10 June 2026
Hello Everyone,
Thank you so much for your notes. I learned about ‘Thunder Vests’ from ‘P’ and have ordered one for Toby who was frightened by thunder of last night’s storms. Our environmentalists tell us that we should expect our lives to have more storms during the summer – and this is the eerie part. It will be the coolest summer we will experience and the hottest. In other words, while we are going to have extremely high temperatures this summer, they will be nothing to what is coming next year!
We went to bed and slept through everything. Hugo Yugo went to the vet and had her teeth cleaned and one molar removed. She has been home for two hours and is resting – Toby was way too excited to see her, so she is now sequestered in my room. She is absolutely fine and in good health. Bravo. We won’t have to go through this again for another year or more.
Anyone reading my blog will know about the Menhaden crisis impacting the osprey nests in the NE USA. Chicks are dying as I write. Adults are thin. But another crisis is now looming. This time on the Columbia River in Washington, three miles from the Steelscape osprey nest. They lost their first chick after doing well. ‘PB’ wanted to know why and discovered an explosion at a paper mill three miles upstream, which has emitted toxins into the river, killing thousands if not tens of thousands of fish.
Another reader MP has discovered the following: “Here is a better explanation from asking Co-pilot (AI). What I sent you was from Google AI which has been proven to be a bit deficient.
Multiple agencies are actively monitoring the aftermath, but the situation is more complex than it may appear from the osprey behavior you’re seeing.
Here’s what the verified reporting shows so far, and how it connects to what you’re observing with the fish and osprey.
🧭 What we know is being monitored
State and federal agencies are on the ground and continuing environmental surveillance after the Nippon Dynawave paper mill tank rupture in Longview, WA — the event that spilled a large volume of white liquor (a highly caustic sodium hydroxide/sodium sulfide mixture) into the local drainage system and ultimately into the Columbia River.
✔ Water quality monitoring
- Washington Department of Ecology and the EPA are actively testing water pH and contamination levels in the river and connected ditches.
KOIN - Officials report that pH levels in the Columbia River have returned to normal ranges, and no ongoing contamination is being detected in river discharge.
KOMO
✔ Wildlife impact monitoring
- More than 2,200 dead fish have been collected so far, including carp, catfish, bass, sunfish, suckers, and even a few salmon.
KOMO - Agencies involved include:
- Washington Dept. of Ecology
- U.S. EPA
- Cowlitz Indian Tribe
- Yakama Nation
- Local and regional environmental teams
AOL
✔ Ongoing cleanup
- Vacuum trucks, flushing operations, and wastewater treatment are still in progress inside the mill and surrounding drainage network.
KOMO
🐟 Why you’re seeing severe fish scarcity even though agencies say pH is “normal”
This is the part the official updates don’t fully capture — and it aligns with what you’re witnessing at the osprey nests.
1. The fish kill was large and sudden
Over 2,000 fish died in the first days after the spill. That’s a major localized collapse of prey biomass. Even if water quality is now “safe,” the fish population doesn’t rebound instantly.
2. Fish in affected sloughs and ditches were hit hardest
Many fish died in the shallow, slow-moving waters where osprey often hunt. These areas had the highest pH spikes and the slowest recovery.
3. Osprey are extremely sensitive to short-term prey shortages
When fish availability drops even briefly:
- Adults struggle to feed chicks
- Chicks weaken quickly
- Siblicide becomes more common in food-stressed nests
This matches exactly what you’re describing.
4. Monitoring is focused on water chemistry — not osprey ecology
Agencies are tracking:
- pH
- chemical residues
- fish mortality
- drinking water safety
They are not (at least publicly) tracking:
- osprey feeding success
- nest outcomes
- broader food-web disruptions
So while the chemical spill is being monitored, the ecological ripple effects you’re seeing may not be part of any official assessment.
🦅 Is anyone watching the after-effects on birds and the food web?
Based on current reporting: No agency has announced active monitoring of osprey, eagles, herons, or other fish‑dependent wildlife.
The focus is on:
- human safety
- water quality
- fish kill documentation
- cleanup operations
There is no mention of raptor or waterbird monitoring in any official updates so far.
This means the distress you’re seeing in osprey nests is likely real, under‑reported, and not currently being tracked by the response teams.
🧩 What your observations mean
Your firsthand monitoring of osprey nests is valuable ecological data. What you’re seeing — chicks starving, siblicide, adults unable to find fish — is consistent with alocalized collapse of prey availability following a major chemical-induced fish kill.
Even though agencies say the water is now “safe,” the biological recovery lags far behind chemical stabilization.”
The disaster is making the news, thankfully but please call in to your local USFWS if the nest you are watching is in the impacted area and mention human cause and providing prey and fish. Thank you.
