Rutland’s Bob in Trouble, Fledges at VGCC…Wednesday in Bird World

15 May 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

As I get ready to publish news has reached me from Geemeff that Rutland’s only Bob is in dire trouble. Send good wishes…I can’t believe it. What a year Maya and Blue 33 have had.

Update: Parents have left the nest and the camera is off. It is hoped that a rescue is taking place.

It is still raining in Winnipeg. The grass is growing as are the trees. Everything is turning Emerald Green right before your eyes. The smoke from the fires up north is dissipated and we can now breathe. And the good news is it is also pouring rain on the island of Grenada in the West Indies where they were literally running out of water. While everyone on the island is celebrating, I am not certain that the garden birds are happy. There were a few breaks today and the Crows came for cheesy dogs and peanuts as did the Blue Jays. The squirrels do not care. They are out foraging rain or shine. Everyone has babies in the nest or they are coming. It is going to be an exciting summer.

Other news just in. Police continue to investigate but are ruling out foul play in the death of Laddie LM12 at Loch of the Lowes. Seems strange to me, but I would much prefer he died of natural causes than someone on a shooting rampage at a quiet loch.

Lots happening at the nests but today I am focusing on some that have had fledges or that ‘H’ and I have on our radar as potentially problematic – Lake Murray still worries us as does Carthage. I have also included some that do not get mentioned often. The news will be spread around as there is literally events happening around the world now. It is going to get so busy with eagle and osprey fledges in North America at some nests while hatching is taking place shortly at all the others. I did warn you that our heads will be spinning. You will not know what nest to watch!

Before I begin, the Mum and the only surviving osplet of the trio at the UFlorida-Gainesville nest are doing alright. The camera system that they have is useless. There is some rewind on the day prior on HDonTap. Quite honestly, it is a brand-new camera system, and it is so frustrating that I would send it off on the next rocket launch nearby!

I could not believe my timing but I was watching when both osplets fledged from the Venice Golf and Country Club on Tuesday. The middle osplet flew first and did it brilliantly. Nice hover and a few moments later the fledge!

And a safe return for Middle back to the nest. He is telling his siblings all about it.

Then the oldest sibling could not stand to be left out of the action and she fledged!

And another safe return. Remember. This is what is supposed to happen on all the nests. Nice short flight about and then landing. Parents bring food as a reward. Believe me they are watching their chicks take this next big step in their life – even encouraging them.

Now we wait for the little one. It won’t be long because he will want to do what the others did!

Moorings Park: We are going to be watching for Ruffie and Tuffy to fledge. Ruffie is 54 days old today and dear Tuffy is 51 days old. Last year the average age from hatch to fledge in North America on the over 300 eggs ‘H’ and I monitored was 56.5 days to fledge.

Split screen now in case the fledglings land on the bird house. Both can self feed but would rather Mum Sally did the honours.

Lake Murray: 1034-1046. Very intimidated but Little got the fish tail. The Big one is very ruthless but no overt aggression other than moving Little away from the table. Little got a number of really big bites amounting to almost the entire fish tail.

Little has a bit of a crop.

Another small sunfish arrives at 1409. All lined up in front of Kenny and then he passes to Mum. Impossible to see anyone getting any bites but Big.

‘H’ reports that Wednesday started out better for Little at Lake Murray :

“At 0613 Kenny delivered a large, almost whole fish.  All the chicks were very hungry and eager.  Little was beaked early on.  By 0642 one sibling had dropped out of the feeding, and Little approached but was pecked.  At 0646 the other sibling moved away, but Little was hesitant to approach Lucy.  Little eventually moved to Lucy and had eaten 56 bites of fish before one of the older chicks returned to the table and beaked Little.  At 0659 Little returned, ate one bite, but was intimidated.  Little was again intimidated at 0702… and there was still a lot of fish remaining.  At 0709 Little was back up at the line beside the sib, was ‘permitted’ to eat at that time, and the sib moved away.  Little ate and ate, and was crop dropping.  By 0716 Little had eaten at least 112 bites of fish and was declining Lucy’s offerings.  Lucy stopped the feeding with a fish-tail-plus left over.”

“At 0756 Lucy made a feeding of the leftover fish tail.  Little got the first two bites, then was beaked.  Lucy fed it all to one of the older siblings.

Fish number two from Kenny was at 0854, and was a very large headless fish.  The fish lasted until 1010.  Long story short… Little was able to eat periodically including one long private feeding for 13 minutes at 0917, and a couple of other shorter private feedings, and the brave little nestling  would also sneak a few bites from Lucy when he could.  The older siblings each were fed a few different times.  Though the view was partially blocked at times, Little appeared to eat approximately 165 bites of fish at this long feeding.”

Carthage: Makes me Nervous. Mum is feeding the hatchling!

Loch Arkaig: We are a week away from hatch watch and one of the eggs is moving – by itself!

Patchogue: The two osplets seem to be doing alright. The male House Sparrows whose nest is below the osplets likes to sit on the perch.

Hellgate Canyon: Please vote for the new guy in Iris’s life! See the information below. Everyone is cheering this couple on. I note that Louis has not bothered them and would he dare? A younger male? Louis might worry he would be injured and he needs to care for Star and their osplets!

‘A’ adds:

I’m still not certain about the NG at Hellgate Canyon. He arrived around 08:50 this morning (14 May) yet again with nesting material but no fish. Iris chirped quietly for a while, then stood and backed away from her egg slightly. However, it seemed that she was not comfortable with him around the egg – he is VERY clumsy, stumbling about the nest. He is happy to relieve her with incubation but does not bring enough fish for my liking. She is great at fishing for herself, and he is providing her with those, but a few more fish to the nest would be reassuring for our future osplet. I was stunned at how deliberate he was about kicking what was presumably Louis’ egg out of the nest, using his feet to simply kick it backwards out from under him and off the nest. Very business-like. 

