American Eagle Foundation – Mary Ann Steggles

Leaper and Jersey not rattled by earthquake…Saturday in Bird World

6 April 2023

Good Morning Everyone!

The girls hope that you have a wonderful start to the weekend. They have been enjoying the +11 C temperatures and the life that has come back into the garden. The squirrels, the Blue Jays, the Dark-eyed Juncos, and an array of Sparrows including some Pine Siskins have been keeping them busy.

Calico ran from one corner of the conservatory to the other – yes, Calico ran! watching the squirrels gather peanuts and hide them.

Hugo Yugo played and slept in her basket and kept an eye out when Dyson was on the fence. I clean her eyes twice daily but she still has the drippies.

Baby Hope looked beautiful watching the birds fly over the glass ceiling.

My friend Ruby was visiting. She is an indigenous healer. Her knowledge about the natural world is abundant as are her observations. The Snow geese could be seen on Tuesday at a particular point near to where she lives. For her, this signals that there is no more snow coming to us!

Today, driving through the agricultural fields north of Winnipeg, yielded huge numbers of Canada Geese on the shallow waters foraging from what was left of last year’s crop that they fed on when they migrated south. There were Snow Geese and Tundra Swans mixed in.

The Snow Geese arrive in early April and will be with us until November – just like the Canada Geese. In the late fall they will congregate south of where I live to fill up in the corn fields that have been cultivated – a boost to them for their long flight south.

The Tundra Swans normally arrive before all the snow is gone and forage in these flooded fields like they are doing today. They will make their nests along the coast of the Arctic at the top of Manitoba near Churchill. These nests will be large mounds of material along the shoreline. The female will incubate 4-5 eggs for 31-32 days. The geese are ‘dabbling’ waterfowl and forage along the surface for aquatic vegetation and invertebrates. They also eat tubers and, as we see here, grain left after cultivation.

It was positively joyous seeing the geese playing in the water and foraging for plants. I wish some of the ones in the urban areas would take flight to the country.

Two news items coming in this morning about Ospreys in the US.

USFWS says it is legal to put deterrents on light poles to keep ospreys form nesting.

Osprey catches prized Golden Rainbow Trout.

Osprey-snatches-prized-golden-rainbow-trout Download

Thank you to everyone who sent me news items. I am so grateful to all of you. ‘R’ is watching the Gainesville nest and ‘H’ is keeping a keen eye on what is going on at Moorings Park for me. Watching the osprey nests is extremely difficult when there is a chance of siblicide. It wrenches your stomach, causes you to have indigestion, and a great sadness comes. As I continue to say, it is never easy and over the past seven years, this year has been the hardest. When ‘H’ and I start counting bites – we hope that there are at least 100 a day, minimum. Tuffie had 99 on Thursday. Let’s see how that poor little one winds up today.

‘H’ has kept eyes on Tuffie for me when I am not able. So thankful! This nest is so bleak compared to last year. She reports, “Tuffy has had a bad day. S/he has suffered numerous beat-downs from Ruffie, even outside of meals. And, at meals Ruffie would not let Tuffie get fed. Four fish so far: 0904 – whole fish, nothing for Tuffy; 1124 – partial fish, two bites for Tuffy; 1354 – almost whole fish, one bite for Tuffy;1607 – an enormous headless tilapia. Ruffie had the equivalence of at least 3-4 meals on and off for 1.5 hours, while intermittently severely beaking Tuffy, and not letting Tuffie eat. Finally, at 1734 Tuffie began to get fed. Tuffie had eaten 4 bites up to that point, and ate a total of 46 bites before Ruffie decided that Tuffy had had enough. At that point Sally fed Ruffie a little more, and then she walked away from the large leftover piece of fish. She fed Tuffie three scraps off the nest. At 1801 Harry arrived to remove the fish from the nest. Total bites to Tuffie so far today = 53.”

Then an update -“Harry brought a partial fish at 2000. Selly fed both osplets, and Tuffy ate about 42-43 bites at that meal. Sally stopped the feeding early, perhaps because it’s too dark for them to see, but still plenty of fish left for breakfast unless Harry removes it. Total fish bites for Tuffy today = at least 95.”

Sunday Morning Update: “4/6 – Around 0652 Sally picked up the large leftover piece of tilapia and began feeding Ruffie. Ruffie beaked Tuffy several times, and was particularly brutal at 0707. However, Ruffie eventually moved away from the feeding line and Sally was able to feed Tuffy. Tuffy received several bites before Ruffie eventually moved back to the feeding line. For several minutes Tuffy and Ruffy ate peacefully side by side, but for some reason, only Ruffie got bites for the last 4 minutes of the feeding. I counted 54 bites that Tuffy actually ate. “

Sunday morning image:

The back of Tuffie’s head has been battered and is bloody – it isn’t feathers coming in…Send your most positive wishes to this nest, please.

Again, Sunday morning you can see the size difference. Tuffie certainly got a good name! This little one is like Hugo Yugo!

Tuffie being fed Sunday morning:

The peaceful side by side meal.

Reports of Meadow in care – and these are the same folks that are repairing the Achieva Osprey nest of Diane and Jack if you are looking for somewhere to donate:

This is the rest of the communique that says that Meadow will go to the Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey – that was where Connick rehabilitated along with some of our favourite ospreys.

They state: “Meadow made it here safe and sound. The eaglet is very thin. We have rehydrated it and are getting ready to start the baby on liquid food. This is our standard protocol for very skinny birds. The liquid food consists of carnivore care. This is a premium recovery food for carnivores with a poor nutritional status. It is a specialized formula that contains beneficial omega, fatty acids and easily digestible proteins that come from egg and chicken sources to support nutrient absorption, and optimize the energy levels of the bird. We do have a few other additives as the bird progresses in its recovery slowly switching over to solid food. Because this bird is eight weeks old, it is no longer safe to put it back in the nest, even if she was in perfect health, which she is not. There are multiple reasons for this, but for Meadow, even if she was younger, because of her nutritional status, putting her back is not an option. We will transfer Meadow to the Audubon Center for Birds Of Prey in the morning so that she can get continued excellent care under their Eagle experts, and she will be with at least 17 other eagles that are currently patients there. And she will be in the presence of adult eagles, which we feel is important.Will keep provide an update later on this evening. Please cross your fingers and say your prayers and think positive thoughts for Meadow. If you would like to support the raptor center of Tampa Bay and help us out with the things that we do to support our eagles and all other Birds Of Prey, please visit our website.”

A further update on Meadow. Thanks, ‘J’.

‘R’ reports on Talon and Stella at Gainesville: “All is well in G’ville. Talon is bringing in big fish and all 3 osplets are well fed and all about the same size. Hopefully all 3 will thrive.”

The three eaglets at PA Country Farm are also doing well!

The earthquake that went through parts of New York and NJ did not make the Duke Farms eaglets even flinch. They had nice crops during the day and both Leaper and Jersey appear to have overcome the period of low prey delivery just fine. It would be nice if this would happen at Moorings Park – but the Mum at Dukes Farm worked hard for these babies.

Here is a video showing the nest at Duke Farms shaking during the earthquake.

Proud parents Liberty and Guardian at Redding.

Archie is taking very good care of Annie.

Likewise, at Loch Arkaig, Dorcha was equally happy to see Louis arrive with a fish.

This was after he did a beautiful sky dance at dawn.

The trio of osplets at Frenchman’s Creek are really looking nice as they get their juvenile plumage. What a difference – sorry Sally and Harry – but just look – this nest has three osplets that are thriving!

I absolutely would not mess with the Mum at Little Miami Conservancy. Her little bobbleheads are all doing fine.

That Johnson City Eagle nest is very windy! Did we blink? These two look like Swampy and Meadow to me.

There ARE three eaglets at FOLAN.

Two sweet eaglets at Farmer Derek’s Bald Eagle nest.

Swampy alone on the nest after Meadow’s accident.

The eaglet – JBS20- at John Bunker Sands Wetlands is 71 days old today. The average age of eagle fledging in the US is 77 days (unless it is Alaska where it is 85 days).

Angel the Leucistic Red-tail Hawk made an appearance at last year’s nest in Tennessee. There are no eggs and little activity for some time. I believe that Angel and Tom made an alternative nest to use this year somewhere close.

It is not unusual for raptors to change the site of their nest. Mr President and Lotus moved their nest, River moved her nest at Dale Hollow, M15 and Harriet moved their nest, Richmond and Rosie moved theirs this year, while Thunder and Akecheta changed sites in 2023. Sometimes the birds perceive a danger that we might not – such as the site being unsafe. “Excessive human activity near raptor nests in the early weeks of the breeding season may cause a pair to abandon the site; or if later in the nesting cycle, may cause an incubating or brooding female to flush from the nest, leaving eggs or nestlings vulnerable to fatal chilling or predation.”

We will never know the specific reasons and it is always sad if a nest has been on camera and we do not know what is happening, but, in the end, we have to trust that the raptors felt more secure in moving their nest and laying their eggs in a different location. For Angel, maybe she felt the old location meant a smaller nest and not a lot of room for 3 or 4 chicks to flap about!

There is an Osprey pair on the nest in Kurzeme, Latvia!

Osprey pair returned to their nest in the Lipka Forest in Poland on 4 April.

A great image from Sharon Dunne of the Royal Cam chick – so white and so fluffy.

Shadow is not giving up! I really do wish there was an orphan eaglet somewhere that could miraculously find itself under this amazing Dad.

Do you love penguins? There are some amazing shots of several penguin species in the following 17 minute video DaniConnorWild did of her photography excursion to Antarctica.

Human debris is coming to all of the osprey nests. There is hardly a single one that is not plagued by plastic. What will happen to the chicks and the eggs?

Sometimes the wind takes things away!

Looks like the geese are thinking about the Sandpoint Osprey platform as a nest.

Beautiful day at Lake Murray. Lucy is incubating those precious eggs.

The birds are migrating and some old friends are arriving at your feeders and bird baths. Thanks so much for giving them water and food. ‘L’ says that the Brown Thrashers are in Alabama!

Ending with that wonderful happy glow that spread around the world when Iris set down on her nest at Hellgate Canyon Friday morning.

Cornell has a free raptor guide for you to download to help you ID the birds.

Download-Our-Free-Raptor-Reference-Guide Download

More about bird flu, the poultry industry in the US, the price of eggs….

