around and I try to appreciate her as much as I can. My father’s long gone, died when I was 15. The loss of parents definitely leaves a mark, and I truly feel for you reading your beautiful words about your mom. But there’s that thing that never changes – their presence in our lifes even if it’s not physical anymore. They are always on our mind, even if it’s just for a moment during a usual day or for a longer-lasting period around the time they went away. Never-ending and intricate parts of us…sending you love and strength ♥️
Yes, you are right. It does feel like her spirit is around everywhere. Like everyone else, I miss my parents and grandmother so much at various times of the year. I was fortunate that they lived long. Yes, GHOs. I do worry…they are here and yes, they have to feed their babies too – and the Crows have to feed theirs -. That cycle of life and death. I always hope that there are enough little birds that hatch and fledge so a few survive. And we will always live in the hope that both falcons and sea eaglets survived. Just because we can’t see them does not mean they are not there…but I sure wish we would, just once!
I couldn’t have said it better myself–birds and parents.
Thank you.
Hmm, A said Rubus’ body was not found. It was–near the building where he was last seen. He had died a few days before his body was found. He had a broken collar bone and a fractured neck. His body was too decomposed to do any tests.
It was presumed he collided with the building.
Maybe A meant Yurruga (sp?) who disappeared; I think it was the year before. He was last seen on the roof of one of the buildings. A storm came in, and he was never seen again.
So sad, so many birds missing–adults as well as juvies. What happened to them? I guess wanting closure is a human trait.
And at Orange, same as last year “Which juvie are we seeing.” Someone commented that this is what happens when you don’t band your birds. Why don’t they band the birds here? The West End and Two Harbors nests on Santa Catalina and San Jose City Hall and Berkeley peregrines have records on their birds going back years, including sightings–some happy (still going strong after 10 years), some sad (made it anywhere from a month to a year) . San Jose knows where Clara’s great grandson is. Thunder, matriarch at the West End nest, is the daughter of Cholyn and Chase (their individual histories are amazing too, hatched in a lab in San Francisco because of the effects of DDT) who have been at the Two Harbors nest for over 20 years. Thunder chased her sister Lightning off the West End nest. Even if a decomposed bird is found, there is closure if the band is still on the leg. Sorry to go on, but I find the whole history thing pretty awesome.
Yes, of course. She would have meant Yurruga. She knows this nest like the back of her hand but she has been incredibly distracted with her Mum’s illness and hospitalisation…thank you for that note. I will mention it. I asked Cilla once when I mentioned the feathers not growing in one year. She did not get permission to band the birds. It is an excruciating process especially at a university to get permission to do things – but it is the reason that we do not know who is who! — I am for banding. It gives great insights. We would never have known that Blue 8C died in Africa this week without that band!