Category Archives: albatross

Ervie is on the move, 2C4 injured…Thursday in Bird World

10 August 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

It is freezing – well, not literally, but temperatures will drop to 11 C tonight. Already it is feeling like wool socks and jumpers.

I hope your day has been as good as it can be as we worry about our little Mini. I hope that we are not worrying about Mini in a week – that she is progressing. My friend ‘R’ says that when a patient comes into a doctor’s office with a complaint, they look for symmetry. Do you know how hard it is to get Mini to stand with her legs apart, facing the camera? Three does it all the time. Frustrating!

Before we even peek at the kittens today, the big news is that Ervie is on the move! Oh, I hope that someone will be there to take photos of our little lad. Ervie is nearly two years old (hatched mid-September 2021), and I would love for him to stay in Port Lincoln and take over the barge from Mum and Dad. but now thankful he has a tracker.

Thank goodness for the three kittens! They work wonders – better than worry beads!

Calico now allows me to scoop her up and rub her cheek against mine. She is also in full approval of kitten milk. She drinks about 1/3 of a cup at each meal. Her fur is beginning to shine a bit. She is very sneaky, and I cannot find that kitten/s. She weaves in and out – keeping me guessing and running – when she is ready! Geemeff suggested in jest that I put a GoPro on her. Well, there is one sitting here in front of me. But Calico doesn’t weigh more than a quarter, so I am reluctant, but it sure would help me find where she is going! She certainly has a PhD in thwarting surveillance techniques.

Oh, Wednesday was another day spent – in part – staring at Mini’s leg to see if something is wrong and what it could be. The truth is we will never know. She is eating and flying and that is good. Mum is checking on her and fish keep coming in. She did not even finish a really large one. I am glad she is not grounded because who knows what would happen after that…let us all hope it is a sore sprain. Someone thought her foot had been cut but it was blood from the nice fresh fish she was munching on…fingers crossed. She is surely loved and if love can heal she will be 100% soon!

Mini got some nice fish flakes but lost part of the fish over the side of the nest. She appeared to be in some pain and having difficulty with that left leg in the early morning.

This is the best image to see that left leg.

16:31

1727. Parent with another fish for Mini.

These parents are amazing. They take such good care of all their chicks and now they are concerned about Little Mini, too.

Mini flew off shortly after. Please send her positive wishes. On Thursday morning the parents brought Mini her breakfast fish…she is not putting any weight on that left leg today. She ate some of the fish but appears to be worse than yesterday.

My heart is just broken. She cannot be taken into care unless she is grounded. Oh, I so wish this is just a bad sprain, but I fear it is worse than that.

If we ever begin to doubt how much Mini wants to live and how much she deserves to, ‘MP’ found a screen shot of the Patchogue nest he took eons ago. It was raining and the three bigger chicks were under Mum and Mum had quit feeding the fourth hatch. There is Mini. She should have died of exposure. She didn’t. She should have died of hunger. She didn’t. Let us all help her beat this! Positive energy.

Today, Mini appears to be in considerable pain – visually so. I hoped – beyond hope- this was just a simple sprain and she would ‘get over it in time’. But it looks like she really needs an intervention – which is something that I did not want to see for fear that our darling girl cannot get better. Send our little fighter all of your love.

There have been worries at several other nests. One was the third hatch at the Steelscape nest that has not had fish in some time. ‘PB’ alerted me to a fish arriving at 1535 on Wednesday and the third hatch devoured it. Thank goodness, the older siblings flew in later. This baby was starving.

At Loch Arkaig, after being MIA for 28 hours, Louise arrived with one fish for Nuka and returned shortly after with one for Dorcha. Relief. I don’t even know what my mind would do if we lost Louis this year to intruders – and there are intruders everywhere.

In the middle of some worry over Mini and concerns for the third hatch at Steelscape (and other nests), there are always stories that lift our spirits. ‘MB’ sent me one of those today to share with you. One lucky osplet family.

I reported about the storks dying due to extreme weather. Those were Latvian storks…my friend Sassa Bird says that they have not witnessed in their lifetime a catastrophic storm with tornadoes and hail and the winds that caused the deaths of the beloved storms preparing for migration. It is simply heartbreaking. The Latvians love their storks, and this has been a challenging year in the area with the weather. Our thoughts go out to everyone there.

The trio at Osprey House in Australia are beginning to enter the Reptilian Phase.

Bitty – DH2- from Decorah Hatchery caught its first fish. Did the parents leave the fish? Who knows – it is a great milestone for this beautiful eagle.

First fledge at nest 10, Kielder Forest! 9 August.

Seaside: Fledglings on the nest – one with fish and one wishing! It is fantastic to see all of these young fliers return to the nest to be fed. We get to know they are safe and the parents can feed them while they work those flight muscles.

Boulder County: Some fledglings have huge crops, while others sit and wait and hope for fish. Just look at the one in the middle – reminds me of Diamond when she finishes eating a huge pigeon. There are no worries about these. Fish are plentiful. Great parenting to get the three to fledge.

Dunrovin: All is well. Swoop is busy bringing fish to the nest and the three are at the nest at night.

SSEN Alyth: So many fish that the one has a crop that is about to pop and another fish comes to the nest!

RSPB Loch Garten: Sadly, there was an aerial battle between fledgling 2C4 and intruder KL5. The result was that 2C4 has been injured. It looks as if that injury is on the right elbow – perhaps a deep talon scratch – that has bled between the wing and the body. Send your best wishes.

Geemeff sent me the video of this persistent attack on the two youngsters at this nest.

Dyfi: No one is hungry at the nest of Idris and Telyn – not even the cleaners!

Time for ‘H’s reports:

Fortis Exshaw – “As nest cam viewers, we try to rationalize what we see on the livestream.  But, sometimes even the most knowledgeable viewers can only guess at possible causes of what we see, or what we are not seeing.  Louise used to bring in 5-8 fish per day, and now it’s down to 1-2 per day.  On 8/7 the air quality was smoky.  The temperatures in the area have been in the low to mid 70’s, and there were a couple of light rain showers on 8/9.  There was one brief intruder issue on 8/9 that we saw, and both Louise and O’Hara defended.  There has been some intermittent construction taking place very close to the nest for the last two days.  The construction disturbance has not completely prevented Louise from delivering fish, but we don’t know if it has hampered her efforts at times.  There was only one fish delivered to the nest on 8/9, and it was brought by Louise.  The older sibling, Banff, ate it.  The younger osplet, JJ, only had a fish tail to eat on 8/7, he had two small-ish meals on 8/8, and had nothing to eat on 8/9.  We are praying for a fish-filled day on 8/10.  The chicks are 53 days old.”

Forsythe – Wow, what a day for Ollie and Oscar!  Oscar delivered six fish to the nest for Ollie (at 0613, 0803, 0906, 1342, 1444, and 1734), and a couple of them were quite large.  Ollie was probably pinching herself to make sure she was not dreaming, lol.  There were times when there were two fish in the nest, and a small partial fish was left on the nest when Ollie finally retired to her roosting spot.  It was the sixth straight day with no sign of the older sibling, Owen.

Barnegat Light – Duke was minding his own business and enjoying his afternoon bath in the Bay . . Ah, but someone else was also minding his business . . Dorsett flew right at her Dad and buzzed him!  It was hilarious.

Kent Island – This family had a fish-filled day, and Molly and Audrey each had their own fish at one point.  59-day-old Molly has been sleeping upright for two nights in a row.

Osoyoos: Offline.

Severna Park – One or both of the siblings can often be found at the nest.  Being the good Dad, Oscar is continuing to provide for his two fledglings.

Patuxent Nest-1 – Foster and Sib-B are often seen at their nest, and Dad continues to supply them with large fish.

Thank you so much, ‘H’.

Sydney Sea Eagles: ‘A’ reports “Isn’t it always the way? Just as I say the WBSE food supply has been wonderful, we had a day today when the first food did not arrive on the nest until nearly 12:25. It was a nice, big whole fresh fish (perhaps a bream?), which Lady quickly took charge of to feed the eaglets, who had spent the morning snuggled up sleeping together and putting in some serious growing time. Once food arrived however, SE32 was quickly up at the table and got at least the first dozen bites. SE31 was not bothered, lying behind SE32 and watching its younger sibling eating. Amazing! SE32 was obviously hungry and Lady fed it bite after bite. Eventually, SE31 decided it was ready for brunch and stood up to eat but SE32 just pushed forward another step and kept eating. SE31 watched. Lady kept feeding SE32. After another six or eight bites for SE32, SE31 again tried to get to mum’s beak but Lady keeps feeding SE32. Finally, SE31 has no real choice but to beak SE32 in the back of the head. Not hard and just once, but SE32 ducks down and SE31 gets to eat a few bites. SE32 is back up with 25 seconds and accepting more bites. They eat side by side until SE32 decides to stare down SE31, which had the usual result. SE32 allows SE31 to eat for a moment or two before again popping up. The pair are remarkably civil and both get plenty of brunch. I am no longer worried about the relationship between them, unless the food situation deteriorates. It was an exceptionally windy day in Sydney, with the trees tossing violently. This is no doubt the reason Dad had problems fishing today. This was a big fish though, enough to feed Lady and the kids for the rest of the day.”

Avian Flu has not gone away -. Now it is in the Red Grouse populations.

Highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza-confirmed-in-red-grouse-in-Scotland-–-Raptor-Persecution-UKDownload

In a related vein, Wild Justice held a poll about banning rouse hunting or issuing licenses. Geemeff sent me the results of that vote. As Geemeff says, the authorities should take note of this!

Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care. Looking forward to seeing you again soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, MB, MP, PB, R, Sassa Bird’, Port Lincoln Ospreys, PSEG, Steelscape, Geemeff and the Woodland Trust, Al Eastman, Sassa Bird, Linda McIlroy and Raptors of the World, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Joanna Dailey and Kielder Forest, Seaside, Boulder County, Dunrovin Ranch, SSEN Alyth, RSPB Loch Garten, Fortis Exshaw, Forsythe, Wildlife Conserve of NJ, Kent Island, Severna Park, Patuxent River Park, Raptor Persecution UK, Wild Justice, Syllabub and RSPB Loch Garten, and Dyfi Ospreys.

Does Mini have an injury…Tuesday in Bird World

8 August 2023

Hi Everyone,

I hope the beginning of the week has been kind to each of you! It is nearing 1700 on Monday as I begin to write after spending some time checking on the birds – both on the screen and in the garden. Things are winding down. Spotters in the UK are starting to see migrating ospreys flying south. Here it was sunny and is now overcast. The Blue Jays and a single Crow have offered joy in the garden today. It will not be long before the migrating birds appear, including the hummingbirds and the Baltimore Orioles looking for their grape jelly and oranges, before continuing their southern journeys. I plan to get to the nature centre on Wednesday for a long walk and check on the ducklings and goslings. They should be all grown up! Little Red was there, too, and Dyson and the gang will, hopefully, be around later this evening.

There is severe weather headed for the east coast of the US that is predicted to produce 75-80 mph winds, hail, and tornadoes. Thinking of all our nests including, potentially, our Mini – and all of you. Stay safe.

Mini was on the nest at least twice today. In the image below, at 16:32, she has a crop. She got the 0601 fish delivery! Not huge, but a fish, and she will have another during the day for sure – as is noted in that 16:32 crop.