A-Cruel-Way-to-Control-Bird-Flu-Poultry-Giants-Cull-and-Cash-In.-The-New-York-Times Download

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, images, videos, posts, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘Geemeff, H, J, L, R’, WMUR9, WJAR, Moorings Park Ospreys, Raptor Centre of Tampa Bay, HDonTap, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, PA Country Farms Eagles, Duke Farms, SK Hideaways, Geemeff, Frenchman’s Creek Ospreys, Little Miami Conservancy, Johnson City-ETSU, AEF, John Bunker Sands Wetlands, LDF, Utah Grosse, Sharon Dunne, DaniConnorWild, Steelscape, Boulder County Fair Grounds, PSEG, Sandpoint, Lake Murray, ‘L’, Montana Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Lab, and The New York Times.

The boys are back in town…Sunday in Bird World

31 March 2024

Good Morning Everyone!

For those celebrating Easter, may you have a lovely peaceful day full of family and friends.

Calico made me promise – since I embarrassed her so much several weeks ago – that I would show you her new ‘slender’ figure. She has lost more than two pounds on her new cat food and is really beginning to run and play with the other girls.

Calico is actually sitting under a chair staying out of Hugo Yugo and Baby Hope’s way. They have been jostling for the ‘Queen of the Cat’ Tree crown all morning.

Baby Hope held the throne, the orb, and the sceptre for a few minutes. She basked in the happiness of being able to have a front row seat in order to see the little squirrels running back and forth with their peanuts.

It was only a short time until Hugo Yugo ousted Hope. And then it began all over again!

They make me tired.

There were four Blue Jays in the garden today! It looks like both bonded pairs have returned. I watched carefully. The pair whose tree was cut down has found a new home and Junior and his partner are in the Maple across the back lane.

I did not come up with the title today. Jeff Kear wrote it in a comment, but it is so true. Now, I can’t get the tune out of my mind. The Boys are truly back in town. Idris and Aran returned to Telyn and Elen and their nests in Wales on Saturday, March 30th.

All is well in Glaslyn. Aran and his new mate, Elen, will have their second breeding year together. They had two lovely fledglings in 2023, and Elen proved to be an incredible first-time mother.

Aran marked his arrival with a huge fish! I bet that tasted good after such a long migration.

Idris brought a huge fish for Telyn and then worked on their nest. Talk about egg-cited. Joan Brady got the screen capture!

Dorcha also arrived on Saturday, arriving at the nest and soaking wet. Louis was quick to get a fish to her and pick up on their bonding! She always reminds me of Mrs G with that gorgeous dark plumage.

Louis and Dorcha’s reunion.

If you missed it, Blue 33 and Maya have the first egg of the UK Osprey season for 2024. Her gentle little chirps called out to Blue 33 to come and see.

Each of us has a warm spot for a bird – maybe several. Tegid, Z1 of the “White Egg”, was one of Monty’s lads. He has a mate – an Unringed Female -and they have been raising osplets at a private nest in Wales for several years. Tegid is the brother of Aeron Z2 at the Port Cresor nest near Glaslyn’s Aran and Elen.

Dylan and Seren’s lad, Blue 496 from 2021, landed at Lock Arkaig, and then, guess what? He flew home to be near Mum and Dad, landing on nest two at Llyn Clywedog on Saturday. Oh, and might we hope for a beautiful female to arrive, too?

No ospreys at Llyn Brenig yet.

BirdGuides celebrates the arrival of CJ7 and Blue 022 at Poole Harbour.

Poole-Harbour-Ospreys-return-BirdGuides Download

Everything is calm at the Duke Farms nest, and Jersey had at least one massive crop on Saturday. Jersey and Leaper even ate side by side. Can you believe it?

The time stamps and big crops tell the story of the morning.

At 1640 there were lots of fish tails on the Duke Farms nest. Looks like no one is going to go hungry today.

‘A’ gives us another terrific narrative of what part of the day at Duke Farms nest was like for little Jersey! “Jersey gets fed a very good breakfast. He did start off snatching at the bites but gained confidence as the feeding progressed and he suffered no attacks from his sister. It was wonderful to watch. Such a happy wee eaglet. Just after 9am, he takes a huge piece and turns away to eat it. Leaper has decided she could do with seconds so has headed back to the table. Mum has a bite to offer Jersey, but is waiting for him to finish dealing with the immense piece he had just grabbed. As Leaper approaches Jersey, she decides it would be a good idea to pacify her by giving her that bite. She gets another, and considers giving it to Leaper, but changes her mind and turns towards Jersey, again waiting for him to have an empty beak! As Leaper moves closer to him, Jersey gets nervous and turns away, so mum gives a couple of bites to Leaper. But Jersey regains his confidence and moves back towards mum, so that he is actually pushing in front of Leaper. Mum is working hard on the last piece of the fish. The second she has it ready, Jersey snatches it, even before she has raised her head to offer him the bite. The fish is finished. Mum moves around the nest looking for stray pieces, which she feeds Leaper, who happens to be closest when she finds a scrap or two. Jersey has a very nice crop. At 09:02:35, mum finds the other half of the fish dad brought in at 08:55 – it appears he bit it in half and mum has only fed the chicks one of the two halves. She gives two bites to Leaper and then drags the partial fish over to where Jersey is on the rails and begins feeding him again. She drags the fish even closer to Jersey and further away from Leaper. This is definitely the larger half of the fish. Jersey is now less nervous, with Leaper quite a distance from him. He eats and eats. When mum offers him the tail, sideways, he politely refuses it so mum downs it herself. She cleans the table, feeding Jersey any leftovers she can find and he takes them, even though his crop is now noticeably larger than his head. Just as the final flake is gone, at 09:09:45, dad is in with another fish. He has unzipped it a little on one side but it is otherwise whole. Mum immediately takes charge of the fish. Both eaglets have absolutely gigantic crops and surely could not fit another single bite. Jersey staggers over to Leaper and flops down beside her, forming a fuzzy ball of happy eaglet in the centre of the nest. Dad comes over to check on their bedding, spreading a little grass behind the pair. TOO cute. He is still on the nest and has turned back to survey his fish. Mum begins her warning vocals (the ‘do not even think about taking this fish’ ones). The look on her face is absolutely clear. This is a mum protecting her babies’ food. She means business. Dad is suitably chagrined and leaves at 09:10:20. Obviously aware the eaglets need no more food at this moment, she heads into the centre of the nest to check on her eaglets. She does a little aerating and tidying, feeds a tiny food scrap or two to Leaper. Jersey turns around to face the table. The two are now both facing the same way but still snuggled up close. Just look at those cute little tail buds and round bottoms. Both are looking a bit woolly and oh so cute. Little Jersey only has half his white head feathers, Leaper having spat out the others after ripping them from Jersey’s head last week. Jersey has quite the individual hair style as a result. Mum returns to the fish and looks around and upwards. She vocalises threateningly at something above from 09:18:25-34 (probably warning dad not to take the fish if she leaves it). She continues to look around in all directions for another minute or two. More threatening vocals from 09:19 to 09:19:15. She is sitting over the fish and has her very stern look on. At 09:22:30 dad lands on the opposite side of the nest with YET ANOTHER whole fish. This one is medium-sized and very much still alive. Mum stays where she is but immediately begins with her warning vocals. He stays where he is, surveying his fish. Mum is not looking his way, so he is perhaps assessing his options. What does a man have to do to get a decent sushi breakfast around here after all? This is his third fish of the morning. When is it his turn to eat? But mum continues with her unambiguous warnings. Dad is looking down at the fish, then up at mum, then back to his fish. It is just TOO funny. I wonder who will win this battle of wills? Any bets? Of course, mum. Dad admits defeat, and shortly after 09:24, he flies off the nest. I’m starting to feel a bit sorry for dad. Eat the next catch away from the nest, I suggest. He deserves one. Mum goes and stands over the floppy fish perhaps to protect the chicks from it. There is some shuffling in the cuddle puddle as Jersey makes his way to the table and moves confidently up to mum’s beak, with Leaper literally against his back. Just after 09:31, mum begins feeding Jersey, and despite the massive crop he has, he takes the bites. Leaper is in a food coma. Jersey should be too, but having learnt the hard way that you eat whatever is in front of you, he is stuffing himself further. By 09:32, after a dozen or so bites, he is having trouble, so tries a couple of small crop drops. Mum waits for him. He continues to eat. Mum downs the tail. At about 09:33:30, another small crop drop. He is really struggling now. That crop looks uncomfortable but he soldiers on. Another small crop drop just after 09:34. He takes four or five tries at the next bite and eventually swallows it. Another small crop drop. This crop is getting ridiculous. His crop drops are small – I am not sure whether he has much room for them either!! Perhaps he has not yet fully mastered the technique. By 09:35:30 mum is having to literally force food into Jersey, who is leaning back, away from the food, as if to say ‘please mum, no more!’ but she is slow on the uptake and keeps offering the piece. Sometimes after four or five attempts, usually involving the spitting out of the food, Jersey usually manages to get the bite down. But at this point, he really has had significantly more than enough. Around 09:37 Jersey seems to get a second wind (or a second stomach), as he leans forward to grab a couple of big bites. But it is short-lived and by 09:37:30, he cannot eat another flake.”

Thank you, ‘A’ – we love your narratives. You should write a book!

Leaper and Jersey shared breakfast Sunday morning. Jersey is doing the snatch and grab but still nervous if their beaks touch. Meanwhile, both are learning how to scale a fish! Fingers crossed for another good day with lots of fish in the nest. Notice that both have their thermal down and that their pin feathers are coming in.

In San Jose, Hartley laid her fourth egg of the 2024 Peregrine Falcon season keeping up with Annie and Archie. Monty, you are going to be busy!

Monty managed all those eggs for incubation!

The camera is back up and running and sometimes off again at Two Harbours. The egg is rolled. No visible pip yet.

Chase and Cholyn are 26 years old and have been together for 21 years. This only egg was laid on the 22nd of February. Today it is 39 days old. I am hoping for a pip under there!

Pair of eaglets at Decorah North are sooooo cute.

The pair at Little Miami Conservancy are pretty sweet, too.

The view isn’t as good as some, but the pair at Kansas City are also doing very well.

There is a big of a mystery going on at Berry College. Missey continues to cover up newly hatched B17 and the egg is now completely covered – B17 is sitting on the grasses covering the egg. That egg is 40 days old today and Missey knew it was unviable.

Port Tobacco’s only eaglet is doing just fine.

Second eaglet Sunday morning at Denton Homes.

At Bluff City, Oliver is growing nicely.

At Johnson City, JC23 and JC24 are getting their juvenile feathers.

Ruffie and Tuffy had an early breakfast fish from Harry at Moorings Park and several fish throughout the day. Food is plentiful.

Tom is home with Audrey at the Chesapeake Conservancy Osprey nest.

The ospreys at Moraine have a beautiful nest! Thanks, ‘L’!

