Meadow blown off nest, sad situation at Moorings Park…late Wednesday in Bird World

3 April 2023

Good Morning Everyone,

I had a marvellous day in the country. The air was warm and the sky was solid blue, not a cloud in sight. No wind. The geese were flying in and landing on the farmer’s fields. The deer were eating seed for the Chickadees and a hawk flew overhead landing in a tree near to where a woodpecker was eating.

I came home to some dire news about the Eagle Country nest. So, I plan to report on the two nests concerning me and what is happening at Eagle Country. There will not be a long post sent out Thursday morning as a result.

I continue to be concerned about two nests. One is the Moorings Park Osprey platform in Naples, Florida and the other is Duke Farms Eagle nest in Hillsboro, New Jersey. My report today will be somewhat short, but there is breaking news. Meadow, the second hatch at Eagle Country, has been blown out of the nest. The eaglet was not ready to fledge. She is clinging on to a lower branch of the tree. It happened at 12:57 when she was self-feeding on the right side of the nest.

Meadow is squeeing and telling Dad where she is. If Meadow is grounded, she can be rescued legally. They just have to get there quick enough. Some eaglets have managed to climb back into the nest but I am uncertain if that is possible at Eagle Country. Parents can also feed them off nest. The danger is predators in the area.

The situation at Moorings Park has not improved. It is now past 1600 and Tuffie has had nothing to eat. Harry has not been bringing in fish like he did last year. So far one and a partial fish. Ruffy continues its restless attack on Tuffie. When Tuffie finally got to Mum’s beak at 1608 there was no food for the little one.

Someone asked how long these little ones can go without food. That is a complicated question. It depends on whether or not they had a full crop of quality food at their last meal. We know that Tuffy did not have a full crop on Tuesday when he finally got fed late. The heat, the humidity, and the age of the osplet all play into how long they can survive. I once tracked an osplet that did not eat for 58 hours.

Tuffy is dehydrated, wants to eat, but is frightened – frightened enough not to go and eat even if starving. Imagine that mental state.

There is no food left. This is a drop of saliva.

The weather is miserable and there is no food at Duke Farms. ‘A’ writes: “at Duke Farms, it was the most miserable day. I saw no food brought in and there was nothing on the nest. Mum went out mid-afternoon in an attempt to find food but was unsuccessful, so she searched the nest and dug for leftovers, giving the few bites of heaven knows what to Leaper. The rain persisted the entire day, and mum was her usual stoic self, being the perfect mumbrella all night and all day. She left them briefly to try and find food when the rain eased briefly but otherwise, she managed to open her garage doors and keep the rapidly growing pair pretty dry for most of the time. What a mum she is.” She continues, “Even when mum goes out again for ten or fifteen minutes and returns with empty talons at 14:20, there is no aggression from Leaper. Jersey takes up a submissive pose, but he is not really tucked, just slightly ducked, and he was pretty much in that position anyway. So he just stayed where he was really. But Leaper was interested only in Mum, who quicky set to work trying to decide h9w best to position herself  to cover Jersey, as well as Leaper, who had done what Jersey normally does and headed head-first straight for the shelter of mum’s underfluffies. What a mother this eagle really is. She has been amazing in every respect. I cannot praise her highly enough. This rain just won’t let up. If it eases off, mum takes the opportunity to look for food but she has not had any success on the three occasions I have seen. But she keeps trying. She has four or five hours of daylight left, and of course dad could always put in an appearance, so we can hope that she finds the chance to fish. But it’s not looking great at the moment, and I am hoping that these two have been eating well in my absence and will have little difficulty going without for a day. It’s something they will need to get used to for the future in any case. It is my fear of the nest reverting to violence that is concerning us all the most. They are unlikely to starve in a day! So I am not going to panic about a wet day. Leaper has been exemplary in her behaviour today, so talons crossed things stay friendly and civil. “

Thank you to ‘L’ for first alerting me to Meadow’s situation and to ‘A’ for her lovely narrative about Duke Farms.

Thank you for being with me and thank to the streaming cams at Eagle Country, Moorings Park, and Duke Farms.