Author Archives: 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.

The Daisy Chronicles, Day 7

There were thunderstorms and lots of rain for Daisy, the Pacific Black Duck sitting on six eggs yesterday. She managed to cover them as best she could before leaving last evening at 18:04:04.

The camera was off when I went to check on Daisy’s arrival on Day 7. That said there is more rain and thunderstorms forecast for today. Daisy was nicely puffed trying to keep her eggs warm and dry.

At 07:35:47, Daisy laid egg number 7.

Daisy continues to roll all those big eggs under her.

Daisy is really beautiful as a bit of the morning light comes through the branches of the Ironbark Tree.

I am terribly grateful for the winds yesterday and last evening as they blew down some more leaves for Daisy to use to cover her eggs.

Daisy continues to roll her eggs and try to loosen some down from her breast. I will continue to monitor her through the day to see if any predators come to the nest and how long she stays today.

Skipping to a different topic for the moment also -.

Dr Christian Sasse and Georgia have been having a conversation about the loss or decline of 3 Billion Songbirds. “Where are all the song birds we once heard?” It has been very relaxing listening to those bird songs while watching Daisy. These are a few highlights from this on line discussion.

Threats to birds and wildlife:

-pesticides end up ingested by other animals such as birds eating insects

-habitat decline, nesting and over wintering, invasive species including pets and dogs. Keep house pets inside. Don’t have cats outside in the morning when birds sing early. Get a bright collar on the cat to help the birds see them. The Tree Snake in Guam – tiny and looks harmless – but made 12 species of birds on Guam. This is a non-native snake species. Was accidentally on American military aircraft. Rats are very bad for island birds eat the bird eggs and attack birds.

-Window Strike during migration due to lights. Keep lights off at night during migration or blinds shut. ‘Lights Out’ by Audubon Campaign.

-Reflective windows are very bad. They mistake it for open sky.

-Climate change.

-Human population is the biggest threat of wildlife. This is especially true of people who use lots of resources even though the population might be lower. We need to think about how our actions impact the environment.

Raptors and waterfowl are not in decline. Active conservation activities are very effective. Sasse comments that a slow decline is very dangerous in the songbirds because you hardly notice. This was compared to the Passenger Pigeon which vanished before people had any idea it was in trouble. This is precisely why we do counts and band birds, also. To be able to recognize when a decline comes into effect.

In fighting the decline of songbirds, this article shows up in The Guardian today.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/08/mud-glorious-mud-restored-ditches-bring-the-birds-flocking-back-to-norfolk-wetlands-aoe?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco&fbclid=IwAR1tSGbFrOs3Jm_oWtaxZJPO_VnBzA1wY2ZElmQlTmkUrsxprfnWHT3GAI0

Are the songbirds getting shut out of habitat by other birds?

iNaturalist is an app to record seeing any plant or an animal. This is very helpful to scientists to understand the decline and rise. Georgia mentioned a new way to help scientists. It is Record the Earth – hit the record button – another way to submit data. In this case it is a video recording. It also acts you to record your emotions about the sounds you hear.

There was a brief mention that the decline in the Salmon population is declining and has a huge impact on bears and Bald Eagles. Looking forward to having a conversation with Dave Hancock on this. You can subscribe by going to Sasse Photo.

Thank you so much for joining me. I am so glad you are interested in what is happening to our little duck, Daisy. She is extremely alert and we just send her all our love and good wishes. Maybe if we all collectively blow we can get some more leaves to fall down off that tree!

It is to be partly cloudy with another thunderstorm and more rain happening at 16:00 Daisy’s time.

Thank you to Sea Eagles @Birdlife Australia Discovery Center and Sasse Photo for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots.