Big Red and Arthur continue incubating their four eggs. Meanwhile there is no sign of an egg with Angel and Tom.

R6 fledged today from the WRDC nest!

Dedication and love. Plus hope. Sadly, there will not be a hatch at Big Bear this year for Jackie and Shadow. If only someone had airlifted an eaglet in for them.

Across the US, in NE Florida, Gabby and Beau continue to work on their nest with dreams of 2025, too.

In Eagle Country, Swampy and Meadow dream about flying – while they wait for the right time to arrive.

Toni Hoover reports that Rosa is back with Lewis in the nest at Dulles-Greenway.

Both Ospreys are home at the very popular German nest, Goitzsche Wildnis.

There is an osprey back at Great Bay. Sadly, the couple lost all their chicks in 2023 due to weather and starvation (one had to be euthanised). The nest is in Greenland, New Hampshire.

There are two little Great Horned owlets at the Wolf Bay Osprey Nest in Alabama this year.

The third hatch at the Venice Golf and Country Club is so tiny compared to its two older siblings who are entering the reptilian phase. For some reason, this nest is making me a little bit nervous this year.

Nest renovations are well underway for the pair at the Bridge Golf Club osprey platform.

In the UK, Black-necked Grebes had a remarkable breeding year. Bravo!

Black-necked-Grebes-thriving-on-RSPB-reserves-BirdGuides Download

A lovely opinion piece sent to me by my friend Wicky Woo for all of us to enjoy! Birding is one of the best ways to avoid the therapists’s couch!!!!!!!! That is what Calico tells me.

Opinion-When-I-Became-a-Birder-Almost-Everything-Else-Fell-Into-Place-The-New-York-Times Download

Thought or the week:

Thank you so much for being with us today. It was busy. There are nests not included, but as far as I know, JB Sands and Frenchman’s Creek. I have not heard of a hatch at Gainesville, but we are monitoring Two Harbours. There is a rumour of a hatch at Centreport on the 29th of March but no confirmation of feeding, and there is a pip watch underway Saturday night at ND-LEEF. Take care everyone. See you soon! For those celebrating Easter, the very best wishes for the day.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, images, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, L, SP, WW’, Jeff Kear, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Geemeff, LRWT, Welsh Osprey, The Woodland Trust, Llyn Brenig, Bridge Golf Club Osprey Cam, BirdGuides, Duke Farms, SK Hideaways, IWS/Explore.org, Raptor Resource Project, Little Miami Conservancy, Farmer Derek, Sharon Lee, Port Tobacco, Yale Sharon, Bluff City-ETSU, Johnson City-ETSU, Moorings Park, Heidi McGrue, PIX Cams, Cornell RTH cam, Wolf Bay, FOBBV, NEFL-AEF, Toni Hoover, Goitzsche Wildness, Eagle Country, The New York Times, and David Suzuki.

Blue NCO returns, Hatch at West End…Saturday in Bird World

9 March 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Goodness me. Things are starting to heat up. By next week, our heads will be spinning. The voting for which streaming cam osprey in the UK would arrive first is now over. The leader was Maya. She was beaten out by the arrival of Blue NCO at Loch of the Lowes. Blue NCO is the mate of Laddie LM12, and I, amongst others, feared that her early departure on July 15th last year meant she was no longer with us. There had been a lot of intruders around the loch. Well, here she is! Not dead but looking really good, back home and ready to begin another season. (Note: Last year she arrived on the 17th of March.)

Laddie cared for the remaining fledgling while having untold issues with intruders last year after NCO’s departure. He seemed exhausted at the end of the season. I hope he makes it back safely.

The video of this happy arrival captured by Geemeff. She looks around to see if Laddie has arrived.

Blue 5F, or Seren, is not on her usual perch in West Africa. She has not been seen for a few days. It is assumed that she is on her way home to Llyn Clywedog to be reunited with Dylan when he arrives.

Mid-afternoon Friday. A hatch is in progress at the West End nest of Akecheta and Thunder! Oh, my gosh. Do you think they will have three eaglets again this year? Something to look forward to after what looks like sadness at BB.

Thunder and Akecheta are hilarious.

They were feeding a chick Saturday morning. Congratulations.

More than 32,000 people were watching Jackie right after 0900 on Friday, hoping, like the rest of us, that one of those last two eggs is viable.

Jak and Audacity’s egg has held. It is 36 days today. Can we start dreaming of a pip?

Just look at how deep that egg cup is at Sauces. I wonder if this is why the egg has stayed intact this year.

New bark at the Achieva Credit Union Osprey platform. No sign of a chick, but Diane isn’t showing us much either!

No sign of a pip later on Friday at Achieva.

As Bella incubates, Scout has proven himself to be a fantastic new mate. He not only incubates and provides food, but he also had to protect Bella from a GHO attack.

Lewis is actively courting the new female at the Dulles-Greenway nest.

Dr Andrew Digby is an expert on Kakapo. He has done several podcasts and this one is really interesting. Have a listen!

https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-t8xag-15a03c1

If you missed it, both of the Royal Cam chicks are males.

If you miss see Brad and Gil on the Port Lincoln Osprey barge, rest assured that they are both fine. They are hanging out with Mum and Dad and enjoying learning to fish!

Look are out swimming together – Ervie and Giliath. Just think. All boys. Ervie, Brad, and Gil. They could all hang around Port Lincoln. Wouldn’t that be awesome. Best be finding places for platforms!

I mentioned several days ago that the GHOs had taken over the Wolf Bay Osprey Platform in Alabama. Today, they have two eggs in the nest.

Rosie Shields posted the story from Bird Life South Africa of a phenomenal migration by an Osprey.

I am wondering how extensive and detailed these daily cam updates will be.

Daily-Cam-Updates-Now-Available-On-Mastodon-Cornell-Lab-Bird-Cams-Cornell-Lab-Bird-Cams Download

The US Ospreys are arriving faster than I can enter all of the data into my research forms. Lucy arrived at Lake Murray on the 25th of February, Frederick arrived at Carova Beach on 1 March with his mate Betsie arriving on Friday the 8th. Jack appears to gotten to his Dahlgren Nest on Friday the 8th while the couple at Danville arrived on the 7th.

Jack at Dahlgren. Just wonder what toys he will bring to Harriet this year. I really hope none. Those poor eggs that have gotten lost in that nest and the potential for chicks to get entangled in those ‘stuffies’ drives me daffy.

I expect more flurries of arrivals in the US, UK, and Europe this coming week. If you are watching an Osprey nest and see birds arriving, please write to me and let me know so I can put in the correct data in the ongoing International Osprey Data Bank Project. Feel free to add this as a comment (I am behind in answering and apologise) or send me an e-mail at maryannsteggles@icloud.com. I appreciate all of the information sent to me. Anyone who watches a specific nest – one of your favourites – consistently, please alert me to hatches, fledges, and any possible siblicide. Again, I am very thankful for all of your ‘Osprey eyes’. ‘H’ and I could not complete this ongoing and extensive research project on siblicide and, now, more generally, causes of death on Osprey nests without your help. Thank you.

Have you ever heard a million cranes gathered during migration?

Turning back to the eagles for a minute. Swampy has that Buddha-like stance today. Few dandelions left on the top of his/her head. Gosh, these eaglets of Abby and Blaze are big.

Quite the expressions.

The Dukies seem to be doing fine. Nice big chunks of fish on that nest at Duke Farms.

Things seem to be alright at Johnson City with Jolene and Boone and their two eaglets.

There are two at Bluff City, and they are cute and tiny. Congratulations, Franklin and Frances, on your second successful hatch for 2024.

At Captiva, Cal wasn’t going to let Clive (I think it’s Clive) steal his fish. Oh, no! Any pretence of aerating the nest to get closer to that fish caused Cal to grab it and take it to the rails for a meal. — It is hard to train a single eaglet to protect their food. As we all know, it is very different when two eaglets are on the nest the age of Cal and a fish arrives. They fight for it like they will have to do in the wild. So we have all these single eaglets this year needing parents to get ‘tough’.

Look how Dad creeps up on Cal…

‘H’ reports that Ron and Rose are working on R6’s self feeding. “R6 had a very good experience self-feeding on 3/8. He had nothing to eat all day except a few bites of a leftover squirrel, then at 1805 Ron delivered a headless bluegill. R6 grabbed the fish and mantled, so Ron left him to it. R6 was doing a much better job of pulling and tearing off pieces of fish. Then, as a test, Ron returned at 1817 and tried to steal R6’s fish. Ron briefly had the fish but R6 put up a good fight. He bit his Dad on the talon, took the fish back and dragged it over to the other side of the nest where he continued to eat. He couldn’t finish it all, so he still had some fish saved for breakfast. R6 woke up in the middle of the night (0230ish) and began to eat from the fish piece again!”

JBS20 has been pecking at the nest as if looking for leftover fish. Mum was on the nest with her eaglet and Dad was seen there, too. I am unclear who did the feeding at 1700.

Gabby and Beau are protecting their nest. They were caught mating on another tree today. How nice it is to see them together after their clutch failed this year. We have something to look forward to for next year.

Tula, the White-tailed Polish Eagle, has laid her first egg for the 2024 season.

White Tailed Eagle Nest Cam

Roof Sealant. Another potential bird killer.

Gorgeous sunset over the Sandpoint Osprey platform.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Tomorrow, Saturday the 9th, promises to be another day for Osprey arrivals! We will also have some new eaglets in the US. We might even have an osplet at Achieva. Time will tell. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, screen captures, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post: ‘EJ, Geemeff, H, J’, Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), Mary Kerr, Geemeff, John Williams, IWS/Explore.org, Tonya in N.O., FOBBV, Achieva Credit Union, Deb Stecyk, Dulles-Greenway Eagle Cam, Sharon Dunne, Bazz Hockaday, PLO, Wolf Bay, Rosie Shields, All About Birds, Dahlgren Osprey Cam, Explore, Eagle Country, Duke Farms, Rollin’ Rog, Johnson City-ETSU, Bluff City-ETSU, Window to Wildlife, WRDC, JB Sands Wetlands, NEFL-AEF, Wildcat Creek Wildlife Centre, SPO, and Sandpoint Ospreys.

More Eagle eggs…tributes to Flaco…Sunday in Bird World

25 February 2024

Good Morning Everyone!

It is +7 C in Winnipeg and everyone seems to be outside, smiling, walking their dogs or cats. The squirrels and Black-capped Chickadees were out at The English Garden. It really was superb despite my angst over the fact that we need the snow, we need our normal winter.

I am smiling. 4.8 km. It was a good day for a walk. Limited ice, lots of sunshine!

