Late Wednesday in Bird World

1 July 2026

Happy Canada Day to all of us who celebrate. We had a wonderful time with our son and daughter-in-law visiting our local Farmer’s Market today. They are off for more celebrations this evening and tomorrow; my daughter and Tammy, DIL, are coming to take Don out for a few hours so I can have some time to myself. I feel blessed. How kind of them!

For the next few days, I want to focus on a couple of topics in each blog instead of running through all of the nests. I will, of course, try to bring you up to date on what is happening every 4 blogs. Today, I want to focus on this Menhaden issue and the ospreys dying, and I want everyone to write to the Governor of Virginia, the Honourable Abigal Spanberger. Her e-mail is: Abigail.Spanberger@governor.virginia.gov.

Tomorrow, I have a wonderful article by Wes Melkner in Smithsonian Magazine. Wes is an intern, and his research and first two articles have taught me a great deal. I do hope you enjoy the one I will be posting.

Friday, I will be giving you the link for a very special documentary to view over the weekend and a look at the current status of one of my favourite friends with feathers, the Condor.

Oh, I am really on a rant. Every day I check to see if Little Dewey is alive. Little Dewey is the poster child for this battle against industrial fishing and the murder of ospreys in this region of the US.

Little Dewey is gorgeous. I want her to thrive. Her parents have worked hard to find fish for her and their survival. We are not out of the woods yet but please, please let this nest be successful this year.

The first fish today did not arrive until 1311. I am unclear of any follow up deliveries. Please let me know.

This is staggeringly sad and reflects what is happening all over the region of the NE US:

“Survey my friend and I did in CT today of a small island with 30 osprey platforms. Raw data in image. XXX indicates the platform was abandoned and we did not go pro it. Fishermen are reporting no bunker again in the CT sound.
Synopsis: 30 total platforms. 13 platforms abandoned. Only 7 young on island. Only 3 appear to be strong and healthy. 8 dead young found in nests. Almost no bunker gill plates by perch posts. Many platforms have been abandoned in the surrounding towns as well but not part of our study group.”

In the comments: “Same story here on the Severn River in Annapolis. Similar results in my area, South Jersey.” “Eco-Ed Endeavours: Chesapeake Field Journal liked David Gessner‘s post: “Here is my contribution to the cause. I realize it is quite osprey-centric, but then so am I. https://www.audubon.org/magazine/ospreys-chesapeake-bay-are-starving-death-disastrous-rates-what-will-it-take-save-them?fbclid=IwY2xjawSqXqlleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFDbHpVQnN1Q2ZQQjNCSjhCc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHo-ByAGTxxfErznZo4bjKqCSTTQkUIk7-cWHlzltrO0xlr-KNgcNQivZNJpC_aem_Xg3C8ZucsRPfmyXThAIlZQ”

If you missed Gessner’s article, please read it.

I realize that Heidi and I have been making comments on the demise of the osprey in this region for three years. I am glad that there is more attention coming to this topic, but I fear that we are late- perhaps too late. I never want to give up hope, so I have to look at what the UK did to reintroduce ospreys that had been wiped out. For example, CJ7 and Blue 022 had the first chicks in the south of England for 250 years. The first chick to hatch in the Usk Valley in Wales for a similar period was last year. Now, I want you to think about what I am saying. It is not decades; it is perhaps centuries before this biodiverse region is balanced again. People can blame whales and Bald Eagles if they want to hide their heads in the sand, but the truth is, it will show that it was industrial fishing unchecked by any oversight that caused the damage for years and years by a single company (not the net fishermen) but a Canadian company, Omega Protein. If I could sue the company and all the officials on behalf of the ospreys, I would. Someone who lives in the US should work with Animal Justice to do just that.

Today, Omega Protein went fishing and didn’t find much. Perhaps they have taken all of the adult Menhaden. Maybe they will be forced to shut down their operations. However, if you live in other NE States, including Maine, beware. Keep your eyes open. Many in Maine say that the Menhaden have left the shores and gone deep into cooler water. I just hope they are hiding from the nets!

Others checking elsewhere.

I believe on survived but has not been fed so the story will be much the same, sadly.

The one surviving chick at Great Bay looks to be alright. This one pushed another off the nest about a week ago – they were all starving. It is a sad fact.

Santiam Canyon is doing alright.