The Daisy Chronicles, Day 6-7

My news of Daisy the Duck who has taken over the nest of the White-Bellied Sea Eagles in Sydney’s Olympic forest left off at noon on Day 6. Daisy had laid her 6th egg at 06:42:50. As I begin writing it is 15:56. Periodically, Daisy has taken down from her breast, rolled the eggs, pushed the egg cup with her paddles to enlarge it, and pulled tiny twigs and some leaves closer to her.

The weather forecast is not favourable. It says, “Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Large Hail from Wed 15:46-Wed 18:46.” damaging winds, large hailstones, heavy rainfall that could lead to flash flooding was part of the warning. No wonder Daisy did not want her nest by the edge of the Parramatta River. This forecast is not good but it might, again, work in Daisy’s favour. The tree canopy might protect the eggs and Daisy, if she remains. Lady and Dad are not at the River Roost. But, they, too might want the protection of the forest. We will have to wait and see. Several times I thought Daisy was leaving and she hasn’t. Here are some images from the afternoon of Day 6. Oh, this little duck is so vigilant. I continue to say that I want to dump a basket of leaves on that nest. Oh, it might make all the difference in the world. If the down gets wet and inevitably it will, it shrinks. Indeed, it shrinks like dryer lint which is why they do not recommend you leave dryer lint for the birds to line their nests in the spring.

We are now within the weather warning zone. The old Ironbark Tree is swaying a little and the wind is picking up as evidenced by the leaves on the nest blowing a bit. The Ironbark Tree is strong and flexible – like bamboo. No worries there. They have changed the warning to extend to 19:36. It is currently 17:07. Either a large drop of rain or a hailstone has just hit the camera. Daisy is wet. She is still on her eggs. Loud bird noises from the forest.

I have just received a note from a friend that says that there could be duck boxes in or around the Olympic Forest. If so, I wonder why Daisy didn’t use one of them?

I am curious about something, however. Daisy has been vigorously trying to get down from her chest and from the back of her body under her wings. I went back to look at Daisy’s nest from a year ago on Day 6. Here are three images of that nest. Please notice the amount of down.

To me, this nest was a beautiful work of art. Daisy could fold the down and leaves in on themselves when she left and cover with more leaves.

Notice the covering over. This is Day 6 in winter 2021.

Daisy was approximately a year old last January. She has pulled more down off for the nest. Notice it fluffying around here. You can see the down that Lady tossed around the nest. Last year there was more down and more plant material.

So, I will be watching. I am wondering if Daisy did, in fact, prepare a nest elsewhere and laid some eggs. Something happened to that nest and she decided to try the Sea Eagle’s nest even though it wasn’t her first choice. Did she use most of her down on the other nest? and how will this impact the likelihood that these eggs can be hidden? Just questions tossing around my head as I compare the egg cup from last year, day 6 to this year.

There were no intruders for Daisy on Day 6. She covered her eggs as best she could starting at 18:02:34 flying off the nest at 18:04:04.

The rain had been coming down for awhile and everything was wet.

It continued to rain after Daisy left. You can see one egg and you might also see the down which is wet and has shrunk.

No one has disturbed Daisy’s nest since she left. That is a big plus. She is going to have to pull leaves on other part of the nest and twigs if she lays more eggs which seems likely now.

Daisy is due to arrive back at the nest in about 2 hours and 15 minutes. I will post my next report after she has laid her egg on Day 7. You can watch Daisy here:

Thank you so much for joining me. Send all of your best wishes to Daisy, our adorable little duck.

Thank you to the Sea Eagles @Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre for their streaming cam where I took my screen shots.

The Daisy Chronicles, Day 6 continued

The Pacific Black Duck Daisy laid egg 6 at 06:42:50.

Since then she has been very alert. She has rolled her eggs often and pulled down off her breast adding it to the egg cup. It is nearing noon and so far there have been no predators. The cam operator checked the WBSE River Roost and saw no sea eagles there. And, so far, I have only heard the cawing of the Ravens around 08:11. They have not come to the old Ironbark Tree – yet – today. They did not show up yesterday either!

