6 May 2025
Hello Everyone,
Morning Update: Hellgate Canyon. The timing could not be more perfect since Finnegan did not return (or did he?). Iris laid her three eggs and poof – Ravens took them. Starr, Louis’s mate, will have her eggs and Louis will be busy providing Starr with fish. The battle of the nest took place on Monday and early Tuesday morning, Iris and the victor sat on her nest together. We wait to see what happens.
[On an Osprey, the only two markings that never change yearly are the head markings and the underwing markings. Remember that. Everything else could vary.]
Big Red and Arthur: O2 making its way. O1 eating well and Arthur is stocking up the nest! It is a Hawk Delight buffet!
Another ‘summer’ day at the beginning of May on the Canadian Prairies. It was a perfect day. Toby’s ‘godmother’ visited with a toy basket full of everything a tiny dog would love to chew. Toby is really feeling at home. He likes to play tug of war with the hem of my long linen dress, growling and hopping around. He had his first bath today. Didn’t seem to mind and loved the drying off with the towel. I hope he sleeps well tonight!
The Girls are fine. They are curious but not intimidating. They keep their distance trying to figure out what this ball of energy that is either wide awake with great energy or sound asleep ‘is’. Not a cat. None of them have ever seen a dog before. It is quite interesting.
Hugo Yugo thinks it is just a great day to sleep in the conservatory where the temperature is in the 30s.
I really would like to hear from you about those birds on the streaming cams that sparked your interest. So send them in! I will try and include one a day for the next few weeks!
‘LS’ wrote: “What sparked me was when I saw Harriet and M15 profiled on the nightly news in 2018. It intrigued me to hear that a camera was installed so the public could watch an eagle’s nest. I would watch occasionally and was fascinated with learning things about eagles I never knew. It was 2020, the year E14, died that really grabbed my heart and attention. When Harriet and M15 reclutched I fell in love with E16 and then E15 who didn’t leave the area until early November. I still miss those 2 eaglets.”
Thank you, ‘LS’.
The last time I checked there was a good size pip in O2’s egg at the Cornell Red-tail Hawk nest of Big Red and Arthur. Cornell Bird Lab has it on video: https://youtu.be/dJNVLRdb6Dc?
More activity at the Ithaca nest! https://youtu.be/Edn2Ayvrt5s?
Hellgate Canyon: There was a lot of activity going on at the nest of Iris today. The third egg was taken by the Raven on Sunday. Today another male took on Lewis and appeared to want to be friendly with Iris. The situation is ongoing.
Xcel Fort St Vrain: Those two surviving eaglets that we worried so much about seem to be doing just fine. Always a relief.
Trempealeau Bald Eagle Nest: Things are going well despite Mr T’s theft of fish. Eaglet has its blood feathers coming in!
White Rock Nest: ‘PB’ writes that the eaglets eat well Monday afternoon. A lovely fish fairy. 🙂
San Jose City Hall Falcon Scrape:
Golden Eagle Nest, Latvia, Spilve and Grislis: Hatch is underway!
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum: First egg for the new couple. Thanks, ‘MP’.
Glacier Gardens Bald Eagles, Juneau, Alaska: Two eggs.
Glaslyn: I posted about Aran Monday morning. What a wonderful osprey he is.
West Point Eaglets: A storm took down the nest and the eaglets have perished just like Scout and Bella’s triplets at NCTC.
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Monday 5th May 2025
Today’s news is that Blue 536 has been given a name: Aurora. George WTS comments: Now that it looks like 536 is going to stick around we have decided to call her Aurora. This is a popular girl’s name in Scotland these days. Its root meaning is “dawn” which vibes well for her as a new beginning for Garry and Nest One. It is also a nod to the northern lights aka aurora borealis. Aurora strengthened her claim to Garry LV0 and his nest by bring some moss and a tiny twig and doing a little gentle nestoration. Garry on the other hand spent time mating but didn’t bring any fish, although we suspect he is providing fish to her away from the nest. His tally remains at thirty six. It was far busier on Nest Two, where Louis and Dorcha had at least two incursions by intruder Ospreys, and Louis spent much time fighting aerial battles. He still managed to find time to fish, and brought one fish to the nest, raising his tally to sixty eight. The overnight forecast is for a clear sky and light winds, and sunny intervals tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.39.32 (04:10.24); Nest Two 22.57.08 (04.21.44)
Today’s videos:
https://youtu.be/VvL_ZaQsu7s N1 Woodland Trust have given Blue 536 a name – hello Aurora! 06.10.22
https://youtu.be/PNRVXZc0NDU N2 Louis alarm calls as an intruder Osprey flies overhead 08.10.56
https://youtu.be/GVFzskmn1_s N2 Dorcha’s fish number one and only finally arrives 16.16.04
https://youtu.be/SYZq9BrLbWs N2 An unringed Osprey intrudes on Louis who gives chase 16.28.58
Bonus read – plan to connect rainforest habitat from Cornwall to Scotland
Blast from the past, this day in previous years:
https://youtu.be/vi57aF6RvWs N1 Aila suffers an owl strike 2019 (slo-mo)
https://youtu.be/50n9gpytiy4 N1 A typical night on the nest for Aila 2020
https://youtu.be/fCzbYErsSgA N1 Persistent Hoodie won’t leave Aila alone 2020 (Slo-mo)
https://youtu.be/pBzJsBFIzek N1 Strange Osprey lands on the empty nest 2023
https://youtu.be/Rg-hxBiPEPM N2 Louis has an aerial encounter with an intruder 2023 (zoom)
https://youtu.be/4KzkpgYcDBc N1 Aida arrives fish calling, Garry LV0 arrives with moss but ignores her 2024
https://youtu.be/eX9kUX1m6QM N1 Aida wants fish, Garry wants to mate and gets rejected 2024
https://youtu.be/J0T2g4AjXv0 N2 Finally – Louis delivers the first fish to Dorcha 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
Geemeff sends us a good news story about Laysan Albatross, Wisdom!
74 years old, she is a marvel, has a chick this year: https://friendsofmidway.org/the-wisdom-ohana-family/
Yes, we get attached to them!!!!!!!!!!! Citizens in Wales love their ospreys.
Why should wildlife ever lose out? But especially when there is criminal activity underway?
If you are a member of Ospreys of Nova Scotia, voting is now underway for three names for Ethel and Oscar’s 2025 chicks! Great names suggested! And voting made easy. Just click on the name.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care! We hope to see you again soon!!!!!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, Heidi, MP, PB’, Cornell Bird Lab Red-tail Hawk, Montana Osprey Project/Cornell Bird Cam, Trempeauleau Bald Eagle Cam, White Rock Eagles/D Hancock Foundation, LDF, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Ospreys, Glacier Gardens Eagles, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, West Point Eagle Nest, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Xcel Energy, Friends of Midway, The Guardian, Raptor Persecution UK