It is hard to see Mini’s nest empty…one day soon she will not show up, she will be on her way south. While we will never know for certain what will happen to this young lady, she has been a survivor. There is some concern Monday evening that Mini might have an injury to her left leg. Let us all just breathe. We have seen ‘slight’ injuries on nests take several days to heal. Mini will rest and Dad will bring fish if she is, indeed, having an issue.

Oh, goodness. Mini is still favouring that left leg this morning. She cannot put much weight on it. She has a fish and let us all hope that our little one heals..she has plenty of time before she might think about migrating in September. Just rest, Mini!

Can she hold down the fish hard well enough to eat…let’s keep an eye.

We fretted over the debris in Mini’s nest and thankfully, none of the twine or the bin bags endangered the health of the adults or the osplets. In Montana, they continue to find osprey chicks when they are being banded in nests where they are tangled – dangerously so. Thankful for the intervention.

Oh, what a cute little one. So grateful he is recovering.

A hope, skip, and jump around the nests. There is not a lot of action – that is a good thing.

MN Landscape: Chick is self-feeding, but when Mum has a fish she is eating, this baby is loud with the fish begging!

Boulder County: That nest just seems to get smaller and smaller when all three of the fledglings are home!

Seaside: Naika and Kawok continue to fly in and off the nest. Naika had a beautiful big fish that could not be finished. Kawok got to finish the best part – the tail half!

Clark PUD: One osplet has fledged. Both on the nest and being fed. All looks good.

Loch of the Lowes: Please note that Blue NC0 has not been seen since 15 July and the male, Blue PF5 for several days now.

Janakkala, Finland: Ospreys watching for Dad who delivers fish – and then the great tug o war begins.

Muonio, Finland. Video of the ringing of the chicks has been released.

Port Lincoln Osprey: The date of Zoe’s egg tells it all. Soon we will be staring at incubation in Southern Australia.

Mum and Dad on the nest of the barge at Port Lincoln. They are both anticipating the arrival of the first egg.

It is time for ‘H’s report:

Fortis Exshaw: “It was not the best of days for the youngest chick, JJ.  In the early morning, both Banff and JJ took turns trying to eat the large fish tail left over from the very tough fish the previous day.  The tail also had a large piece of attached skin dangling from it.  JJ finally managed to eat the skin and tail at 0816.  As it turned out, that was all that JJ had to eat on 8/7.  Two large fish were delivered to the nest, the first one by O’Hara at 0844, and Louise delivered one at 1352.  The older sibling, Banff, ate both of those fish. JJ did have a couple of good meals the previous day, however, and we’re hoping the fishing improves for Louise and O’Hara today.  The air was visibly smoky or foggy for most of the day, and a nearby viewer confirmed it was smoke from a distant fire.  Perhaps the smoke had made fishing more difficult for the adults.  There were no major intruder issues that we could see.”

Osoyoos –  It was another good day for the family. There were six fish delivered to the nest.  The body of chick #2 had been slipping off the edge of the nest for a few hours, and at 1205 when Soo shook the nest as she flew, the body finally fell to the ground.  A member of the Facebook group who lives in Osoyoos was going to try to retrieve #2’s body.

Kent Island – A severe storm system went through the area in the evening, with heavy rains and wind gusts that were predicted to be up to 70 mph.  The live video stream went off, and the cam is showing highlights.  During the day, young Molly had been ‘helicoptering’ so high that she was out of cam view a couple of times.  I hope she wasn’t too excited with all the wind and continued practicing her hovers.  We hope that Molly and her parents, Audrey and Tom, stayed safe during the storm.  We anxiously await the return of the live stream, and for any news from the Com family.  

Barnegat Light – A couple of ‘firsts’ for this osprey family on 8/7:  On 6/28 Dorsett was banded, and afterward the bander installed a new perch for Duke near the Bay.  On 8/4, the fledgling Dorsett, was on the perch for the first time, and then on 8/7 Daisy tried the perch for the first time!  The other ‘first’ was that Dorsett flew in and landed on the railing with a big gob of soft nesting material in her talon.  A surprised Daisy said, “Well how lovely, thank you very much, Dear!”

Severna Park was another nest impacted by the strong storm system on 8/7. Here is a photo of the two fledglings after the worst of the storm was over.

Patuxent Nest-1 was also inundated by the storm on 8/7.  In this photo the two fledglings are waiting for their ‘breakfish’ delivery on 8/8.

Audubon Boathouse – It is not very often that Skiff and Dory are seen together at the Boathouse nest, but they were on 8/6.  Little Skipper was predated by an owl 15 days ago.  The view from the Boathouse nest cam is one of the most picturesque of any osprey streaming cam, and perhaps soon I will be able to find solace in its beauty.  But, it’s just not happening yet.

Black Stork Karula Forest: This is the nest of Karl II and Kaia. Karl II has the sole responsibility for feeding the three storklets since 23 July at 16:19 when Kaia was last seen on the nest. She is not dead. She is foraging in an area with a brook about 6km from the nest site. Storklet 7194 fledged on 7 August.

Big Red and Arthur’s Red Tail Hawk Nest:

Ferris Akel has some really good footage of the Ms and family!

A good article on L2’s release with video.

Red-tailed-Hawk-22L322-Released-After-a-Year-of-Recovery-Cornell-Lab-Bird-Cams-Cornell-Lab-Bird-CamDownload

The 2023 season highlights – life with the Ms.

San Jose City Hall: SK Hideaways caught more bonding between Monty and Hartley. Wonder where Soledad is and how she is doing?

Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Orange: Xavier and Diamond continue bonding and mating as the 2023 breeding season is getting ready to begin in Australia. ‘A’ remarks, “At Orange, bonding activities are increasing, including mating up to several times an hour and much prey being brought to the scrape. Diamond will occasionally accept a starling but only if she is particularly hungry, which is rare – she is not often seen without a noticeable crop. Xavier brought her an eastern rosella she was happy about the other day and a pigeon was on today’s menu, but he usually dances around with his starlings before leaving again, taking his starling with him. He is so svelte and handsome with his snowy bib and his orange feet.”

Sydney Sea Eagles: Both eaglets are being fed very well. There is a variety of food including fish and today an eel! Their big crops have made lovely cushions to sleep on. What a relief.

Roy Cam Albatross: ‘A’ reports “The big news is that Manaaki weighed only 8 kg at today’s weighing (he is 200 days old today, only 40 days from the average fledge age, and today was one of 20 chicks at the colony, 10 males and 10 females, to be fitted with a data logger). The 8 kg he weighed today is down from his peak weight of 11 kg, and a supplementary feeding is scheduled for him tomorrow or Thursday. Imagine, we never thought we would see our big boy needing supplementary feeding, but that is what happens when a parent fails to return, and sadly, it has been way too long since we last saw L (20 July). GLY has done his best but he is unable to sustain a male chick on his own. At this point, GLY has not been in since 30 July, which is a very long time for GLY, who usually has half that time between visits. Before this absence, L was gone for 15 days in April and again in May, but this is significantly longer than those absences. So we are all worried about both parents at this stage and Manaaki has obviously been hungry for several days, begging other chicks’ parents for food. It would be a tragedy to lose either one of this couple, who had already successfully fledged two chicks before Manaaki so were a well-established pair.”

Lady Hawk gives us a video of the GPS tracking device and the weighing.

Going back to Port Lincoln, there is news of Ervie and Zoe from the Port Lincoln FB page today:

Please send all your most positive energy to our Mini if she has an injury to her leg so that she rests and recovers fully.

Thanks, everyone for being with me today. Please take care. I look forward to seeing you again soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A, H’, CNN Weather, NOAA, PSEG, Wild Skies Raptor Centre, MN Landscape Arboretum, Boulder County, Seaside, Clark PUD, LOTL, FOF, PLO, Fortis Exshaw, Osoyoos, Audubon Boathouse, Patuxent River Park, Severna, Wildlife Conserve of NJ, Kent Island Ospreys, Eagle Club of Estonia, Looduskalender, Ferris Akel Tours, Cornell Bird Lab, SK Hideaways and San Jose City Hall, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, and Lady Hawk and NZ DOC, Sydney Sea Eagle Cam and Port Lincoln Ospreys FB.

Introducing Molly…Saturday in Bird World

5 August 2023

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday ‘felt’ like Saturday. I wonder what today will feel like?

Books that have been ordered (I often order directly through the UK) are beginning to arrive for some good fall reading. One of those is ‘Why Do Birds Suddenly Disappear’ by Lev Parikian. I will keep you posted…

Gosh. I am really hoping that WBSE 32 gets a little ‘Mini’ in its spirit. It looked like it was this morning. The wee one was fed first Saturday morning because 31 wasn’t quite awake yet. WBSE 31 has been asserting its dominance. Let us wait and see but, this nest normally sorts those things out just like SW Florida does! These two little fuzz balls are darling.

Osoyoos: There are wildfires in the area. There are burns going on to stop the fires from spreading but this is what is happening near the Osprey nest. The re-posting was by a former student of mine that lived on the lake and has since had to move because of the fires and the smoke. Please keep this nest in your thoughts.

‘H’ reports for Friday: “Osoyoos –  There were four fish delivered to the nest, which is fewer than normal.  But, size matters, and a couple of those fish were quite large, providing for prolonged stop-and-resume feedings.  All is well for Soo, Olsen, and their 40-day-old offspring.”

Patchogue: Dad delivered a fish to a hungry Mini at 0544! And there were the following fish deliveries – 0801 (2 fish), 0948, 1332, 1342, and 1437. By the time the small fish arrived at 1438, Mini looked like she was going to pop a crop. Smiling. This little one is smart. She stays on the perch, watches, and anticipates. And often the others are not even around.

Need I say this is one fantastic Osprey family. I have not seen such dedication very often at the nests. Mini is thriving.

1341:

Fish at 1437.

MN Landscape: So many fish coming on the nest that when the last one of the day arrived the chick didn’t even bother getting up to eat.

Seaside: With both chicks fledged, the nest is very quiet first thing in the morning.

Boulder: The story of the week looks like it will be mostly empty Osprey nests!

Collins Marsh: One chick has fledged and the other will fly soon. Both return to the nest to be fed. Everything is going along just fine.

Bolton Castle: The two young osplets are the grandchildren of the late Mrs G at Glaslyn. Their Mum is KS1 that fledged at Glaslyn in 2018. Their ring numbers are 9C6 and 9C7 and they have both fledged…one on 2 August and the other on the 4th of August. Fantastic. They have amazing DNA.

Argathy: Both osplets, Blue 743 and Blue 744 have now fledged. They were ringed on the 19th of July and neither bird showed any fault bars – meaning that they never had a day without a meal! Fantastic. Photos from Argathy Red Kits on the date the chicks were ringed.

Dyfi: Idris and Telyn are keeping their chicks full to the brim.

Glaslyn: OH2 enjoying a fish alone in the nest without the very vocal OH1.

Alyth: Chick on the nest waiting for a fish delivery….gets it and then in flies another fledgling. Too bad..the one on the nest kept the fish!

Poole Harbour: The fish keep coming for the trio and CJ7 and Blue 022 are alert to the fact that until the fledglings leave for their migration the goshawk could arrive any time. Send good energy so that this does not happen!

At Loch Arkaig, Ludo is acting as a security guard! He does not like Hooded Crows on his nest!

