20 December 2023
Good Morning Everyone,
My inbox lit up like the Christmas tree in New York City right after 18:16 Florida time. Gabby laid her first egg of the 2023-24 Bald Eagle season! (It looks like the official time of egg laying was around 1806 with the first sighting at 1816). The world cheered just like the champagne glasses clinked the other day when V3 and Gabby successfully mated on the nest. We will all hope that egg is fertilised and that there is another – with two precious eaglets on this nest, NE28 and NE29, in mid-January.
Gabby started the soft chirping that she does when she begins labour around 1800. Congratulations Gabby and V3.
V3 sees his egg for the first time.
The Winter Solstice is one day away. For those who celebrate Christmas, Christmas Eve is 4 days away, with the big day only being 5 days off. Hanukkah is over and 2024 is less than a fortnight off. Kwanzaa is from 26 December, ending on New Year’s Day. My goodness, the year has flown by! May all your celebrations be full of love, joy, laughter, and companionship.
Last night, Calico brought me to tears. She entered the bedroom when I was reading before lights out and climbed onto my chest, nuzzling my chin. She stayed for over an hour being petted while I read some chapters out of of Spark Birds. Calico always loves a good story, and this reminded me so much of those early days when she came to live in the house. What a gentle soul she is. Every day, I remind myself how lucky I am that she found me.
Baby Hugo continues to sneeze, which bothers me immensely. She eats well, her eyes are pretty clear and she is playing like a wild little tiger. She continues to be the tiniest little kitten I have seen for such a long, long time. Will she grow? Her and Baby Hope just ran through the house so fast it was like their tails were on fire.
Missey is determined to pull all the white fluff off the twinkly tree. Thank goodness she is not eating it, but rather, putting it on the tablecloth once she pulls it off.
Beautiful Baby Hope loves to be in the basket on a chilly December afternoon.
As I write this they are all playing with the interactive robot toy that flashes a laser light on the ground in various directions. Hope and Hugo get a lot of exercise chasing it!
The second big news item coming out of Bird World Tuesday night is the pending hatch at Captiva of C11, Connie and Clive’s second eaglet of this breeding season.
Clive is a great provider! C11 arrives around 0524 Wednesday morning.
Close to Connie and Clive’s nest, there appears to be an Osprey couple claiming the platform at Lori Covert’s house. They have names – Ruby and Jack. (My first thought was Jack Ruby having been a youngster when President Kennedy was assassinated).
Incubation continues at SW Florida Bald Eagle nest of M15 and F23. Bobbleheads before the end of the month!
Incubation continues for Rose and Ron.
Can you help? There is a movement to turn the area around the Centreport Bald Eagle’s nest into a nature reserve that would protect the raptors. Here is the information and the opportunity to add your voice for change.et’s help Bob Schwartz get twice as many signatures as he wants!
At Port Lincoln, Dad brought in the first fish of the day at 0945. Mum made sure she had complete control of it!
Mum feeding her two lads. How much longer will she get to do this? It must be bittersweet for her, too, when they fly away from the natal nest to find their independence.
Giliath continues to show off his flying skills. It is not going to be long before Brad joins in.
It might be dry in Port Lincoln, but it is raining in Orange.
It was a foggy day at Big Bear Valley, too. I did not see Jackie or Shadow on the nest on Tuesday.
At the Kisatachie National Forest nest of Alex and his deceased mate, Andria, Alex continues to incubate the eggs Tuesday night. This breaks my heart.
Alex was up and gone in the morning.
White-tail eaglet in Latvia.
‘A’ found us some current news coming out of Sydney at the Parramatta River: “December 20: An early observer reported an adult and SE31 flying up and down between their usual roosts, with SE31 squeeing. Then, at 7:55am, Lady was reported eating on Mangrove Island. She then flew to River Roost, where SE31 appeared, still squeeing– however, the juvenile then watched the adult eating but made no attempt to take any of the prey herself. A rainy day today – a cool relief from previous hot days. No more observations at this stage.”
This is a sombre read. The impact of humans is twice as high as believed on species extinction.
Because it is a time of various holidays with many celebrations, including gift giving and eating, it is also a time to reflect on how we might cut down waste now and throughout the year. Do we need all this stuff? All that food?
Baby Hugo reminds me that clean sheets and towels are needed by all the vet clinics and wildlife rehab centres along with cleaning supplies, working used tools, pet food, and toys, yes, toys, for enrichment. Think about our feathered friends this season!
Thank you so much for being with us this morning. Take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog this morning: ’A, H, J, L, SP’, Denise W Starr, NEFL-AEF, Eagle Goddess, Window to Wildlife, Lady Hawk, Lucille Powell, Navy Babineau, Move On, PLO, Bart M, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, FOBBV, KNF-E3, WRDC, LDF, The Guardian, and The New York Times.