Here are some images from the morning with Daisy.

I will bring updates on the afternoon and evening happenings tomorrow. Daisy may stay until nearly 15:30 like she did yesterday. Today is the first day that she has removed significant down from her breast. Poor thing she has pulled in leaves and twigs as she finds them. I see some behind her. She will need to bring those over, too. Those are huge eggs. She is extremely alert, listening to every sound in the forest – it could save her life and her eggs.

I am hearing the Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos in the distance but no Ravens. Maybe Daisy will have another quiet day. We can only hope and take it one day at a time.

Thank you for joining me. Take care everyone!

Thank you to Sea Eagles @Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.

The Daisy Chronicles, Day 6

It is 13:32 at Daisy’s nest in the Sydney Olympic Forest on Day 5. The Ravens came and Daisy thwarted them for an entire 13 minutes. At least one Raven returned a couple of hours later and Daisy sent him packing. I also found out that WBSE Dad had come to the nest and stomped around on the egg cup the evening of Day 4 for Daisy. The eggs were not damaged.

Daisy has been rolling the eggs many times. I wonder if this is it – if these are the last 5 eggs and she was frightened from her first nest and rushed here to try and at least save some. It is curious. Sometimes waiting to find out is not easy.

As I am writing this, I do not know if Daisy’s eggs will survive to reach Day 6. Sunset on Day 5 is at 19:56.

Will she stay til it is dark and then go and take a break and forage? Neither the WBSE or the Ravens should come at night and from last year, we know that Daisy can come and go in the dark.

The weather forecast for the Sydney area is not good. There is a thunderstorm for today. You can see below.

The winds were already starting. Daisy became ever so alert. She was plucking at her breast, adding leaves – any she could find – and rolling the eggs for the entire afternoon of Day 5.

Daisy covered her eggs flying off the nest at 15:59. You can hear the rain falling on the leaves.

I hope that our little duck gets lots of food while she is foraging and that the ongoing thunderstorm keeps the predators away.

Besides the predators Daisy has that other problem of a lack of material to cover the eggs. Maybe the winds will blow some leaves off the tree and cover those eggs. We can wish!

DAY 6: It is 03:49:00 and Daisy will be arriving back at the egg cup for Day 6. No one disturbed the eggs during the night, so far.

Daisy laid egg number 6 at 06:42:50.

She stood very still after the sixth egg.

The duck eggs are so big. Daisy seems to be having a bit of a time trying to stand up so the sixth one will harden.

Daisy has settled down comfortably.

I wonder what she will do. Will she stay for the normal two hours, cover the eggs and leave? or will she remain at the nest til around 16:00 and depart? We wait.

There have been two very brave birds on this nest. Today we are looking at one of them – Daisy. She should give us all hope that we might not be big but we can be brave and protect that which is dear to us. She is an inspiration. Of course, the other one was WBSE 26 whose leg was broken early in the nest and who endured pain and suffering to meet all of the milestones so that she could fly. What an amazing bird. They both bring tears to my eyes. They were inspirational to so many who have/had challenges. I will personally never forget Daisy or WBSE 26 – ever. I am certain that many of you feel the same.

WBSE 25 holds and comforts its little sister, 26, after its leg is fractured. WBSE 25 will go on to encourage 26 to meet all the milestones and will help her to reach them.

If I had three wishes –

  • The first would be for the WBSE nest to be near to the shore of the river so that the sea eaglets had a better chance of survival. They would be near to their parents after fledge to be taught how to hunt, to be fed while in training and building their flying skills. Not run out of town by the Pied Currawong and left to their own devices.
  • WBSE 26 to have had a very special veterinary surgeon give it a chance.
  • For someone to have built duck boxes for Daisy and the few other female ducks in the river so that their eggs might survive to have ducklings jumping out. They could do a large Pacific Black Duck display and put in permanent binoculars for interested parties to watch – and capture the video of the ducklings jumping and swimming in the river. It would really add to the study of the nature in the area. (Perhaps they already have this????).