Time for ‘H’s reports:

Forsythe – We only know what we can see on camera, but if a fledgling osprey spends a great deal of time at the nest, one would assume that they are not being fed off the nest.  But, perhaps it is not correct to make that assumption.  Ollie seems hungry, but she does not look or act like she is withering away.  After Ollie apparently did not eat for two days, Oscar delivered a fish for Ollie at 0926.  The older sibling, Owen, did not show up to make a bid for the fish.  Ollie hung out at the nest for most of the day, but did spend some extended time out exploring.  Oscar did not bring any more fish to the nest on 8/4.  I don’t believe that Owen was seen at all on camera on 8/4, and we saw very little of Owen on 8/3.  Perhaps Owen has learned to catch her own fish, or she is simply staying away from the nest, because all she and Ollie did was fight when they were together.

Kent Island – Tom and Audrey’s 54-day-old young lady now has a name: “Molly”   We love you, Molly!

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Barnegat Light – Since fledging 5 days ago, Dorsett continues to explore her environs and she tries new things every day.  Today, she was seen on Duke’s perch for the first time.  Very cool!

Patuxent Nest 1 –  Dad continues to deliver large fish to the nest for Foster and Sib-B.  

Dahlgren: “The youngest of the two fledglings, D12, made her first catch (that we are aware of).  Now, we have seen D12 diving from the nest or perch a few times, but thus far she had always emerged from the water empty-taloned.  But, early today . . there she was staring down into the water, head bobbing, focusing . . and off she went!  A picture perfect dive into the water. a brief pause (contemplating), wings flapping, and lift-off out of the water.  She flew down the creek a bit, circled back around and landed on the nest with a . . live CRAB!  Oh, my!  We couldn’t believe our eyes.  Well, D12 fooled around with that crab for nearly 1/2 hour.  She tried unsuccessfully to penetrate the shell a couple of times, and she did pull off a leg, but discarded it.  And, despite D12 stepping on the crab’s claws many times, luckily the crab never pinched her.  Eventually a bored and frustrated D12 walked away from the crab, which was still alive.  The weakened crab walked sideways toward the edge of the nest trying to return to its watery home, but its progress was blocked by some sticks.  During all of this, D11 landed on the perch and observed her younger sister’s antics.  D11 seemed a bit bemused, but otherwise uninterested.”

  

Oh, thanks so much ‘H’. I love the story about the crab!!!!!!!!

Dorsett Hobby Falcons are branching. This means that fledging will be coming soon!

Collins Street: Two falcons were bonding on the ledge!

In Orange, ‘A’ reports that Xavier has been in and out of the nest with food which Diamond has refused. Once it was a Starling! There has been some bonding! Excellent. We wait…Xavier loves his eggies. Maybe we need – oh, dear, a Supreme Parrot for Diamond to woo her.

There is bonding going on between Annie and Lou at The Campanile on the grounds of UC-Berkeley!

“Meanwhile, in New Zealand, we are hoping for a visit from L, who has not been in since 20 July. We have had gaps of 12 days and 15 days previously with L, who seems to forage further away than GLY, so we are not panicking yet, but we are on the verge on doing so, as it is 5 August today, so it’s been 16 days. Another day or two and we will be genuinely worried. Manaaki weighed just over 9 kgs when he was weighed on Tuesday (four days ago), which is not surprising considering how hungry he has been at the last few feedings plus the fact that GLY has had to do all the heavy lifting feeding-wise since 20 July. He has done his very best to give Manaaki everything he can but there have been feedings that have left Manaaki obviously hungry afterwards. It has certainly not reached the stage where supplementary feeding is needed but if L does not appear in the next few days, that might be considered over the next fortnight. I’ll keep you posted. There’s a lot of wingercising going on, with all three chicks on the headland doing a lot of flapping and just feeling the wind beneath their wings. TF chick and Manaaki are both ridding themselves of fluff – Miss NTF chick has the least fluff left – and UQ chick is joining in. Manaaki’s nest is often empty as he goes exploring and visiting his neighbours, a sad reminder of what we will soon confront once Manaaki fledges. Now’s the time to appreciate our beautiful boy whilst we can. We won’t have him all that much longer.” Thanks, ‘A’.

Thank you so much for being with me this morning! Please take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog this morning: ‘A, H’, Sydney Sea Eagles, Osoyoos, Debra Ceravolo and Osoyoos Connect, PSEG, MN Landscape Arboretum, Seaside, Boulder County, Collins Marsh, Bolton Castle, Argathy, Dyfi Ospreys, Glaslyn, SSEN Alyth, Poole Harbour, Geemeff and the Woodland Trust, Forsythe, Kent Island, Conserve Wildlife F of NJ, Patuxent River Park, Dahlgren, SK Hideaways and Dorset Hobby Falcons, C=Mirvac, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, SK Hideaways and Cal Falcons, and the NZ DOC.

Fish Battles and more…Monday in Bird World

31 July 2023

My goodness. It is the end of July. Where did the summer go? and the Osprey season? It seems it was only a couple of weeks ago that we were wondering if Blue NC0 would lay the first egg of the UK season or would it be Maya?

I woke up to a note from a friend living on a farm in southern Manitoba with a pond. She wanted to know what is up. The geese typically are not on her pond until the middle of October, and at least 65 landed on Sunday. Is migration starting this early?

‘PB’ sent us a smile for the day. After Louise feeds the osplets twice from the big fish she brought to the nest, look at those crops.

‘H’ adds: “Mr.O was not seen on 7/29, and we were worried that he may have been injured while fighting an intruder the day before.  We were so relieved when Mr.O flew to the nest with a fish on 7/30 at 0911.  I’m sure many viewers were jumping for joy.  Louise flew to the nest a few seconds later to greet him.  They immediately had an intruder issue and Louise and Mr.O spent the next few minutes sending the intruder packing.  Louise brought three more fish to the nest throughout the day, including a couple of her signature ‘whoppers’.  The chicks had bursting crops.  All is well.”

Now for a break through….a simple coat of paint! We have known this for years but there was no action. Now there is no excuse.

How a pool ring helped a little vulture.

More fishing hooks…

Swinging through the Nests:

We are going to start with Australia and ‘A’ has some news to add:

Lady has had a busy morning, organising the three half-fish on the nest and ensuring Dad didn’t remove a single flake of it. She is very jealous about guarding the food once it is on the nest. Dad very rarely gets away with removing any food from the nest. There were cot rails to replace this morning after the first breakfast sitting. Both eaglets ate well. They are beyond adorable. Dad is bringing fish after fish for his family and Lady is absolutely devoted to her chicks. Such a sweet family. Those little faces are just darling. 

In Orange, Xavier arrived for the early morning bonding session but he has not had a good morning, with two starlings rejected by Diamond. I’m not sure why he keeps bringing them. Surely he must know by now that they are not a popular offering. He is on the ledge as I type, surveying his world. It’s an idyllic place for them to raise their family, Ah, something has caught his attention. He e-chups a few times, then flies out of the box. No idea what he’s spotted but something below the nest box certainly interested him. Such a handsome wee falcon. Gorgeous. I love little Xavier. There is regular mating on the tower and much digging of deep indentations in the nest box. 

In New Zealand, Manaaki is looking especially gorgeous this morning. It is a lovely sunny day at the colony and our beautiful albie chick has had a quiet morning, relaxing on his nest. For once, he has not been gardening or exploring, just enjoying a quiet rest. He is gradually losing his fluff and is starting to look increasingly like his parents. Our giant fluff ball is nearly an albatross. What a beautiful boy he really is, Darvic bling and all. We’ll miss him terribly when he fledges. It’s such a very long time before there is any chance of seeing them again – several years in most cases – so their fledge is particularly bittersweet. We still wonder and worry about little QT, who fludged early in a storm. Lilibet was only 220 days old when she became the first fledge of the season last year. That look on her face ….. 

At Collins Street, it is a cold but sunny morning. There is still some time to wait before we can expect eggs to be laid. Last year’s first hatch was on 30 September, so it should be up to four weeks before the first egg is laid. The last week of August probably, although as I keep saying, who knows what climate change will do to the birds’ inner clocks. I have been rewatching some of last year’s videos from Collins Street in an attempt to discern enough identifying features to determine whether or not this is the same couple we saw in the second part of last year’s season. 

Thanks ‘A’.

Moving back to the nests we have been following:

Collins Marsh: Two beautiful, fully feathered chicks standing in the blowing wind on the nest. This couple looks like they will fledge a pair of osplets this year! It is fantastic. Last year the nest was abandoned, and the year prior, the chick Malik had a forced fledge and was found dead below the nest. This is a new couple in 2023 who diligently cared for their young. Fingers crossed for safe flying.

Boulder County: Two fledglings, one to fly and Mum on one of the successful US nests this year. This beautiful couple that fed one another and did tandem feedings in the beginning so that little third had a chance did it! Success.

Finnish Nest 1:

Fish brings both fledglings in – Mum has a full house. There was still one to fledge at the time of my writing.

Finnish Nest 4: It was a little wet and the three were huddled together for warmth and some fresh fish. Notice the difference in plumage in the two nests. The little ones at nest 4 still have the white stripe. We are a ways from fledgling here! Indeed, they can still, for the most part, fit under Mum to stay dry.

Ilomantsi Finland: This nest is the most eastern of all the Finnish nests and is right on the Russian border. It is the home of parents Manta and Manu who have raised three beautiful osplets. Two females and a male. All have been ringed and at least one has fledged.

The ringing of the chicks took place on 11 July.

Patchogue: Watching for a fish delivery! Our Mini (top) is magnificent. Look at those ‘snake eyes’. Just like Iris! Not nearly the fish deliveries coming to the nest that we saw a few days ago. Dad is feeding off nest. Oh, we need a GoPro on Mini!!!!

Steelscape: Three got some fish and had a nice crop for a bit. Oldest sibling is doing a good job self-feeding. Keep sending good wishes to this little one.

Sandpoint: Wishing for fish for Coco who has not had a lot of fish over the last 24 hours. Keke is very hungry as well and has eaten fish and then tried to feed Coco. Wish for lots of fish!

MN Landscape Arboretum: All is good! The first image is from Sunday and the second Monday morning when Mum and chick are waiting for a delivery. Gosh this nest looks better than it did at the beginning of the season and this new female has really turned into a good Mum.

Alyth: Everyone appears to be doing well after the big tumble out of the nest on Saturday.

Dyfi: Nothing deters Indris – not even a bit of Welsh wind and damp – from getting fish to his kids.

Glaslyn: Looks like there is more rain at Glaslyn and wind. Elen hunkered down on the perch.

One of our Manitoba Osprey nests:

‘H’ has her reports – thanks ‘H’.

Forsythe – There were three fish brought to the nest by Oscar.  Ollie was the beneficiary of all three fish.  But at 0612, two minutes after the first fish was delivered, Owen flew to the nest and a battle ensued with both fledglings going overboard in a mass of wings and talons.  Ollie was seen flying away and Owen returned to claim the fish lying on the nest.  There were a few more brutal battles between those two juvies throughout the day.  Someone is going to get hurt.  More fish is needed at this nest.

Barnegat Light – Dorsett had the pleasure of experiencing several flights on her fledge day.  In these photos, the new fledgling is hanging out with Mom and Dad, and later she is shown enjoying a well earned dinner fish.  

