25 January 2024
Hello Everyone,
It was a gorgeous day for a walk in the forest. -3C. The deer were out and the chickadees were flitting from feeder to feeder. It is still two months til spring is officially here but it felt hopeful. It is these warmer breaks that help Canadians make it through the winter!
There were deer at the feeders at Fort Whyte.
There were deer in the park on the way home.
The one above looks like the female that ate for three hours at our feeders last night. I wonder. I know they move really fast!
Today, we tried to cram in last-minute errands with that lovely walk. When we got home, Brock was sitting on the deck waiting for us. The dish was empty! Poor thing. I wondered how long he had been there.
Baby Hope watching Brock eat. I placed the dish right at the edge of the garden door and not with the ones at the feral feeder.
Brock after licking his lips. His ears have some strange slots in them. I wonder if that really extreme cold caused that.
We have several eaglet nests to watch and at each and every one, the babies are of different ages and their plumage is at various stages. What a wonderful education.
Readers continue to respond to how amazing Beau has wrapped himself around fatherhood and what an incredible mate he is to Gabby. His desire to incubate, brood, feed, protect is top of the charts. This is one lucky eaglet!
I hope this beautiful couple have a long and productive life together.
Frances and Franklin laid their first egg in 2024 at Bluff City- ETSU on the 18th of January. There should be an egg shortly!
Liberty and Guardian were caught mating on the nest. SK Hideaways has it on video! https://youtu.be/OrkXrrC3Xus?
There is sure a lot of prey on the nest of the Es! M15 and F23 are working overtime to keep it smelling quite ‘ripe’.
Dasher and Dancer are going to need harnesses to hold up their crops if Connie and Clive don’t stop filling them to the top of the crop.
There are two little eaglets at John Bunker Sands and it is just as hard to see if both get fed as it was last season!
I wish that Jackie and Shadow had some of that moss from the NE Florida nest for that precious egg of theirs.
I seem to be having trouble getting the feed from the WRDC nest of Ron and Rose.
We all hope to see Akecheta back on that nest with Thunder and eaglets there instead of highlights. Continue to send incredible positive energy. Just maybe!
You can find photos of Rita the Eagle, Ron’s former mate at the WRDC here: https://www.facebook.com/people/Rita-the-Bald-Eagle/61562017139998/
Sometimes we need to see positive stories about wildlife. These come from Knepp Farm and others through the Knepp Farm newsletter.
An iceberg is moving dangerously close to the breeding grounds of seals and penguins.
Good news. Dangerous pesticide being banned – finally.
It has been somewhat of a difficult day. Our neighbour came running out when we came home from our walk and errands. He had found two individuals in their car, one dead and another almost dead. They lived in a small apartment block nearby. They had backed up in their car and had gotten stuck. The exhaust came into the car, and without them knowing it impacted them. It was a freak accident, but it has affected all of us. If you live in a place with snow, please advise people that they should not leave the engine on if they get stuck in a snow bank. They must roll down their windows. It could save lives.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care. We hope to see you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write this brief post today: ‘J, SP’, NEFL-AEF, Bluff City-ETSU, SK Hideaways, SWFlorida, Window to Wildlife, John Bunker Sands Wetlands, FOBBV, IWS/Explore.org, Rita the Eagle FB, Knepp Farm, The Guardian