At home, Missey and Hugo Yugo found the store room. Quilts piled high on storage bins in case they wanted to look out. It is awaiting spring cleaning, but these two did not care! Well, not quite true. Hugo Yugo raised her head. She did not want her nap disturbed by me.

Lewis and Missey spent hours at this window next to one another, watching the Chickadees that had a nest there. Life goes on. Hopefully Hugo Yugo will spend time there with Miss.

It has been a horrid week. Trees were cut down, Hugo Yugo was ill and is now well, and ‘The Boyfriend’ disappearing topped it all. He did return. And then he was gone again. Not like him! A few of us feared the worst, but then he showed up at 1620 Saturday for food, and as I am writing this, he is eating kibble from the dishes left by my neighbour. Turns out he was locked in her garage for a few days. So…please check to ensure no kitties are locked in yours if you leave for a few days. Things turned around. I cannot do anything about the trees, but plant more in my garden or move which I don’t wish to do — I really couldn’t leave the garden animals. So, forward!

First, there is a correction. I had originally posted that Stella and Talon had their first egg on the 21st. Then I heard that they had three and thought I was wrong. It appears that the second egg was laid yesterday -Saturday- at the Florida-Gainesville nest, so let’s rewind. If there is to be a third, it should be in the nest on the 27th.

Andor and Cruz have their first egg of the 2024 season at Fraser Point in the Channel Islands. You may recall that they are Lillibet and Victor’s parents. Victor was rescued and treated by the Ojai Raptor Centre before being rereleased to the wild in 2023.

The first egg for Dad and the new female at ND-LEEF (ND17’s nest) was laid Saturday evening.

The Centreport Eagles have egg number 2. It feels like the sky is raining eagle eggs as of late.

Jak and Audacity teach us the meaning of love and hope. It has been three years since they fledged a single eaglet. Will we dance for joy on 8 March – we certainly will – if this egg survives to hatch!

PB sent a great image of Meadow this morning. Unless something changes, it appears that we no longer have to worry about Meadow’s survival. Isn’t that fantastic?

They are both rather itchy at Eagle Country.

Beau and Gabby also teach us about love and endurance and accepting one another’s learning curves. The couple returned to their nest after abandoning their egg on Saturday working away. Maybe they will have eaglets next year, maybe not. For now, the two are keeping their territory out of the hands of intruders and living their lives.

Tiny bobbleheads at Superbeaks.

JBS20 has had nice crops all Saturday. The arrival to the nest of the second adult made for some happy moments. AE sent a screen capture of that happy reunion.

Are you holding on to the edge of your seats? Today is the 25th of February. We are four days away from pip/hatch watch for Jackie and Shadow. FOUR.

Shadow has been up to his old stick trick to try and get some incubation time – and when the exchange happens, we get to see three intact eggs.

At the Captiva Eagle nest of Connie and Clive, their surviving eaglet, Cal, is getting proficient at self-feeding!

Ron and Rose are having R6 feed himself most of the time, too.

Chase and Cholyn’s precious egg at Two Harbours.

A view of the two eggs at Duke Farms.

And two eggs at Decorah North!

Royal Cam chick watched over by parent LGK followed by some good feedings. It is always hard to see these little ones left while the adults are out foraging. I wonder what kind of a gardener this one will be?

Giliath is doing well. Making the rounds and catching Puffers, too.

Bonding taking place at Lake Murray Osprey Platform. Lucy lost all her chicks to the GHO last year as well as her mate. I am disappointed that the protective guards used at Cowlitz PUD successfully in 2023 were not tried at this nest.

It is touching that so many are grieving over the death of Flaco, the Eurasian Owl. Tributes poured in from everywhere – the major newspapers and stations as well as a myriad of FB groups.

People and news crews gathered to remember this remarkable owl. Poems were written, tears were shed.

The Guardian carried Flaco’s story.

Flaco-New-York-Citys-beloved-owl-dies-after-striking-building-US-news-The-Guardian Download

The personal testimonials about how Flaco inspired them to change jobs or to even live are very touching in this New York Times article.

New-York-Mourns-Flaco-an-Owl-Who-Inspired-as-He-Made-the-City-His-Own-The-New-York-Times Download

Could there have been other factors contributing to that collision?

Flacos-Crash-Might-Have-Been-More-Than-Bad-Luck.-Heres-What-We-Know.-The-New-York-Times Download

My inbox has been full of the same question – how do I feel about Flaco’s death? The simple answer is I was both sad and conflicted when I heard about his death. I am glad that out of his fourteen years (13 in captivity), he could live one of them freely, being an owl, learning to hunt and flying freely. This will conflict with many people whose opinions I respect and who I contact for help if a raptor is in danger in their area. My thoughts come from seeing our local eagle, Majestic, sitting in a 10 x 10 ft cage – it is a cage, come on. She did this for years and years before an enclosure like the one Rita has was built. Majestic cannot fly and cannot live in the wild. There was nothing wrong with Flaco – he was, as all animals in small enclosures in a zoo are, nothing short of a display object. I cannot even imagine what it would be like for a healthy owl to be confined. So…I am so sad he has died, but I am so glad he was able to fly free.

I just received a message that the ospreys from West Africa are beginning to arrive in Spain! We are less than three weeks away from UK arrivals if they are as early as Maya was one year. Gosh, golly…..And remember. We are FOUR days away from pip/hatch at FOBBV with Jackie and Shadow.

Thank you for being with me today. If you want more images and discussion about Flaco, I urge you to check out Bruce Yolton’s blog. He is a photographer and has followed Flaco from the beginning. I know that he preferred that Flaco was safe in his enclosure, so we will agree to disagree. He is, however, talented and observant of all wildlife in the area. Take care everyone. There are too many Bald Eagle eggs, and the Ospreys are coming online. It is going to get busy. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, images, posts, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘AE, EJ, MP, PB’, IWS/Explore.org, Trudi Kron, ND-LEEF, Eagle Country, NEFL-AEF, Superbeaks, JB Sands Wetlands, FOBBV, Window to Wildlife, Duke Farms, Bald Eagles of Centerport Live Stream, tulsaducati, PLO, Laurie Spencer, Brendan Hall, Stella Hamilton, MandaPanda73, Pauline Ludwig, Janet Walker, Ian Ingle, The Guardian and The New York Times.

And his name is Archie and her name is Dixie…Wednesday in Bird World

21 February 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

The City put up the signs and cleared all the diseased Elm trees on my block. It is so sad to see these 122-year-old trees cut down, but…I understand they had to go. I wish there had been some foresight, and smaller trees were planted some time ago in anticipation that these might have to be cut down. The beautiful canopy that covered the streets in my neighbourhood once the leaves come in the spring is now gone for the most part. I feel like I live on a barren moonscape. Thankfully, my little plot has trees and shrubs that shelter the animals. There will be more planted this spring. I wonder what options the City will give us for species.

Congratulations to the New Guy who has a name – Archie Williams. Apparently it was a no brainer. We hope that you and Annie have a great season and a long life together.

He isn’t ‘Whatshisname’ anymore! And yes, he was lucky to be picked by Annie…his entire life changed. The ‘King’ of the Campanile.

So many books were written during the pandemic as people worldwide were required to stay ‘put’. So many of those books talk about nature’s glory right before us or the healing power of birds and trees. The book that I am just finishing, 12 Birds to Save Your Life by Charlie Corbett, is one of those. (Priced between $10-21.99 CDN.). No beautiful coloured images but a good solid read to make you look again at the life around you.

Corbett’s mother dies of cancer. He falls apart. The 12 birds in the book bring him back to life. One of those is the House Sparrow.

Long-time readers of my blog will know that I love House Sparrows. they will also know that I disdain people who set up bird feeders only to resort to everything possible so that they do not have to provide seeds for these little songbirds. How reckless. Why they are gone, and their numbers are declining significantly, we will not get them back. In my garden, it is the songs of the sparrows that can be heard halfway down the lane not those of the Blue Jays or the European Starling, the Woodpeckers, or the Pine Siskins. Sometimes it is the Crows, but it is always the sparrows. Here are some quotes from Corbett about his relationship with Sparrows.

“Male House Sparrow (Passer Domesticus)” by foxypar4 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

“Not that long ago, the house sparrow- that most important, nay saucy, of characters, – provided the background music to the life of town and country dweller alike; the cheerful chirruping never ceased. But no more. They have vanished form our streets, and even from large tracts of the countryside, too. The silence is deafening….I wander the silent sparrow-free streets and lanes. Some people blame loss of habitat, while others blame overpredation from sparrow hawks and cats. Some people even blame unleaded petrol. Personally I think it is a mixture of the first two theories. Sparrows used to thrive in town and country because in the old days our houses were more tumbledown affairs, with gardens full of grass, flowers, and seed. Sparrows like to nest in cracks in the wall, under broken tiles or tucked into a loose brick, and they eat grasses, grains, and seeds. We no longer tolerate this sort of idiosyncrasy in our houses. Our gardens, more often than not, are lifeless low-maintenance lawns. Green deserts….We have left no room for nature. Put simply, there is nothing for them to eat. We’ve evicted them from our lifestyles without even realising that we’ve done it.”

He continues, “From these sparrows, I learned an incredibly important lesson: just to live. To take solace in the everyday. Even in the grey skies of an empty Tuesday afternoon – a prime time for endless thinking and creeping melancholy. But a sparrow doesn’t know it is Tuesday afternoon. They get on with what needs getting on with, oblivious to my inner struggles. As the philosopher Alan Watts once said: ‘The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.’ ” (173-75).

In North America, the population numbers of House Sparrows has, according to Cornell Bird Lab, declined by 84% since 1966. In Europe and the UK, the numbers are also declining dramatically. These declines are significant enough for me to beg you to feed them at your feeders. Don’t try fancy trips of aluminium foil or whatever, but embrace them for their lovely song and let’s see if we can help get their numbers up.

House-sparrow-population-in-Europe-drops-by-247m-Birds-The-Guardian Download

The House Sparrow is on the Red List of Birds in the UK. They are cited as being ‘Globally Threatened’. As my Great Bird Count suggests, the number of House Sparrows in my garden has dropped dramatically since last winter. Instead of counts in the hundreds, there were maybe 45 tops.

Egg collectors still threaten endangered species. Convicted for the third time what will they do with this man?

Serial-egg-thief-Daniel-Lingham-convicted-for-third-time-–-Raptor-Persecution-UK Download

We had the first hatch at Superbeaks and the next egg is showing signs of an eaglet being here by the time I hit ‘publish’ tomorrow morning, the 21st. Superbeaks confused me. They kept saying they could hear the chick in egg #3. Well, egg three when you also 1 and 2? That was my thinking, but Superbeaks counts differently – thanks, ‘H’, for that. The third egg is the first egg of the second clutch. Egg one and egg two from the first clutch did not hatch. OK. I get it now.