Osoyoos: I’m not quite sure how many fish were delivered to the nest . . many were delivered by Dad, but then some were removed from the nest.  It was a confusing day, and a sad day.At 0542 Dad dropped off a partial fish.  Over the course of the next 2 1/2 hours both chicks tried to self feed from the fish.  #2 was more interested than #1, as #2 was literally starving, but at 33 days of age, did not have the skills to self-feed.  Most of the time that #2 was attempting to eat, s/he was attacked by #1.  There were a few times when #2 held the fish with its talon he did seem to pull off some bites.  Eventually at 0811 that fish either went over the east side of the nest or became lodged in some sticks.  Chick #2 had been facing away from the camera, but when #2 turned around, his crop was still flat.At 0724 Dad arrived with a partial fish and fed chick #1.  Whenever #2 attempted to approach, s/he was attacked by #1.At 1321 Dad was feeding, with a chick to either side.  #2 actually ate 8 bites of fish, before #1 lunged in front of Dad to reach #2, and attacked.  The incident seemed to be disturbing to Dad.  He stopped the feeding and flew away.  The remainder of the fish was left in the nest.  Chick #1 picked up the fish and did a pretty good job of self-feeding.  #2 managed to grab a large tail piece and tried to eat, but unfortunately he dropped the fish over the side.There were other feedings by Dad at 1415, 1529, 1959, and 2014.  Chick #2 did not receive any bites of fish at those meals.I’m not sure if Mom was seen at the nest on 7/30.”

McKeun ParK:
I took this pic yesterday afternoon.  Looks like they all fledged!

Thanks so much ‘H’.

A note has just come in from Kielder Forest that Grasslees is the first osplet to fledge from nest 2. That happened on Saturday, the 29th. Return to nest safely.

Glacier Gardens. The eaglet has been named Serak and is beautiful in that dark chocolate plumage.

Eastern Imperial Eagles: At the Tatarstan nest of Altyn and Altynan, the two eaglets have branched!

Karl II and Kaia: The three surviving storklets have been ringed. One has a transmitter. Karl II has been providing all of the feedings. Kaia was last seen on the nest on 23 July at 16:19. I asked my friend ‘T’ what is happening at this nest and she went and consulted the Forum to check for theories. We know that food appears to have been very limited due to the drought in the area and that Urmas has had to supply fish baskets so this family could survive. For the first time in the history of the nest Karl II did a brood reduction. So this is what ‘T’ sent to me, “She finds good food for herself further away. But she would probably have to find three times as much to give it to the chicks.” As was noticed by some observers, Kaia often stole food from Karl II and did not provide all the food she found for the chicks. Karl II has often sent her away from the nest so that he could take care of the storklets. Is Kaia off finding food for migration? Has she abandoned her nest? We do not know this answer and we wait – perhaps until next year.

The storklets are hungry. Karl II has brought in some fish that were not provided in Urmas’s fish basket and we should thank this generous man who kept this family alive and all who donated to purchase fish for them.

Karl II feeding. Kaia has left early. Is it because of a lack of food and she must build up her strength for migration?

Here is the latest news on Waba and Bonus.

Before we close, it looks like Mini might have gotten a fish on the nest from Dad Monday morning. She was up on the perch when Dad delivered at 0821. Smart girl!

Thank you so much for being with me today. Please send the struggling nests your most positive energy – Osoyoos and Forsythe could use many more fish. Please take care! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ” ‘A, H, J, PB, T’, Fortis Exshaw, Ars Technics, Alis Jasko and Nor Cal Birding, Tonya Irving, Raptors of the World and VulPro, Sea Eagle Cam, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, NZ DOC, Collins Marsh, Boulder County, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Ilomantsi Finland, PSEG, Steelscape, MN Landscape Arboretum, SSEN Alyth, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, MB Birding, Forsythe Ospreys, Wildlife Conserve F of NJ, McKuen Park, Osoyoos, Kielder Forest, Glacier Gardens, Eastern Imperial Eagles, Eagle Club of Estonia, and Looduskalender.

Osoyoos under evacuation alert, Dorsett and Huey fly..Sunday in Bird World

30 July 2023

Good Morning Everyone,

I have a huge tip for you today if you feed birds in your garden. The weather could not have been more grand. It was a good day to work in the garden. The humidity had dissipated, there was no hot sun, the wasps were visiting somewhere else and life felt good. I did not stare at the computer screen worrying. We have some troubling nests and must wait and see how things unfold.

M’ asked me about the window dots/the pink squares that I use for to prevent bird collisions. They are a brand called Feather Friendly, and a single roll does about 100 sq ft and costs about $25 at my nature centre. you can purchase them online at many places, but the key is the name Feather Friendly. Clean the windows and let them dry. Apply lots of pressure on the strips outside the windows, then pull the supporting strip off easily. They work, and I have tried everything. The single decals must be placed outside – anything to prevent bird strike -must be on the exterior.

Today I am experimenting with birdseed. It is expensive as you know. Someone told me to go to the feed and seed store. I wish I could remember who that was and thank them. So today I mixed up 1/3 chicken scratch with 1/3 birdseed and 1/3 black oil seed. It is undoubtedly Dyson approved. She scooped it up with her paws for several minutes. It thwarted Little Red, who only wanted peanuts! LOL.

The seed mixture is a winner! I pushed the chicken scratch even further at the late top up. It appears that I can do 50% chicken scratch, 25% black oil seed, and 25% birdseed and everyone continues to approve. There were 8 Blue Jays at one time vying for space on the square feeder. Some stayed on the telephone wires and others were on the ground. Wow.

‘The baby with the tail’ – the little one that is slightly more round is changing every day. It still loves to be in the bird bath splashing about and it also loved the new seed mixture. I cannot put out peanuts for them because Little Red and Little Red2 take them all. They are so fast!

The little one that lost its tail is flitting around everywhere with the bigger ones and seems to be so agile. I am so surprised. It has adapted, like all birds seem to do, to the challenges that are thrown at them.

Little Red yesterday quickly removing about 35 peanuts from the table one by one. He could win an Olympic medal.

Oh, good news is always so welcome. An 11-year-old Osprey has been saved from netting!

SP sent me a fantastic article about tenacity and commitment. 50 Years of working with Puffins…a jolly good read.

50-Years-of-Project-Puffin-An-Oral-History-of-An-Audacious-Idea-AudubonDownload

Twirling around the nests:

We will start with ‘H’s reports this morning because two of the nests are under the radar for needing boxes of worry beads – Osoyoos and FortisExshaw, both in Canada.

Barnegat Light: “At 60 days of age, Dorsett opted for an early morning fledge on 7/30, at 06:09:10.  She first flew north, then headed east toward the ocean, hung a right at the Atlantic, then flew south, made a right turn at 24th street, and made a perfect landing back onto the perch at her nest.  Dorsett has since taken a couple of additional flights.  Congratulations to Duke, Daisy, and Dorsett!”

FortisExshaw:

Fortis Exshaw: “It was a good day for Louise and her kids, with only a few indications of minor intruder issues.  Louise brought three fish to the nest.  The first fish at 1104 was so large, it resulted in a prolonged period of feeding that was the equivalent of three meals.  Prior to Louise feeding, she allowed the chicks a chance to practice self-feeding from the headless fish for over an hour.  Chick #1 has learned the advantages of holding the fish down with its talons, and s/he was able to tear small pieces from the fish.  Chick #1 is now grabbing and mantling fish when Louise delivers.  Even though they hatched less than 12 hours apart, chick #1 is more advanced in skills development.  Mr.O was not seen on Saturday.  I hope Mr.O was not injured during the altercation with the intruder on Friday.”

Forsythe – Oscar delivered three fish, and Opal delivered a fish after a few days’ absence.  It was nice to see Opal.  Owen was the recipient of three of the fish, Ollie just one.  As with most nests during the post-fledge period, any given day may seem unfair in that one sibling gets the most fish.  But, it does seem to even out in the long term.  Ollie had eaten the majority of the fish the previous two days.  Starting Sunday there will be a break in the heat wave, with cooler temps the next several days. 

Osoyoos – There were four fish brought to the nest.  Dad ate the first small fish at 1041.  I’m sure he was very hungry, but perhaps he should have eaten it off the nest.  Just the fish being brought to the nest caused #1 to attack #2.  The fish at 1131 was very small, and chick #1 was fed a small meal.  At 1237 Mom brought a partial fish.  Chick #2 was beaked and bit by #1, and had no chance to eat.  At 1531 a larger partial fish was delivered.  Chick #1 wasted a full minute of feeding time attacking #2.  Chick #2 later snuck up on the other side of Mom and grabbed a large piece of fish equivalent to about 6 bites of fish.  It took a while, but #2 managed to swallow that whole piece of fish.  Chick #2 has had 30 bites of fish to eat in the last three days.  Note:  There is a wildfire located SW of Osoyoos, which has been renamed the Eagle Bluff Wildfire (previously called the Lone Pine Creek fire).  Parts of Osoyoos are under an evacuation alert, that currently does not include the area where the nest is located.

[‘H’ has just written that the nest area is, according to AMW not under an evacuation alert. Please send your best energy to Soo and Olsen. Just look at those two beautiful chicks. The camera feed could go down and we might not ever know what happens to these chicks if the fire does rage through. Our thoughts are with everyone…]

Dahlgren – Really big news . . the youngest of the two fledglings went diving! D12 dove from the nest platform four times, and did a little swimming and bathing.  While she did not catch a fish, this was an important milestone.

Severna Park –  Oscar continues to provide fish for his two fledglings at the nest.  It’s always nice to see them.

Patuxent Nest 1 –  The fledglings, Sibling-B and Foster, are frequently seen at the nest. But, it’s a good thing they no longer sleep there, because a Great Blue Heron has decided to make the nest its nighttime roosting spot.  Last night the GBH found a welcome surprise . . a fish had been left on the nest, which he quickly gobbled up.

WDNU Tower, South Bend, Indiana: The only surviving osplet on the WDNU Tower, Baby Huey, endured a horrible storm and then took his first flight on Saturday the 29th. Amazing. Congratulations. It was a tough year on the nest. So pleased for everyone.

Pathogue: Every time I checked Mini had a fish. At least three on Saturday. Dad is obviously feeding the fledglings off the nest as we do not see the older siblings bombarding Mini for that fish like they are doing on some other nests. These parents really know how to keep the climate chill.

Charlo Montana: Those osplets are adorable.

Boulder County: All is good.

Dunrovin: Harriet and the three fledglings pose together.

Pitkin County Open Trails and Spaces: Both fledglings continue to return to the nest. Everything is excellent.

SSEN Alyth: When everyone is hungry and scrambling for fish, things happen. Mum came in with a fish at Alyth, it got caught on the talon of one of the chicks and they both went overboard….and the first then went to the third hatch! Some of the nest went down with them.

Well, the good news is that everyone is alright at the nest after this terrible entanglement and high tumble. Thank goodness.

Manton Bay: Blue 33 delivers fish and everyone goes crazy.

It may look rough on the nests but in the real world, the ability to eat is literally ‘life and death’ to our fledglings. They have to learn strategies, be quick – and be ruthless.

Loch of the Lowes:

Cowlitz: It is hot in the Pacific NW and the nests could be suffering. The fledgling at Cowlitz has rested on the nest and has had at least one fish on Saturday.

Sandpoint: At least two fish were delivered Saturday morning. I am not clear about deliveries the rest of the day.

Steelscape: I did not watch the nest closely enough to count deliveries but I do know that the third hatch had some fish on Saturday.

Minnesota Landscape: The weather has cooled down a bit and it makes for much better fishing. This one is doing well.

Maryland Old Town Home: The fledglings continue to come to the nest and like many of the others there is a lot of rivalry over fish deliveries.

Dfyi: All is good. Idris continues to bring in the fish! And Telyn loves to feed her ‘big and more independent every day’ babies.

Glaslyn: Aran is delivering lots of fish and the two fledglings are doing very well indeed.

