6 April 2025
Good Morning Everyone,
It is +5 on the Canadian prairies, and spring is almost here! The House Finches have arrived along with the Dark-eyed Juncos. We have had several new woodpeckers over the past couple of days at the suet cylinders, along with the garden regulars. They are all accounted for, and that is a good thing! Brock was here twice today. He is not afraid of me any more. He will sit on the chair until I put his food in the dish. Isn’t that just a marvellous change!?
Now, please tell me you have been outside. Did you smell spring in the air? Are you watching for the hummingbirds migrating through? How about the ducks? Have you seen any? I can’t wait to tell you about the first ducks’ arrival at our local park’s pond. Will they be Mallards? or Wood Ducks?
Ferris Akel’s Saturday Tour went through Wildlife Drive – the first time this spring. There were beautiful shorebirds, at least one Sandhill Crane, but Ferris thought it was guarding a nest, and ducks – ducks of many species.
Oh, I am getting so excited. It doesn’t bother me that the geese poop over everything. It is so nice to see them home. This year there will, undoubtedly, be less due to bird flu which has hit the species hard. We will be grateful for each and every one that made it back alive!
One of our favourite nature centres, Oak Hammock Marsh, is getting a real makeover. They have been renovating for the past two years. We could head out there for a walk to see who is on the water. The new building is not open yet, but the trails are, and the ice should be melted. Then, of course, the American White Pelicans should arrive at Lockport by the end of the month. There is a lot to look forward to.
Ferris says that the rust colour on the back and wings of the cranes is from the soil.
There is not a lot of activity in Bird World. As of Saturday morning, 30 well-known ospreys had not returned to the UK. The weather has been bad along the migration route, and we need favourable winds, but by the 12th, I will start to worry. I am watching the Montana Ospreys, especially Iris and Finnegan, and looking out for Aran. Many are also watching the Russell Lake nest of Oscar and Ethel, who have been raising osplets there for about 15 years. Oscar is waiting for his gal to return. VV constantly checks on 15 nests in the Maryland area while Heidi monitors a long list of US nests. We will know soon enough who has returned and who hasn’t. Send good positive energy to all of them.
Ospreys are arriving at Kielder Forest. Mrs PC8 from Nest 2 was there on Saturday. Here is their latest news.
Iris’s train passes behind her nest, which she shares with her new mate, Finnegan, at Hellgate Canyon. Please come home, Iris! Your favourite date is April 7th – that is tomorrow, Monday.
A reminder of Iris’s – and our – remarkable year at this nest with hopes for another. https://youtu.be/iKSGv30eaDc?
Harry waits for Flora at Alyth SS.
Geemeff sends us the daily summary for The Woodland Trust and Loch Arkaig. Thank you, Geemeff!
Woodland Trust Daily summary for Loch Arkaig Saturday 5th April 2025
Another day of settled weather, and Louis took advantage of the good conditions to deliver four brown trout, taking the season’s fish tally to six. There were many mating encounters and an amusing interlude with sticks, and so far the season seemed to be progressing normally. Dorcha was on the nest when Louis brought the fourth fish at 20.36 but made no move to take it, and she departed without it about 15 minutes later, leaving Louis standing there clutching the fish in his talons. However, in a surprising change to the usual pattern, he then appeared to fall asleep, hunched over his fish near the edge of the nest, and at the time of filing this report (23.00), he was still there looking as if he might spend the night on the nest. No activity on Nest One today.
Night cam switches on (day cam):
Nest One (05.33.14); Nest Two (05.51.56)
Today’s videos:
https://youtu.be/HPXA4EJ5uQc N2 Louis arrives with the first fish, half a brown trout 06.43.50
https://youtu.be/15LM_bVIrGk N2 Comical stick incident! 10:24:26 (Classic Ospreys)
https://youtu.be/23B3e0Ncpeo N2 Fish number two arrives and departs – Dorcha is indignant! 12.16.52
https://youtu.be/YNVCK5SBrn0 N2 Louis delivers fish number three and throws sticks overboard 17.28.45
https://youtu.be/XcSY3N_XTQ4 N2 Louis arrives with fish number four but Dorcha’s not interested 20.36.42
Bonus watch – WT video showing the construction of Nest Two:
Blast from the past – this day in previous years:
https://youtu.be/000ExVIHdTk N1 He’s back! Welcome home Louis! 2020
https://youtu.be/MqCZOPYRBMw N1 Louis brings a big stick 2020
https://youtu.be/GiXhBTMjfdI N2 A Great Tit (Parus major) visits 2022
https://youtu.be/xfg_jzAnuCU N2 Louis does a lovely long loop as he leaves 2023 (zoom)
https://youtu.be/s45fByu5-ZE N2 Louis swoops around in front of the nest before landing with a fish 2023
https://youtu.be/b7XBOsBjZHU N2 Fishy tails! Louis eats all his dinner 2023
https://youtu.be/_tcny1NvSfs N2 Louis sky-dances at dawn 2024
https://youtu.be/onRZQMzzFec N2 Two fish arrive within seconds 08.22.22 & 08.22.35! 2024
Come and join the friendly community at Woodland Trust’s Osprey forum, it’s fun, free and everyone’s welcome:
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam
The Wildlife Trusts present
Wild LIVE: Ecocide – should destroying nature be a crime?