Cheeping heard from egg 4 so it won’t be long. First chick of second clutch at Superbeaks has been named Dixie.

Meadow did alright on Tuesday after the rain at the weekend and Swampy having her nose out of joint. Thank goodness. So much food and super parents – it just didn’t seem possible we could lose an eaglet. Things seem to be on the mend.

Oh, the weather was quite nasty in Big Bear Valley when I checked on Jackie and Shadow earlier. I worry about them slipping on wet sticks and puncturing the eggs that are now 8 days away from pip.

And then the snow came. I really am on tender hooks as to what is going to happen at this nest. Note: “Tenters and tenterhooks were commonly used from the fourteenth century, both as an important part of the process of weaving woolen fabric. Starting sometime in the eighteenth century, the phrase “on tenterhooks” came to mean “in suspense,” the way a piece of cloth is suspended from tenterhooks on a tenter.” That suspense is going to turn into a full blown anxiety attack in a week if we don’t get some decent weather on this nest.

Still snowing.

Horrible wind and little pelts this morning on Jackie.

Jak and Audacity still have their one precious egg at Sauces Canyon. Fingers and toes crossed for them as well.

Is there a second egg for Pa and Missey at Berry College? Sure looked like Missey was in labour when I checked, but she wasn’t giving us any peeks so I cannot say for sure.

Yes, that egg did arrive, but not until later! Congratulations Pa and Missey on the 2nd egg of your second clutch!

The Royal Albatross chick was weighed on the 20th. It didn’t look like it was going to fit in that sack, but it did!

Royal Cam chick slept partially alone.

Two nice fish came to the Captiva nest. Adults appeared to eat one of them while Connie fed the other to Cal. Perhaps Clive or Connie will move Lusa’s remains off the nest soon.

Is there going to be a bonded couple on the Captiva Osprey platform, finally? Jack and LO7??

So grateful to Ildiko Pokk for getting those screen captures of two little osplets at Pelican Bay.

At SW Florida, it looks like M15 and F23 are keeping E23 well fed. That eaglet is huge! And yes, some mysterious meat appeared on the nest on Tuesday.

The American Eagle Foundation is reminding people that we may see Gabby and Beau only occasionally. They have now abandoned the egg and since they do not need “the nursery tree”, we will likely not see them much. They are still in the area and will not migrate til later. Gabby normally returns in September.

Ron and Rita seem to be enjoying every minute they can with R6. What a big eaglet! Goodness, when HE stands up, you can see those beautiful strong legs and that fat little bottom…love the colour combo of light greys and espresso brown/black with that pop of white on the top of the head! This is a guy with good taste! — And yes, R6 is a ‘guy’.

The JB Sands Wetlands eaglet is getting bigger too…It is so nice to be able to ‘see’ this little one as it develops. Thermal down now.

They are on egg watch at Pittsburgh-Hays. Nothing so far on Tuesday the 20th.

News from Ventana Wildlife Society after the big storm that hit – they got all that rain and wind, too.

Iris’s cam is lie at Hellgate Canyon in Missoula, Montana. We are not expecting her back for 5 weeks, but she could fool us.

For those that have concerned themselves with Flacon and his living in the wild to the point of being ill that something might happen to him in the Central Park/Manhattan area, this post should help you get some peace. Flaco is in less danger than many of the raptors in the area for some of the reasons listed – and is at the same level of danger as the hawks and others that eat mice/rats due to rodenticide.

There is a new study on these designer rodenticides that has come out. Each of us should create a web of individuals and businesses that will spread to other individuals and businesses to stop the use of these dangerous toxins.

New-Study-is-First-to-Find-Exposure-to-Neurotoxic-Rodenticide-Bromethalin-in-Birds-of-Prey-Tufts-N Download

Milda and H492 have been visiting their nest in Durbe County, Latvia. I am so looking forward to little White-tail eaglets this year.

Arthur visited the nest at Cornell – Big Red was there on Monday. We are not expecting eggs for at least another three and a half weeks.

The earliest that an Osprey on a streaming cam has arrived in the UK was Maya on the 12th of March at Rutland. That was early. Using that as a marker, we are 21 days from a possible arrival. Wow. I am getting Osprey fever! Thank goodness those eggs of Jackie and Shadow will have hatched by then!!!!!!

Thank you for being with me today. Take care all. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, screen captures, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: The City of Winnipeg, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, 12 Birds to Save Your Life, Openverse, The Guardian, Raptor Persecution UK, Superbeaks, Eagle Country, FOBBV, Gracie Shepherd, Cornell Bird Lab, Sharon Dunne, Window to Wildlife, Iloilo A Pork, NEFL-AEF, WRDC, Lloyd Brown, JB Sands Wetlands, PIX Cams, Ventana Wildlife Society, Lucille Powell, @urbanhawks, David Lei, Tufts Now, LDF, and Cornell RTH Cam.

Superbeaks hatch in progress…Monday in Bird World

19 February 2024

Hello Everyone,

Thank you, again, for your kind wishes for Hugo Yugo. She is fine. She is more than fine. Flying around the house and getting into trouble – back to her usual self. I have no idea what made her tummy upset or why she was vomiting and refusing to eat. There are no poisonous plants in the house or fresh flowers – nothing I could tell she might have eaten. Today, however, that slick little one flew onto the kitchen counter behind me (a gallery kitchen) and ate at least one mouthful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese before I caught her. So, of course, I will be watching out tomorrow. She has certainly tried to make up for any food that she missed as well and has been romping and running with Baby Hope, to the delight of her younger sister, who had no one to play with while Hugo Yugo was not herself.

Calico doesn’t understand ‘why’ she doesn’t get the little extra meals the two younger ones get, but she is on a diet and doing well. She was so thin from feeding Hope and living in the street. The calming medication she was given caused her to blow up like a whale in a few weeks. I took her off it. The Feliway diffuser helped, and finally, she and Missey live mostly harmoniously. On occasion, Calico gets cranky, not just at Missey but at Hugo Yugo, too! Now it is taking months and months to get that weight off. I have a padded harness for her, and when the weather is better, we are adding walks to the regiment.

I love the golden light on Calico and the paper Peonies.

A few more pics of ‘The Girls’ on Sunday.

Yes, Hugo Yugo got caught under the plant stand. I have no clue how she managed to get herself under there. It is 2 inches clearance, but she did.

Their evening ritual in the Swan chair…Calico wakes me up at 0830, and twelve hours later, she is in this chair with Baby Hope. You could set your watch by her.

It is raining in Florida on Sunday, pitching down rain at a time when it should be ‘dry’. The forecast is for it to rain for the next 24 hours.

Abby and Blaze have been particularly attentive to little Swampy and Meadow. There is plenty of food on the nest and they are being fed quickly and Abby is taking good care not to let them get wet.

At Captiva, Cal looks so wet and lonely.

Food had been scarce. Cal was hungry. It was late on Sunday when prey finally arrived. Around 1645, Clive and Connie flew in with a nice fish for Cal. He had a lovely feeding and then got the fishtail all to himself. He was so excited when that fish dinner landed on that nest.

It is raining at NE Florida and there is no sign of Beau or Gabby. The egg, which was nearing its 48th or 49th day today, is uncovered. I hope that they have given up on it hatching and are out doing eagle things. I am not expecting a second clutch here this year, but….the eagles can surprise us.

I would say Gabby has abandoned the egg. Smart girl. Glad she did not incubate it for any longer…

I sure hope the rain stops before Pepe and Muhlady have a hatch at Superbeaks….and the same for Eagle Country. The chicks are older but a damp cold nest is not good.

Still raining…we are on pip/hatch watch for the first egg of the second clutch for Pepe and Muhlady and what terrible weather they have for this.

That hatch is now in progress. Thanks, ‘H’.

E23 was wet. F23 came in and fed him/her a nice fish meal and tried as hard as they could to warm that little one. Oh, I wish Connie would come in and snuggle with Cal.

The weather is nice at the JB Sands Wetlands near Dallas. JBS20 is being left alone more and more as s/he gets older.

We are on egg watch at Denton Homes in Decorah, Iowa.

Thank you ‘J’ for the laugh. Yes, Sally certainly does have a ballgown instead of underfluffies! She is working hard today to keep her two precious Osprey eggs warm and dry.

The weather is good at Big Bear. No wet sticks for the eagles to slip on…and the three eggs look good. Gentlest of changeovers from Jackie to Shadow Sunday morning. We are now 10 days away from pip watch.

At 1300 nest time, there were 6328 people watching Jackie incubate the eggs. Those numbers will soar when those eggs hatch. Wonder which news station will launch the story first?

Someone needs to make Dr Sharpe a Superhero costume. Qualifications: quick thinking on one’s feet, the ability to make something out of nothing, no fear of heights, able to climb cliffs, no fear of Bald Eagles, can carry more than one’s weight, not afraid to jump out of a helicopter with eaglet in hand — sounds like a comic strip character. — So you are wondering why I am writing this – well, Dr Sharpe went out in a helicopter to find out why the cameras are not working. Gracie Shepherd posted the adventure:

R6 goes back into the nest after banding and after all dangerous materials are removed. Thanks Lloyd Brown for the video!

R6 is in the grey/brown bag.

Xavier and Diamond are empty-nesters having raised Marri and Barru to fledge. While we will never know what happened to Barru (perhaps nothing but an early exit from the territory although I do doubt that), we do know that Marri was well trained by her parents and hopefully she will thrive raising her own chicks in a few years.

Cilla Kinross posted this image of Xavier catching some rays at sunset.

The fishing line and lure in the E3 nest at Kistachie National Forest have caused concern. On camera, the female was seen with what ‘appears’ to be a fishing lure in her mouth. She moves to the edge of the nest, but, to my eye, it is not clear what happened to the lure after that. There are no eaglets in the nest. There are not even eggs. Any remaining fishing line in the nesting material to the left and that lure could cause future harm or even harm to the two adult eagles attempting to claim this nest. So my question is very simple – why not clean up the nest? Surely to goodness the evidence is there of manmade materials and the potential future harm to warrant a green light to do some housekeeping for the raptors.

Now there is a GHO visiting the nest that could get injured if any manmade objects are still in that nest like fishing line, hooks, and lures.

Looks like Rosa is doing the heavy lifting at Dulles Greenway. Will Lewis bring her something to eat? Two eggs now.

At Decorah North, Mrs DNF laid her second egg of the 2024 season on Sunday.

Liberty has now laid the first egg of the season for her and Guardian 15 February at 1607. Was there a second egg on the 18th. Should have been. Will find out!