Loch Arkaig: There were winds beginning to blow and rain starting late on Saturday at Loch Arkaig. Ludo is hoping for fish! Oh, by the way. The Crow that vacuums up the Loch Arkaig nest so well has been named Dyson!

Poole Harbour: It is all good.

Llyn Clywedog: Seren on the perch and beginning to get in form for migration. She will fly and will land on the same tree in the Tanji Reserve that she does every year. Meanwhile, the surviving fledgling of the goshawk attack has been photographed flying all over the area. So all is well.

Sydney Sea Eagles: Cuteness Overload. The pantry is stocked and Lady is joyful. 31 and 32 are delicate little snow people.

My friend ‘A’ lives in Australia and she loves the royal Albatross and most of the Australia nests and is happy to send us reports on recent events at those nests. A says: ” in Sydney, Dad brings in a lovely big fresh fish at 06:51:18. He heads off up the branch off the back porch and shakes himself off. He is still wet from catching that fish. He hasn’t even eaten the head. It’s been left on the nest for Lady and the chicks. He is a good provider. That should keep the family going for the rest of the day. Lady starts working on the head herself, and around 07:01 starts feeding the chicks. SE32 is ready to eat now, and the first bites go to the baby. It does really well, managing four or five consecutive mouthfuls without dropping them and without falling flat on its face. By now SE31 is awake too and ready for some more food. She feeds both chicks plenty of fresh fish, though concentrates on the younger one. These two are doing great.”

Orange Peregrine Falcons: “In Orange, Diamond spent the night perched on the ledge of the nest box, tucked and facing inwards as usual. Xavier arrived for an early morning bonding session at 06:28:24. These two are just beyond adorable. Xavier really is only half Diamond’s size. He is so svelte and handsome. She appears significantly older and lazier than Xavier. She watches the sunrise from her ledge and leaves the box at around 06:51. Both spend a few moments on top of the tower before Xavier heads off to get some breakfast..He arrives back at the box with prepared food at 07:37:05, with Diamond hot on his heels. He hardly has time to e-chup before Diamond has swooped in, grabbed the food and left again within three seconds! Xavier looks a little stunned. He glances down a couple of times at where the food was, as if wondering where it’s gone. Then he cleans a few feathers out of his talons. Oh but he is such a handsome falcon. Tiny but gorgeous.”

Collins Street: “At Collins Street, there was a short falcon visit about 9.30am – the falcon flew off the nest at 09:42. It doesn’t look as though any eggs have been laid but I note that the birds seem to be favouring the same nest box as last season. There has not been any shelter added at that end, which surprises me after what happened last year. (I’m sure you well remember the day mum went for a spa morning and returned to find two chicks in the gutter and two in the nest, all baking in the hot sun and looking as if they might be in serious danger. And mum pulled the smallest chick back into the box by lifting it with her beak! It was a very dramatic day.)”

Reports that a new camera is being installed at Port Lincoln and the stream will be back up sometime on Monday or Tuesday.

At the Royal Cam Albatross colony, ‘A’ notes: “I forgot to mention that on Friday (28 July), all 33 of the albatross chicks at the New Zealand colony received their permanent Darvic bands (no more coloured leg bands). Manaaki’s is black (for male) and his Darvic number is D36. They used Darvic bands last season but for some reason, this season’s are the first that are permanent and will last a lifetime. (And as we know, a lifetime can be 70+ years for an albatross!)”

Thanks, ‘A’! And thanks for giving me the head’s up that Ervie has been out fishing with Dad. Port Lincoln Ospreys posted these images of Ervie, and I knew you would love to see our favourite Eastern Osprey! —- Do you remember when we thought Ervie would eat Puffer Fish all his life? When he lost a talon, and we feared he would starve to death? Well, here we are. Ervie is almost two years old. I have not heard any news about Bazza or Falky, but Ervie, that little third hatch that didn’t take any gruff off Bazza, the first hatch, grew up big and strong and stayed near the natal nest – safe—still fishing with Dad. Do you recall those chin wags that Ervie had with Dad down in the cave? What a season that was! (I still want to forget last year…that was traumatic).

The Lesser Spotted Eaglet in Latvia is nothing short of adorable…and happily a small vole was brought in for food.

I think the eaglet has spotted the camera! Just look. Almost all of the natal down is gone revealing a soft brown plumage with stunning blue eyes.

The fledgling ospreys – three of them – return to the platform for some lovely fish meals at the German Goitzsche Wildness nest.

At the Finnish #1 nest, tummy and Usva took their first flights on 28 July. Only Roihu is left and that could be any moment. Beautiful healthy osplets!

Finnish #4. The two surviving chicks were younger when they were ringed and both are still on the nest. Neither has taken their first flight yet.

Whew…I hope I didn’t make you dizzy with that swing around the nests…in no particular order! Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care everyone. Have a great weekend. See you soon.

Thank you to absolutely everyone for their notes, comments, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A, H, M, SP’, Audubon, Fortis Exshaw, Osoyoos, Patuxent River Park, Dahlgren, Conserve Wildlife of NJ, Forsythe Ospreys, Stephen Basly and WDNU, PSEG, Charlo Montana, Boulder County, T Barrington and Dunrovin Ranch, Pitkin County Osprey Cam, SSEN Alyth, LRWT, Loch of the Lowes, Cowlitz PUD, Sandpoint, Steelscape, MN Landscape Arboretum, Maryland Old Town Home, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, The Woodland Trust, Poole Harbour, CarnyXWild, Sydney Sea Eagle Cam, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, NZ DOC, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Latvian Fund for Nature, Fischandler Webcam, and the Finnish Osprey Foundation.

Oh..so cute. SE31 and SE32. Friday in Bird World

28 July 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

Gosh, not only is it the end of the week but it is also the end of July. The beautiful osplets from Norway are now in Ireland and all is well. All three chicks at Dunrovin have fledged along with probably many more today. It cooled down a bit on the Canadian Prairies and thankfully, I did not get the storms that some did on Wednesday evening. I would be fine but, of course, my concerns are always with those that come and go from the garden. Right now Mr Crow is yelling his head off demanding cheesy dogs, Junior wants more peanuts, and Little Red is sitting in the lilacs waiting in case I change my mind and put out more of those tasty nuts. Missey and Lewis have been relatively quiet all day which means that they will be tearing around all night. Bird seed and cat food are now stocked for next month and life is good.

Oh, we always need some great news. There are such wonderful people out there…Man swims 70′ in Idaho to save Osprey! “Ten days of fluids, antibiotics and a diet of fish helped the 2-and-a-half-pound adult male osprey heal from soft-tissue injuries, but no fractures.“The geese beat him up pretty bad,’ said Birds of Prey Northwest Founding Director Jane Veltkamp.”

https://cdapress.com/news/2023/jul/27/hes-still-alive/?fbclid=IwAR3tG5vNhivOei7bTrWBHhmD-C4vCcxN3uqBS9-gLwwoIA2qSLiOKBzG92U

More good news is coming from South Australia where the water company has agreed to remove the spikes from his pipes! Congratulations! This is the way that it should always be!

The hottest recorded July in history. Sadly the heat that is driving severe weather, low fish counts and drought is not going away. Just how long can those that have the power to do something continue to deny the need is not urgent?

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jul/27/scientists-july-world-hottest-month-record-climate-temperatures

The Norwegian osplets have arrived in Ireland in a private jet and are now safely in their new cages. Not sure what their parents thought about this…perhaps I am not supposed to mention something like that.

The Grey storklets have received names!

When I grew up, everyone wanted manicured lawns, beautiful flower beds, patios and porches with climbing roses on trellis. The magazines pushed our control over nature – just like those very managed French gardens of the 19th century. When I returned to Manitoba, one of my neighbours was a graduate in math from Cornell. A brilliant man but life had thrown some wrenches at him. He let his garden go. People talked about him as if he was a freak. Of course, ‘J’ was ahead of the times. Now people seek him out for his advice.

Please share with your friends, family, and neighbours:

We finally have the date when the grouse hunting licenses on United Utilities land will not be renewed – 2027 and the hunting groups are in meltdown…I am over the moon that this onslaught on wildlife will be stopped. Let us hope more join in!

Emails-of-support-for-United-Utilities-decision-not-to-renew-shooting-leases-–-Raptor-Persecution-UDownload

Whirl through the Nests:

Little Mini, our amazing fledgling from Patchogue, eating a fish Thursday afternoon. Time 1424 when Mini grabbed that fish.

Mini wants a fish and is watching. Is Dad feeding off nest? I wonder.

Steelscape: ‘PB’ sent a great screen capture of the third hatch and what a crop. Dad delivered a number of fish and this one that has been pecked and pulled ate well.

Dunrovin: All three – Snap, Crackle, and Pop – have now fledged!

Glaslyn: All is well. Look at the size of that Mullet!

Loch Arkaig: Is Dorcha getting tired of visitors?

Boulder County: Everyone is home. All are being fed well. What an amazing family.

The Bridges Golf: Nice fish delivery before time to tuck it all in. These two look ready to fledge. I have failed to check on them for a few days. Please correct me if they have already taken to the skies. Nice to see two survive after a really poor start during that heat.

Cowlitz PUD: Fledgling and adults continue to return to the nest. All is good.

Clark PUD: Everything is fantastic.

Sandpoint: Both of the osplets – Keke and Coco – were well fed on Thursday.

MN Landscape Arboretum: Everything appears to be alright. I did not see a lot of fish deliveries on Thursday but I might have missed them. It has been really hot near the nest – 29 C. They have had the same heat that we have had in Winnipeg. This is impacting all the nests and their ability to fish.

Loch of the Lowes: Laddie will continue to deliver. PF4 grabbed the fish and Dad this morning while PF5 dreams of fish. There has been no sign of Blue NC0 for nearly a fortnight.

Sydney Sea Eagles: ‘A’ is so excited. She reports, “At 7am 28 July, we can see a large hole in the second egg and movement inside. Dad has just brought in a lovely headless fresh fish for breakfast for SE31’s first feeding. It’s good at holding its head up but it’s not great at the food transfer bit so it’s dropping most of its bites. Mum is being so patient with the sweet little one. It did not end up getting much food and I think it was still hungry afterwards, but it did get a couple of small bites. Meanwhile, SE32 is making good progress, and as we watch the feeding we can see the hole enlarge as a flap starts to open next to it. I think the second chick will be out within 36 hours of SE31’s hatch, which is a pretty good result considering the 75-hour gap between the laying of the eggs and the fact that Dad was so impatient with the incubation that I worried about whether that first egg would even hatch! There will hopefully be two fluffy little balls under mum by tonight.” Then minutes later she writes again…”

The hole is bigger at 07:54 and we can see the chick working away inside the second egg. That shell really is incredibly thick. It can’t be easy for the tiny chicks trying to break free of that calcium tomb. I always hope they have the strength to make it out. When you consider that they are already 24 hours into their escape effort by the time we see that first pip, it really is a pretty impressive achievement for such tiny youngsters. Life gets really hard really fast for them. And it doesn’t really get that much easier. I suppose the weeks in their nest are the best of their lives, in the sense that they are largely fed and protected by doting parents. Life in the wild will be so challenging, and the preparation time is so short. 
How adorable they are at this age. Still unable to bonk each other. Just lovely. Let’s hope we have a peaceful nest, that the family stays safe, and that all goes well this season.”

Isn’t this little one just precious. This family really deserves a break. They raise such beautiful babies to fledge…send positive, positive wishes for the very best for them.

