Tuffie gets fed, Meadow on ground…Friday in Bird World

5 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

I had a wonderful day on Thursday. Two sets of visitors – old friends and then the granddaughter. It was a real joy to see everyone, but I did not get to check all of the nests properly, not even half of them, so we are going with the most crucial.

Before the birds, the cats. The girls had fun. New plants to lay in and they got to show off their climbing and chasing skills to get to the top of the cat tree for everyone. I should not say girls. It was Missey and Hugo Yugo. These two are nothing but trouble spelt with a capital T.

Missey was the Queen of the Cat Tree and then decided that it was more fun to rest in the new plant pot and watch the newly arrived Dark-eyed Juncos. She used to do this with Lewis when I would water the plants. Oh, they had such fun. I miss darling Lewis.

Hope and Calico did not come out until they thought it was time for everyone to go home! It was too funny. It seems that Missey and Hugo Yugo love the attention of others while Calico and Hope prefer the house sans visitors. Go figure.

We are going to start off with Moorings Park because it is the osprey nest of most concern. I could not bear to check first thing this morning before preparations for the day got underway. Of course, the other problem is Meadow who was blown off the nest and who miraculously is on a large limb of the tree under the nest.

So, first things first. Moorings Park. FINALLY, Tuffie had enough food to do crop drops. It did not come until the end of the day, and the poor little one must have been ready to drop and expire. Tears. Thanks, ‘H’, for watching this nest for me on Thursday and for making a video clip so I could see that crop fill and drop, fill and drop. The tears were rolling down my face. As I said yesterday, it never gets easy watching Siblicide. Indeed, it gets harder. The joy comes when the little one triumphs. Tuffie had been battered so much and was so frightened and dehydrated that it was questionable whether or not this little one could hold on – both mentally and physically – until there was a moment when it could get fed.

So this is what ‘H’ sent me that started the tears:”Five fish so far: 0841  headless fish, no bites for Tuffy, (and several beat-downs by Ruffie at each meal except meal #5) 1104  large live fish, no bites for Tuffy; 1157  small headless fish, 2 bites for Tuffy; 1603  large headless fish, 3 bites for Tuffy; 1730  large headless fish, I counted at least 99 bites for Tuffy, and no beaking from Ruffie. Throughout the 1730 meal, Tuffy was seen crop dropping several times.”

When my company left, I watched the video and then checked the streaming cam. The first bite must have been the most delicious fish that Tuffie ever tasted.

The other good news comes from the Osprey nest in Wales, Glaslyn. Elen had been away for a little over a week after she first landed on the Glaslyn nest. Then, Aran, her mate, returned, but Elen wasn’t home. Then Blue 372 came calling. On Thursday, Aran gave in to Blue 372. Almost immediately, Elen returned home! Was she watching from the woods?

‘G’s thoughts on Glaslyn: “Elen is giving Aran a right earful !! She has eaten her own fish, then has taken his from him, she’s not hungry just claiming her rights! Refused his offer of mating – quite strongly!”

The happy couple. I hope Elen knows that Aran has spent several days putting Blue 372 off – he just got weak on Thursday. Perhaps he worried that Elen was not coming.