Ah, here he is at 10:47:40 with a nice fish for Iris. She takes off with her fish. He settles down to incubate their egg. Good man! It is noteworthy that he has filled his own crop first, but he is a man after all. And he did bring a really big fish for our Iris.

The happy couple watching the train:

Kurula National Forest Black Storks: Karl II’s nest. It is so sad, how he survived in war zones and long migrations to die on a hydro pole in Turkey on his travels south in 2023. Now I think it is time to add Kaia to the Memorial Page. We will sadly never know what happened to Karl II’s mate and when. We have heard news of Waba’s transmitter working and he was in Romania on his way home. It is not clear what happened to Bonus. His transmitter quit working.

WABA
New data: 13.05.2024; Distance: 5966 km (+269 km); Waba sent data near Plopșoru, Romania
Previous data: 12.05.2024; Distance: 5697 km (+321 km in 3 days); Waba is back on the European continent and sent data near Ljubimez, Bulgaria.

There is a Black Stork visiting the nest. Notice how black the legs are. He is easy to identify.

Another Black Stork, Kergu, has the most beautiful nest in Parnu County, Estonia, but he is unable – so far – to find a female partner. The Black Storks are very rare and we know that so many died from HPAI on migration last year.

I wonder if there is any breeding and release programme for the Black Storks underway or being considered by Urmas and his team. Does anyone know?

You know I love ducks. Look at the commentary about this duck nesting box in Palm City Florida:

This is a Wood Duck nest box in Palm City, Florida, USA. The first egg was laid on April 9th and over the following nine days at least three different hens contributed a total of 33 eggs to this nest. On the morning of April 18th one of the hens started incubating them. Incubation lasts about 30 days. Ducklings usually leave the nest the day after they are hatched. At the hen’s call, they use their claws to climb to the entrance of the nest box. They pause momentarily at the entrance before jumping sometimes from as high as 70 feet. They hit the ground or water uninjured. After the entire brood is out, the hen leads them to water.

Here is the link to the camera:

The first Golden Eaglet has hatched in Romania for Lucina and Caliman. Remember if you watch this nest there is a real likelihood that the first hatch will kill and eat the second. In fact, it would be especially rare if a Golden Eagle nest fledged two even if both eggs hatched. The nest is Wild Bucovina.

Good article on the post fledging behaviour of the Golden Eagle.

Mlade Buky: Only one of the two eggs has hatched so far.

Today is banding day at Cal Falcons. Look at those babies! Wonder if they are all boys? or will Annie get another girl? Most of her hatches have been male.

And here they are practising their flapping. Can you believe it will not be long til they are running around flapping? and then flying?

‘PB’ sent me news of the Peregrine Falcon cam – Slechtalken Nestkast One Live Vrouwe Token Amersfoort in The Netherlands. There are four little falcons and the baby is so tiny. ‘PB’ notes: “There were 6 eggs and 5 hatched, #5 is 5 days behind the big 3…mom is feeding the tiny one and tiny one is doing good.”

Here is the link to their streaming cam:

Iniko California Condor 1031 has been seen along with his mother, Redwood Queen and her new partner, Zenith, at Big Sur! That is Iniko with the orange tag and number 31 in front. Oh, how wonderful. Tears.

‘A’ has sent us the latest from the WBSE: “May 13: The eagles were home last night, and awake very early, with mating and a duet. Then they left, and Dad returned with several sticks before 8am. One eagle was spotted over near Ironbark Roost shortly after. Today, there was camera maintenance work, and at 9:45am, one eagle was circling over the nest tree as the camera was lowered. An eagle circled over the area several times during the day, returning to sit near Ironbark Roost as well. One eagle was seen at Goat Island at 16:50pm. Then, a little while later, both were seen flying away from the area. We did not see them returning home, though.

May 14: The eagles did come in yesterday morning to the nest before we arrived, possibly with the green leaves shown in the picture. They must have stayed at Goat Island last evening, as a duet was heard there very early, at 6:30am. Just after 10am, they were no longer seen there. There were then no further reports all day or at dark.

This morning (15 May), Lady flew onto the nest shortly before 07:22. She was soon joined by Dad, and they stood on the nest together, positioned a few sticks, and generally surveyed their domain. Both looked exceedingly healthy. Dad positioned one particularly long, heavy branch right across the front of the nest as we look at the screen. Excellent placement, Dad. And the way he manipulated that difficult branch showed his vast great experience. They are looking very well fed. I do hope they lay no more than two eggs this season. I don’t think they’ve ever laid more than two in the past. I’d really hate to see three, and suspect we would get siblicide under those circumstances if the gender mix was unfavourable. I also worry that we may be due for a very hot summer, and as we know, fishing gets a lot harder for the eagles when that happens, with fish swimming further from the surface. “

I love country diary and this week the short article is about wading birds – they come to Manitoba in the late spring and summer, too, and we can find them at various wetland sites and along our rivers and the many shores of the lakes and artificial ponds in the city.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, MP, PB’, VGCCO, Moorings Park Ospreys, Lake Murray Ospreys, Carthage Ospreys, Geemeff, PSEG, Montana Osprey Cams, Eagle Club of Estonia, Looduskalender, Wood Duck Nest Box Live Stream, Wild Bucoina, Wilson Bulletin, Mlade Buky, SK Hideaways, Cal Falcons,Stechtalken Nestkast One, Lady Hawk, and The Guardian.