Se31’s first feeding:

And then….SE32 hatched! Get ready for cuteness overload as the Australian raptor season beings.

Royal Cam Albatross: Prince Minaaki has been ringed! It is possible that this wonderful Albie will have fledged in six weeks. So do your thing and help make the seas safe for the Albatross — don’t look that can of tuna in the eye!

Cornell Red-tail Hawks: Suzanne Arnold Horning found Big Red and Arthur,.

Time for ‘H’s reports!

Fortis Exshaw: There were three large fish delivered to the nest, with Mr. O contributing the first one.  There was also a meal from a leftover fish from the previous evening.  The chicks are now 40 days old, and both have been active with wingercising.  And, at the second fish delivery, one of the chicks took the whole fish from Louise and mantled it, wow!  Of course, Louise retrieved the fish, lol.  Mr. O once again was instrumental in providing protection for the nest.  At 1023 Mr. O urgently flew to the nest, was very vocal and demonstrated his most fearsome body language directed at an unseen intruder.  Louise followed him to the nest 20 seconds later.  For the next four minutes they collaborated in warding off the intruder.”

Forsythe – There were three fish delivered to the nest, and all were delivered by Oscar.  Opal was last seen on 7/25.  Ollie was the only fledgling at the nest for the first two deliveries at 0625 and 1222, and Owen didn’t even fly to the nest to make a bid.  So, I assumed that Owen may have been served a fish at another location.  At 1825, both siblings were at the nest when Oscar delivered a large headless fish.  There was a battle for the fish, with Ollie coming away victorious.  There was also a brutal and prolonged battle between the two siblings at 1311.  They are hungry.  I hope Oscar will have more success fishing on Friday, but unfortunately it will be another extremely hot day.  The high temperature is predicted to be 96-97 degrees.

Thanks so very much ‘H’ and thanks to all of you for being with me today. Take care of yourself! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, postings, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog this morning: ‘A, H, PB’, CDA.org Press, Fan Solly ad Friends of Osprey St Australia, The Guardian, Gregorius Joris Toonen and Ospreys, Arne Torkler, Raptor Persecution UK, PSEG, Steelscape, Dunrovin Ospreys, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, The Woodland Trust, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Boulder County Ospreys, Bridges Golf Ospreys, Cowlitz PUD, Clark PUD, Sandpoint Ospreys, MN Landscape Arboretum, The Scottish Wildlife Trust, Sydney Sea Eagles, Gracie Shepherd and Sydney Sea Eagles, Sharon Dunne and Royal Cam Albatross Group NZ, Fortis Exshaw, Forsythe, and Suzanne Arnold Horning.

SE31 is here…Thursday in Bird World

27 July 2023

Good Morning Everyone!

I am starting to write my blog at 1700 Thursday evening after a lovely but short trip to the local farmer’s market. It is 31 degrees C, but the humidity makes it feel like 34 C. There is yet another thunderstorm warning for this evening until tomorrow morning. This has been the norm for a week now with massive dark – near black-blue clouds coming in and torrential rain and wind. Thankfully the storm passed north of where I live because the hail that occupied it was the size of a large heirloom tomato! I can only think of the osplets in the nests along Lake Winnipeg. It had to be horrific.

When I got home, it was time to put out the evening spread for all the garden animals. Little Red ‘decided’ that he was going to stash all of the peanuts before the Blue Jays could have even one. What an energetic tenacious little squirrel! What he doesn’t know is that I know where he is putting all those peanuts – in the home that I made for him last year! So…those peanuts will be brought out again on Thursday evening and he can take them all over again! No wonder he stays so slim and trim.

Missey had been watching all of the action until she got totally bored! BTW. you can see some of those pink bird collision squares on the window…just barely. They work!

Sometimes she sits, like the Queen of the Conservatory, that she is!

This is the little stork that Dmitri saved named after the coin in the RU because he was the fifth hatch and his mother was killing him. Dmitri has had his surgery and is up the ladder saying hello and feeding Pyatachok! This is fantastic. Both are looking well. Pyatachok is obviously pleased to see the person who saved his life. Smile. There are wonderful people in the world living the most ordinary lives but doing the most extraordinary things.

Here is the video!

Gosh, it was nice to open the mailbox on Wednesday and find two news articles sent to me by ‘EJ’. Each was a fantastic rescue. These will warm your heart!

Bald-eagle-rescued-from-New-Jersey-electrical-tower-after-its-wing-was-stuck-for-five-hours-Fox-NeDownload
Bald-eagle-rescued-from-James-River-after-getting-caught-in-fly-fishing-line-WRIC-ABC-8NewsDownload

Whenever you think about a rescue or an intervention that people tell you is impossible, I want you to always remember Dale Hollow 2023. We were told the terrain was too steep, no cherry picker could get to the nest, that it was just impossible. Well, geez. Remember that it was an arborist that got onto the nest and worked a miracle getting the two eaglets untangled from one another. While DH17 went on to live and fledge sadly we lost DH18 because of the arguments and paper trails that had to be created for the rescue. So, please do not give up. Remember — a way was found for a nest deemed impossible!

A rescue in Canada. You know when we begin to despair and believe that humans don’t care – we have lots of examples that tell us otherwise!

SE31 got out of that shell in great time. Can’t wait for 32 to be with us…this nest is always a really bittersweet one. The chicks are incredibly lovable and beautiful. They are harassed by the Pied Currawong that chase them out of the forest so that they are unable to return to the nest to be fed and learn to fly and fish by their parents. They end up on the sidewalk by the Discovery Centre if they are lucky and taken into care and then released. Can I even begin to hope that this year might be different?

The saddest thing is that Lady and Dad do not get to experience training their fledglings and seeing them thrive in the wild. Bittersweet.

Dad watching his wee baby hatch. Beautiful. How touching is this?

‘MP’ got a great screen shot of this little fluff ball. Thank you for sharing it with all of us!

Dad is so proud of his new baby!

SK Hideaways gives us a video of all the excitement in the Sydney Olympic Forest:

SE32 is on its way.

Around the Nests:

Tweed Valley 2: Poul, the surviving osplet from the goshawk attack that killed Sasha, fledged on Wednesday. Congratulations!

Osoyoos: Sadly, the heat of the area around Osoyoos is causing the fishing to be slow. The fish will go deeper into the water (if there are fish) and then the Osprey cannot get them. ‘H’ is already reporting a drop in fish for those two lovely osplets of Soo and Olsen. It is what we fear every year.

Dunrovin: The second chick, Snap, fledged on Wednesday. Only one more to go!

Steelscape, Inc.: Not sure about the number of bites of fish but chick 3 did get some fish dinner. The older chick that will be fledging any time is more interested in flapping those wings now than eating so this is now a good thing for Third. It may not stay that way but for now…fingers crossed.

Patchogue: Those parents continue to amaze me. Chicks in and off the nest. Mini getting fish. What a lovely year. What a devoted family. I would so love the precise gender mix in this group…but, like all of you, I am still smiling.

Mini and the live fish that flipped and flopped. That was a brilliant save!

Loch Arkaig: Ludo keeps making milestones. Carrying fish by themselves is one of those! Well done.

Glaslyn: Elen with OH1 and OH2. Aran and his new mate did very well…two Welsh lads to return and breed!

Kuopia Saaksilvie Kallavest: The three osplets were small in weight when they were ringed on the 17th of July. Each appears to still be doing well and is ready for flying.

Time for ‘H’s report – as always, I am so grateful ‘H’.

Forsythe: There were five fish brought to the nest for the two fledglings, and all were delivered by Oscar.  Owen acquired three, while Ollie managed to grab two of the fish.  But, my goodness these two fought.  There was quite a battle between the two of them at 1726 that lasted two minutes, and resulted in Ollie being ejected from the nest!

Barnegat Light – Wow, look at the height of that hover!  Dorsett is 57 days old.  Stay tuned . . .


Kent Island – The Biologist that banded Tom and Audrey’s chick determined that she is a female.  The soon-to-be-named chick is 45 days old.


Patuxent Nest 1 – On 7/26, while the fledglings were on the nest, and Sib-B was eating a fish, a Great Blue Heron landed on the nest!  They sibs both skedaddled, but Sib-B managed to keep her fish, and then later returned with it.


Osoyoos: Fishing was poor for the second day in a row.  Dad delivered three small fish to the nest, and Mom may have tried to fish as well.  Chick #2 had some bites of fish during the first meal of the day, but due to aggression by chick #1, s/he was prevented from eating at the next two meals.  Chick #2 was subjected to chick #1’s aggression at off-meal times as well.

FortisExshaw: Louise brought seven fish to the nest, and Mr. O delivered one.  At 1612, Mr. O landed with a fish while Louise was out.  He waited for a couple of minutes, then flew off, leaving the fish on the nest. The two kids looked at each other like “What are we supposed to do with this?”, lol.  At 1157 and 1204, Mr. O landed on the nest to assist Louise with intruder defense.  What a guy!  The 39-day-old chicks are both practicing wingers.  And, one of the two chicks tried a bit of self feeding in the evening. 

Thanks Heidi. How many remember the battles between Ervie and Bassa at the Port Lincoln nest after those two had fledged? Gosh that Forsythe nest sounds like Port Lincoln! Bassa left – and Ervie stayed and our dear little third hatch survivor, Ervie, is still in Port Lincoln waiting for a mate and a nest. Not so fast, Ervie!

Black Eagles:

When you are feeling a little despair at the nests, what do you do? I recall ‘MP’ told me that he watches the sparrows in Mini’s nest! Well, my Geemeff sent this to me this morning. It isn’t raptors but it is people working hard to get seals untangled from fishing nets and line! Remember…there are our super heroes working quietly every day to help wildlife.

Royal Cam Albatross: ‘A’ loves this little guy. She writes, “This is priceless. First up, have a look at the size of that pile of nesting material at the beginning of the video. It is HUGE. It looks like the pile of lawn clippings after my large back lawn has been mown. He is amazing. And then check out how aggressively he works on pulling out the grass. I have never seen bunches of grass pulled out like that, even by the adults. They normally pull out a token blade or two at a time, not beakfuls like Manaaki. He is not playing around here. This albie is one serious builder.”

The osplets were given health checks, ringed, and bagged to head to Ireland for the translocation project to restore Ospreys to the Emerald Isles. There is much excitement and here is the image of the flight being tracked. They are travelling by private jet! A person from Irish National Parks and Wildlife Service is with them.

Thank you so much for being with me today. The big story is down in the Sydney Olympic Forest and it is not going to be long until we begin to look rather closely at Xavier and Diamond, the Peregrine Falcon couple that everyone loves in. Orange, Australia. Then it will be the Port Lincoln Ospreys and the CBD Falcons. It is hard to believe but in a fortnight many ospreys will start their journey south in North America. Those that fly over Cuba will arrive about the middle of September as they make their way to Brazil and other areas of South America. Take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog this morning: ‘A, EJ, Geemeff, H, MP’, Storks 40 Pyatachok, Fox News, ABC 8 News, Western Wheel, Sydney Sea Eagles, SK Hideaways and Sydney Sea Eagle Cam, Gracie Shepherd and Raptors of the World, Conservation Without Borders, Osoyoos, Dunrovin Ranch, Steelscape, Inc, PSEG, Geemeff and the Woodland Trust, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Forsythe, Conserve Wildlife of NJ, Kent Island, Patuxent River Park, Osoyoos, FortisExshaw, Ocean Conservation Namibia, Lady Hawk and the NZ DOC, Gregorius Joris Toonen, and Merry Kotka.

