Royal Cam chick returned to Mum…Wednesday in Bird World

24 January 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Your smile for the day comes from Auntie ‘H’ who modified a Scott Metzger cartoon:

Perfect! I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face all day. 

The weather is warming up and tomorrow it is forecast to be either 1 or 4 degrees C. That is ‘plus’. My plan is to go out for a long walk at one of our provincial parks before things get too soupy. Today it was a jaunt around a local forest and a walk through The English Garden at our zoo. The air was so clean and fresh. Everyone was friendly and smiling and saying ‘hello’.

In the house, the girls had a ball watching their bird video. Baby Hope was extremely animated and determined to catch one!

Cornell and NZ DOC made a short video of the return of the Royal Cam chick to the nest! What a cute little fluff ball! Look at the loving eyes of the parent as they see their chick for the first time. Precious.

Royal Cam chick (like all the albatross chicks) has been checked and re-checked and has been fed at least twice.

Gabby is still incubating that egg! And V3 is there on the branch, cuts healing on his feet, from protecting her and the nest. These two have had a real time of it this year and, sadly, we know what Gabby probably does, too – there is no little eaglet. I feel so sorry for her. Two years without a chick – 2023 and now 2024. 

At SW Florida, E23 is being left alone more and more, even at night. This morning the eaglet was spreading its large wings. I held my breath thinking about the GHOs…maybe they are too busy with their own nest to worry about the eaglet! Let’s hope.

E23 is growing so fast! All that good food – and what a variety this wee one has had. The mohawk is there, clown feed, and there were some nice close ups of the ‘blood’ feathers today. 

Blood Feather Information: 

“When a feather is pulled out or falls out during a normal moult (a normal loss of feathers), a new feather is stimulated to start growing right away. As the new feather, also called a pin or blood feather, emerges from the skin’s feather follicle, it looks like a spike, quill or much like the feather shaft itself. This new feather has a blood supply flowing through it and is encased by a keratin (type of protein) coating or feather sheath. The base, where the feather is developing and being nourished by blood, is a dark blue color. On smaller feathers such as those around the head, the base may be a red or pink color. Some pin feathers may be sensitive, and birds may not enjoy being handled while moulting. As the feather continues to grow, the tip will mature first as the blood recedes back down into the follicle. The bird will gradually preen off the keratin feather sheath from the maturing feather tip and the newly formed feather will emerge.” (VCA Animal Hospital)

At Captiva, C10, Cal, had a crop that looked like it could pop any time. Connie was busy ensuring C11 had a good fish meal, too. Isn’t she lovely? Both eaglets have thrived, although I must say I did worry about C11, Lusa, during the storm.

Connie sleeps on the rim of the nest while her babies dream about fish breakfast.

The only true fluffy little eaglet right now is R6. Rose stays right on top of her keeping her warm and dry in case a storm hits Dade County. Little R6 is growing and stretching. It is much easier to see it being fed from that nest cup than it was even yesterday.

There is the first egg, laid on Monday the 22nd, at Duke Farms for Mum and her new mate.

At Port Lincoln, Bradley and Giliath were caught on video following Mum and Dad fish begging.

Good News coming from Senegal: Blue 497, the oldest chick from Mrs G’s last brood in 2022, has been seen and photographed. Congratulations, Glaslyn. This is the first time it was seen. Blue 2H2 from Rutland was seen the other day and Blue 5F our grand Mamma from Clywedog was photographed in her usual spot. We are getting close to really dreaming about their return – is it really less than 60 days now?

It looks like Wisdom wasn’t just dancing, but is breeding again on the Midway Atoll. Fingers crossed for our oldest albatross ringed in 1956 – she is at least 73 years old!

Tim Mackrill has written a new book on Ospreys. I wonder if it will beat my favourite, most reasonably priced, packed full of great information and photographs he wrote for the RSPB? You can pre-order now. Published by Bloomsbury, there are 150 photographs, and it will be out on Leap Year Day. I have an order and will tell you how it compares to the earlier RSPB version! (Thanks, Geemeff).

Here is the publisher’s description: 

If you do not live in the land of peat burning, you might not fully understand why it is important not to burn it – these are huge carbon sinks. Here is a document in simple language that all of us can understand – who is burning the peat and why they should stop.

‘J’ sent me the summary of the Raptor Resource’s Project tracking Golden Eagles. What a treat.

I have a wee bit of a winter cold and am going to tuck it in early tonight. The newsletter is, thus, shorter than expected. I know you will understand.

Thank you so much for being with us. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, photographs, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog this morning: ’A, Geemeff, H, J’, Cornell and the NZ DOC, Holly Parsons, NEFL-AEF, SW Florida Eagle Cam, VCA Animal Hospital, Window to Wildlife, WRDC, Duke Farms, PLO, Raptor Resource Project, Raptor Persecution UK, and Bloomsbury Publishing.