19 April 2024
Good Morning Everyone,
For those of you that still pay attention to what day it is, it is the end of the work week! There are currently snow showers in the garden on the Canadian Prairies. Hundreds of Dark-eyed Juncos are foraging for seed while the European Starlings are pounding away at the suet. The ground is literally moving with Juncos! Dyson has managed to scare of anyone wanting peanuts as she scurries back and forth from her nest to the big table feeder. Dyson is in such good shape. Her fur looks wonderful. She is no longer a youngster, but is approximately seven years old, if not older. Living in an urban environment is not easy for the birds nor is it for the squirrels who are now compelled to run across the road instead of climbing the trees on the boulevards and crossing over from one side to another using their branches.
‘MM’ sent me another link to access Frenchman’s Creek Ospreys that she found. The two older chicks are able to self-feed and they have been unzipping the piles of fish on the nest. The Mum is unwell and the third hatch has passed. Send these two fully feathered osplets your most positive energy – they will need it. Let us hope that Dad continues to provide fish for them in the absence of care by the female. In fact, if the Mum is having trouble feeding more than 2 or 3 bites and if she does have a contagious throat infection, it is actually good she is not feeding the osplets. They seem to be doing alright. We can only wish this nest luck and hope for the best.
Try this link to the streaming cam:
‘H’ asked me if I had seen the eagles at Superbeaks lately. She got a great screen capture of both of them! Dixie and Mason hatched on the 20th and 22nd of February. They have both crossed the 8th week milestone and are moving towards branching and fledging.
The West End eaglets of Thunder and Akecheta have been named. The oldest WE1 is Koa. The middle WE2 is Treasure, and the third hatch WE3 is Sterling.
Yesterday ‘H’ posted the cutest video of Tuffy going after Ruffy. That little one really had its confidence going. The link I provided only worked for certain members of a FB group. (Believe me, I am an IT illiterate!). Here is the link for everyone else, please have a look. — I should mention that the individuals that work on these videos (Heidi Mc, SK Hideaways, Geemeff, and Trudi Kron) spend considerable times so please have a look at what they capture).
‘H’ continues to keep a close eye on Moorings Park in case there is any change. Her observations from the first fish delivery on Thursday: “At 0929 Harry delivered a large live tilapia. Sally ate for a few minutes so that the fish was easier to control. Tuffy was harassed and pushed aside by Ruffie. Sally began to feed Ruffy at 0933. Tuffy moved to the other side of Sally, but did not appear to get any fish bites. At 0937 Sally had to adjust the position of the fish, thus exposing Tuffy, and Ruffie moved over to harass him. Sally resumed feeding Ruffie. At 0942 Ruffie saw Tuffy trying to sneak over to the other side of Sally, so she went behind Sally to intimidate Tuffy, then Ruffie moved away slightly. At 0943 Tuffy got a few bites of fish, but Ruffie moved to intimidate him again, and Ruffie ate some more. Then Tuffy snuck around to Sally’s right side and received a few more bites. By 0948 Tuffie had eaten a total of 15 bites, when Sally simply walked away from the fish. Ruffie attempted to self-feed. Sally flew off the nest at 0951 and returned a minute later with nesting material. At 0955 Sally resumed feeding Ruffie. At 0959 Tuffy was positioned on the opposite side of Sally and received several bites, but Ruffie had to move over and intimidate him again. This scenario repeated a couple more times. By 1016 Tuffy had moved to Sally’s right side and was eating, but this time Ruffy didn’t care, and laid down. Tuffy and Sally finished the fish at 1030, and Tuffy had eaten at least 154 bites of fish.”
‘H’ notes: “Harry dropped off a very small whole fish at 1317. Ruffie ate. Tuffy was intimidated by Ruffie a few times when he would get within reach of Sally’s beak. Tuffy managed to eat two bites of fish.”
“H’ said “At 1418 Harry brought a medium sized headless fish to the nest. Tuffy’s crop was flat. Ruffie moved up, and Tuffy moved away slightly. At 1420 Tuffy got a couple quick bites and was harassed. While Ruffie was being fed, she hovered over Tuffy, and Tuffy was afraid to untuck. At 1439 Tuffy was actually attempting to move further away from Sally, when Ruffie spun around and beaked and bit Tuffy on the neck. But, Ruffie was finished eating anyway, and moved away! Tuffy was fearful and waited. Finally at 1442 Tuffy went to Mom and was fed. Tuffy ate at least 57 bites of fish at this meal, and ended up with a very small crop.”
“.. At 1542 Harry delivered a medium sized whole fish. Right away Sally dragged the fish over to Tuffy’s location and began feeding him. Tuffy got a couple quick bites, but he saw Ruffie approaching and he tucked. At 1551 Tuffy made his move and went to Sally’s right side and received a few more bites from Mom. Ruffy looked around and saw what was happening over on the other side, and didn’t like what she saw. So, she went behind Sally and beaked Tuffy a couple of times.. Ruffy ate some more, then moved away from Sally at 1600. There was very little fish remaining. Tuffie shuffled over to Sally and ate. Tuffy ate 35 bites of fish at this meal.”
