Today is full of some good news and some worrying news. As I reminded everyone yesterday, the nests and lives of our feathered friends are not easy. A nest full of happy, well-fed chicks can change in an instant, and that is precisely what might be happening at the Frenchman’s Creek Osprey platform. Across the pond, at Loch Arkaig, dear Louis and Dorcha welcome their first egg with great joy. We never know what will happen. We need to rejoice in the good times, and when we can, we need to reach out and help those birds near us – even if it is just a life-saving bowl of water. It could make all the difference in their life.
Sunday was another gorgeous day on the Canadian Prairies. Everyone is outside in their summer attire despite the nippy wind that is gusting between 30-45 kph. The girls have spent time sniffing out the open windows in the conservatory wishing they were not ‘imprisoned’ in a house! I continue to tell them it is for their own good and the good of those birds that they are so interested in! Calico now has a hassock pulled up to the window. Her and Hugo Yugo are imagining what it would be like running around and chasing the Dark-eyed Juncos they are so interested in. Oh, I adore them!
The garden was busy! It is migration. We had birds visit that I have never seen at our feeders and at the bird bath drinking water. So, I urge all of you to put out water and if you can, some food. Shallow bowls work wonders. You do not need a birdbath! Put in some rocks to get out if they slip in the bowls.
The Red-winged Blackbird was so thirsty and hungry. It foraged all under the feeders and we put additional food on the ground hoping that there was something in the songbird mix that it would find appealing.
Oh, I love it when the Starlings come. Look at that beautiful plumage. I love the purple on their chest that blends with the iridescent blacks, blues, and greens, and the little kisses of gold. This bird has its breeding plumage. Hopefully, some little Starlings will be coming to the garden to feed in the early summer.
The Starlings particularly like the suet. Normally I would have meal worms for them – this week will mean a visit to the shop.
The six Blue Jays were busy trying to get peanuts in-between Dyson & Co visiting the feeder.
The Dark-Eyed Juncos are everywhere. They love Millet so if you have them in your garden spread the millet on the ground. They will find it.
The other new bird in the garden was a White-winged Crossbill. According to the Cornell Bird Lab, these songbirds, “…inhabit coniferous forests, feeding primarily on spruce and tamarack seeds. Like Red Crossbills, they occur throughout forests of balsam fir and red, black, white, and Engelmann spruce. However, they are scarce or absent in most pine, hemlock, and Douglas-fir forests occupied by Red Crossbills. During periods of low food supply, many White-winged Crossbills wander far out of range. At such times, they frequent habitats that vary from weedy fields to ornamental plantings to pine forests. Their preference is for spruce species, and during irruption winters, they are attracted to small stands of spruce, as often found in older cemeteries, arboretums, or university campuses.” I have never had one in the garden before and, I am wondering if this is because of a very low food supply and an extreme loss of habitat by the continual construction of homes on prime agricultural or bird habitat land.
I went to check on the state of the ducks. There were a few at an industrial park pond.
The water in the agricultural fields has dried up and not a feathered friend to be seen. It is possible that we and they are going to be in for a big shock in a few days as the forecast is for either heavy snow or lots of rain. They are not sure which. It doesn’t matter. We need the moisture and I hope it materialises.
I also stopped in at a small antique and collectible shop, and look what I found—an old-fashioned pet carrier just the right size for Hugo Yugo. It reminds me of the ones that are sometimes seen on the television series from the Yorkshire Dales, All Creatures Great and Small. This one needs a good latch. That could prove to be a challenge.
Louis won our hearts during the pandemic with the triplets he raised with Aila. Here he is getting a look at his first egg of the 2024 season with dear Dorcha. He does always seem to be surprised!
Later, Louis brings Dorcha a lovely fish and takes over incubation duties.
Louis and Dorcha made the BBC news with that egg!
Tuffy did not get a lot of fish at the first feeding according to ‘H’ who patiently waited to see if the tide on the nest would change.
Harry brought the first fish of the day at 0958, a medium sized whole fish. Tuffy received two bites but was then forced away by Ruffie, and then Ruffie ate. Tuffy seems to be getting clever… he crawled over the rail sticks, and went around in front of Sally and ended up on her left side away from Ruffie, and ate a couple more bites. Well, Ruffie was on to Tuffy’s little scheme, and didn’t like what she saw at all! Ruffie dove under Sally’s head to get at Tuffy with such force that she knocked Sally backward. Tuffy moved away and Sally resumed feeding Ruffie. At 1005 Ruffie was still being fed, but just could not leave well enough alone, so she went behind Sally to the side and beaked Tuffy who was already in submission. Then Ruffie wedged herself between Tuffy and Sally, and ate some more. At 1016 Ruffie was still eating, but decided to back up, and went across the nest to beak Tuffy again. Ruffie ate some more. Persistent Lil’ Tuffy then went around the nest to end up on Sally’s right side (away from Ruffie), and received a few more bites of fish. Ruffie saw Tuffy eating, and did not immediately react. But, after a minute she decided to intimidate Tuffy into moving. At that point, Ruffie was not eating, but just policing. Sally gave Tuffy the last two bites of the fish. Total fish bites for Tuffy = 18.
