Toronto’s first Bald Eagle nest…Friday Morning in Bird World

8 March 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Oh, goodness, that snow that I wished for came down. It was so deep that you could not walk to the bird feeders until a path was cleared.

The Sparrows returned looking for seed under the snow until the feeders could be cleared and filled. There is a lone European Starling and I am beginning to wonder why it is here. There are normally from 17-28 Starlings together. They are always together. Very odd.

‘The Girls’ once again paid no notice to the weather. Like retirees who never know what day it is, they could care less what the temperature outside is!

Hugo Yugo is the sunshine of my mornings. She is looking up at Hope who has the top spot on the cat tree. There will be trouble. You can count on it.

She’s a little toughie.

Calico was convinced that something was underneath the edge of the rug, so everyone joined in looking.

I want to start with the latest and last of this year’s New York City Audubon Zoom series series. The special guest is writer Amy Tan, whose book, The Backyard Bird Chronicles, has just been released. Tan calls it nature journaling, but the gorgeous drawings done by the writer would be welcome anywhere. I was also thrilled to listen to Tan talk about how the females of each species are overlooked, something I have said many times. They are gorgeous, and she has created many drawings that show their beauty. In addition, Audubon announced that they are changing their name. An announcement will be made later.

Tan talked at length about why she likes to draw and study the behaviour of female birds. For example, how the female Anna’s Hummingbird does everything after she copulates with the male. So, after four seconds of mating, she is left building the nest, feeding the young with what she hunts for, and then training them.

This is Tan’s drawing of a Scrub Jay. Tan discussed how smart Crovids are by describing how she tried to thwart the Scrub Jay from getting into one of her feeders.

You can listen to the interview with Amy Tan at the link below. It is one hour and is worth it. You can, of course, start and stop!

There is excitement in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as the first Bald Eagle nest has been seen in the city.

The wait to see if any of Jackie and Shadow’s eggs will be viable and hatch into an eaglet is making the news.

Sandy Speers in an interview today says that egg 1 is probably not viable but the other two eggs are still in the window. Let’s all hope that by Monday one of those eggs has a big pip.

Jackie once again had a blanket of snow on Thursday morning. As for me, like so many of you, I have devolved into a state of sadness for this couple despite the opportunity for the other two eggs to be viable. It feels like someone dropped me out of an aeroplane without a parachute. This will pass because regardless of whether eggs hatch, Jackie and Shadow are solid, and they will pull up those talons and get on with it. That is what I love about them. They stare adversity right in the beak.

The earlier snow has melted.

Waiting at Achieva. I know that I cringed when Diane laid their third egg. Maybe one is not viable. That would be good. There is so much competition for food in this area of Florida and last year with the severe drought – well, things are difficult enough with three osplets never mind those problems. I always hope for one healthy osplet.

Checking on the new hatches.

Duke Farms. The rain is gone and the two eaglets look alright. Both had a really good meal/s.

There was a Q & A from Duke Farms about the eagles!

Bluff City-ETSU: There is a hatch and this baby is a cutie.

The Johnson City eaglet is much larger than the little bitty at Bluff City.

Superbeaks: The kids are at the lean and lanky stage.

The middle eaglets, Swampy and Meadow. Adorable. What else can you say?

You can see pin feathers, the slight remnants of when they were nestling, and the most gorgeous deep black feathers on these two.

The older eaglets. Just as I get antsy for R6 to really get down to the business of self-feeding, ‘H’ reminds me of the difference in ages of the older eaglets. Cal at Captiva is 79 days old today. E23 at SW Florida is 68 days old while R6 is only 54 days old. Ron and Rose are trying to encourage self-feeding. They even sort of withheld food, but that didn’t work and they fed their baby.

WRDC: R6 is big and beautiful.

SW Florida: E23 is making it higher and higher up that tree. What a super eaglet.

Captiva: Beautiful Cal can self-feed quite well. Connie and Clive still like to feed their little one on occasion. Cal is in the fledge window.

Big Red and Arthur were both working on the bowl of their nest on the light stand by Tower Road at Cornell. Big Red is my hero. 21 years old. She doesn’t look it unless you look at her talons. My goodness those have caught a lot of prey and she has fed many chicks. This is the year for the Ns.

Arthur is so cute.

Angel was bringing in twigs and rearranging nesting material while Tom is out looking for strips of bark. The hawks are preparing for eggs – both in Tennessee and New York.

Annie looked for Archie and called him and here he came to join her in the scrape for bonding. Oh, these two are precious.

‘H’ sent me an image of an Osprey on the Carthage, Tennessee platform. We think this is Mom. Does anyone know if this is the first day she has been seen on camera?

There is also some excitement going on at the Captiva Osprey Nest. Edie is there late. Does this mean an egg is on the way? We wait.

Severna Park will have a fundraiser to get a new battery for their solar-powered camera. I will include details as soon as I know them.

Geemeff sent me a startling article. People have been feeding swans mouldy bread and it is turning them pink. They are having to go into care. Please, please do not feed bread to ducks, geese, swans, etc. These are foods that are good for them: “Grain, such as wheat, and vegetable matter, especially lettuce and potatoes, can be fed to swans, together with corn, chopped cabbage, spinach, frozen peas and floating specialised swan and duck food pellets are the most suitable foods for swans and larger cygnets.”

More on what to feed swans and cygnets and what to avoid below the main article.

We have been reading about the importance of wetlands and the tragic demise of wildlife including our feathered friends due to habitat loss. Argentina is now planning to develop one of their prime wetland areas. A tragedy unfolding before our eyes.

Will there ever be a powerful international agency that can protect these vulnerable areas that are so important? Will humans continue to deny and destroy? What is wrong with us?

This has been a brief look at what is happening in Bird World. Tomorrow I have a very early appointment and I will not be able to make last minute checks on hatches. When, however, I get home, I will go through the cameras and check and see what is happening. If there is anything noteworthy, I will send out a short post.

Thank you for being with me today. Please take care. Looking forward to having you with us again soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, Zoom chats, screen captures, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘Geemeff, H, J’, NYC Audubon, Global news, KTLA5, Fox 11, FOBBV, Achieva Credit Union, Duke Farms, Bluff City-ETSU, Johnson City-ETSU, Superbeaks, Eagle Country, WRDC, SW Florida, Window to Wildlife, Cornell RTH Cam, Cal Falcons, Mary Ann Miller, Metro News, wan Lifeline, and The Guardian.