Free online discussion Tuesday 15 April 2025 from 18.30 to 20.00 GMT+1https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/eve
nts/2025-04-15-wild-live-ecocide-should-destroying-nature-be-crime
A pilot study to examine the impacts of releasing non-native gamebirds (pheasants & red-legged partridges) into the Cairngorms National Park is due to begin this spring:
Louis and Dorcha:
Heidi’s Osprey Nest News:
4/5 – Smallwood State Park osprey nest (Maryland): Congrats to Mom and Dad… Mom laid egg#3 at 08:03.
4/5 – Dewey Beach osprey nest (Delaware, Dewey Beach Lions Club): I just love this wonderful osprey couple. Mom seemed ‘eggie’ today, so I was not surprised to see her lay the first egg at 19:15.
4/6 – Venice Golf Club: The third baby hatched overnight, and three bobbleheads were seen at the first feeding this morning.
A great opportunity for some special person or persons! Check out the Osprey Leadership Foundation! Please apply if you fit the criteria – this would be fantastic and I know some of us ‘oldies’ would have loved to have had this chance.
Osprey on nest 4 in Finland! This is Nuppu and Nemo’s nest – I have not seen any confirmation of this osprey yet. Will keep checking.
‘J’ sends news that Traverse City Bald Eagles have their second hatch.
At Beau and Gabby’s nest in NE Florida, Bodie had a nice fish meal. Later, she soaked in the sun and wind with Juvie and went higher up the branches.
Bodie goes higher! https://youtu.be/cYTuJVPT8K4?
It is, sadly, not going to be long until Bodie flies off the nest. She is doing a lot of flapping.
E03 at the Kistachie National Forest E3 nest enjoyed three fish deliveries on Saturday.
Scout and Bella’s triplets seem to be doing just fine at the NCTC nest.
Betty Lou is growing!!!!!!! Jak and Audacity are truly proud parents!
Angel the Leucistic Redtail Hawk and Tom: There has been no activity since the entry below, when Angel flew off the nest. I do not believe we should count on this couple raising any eyases on this nest this year. This is not to say they do not have another nest in their territory.
| 4/2/2025 | 7:49:08 AM | Angel | leaves |
‘J’ sends us news of other eagle nests: “Watching the bobbleheads at Fort St. Vrain. Just wonderful. So young they can’t do real damage to each other yet, so it’s „safe“, and fluff balls are so cute. One obviously was contemplating hacking the other, but before he could take action, he fell over on his back, feet up in the air – I can’t help it, I snorted. Too funny.
There’s a pip, so number three is on its way.
Denton Homes confirmed by youtube chatters, two little Majestics!
Unfortunately the new hatch at Falconshire Raptors seem to have died, Skye stepped on it several times according to the charts. No official confirmation yet. https://falconshireraptors.com/blog/“
Are we truly the only animals that destroy their home by tossing our garbage everywhere? It sure looks like it. We know the birds find everything – the safe and the dangerous – that we toss. Here is an article about it.
From burger wrappers to masks, bird nests tell story of throwaway culturehttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/04/from-burger-wrappers-masks-bird-nests-story-throwaway-culture?CMP=share_btn_url
Thank you for being with us today! As you enjoy the rest of your weekend, I encourage you to step outside, even just sitting in a chair by your back door. Nature truly has a remarkable ability to heal and can lift our worries, even if just for a moment. Look up at the sky and let a smile spread if you see a goose honking and flying overhead or glimpse a hummingbird.
Embrace the beauty around you and let it rejuvenate your spirit. There are lots of worries in the world. I do not know anyone who is not anxious. We will benefit from stepping outside and listening to our feathered friends or going for a short or long walk with a friend or family member. Nature heals. We need to take better care of it – and our spirits.
Thank you for being with us. Take care everyone. See you soon! And according to WordPress there are benefits to you hitting the ‘like’ button if you enjoyed this posting but for the life of me I am not a social media pro and have no idea what they are!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, Heidi, J’, Ferris Akel Tour, Kielder Forest, Montana Osprey Project, Alyth SS, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust (Loch Arkaig), Osprey Leadership Foundation, Traverse City Bald Eagles, NEFL-AEF, SK Hideaways, Kistachie National Forest E3, IWS/Explore, Window to Wildlife, The Guardian, Smallwood State Park, VGCCO, Dewey Beach
