Tuffy gets his wings…Saturday in Bird World

25 May 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

The headline this morning is that Tuffy has fledged at Moorings Park. Well done, beautiful boy.

First, thank you so much for all your news and for informing me about the nests you are watching. It is always appreciated. I am, indeed, very grateful. Any reports of hatches or incidents on nests are very helpful to me and ‘H’.

It has been raining and raining. Believe it or not, some areas near me had snow! Unbelievable. Snow. We had incredibly hot temperatures dipping to snow in May, like a roller coaster. I still recall the day I wished for rain and now I would like to send it to some of you who need it more. My grass is emerald green, the lilacs are thick, the trees appear to grow right before my eyes, and the garden is a thick forest. Images will come soon when all this stops. I am beginning to fear that the grass will mould everything is so wet. It is also a damp cold, right to the bone. It reminds me of living in England!

The bright side of the morning came from one of the wood boxes. First, I thought it was Little Red, but it was a ‘little’ Little Red – and then, there were two others! Chasing one another about. Three baby squirrels. That is a beautiful way to start Saturday. I tried to get images to no avail. I will keep trying. ‘The Girls’ certainly noticed them. They have been watching all the animals coming and going. The Crows and Blue Jays come during all daylight hours. Their nests are full of hungry mouths. We must refresh the huge bins of seeds and peanuts on Monday. I clearly feel that we have a responsibility to them. They have been part of our garden family for decades and living in the middle of the City means that their source of natural food is not plentiful. I am fortunate that many neighbours also help out. Because of this the numbers of Black-capped chickadees has grown and they serenade my entire block morning and evening.

After the great sadness of this past week in Bird World, it is time to celebrate. There are little raptors that have hatched around the world, falcons that have fledged, falcons that received names, and eagles ready to fledge.

You voted. Annie and Archie’s eyases have their names and they are lovely. Thank you to everyone who participated.

Annie and Archie have the cutest and most energetic little falcons. How lucky we are to witness them from egg to fledge and after.

The first egg at The Port of Ridgefield Osprey platform in Washington broke. The second hatched this morning, and ‘BHA’ caught a glimpse of a tiny head for a second! Certainly, the behaviour of the parents speaks to a hatch. Dad brings in a fish, ‘something happens,’ and then removes the partial fish. While he might eat some of that fish, he will stash it somewhere and return it to the nest for later feeding. Ospreys do not normally stack prey on their platforms or nests as it would attract predators and insects.

OPPD studied and spent considerable time building the platform for their ospreys at Omaha knowing the strong storms that pass through the area. ‘PB’ reports on how the ospreys fared during the recent week when several tornadoes and extreme weather systems passed through the area.

Ospreys are in care and the Tampa Bay Rescue needs fish! Do you live near Tampa Bay, Florida? Or do you know someone who fishes that does and might be able to help

The Majestics three eaglets are doing well.

As Pat Burke (gr8lakes) points out, it is a good thing the eaglets were not on that nest because of the raccoon. You might remember that a raccoon took and killed one of the Fort St Vrain eaglets in 2023.

The strobes are keeping the GHO away from the two osprey chicks at Lake Murray. This is fantastic. Many have requested that Dr Green install strobes for Iris and her nest as well as Lemoine State Park if it is possible at that location.

We will have to wait and see if any of the eggs at Dahlgren hatch. ‘H’ adds: “This is a new, young couple, and they are apparently just learning the ropes. Helen sometimes has to fish for herself. And, the eggs were not incubated for long hours during many overnight periods. The eggs were not consistently incubated at night until 5/11.”

‘AE’ sent me the following. It is Larry’s chicks – they are fledging!

OPPD Fort Calhoun Osprey Platform in Omaha has its first hatch. Congratulations. Stay safe!

Meanwhile Ollie and Ollie are taking very good care of their three eggs at the Green Ledge Light Preservation Society’s lighthouse. Hatch expected around 1 June.

Would you like to help name one of the Channel Islands eaglets?

