Hatch at Bluff City…Thursday in Bird World

7 March 2024

Good Morning,

It is 1747 on the Canadian Prairies and we have been in the midst of a blizzard for five hours now. We got all of the donations to the kitten charity and rushed home. Thank you so much for your wishes on bountiful donations. People are generous and it is a good time since many are doing some spring cleaning. I feel so sorry for those people who cannot keep their pets because they cannot afford to feed them.

The wind was really gusting. The snow had piled in where ‘The Boyfriend’ and other feral find their food. There were no birds in the garden and the squirrels had completely disappeared to their dreys or tree homes.

The girls were all asleep. As for me, I was glad to get off the City streets as they got slicker and the wind picked up to the point that in places you could not see. As Dorothy says, ‘There is no place like home!’ When I did look at the kitties, I was drawn to Calico who, this time last year, would have endured several big storms. I am so glad this gentle soul (she is except for the ongoing snit with Missey) is inside this year, safe and warm.

There is no news coming out of Big Bear Valley about a pip that I have seen. Indeed, despite the good response to the auction, I have been rather muted and sad today. It is unrealistic, but I wish an ‘Eagle Egg Fairy’ existed. Or someone who had an orphan eagle that needed two great parents. If they could drop that little one into the Big Bear nest, Jackie and Shadow would be elated. That eaglet, like Calico, would have won the ‘so-called lottery’ – a home with loving parents and food. On the other hand, I would love it if that third egg would hatch for Jackie and Shadow. I feel like I am losing hope. The impact of DDT has been horrific on wildlife decades later.

The camera isn’t even going in close. Feeling gutted for them. Egg 1 is 42 days old and I presume it to be non-viable. Egg 2 is 39 days old. Has it begun pipping? No visible pips seen. Egg 3 is 36 days old. Please send positive wishes for that egg to be viable for these two so hopeful eagles.

Jak and Audacity’s single egg clutch looks good. But will that egg be fertile? Oh, please.

Still waiting at Achieva, also.

No eggs, but Milda and her new mate are working on their nest in Latvia. I am expecting eggs right before the end of March.

Red Wing captures all the drama at the Spirit Bluff Peregrine Falcon scrape – who will Newman choose?

It is always a relief when a mate returns from migration. It is always a heart ache when they do not.

Rosie has been home for a few days and Richmond is bringing in the fish gifts.

Annie and Archie are fine. Starling is on the menu.

We are on a countdown for the UK returnees as well as those in Europe – all of the migrating birds, including the storks and ospreys.

Observers of the JB Sands Wetlands Bald Eagle nest report that Mum’s leg appears to be slowly healing. She is not missing. She was on top of the tower and flew down and took a fish from Dad and even fed the eaglet. Dad fed the eaglet as well. It was quite the scene with the live fish. thank you ‘MP’ for this encouraging report! That eaglet is big and is really feeling its wings, too!

Rainy at Duke Farms. Mum fed the eaglets, but less close in feedings than you might have seen at some of the other eagle nests with little ones. It seems to have gotten wetter throughout the day.

The Duckies seem fine.

My dear friend, the late Phyllis Robbins, who loved the Sea Eagles in Sydney also loved Eagle Country. I have to say that at the beginning of this season I really worried for Meadow. Well, just look at Swampy and Meadow today. Abby and Blaze are incredible parents. Despite their age and size, those two eaglets are being constantly fed. They are so well provided for that this eagle nest has quickly become one of my favourites, too.

As the rain came, Swampy and Meadow got a little wet. No problem. They have their thick thermal down and their juvenile feathers are coming in. The little ones like those at Duke Farms must stay dry.

The little ones of Jolene and Boone at Johnson City-ETSU did get wet on Wednesday. I really hope that they do not get a chill. They have to eat and it is difficult for the adults to feed them without them getting some rain.

Close by at the other ETSU Bald Eagle nest at Bluff City, Franklin and Frances have a pip, and it is raining.

And they have a hatch! It is BC24.

At Ron and Rose’s WRDC nest, R6 attempted to eat some fish that Rose had left on the nest. He did manage to get some of it. Unlike Cal, R6 seems to be behind in his self-feeding.

At the ND-LEEF nest in South Bend, Indiana, Dad’s new mate has been named Gigi.

While all the attention was the on the death of Flaco, another owl, this time an Eastern Screech Owl, died. The little one had been an ambassador for 15 years at the Raptor Centre in St. Paul, Minnesota. Unlike Flaco, who could fly and hunt, Warner suffered from lack of vision caused by an early head trauma. She spent 15 years educating people about owls.

This is news from the 5th of March. Sorry for the delay in birthday greetings to two very special Kakapo.

Nothing needs to be said anymore about the trauma and death caused by fishing line. We need to clean up our act if we fish.

I never saw one when I was growing up in Oklahoma, but these lucky birders were so fortunate to see this leucitic Red-tail Hawk there! She is even whiter than Angel.

Over 400,000 songbirds were trapped in Cyprus so people could eat a delicacy. This really makes me ill. Can it be stopped? And in what other countries is this happening?

There are many birds that actually winter in the UK. They are now preparing to migrate back to their spring and summer breeding grounds in the far north. Let us all hope that they are not trapped somewhere, but make it home safely.

Your feel good moment. An osprey in care for 10 days for a soft tissue injury is freed! Remember – some people said ospreys do not do well in care. Others said not to supplement their feeding and look what happened positively at Port Lincoln! So smile…they do well in care most of the time like any animal.

Thank you so much for being with me today as we sit on our hands waiting for several pips or hatches. It’s not easy, especially when they are Jackie, Shadow, Jak, and Audacity.

Thank you to the following for their notes, observations, screen captures, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘J, MP’, FOBBV, IWS/Explore.org, Achieva Credit Union, Heidi McGrue, Latvian Fund for Nature, Raptor Resource Project/Explore.org, SK Hideaways, Lucille Powell, JB Sands Wetlands, Duke Farms, Eagle Country, Johnson City-ETSU, Bluff City-ETSU, WRDC, ND-LEEF, The Raptor Centre, Kakapo Recovery, Lin Lawson, The Red-tailed Hawk Project, The Guardian, and Wild Florida Rescue.