The smallest of the two on the Osoyoos osprey platform died today of starvation.

While today is about the impact that humans can have – in a negative way by overfishing and knowing it – and killing off an entire eco-system, it is also about the fact that humans must come to grips with the damage that we have caused our planet and help when help can be of benefit.

I was asked by a reader to post a rather long statement by a rehabilitation/rescue group. After reading it twice, I think that it is very appropriate to put it in this blog about the deaths from siblicide/starvation that have been caused by a lack of food due to human activity.

This comes from Annette at Wild Heart Ranch in Oklahoma and was sent to me from ‘J’ in Berlin:

I have never given parents advice on how to raise their “human” children, and I probably never will again, so please read this and pass it along. It needs to be said. (Rehabbers, if you agree, just applaud in the comments.) 😉
The photo is an oldie of “January,” a calf brought to me years ago with spina bifida and navel ill, crawling on her knees because her legs were useless. It took months, but I got her up, cured, walking, running, and eventually she grew into a full-grown heifer without any obvious problems. She found the perfect forever home.
January WANTED to recover, and there was nothing I could see that would prevent it. She just needed an unbelievable amount of splint work, braces, physical therapy, and support to get there. She wasn’t going to one day be released into the wild. She was going to be somebody’s pampered pasture pet for the rest of her life if I could save her… and she is. She’s still watched over daily for complications her condition could cause as she ages or gains weight.
I didn’t have to know she’d be 100% at the end of treatment. I just needed her to become pain-free and mobile on legs that would eventually support 1,400 pounds.
But that isn’t the case for wildlife.

I absolutely love when you bring your kids with you to Wild Heart to drop off animals. If we’re going to raise the next generation to support wildlife rescue, they need to see the process. They need to witness compassionate people willing to drop everything for an animal they’ve never met. That matters to me because the future of wildlife rescue is in the hands of today’s children, and the way you handle that handoff matters more than you may realize. It matters because every year there are more roads, more windows, more fishing line, more cats, more cars, more toxins, and more hazards that WE bring into their world.
And because, despite my best intentions, I may not actually live forever. I know… shocking.
So there is one thing I ask, beg, and plead…

Please don’t promise your children that we are going to save an injured, hypothermic, maggot-infested animal, then ask us if that animal can be saved in front of them UNLESS you have prepared them for the TRUTH. I am not going to lie to your children before you do. I am going to follow your lead, and if you set me up to crush a child, I may have to step away for a minute to compose myself before I can provide that animal the peaceful, gentle ending it deserves.
If you care about the animals, please be kind to the rehabber.
DO YOU HEAR THE WORDS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH? (My best friend uses that sentence. It is VERY effective!)
Wild animals are masters at hiding pain. In the wild, looking sick or injured is basically putting up a billboard that says, “Eat me.” So they keep moving until they physically can’t anymore.
That’s why you see a squirrel that’s “just sitting there all calm and content,” and I see a spinal injury or a pelvis that’s been crushed.
You see the bunny your cat brought home that “doesn’t look that bad,” and I know it has a fifty-fifty chance of surviving the two tiny puncture wounds where your cat injected a potent bacteria cocktail into its back.
Looks are deceiving.

The parents who want to protect their children from the hard realities—and I completely support that—usually hand me the animal, smile, and say, “We know you’ll do what’s best.” The kids thank me for helping, they climb back in the car, and I get to begin triage… treatment… or sometimes mercy.
But this is how it sometimes goes for me:
A six-year-old has rescued, temporarily cared for, and named a squirrel Kevin. Kevin has big plans. He’s going to leave our care, climb trees, raise a family, pay squirrel taxes, and peacefully die at the ripe old age of 97 surrounded by his squirrel grandchildren.
AWESOME.
I am all about happy endings.