The falcons at the University of Montreal are doing very well.

At Amersfoort, Smallie is growing but how long will it be until he is feathered? The three siblings are so far advanced. Smallie has taught himself to go in and out of the scrape to get food. He is very clear.

At Loch Arkaig, Dorcha and Louis have a full house and Louis is going to be very busy this season with these demanding floofs.

Little Bob arrived today.

Waiting for Tuffy to fledge. Meanwhile Ruffie has taken fish off the nest and returned with them to share with Tuffy. On Friday, it seems that one of last year’s fledges, Victor, came by the nest for a visit.

Idris and Telyn’s trio are adorable.

CJ7 and Blue 022’s little ones are just as precious.

Dylan brings home trout and huge whoppers for Seren and the Bobs at Llyn Clywedog. Dylan has been known to escort intruders away to a distance of 25 miles (tracked by John Williams). On the way back, Dylan often stops to fish at some of his favourite trout spots. He is a great provider.

White YW and Blue 35 have their first hatch at Foulshaw Moss.

An intruder was at the Patuxent River Park Nest 1 today. She took the fish and proceeded to stay on the nest for three hours. Everyone was concerned for the chicks. Was she a previous hatch? a second year bird just flying through and needed a meal?

‘MM’ sent the following images:

‘H’s report: “5/24, Patuxent River Park osprey nest:  The first fish of the day, at 1011,  was a massive goldfish delivered by Dad.  Big beaked Little and Middle.  Big ate for 9 minutes, and Middle managed to sneak a few bites of fish.  Then a bizarre scene took place… at 10:22 a large banded female osprey landed on the fish that Mom was holding.  Dad flew away, but soon returned.  There was a brief standoff, with one of the intruder’s talons around Mom’s leg.  Mom eventually let go of the fish and let the intruder have it.  We all thought the intruder would then leave with the fish…but she didn’t.  She stayed on the nest at the rails and ate, and ate, and ate.  When she could eat no more, she would rest while standing on the fish.  She repeated eating and resting several times over the course of three hours!  A couple of times Big and Middle approached the intruder wanting to be fed…but of course they weren’t fed.  Mom or Dad would occasionally try to gently nudge the intruder off the nest.  They very judiciously did not fight with the intruder…if they had, they risked injury to themselves or the three little osplets might have been injured.  Some thought the intruder may have been in a dehydrated and weakened state, and that she needed to consume the hydrating fish before she could leave with it.  Well, after three hours all it took was a gentle nudge from Mom, and the intruder flew off with her leftover piece of fish.    Now, they needed more fish!

At 1555, Dad arrived with a medium sized whole fish, and after Big beaked Middle and Little, Dad fed Big.  Big ate for 15 minutes, then Mom took the fish and fed both Big and Middle.  Little was repeatedly beaked and prevented from eating.  Big moved away at 1615, and Little was able to eat 13 bites of fish before being attacked by Big.  By 1618 the meal was over.  Need more fish, Dad!

Fish #3 arrived at 1754, and was small-ish whole fish.  Big and Middle ate, but Little was afraid to approach Mom.

At 1821, Dad delivered a Whale Fish that was as long as him!  The viewers and chatters were all jumping up and down and cheering, as we knew Little would eventually get a good meal from this huge fish.  The feeding lasted nearly an hour, with Big eating first of course, then Middle joined in.  At 1836 Big moved away from the table, and Little started to eat beside Middle.  Middle quit at 1840, and Little had a private feeding until 1849 when Middle returned.  By 1855 Little had to take a break.  S/he had eaten at least 125 bites of fish, and probably more, but Dad blocked our view at times.  At 1856 Mom fed Dad!  I kid you not…this couple has been seen doing that before, including last season…they will feed each other!  At 1857 Big returned to the table, and after a few minutes… guess who was eating beside Big?  Little was…and had eaten a total of 145 bites of fish by 1905 at which time he was beaked by Big.  Little later returned to top off his crop and ate a total of 152 bites of fish at this meal.  Mom stopped the feeding at 1914, and Dad removed a huge leftover piece of fish from the nest.

