Blinken is ill…Late Wednesday in Bird World

29 April 2026

Hello Everyone,

The spring weather dipped and it was chilly. Don was really looking forward to going to Fort Whyte on Wednesday, but 5 C with wind meant that he got to visit his other favourite place, The Leaf, with Ann. There are koi and the butterfly area that give him great delight.

Toby and I stayed home. Had a wee walk, did a tiny bit of clearing up, and then relaxed. I immediately fell asleep with Toby wrapped around my head. Sometimes we don’t know when we are ‘dog tired’.

It is now late Wednesday night. There is growing concern for the second hatch, Blinken, at the Moorings Park Osprey Platform in Naples, Florida. The osplet cannot eat, and its poop shots are ‘dry’. The bird is very dehydrated, and I fear it will not live much longer.

You might recall that Richmond and Rosie lost a fully feathered osplet several years ago. Molate died immediately after falling from the nest to a platform below on July 16, 2022, at 58 days of age, following a decline in health. The body of Molate was on the platform but not retrieved and no necroscopy was conducted (as I recall the situation). The behaviours of Blinken and Molate are similar – it is unfortuante that we do not know what caused Richmond and Rosie’s chick’s demise.

Molate:

Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Wednesday 29th April 2026Dorcha produced her second egg right on schedule today – it arrived bright and early with a few squeaks and whistles. The branches and bedding is hiding it from view for now, but her behaviour made it quite clear she’d laid another egg. Third and probably final egg due in three days time. Meanwhile over on Nest One, Aurora 536 is keeping us guessing, no egg as yet despite showing quite promising signs from time to time. The males performed as expected, both Louis and Garry LV0 delivered two fish each, taking the Nest One tally to thirty five and the Nest Two to thirty two.
Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/uMAu-4WhyaY N2 Dorcha refuses breakfast – is an egg on the way? 05.28.24https://youtu.be/psj41aGoErU N2 Egg number two! Congratulations Dorcha & Louis 05.34.12

https://youtu.be/PHvbx1DF0M4 N1 Garry delivers a whopping great trout 16.10.43 https://youtu.be/j07bQlyfEHQ N2 Louis delivers fish number two and settles down to egg duties 17.41.11

https://youtu.be/g7lrnNCsGH0 N1 Aurora refuses Garry’s second fish 20.35.41

Bonus action – a significant, lasting way you can support Woodland Trust and stand up for trees:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/support-us/give/gift-in-will

Blast from the past, this day in previous years:

https://youtu.be/rxYqoHxXPMY  N1 Louis coy-mantles for Aila 2017

https://youtu.be/wO972vIFy8U  N1 First mating for Louis & Aila 2017

https://youtu.be/shhxI4hywlY  N1 Tawny Owl attacks Aila 2020 (slo-mo)

https://youtu.be/rYQg6ow0Krg  N1 Aila helps Louis log on 2020

https://youtu.be/5zVFnXl94p8  N1 Affric & Prince return 2022

https://youtu.be/h0lIyo4MYQw  N1 The Art of Weave 2023 (Classic Ospreys: Bach in quicktime)

https://youtu.be/FoF0b5rBZ4s  N2 Dorcha’s glad to see Louis bringing breakfast 2024 

https://youtu.be/en2jZLwlbtg  N1 Garry LV0 fails to mate with his new girlfriend 2024     

https://youtu.be/KgbhdQWyOZE  N2 Dorcha’s not interested when a third fish arrives 2024 https://youtu.be/IVnRt58Tuws N1 At last! Successful mating between Blue 536 and Garry LV0 2025https://youtu.be/il6HhuVaY2s N2 Dorcha’s happy to see Louis with fish number two 2025 

You’re invited to 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

Quiet Eagle caught one of this year’s fledglings returning to the NE Florida nest of Beau and Gabby! What a wonderful surprise! https://youtu.be/VXg35bQvgTI?

It is raining on Big Red at the Cornell Red-tail Hawk nest as we await pip.

Arthur is such a good mate! Here in a video by Cornell Bird Labs, he delivers prey to the Queen of the RTHs. https://youtu.be/IcX48z_ZTNA?

At the other Red-tail Hawk nest of Ruth and Oren, the two little ones are doing well.

Milda and Zorro’s White-tail eaglets in Latvia are nothing short of adorable. They are four days old.

Migration Update from Hawk Mountain, PA:

Sharon Pollock brings us an interesting video from the Big Bear nest of Jackie and Shadow. (copy and paste the link into your computer)

Predator of the Australia Honeyeater caught on video! https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/29/australia-endangered-bird-regent-honeyeater-video-egg-thieves?CMP=share_

I am closing tonight with a very disturbing incident that happened in my City. A seventeen year old male drove an SUV over sleeping Canada Geese. Warning: This video is very disturbing. https://youtu.be/G8EqFpLOi4w?

Citizens are outraged, and many in the mental health field are stating that this type of violence towards innocent wildlife is only a short way from harming humans.

We must close with some happiness, and that is the Achieva osprey nest. Mum, Jill, is incredible. As Mother’s Day approaches, surely she might be the top nominee in Bird World this season. She has kept her babies alive and herself by going out and fishing, some mornings and almost every evening but one that I am aware. Other osprey nests might be successful when fish are short if those females would follow her lead.

Thank you for being with us tonight. Please take care. We look forward to having you with us again soon.

Thank you to Sharon Pollock and the Cornell Bird Lab for their videos, to Geemeff for their extensive daily summary and videos of all things at Loch Arkaig, to the authors of the FB posts, and the owners of the streaming cams. I am very grateful. Thank you also to The Guardian for reporting on environmental and wildlife news and ‘PB’ for keeping me up to date on Blinken and the Achieva osprey nest.