The second feeding of the day was tough for Tuffy as ‘H’ reports”
…At 1043 Harry delivered another whole fish, a live ladyfish, that was not very big or meaty. It would take a very nice and pleasant sibling for Tuffy to get much to eat from this fish. Tuffy moved aside, and Ruffie ate. By 1100, Ruffie had stopped eating, and Tuffy received his first bite. However, Tuffy was positioned precariously close to the edge of the nest. By 1102, Tuffy had eaten 16 bites of fish, when Ruffie decided to dominate, went over to Tuffy and nearly forced him off the nest. Ruffie then ate some more. At 1104 Ruffie was no longer eating, only Sally was eating, but Ruffie was laying down right at Tuffy’s tail, forcing him to stay where he was. Sally finished the fish by 1109. Finally by 1114, Tuffy was attempting to extricate himself from that dangerous spot, so he inched sideways toward Sally on firmer nesting, and then he had a great PS. Total bites for Tuffy from this fish = 16.
‘H’ checks on the 1307 feeding:
…At 1307 Harry delivered a very meaty prepped sheepshead fish. Tuffy was closest to Sally but backed off as Ruffie approached, and she began eating. Sally soon moved the fish to Tuffy’s advantage and he got 3 bites, but was intimidated by Ruffie and moved away. Tuffy moved back within beak-reach of Sally, and grabbed bites when he could. For the most part, Ruffie was less aggressive at this meal, tolerating the close proximity of Tuffy. But, at 1316 and 1318, she did intimidate Tuffy enough so that Tuffy moved away for a short while. Tuffy would inch closer and again grab bites from Sally. By 1322, Ruffie was finished eating for a while, although she stayed close by. Tuffy began a long stretch of solo eating, and had eaten a total of 246 bites by 1339. At that time, Tuffy took a PS break and Ruffie woke up and wanted more fish. By 1345 Ruffie retired from the meal again, and Tuffy had another long private feeding. Tuffy had eaten 286 bites by 1350 at which time Ruffie wanted a few more bites, and she and Sally finished the fish.
Despite everything, ‘H’ tells us that Tuff did manage to eat over 500 bites of fish on Sunday. by 1715:
…At 1604 Harry brought a large headless tilapia, guaranteed to allow for a decent meal for Tuffy. Ruffie started eating, and Tuffy was waiting in the rear, crop-dropping in anticipation. Well, Tuffy couldn’t wait, and at 1610 he approached, and got beside Ruffie who proceeded to drive him back to the rail and beak him. At 1612, Ruffie took a break from eating, but laid down where Tuffy could not easily get by her. At 1618 Tuffy did scoot around Ruffie, and Mom started giving him some bits of fish. By 1619 Ruffie was back, intimidated Tuffy, and Ruffie ate some more. Sally reached to her right and gave Tuffy a couple of bites, much to the displeasure of Ruffie who intimidated Tuffy and caused him to scurry away. At 1623 Ruffie was finished eating and moved away…but Tuffy hesitated to come back. By 1624 Tuffy was back at the table, but it didn’t last long, as Ruffie returned at 1626. Ruffie ate until 1629. Again, Tuffy hesitated, and Sally ate. Tuffy returned and ate at 1630, but golly, Ruffie was back eating at 1631. Tuffy moved over to Sally’s right side, and she was feeding Tuffy several bites of fish over her right shoulder, while still feeding Ruffie. Ruffie could have put a stop to this ‘conspiracy’ between Mom and the little brother…but she didn’t. By 1633 Tuffy had eaten a total of 49 bites during this meal. At 1636 Ruffie moved away, and Tuffy had a nice private feeding. Tuffy had eaten 174 bites of fish by 1648, when he started to reject Sally’s offerings. At 1649 Tuffy shuffled over to the rail and laid down beside Ruffie. There was still a decent amount of fish left, and Sally had a nice meal. At 1709, Lil’ Tuffy lifted his head, Mom came closer, and began giving her little youngster some more fish. Tuffy had eaten at least 202 bites of fish by 1712, and then he laid down again. At 1714 Sally was pulling the last bits of meat off the fish tail, and fed a couple bites to Ruffie, when Ruffie suddenly decided she had better lay-down-the-law again… went over to Tuffy at the rail, and bit him on the neck a few times. So far today, Tuffy has eaten at least 522 bites of fish.
The last feeding and report from ‘H’ for Moorings Park on Sunday:
…At 1825 Harry shared a small piece of fish tail with his family. Sally fed Ruffie, and Tuffy did not approach the table at all. The piece of fish was finished in just over 3 minutes.