The next fish delivery was at 1947, with what appeared to be the remains of the same huge fish, and Dad was sporting a nice crop.  Little managed to eat an additional 25 bites of fish at this meal for a total of at least 190 bites for Little today!”

‘MM’ wondered why the ospreys did not attack the intruder on their nest? That is a great question. Many have asked similar questions after goshawks have attacked nests in Finland and taken chicks or eagles elsewhere.

Before we examine the Osprey’s talons. — They have chicks on the nest and know they are responsible and do not wish to get injured or killed. So they are patient. Ospreys are also great fishers. They can see fish from as high as 40 metres or 130 feet. The hallux or back talon moves to help catch the fish. Notice the curve. “Their toes are all equal length, and its talons are uniformly rounded instead of edged like most raptors and hooked rather than grooved making them most useful for fishing.” (Into Birds). “The Osprey has an outer toe that is reversible allowing them to grasp a slippery fish with two rows in front and two toes behind. Their feet are covered in rough spicules that feel like coarse sandpaper helping the bird grip the slimy, wiggling fish.” (Into Birds)

Ospreys do not normally initiate battles with other raptors but they have been known to on rare occasions. Again, it comes back to their ability to defend themselves with those talons.

Two fledglings on the nest, one got the fish at Venice Golf and Country Club on Friday.

‘H’ also reports on two other nests: “The Dahlgren osprey nest of Helen and Doug: The three eggs were left unattended and a crow broke egg #2 and consumed the contents of the egg.  The other two eggs were not touched, and Dahlgren is on pip watch.

The Captiva Ospreys had another splendid day.  Jack brought 9 fish to the nest for Edie and his two chicks.  Things seem to be smoothing out quite a bit between CO7 and CO8.  The fish have been so plentiful that the dominant CO7 has really started to relax.  Sure, CO8 is still subjected to beaking from CO7 at times.  Several times today CO8 was able to eat first, and CO8 had his/her crop filled many times.  In the afternoon, CO8 stood and briefly performed some wingers! “

Karl II and Kaia’s two year old, Waba, appears to be touring Europe after flying north from Sudan. You can track his travels here.

A Bearded Vulture seen in the UK three years ago has been spotted in the Swiss Alps in 2023. “The Bearded Vulture that famously toured Britain during summer 2020 has been seen again in the Swiss Alps, some 1,200 km away from her last known location in East Sussex. The bird, which was called ‘Vigo’ during its British stay but was later confirmed via genetic analysis to be a female known as ‘Flysch’, visited a Bearded Vulture reintroduction site near Melchsee-Frutt in the Swiss Alps during 2023.”

Remember how I wrote that modern agricultural methods are killing insects, birds, and wildlife? How about returning to the practices of medieval society?

Birds that were declared extinct in 2023 (US and its territories).

A surprise in Algeria – the nuthatch. “This sounds like good news until you consider that the six sites, though reasonably close to each other, are separated by miles of treeless habitat. Algerian nuthatches prefer old forests, Karim says, where they can prospect for insects and build their nests in woodpecker holes. And such places are particularly susceptible to damage by logging, woodcutting, livestock grazing, road-building, and fire.” Let us hope that they can find food and survive…

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, posts, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘AE, BHA, Geemeff, H, J, MM, PB’, Cal Falcon Cam, Port of Ridgefield, Pam Breci, OPPD Ft Calhoun, Raptor Centre of Tampa Bay, SOAR, Pat Burke, Lake Murray Montana Osprey Project Heidi McGrue, Green Light Preservation Society, IWS, UdeM Faucons, Amersfoort Falcon Cam, The Woodland Trust, Geemeff, Moorings Park, Dyfi Osprey Project, BofPH, Llyn Clywedog, Patuxent River Park, Good Nature, VGCCO, Dahlgren Ospreys, Window to Wildlife, WABA-2022 Black Stork Forum, Bird Guides, The Guardian, and The Ecologist.