2nd little one at Cornell makes it out of shell…Tuesday in Bird World

5 May 2026

Hello Everyone,

I did say I was going to take a break, didn’t I? Well, reports will be short, but Iris laying her first egg and Big Red’s nestlings are keeping me on the edge of the sofa. Besides, the nice warm weather we had disappeared. Melissa kept looking out the conservatory windows as she was cleaning them, asking, ‘Is that a snowflake?’ And yes, of ourselves, her eyes were not deceiving her. It is freezing. Tomorrow will be 0 C. Not much fun. Toby and I worked on the bookcases. We now need a 154 cm long piece of moulding and some finishing nails. The whole needs to be painted in the same shade as the walls only glossy so it is slightly different (thanks, Geemeff, for the idea). I had battled between just matching the walls which are the same colour as the rice straw tea huts in Japan, going for something bold like the Bloomsbury Group would have done, or painting them in Tar (a deep grey/black). My mind needs calm. So, some time in the future, David will return to paint them and the French doors all the same. It is a picky job, not for someone like me who wouldn’t have the patience.

As of Monday evening, this is the state of the third chick releasing itself from the shell at Big Red and Arthur’s nest. Arthur is already lining the nest cup with chippies and squirrels.

I am so glad this little one didn’t get exhausted trying to get out.

A red-tailed hawk in a nest with eggs and chicks, captured in black and white from a live webcam feed.
A red-tailed hawk in a nest with two fluffy chicks and one unhatched egg among twigs and nest materials.
A Red-tailed Hawk tending to its nest with two fluffy chicks and an egg visible among the twigs and nesting material.
A young red-tailed hawk chick sitting in a nest beside an unhatched egg, surrounded by straw and leaves.
Close-up of a large, blue-green bird egg nestled among soft downy feathers and natural materials in a nest.

At the Achieva Osprey Platform, Jill went out late and caught another catfish for her and the kids. That is three today. I do not believe she has ever left the nest to fish after 2000. She did tonight. As the kids get older they need more food and she needs to keep herself healthy for them! Jack is simply not delivering enough – two today. Jill had three and one was a whopper.

Thanks ‘PB’ for the screen capture of Jill and her whale.

A close-up view of a bird with wings spread wide, perched on a tree. The background shows green foliage and a road.

For those wanting to keep a file to recognise Jill, here you have the perfect underwing patterns to go with the top of the head! These two locations are the only patterns that do not ever change from the time the ospreys fledge.

Iris and NewGuy2 (I do agree with everyone that he needs a name – I am certain that Dr Green is working on this) are settling in to incubation. I just hope he knows that he has to provide fish for Iris and the babies…

Two ospreys perched in their nest with a parking lot and trees in the background.
An osprey nest with two adult ospreys sitting among branches and twigs, overlooking a parking lot and landscaped area in the background.
Two ospreys sitting in a nest made of sticks, with a parking lot and greenery in the background.

Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Monday 4th May 2026

Another peaceful and uneventful day, although one event was missing – Aurora 536 has not laid a second egg, it is overdue by more than 24 hours so chances are she will only have the single egg laid on 30th April at 19.18.37. There is concern that she is leaving the egg unprotected for several hours at a time, and as she and Garry LV0 have not been seen mating on a sufficiently regular basis, perhaps this egg will not hatch. As always, it’s wait and see – Osprey eggs are quite hardy. Although Garry only brought one fish to the nest for Aurora, it’s possible fish are being delivered early during the nest cam down time. His on-cam tally now stands at forty five. Over on Nest Two, normal service was resumed and Louis delivered three fish to Dorcha, taking the nest total to forty. Dorcha was very pleased to see the first fish arriving after a gap of thirty five hours and demolished it in no time. The weather was mainly settled with a little light rain around 11pm.

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/BMjnfTZhaCM N2 First fish 35 hours after the last one! 08.25.51

https://youtu.be/uYMCcC97Qbw N2 Normal service resumes! Fish 2 arrives 2 hours after the first 10.35.21

https://youtu.be/X7NonFthu2Q N1 First fish for Aurora, a good size headless trout 14.31.26

https://youtu.be/M8d0uY6Yys8 N2 Louis brings a third trout for Dorcha 15.06.39

Bonus activity – how well do you know spring tree flowers? Take Woodland Trust’s quiz: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2026/05/spring-blossom-quiz/

