1 March 2024
Good Morning Everyone,
Gosh, I am tired! Cannot possibly tell you why, but I would like nothing better than to snuggle up with Hugo Yugo for a long sleep. Is it from waking up all night to check on Jackie and Shadow? Maybe!
Today is day 36 for egg 1 for Jackie and Shadow. The average hatch day at Big Bear is 38-39 days. It sounds windy today at Big Bear.
Oh, it was a day for pictures. Hugo Yugo was into everything. She first decided to attack Baby Hope to become the ‘Queen of the Cat Tree’. Then she modelled her ‘onesie’ – which was returned. It is a great idea, but they need one for cats. I am thinking of a newborn onesie with cut-out arms and legs. Would that work? And then there is Calico and Hope. The image is blurry. I apologise. There is something magical about these two when they are together. I still tear up, thinking of the miracle of seeing Hope find all of us. But first, they have to watch the birds! Not the real ones outside all over the feeders and the lilac bushes, but on the screen. It sounds like humans when they walk in the woods and take their phones—watching a screen.
Hope goes to the front of the telly when she wants me to turn on the Bird Video. She lays there hoping to catch my attention. She never meows or anything. Just waits patiently.
Hugo Yugo loves to watch things on the big screen, too! Especially the Blue Jays. I keep telling her we have Blue Jays in the garden. She doesn’t listen!
Then Hugo Yugo got ‘antsy’. You can see it in her eyes. She’s ready to go!!!!!!!!! Hope follows. They get to the back and the Cat tree. Hope arrives first.
Hugo Yugo pounces.
Hope has so much patience with Hugo Yugo.
Hope was relieved when Hugo Yugo was distracted by a European Starling landing on the glass ceiling.
Hugo Yugo can get awfully rough. They throw each other into the sofa and the wall and run all over the place.
Now, they are friends again.
Then it was time to try on the onesie. It was made for a tiny Chihuahua. Didn’t fit right. Still, a great idea to keep the animals from licking their incisions. We will try something else.
The light coming in from the conservatory washed this image out. But there they are in their favourite spot to be together. It is a daily ritual – sometimes several times a day. These two could never be separated. Thank you to those who sent me stories and images of their rescue mothers and kittens who, like Calico and Hope, like the comfort of one another. It is so appreciated. Thank you for sharing.
We are going to start with Eagle Country. The images say it all. I hope they put a huge smile on your face.
Second. What a couple of feisty eaglets. Johnson City. Goodness. There was even a dual feeding by Jolene and Boone on Thursday.
Waiting for eggs to hatch is nothing short of agonising. I am not even sure that I wouldn’t like long fingernails being dragged across a chalkboard more.
We are still waiting for a pip at Big Bear Valley. Jackie and Shadow do not know that more than 21,000 people watched their every move today. We checked every piece of dirt and espresso-coloured feather to see if it was a pip. We drove ourselves crazy. Is the microphone sensitive enough to pick up the cheeps from the eaglet like some others?
The eaglet at Duke Farms trying to hatch from the crushed egg has survived. It still has some shell attached as of Thursday early evening. It is breathing. The hope is that the shell will dry and break off and that the eaglet will be alright. There is a pip confirmed in the second egg at Duke Farms.
The latest: (Oh, BTW, the AI that is associated with this site seems to change the spelling for Rollin’ Rog. I do spell it correctly. Apologies for all that!)
It was not until 20:32:52 Thursday night that the little one had its head completely free of that shell. Will there be any lasting injury? Let us all send positive energy. (I was a little surprised at how Mum moved that chick about…oh, please, let us hope it is OK).
I cannot tell if the first hatch has survived at Duke Farms (I am hesitant to say that it died, but it really might have). There is nesting material all matted around. The second egg has a large pip – by Mum’s beak. We wait to see the status of hatch 1.
Avon Lake Eagles have their first egg.
Just look at that eaglet at J B Sands Wetlands. Did that juvenile plumage grow over night? Big and strong with gorgeous feathering coming in. Beautiful surviving eaglet. Glad that all is well here in Texas.
R6 is big and strong, too. ‘H’ tells me he isn’t as proficient at self-feeding as I thought he was – too bad. But, he will get there! Ron and Rose will make certain he is prepared for the wild.
Cal is doing very well. Likes to look out over the world form that branch and still loves to be fed by Mum and Dad.
Another huge and healthy eaglet is E23. Check out the size and the wingspan. How many of you are thinking female?
At Redding, Liberty and Guardian have one of their three eggs crushed on Thursday. This brought a ripple of sadness through their many fans.
Jak and Audacity’s egg looks fine. Fingers and toes – and all talons crossed, please!
The embryonic development of an eagle by Dr Sharpe. You might find this very interesting.
Lots of information about Rita, the Bald Eagle, Ron’s former mate at the WRDC nest, that I bet you didn’t know! I learned a lot. Great little video.
