First up, if you would like the recipe for the Nova Scotia Brown Bread with oatmeal and molasses, send me an email (maryannsteggles@icloud.com), and I will happily send you the recipe that I used. It was delicious, especially after 24 hours! I did not use a bread machine (a few of you asked). Having spent a few decades as a potter, the kneading of bread is enjoyable. The bread slices nicely after it has a chance to sit for several hours (perhaps 6) and even better the next day. It was good with a curried chickpea filling as a sandwich today.
Oh, I thought the baby Cowbird had left the garden…Well, I should say that the House Sparrows raised three cowbirds in their nests in the lilacs and nearby trees. But, there, sitting on a lilac branch, big and bold, was a beautiful little Cowbird. It is making my day. I don’t like what they do to the other little birds – laying their eggs in their nests and having tiny birds feed those big hatchlings, but I like to know that all of them are safe. Despite knowing that the local hawk has to eat, I still have a big ache when I hear he had a Blue Jay for lunch or a little woodpecker.
It remains hot for Winnipeg – not in the 30s anymore, but a hot 27 C. The bird baths are busy and have to be filled constantly.
The peppers are ripening every day, and so are the tomatoes. I wish you were here so I could give you armfuls of herbs! Hugo Yugo and Baby Hope are playing Hungarian Sweet Pepper hockey tonight!
Mr Crow has left me some feathers from his moult. The squirrels are busy eating. In about a month, they will begin hoarding peanuts. Right now, they are eating them at their leisure. My neighbour finished my planter, and I put in three big gobs of grass. It is a little late. We will see if their roots take before winter. If this heat keeps up, we might not have winter until the new year. That said, a goose wedge (or skein) flew overhead around 1800, heading to the river. They will begin flying into the pond at the nature centre in a few weeks from the north (or that has been the historical practice). On the ground, they are called a gaggle.
It could be a better image – heavily cropped and taken with an iPhone through the conservatory windows – of either a Great Crested Flycatcher or an Eastern Kingbird – sitting on the lilac branches this morning. It is so tricky seeing the birds when the foliage is dense.
I wonder what else is lurking in those branches. When I set Merlin to listen, everyone becomes quiet. It is too funny!
I had hoped that we would not see any more osprey deaths this season, but such is not the case. The middle chick at the Osprey Environment Centre in Australia has died. The weather turned cold, rainy, and quite nasty and it was difficult for George to fish. The stronger sibling, the first hatch, did survive. Parents are George and Hope.
The fish deliveries and the anxiousness of Sum-eh and Antali are ramping up the action at Hellgate Canyon.
Just look at Antali’s crop!
There is good news about Yellow USU. Nothing wrong with the wing. It appears that the issue had to do with a bit of a lack of fish. USU is doing well in care and eating buckets of Bream. What a relief for this sole survivor of its nest in Finland.
There is a lot of fish coming to the nest of Eura and Eve (nest # 1). The fledglings have huge crops – there are three of them, two females and a male, but I cannot see the yellow Darvic rings in the images below.
Adult cleaning out the nest bowl at nest #4. He was sure working on that nest bowl – you would have thought there was another male’s eggs in there he wanted to get rid of but, it is just preparations for next year.
Two on the nest at Pitkin County fish calling!
Windy and one on the nest at Llyn Brenig. Three fledglings apparently at Clywedog, but I missed them.
All of the youngsters are still at Glaslyn.
Those fish that are coming in are a nice size to fatten these babies up for their long flight.
Kiddos of Idris and Telyn still wanting fish at Dyfi.
Xavier and Diamond are working on eggs for the 2024 season!
Do the Osprey (and other fish and mammals) a favour if you live in the US. Find your Senator on the list and write to them to push an end to the industrial fishing of Menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay and at its mouth – we need more than a 3 mile ban.
Gabby is expected back at the nest in the NE of Florida within the next three weeks! It doesn’t stop many from checking in daily. When will Beau return? Will this be ‘their’ year?
Blue 5F Seren is still home at Llyn Clywedog and those fledglings are getting some whoppers for their dinners.
Mr North and Mrs DNF are getting a new nest after theirs collapsed during torrential weather this season.
Another Montana fledgling with a crop that is about to pop!
Juveniles eating fish at Allin’s Cove East on Long Island.
At Rutland, Maya, Blue 33, and 1R0 were all on the nest Monday morning. I caught 1R0 screaming for fish and Blue 33 obliged with a whopper for their Only Bob.
Geemeff’s daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Monday 19th August 2024
No activity on the nests today bar a fleeting visit by a little Robin. Has Garry LV0 headed south? He only made a brief appearance yesterday, and with the wet and windy weather which is set to continue for days, he may have decided to seek out warmer climes. As always, nothing is certain so it’s wait and watch to see if he turns up again. If you’ve enjoyed watching the Osprey cams this season, the bonus section has the different ways you can support Woodland Trust.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.48.46 (05.20.05); Nest Two 21.37.58 (05.21.11)
Geemeff sent us some more very interesting news items. I am including all the links as I am certain there are several that will be of interest to you if not all!