I hope that this is true about the PH level as there were tens of thousands of fish that died and toxins would impact raptor nests all along that river. We know that Steelscape is downriver from the papermill while Cowlitz is upstream.
The heavy rains are impacting osprey nests in the UK.
Good news coming out of Llyn Clywedog nest for a change.
Blackbush has a hatch.
Sad news from Ferguson Museum, Fishers Island, New York.
Remember I told you that Pam Breci made some phone calls about the orange twine on the Salmon Idaho osprey nest. They promised they would clean the nest and they did.
Remember – you can make a difference. Sometimes you just need to make that phone call.
Some of you have been worried about the third hatch at Loch Arkaig since Dorcha fed it a large piece of fish. The little one is fine and was fed to the brim today! Geemeff has it on video – it will also appear in their summary of the day. https://youtu.be/IY8Lo9kRGoM?
This is appearing in the chat along the live stream for Iris and Clark.
@CornellBirdCamsLove the Hellgate Ospreys? Help us keep the cams streaming and support our goal to raise $55,000 by June 19. Donate today: https://give.birds.cornell.edu/page/1…
It’s mid afternoon and I have not seen any fish delivered to the Hellgate nest. I find this concerning and quite honestly as excited as I was – and each of you – to see chicks on this nest, I am not beginning to hope those eggs do not hatch.
It is a happy nest for Big Red and Arthur as their chicks get their juvenile feathers and are now really good at self-feeding. The oldest enjoys a chippie in this video by Cornell Bird Lab: https://youtu.be/4m2uE_gQPMY?
There was concern at the Syracuse University Red-tail Hawk nest when one of the hawklets slipped off the nest and had to hold on for dear life as its mother Ruth looked on. Watch the Sylvia’s Ramptor Cam videos to find out the outcome. https://youtu.be/OEdiO-jqGjA?
A wonderful nest at Glaslyn.
And an uplifting video and note from ‘CG’ and thoughts on nests – we need to think about what protections the wildlife need and even if it feels useless, sign the petitions, make the phone calls. We tried. You will feel better:
ONE WEEK OLD & READY TO RUMBLE! 🐥 EAGLETS Patience & Compassion | Glacier Gardens Alaska
“Uplifting video of Patience and Compassion, the week-old eaglets at Glacier Gardens, Juneau, Alaska, nest of Liberty and new mate Prosperity. They have the distinction of being the final nest cam hatches of the US bald eagle 2025-2026 breeding season.
Lots of information in the Description and captions throughout the video letting us know all of the changes that are happening to these eaglets. A great delight!
Uplifting after all the tragedies.
Royal Oaks bald eagle nest, Vancouver, WA, just lost an eaglet, Harmony. It fell off the nest and landed lower down in the tree and hanging upside down for a while. It was considered in the “fledging window.” Later while moving around, it fell a second time to lower down in the tree. Mum knew where it was and perched on a branch close by. It later went out of camera view and was found on the ground. It passed away. Lots of angry people because they wanted the eaglet rescued. Now the responsibilities of nest cam operators are in question. Totally different situation to Scout but the result for both is lots of angry people who want changes to those archaic laws that you have even mentioned in your blog.
Times have changed. These cameras were originally for research, I believe, and now they have been opened up for public viewing where compassionate people are watching, not some cold, clinical scientists. I would call it a morality issue. These animals might be wild, but if there are health, suffering, or danger to life issues, I believe humans have a moral obligation to help. However, not if it endangers a human, e.g., Snow’s slipping nest where a climber could have died or been severely injured if the nest fell on them while climbing up the tree. Another tree had a widowmaker that a climber would have had to crawl over. I think it was the nest with the bobber and fishing line. “
The great news is that Telyn at the Dyfi Osprey Project in Wales – who swolled a line and hook – has made it over the critical period and appears to be fantastic.
Hugo Yugo is doing well. Thank you for all of your good wishes. Toby really missed her, and she is still groggy and doesn’t wish to play, so he is ‘sad’. Meanwhile, I have discovered our sump pump needs to be replaced as it was hit by lightning or something during the storm. Thankfully, I have all new plumbing in my basement, and it did not flood like so many other homes.
Take care, everyone. I am going to close with a bad image of a newly fledged European Starling from the nest in our lilacs.
Thank you to ‘PB’ and ‘MP’ for the research into the Longview Papermill. Thank you to ‘CG’ for writing in with views on our duty of care towards wildlife on streaming cams, and to everyone who posted information on FB and/or added images. Thank you also to the owners of these streaming cams who do allow us to watch the wildlife – and sometimes get ulcers at the same time, whilst drinking champagne and celebrating at others.