“..At 1653 Harry delivered another medium sized headless fish. Sally fed Ruffie, and while he was waiting for his turn to eat, Tuffy was hanging out in the shade under Mom’s tail. Around 1659 Tuffy poked his head out from under Sally’s tail on her left side, and she reached around and gave him a bite of fish, and then 4 more bites. Then Ruffie reached in front of Sally and intimidated Tuffy. At 1700 Sally moved the fish across the nest and continued to feed Ruffie on her left side. Tuffie quickly positioned himself to Sally’s right, and he received some fish bites. Ruffie briefly stopped eating and moved under Sally’s tail for shade, but she saw Tuffy and intimidated him, then Ruffie ate some more. By 1706 Tuffy again got a few more bites over Sally’s right shoulder, and he was promptly intimidated by Ruffie. Sally and Ruffie finished the fish by 1713. Tuffy ate 20 bites of fish at this meal.”
Harry brought in fish at the following times: 0929 – 154 bites for Tuffy; 1317 – 2 bites; 1418 – 57 bites; 1542 – 35 bites; 1653 – 20 bites
I went to check on Tuffy and he was smiling looking over the rim of the nest with an enormous crop. Seems that he was fed quite a bit from a fish that Harry dropped off at 1823. A much better feeding than some o the others mentioned by ‘H’ above for our little lad.
Just look at that crop!
That feeding went rather well for the second hatch – thank goodness.
Tuffy goes to bed with a much-deserved crop. Sleep well, little one.
Harry delivers a massive Tilapia at 0941. Tuffy is going to get its share!
The raptors in Latvia and Estonia are rare and treasured. The following article was written two years ago and concerns the logging industry and biodiversity in these areas and the challenges to the wildlife. Last year, we saw a drought and the storklets on Karl II and Kaia’s nest survived due to the fishing baskets provided by Urmas. They would surely have starved to death without that intervention. Sadly, we lost Karl II who was electrocuted on his migration south in Turkey in 2023. There has been no word of Kaia, Bonus, of Waba that I am aware and I will shortly add them to the Memorial List as well. Loss of habitat, illegal shooting, drought, other weather, toxins, wars, and the sheer magnitude of their migration creates great challenges for these much loved birds.
Golden Eagles Helju and Kalju are incubating two eggs that were laid at their nest in Estonia on the 15th and 18th of March. The average number of days to hatch is 44. We have ten days to go. Mark your calendars for the 28th of April.
For those nervous about siblicide, please be aware that it is common practice for the first hatch to kill the second in the Golden Eagle nest (amongst others). The second egg is deemed ‘the insurance egg’ if the first does not hatch. Sometimes, we are lucky, and both survive.
We have an egg at the Eastern Imperial Eagle nest in Russia. It was laid on Wednesday the 17th. Contrary to siblicide practice, this nest raised two Imperial Eaglets in 2023.
The Black Storks in Poland are incubating four eggs laid on 31 March, 2, 4, and 6 of March. There is a wide hatching range from 30-40 days. So storklets arriving at the end or the first week of May, probably.
The third egg was laid right on time at the Dyfi Osprey nest of Idris and Telyn. Hard incubation is underway, and I look forward to a lot of hatches around the third week in May.
CJ7 laid her second egg between 1216-1220 on Thursday at Poole Harbour.
‘BHA’ reports that the second egg has arrived at the Port of Ridgefield on Thursday.
Warren and Della have their second egg at Mispillion Harbour!
Helen and Doug, the new couple at Dahlgren, have their first egg of the season.
‘H’ reports that the 4th egg will be laid at Forsthye today if it is coming and there is no pip yet at Captiva.
Richmond and Rosie have their first egg on their new nest in SF!!!!!!!
At Llyn Clywedog, Dylan and Seren have their third egg of the season in Wales.
New of Ervie and his brothers, Bradley and Giliath. It is fantastic….love that they are hanging out together.
Ever wonder what R6 actually sounds like? or any other juvenile eagle? Listen. Starts about 45 seconds in.
At the Mispillion Harbour nest of Della and Warren, a whopper comes in!
Lots of unwanted action at the Loch Arkaig 2 nest for Affric.
A baby bald eagle in Texas was blown off a nest and reunited with its parents. Thanks, EJ for a story with a good ending!
That article leads me back to Meadow and further reflection by the Vet tech. “I just thought about Meadow’s condition when she was blown off the nest. As emaciated as she was, it could have caused her to be blown more easily than Swampy, and the fact that she was not as strong as an eaglet who wasn’t sick could make it impossible to hang onto the nest. Then, the fact that your immune system, if compromised, will make your bones vulnerable to breakage. For whatever reason, this bird’s immune system wasn’t as robust as Swampy’s, making her vulnerable to this opportunistic fungal infection.”
A beautiful capture of a wonderful eagle family by Sassa Bird to closed our day with an explanation to the names chosen for the eaglets.
Thanks so much for being with us today. I am so glad that you enjoyed AM’s beautiful spring images! I will pass that along. Take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: A, AE, BHA, EJV, Geemeff, H, MM, MP, PB’, Frenchman’s Creek Ospreys, Superbeaks, SF Bay Ospreys, Heidi Mc, IWS/Explore, Moorings Park Ospreys, Mispillion Harbour, Dahlgren Ospreys, John Williams, Port Lincoln Ospreys and Fran Solly, Eagle Club of Estonia, B Meyburg and Research Gate, RU Eastern Imperial Eagle Cam, Polish Black Stork Cam, Dyfi Osprey Project, Poole Harbour Osprey Project, Port of Ridgefield Raptor Cam, Geemeff, The Hill, and Sassa Bird.