Crash landings, itchy wings…Friday in Bird World

21 June 2023

Good Morning Everyone,

It is the end of the week. It is almost the end of July. We are less than a month away from some of the females in Europe and the UK preparing for and possibly leaving for their migration. Indeed, migration is on my mind and I have a book recommendation (below) for those that want to learn more of the history of how scientists discovered where our feathered friends go in the winter or spring/summer for breeding. I am also including a study on the impact of Avian Flu and some suggestions on what must be done to curtail it before populations are decimated. There will be continuing news about fledges and, of course, our Little Mini – not so little anymore – who is hoping to take those beautiful wings of hers and hit the skies.

In the meantime, there was a Crow funeral this morning. At first, I did not know what was happening as a dozen or more Crows gathered and flew in circles over the back lane and in front of the house behind me. I thought the GHO had come into the neighbourhood, and I knew the adults would not have that with their fledglings being out of the nest for less than a fortnight. So I investigated, and sadly, one of the fledglings was dead on the side of the street. They had all come to mourn and say goodbye. Usually, I would pick up the carcass and place it on the boulevard, but a wise and knowledgeable Corvid person once told me that the Crows do not like humans to touch their dead. So, I left the lovely one there. How sad.

One of the fledglings on my fence – along with four of its siblings – waiting for its scrambled eggs and cheesy dogs. Sadly taken through a screen of the conservatory so the image is soft and this is as light as I could push it. They are so beautiful. Their beaks are like highly polished ebony and those dark piercing eyes. They know precisely when I am cooking those eggs and arrive and wait so they can get to them before the Blue Jays. I adore them.

That one little Blue Jay is so funny. He likes to take his naps here and he loves to be in the bird bath. He went to sleep eating and kept his lids closed for over fifteen minutes. He was only woken when another sibling flew in to gnab a peanut. Looking over my photographs, there are more than 600 digital images of this one fledgling. Don’t tell my children!

Did you know it is impossible to tell a male blue Jay from a female one unless you see them during courtship or laying eggs? Blue Jays bond for life just like our raptors.

This little one does not mind sharing the table feeder with the Sparrows.

Take the time to observe the birds around you. They are precious. Listen to their songs. Focus on their behaviour and their markings. Soon you will get to know them and they will become ‘family’.

Speaking of family. Mini will never know all the people who have sent positive energy to the nest so that it might survive but, today, this wee fourth hatch has survived and is ready to leave the nest and become a bird.

Three is on the Patchogue fish calling, and Mini just dreams of flying. She has had two good fish from Dad today – perhaps even more I missed. One was at 0920 and the other at 1523. Nice fish, so Mini is not hungry. Gosh, I am going to miss her when she fledges. What a survivor…I hope all she learned on the nest and her fortitude carry her well through life.

Oh, Mini wants to fly. She is getting some height. 1918 Thursday night. Stay home Mini until Friday.

Good night, Mini.

‘L writes that Mini got a fish at 0740 on Friday and that Three had a fish shortly after, too. That is fantastic news!

Mini got the fish and that darn black bin liner. It continues to stick to Mini’s talons. I hope when she fledges she does not take it with her!

There are lots of fledges and some hard to keep up with. All of the three osplets at Alyth have fledged with the last one flying on the 18th of July, 9 days after the first. They are being fed on the nest by the parents although, like all nests, there is a bit of a scramble.

At the Loch of the Lowes, the scramble between the two siblings for fish is intense. It reminds me of Achieva when Big knocked Middle off – these chicks are hungry! Here is the latest posting about conditions on the nest and why they are what they are from The Loch of the Lowes:

What we want to see is all the fledglings return to the nest for a good month to get fed well, fattened up for migration, and get their flying skills in order and those wings strong for that 5000 km journey most will make starting in August – in a month.

Everyone is home at Rutland! These three are keeping the adults busy catching fish…soon Blue 33 will be the sole provider of fish and I can’t think of a better Dad to fatten up these three for their migration.

Another of the Kielder nest 7 chicks has fledged. This time Blue 2B0 Gilsland.

At the Borders nest, Blue 733 Jed flew on the 20th, Thursday. Time 1600. He was airborne for 3 minutes! Well done. Thanks Rosie Shields for that great blog…congratulations, Jed!

Landing back at the nest.

There are still three chicks on the Boulder County nest but not for long.

Pitkin Open Spaces and Trails: One of the osplets is getting a lot of height and is really working its wings today. Fledge is going to be soon – just like Mini, this one wants to go!

Three beauties at Poole Harbour. I want everyone to send positive energy to the nest of CJ7 and Blue 22 that the goshawk does not return to the nest this year and snatch one or more of these beautiful babies.

At Loch Arkaig, there was a bit of an issue with one of Ludo’s flights. Geemeff says, “Ludo LY7 had a bit of a day today – made his second flight with no problems, but got divebombed by his mum Dorcha on his third flight, and missed his landing, tumbling over the edge of the nest and landing in the branches. Fortunately not hurt, took a few minutes in the tree with a few squeaks, then flew off, did a circuit, and landed properly. Relief!” Here it is on video – thanks, Geemeff.

The chick at Cowlitz has really grown and is hopping and flapping. The metal protective grids are not a bother.

Some information on the translocation project for Ireland that involves removing osplets from Norway and transporting them to their new home. Ireland has no breeding pairs of ospreys at this time.

Time for the reports form ‘H’:

Fortis Exshaw: “It was a peaceful day for this osprey family.  There were four fish brought to the nest, including one by stepdad, Mr. O.  A couple of the fish were very large, including a monster fish delivered by Louise at 0604, and there were at least 6 feedings.  No one went hungry.”

Patuxent Nest 1 – The fledglings were both seen partaking of fish at the nest.

Osoyoos – Dad delivered at least 7 fish on 7/20.  The kiddos are 24 and 25 days old, and are doing very well.


Barnegat Light – Thanks to the efforts of Duke and Daisy, there is no shortage of fish at this nest.  Little Dorsett is 51 days old, and is not so little any more.


Patuxent Nest 2 – One of the fledglings was seen on the nest enjoying a meal.

Suzanne Arnold Horning is diligent in finding the Ms after they have fledged their nest on the Cornell Campus – she spots Big Red and Arthur too. SAH has ‘hawk eyes’ – for sure! All of the family are safe and sound today.

I wanted to check in on the nest of Bald Eagles in Juneau. Look at beautiful Hope who is now self-feeding rather well.

‘A’ gives us a report on the Royal Cam Albatross: “

Later on 19 July, after GLY came in for that short breakfast feed, have a look at the late afternoon feeding on the same day. Those chunks of octopus or squid of some variety are MASSIVE. Well done dad! And then we had a feeding from mum L around 08.23 yesterday morning (20 July): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXxHaJngJXs (Notice L’s standing feeding position, different from GLY, who tends to get down really low, as he did when Manaaki was still a tiny chick. These little differences are what we rely on when it is impossible to discern leg bands, which is often the case in the half light or the long grass.) It’s a short feed and Manaaki continues to whee away as she leaves (‘Don’t go, mum!’), but then he did have two meals the previous day, including the giant chunks of squid the evening before this feed. He’s certainly not starving, our giant fluff ball. Manaaki was not weighed on Tuesday but we will see how his weight is going next Tuesday. With half the local cephalopod population being swallowed by Manaaki this week, there should be no problems in that department! What a gorgeous albie he really is. No wonder we all call him Prince Manaaki. He is just the most beautiful bird. So healthy and active and with such a curious personality. He loves to explore. We will all miss him a great deal when he does finally fledge. Day 240. It suddenly seems all too close – day 200 is looming.”

Worried about an animal in need that is not in a nest – phone the fire department! A feel-good moment.

Do you know about migration? There are several books on the subject, but Rebecca Heisman’s Flight Paths has been on my reading list. Migration is a topic that is coming up for almost all of our feathered friends. What I liked about the book is that it is full of science and what we have learned about migration through new methods using satellites, satellite tracking as well as boots on the ground, It is a page-turner—primarily black and white text with images in the middle. I didn’t miss seeing the images of birds. The writing is so good it draws you in. I was fascinated with the study of where birds go —so where precisely will the baby Blue Jays in my garden travel for winter? or the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks? What about the birds in the Himalayas that fly through really thin air to those tiny warblers that weigh no more than a ballpoint pin and travel three days over the ocean to get to their winter homes? This is exciting reading – well, to me it is – the history of migration, how humans discovered the amazing journeys our feathered friends take. This book will add much to your knowledge, deep appreciation, and respect for our feathered friends. It was $37 CDN for a hardback copy. Why not ask your local library to order a copy? Surely this is a subject that will interest many!

It isn’t about raptors but, it is about a natural solution to a problem – instead of using herbicides and pesticides. Just like raptors are the solution for rodents!

Canada is working to save the endangered Piping Plover- it is a good news story in amongst the bad – the BC Government allowed shooting and logging in the area of the endangered Spotted Owl – in fact, there is only one of them and there is shooting. Am I angry? You bet’cha. When will nature be a priority and not the economy? Without nature, there is no economy.

Record-number-of-piping-plovers-pair-up-across-Great-Lakes-The-NarwhalDownload
B.C.-sanctions-shooting-logging-in-endangered-spotted-owl-habitat-The-NarwhalDownload

Lots to read today but Birdlife International has published a report on Avian Flu and some possible solutions that must be taken if our feathered friends are to survive this global catastrophe. The report states, “Bird Flu has evolved to spread more rapidly and easily in wild bird populations. Previously, this disease spread significantly in farmed bird populations and it was quite rare for wild birds to catch it – when outbreaks did occur, they usually impacted a limited number of species and only lasted a few months. This is no longer the case. With birds under greater threat than ever before, this virulent strain of Bird Flu cannot be categorised as a natural process and left to wreak havoc.”

CMS-FAO-TF_avian_influenza_statement_July2023Download

Lots more nests with fledges to come today. Little Mini is just itching to fly – so keep an eye! But if you feel low, think of Fortis Exshaw and how wonderful this season has been with Mr O. He is our Osprey Super Hero! Thank you for being with me. Take care all.

Thank you to the following for their notes, photographs, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog this morning: ‘A, Geemeff, H, L’, PSEG, Alyth, LOTL, LRWT, Rosie Shields, Boulder County FG, Pitkin County Open Trails and Spaces, Anne Ryc and Poole Harbour, Geemeff and the Woodland Trust, Cowlitz Pud, Gregarious Joris Toonen and Ospreys, Fortis Exshaw, Patient River Park, Osoyoos, Wildlife Conserve F of NJ, Suzanne Arnold Horning, Glacier Gardens, NZ DOC, KRCR News 7, Amazon, 27east, The Narwhal, and Birdlife International.

Let’s talk tuna

19 July 2023

My intention was to have this information blog for Thursday the 20th of July but, there is so much other news that I feared its importance would be overlooked by osprey news.

In its July-September 2023 journal, BirdLife International raises issues related to the Albatross. One in particular – long line tuna trawlers.

“Fishing Trawler DA.57 – Howth County Dublin (Ireland)” by infomatique is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.*

I want you to look at this image of Manaaki, the Royal Cam Chick at Taiaroa Head, New Zealand and parent, GLY, who has come in for a much anticipated feeding.

Do you watch this cam? Do you know the perils that face these sea-foraging birds? Do you want to change human behaviour to help them?

These are the facts according to a new study that looks at the risk longline fisheries pose to these beautiful sensitive and gentle albatross.