I am so glad that people are realising the value of a nest’s history. Often we do not know it. So in addition to the one by Rita, there is also now a slideshow history of the Centreport Eagles.
The new Dad at Pittsburgh-Hays is so funny. He reminds me of Shadow at times.
Canada Geese. They are starting to arrive in Vancouver, and the City of Vancouver seeks to ‘lethally cull’ the geese. The Animal Alliance of Canada is against the measures proposed by the City because it, the City, is not following the guidelines they set up. In addition, Geese are protected under the Migratory Bird Act! Permission has to be given and I hope those that receive the City’s application check the accuracy of their claims.
Those who often benefit and scaremonger the public are the pest companies who financially benefit. So please read the following article. If you live in the area and this issue touches your heart, get involved. The Geese are only on land that was historically theirs. We are taking away their habitat everywhere. So, Educate yourself. Then with knowledge, not emotion, write to your local councilperson and the City Parks department. You will have to use their online forms. Please Google: Vancouver City Parks Department for those. For those living outside of Vancouver, you can voice your concerns over the lethal culling without first using the non-lethal measures set out in their own documents.
There is no proof that the number of geese will rise. Geese are susceptible to HPAI. We still have Avian Flu. I have written to Cornell Bird Lab to get the statistics on Canada Geese, their growth or decline population, and future projections. I will let you know what I find out if they answer my query.
The Canada Geese are also now arriving in Manitoba amidst cold temperatures and snow. Is this early for Oak Hammock Marsh? Here are the statistics for the last 25 years.
‘H’ tells me that Lori Covert has decided to name the new female at the Captiva nest despite the fact that she has not laid an egg. Her name is Edie after Edith. If you can’t read the text below from Lori’s Instagram, she says that she is keeping with the tradition of naming the birds after family relatives. So this is Edie pronounced ‘eedie’ which is for her Uncle Jack and Aunt Edie.
There is some good news coming out of EuroNatur but, as Geemeff, asks, what is the point of designating an area a national park and then stealing its water? Doesn’t that sound quite wrong to you?
As we move into osprey nesting season, it is good for us to conjure up the images of Dr Greene and his teams in Montana clearing osprey nests and trying to save the osplets bound up in baling twine. Baling twine is used to secure hay and straw bales in farming areas. It is made of various materials, but it is deadly to ospreys. They gather it up – it seems they love the plastic orange twine, and they take it to their nests. It is there that their chicks get wrapped up in this deadly mess.
There must be an inventor out there – maybe it is you reading this – who can figure out a way to secure hay and straw bales without using twine or any plastics that would injure or kill wildlife. Just imagine if some of the billionaires spent some money on working to save our wildlife instead of sending rockets into space. I wonder what we might discover!
Everywhere we turn, there is something ready to kill our wildlife, our insects and bees that pollinate our plants that help us to survive. And there are government agencies that continue to approve such toxins as Neonicotinoids. Please note, “Despite nearly 15,000 people calling for better support for farmers and wildlife, the UK Government recently approved the use of a bee-killing pesticide (known as a neonicotinoid or neonic) on sugar beet crops in England for the fourth year in a row. For our February edition of Wild LIVE, we will be discussing why more than a third of sugar beet farmers chose to not use the chemical in 2023, and how we can support more to make that transition and stop the reliance on these hugely damaging pesticides.”
In this instance, this is about sugar, sugar beets, and British Sugar. Here is an interesting discussion on how easy it is to ban this pesticide and still have sugar. (Manitoba grows a lot of sugar beets – now I wonder if they use these deadly poisons on their crops. I must check that.)
If you live in or near NYC (or just want to be there and live half way around the world), think about joining the others in a tribute to Flaco – an Owl who brought many together through its hope and resilience.
From Port Lincoln, Giliath has been filmed bathing near the Yacht Club and Ervie has been visiting Boston Island frequently.
Spring is in the air in San Jose! If you don’t believe me, just ask Monty and Hartley!
Thank you so much for being with us today. We hope that you enjoyed about hearing the comings and goings of some of our favourite raptors. Take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for your notes, posts, articles, videos, screen captures, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, H, J, N’, Eagle Country, Johnson City-ETSU, FOBBV, Gracie Shepherd, Duke Farms, Avon Lakes, JB Sands Wetlands, WRDC, Window to Wildlife, SW Florida Eagle Cam, FORE, Baiba Graustina, Raptor Resource Project, Marathon Wild Bird Centre – Crane Point, Bald Eagles of Centreport, PIX Cams, Animal Alliance of Canada, Oak Hammock Marsh, Lori Covert, Euronatur, Flathead Audubon, WILD LIVE, Dimi Belchev, BK Dave, Port Lincoln Ospreys, and SK Hideaways.