I clearly believe in intervention. Humans have destroyed habitat and have built buildings where duck nests used to be and maybe WBSE nests as well. They have also poisoned the Parramatta River and the waters around Sydney. We owe the wildlife a chance. Just this morning I had this vision in my head of the forest caretaker taking a long pole and dumping a basket of leaves on that nest. Now wouldn’t that be grand? Obviously when she was not on the eggs…yes, I do daydream about the birds like you!

I will continue to monitor Daisy throughout the day. So far she is fine. I have not heard any ‘cawing’ from the Ravens so far. There will be an update later this evening.

Thank you so much for your interest and love for this brave little duck! Keep sending positive energy and warm wishes. We can hope. Take care everyone.

Thank you to the SeaEagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.

Tuesday in Bird World

Daisy arrived at her eggs in the Sydney Olympic Forest at 04:47:25. She is a little earlier than yesterday. There will be a full report on Daisy later today. She is alert and perhaps slightly nervous with what happened yesterday with the Ravens.

Ventana Wildlife Society have posted the release video of Iniko. Here it is:

The Port Lincoln Lads continue to fly around the cove and their parents continue to provide them with lots of fish to keep them in fit shape. Deliveries after noon include: 12:32 for Ervie, 14:45 for Bazza (a huge fish), 16:29 for Falky, and Ervie picks up the 16:34 delivery.

Ervie is on the left and Falky is on the right eating their fish. Look at how good those feathers are. These three are just doing fantastic!

I have to admit that I really miss the little Ospreys. Jack and Diane have been working on their nest at Achieva and the Osprey couple at Captiva were trying to mate yesterday.

My friend ‘S’ has sent me a great video showing Osprey fishing. It gives you some good insight into how physically fit these birds have to be to fish. Think about it. The male fishes all day long when there are eggs and chicks on the nest. Incredible.

Ken Phung is from Taiwan.

In Bald Eagle world, everyone is waiting for Anna at the KNF Bald Eagle Nest in Central Louisiana and Connie at the Captiva nest in Florida to lay their second egg today. Indeed, all of the Bald Eagle nests are busy – one way or the other. Gabby escorted the sub-adult female off her nest yesterday.

This is a short report. Daisy seems to have taken over my life – and I am happy but the other nests sure don’t get much attention. In our garden are 27 European Starlings and several hundred sparrows. It is cold today, -16 C. Feeders are full and everyone is depleting them!

Take care everyone. Full report on Daisy later today but for now the eggs were safe over night. Rain and storms predicted again which might help our little Duck. See you soon!

Thanks to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Port Lincoln Osprey Project. A big shout out to ‘S’ for the Osprey video. That is fantastic.

The Daisy Chronicles, Day 5. The Ravens Arrive

No more than Daisy laid her 5th egg at 06:32:55 and got comfortable, you could hear the ‘caw’ of the Ravens in the distance. At 07:32:04 those calls are loud!

Daisy is frightened. She knows they are on the branches above her nest. Look at her eye!

There are two Ravens on the nest attacking Daisy! They were relentless.

At 07:39:17 the Ravens are gone. Daisy held them off for 13 minutes. My goodness this little Pacific Black Duck is brave.

Our brave little duck puffed herself up to look larger than she is. She stretched her neck and was fearless in trying to keep the Ravens away from her and those precious five eggs.

It appears that Daisy has thwarted the Ravens for the time being. This is one brave little duck. It is now 08:02 and our little Daisy seems to be alright. I cannot hear any Ravens in the distance only the nectar and plant eating birds of the forest.

Laura Culley has always said that worrying means that the outcome has already established itself, wrongly, in our minds. Still Daisy has a very difficult situation. There was one raven visiting the nest sniffing about on day 4. Two came today. Now the ravens know that there is an egg cup there. What does Daisy do? She has no mate to help her with security. Will she cover the eggs and leave today? We don’t as yet know how many eggs she will lay.