Meanwhile…
Kevin has dislocated hips, at least one spinal fracture, a pelvis that’s in four pieces, and internal injuries that make me wonder how he even made it to my door. The back half of him has been run over by a car, and any minute now the front half is probably going to stop working too.
Then everyone turns and looks at me and an adult asks, with complete sincerity…
“So… is he going to be okay?”
Wonderful. (Just shoot me.)
While I’m trying to rush this intake so I can put poor Kevin out of his misery, I now get to decide whether I lie to your child or explain euthanasia to someone who still sells their teeth to a fairy.
That is WAY above my pay grade.
And I don’t WANT to lie to anybody.
So please… either have that hard conversation before you come, or avoid putting us in that position.
My instinct is to protect your child’s enthusiasm for helping wildlife. I don’t want to be the lady who unintentionally convinces them that “future Kevin” should be hidden in their bedroom because “that rescue lady will just kill him.”
Tell them Kevin is hurt. Tell them he is probably in a lot of pain. Tell them you’re taking him somewhere that people will do whatever is best for him.
Leave it there…
Or have the harder conversation before you arrive.

People sometimes think euthanasia means we gave up. It’s actually the opposite.
It would be emotionally easier on us, in that moment, to keep trying. To turn a rescue into what I call “an experiment in heroics” which is by no measure okay unless there is FAR more hope than hurt.
It’s much harder to look at an animal we desperately want to save and admit that the kindest thing we can offer is peace. I will NEVER be okay providing treatment only to find an animal dead in a cage later, knowing I could have spared it that experience. That is not acceptable when I KNEW the chances were slim. That is not rescue. That is denial. Sometimes we don’t know, but when we do know, we had better beat death to the punch or we have avoided the only act of care that was reasonable, responsible, and KIND.

A quick, painless, chemically induced death is kind when life without suffering isn’t in the prognosis. There are far worse things than death, and I see them daily.
A responsible wildlife rehabilitator chooses what is best for the animal no matter how disappointed we are, YOU are, how many people are following the story on Facebook, or how much public backlash we might receive. NONE of that comes into play when I am evaluating or treating an animal. The ONLY factors that matter are the animal’s current physical suffering, past case experience, advice from my veterinarians, the animal’s probable ability to live independently after recovery and release, and my conscience. If my conscience EVER starts sounding the ego alarm, I am DONE. I know this about me.
I will NEVER keep an animal alive because it’s popular or because it brings in donations. I was accused of that almost daily while working with January. I received hate mail from veterinarians all over the country. It was hell because I ALWAYS listen to the advice of veterinarians, but in this case they weren’t here seeing what I was seeing: a strong will to live and a calf that wasn’t going to give up. So I helped her fight. Not to prove anyone wrong. (ego) That never entered my mind during treatment. (But I gloated like hell when that calf charged me across my yard and knocked me flat on my ass!)

But I can promise you my motive is always the same.
I believe in an animal’s ability to recover—or I don’t.
I believe in my ability to support that recovery—or I don’t.
The minute I lose hope that an animal can have an acceptable quality of life, I stop. No matter how much it hurts. No matter what people think of me afterward or what they say about me. (With two million followers, I see the comments. There is always someone who can’t WAIT to screenshot the nasty ones and send them to me, which by the way, it just hurts me and changes nothing else so keep them to yourselves friends) Fortunately for my motivation to keep going, I have almost as much compassion for ignorant people as I do suffering animals. 🙂

Here’s something else to keep in mind.
The more experienced the rehabber, the more likely they are to make a judgment call immediately.
Why?
Because when we were new, we tried to save everybody. Experience teaches you where hope exists… and where it doesn’t. Trust that we have seen these injuries hundreds of times. We’ve learned from our mistakes, our veterinarians, our mentors, and the animals themselves.
That being said…
Many of my volunteers have zero medical training. They may be the smiling face that accepts your animal before it reaches someone doing triage.
They see what you see.
If you ask them what they think, they’ll honestly tell you, “I think he’ll be okay.” Then you call later and find out the animal was euthanized immediately.
Please don’t assume we lied, didn’t try, or didn’t care. Just ask to speak with the person who actually performed the triage. I promise you, if that decision was made here, it was made because it was the most merciful option available.

Every intake gets our best.
Every single person here hates euthanasia, but we are grateful that mercy exists.
We remember those animals. We especially remember your child’s face looking at us like we’re monsters without a heart. It’s bad enough when we’re powerless to save a life, but when we’re judged for showing mercy?
That destroys us.
It destroys me.
Last week it happened over and over and over again. It was so bad that I finally stopped going to the front door to do quick intake triage and personally thank the finders because I simply couldn’t do it anymore.
Most people are absolutely wonderful.
And then…
There’s little Kevin’s family.
Mom tells me to build Kevin a wheelchair so he can live here forever and “the kids can come visit.”
All lies, little dude.
All lies.
And I just can’t be part of that story.