She is back with us for a good narrative of the goings on at Duke Farms. Thanks, ‘A’: “Mum woke up early and after flapping her waterlogged wings, she flew off the nest at 06:20 to search for food for her babies. This mother is just fantastic. I know I keep saying it, but she just keeps demonstrating it It is dad, though, who arrives back first, at 07:26:45, with quite a large piece of furred prey, very dark in colour and with a long non-fluffy tail and no stripe. Again, I have no idea (it’s an American creature). Dad looks to have half-healed wounds on one of his feet, which may tell us something about his activities last week. Leaper immediately spreads her wings as if to mantle the food. She even reaches out as if considering having a try at self-feeding. Not on this piece of prey, unopened and unprepared. But dad is hesitant about feeding the babies but wouldn’t dare eat this food himself. So he waits beside the food, uncertain. He begins to prepare the prey. Leaper moves forward expectantly. Jersey has turned his head the other way, demonstrating token submission. Dad quickly pauses again, looking around for mum. This lengthy wait annoys Leaper, who until now has essentially been very laid back indeed with Jersey, despite yesterday’s lack of food. It is not a severe attack, but it is more than I have seen in the past week. She plucks out some more of Jersey’s head feathers, then grabs the back of his neck and shakes him a little. It is not vicious but, rather, pure frustration. Leaper turns back towards the prey and dad, but dad flies off the nest at 07:29:40.  Forty seconds passes. Jersey is still ducked but not really tucked right over. He is just being careful. Leaper approaches the food again, contemplating how he might eat it. He is investigating it with his beak. Fortunately, at this point, mum flies in. She too has furred prey, much smaller and greyer than dad’s, with far less, and less dense, fur. Leaper heads towards her. Mum decides to start breakfast with her own offering and begins feeding Leaper. Jersey waits behind his sibling, his head quickly up. It is obvious he was not particularly intimidated by Leaper’s recent big sister moment. By 07:35 he is contemplating his options, and begins looking over his shoulder. At 07:37, mum finishes the last of her prey item. She moves on to dad’s. She grabs the prey and pulls it around the rails a little, towards Jersey, hoping he will have the courage to skirt around the rails to where she is. Oh how I love this mum. Leaper has had her immediate hunger appeased so mum begins to defur the food (it needs it). She is efficient. For once, it is Leaper rather than Jersey who is watching carefully and learning. At 07:39 mum is still plucking. Leaper continues to watch. As 07:40 approaches, Jersey turns his head towards mum and thinks about how to reach her. He decides to move closer to the rail, then head around the rails towards her. At 07:41, he stands up and begins his mission. Mum is still plucking – I am certain she is delaying as she is now plucking the long tail. Jersey is hesitant, and with mum still plucking, shortly after 07:42, Leaper again gets impatient and turns towards Jersey as if about to attack him again. As she does, we can see that she has a very respectable crop. She changes her mind and heads back to mum. At 07:42:36 she gives Leaper the first bite from the second piece of prey. With Hiis sister busy eating, Jersey takes the opportunity to skirt the edge of the nest, approaching the table around the rails. By 07:43:50 he has reached mum, and three seconds later, he leans over and grabs his first bite of food. Mum gives the next bite to Leaper, then turns to offer Jersey his bite. He takes it without hesitation. Mum continues to feed Jersey. He is still a little grabby, so she is very patient with him, re-offering him the food if he doesn’t get it or get it all on the first attempt. Leaper does not object for half a dozen bites, then leans down and pecks at the food. Mum keeps feeding Jersey. He has had a lot of bites in just under a minute when, at 07:44:43 Leaper leans down and grabs a bite of food. She takes three bites in a row before Jersey begins to compete. Mum now feeds them both and they compete for bites. Jersey is a little worse positioned than his sister so loses more bites than usual. But the bites he does get include the very biggest ones, which he grabs and turns away to eat. Again, the pair are side by side at the table, eating in a civilised manner and both getting enough to eat. This nest really has changed over the past week – yesterday was a very testing day indeed, and yet these two got through it all in a very friendlty and supportive manner. There was snuggling and allopreening, beakies and the using of each other as bedding. It was all very sweet. And even today, the one piece of bonking I saw was not vicious but frustrated and more a stamp of the foot than anything truly aggressive. Afterwards, Jersey was very cautious but not overly intimidated. The moment he got to the table, his confidence was not in question. Yesterday was about the weather, not the food supply. So let’s hope that now the weather has cleared up, this nest will continue to be a safe place for both these gorgeous eaglets to continue their journey in life together. They are so cute playing and cuddling together. I am convinced they will be best buddies very soon.”

“That mum at Duke Farms is really something very special indeed. She made the decision that her little one was going to survive. It was a deliberate decision, and she worked very hard to help him through those very dark few days when his very existence hung in the balance. Had she not done this, I am certain Jersey would not have survived. She saw determination, his efforts to self-feed (very good efforts they were, too), and she has done everything to help him regain his confidence and to eat when hsi sister was trying to prevent that. His fear would have been his downfall, had this mum not done what she has. I adore this mum. As I watch the pair of them, sitting nicely up at the table with little Jersey eating and eating while Leaper calmly looks on, I see two healthy eaglets, now so similar in size that I have to believe we have two boys here. Jersey has grown amazingly in the past ten days. He is looking fabulous. And to think how close he came to leaving us! This nest proves one thing we have often said: the difference between success and tragedy on a nest can often depend on the parenting skills on the nest. A mother like this one (or a dad like M!5 or Akecheta) can swing a nest, can ensure the younger chicks survive and can find a way to feed and protect their babies to fledge and beyond. A lesser mum and Leaper would be an only eaglet. “

Squirrel and a fish so far on Thursday.

Another feeding right before lights out at Duke Farms.

All is well at Decorah North as well.

Meadow on the branch, away from the tree trunk, wondering what to do to get back up with Swampy.

This is, as ‘H’ suggested to me, the ‘saddest’ image:

Meadow has fallen to the ground. Yes, he could be rescued. No, CROW is on Santibel and Fort Myers. Eagle Country is over by Cape Canaveral.

There is a beautiful dove on Iris’s nest, but no Iris yet. The rain makes this image of Iris’s nest look so sad. It is like the world is crying for our matriarch. Let her return safely.

At the ND-LEEF nest in South Bend, Indiana, there are now two little bobbleheads.

Two happy eaglets at Fraser Point for Cruz and Andor and they are showing their love with a dual feeding!

How are those eggs developing at Cal Falcons?

A five hour feeding at the nest of Thunder and Akecheta. How do you spell devoted parents? Three eaglets with equally full crops.

‘J’s list of eaglets that hatched in April – and we are only on day 5.

The handsome ‘Prince’ has been hanging around the Loch Arkaig nest 1. Might we get a mate for this chap? Someone might tell Blue 372!

I wonder if the one ring visitor might be a candidate or is she/he just touching down on the way to elsewhere?

Maya at Rutland has just laid her third egg.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, screen captures, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J’, Moorings Park Ospreys, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Duke Farms, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Eagle Country, Montana Osprey Project, Stephen M Basly, IWS/Explore, Sharon Pollock, Lady Hawk, Geemeff, and Rutland Mantou Bay – LRWT.