It is 08:09 and I can hear the Rainbow Lorikeets on the nest even though the cam operator is not showing them. Perhaps the Ravens are off elsewhere? For the moment?

Are they trying to tell Daisy something?

Daisy appears relieved, more relaxed, with her friends surrounding her.

The Lorikeets should alert Daisy to the arrival of those birds that would do her or her eggs harm. They are still about Daisy and the tree at 08:20.

I wonder if Daisy tried to lay her eggs elsewhere and predators came and then she rushed on Day 1 to lay her egg in the WBSE nest? It is curious. This might mean that Daisy might not lay any more eggs. I guess time will reveal the answer to that question and to whether or not Daisy can leave the nest during the day without the Ravens consuming her eggs. It has certainly been a harrowing morning for our beautiful Daisy.

At 08:29 Daisy begins to gather leaves. Then she settles back down. Normally she would leave about 2 hours after laying her egg. Today that would be around 08:32. Let’s see if she does.

At 08:35 Daisy rolls eggs and begins to gather leaves. She is still on the eggs at 08:45. Much later than normal.

I will bring updates later tonight or – if everything goes well for Daisy’s eggs the rest of the day – you will not hear from me til Day 6. You can watch Daisy here:

In other Bird World News: If you watched the new Bald Eagle couple, Anna and Louis, at their nest in the Kisatachie National Forest, you will be excited to learn that Anna laid egg 1 for the 2021-22 season on 5 December at 20:44:51. All of the lads were fed at least one fish yesterday at the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge. They continue to thrive. Gabby and Samson have had a sub-adult female on their nest this morning. Gabby escorted her out of the neighborhood! The Bald Eagles at the Wildlife Rescue of Dad County now have three eggs. The female at Berry College has also laid her first egg of the season. Oh, it is going to be really busy towards the end of December and January with all the Bald Eagle eggs hatching.

Thank you for joining me. Please send your most positive energy to our brave little Duck! Take care everyone. Stay safe.

Thank you to the Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.

The Daisy Chronicles, day 5

Daisy, that little Pacific Black Duck, arrived at the old Ironwood Tree deep in the Sydney Olympic Forest at 05:10:31 on 7 December. She is due to lay her fifth egg today.

Little is Daisy aware that a Raven came to the nest on Day 4, yesterday, and became curious. It did not, however, disturb the eggs. I am led to believe that this is because they cannot smell them. So if Daisy is able to gather more leaves – these are large eggs – she will be able to thwart the Ravens until such time she runs out of leaves and twigs and must use her down.

Also unknown to Daisy is the fact that Lady and Dad have returned to their River Roost from Goat Island. The streaming cam picked them up today roosting. Will Day fly into the nest to check today? He often does a quick security run.

See the two white dots on the tree in the middle. That is Lady and Dad.

The camera could not focus in on them but it is definitely the White-Bellied Sea Eagle couple that own this nest!

Last year Dad broke one of the eggs and ate it. He did not like the taste. Neither sea eagle likes the down – it sticks to their beak. They simply do not understand it – it is foreign to them. They were curious as to who was using the nest and Dad understood that eggs are not bothered. Indeed, one time I thought Dad was going to incubate those eggs of Daisy’s!

Daisy arrived at 05:10:31. Once again she was very cautious approaching her eggs.

Look who has come to see Daisy! Last year 8 or 9 Rainbow Lorikeets would come and visit Daisy every morning. They were all over the tree surrounding her. It was simply beautiful.

The bird coming down on the top right is called a Noisy Miner. Noisy Miners are members of the Honeyeater family. They are grey with a black head, a yellow-orange beak and feet with a light yellow patch behind the eye. There are also white tips on the tail feathers. They will not hurt Daisy or her eggs. They are curious but it is possible that they could draw the attention of other birds, like the Ravens, that could predate Daisy’s eggs.

