1 May 2025
Good Morning Everyone,
It is May! The grass is getting green. There are buds on the trees and our favourite market garden opened for the season on Wednesday. Everyone was so happy and couldn’t help but let that spill over to saying hello to everyone! Fantastic. Happiness is contagious.
The White Crowned Sparrows have returned form their migration and spent the morning scratching in the garden. Lovely to have them back.
We are getting ready to pick up Toby on Saturday. Yes, there has been a name change! Yesterday we connected with some neighbours on our walk that had small dogs. It is going to be fun! Toby passed his vet check on Wednesday except for a tiny hernia which will be repaired when he is fixed.
We also noticed how many birds are now nesting in a type of evergreen, a small upright one, since the large elm trees have been cut down in our neighbourhood. Today we are going out to get several of these trees. They grow fast and will give some added protection for our garden friends including the rabbits that like to hide under them.
Hugo Yugo wants to wish everyone a wonderful May Day from her favourite spot in the house. No worries about Toby jumping up there.
Heidi sends some nest news for us:
Osoyoos osprey nest: The first egg of the season was laid on 4/30 at 21:27.
South Cape May: Congratulations to Hera and Zeus on their second egg, laid on 5/1 at 07:37.
Geemeff sends us the daily summary for the Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust:
Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Wednesday 30th April 2025
This day last year was all about Aida, the ten-day wonder we thought would be Garry LV0’s mate but who disappeared as soon as she was given a name! Things look very different on Nest One this year however, as Blue 536 arrived on 18th April and has not only allowed Garry to mate successfully with her but has also brought nesting materials and shown Affric 152 the door when she came calling. Garry brought two fish to the nest, taking his tally to twenty eight. However, something unseen caused him to startle and fly off the empty nest with the second fish, dragging bits of bedding as he went. There was no sign of Blue 536 and no intruder caught on nest cam. The residents of Nest Two continued calmly, no alarms, just routine, with three fish delivered by Louis raising his tally to fifty nine. We are now potentially three weeks away from first hatch. The weather was settled and sunny but light rain is expected tonight through to mid morning, and cloudy for the rest of the day.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.03.57 (04.19.43); Nest Two 22.02.10 (04.38.42)
Today’s videos:https://youtu.be/Jne_dpBphq0 N2 Dorcha departs with the first fish in a beak hold 09.21.29https://youtu.be/SsW5LJKZSBk N1 Garry LV0 brings Blue 536 the first fish of the day 11.00.50https://youtu.be/VEXgE-ScSkQ N2 Is this second fish a Brown Trout or a Silver Tourist? Dorcha doesn’t mind which! 13.48.54
https://youtu.be/5XmPB_jp2N8 N1 Why does Garry LV0 flee the empty nest with fish number two? 19.43.35
https://youtu.be/s52rukepjLI N2 DeliverLouis: A nice fish supper arrives for Dorcha 19.54.11
Bonus listen – latest Woodland Walks podcast from Adam Shaw about another Woodland Trust temperate rainforest like Arkaig Forest:
Blast from the past, this day in previous years:
https://youtu.be/ZIC6oJaL_EM N1 Cheeky Hoodie annoys Louis 2017
https://youtu.be/tg86hWM2aIA N1 Is it the Tawny Owl disturbing Aila? 2020
https://youtu.be/PoQ1BlwQBTE N1 Little plucker! Aila’s drastic action to make Louis move 2020
https://youtu.be/dDUQS2FK7Yw N2 Shouldn’t laugh but.. poor Dorcha! 2022
https://youtu.be/PhoMl4grLhI N2 Louis removal aids! 2023
https://youtu.be/Rwc5CsbBa3w N1 She’s back and she’s got a name – meet Aida! 2024
https://youtu.be/5wDe16_t_eE N1 Aida gets a fish from her boyfriend Garry 2024
https://youtu.be/3rZnQ5f8Qn4 N1 Aida seems willing, Garry makes several attempts but no success yet 2024
https://youtu.be/k5rxoSg2D44 N2 Intruder Osprey touches down next to Dorcha 2024 (slo-mo repeat)
https://youtu.be/RU2k7NeBRZ8 N1 Aida screams for fish but Garry’s eaten it all 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
White Rock, BC: Well, the new male, Smudge, is pitching in! Can we hope that these two little eaglets that recently hatched will survive? Wishing for another nest that is compromising for the good of the hatchlings.
Little sweeties being fed by Mum.
San Jose City Hall: Cuteness overload. https://youtu.be/jbOL_HuRLbQ?
Trempeauleau Nest, Wisconsin: It is an eagle nest that I am watching closely so these are all the updates I can find.
Rutland Manton Bay Previous Fledgling: Oh, my goodness 3H3 is really making the rounds!
Great Bay Ospreys:
Charlo, Montana: Lola showing off her egg.
Hellgate Canyon: Beautiful, resilient Iris.
Sandpoint: The Canada Geese have left the property and it appears that Keo has flown by a couple of times to check and see if the property is indeed vacated.
All of the goslings made it to the water safely!
Loch of the Lowes: We now have what appears to be a stable pair on Blue NC0 and Laddie’s nest:
Denton Homes: ‘PB’ sent a great image of a dual feeding Wednesday.
Farmer Derek’s GHO Cam: Starr fludged Tuesday night. Androcat has the mishap on video: https://youtu.be/7A4kOTOF1kg?
German White Storks: ‘TU’ sends us news: “German white storks Sissi and Franz had 4 eggs and few attacks on the nest. Few of them happened even at night time so we could see battles in black and white ) So 3 chicks hatched the same day!” https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10049613998422033&set=pcb.1375529173713873
Kakapo Recovery: Great news.
Common pesticides are killing gorgeous Corellas in Australia. It could happen anywhere.
Please turn the lights off!
If you live in Manitoba, consider heading to the Baby Shower at Wildlife Haven in late May.
Thank you for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘Geemeff, Heidi, PB, TU’, Wildlife Haven, Ross Ellet, Kakapo Recovery, German White Stork Cam, Farmer Derek, Denton Homes, Sandpoint, Montana Osprey Project, Raptor Resource Project, Diana Lambertson and The Joy of Ospreys, Evelyn Bardoul, SK Hideaways, Terri Anita and White Rock BC Eagles, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, SCMM, Osoyoos Osprey Platform, Jeff Kear and UK Osprey Info, Rutland Osprey Project