‘J’ and I have been discussing the age of some of the female eagles and she sent me the following information on Liberty. You might find it as interesting as I did. (I do not know the author of the material, perhaps you do and can tell me so I can credit them).

Congrats Liberty & Guardian 1st egg laid this season Happy about their 1st egg laid!
Guardian loves his sticks Liberty wasn’t happy about his sticks!
“Our fellow creatures can tell us the most beautiful stories”
Redding Eagles CA. 02 15 24 407pm laid this season
LK *To see Video in the comments* Nest info below
© 2023-24 Friends of the Redding Eagles
02 16 24 POSTED BY:
Friends of the Redding Eagles-FORE
Guardian got his first look at his new egg when he
flew into nest this morning at 0624am
Liberty went onto her landing post as Guardian seen his new egg
Liberty watched from her landing above the nest.
Liberty flew out of nest for her first break since laying her egg.
While Guardian incubated his new egg
2023-24 New Season
Liberty is here for her 19th Season
Liberty(f) is 25 years old, Guardian(m) is 10 years old.
02 15 24 1st egg laid at 407pm
Per Terri Lhuillier:
This is the latest date Liberty has laid her 1st egg!
She also did this in 2010 & 2016
Liberty & Guardian both returned back to their home nest for a new season
and had been working hard on getting nest ready
Liberty has spent her life successfully raising 26 eaglets
from egg to fledgling with 3 different mates!
2022-2023 Season
02 14 23 1st egg laid 02 14 23 at 643pm
*02 17 23 1st egg as broken
1st egg broke apart On 02 17 23 about pm
At 10:45am the egg looked fine. However,
at 12:10:17 it appeared to be broken.
Seems which ever one took that shift might have broken
the egg.
*2021-2022 Season INFO:
Two Eaglets E1 Sentry & Eaglet E2 Star both fledged
02 09 22 1st egg at 319pm
03 20 22 1st eaglet hatched at 924pm
02 12 22 2nd egg laid at 242pm
03 23 22 2nd eaglet hatched at 847am
02 15 22 417pm 3rd egg was laid * Sadly one of the 3 eggs got broken *
2020-2021 Nesting Season:
Three Eaglets #1 Honor #2 Glory #3 Rebel
1st eaglet hatched 03 21 21 545pm .
2nd eaglet hatched 03 22 21 130pm.
3rd eaglet hatched 03 23 21 150pm.
1st Egg laid 02 10 21 at 324pm
2nd egg laid 02 13 21 at 213pm
3rd egg laid 02 16 21 at 321pm
2019-2020 Season
fledged one eaglet named Hope
History:
Liberty has spent her life successfully raising 26 eaglets from egg to fledgling with 3 different mates!
As of 2022 Liberty has raised 26 offspring from egg to fledging, including 4 sets of triplets
2009 -2010 -2015 2021.
Liberty has built 5 nests since 2005: 2 at Turtle Bay Area in Cottonwood Trees
(current nest 90 feet up), 3 at Riverview Golf Course in Gray Pine Trees (alternate nest site).
Guardian is Liberty’s 3rd mate, they first paired up in February 2019 after 2nd mate disappeared.
Liberty’s Mates: 1st mate~ Patriot 2004-2013, Sadly, Patriot was run off by an intruder male eagle in 2013
and eventually fell to his death during an aerial battle.
A necropsy was done & they found that Patriot had Rodenticide or Rat Poison in his liver when he died and
had bled out in mid-air & was dead before he hit the ground.
Her 2nd mate~ Spirit 2013-2019, Liberty & Spirit raised 8 offspring together, only losing one(Solo) to
extreme dehydration on June 25, 2017 after Liberty laid a 2nd clutch of eggs in mid March after losing
her 1st clutch when their nest fell during a powerful Storm in February 2017.
Her 3rd mate Guardian 2022-present.
2020 Liberty & Guardian returned to the old nest at Turtle Bay area along the Sacramento River.
and started working on the nest where as of 2021 they are now using the nest there
Liberty has raised 26 offspring from egg to fledging, including 4 sets of triplets ’09 -’10 – ’15 -’21.
Liberty has built 5 nests since 2005: 2 at Turtle Bay Area in Cottonwood Trees
(current nest 90 feet up), and
3 at Riverview Golf & Country Club in Gray Pine Trees(alternate nest site).
*Eggs are due in early to mid February! Hatching is usually around the 20th of March
*Thank you Terri Lhuillier and everyone for all of your work to
make this a reality for all of us to enjoy watching our beloved Liberty & Guardian….
*This live feed is owned and operated by Friends of the Redding Eagles,
a 501c3 nonprofit Community Organization in Redding, California.
***Donations can be made to: Redding Eaglecam GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/e9ed4b63
****Checks can be mailed to:
F.O.R.E 1857 Trumpet Dr. Redding, CA 96003
* Video to distinguish Liberty from Guardian: https://youtu.be/R0neo17SawE

I should not have said anything the other day about the Duke Farm’s Mum and snow. This is her on Sunday. I know they handle the snow, but goodness my heart aches for them regardless.

Monty and Hartley must protect their territory from pesky juveniles!

Here is the weekly video summary for the Port Lincoln Ospreys, Giliath and Bradley.

At Port Lincoln, Bradley is reminding me more and more of Ervie. At 0735 he had his first puffer on the ropes. Mum and Dad are over on the old barge hoping their restaurant delivery days are over for this season!

Nice close up of Gil.

Seán Ronayne is out to record every bird in Ireland – to compel people to hopefully understand and empathise with what is happening to nature. Well written, captivating article.

An excerpt: Ronayne’s passion for wild birds, and the precious but dwindling habitats that support them, has struck a chord in Ireland at a moment of late-dawning awareness of the seriousness of the country’s ecological crisis. “It’s an outrage, but many people still don’t realise how bad it is,” he says, sounding uncharacteristically angry. “Ireland is one of the most nature-depleted countries in Europe. We have lost 90% of our wetlands, more than any other country in the world, and have just 1% of native tree cover, the lowest in Europe.”

The core issue is intensive farming, with more than 60% of the land given over to what, in government-speak, is called improved agricultural grassland. “It means that everything has been removed except rye grass for animal feed,” Ronayne says. “Fields are now cut maybe three of four times a year for silage, whereas there used to be traditional hay meadows that would have been host to nesting species like the corncrake, skylark, lapwing and curlew.”

‘Total-immersive-obsession-meet-the-man-on-a-mission-to-record-every-bird-in-Ireland-Birds-The Download

News has come that ‘America’ – the Dollywood Bald Eagle – has died.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care. We hope to have you with us again soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, streaming cams, videos, and articles that helped me to write my blog today: ‘H, J’ Eagle Country, Window to Wildlife, NEFL-AEF, Superbeaks, SW Florida Eagle Cam, JB Sands Wetlands, Denton Homes, Moorings Park, FOBBV, IWS, Lloyd Brown, Cilla Kinross, Tonya Irwin, Dulles-Greenway, Sharon Lee, FORE, Duke Farms, SK Hideaways, PLO, Bart M, and The Guardian.

John Bunker Sands Eagles have first hatch, hunger at the WRDC…Saturday in Bird World

27 January 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Yesterday, the 26th, I ate a very special cake for my late Dad. It is his birthday. He had two favourite cakes – a fresh Coconut and, the other, a fresh Orange Cake. Some who live in the Southern US might be familiar with these – a nice white layer cake (sturdy and only handmade) filled with either freshly grated coconut with a buttercream frosting or freshly grated oranges mixed with some sugar, spread liberally between 5 or 6 layers, and let to sit. If anyone is responsible for my feelings for abandoned animals, it is certainly him. Happy Birthday, Dad.

Hugo Yugo would have loved to have some of that cake. My goodness that little cat can get into the most trouble without even trying. She is sooooo curious. This coming week, she goes back to Dr Greene for her check-up. I think the vet will be pleased.

Watching bird videos with Hope.

Hope is very patient with her little sister.

‘The Boyfriend’ enjoyed the Friday evening feast of organic roast chicken. The neighbourhood rallied around and showed their love for him – and the others – when it appeared that one individual would call the pound. I am joyful and grateful to live in an area with such compassion for animals.

Congratulations to the John Bunker Sands Wetland eagles on their first hatch of the season!

‘M’ sent me the video of Mum joyously calling Dad to tell him about the egg.

Jackie has been taking good care of the first egg at Big Bear laid on Thursday the 25th. Shadow brings his gal a nice fish lunch at 11:01. Mark your calendars for a Leap Year pip/hatch. Shadow actually brought in three fish on Friday for Jackie. Way to go….the reason nearly 10,000 people love this couple and wish them success this season. They are adorable.

If Gabby’s egg is to be the miracle of the breeding season, it should show signs of a pip Friday and hatch on Saturday or Sunday.

There seems to be a prey problem at the WRDC nest. For unknown reasons hunting seems to be difficult. Ron has not brought prey for a week, and Rose seems to be having a prey drought the past couple of days herself. Both parents seem healthy, but I’m sure they are hungry. We have not seen Rose with a crop, and Ron ate some of the fish on the nest yesterday. They have run out of scraps for Rose to feed R6. The eaglet ate well Thursday, and had a small crop after a morning scrap feeding early Friday. PS are still okay.

Late afternoon on Friday. There is still no food delivery and everyone is getting worried, even if they are not saying it. Something is very much amiss here.

Rose flew in after dumpster hunting with a child’s pull-up nappy and what appeared to be a piece of red meat (an organ) attached. R6 was fed. We must remember that eagles are carrion eaters. Their stomachs are made to digest the most horrible dead, maggot-eaten prey. Hopefully, this will keep R6 from starving, but imagine that the eagles have to eat garbage in one of the wealthiest neighbourhoods in Florida. Rose was plucking the plastic off the nappy. Then Ron flew in with a partial fish at 1730. What a relief. It was left on the nest and rightfully so – Rose doesn’t know when the next meal will come and R6 did eat – whatever it was.

We all need to learn something from Port Lincoln. They dared to provide fish for the family during the crucial period when one or both of the osplets might have perished. Their plan worked. It did not stop the adults from bringing fish to the nest. Five fish have been arriving daily, on average, for the fledglings, Gil and Brad. Three individuals with big hearts realised that it was time to help – so I say to those who are the administrators of the WRDC nest: the feral cats in my neighbourhood have more empathy and food than these beautiful eagles at the WRDC. Tonight ‘The Boyfriend’ had his normal organic chicken dinner. So, please, Help the eagles! Get them over the hump.