The Lorikeets seemed to come every morning like they were saying hello to Daisy. And here they are today. The one must have told the others that their friend, the little Duck, was back in the nest of the sea eagles.

I don’t know about you but I had to run and get a tissue.

No words necessary as the Lorikeets continue to gather around Daisy.

We are nearing the time that Daisy laid her egg yesterday. I can still hear the Lorikeets and the Noisy Miner.

Oh, how grand it was to see the Lorikeets come to welcome Daisy!

Yesterday Daisy laid her 4th egg at 06:19:36. Egg 3 was laid at 06:55:07. I am hoping that it is earlier for Daisy today so that she can wait for the egg to harden, cover the eggs well, and get away from the nest before the Raven or the Sea Eagles arrive. Fingers crossed they stay away!

Daisy began gathering leaves around 06:23.

With the Sea Eagles back at the River Roost, I am so nervous for Daisy. Last year Dad visited often – curious to find out who was using his nest. I do not believe they would harm Daisy but Daisy and Dad certainly played tag with one another. I hope it is more peaceful for our little duck this year but who knows! Wonder when Dad will come and check on this nest?

It is 06:28 nest time. Daisy hasn’t laid her 5th egg. You can still hear the Lorikeets in the tree. Last year they seemed to be around when the larger predators weren’t. Come on Daisy, hurry! Lay your egg and get out of the forest.

At 06:32:55, Daisy lays her 5th egg!

Daisy moves around in the nest bowl clockwise.

She is moving the eggs about but she appears also to be using her paddle feet to enlarge the egg cup. How smart is that?! She needs those eggs to sink down low especially if she is going to lay several more. Notice how big those eggs are. It takes a lot of nutrients out of Daisy’s system to lay all those eggs.

Daisy has settled down lower than on previous days. She has also brought in some more leaves closer to the egg cup.

Daisy is trying to rest. If today, follows what has happened on the previous four days, Daisy will stay on the eggs for about 2 hours, cover them and depart. Let us hope that she is not disturbed and has time to get those leaves over so that nothing seems out of place if Dad or the Raven come calling.

At 06:42, there was only one Sea Eagle at River Roost. Is Dad fishing? or is he coming to the forest? We wait.

Daisy is way down on the eggs, her head tucked in. So far no Sea Eagle coming. Sometimes last year Daisy just got away in the nick of time. She needs to cover those eggs well though and not be in a rush.

Thank you for joining me today. I will continue to monitor Daisy until she departs and check on the nest throughout the day. If anything happens, I will let you know. Take care. Keep sending your positive wishes to our little duck, Daisy!

Thank you to the Sea Eagle@BirdLife Australia Discovery Centre for their streaming cam where I took these screen captures.

WBSE 27 returns to care

For those of you who have been watching or following The Chronicles of Daisy, you will know that the White-Bellied Sea Eagles whose nest Daisy is borrowing, are not down at the River Roost by the Parramatta River but, rather, have been at Goat Island. My sources tell me that the pair left their River Roost the day prior to WBSE 27 being released from care.

WBSE 27 enroute to Toranga Zoo for care – first instance.

The absence of the parents means that WBSE 27 has not been cared for by them.

WBSE 27 has been taken into care again. The National Parks and Wildlife Services stated on Thursday, December 2 that a White-Bellied Sea eaglet, the same previous one in care, has now been taken back into care. It was found dehydrated and weak with no significant injuries.

WBSE 27 will be kept for a few days and sent to another facility for rehabilitation.

My only words are: Thank goodness! WBSE 27 has to be fed. It has to be trained to get its prey if it is to survive.

White Bellied Sea Eagles. 28 on the left and 27 on the right.

