17 November 2024
Good Morning Everyone,
Two of my four-legged friends who simply light up my day and like those nature walks, they ease some of the worry and challenges. Today, we are worried about Yira who has not been seen in the area since she fledged. This is not good. Why is there not an army searching for her?
Please note: FB has taken down my posts with titles so I am leaving this one plain, but I am sending it out Saturday night because of the issues with Yira and the third chick at Melbourne.
Latest news: The third hatch at Melbourne’s CBD is off the ledge. SK Hideaway has it and Victor Hurley has some remarks. https://youtu.be/2oodK8fVc30?
They love each other sooooo much.
We have cut our feed at X and are at Bluesky. Come and join us there. Give our osprey and friends some likes! @ospreylover.bsky.social
Thanks to our friends in Colorado for the Colorado Low that is set to bring the first snow to Southern Manitoba in 2024. Most of the time when we think of a Colorado Low, we think of a big snow dump. This time it seems we might just get a dusting in Winnipeg. Will keep you posted.
The feeding area for the outdoor cats is nearly complete. To help them through the winter, particularly Brock (the name pulled out of the hat for the outdoor kitty formerly known as The Boyfriend). This morning, he was shivering under one of the patio chairs, waiting for me to wake up enough to put out food. Any remaining foxes or raccoons clear all of the dishes and plates during the night. It has a heated floor which surely will make a huge difference and thankfully one of the two outdoor plugs is very close to where we would put the house. I got the larger size as he dismissed the shelter made for him out of the bins. He might have felt frightened he would be trapped.
If you are interested, my friend ‘S’ sent me this rating chart this morning before I ordered Brock’s heated house. Did you know that Brock is the Old English name for a badger. It kinda fits since they are both black and white.
The other things that we have done to get prepared for winter’s arrival and, oh, gosh, we wish it would wait a few weeks, is to gather up all the toques, scarves, mitts, woolen socks, and heavy boots. They are all ready to go so that we can venture out on our walks in the snow.
Then, after reading a story in The Guardian this morning, Calico and I thought that we should order some books to ready. As many of you are aware, Calico has had ‘story time’ since before I got her into the house. I used to sit on the deck and read and then, when she came inside and was in the small room, I would read to her every time I fed her. If you are trying to socialise a cat it is a wonderful way to get them used to your voice. She has her favourite authors and we read every evening for an hour. It is our ritual and all the others join in, just like children around a fire. It is one of the most beautiful times of the day. The four of them morph into something other than independent felines.
The article we read was about Ronald Blythe, the nature writer from Essex and how is little home is being turned into a sanctuary for education and writers. I am unfamiliar with his work, but after finding good used copies, Calico and I decided to give four of the titles a chance: Akenfield, Portrait of an English Village; Under a Broad Sky, Stout Seasons, and Next to Nature. I do hope she likes his ‘voice’. Calico is very particular and will walk right out of the room. Those books do not get Calico’s Golden Paw Award!
Here is the article about Ronald Blythe. It is inspiring me to think about a small urban house being used for research and writing after I am gone with the proviso that the animals are fed! Now isn’t that a thought?
‘A force for everything he represented’: Ronald Blythe’s home to become nature reserve. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/16/ronald-blythe-home-nature-reserve-akenfield?CMP=share_btn_url
The smile on the face of Mum at Port Lincoln is that she dove from the barge and caught a very very early fish for the kids. Look at the time on the obs board below. Then Dad came in with a fish later from Mum, Wilko, and Kasse. Yes, I am smiling. Mum sure told Dad what for – get off your talons and get these kids some food!!!!!!!!!
That was a really nice fish that Mum caught. I hope she gives some lessons to the kids early on – wow. Could we see them fish off the barge? We used to watch Falkey, do you remember?
Dad incoming! Everyone was doing the talon dance in anticipation of the arrival of another fish.
The third hatch, a nice big female from the looks of it, at 367 Collins Street loafing and looking after trying to scale the side of the building earlier.
She had breakfast at 0620 and then went about her antics. She looks just like Mum save for that one big dandelion on her head. What a healthy eyas – one really ready to get out in the world. I am glad she is waiting, but it looks like she could fly any moment. The time is 0827 in Melbourne on Sunday the 17th.
At Orange, Diamond was on the ledge of the scrape looking out. Is she looking for Yira? Xavier was there, too, at different times.
They are looking for Yira and this makes me incredibly sad. There have been no alarm calls or anything from the parents indicating the presence of their oldest chick who fledge. I am so nervous.
Did you miss Bubba’s fledge at Growing Home? https://youtu.be/-9yBFAZHAi4?
After the extremely sad and disappointing news from ospreys being shot because they are hungry and need some fish, I asked my UK friends to send me instances of where individuals, groups, of businesses have worked to help the osprey. Jeff Kear sent me one of the first. Thank you, Jeff.
One of the others was in a blog a few days ago. You will recall that Iris’s owl pole had to be cut down. But another was put up for Iris and Finnegan and they began to put the lines below ground to help saves the raptors from getting electrocuted.
In the UK, most people know that at Gwash, they discovered that trying to earn a living selling farmed fish was difficult. So instead of fighting with the ospreys who wanted some of the fish in the ponds, Gwash set up a hide for photographers who come from around the world to capture images of osprey catching fish! Maybe our friends in the US might do that instead of shooting them.
There are some people who care about the condition of nests enough to get a ladder and put some wonderful nesting material there for the birds. It wasn’t long after the straw was put in that Friday the stork showed up! Some centres, like Glaslyn, regularly refurbish the nests and check them for safety before the birds return.
Hochstadt, Germany.
Thanks to Tonya Irvin who caught one of those golden moments – looks like a successful mating at NE Florida with Gabby and Beau.
M15 delivered his beautiful mate a rabbit dinner. https://youtu.be/btFrkKxm_0k?
Thank you for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘EJ, JK, SC’, The Guardian, Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Heidi McGrue, Lyn Brenig, Hochstadt Stork Cam, Tonya Irwin and the NEFL-AEF, Androcat and SW Florida Eagle Cam