When we know there is a crisis, it is our duty, if we can in any way, to help the animals through the rough patch. Weather, overfishing, loss of habitat and thus loss of prey can now be linked to humans. There is your cause for intervention.

Rose appears to be feeding R6 some of the fish. Remember – these parents are hungry, too. They will protect the territory, feed themselves, and then feed the eaglets. Let us hope that tomorrow is a much better day and that the wind, or someone, gets this nappy and its plastic off this nest.

Here is the incident in question in video.

It appeared that R6 ate some of the plastic from the nappy…those stomach acids should do the trick. At the same time, the darling almost choked.

We know that our beautiful birds around the world hunt in landfills. The storks of Western Europe, the General Adjutants in Assam, etc. What a testament to our mismanagement of the land that the animals and fish they need to survive are not abundant. One of the big threats to all of our birds, eagles included, is the growing abundance of plastic – as trash, as microplastics, fishing lines, etc. and now nappies.

The live stream went down at 2050 Friday night and returned at 0915 Saturday morning. The plastic has been removed from the nest with permission from USFWS. I hope that some fish were delivered as well.

It appears that Ron has been able to deliver a fish Saturday morning. Let us hope that the dry spelling in prey at this nest is over. And then Rose brought in a big fish. Lovely!

Royal cam chick is being fed and weighed.

Unfortunately, the amount of food the Royal Cam chick is getting is not sufficient and the Rangers – doing great diligence – have switched chicks with another family. They do amazing work, the NZ DOC rangers – everything they do is to ensure that these chicks survive to fledge. Swooping chicks, supplemental feeding, misting, you name it, they do it. Let us hope this attention to the care of these endangered seabirds spreads to other nests throughout the world.

The Royal cam chick was returned to the nest!

No shortage, so far, of prey items at SW Florida. E23 does get impatient and wishes Mum would get those bites a bit quicker to its beak!

Clive keeps the fish coming in at Captiva. These two are adorable, Cal and Lusa. Some think the plumage patterns on their backs look like turtle shells while others see them as bulls eyes.

Do you know what Doris Mager’s contributions to Bald Eagles was? If you do not know the name, have a read – and even if you do, refresh your memory!

The-Lady-Who-Lived-in-an-Eagles-Nest-The-Saturday-Evening-Post Download

Here is Condor Chat in case you missed it on Thursday. The missing birds will be added to the Memorial Page for 2023 in the new few days.

Dr Sharpe is out fixing cameras at the Channel Islands nests! Retired? Doesn’t seem so.

Please join various wildlife groups – such as Cornell and Audubon – for the great Bird Count on the 16th of February. The more that count, the more we know about the declines and gains in bird populations.

Bird Count is on this weekend in the UK and will there be winners such as the Waxwing? We wait to see.

Spot-the-punk-rockers-hope-for-waxwing-boost-in-annual-UK-bird-count-RSPB-Big-Garden-Birdwatch-Download

Concern for the population of seabirds in the United Kingdom is growing.

Inter-Research-MEPS-v725-p121-140 Download

Want to know more about the winter bird visitors to Scotland and their migration? Have a read!

Scotlands-winter-visitors-why-and-how-do-they-migrate-BTO-British-Trust-for-Ornithology Download

We are 7 weeks and counting til the Ospreys return to the UK.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Please send positive wishes for a good prey day at the WRDC and if you can produce a miracle for Gabby and Beau, please do so! Take care everyone. See you soon.

Always free. You can unsubscribe anytime. Normally one post a day. No ads, no spam.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, zoom chats, photographs, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A, M’, John Bunker Sands Wetlands, FOBBV, Marylu Pitcher, WRDC, Eagle Goddess, NZ DOC, Lady Hawk, Sharon Dunne, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Window to Wildlife, Saturday Evening Post, Audubon Magazine, Ventana Wildlife Society Condor Chat, Gracie Shepherd, National Audubon Society, and The Guardian.

Friday in Bird World

26 January 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Thursday was simply a gorgeous day. By the time I had treated all over King’s Park and through the entire space of IKEA – well, I had accomplished more than my goal of 5km. Whew! The snow is melting quickly and soon, we will be getting stuck in the muck. But, for today, it was marvellous. The puppies were off to the dog park and everyone had a smile on their face and a big hello. Tomorrow, I hope to find some Short-eared Owls and some Snowy Owls in an adventure north of the City.

It is not Calico, it is Baby Hope. She looks more and more like Mamma every week.

Calico wanted to give Baby Hope a good wash, but unlike Hugo Yugo, Hope wasn’t having any of it!

Missey sat close and watched Calico trying to be a good Mamma.

Hugo Yugo is always a bit of a blur…

When the first thing you read in the morning is the shooting of a Peregrine Falcon, it is hard to put on a happy face.

Peregrine-found-shot-in-Doncaster-–-Police-appeal-for-information-–-Raptor-Persecution-UK Download

At Big Bear, Shadow was attacked by an unidentified eagle at 1443 on Wednesday! The worry beads were out, and tears were falling – Shadow has now returned safely to the nest at 1135 Thursday.

Then, the unexpected happened. Jackie laid her first egg of the 2024 season. Tears of joy are flowing around the world for this most beloved couple who fight against the impact of the DDT spraying from decades ago on their breeding success.

Here’s the video!

At Sauces, there are fish gifts form Jak to Audacity. Love this couple whose name should be Tenacious and Persistent.

Gabby and Beau protecting the nest and incubating an egg that is going to need a super miracle if it is to hatch for these two.

Beau had a lesson in incubation today! It looks like he might have gotten it! Thanks, Gabby!!!!!! He is a keeper. Maybe not eaglets this year, but next.

E23 is really noticing what is beyond the nest. And what a change – like the eaglet doubled in size!

There is a surprise and some joy in the Kisatchie National Forest today after the loss of Anna and Andria, their eggs, nests, and mates. The time stamp of 2014 must be an error.

All is going well for Duke Farms. There is a second egg – that should be it!

Here’s the video.

Royal Cam chick enjoys breakfast with Mum.

A tour of the landscape around the Pittsburgh Hays nest occurred on Thursday. You can see the river where the eagles go fishing…gorgeous.

Gracious. Your giggle of the day comes from V2 and DG. Practice. There are no eggs at the Dulles-Greenway nest of Rosa and V2 but practice for incubation is underway and guess what V2 is using? A hambone! Maybe we needed one of these for Beau.

Successful mating at Moorings Park on Thursday with the first egg expected any time.

Cal and Lusa are getting their cute little tail feathers!

No eggs yet for Liberty and Guardian at Redding in California.

Both the new female and Dad were on the ND-LEEF nest today after the snow melted. New female (top) and Dad (below).

‘A’ sends the reports for the past days at the Parramatta River. It appears that SE31 has now dispersed from the nest area.

“Here are the WBSE reports for the past three days (24, 25 and 26 January):

January 24: Early in the morning, one eagle was at River Roost. It appeared to be Dad. On the incoming tide, there was lots of floating rubbish, man-made and natural – leaves, branches, plants. Stormwater carries lots of debris. Only Dad was seen by the river during the day. A drone was seen over the wetlands, delivering routine mosquito-management spraying. Later in the afternoon, again only one eagle was seen. SE31 seems to be out of sight or has moved away from this area. She was last seen flying towards Homebush Bay. The photo below is from the other day, a good catch though our youngster was not there to claim it. Thanks to Jan and all our other eagle watchers and photographers.

RangerJudy1d

January 25: An eagle-free day, it seems, as none was seen by the river all day. Watchers checked nearby bays and the ospreys were sighted.

RangerJudy29m

January 26: A very quiet day today, with no sea eagle sightings recorded. A picture from the past for a memory. We wonder where they all are.

Meanwhile, it was another fish frenzy day with five coming in to the nest for Brad and Gil who are still at home!

So it seems our girl has moved on – apparently, with peregrines, the females disperse much greater distances from the natal area than do the male juveniles. I’m unsure if the same applies with sea eagles. SE29 headed north, up along the coast, a particularly lovely part of the country.”

What a wonderful day! Thank you so much for being with me. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, photographs, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog this morning: ’A’, Raptor Persecution UK, FOBBV, SK Hideaways, Gracie Shepherd, NEFL-AEF, Lisa Yen, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Cody Wayne, Duke Farms, Ondabebe, Bill Kitchen, NZ DOC, Pix Cams, Dulles Greenway Eagle Cam, Mooring Park, Window to Wildlife, FORE, ND-LEEF, Eagle Cam, PLO, and Bart M.

Royal Cam chick returned to Mum…Wednesday in Bird World

24 January 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Your smile for the day comes from Auntie ‘H’ who modified a Scott Metzger cartoon:

Perfect! I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face all day.

The weather is warming up and tomorrow it is forecast to be either 1 or 4 degrees C. That is ‘plus’. My plan is to go out for a long walk at one of our provincial parks before things get too soupy. Today it was a jaunt around a local forest and a walk through The English Garden at our zoo. The air was so clean and fresh. Everyone was friendly and smiling and saying ‘hello’.

In the house, the girls had a ball watching their bird video. Baby Hope was extremely animated and determined to catch one!

Cornell and NZ DOC made a short video of the return of the Royal Cam chick to the nest! What a cute little fluff ball! Look at the loving eyes of the parent as they see their chick for the first time. Precious.

Royal Cam chick (like all the albatross chicks) has been checked and re-checked and has been fed at least twice.

Gabby is still incubating that egg! And V3 is there on the branch, cuts healing on his feet, from protecting her and the nest. These two have had a real time of it this year and, sadly, we know what Gabby probably does, too – there is no little eaglet. I feel so sorry for her. Two years without a chick – 2023 and now 2024.

At SW Florida, E23 is being left alone more and more, even at night. This morning the eaglet was spreading its large wings. I held my breath thinking about the GHOs…maybe they are too busy with their own nest to worry about the eaglet! Let’s hope.

E23 is growing so fast! All that good food – and what a variety this wee one has had. The mohawk is there, clown feed, and there were some nice close ups of the ‘blood’ feathers today.

Blood Feather Information:

“When a feather is pulled out or falls out during a normal moult (a normal loss of feathers), a new feather is stimulated to start growing right away. As the new feather, also called a pin or blood feather, emerges from the skin’s feather follicle, it looks like a spike, quill or much like the feather shaft itself. This new feather has a blood supply flowing through it and is encased by a keratin (type of protein) coating or feather sheath. The base, where the feather is developing and being nourished by blood, is a dark blue color. On smaller feathers such as those around the head, the base may be a red or pink color. Some pin feathers may be sensitive, and birds may not enjoy being handled while moulting. As the feather continues to grow, the tip will mature first as the blood recedes back down into the follicle. The bird will gradually preen off the keratin feather sheath from the maturing feather tip and the newly formed feather will emerge.” (VCA Animal Hospital)

At Captiva, C10, Cal, had a crop that looked like it could pop any time. Connie was busy ensuring C11 had a good fish meal, too. Isn’t she lovely? Both eaglets have thrived, although I must say I did worry about C11, Lusa, during the storm.