When Ventana Wildlife was releasing the three California Condors that had been in care on 4 December, one of the things that they said was that they wanted the birds to be slow and cautious about going into the freedom of the wild. They also complimented the Los Angeles Zoo and its staff for instilling ‘confidence’ into Iniko. It was Iniko that won the battle for the cow carcass shortly after her and Dian Fossey left the release cage.

This is the problem with the White-Bellied Sea Eagles. The Pied Currawongs rush them from the forest, they constantly attack them and have them flying hither and yon. They cannot imprint the way to the natal nest and they are stressed. There have been no sightings of WBSE 28 since she was rushed from the nest by the Currawongs. The likelihood that WBSE 28 is alive is slim. The parents do not know that their fledglings want food unless they are screaming for prey.

Stop for a moment and think of the three lads at the Port Lincoln Osprey nest. They have fledged. They have returned to the nest and the barge as they get their muscles for flying strong. They have even been taking baths over in the shore and watching fish. Soon – if they haven’t already – they will be attempting to fish.

Dad is delivering the breakfast fish to the Port Lincoln Osprey fledglings. Ervie gets it.

The best example of Eagles that you might remember are SW Florida’s Harriet and M15’s E17 and E18 who hatched last January.

E17 and E18 went into care at CROW for conjunctivitis. They became best buddies over the course of their time in the nest. They were like twins – although there was lots of competition in the early stages. CROW had to separate them with towels!

The two stayed on the nest for more than a month. Food was delivered to them. They learned how to protect their prey, they grew stronger. When the two of them finally left the nest to find their own way in the world there was not a doubt amongst anyone that both were equipped to be successful. In contrast, Legacy at the Northeast Florida bolted. She was a strong flyer but she left so quickly that she did not imprint the way back to the nest. She was missing in action for some days only to return to the nest, hungry and exhausted. She then stayed for that month for training. It is known amongst researchers who monitor and track the birds that if they bolt out of the nest and do not return, they are probably dead.

We want the fledglings to stay on the nest as long as possible. The longer they do the data reveals the more successful they are. So never, as you are watching, wish the birds to leave the nest quickly.

I am thrilled that WBSE 27 is in care and will go to rehabilitation. This might well mean that one of the fledglings from last year and this year has a chance at survival. Send all your best wishes to that amazing bird.

Thank you for joining me. I know that you are all wondering about the status of WBSE 27 since its release. This is actually good news. I hope that when they release WBSE 27 that it will be near a place where he can find food with the other juveniles.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Sea Eagles FB Page and Cathy Cook, SW Florida Bald Eagle nest and D Pritchett Family, SeaEagles @Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, and CROW.

The Daisy Chronicles, day 4 – ‘The Raven Arrives’

Our beautiful little Pacific Black Duck, Daisy, laid her 4th egg in the old Ironbark Tree in Sydney’s Olympic Forest at 06:19:36. She was more nervous today than usual. Something had caused her to be overly cautious today. Still, the little duck worked with as many leaves as she could find to cover her eggs and stayed for almost the entire 2 hours that she has done on previous days. She flew off at 08:15:17.

Daisy covered the nest really well— as best she could bringing in leaves from behind her this morning. There is no indication that she has used any of her down and that is a good thing. The predators would smell it and find the eggs!

Did the Raven see Daisy on the nest? or did he just happen by and was curious?

The Raven lands on the nest at 09:29:30. He actually looks like one of the Crows we have that come to our garden as opposed to a Raven in North America. I know that it is difficult to identify between the Australian Raven and Crow. It is not a Pied Currawong – there is no white.

Whatever – a very dangerous bird has landed on Daisy’s nest of the variety that consumed her eggs last year.

The Raven looks right at the nest cup but cannot see anything. Daisy did do a good job covering those four eggs.

The Raven almost steps on the nest cup! But he doesn’t, thankfully.

He jumps over to the rim of the old Sea Eagle nest.

All the while the Raven is on the nest it is making very strange calls.

I wonder if it was calling the other members of its family. Last year several arrived but not today.