  • Long Line fishing trawlers set out a main line that can extend to 100 km or 62 miles. Now just stop and take in that length.
  • Each line has thousands of hooks that are baited and deadly. The bait is a meal for albatross. The jiggling of the lines in the water mimic the way that fish swim.
  • The albatross that snatch the bait are snagged and dragged under the water as the hooks sink. It is estimated that 160,000 birds die this way every year. They are often decapitated in the process.
  • Every day there are 5000 fishing vessels on the high seas. Of these 1000 are looking for tuna and they set these very long lines with a total of billions of hooks per year. Again try to wrap your head around that.
  • Fishing activity by the Osprey takes place at dawn and dusk when the long line tuna trawlers are setting their lines.
  • Only 3% of the lines are set at night when it is not harmful to the albatross who are not looking for food.
  • Albatross can determine if there is food at a distance of 30km.

The issue is that there is an easy fix and it costs the fishing trawlers nothing – set their lines at night instead of at dusk or in the morning. Other appropriate measures include attaching sparkly lines, often free by many agencies, or using protective hook covers.

But by far and away, the solution is to load the fishing lines at night.

So what can you do to help persuade these fishing companies that they need to change their practices? Stop eating tinned tuna! Write the company an e-mail. You can check on the label of the tins in your local grocery. Find out how sustainable they claim to be – and are they? Remember, only 3% are actually following best practices as they relate to the Albatross.

So…we are now trying to avoid plastic when we can, and we are now going to put that tin of tuna back on the shelf! So when you look at that Royal Cam chick – that cute sweet little fluff ball – you are doing the right thing. Thank you!

BirdLife International, July-Sept 2023, 18.

  • An example of what a trawler might look like. Many are much larger.

Little Mini working on a Big Fish…Friday in Bird World

7 July 2023

Hello Everyone!

There is another big thunderstorm brewing. Without even checking the weather forecast you could feel the anxious energy as 13 crows came to eat peanuts, cheesy dogs, and eggs. The Blue Jays were flying in and out, having baths, and eating anything in sight as were the squirrels, the Grackles, and the Sparrows. Now it is only 1900 and the sky is dark, like this page. The thunder can be heard rolling in the distance and now there is lighting. Lewis is hiding. Our weather is quite crazy. It was 32 C a few days ago and then dropped to 14 C. Having been so hot for so long it felt like we needed to take out our woolen jumpers and socks. Hoping all the animals are safely tucked in their little dens and trees for the duration.

I have had several letters concerning the Newfoundland nest. Each writer wanted to know why the male at the Newfoundland nest doesn’t leave the female if all the chicks die. That is a very interesting question. Of course, I can only speculate, but contrary to the popular urban myth that raptors bond for life, many do ‘divorce’. In the case of this male, my only thoughts are he has no other available option. As we know, Osprey males return to the area of their natal nest while females, usually but not always, disperse. This could be his natal nest. Until the arrival of Hope, the nest had been successful. He is a very good provider, and there would appear to be ample fish. My guess is no other female in the area at this time, so his urge to breed takes over, and Hope is there.

In Latvia, the male Osprey has waited for a new female mate for years, and just recently, a single Black male stork has found a mate in Latvia. So, let us hope for Beau to find a great mate and for Hope to retire and live by the lake catching and eating her fish.

Checking in on those UK nests as promised:

Loch Arkaig: Dorcha is keeping her very large Only Bob dry during the rain in western Scotland. Geemeff writes, “Bit of a heart-stopping moment. Chick is 37 days today so at least two and a half weeks from fledging – we do not want a wind-assisted fludge! Chick would be injured or maybe not even survive!”

Only Bob is right in the range for getting ringed…will Only Bob be a boy or a girl?

Louis did not deliver the first fish of the day until around 1225. Intruders? Weather? Not like Louis to be so late.

Loch of the Lowes: The chicks are self-feeding. The fish have ranged from small to a good size and both seem to get something to eat although the wee brother would like to have some fish all the time. He is hoping there could be some left. At one point Blue NC0 brought in two fish – one she had caught and another that Laddie brought in.

Llyn Brenig: Everything is fine at Llyn Brenig. Like the other nests in Wales it was a bit windy and damp on Thursday at times.

Llyn Clywedog: Oh, it was sometimes windy at nest and at least one of the osplets loved it and was jumping up and down and hovering. Scared the wits end out of me – . All I could think of was the poor dear being caught up and being blown to Ireland!

Loch Garten: It is wet at this nest also at times on Thursday. Brodie has been getting some fish into the nest and, of course, Asha is one of the females not afraid to go out fishing. The chicks are doing well.

Glaslyn: It was a tad windy with some drizzle and Elen happily brooded her two little boys.

Dyfi: All is well. Idris is up on the perch and Telyn is in the nest feeding those two beautiful chicks, the female Cennan and the little boy, Seiont.

Poole Harbour: It is another successful year for CJ7 and Blue 022. Those three osplets are feathered and are just waiting to be ringed which could happen any day. This is so wonderful. Last year this couple made history by fledging the first osplet in more than 250 years in Poole Harbour.

Alyth: It has been a bit of a wet one at Alyth. The oldest chick is now 46 days old and the fledge window opens at 48 days in the UK. They hatched on May 21, 23, and 25. Their mother, Flora, hatched in 2014 so she is 9 years old this season. Aren’t they gorgeous. Just look at those feathers and wet crests!

The last chick at the Manton Bay nest of Blue 33 and Maya, 3H5, fledged on Thursday, 6 July. Congratulations for a successful season. All of the fledglings have returned to the nest.

Remember Murphy’s chick? That eaglet will be released today, Friday July 7 by the World Bird Sanctuary.

More places are giving up fireworks…remember. If you want to do something that will help the lives of so many, get together with your like-minded friends, family, colleagues and urge your city to ban fireworks and to use the funds that were spent for something to help.

I cannot tuck in until I check on Little Mini at Patchogue. The nest is really getting full of chicks and Mini just continues to grow. I did not get to watch her as closely today as I would have liked. I hope that any concerns today about her coughing were nothing. But we must be vigilant and continue to monitor her closely.

Mini really wanted some of that 19:31 fish that a big sibling had…in the end she gave up and had a snooze. Later Mini got the fish! Thank goodness. She was looking a bit peckish. (I like Mini with a nice big crop!)

Two did a lot of hovering and joined Big on the perch at 16:45. So Big has fledged and Two has ‘branched/perched’. Wonder who will be next. The worrisome part of Two’s branching is that its talons almost got caught in that black bin liner. Oh, human garbage…

Boulder County Fair Grounds continues to look good. Lots of good fish being brought in and the kids are quite civil at the table in the image below.

Collins Marsh: Two beautiful feathered osplets. I watched for a long time to try and see if there were many fish being delivered and during that time there were none. If you are watching this nest, do let me know about the fish deliveries. Thank you!

Because ‘H’ is worried about FortisExshaw, so am I. The first hatch is so much bigger than little 3. Big ate first, then Middle got to eat with Big, and I held my breath and then Mum fed the wee babe some fish. Thank goodness but under ‘H’s close ye, she notices that the beaking by Big is often and that the nest cup is deep and narrow in places causing Little to have trouble getting in the food line. Louise is good and ‘H’ notes she will take the fish to Little and feed it. “Little is managing to get fed, and I don’t feel that the situation with Big’s dominance and aggression toward Little is dire at this point.  Some feedings are not viewable.” Please send positive wishes. There are fish and two good parents just a huge difference in size between the first hatch and Little. This is a ‘Little’ that needs our good energy!

‘H’ reports on the Patuxent 1 nest: “There were five very large fish delivered to the nest by Dad.  All of the chicks are occasionally self feeding, but are also fed by Mom.  The fledgling ‘Foster’ is estimated to be about a week older than her foster siblings (ages 52 and 51 days), and she is the most adept at self feeding.  At 1514 Dad delivered a huge headless fish, and ‘Foster’ took the fish from Mom, without any resistance from Mom.  ‘Foster’ ate about a third of that fish, and then each of the siblings gave it a go.  There was still a large portion remaining and Mom fed everyone. You will recall that ‘Foster’ was placed in the nest as a rescue on 6/29, and she fledged on 7/3.  ‘Foster’ has not left the nest since she returned to the nest on 7/4 after fledging.  In all of the attached photos, ‘Foster’ is the one standing on the rim.”

‘H’ reports that all of the other nests are doing really well. Isn’t that wonderful?

‘A’ has been keeping an eye on what is happening in Australia and New Zealand. At the Royal Albatross Colony -“In New Zealand, the gale force winds of the past two weeks or so have finally died down. Those winds have been so incredibly strong, many parents have been unable to come in to feed the chicks. Still, of the 33 chicks at the colony this season, only three are requiring supplementary feeding, which is wonderful. This means that the other 30 are being adequately fed by their parents. Little UQ chick was supplementary fed again today (it was fed last Tuesday, though it was not weighed). Weighing was abandoned this week, due to the strength of the winds, so we will have to wait for next Tuesday’s weighing to see how Manaaki’s weight is coming along. He still has plenty of time to slim down, regurgitate his bolus and so on before fledging time – there’s about ten weeks to go now, I think.” “Here is a very short piece from yesterday, when Manaaki took the chance to have a good preen after having his plumage blown in all directions for the past couple of weeks. What a lovely juvenile he really is. Just gorgeous. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLXBhFj9vUw&t=24s. What a handsome albie. The chatters call him Prince Manaaki. He sure knows the Royal part of being a Northern Royal Albatross! And just for the memory, look at our little chick at about one month of age (he was born 27 January, I think) so this would be just before the post-guard phase. The last few days and nights of constant parental presence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw2r53APHGQ. Just look at that adorable little ball of fluff. And look at him now! A lot of squid has gone into that transformation.”

Charles Sturt Falcon Cam -“At Orange, Diamond is perched on the ledge, with a full crop, as darkness falls. She will no doubt spend the night in the nest box, probably on the Cilla Stones. It seems that Xavier needs to relearn the bit about handing over the prey all over again every season. He brought in what appeared to be a largish grebe at 14:25:23. Diamond arrived within eight seconds, but Xavier took the prey and left!! C’mon Xavier, not again. We discussed this last season. And the one before. Still, Diamond already had a large crop when she arrived, and she is sure not looking hungry this evening. She never does, come to think of it. At least it wasn’t a starling, which is progress. (As you no doubt recall, Diamond hates starlings.) “

Speaking of Falcons, here is the latest video by SK Hideaways on trying to find Soledad! It must be very difficult to keep up with a falcon but isn’t she the cutest thing? I cannot wait for Diamond and Xavier’s eggs to hatch – and they haven’t even

Ferris Akel did some highlights of the Ms and he caught one of the Ms going after a squirrel amongst other day events.

At 0702, Little Mini at Patchogue was working on a huge fish…Mum comes to the rescue. Those bony heads are difficult for chicks.

Thank you so much for being with me for this nest round up. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their diligent monitoring, their notes, videos, and the streaming cams that helped me to write my blog this morning: ‘A, Geemeff, H’, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Geemeff and the Woodland Trust, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Llyn Brenig, CarnyXWild, RSPB Loch Garten, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Althy, LRWT, World Bird Sanctuary, Celia Aliengirl and Bald Eagles Live Nest Cams and News, PSEG, Boulder County Fair Grounds Ospreys, Collins Marsh, Fortis Exshaw, Patuxent River Park, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, SK Hideaways and San Jose City Hall Falcons, and Ferris Akel Live Stream.