Connie sleeps on the rim of the nest while her babies dream about fish breakfast.

The only true fluffy little eaglet right now is R6. Rose stays right on top of her keeping her warm and dry in case a storm hits Dade County. Little R6 is growing and stretching. It is much easier to see it being fed from that nest cup than it was even yesterday.

There is the first egg, laid on Monday the 22nd, at Duke Farms for Mum and her new mate.

At Port Lincoln, Bradley and Giliath were caught on video following Mum and Dad fish begging.

Good News coming from Senegal: Blue 497, the oldest chick from Mrs G’s last brood in 2022, has been seen and photographed. Congratulations, Glaslyn. This is the first time it was seen. Blue 2H2 from Rutland was seen the other day and Blue 5F our grand Mamma from Clywedog was photographed in her usual spot. We are getting close to really dreaming about their return – is it really less than 60 days now?

It looks like Wisdom wasn’t just dancing, but is breeding again on the Midway Atoll. Fingers crossed for our oldest albatross ringed in 1956 – she is at least 73 years old!

Worlds-oldest-known-bird-breeding-again-at-73-BirdGuides Download

Tim Mackrill has written a new book on Ospreys. I wonder if it will beat my favourite, most reasonably priced, packed full of great information and photographs he wrote for the RSPB? You can pre-order now. Published by Bloomsbury, there are 150 photographs, and it will be out on Leap Year Day. I have an order and will tell you how it compares to the earlier RSPB version! (Thanks, Geemeff).

Here is the publisher’s description:

If you do not live in the land of peat burning, you might not fully understand why it is important not to burn it – these are huge carbon sinks. Here is a document in simple language that all of us can understand – who is burning the peat and why they should stop.

Extent-of-burning-on-Scottish-peatlands-including-many-grouse-moors-is-why-regulation-is-needed-ur Download

‘J’ sent me the summary of the Raptor Resource’s Project tracking Golden Eagles. What a treat.

Raptor-Resource-Project-Bald-Eagle-and-Bird-of-Prey-Cams Download

I have a wee bit of a winter cold and am going to tuck it in early tonight. The newsletter is, thus, shorter than expected. I know you will understand.

Thank you so much for being with us. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, photographs, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog this morning: ’A, Geemeff, H, J’, Cornell and the NZ DOC, Holly Parsons, NEFL-AEF, SW Florida Eagle Cam, VCA Animal Hospital, Window to Wildlife, WRDC, Duke Farms, PLO, Raptor Resource Project, Raptor Persecution UK, and Bloomsbury Publishing.

1st egg for Duke Farms, Tuesday in Bird World

23 January 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

The girls have been helping me nurse a cold today. That means no crazy antics. In fact, they are still resting up from all the fun they had on Sunday!

Trouble with a capital T slept most of the day:

Calico woke up as usual – if she did not appear with a single meow around 0835 I would think she was the one feeling under the weather. Oh, what a gentle soul she is.

Time for Hugo Yugo to get those eyes and ears washed! Missey is an exceptional Mamma. Then they always spend a good hour snuggled together. It is beautiful.

The second round of eagle eggs are beginning to be laid. Congratulations Duke Farms – we welcome a new male there this season. Estimated time was 1548. Thanks, Trudi Kron, for the great screen capture!

Congratulations to Jolene and Boone at the ETSU nest in Johnson City on their second egg. Hard incubation has begun.

Will we have a clutch at the KNF-E1 nest with the new couple? We wait.

What a relief to have Gabby back at the nest tree. That egg is not viable, but, gosh, if a miracle happened and it hatched, I would not complain. Gabby had a huge crop and another fish. That was reassuring…but, mostly, it was one of those moments when the world feels like it is lifted off your shoulders.

Poor Gabby. Does she believe that Beau incubated the egg, like Samson would have, in her absence? She is there on her egg Monday night. I feel bad for her.

As I continue to remind myself, I will say again – we are lucky. There are four well fed, much loved, fat bottomed eaglets to coo over. Perhaps there will be less competition for them when they are looking to raise their families.

F23 has turned out to be a fine mate for M15 and a grand Mum for E23.

F23 wants to make certain that E23 has its blankie.

Clive makes sure that Cal and Lusa are not going to go hungry! Their names, combined, stand for the local indigenous tribe that settled the area of Captiva eons ago.

Many believe that Ron and Rose should get the award this season for the deepest egg cup. This little one hasn’t a hope of getting out to those rails – or does it?

Missey and Dad were working on renovations to their nest after the two eggs they had been incubating broke – and appeared to not have any contents at the weekend.

I love how the eagles have shown their ability to mourn over the years (still remember vividly Joe at Captiva standing over the body of his dead daughter after she had secondary rodenticide poisoning) and then get on with life when something like this happens at Berry.

Meet the new Royal cam chick!

And she’s home with Mamma!

A sub-adult landed on Gabby’s tree and we all jumped and hoped it was Legacy! Gosh, do you remember when she got ‘lost’ from the nest tree and flew by finally landed and stayed home for a month after fledging? I wonder if it is her. She was an incredibly beautiful fledgling and this sub-adult is a show-stopper! I would like to think that since Samson returned to his natal nest that it is entirely possible that this is Legacy. The plumage development might indicate that, too. (Of course, there are many eagles in this area, but…I can wish!)

EagleGoddess caught the sub-adult at NEFL covering the egg ever so gently.

Other sub-adults are showing up elsewhere. There was one at the Pittsburgh-Hayes nest, too.

A note from the Eagle Cam and some of the latest images from Chang-Le Dong of WBSE 31. Let us hope SE31 breaks the norm and stays at the river much longer than anticipated. Watching her develop from an egg to such a gorgeous fledgling has been a joy.

You might recall that the osprey on Louis and Alia’s old nest – nest 1 at Loch Arkaig – is named Affric. Look what they have discovered in Scotland. Thanks, Geemeff. It is stunning – love those bright colours.

Rob Schwartz continues to fight on behalf of the eagles of Centreport to stop construction that would be harmful to the eagles habitat. It is a bit long but I have included Rob’s entire post in case you want the details and wish to send a letter on behalf of the ‘eagles’.

Schwartz: ”For those of you who could not attend the Jan. 18th ZBA Meeting, I am attaching a partial video (which I cut to remove the legal mumbo jumbo). Per the testimony from a SEQRA expert , when the ZBA granted a business depth extension following their Aug. 3rd meeting, they violated SEQRA, with little or no regard for our eagles whose nest is adjacent to the Centerport Mill Pond. We feel that if this is done with the way most of the building has been done in the past – the area in which our eagles live will be destroyed, the environment is not taken into the proper consideration. The owners of the land are not doing their due diligence to make sure the land surrounding the Mill Pond is environmentally ready. As per the owners previous “pre application”, the proposed building is going to be 4 stories tall, (3 are only allowed in Huntington). Not surprisingly, there are rumors that the next door restaurant could also be demolished and turned into more apartments. The slimy nature of how the TOH ZBA is acting in the best interest of the builder should scare us all. The ZBA had a chance to end this on Thursday. However, they refused to hear from residents, even from the resident who initialized the complaint. The plan to put a boardwalk in over the mudflat alone should have been a signal to all, they intend to add as many apartments as they can get away with. The bottom line to this is: They are not willing to follow proper law in the Town of Huntington when it comes to the environment. Those laws were created to protect the environment. No one is telling anyone they cannot build on their land, but the town law needs to be followed. No one is above the law, no matter how much money they have. We all want responsible building in Centerport, but not a build and burn scenario. If this is allowed to go unchecked, you can say goodbye to our eagles and all the wonderful life Mother Nature has brought to Centerport. By the way, the ZBA Board Members are appointed, not elected – what do they have to lose? However, we should be sure to let the Town Board know how we feel about the ZBA that they appointed. If you email any of the below – be sure to CC Andrew Raia TOH Clerk, this way you email goes “On The Record”.Please consider sending emails to all of the following, protesting the ZBA’s reckless disregard for the environment. Here are the people you can email to tell them how you feel about ignoring the Environment. Keith Brown, NY State Assemblyman 12th Assembly District
631 261-4151 (Commack Office) brownk@nyassembly.gov Edmund J. Smyth, Supervisor 631 351-3030 esmyth@huntingtonny.gov, Dr. Dave Bennardo, Councilman 631 351-3172 dbennardo@huntingtonny.gov, Salvatore Ferro, Councilman 631 351-3175 sferro@huntingtonny.gov, Gerard Asher, Chair
John Bennett, Special Counsel 631 351-3196, ZBA@huntingtonny.gov

Hartley and Monty are bonding in San Jose!

The first fish comes after 1300 at Port Lincoln. Gil got it. Adult stretching their wings in heraldic pose to dry off.

Sadly, Australia has added 144 species to its list of threatened wildlife, an increase of five fold! For the first time, the Pink Cockatoo was listed.

More-Australian-wildlife-added-to-threatened-species-list-in-2023-than-ever-before-conservationists Download

The Ventana Wildlife Society will have its regular chat. You can sign up on their website. They also archive the conversations – they are always informative.

In other news, Jean-marie Dupart has photographed Blue LV0 ‘Garry’ from Loch Arkaig in Senegal. Wonderful news.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, videos, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog this morning: ’J’, Trudi Iron, Duke Farms, ETSU, Tonya Irwin, NEFL-AEF, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Window to Wildlife, WRDC, Berry College, Sharon Dunne, Holly Parsons, EagleGoddess, PIX Cams, Eagle Cam, Geemeff, Rob Schwartz, SK Hideaways, PLO, The Guardian, Jean-marie Dupart, and The Ventana Wildlife Society.

Category Archives: American Eagle Foundation

Leaper and Jersey not rattled by earthquake…Saturday in Bird World

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The boys are back in town…Sunday in Bird World

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Blue NCO returns, Hatch at West End…Saturday in Bird World

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More Eagle eggs…tributes to Flaco…Sunday in Bird World

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And his name is Archie and her name is Dixie…Wednesday in Bird World

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Superbeaks hatch in progress…Monday in Bird World

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John Bunker Sands Eagles have first hatch, hunger at the WRDC…Saturday in Bird World

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Friday in Bird World

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Royal Cam chick returned to Mum…Wednesday in Bird World

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1st egg for Duke Farms, Tuesday in Bird World

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