Tuffy ate very well first thing Monday morning so all is well at Moorings – indeed, it is unusual for the little one to do so well at breakfast so, yes!
At 0637 Harry arrived with a headless tilapia, and it took a while for the kids to wake up. Tuffy got the first bite at 0639, but was beaked by Ruffie. See you later, Tuffy. Ruffie ate. At 0648 and 0650 Ruffie inflicted a little reinforcing intimidation upon Tuffie. At 0706 Ruffie moved away from the table, and Tuffy moved toward his mom. Then, it was Tuffy’s turn to eat some breakfast. Tuffy had eaten 125 bites of fish by 0719, when Ruffie returned. Tuffy immediately turned and tucked. Tuffy inched closer to Sally and got another couple of bites at 0731, and was promptly ‘scolded’ by Ruffie. Ruffie turned away from Sally again at 0733, and she did not return to the table again during this meal, nor did she harass Tuffy. Tuffy feasted, and he was noted to be crop dropping a few times. Tuffy had eaten at least 256 bites of fish by 0753, when Sally downed the fish tail.
The third hatch at Fort St Vrain has died on Sunday. It had gotten out of the egg cup and rolled on to its back and appeared not to be able to right itself. The COD is not entirely clear but Elfruler notes and it sounds reasonable, “Lying on its back at this age constricts the air passages, it probably died of asphyxia. Chicks don’t begin using their lungs and air sacs until after the internal pip, and it takes a while for the system to be fully functional. Same thing happened at the John Bunker Sands nest in January, the chick ended up outside the cup on its back and couldn’t turn itself over.”
There are concerns that JBS20 has not returned to the nest (JB Sands Wetlands) since fledging Sunday morning. This is the area around the nest in the tower. ‘AE’ provided these images of the nest and the surrounding area, along with a screen capture of Dad waiting for JBS20 to return to the nest.
Trudi Kron has it on video!
All of the goslings at the Decorah Goose Cam have hatched successfully. The most likely date for their leap of faith is today – Monday the 15th of April – to the stream below the nest.
There was much concern yesterday about the Mum at Frenchman’s Creek. Fish were stacking up and she had not fed the chicks. I have received news from ‘PB’ that Mum is back feeding the chicks on the Frenchman’s Creek Osprey nest Monday morning. Wonderful news. And there she is with them below this morning! Let’s hope all is well.
Meanwhile, all appears to be well with the Venice Golf and Country Club osplets.
It looks like we have the first egg of the season from Harry and Flora at Alyth!
Despite their sadness, Jackie and Shadow demonstrate that love overcomes everything as they move on from their disappointment.
We are waiting for eggs at the Loch of the Lowes in Scotland with Laddie LM12 and Blue NCO. Blue NCO looked a little ‘eggy’ on Sunday. Fingers crossed.
Blue 022 worked particularly hard on the nest at Poole Harbour that he shares with his mate CJ7 on Sunday. It looks pretty comfy.
The genome of the Night Parrot has been sequenced for the first time. “Scientists have sequenced the genome of Night Parrot, one of the world’s rarest and most enigmatic birds, for the first time.The breakthrough by researchers at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) – Australia’s national science agency – is expected to provide valuable insights into the parrot’s genetics and biology, potentially informing conservation strategies for this recently rediscovered bird, with a live parrot only photographed as recently as 2013.”
Thank you so much for being with me today. This was a hop, skip, and jump around less than a handful of nests today. To my knowledge, the others are doing alright. And, I forgot. The Redding eaglets are the first clutch, one egg broke. I keep saying second clutch and for the life of me I do not know why! Take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, photographs, screen captures, postings, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘AE, Geemeff, H, MM, PB, SP, TK’, Gemeff, BBC, Moorings Park Ospreys, Fort St. Vrain, JB Sands Wetlands, Trudi Kron, Alyth SS, SK Hideaways, Frenchmen’s Creek, VGCCO, Bird Guides, The Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), Poole Harbour Ospreys, and Wiley Molecular Ecology.
*Disclaimer. Every effort has been made to acknowledge those that have provided material for my post. If I have inadvertently missed thanking someone, please let me know so that the omission can be rectified. Thank you.*
I went to the UK as a Commonwealth Scholar in 1990 and received my PhD from the University of Leicester in 1993. After three decades of university teaching, I retired to devote my time to the study of raptor behaviour. I am particularly interested in Ospreys and am working on a long term project on third hatch survival and siblicide in these raptors. My blog is a result of a fascination with my local wildlife and the desire to encourage others to love and care for birds! I live on the Canadian Prairies and prior to the pandemic travelled a lot. I am questioning the use of aviation fuel at the moment as we all strive to help our planet. My early research was in politics and art including British public statues exported to Southeast Asia and Vietnam Resistors that contributed much to Canadian ceramics. Books and articles were published on those subjects over a period of 3 decades. Now I am working on books for children so they can learn about the challenges our raptors face.
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