Those moments don’t stay here when we lock the doors at night. We take them home. They haunt us. They keep me from the sleep I need so badly that I end up writing lengthy educational Facebook posts trying to work through the frustration.
So please… help us tell the whole story.
Teach your children that rescue doesn’t always mean recovery.
Teach them that there are worse things than death, and suffering without hope is one of them.
Teach them that love and care are two very different things. Love is an emotion. Care is an action. Sometimes the most loving action is letting an animal go instead of asking it to suffer because WE aren’t ready to say goodbye.
Because if I have to tell your child Kevin isn’t going to make it, I’d much rather be reinforcing a lesson you’ve already started than accidentally becoming the stranger who convinced them that bringing injured wildlife to professionals was somehow the wrong thing to do.

If your child cries, that sadness is empathy. Empathy is exactly why they picked Kevin up in the first place, so maybe I don’t have to live forever after all. Maybe there are little humans growing up right now who understand what wildlife rehabilitation is truly about and will support it one day. With time, with funding or even put on their poop shoes and get to work!
There are thousands of wildlife rehabilitators scattered across this country making impossible decisions every single day and doing what is best, struggling to stay afloat so the animals have a place to go. I am working on a way to help keep them going with funding. It will take about a year, but in the meantime, let’s all be aware of the things people may never consider that slowly erode their motivation. I promise you I am not the only rehabber whose day is destroyed by someone bringing in an animal that should not be saved and then confronting us over our honest opinion-especially in front of children.
The goal isn’t to teach our children that every rescue story has a happy ending.
The goal is to teach them that every wild animal deserves compassion.
“And we all suffer the same”
Maybe that’s something worth thinking about.
Thanks for reading.”

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I think Annette said many things that I also needed to hear.

Geemeff has posted her summary from Loch Arkaig and I will include it here.

Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Wednesday 1st July 2026

The weather was wet and windy as forecast but that didn’t stop Louis who delivered five fish, taking the Nest Two tally to two hundred and fourteen. However, the first fish was quite small and the delay of over five hours before the next one saw the hangry chicks having a pop at each other. The aggression didn’t last long and a steady supply of fish, including a large late supper at 10pm, saw the chicks off to bed with full crops and Dorcha struggling to fit them underneath her. Garry brought a single fish for Aurora, a small one which she chose to eat on the nest, which took the Nest One tally to one hundred and forty five. Nest Two cam has been zoomed out ready for fledging which is probably at least two weeks away, and before that the ringers will visit, meantime we get to enjoy the panoramic views again. More wet weather is forecast with light rain, gentle breezes and an overnight low of 12°C, continuing tomorrow with light rain showers, a moderate breeze, a high of 17°C and occasional sunny spells.

Today’s videos

https://youtu.be/0t0bbnRSsoQ N2 Early breakfast doesn’t last long 03.50.30

https://youtu.be/klpNm5FrsHg N2 Hangry chicks have a pop at each other 09.23.36

https://youtu.be/vlvRsKxxCQs N2 Fish number two, so fresh it’s flapping 10.47.04

https://youtu.be/5sXeHSSYwmM N2 Nest cam zooms out ready for fledging! 14.14

https://youtu.be/cO7QXPSSt3E N2 Louis has a very full crop when he brings the third fish 14.56.29

https://youtu.be/uGn0rfW0eqk N2 The chicks call with Dorcha as Louis brings fish four 16.11.14

https://youtu.be/jADtSSy59mc N1 Aurora stays on the nest to eat the little trout 17.33.45

https://youtu.be/dnsLqkDzkZw N2 Wind and rain doesn’t stop Louis – big fish five arrives! 22.19.06

Why not come and join the lively community at Woodland Trust’s Osprey forum, it’s friendly, free and everyone’s welcome:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care all. See you tomorrow!

Also, if you are enjoying the blog, please hit the like button. It moves us up in the algorithm, so maybe more people will learn about what is happening to our raptors and want to get involved in helping make their lives less challenging. Thank you.

Thank you to ‘J’ for sending me the text from Annette, to Geemeff for their daily summary of activities at Loch Arkaig, for those that posted information and images on FB, and the owners of the streaming cams mentioned that allowed us to follow the lives – the good and the sad – of our feathered friends.