Blast from the past, this day in previous years:

https://youtu.be/RZcdDsctW8s  N1 Stick-gate! Louis brings a silly stick 2019

https://youtu.be/MkeAZ4Rtyjw  N1 Arkaig Ospreys star with Chris Packham, Megan McCubbin & Holly Gillibrand 2020 

https://youtu.be/8937KrWsAvQ  N1 Aila stands on Louis’ tail 2020

https://youtu.be/E9pd_5HuvsU  N1 Hoodie chases Louis and his fish to the nest 2020

https://youtu.be/01RR3gk-KAo  WT season highlights 2021

https://youtu.be/MYwuD6jtpBA  WT season highlights 2022

https://youtu.be/CMPNawu15bo  N2 Louis is blown away! 2023 (slo-mo repeat)

https://youtu.be/HIbtIkk_ELg  N2 Unringed intruder lands 2023 (slo-mo repeat)

https://youtu.be/UYHOuHSAjdo  N2 Dorcha’s turn to show off her underpinnings! 2023

https://youtu.be/wFCI5B_bVPQ  N1 Garry LV0 arrives with moss, calling softly, who’s he watching? 2024

https://youtu.be/5zmxN6jpNNU  N2 Dorcha brings a stick and lands it on Louis 2024 (zoom)

https://youtu.be/AOxOLsyGJV0  N2 Dorcha gets hit by a Tawny Owl while tangled in moss 2025

https://youtu.be/A8PwVgBjiAc  N2 Three strikes: 00.33.37; 00.35.21; 00.40.51 in <8 mins 2025

https://youtu.be/T0XQrgwLjko  N1 Tawny Owl (Strix aluco) does a thorough investigation 2025 

https://youtu.be/6b_2Tq6RFQA  N1 Tawny Owl pays a second visit an hour after the first 2025

https://youtu.be/TXp42g5YDtM N2 Dorcha fights off an unringed Osprey 2025 (slo-mo repeat with zoom)

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 a sad story but at least, they say, ‘humans tried to help’. https://wgme.com/news/local/very-sad-ospreys-found-dead-after-building-nest-on-power-lines-in-camden-maine-cmp-central-maine-power

Sadly, these falcons fell at the hand of humans and their guns in Cambridgeshire.

Post-mortem on Cambridgeshire Peregrine reveals shotgun pellets – Raptor Persecution UKDownload

Winken enjoying a meal while there remains a reminder of the saddness as Blinken’s body is near the nest rim at Moorings Park.

An osprey feeding its chick in a nest, with a tranquil river and greenery in the background. The image highlights the environment and the interaction between parent and young bird.

It looks like the dream of seeing osplets on the Loch Garten RSPB nest are gone as Blue KL5 kicks out the third egg!

A live camera feed capturing an osprey nest with branches. The scene shows the nest at dawn with a distant view of trees and sky, indicating it's early morning. The top image shows the osprey destroying egg number 3, while the bottom image shows the nest after the egg has been destroyed.

News from Kielder Forest:

Nest 12

The four chicks of Monty and Hartley will be ringed at 0800 Wednesday nest time! Tune in on YouTube!

A peregrine falcon is feeding three chicks in a nesting box atop San Jose City Hall, with a view of city buildings in the background.

Thank you so much for being with us! Take care, everyone. Keep watching Iris for that next egg…See you soon.

Thank you to Geemeff for the Woodland Trust summary, to ‘PB’ for the great image of Jill and her monster fish, and to all those who post information on FB and the owners of the streaming cams that let us watch this amazing wildlife. I am very grateful for the investigative reporting of Raptor Persecution UK.

Published by maryannsteggles

I went to the UK as a Commonwealth Scholar in 1990 and received my PhD from the University of Leicester in 1993. After three decades of university teaching, I retired to devote my time to the study of raptor behaviour. I am particularly interested in Ospreys and am working on a long term project on third hatch survival and siblicide in these raptors. My blog is a result of a fascination with my local wildlife and the desire to encourage others to love and care for birds! I live on the Canadian Prairies and prior to the pandemic travelled a lot. I am questioning the use of aviation fuel at the moment as we all strive to help our planet. My early research was in politics and art including British public statues exported to Southeast Asia and Vietnam Resistors that contributed much to Canadian ceramics. Books and articles were published on those subjects over a period of 3 decades. Now I am working on books for children so they can learn about the challenges our raptors face.

1 Comment

  1. Linda Kontol says:
    11 thAmerica/Winnipeg-05:0031America/Winnipeg05bAmerica/WinnipegTue, 05 May 2026 15:37:49 -0500 2021 at 15:37

    Thank you Mary Ann for all the updates! Congratulations to Big Red and Arthur in their hatches! Thank you for all the pics and links too!
    Have a good afternoon. And stay warm!
    Linda

    Reply

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