He stares but obviously cannot smell those eggs and he certainly cannot see them. Oh, Daisy, you little Duck. You did do a great job covering them.

It simply felt like he was going to tear that nest up but he moves over to the parent branch of the tree where the juvenile sea eagles often branch.

And then he is gone. I think my heart sunk to my toes. It is too early for the predators to be sniffing around Daisy’s nest. —— Any day is too early until the ducklings hatch and jump!

At 09:31 ‘something’ chased ‘something’ out of the forest from the top centre to the lower left side. It happened very fast and I could not decipher what it was. I wonder if our little Duck chased that Raven? Has Daisy been watching?

I hope that Daisy only lays one more egg. If there are fewer she will be able to cover them adequately or maybe a big wind would come and rain down leaves on that nest. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Everyone send all your good wishes to our little Pacific Black Duck, Daisy. She needs all the positive energy she can get as she continues to try and keep her eggs safe.

Other Bird World News: There is no further news on Yurruga. Ervie picked off the first fish of the day at 06:33. If you watch Jackie and Shadow, the Bald Eagles at Big Bend, they have been working on the nest. Yesterday Connie at Captiva laid her first egg at 05:55:37.

There have been two welcome visitors to our garden. Hedwig, the short tailed Cottontail Rabbit, has been photographed.

Shortly after lunch, Sharpie, the Sharp-shinned Hawk dropped by.

The European Starlings, the Black capped Chickadee, and numerous varieties of Sparrows, mostly House Sparrows, filled up the feeders. I think that each of them knew that there was a weather advisory out and that they would be hunkered down by snow and blowing snow with little visibility in the late afternoon.

Oh, I hope that Raven forgets about Daisy and her eggs!

Take care everyone. Thank you for stopping by to check on the birds. It is nice having you with us.

Thank you to the Sea Eagles @ BirdLife Australia Discover Centre for their streaming cam where I took my screen shots.

The Daisy Chronicles, Day 4

Going back to Day 3, Daisy duly stayed on the three eggs for a bit. The third egg was laid at 06:55:06. Daisy began preparing to depart, moving leaves and twigs over the eggs at 08:17. Within two minutes, she was gone — after checking that no one was around watching.

Oh, she is such a beautiful brave little duck!

This programme seems to have put the images backwards! The top row and one on the second shows Daisy covering up her precious eggs.

Day 4: 6 December 2021

Everyone’s favourite duck, the Pacific Black Duck, Daisy, flew into the nest at 05:21:51. You might be able to see her fluttering and flying up in the image below. She is the blurry mark above ‘2021’.

Daisy landed on the nest a second later.

Daisy seemed a tad more nervous this morning. She is extremely cautious taking almost two minutes before she waddles over to the egg cup.

I wonder what sounds from the forest Daisy is hearing that are making are nervous? Are Lady and Dad back from Goat Island? Has Daisy seen them?

Daisy was still nervous after she settled. She did not remove the leaves. She laid down on them and used her paddle feet to stir them around and the eggs.

At precisely 06:19:36, Daisy laid her first egg – about half an hour earlier than the day prior.

There it is. You can see that it is wet and shiny. It will need to harden and Daisy will hope that predators stay away so that she can cover up her clutch of four eggs completely today.

Daisy is allowing the air to harden the egg as she stands over her clutch. If she follows the same routine of previous days, she will remain on the nest for not quite two hours.

So far Daisy’s luck has held. We hope that the Sea Eagles remain on Goat Island. And Daisy may resist putting down with the eggs until there is hard incubation so as not to attract the Ring-tailed Possums who have made a nest also in the sea eagles’s tree.

Good Luck today, Daisy! Cover the eggs really well. You have hundreds of people watching you and sending you much love and luck!!!!!!

Thank you for joining me today. I will bring updates for other nests later today that will include a final check in on Daisy. Take care all.

Thank you to the Sea Eagle@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.