Friday Morning in Bird World

2 February 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

It is Ground Hog Day. It is Falco’s ‘Freedom Day’ in New York City. I wonder how much more winter we will all have.

Many debate whether Falco is free or if he is really in danger. All of the wildlife in New York City are in danger from rodenticides, not just Falco. He will never have an Eurasian Owl for a mate and he has now been ‘free’ for precisely a year. He will probably never be caught and returned to a sanctuary. I think Mark Avery would agree with me that he will live his life just like the other birds in the Central Park area and, I hope it is long like Pale Male.

Hugo Yugo had her appointment with Dr Green. The vet staff could not believe she was the same kitten from a month ago! She has gained another pound, and everything is A-OK. She is now about the size of a small tissue box.

I would like to get the 2024 Memorial Wall up and running. For some reason, it is now showing up – even though my system says it is. Lou is number 2. ’J’ sent some lovely images of Lou to be included.

The Atmospheric River that is bringing 2 inches of rain to the San Francisco area has brought heavy snow to the Big Bear Valley which is east of Los Angeles.

What Jackie woke up to on Friday. Hoping that Shadow can find some food for them in this heavy snow.

The nests with eaglets are doing fine. Let us all hope that the surviving one at John Bunker Sands thrives. There was some concern that an owl might have come on top of the girders last evening – please go away!

‘MP’ sent me these great shots of Dad bringing in this enormous fish. Incredible and great screen captures! Thank you.

Eagle County has the award, so far, of the deepest egg cup. It is impossible to see that eaglet.

R6 appears to be fine. Let us hope that the huge pellet included all the materials from the nappy and that not lasting damage is done to this precious little eaglet.

From the looks of Rose’s beak, the family quite enjoyed that water fowl.

Congratulations! Another second egg…more eaglets the end of the first week in March! This time for Frances and Franklin in Tennessee.

E23 is quickly coming into its own and losing those dandelions on the top of its head. 

Nice big fish are coming on the nest for Cal and Lusa. Cal has lost almost ever hint of the baby down she hatched with…Today, Cal potentially saved Lusa’s life when a piece of fish got stuck in his throat.

Lusa begins to choke about half way through the video at 2:53ish.

A little later the worry beads were out again as the pair of them climbed up on the rails!

Scout is bringing in food gifts to Bella – this time it was a squirrel.

In Australia, Gil and Brad are doing fine…so civilised with those fish.

‘A’ confirms that the 0647 fish was the only one: ”There has been only one fish brought in so far today at Port Lincoln, by Dad at 06:47, which Giliath ate (it is now 5.45portpm local time). Bradley ate in the middle of the night, finishing off Giliath’s fish from last night. But so far, that has been it for the day, unless either lad has caught something for themselves (if so, they have been smart enough to eat it away from the nest). Giliath tried catching a fish, unsuccessfully, at 14:12:59, and both boys spent a lot of time off the barge today, so one or both of them may have got a fish. “

WBSE 31 fooled everyone. She is back down on the Parramatta River by the adult’s River Roost.

The new male is trying hard to woo Annie!

Gorgeous Molis are hatching on the island of Kauai!

Do you watch the Manchester NH Peregrine Falcon scrape? Here is some news that might interest you.

Always something exciting happening at the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital. This is where those very intelligent but pesky Kakapo sometimes wind up – and get excellent care. Here is a rare penguin.

I am reading another book on avian behaviour. It is my area of interest. This one focuses on the science of the behaviours and some good examples and images, but it is heavy on the science. There is a reason for that! People still believe that birds are not intelligent and do not have feelings. They believe they are not sentient beings like humans. Why might that be the case? Well, it would change everything, wouldn’t it? The welfare of animals would come to the forefront!

Here is the book…I did not find it as engaging as some of the others I have read (I happen to like Bekoff’s books but there are no illustrations and this one is choked full of beautiful ones), but I totally understand the need to ‘prove’ with evidence the points being made. It is very good at that – and I did enjoy it very much.

If the man who sold the falcons in Scotland thought they were sentiment beings, would he have engaged in that practice? We will never know. He did get a find that might stop him in the future, but I would have liked to have seen it much higher with a custodial sentence alongside.

No egg at Moorings Park, yet.

Remember – the last is never the least. I am always grateful to my friend, Sassa Bird in Latvia, for ‘fixing’ any issues related to reporting about their wildlife. Certainly, the articles that I read about Golden Eagles would lead one to believe they were more than there are…so, here we go. Thanks, Sassa. ”In 1955, the white-tailed eagle disappeared as a nester in Latvia,[3] but since the beginning of the 1970s, when the first inhabited nest was found, their number has grown significantly thanks to protection measures. The number of nesting birds has reached 100-150 pairs. In the last ten years, their number has increased by more than 30%.” They continue, “In Latvia, according to modern systematics, there are 3 species of the eagle genus: the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), the royal eagle (Aquila heliaca) and the steppe eagle (Aquila nipalensis).[3] The last two species have been observed only a few times: the golden eagle twice,[4] and the steppe eagle only once.” Much appreciated. We need to fix some of the sights on the Web and their information. 

Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care. We hope to have you with us again soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, screen captures, videos, articles, posts, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ’A, B, J, MP, SP’, Bruce Yolton, FOBBV, Neil Laferty, JB Sands Wetlands, Eagle Country, WRDC, Trudi Kron, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Window to Wildlife, Ondabebe, Deb Stecyk, PLO, Bart M, SK Hideaways, Pacific Rim Conservation, Anne Pardo, Dunedin Wildlife Hospital, Taylor & Francis Online, Nathan Emery and Amazon, Raptor Persecution UK, Moorings Park, and Sassa Bird.