The day old White-tail Eaglet is doing well according to PLO.
Jolene and Boone are visiting their nest in Johnson City, Tennessee. More and more eagles will be returning in the next month to get reacquainted and freshen up their nests.
Today’s special! A free copy of August Birdwatch Magazine!
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, messages, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, H, PB’, Osprey House Environment Centre, Cornell Bird Lab, Pam Breci, Pyhtaan lintuhoitola, Saaksilvie, Pitkin County Open Spaces and Trails, Llyn Brenig Osprey Cam, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, Cilla Kinross, SK Hideaways, Save our Menhaden, NEFL-AEF, Llyn Clywedog Osprey Cam, Raptor Resource Project, Allin’s Cove East Osprey Cam, LRWT, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, fws.gov, Sky Hi News, Country Times, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Sara A,
Update: You will now know that the cameras in Montana are down due to hurricane force winds. We are grateful that our friend EJ is there, right near Iris. ‘EJ’ reports that a massive storm went through Missoula, Montana Wednesday night. She went to check on Iris and the chicks Thursday morning and they are fine! This is such a great relief.
Kova has fledged at the Surrey Reserve. Only eaglet left is Blue at Boundary Bay for the Hancock Wildlife nests in British Columbia, Canada. Thanks, ‘J’.
Wednesday was a little hotter. 27 C. Today’s excursion was to Delta Beach to check on the Bald Eagles. The humidity and heat were overwhelming from the moment I got to the wetlands. The staff had cut narrow paths through the tall reeds – they didn’t allow any breeze to filter through. There were NO Red-wing Blackbirds doing murmurations. None. The Bald Eagle nest was vacant. I felt bad that I had not gone to check earlier. And then there was a juvenile sitting on a branch overlooking the southern tip of the lake. I bet it was waiting for a parent to return with a big fish! There were gulls and Killdeer along the shore. Stilt Sandpipers, Sanderlings, Ruddy Turnstones, and Semipalmated Plovers danced among the sand and the water. It was a delight. Frogs jumped around the pond while ducks flew off. I could hear Sora. Robins were pulling worms off the grass. Hot, humid – and positively invigorating.
I will post images, other than this frog taken with my phone, when I can find the cable to hook the big camera up to the computer. Oh, the joys of returning from a brief holiday and not being organised.
One of the routines when going to Delta Marsh is to stop for lunch at a small town Chinese restaurant. The owners are the happiest most delightful people. Their food is really good, too. She told me that ‘Canada is the best!’. They were in Las Vegas last week and it was 54 degrees C. She couldn’t wait to get home. This is the heat that is impacting our birds and all wildlife. In Phoenix, they are cooling the animals down with ice and snow surprises.
From kindness to – what? This is the most disgusting article I have read in several months. I have a problem with influencers in the first place having watched young girls at university try to emulate the Kardashians. Now TikTok is getting people to shoot millions of birds over Lebanon!!!!!!!
If you missed the on line chat about Annie and Archie’s fledgling, Nox, here it is! Thank you, Sean and Lynne!
My inbox is full of good news stories. Thank you to everyone who sought the positive and sent it to share!
An Osprey Story:
GAULEY BRIDGE, W.Va. — Sometimes, it takes a village to save an osprey chick.
When Beckley nature photographer Kim Ayers stopped in Gauley Bridge on June 7 to photograph the occupants of a long-established osprey nest built atop a train trestle over the Gauley River, she quickly realized something was amiss.
“I could see an adult osprey in the nest that wasn’t moving, except for a wing, which was blowing in the wind, and I could hear the babies — they were so vocal. I knew right then something wasn’t right.”
Ayers had been visiting the nest for years to check on the progress of the ospreys who made it their home and photograph their activities. She visited the nest once every few weeks since March, when newly-hatched chicks had first been spotted at the site.
During Ayers’ June 7 visit, it was apparent that the adult female was dead, and her two offspring needed food and protection.
“I wanted to just stop and cry,” she said. Instead, Ayers called Three Rivers Avian Center at Brooks in Summers County and asked for help.
“If not for Wendy and Ron Perrone (who operate the avian center), what would we do when something like this happens?” Ayers said. “I’m so thankful they’re here.”
“When we got the call, we knew we couldn’t make it there by dark, so we started working the phones to find a volunteer who was closer,” Wendy Perrone said.
The Perrones soon made contact with Matt Carpenter of Fayetteville, a teacher and experienced climber, who offered to ascend the trestle’s rusty steel beams to reach the nest, secure the young birds in bags, and retrieve the remains of the mother osprey, which had apparently been dead for several days.
Carpenter was accompanied to the scene by his partner, wildlife biologist Lindsay Hermanns, and friend Amber Jaxson, who transported the two young osprey in the back of a Mazda to Beckley to meet the Perrones, who brought the birds back to the avian center.
“They heard the call and volunteered,” Wendy Perrone said of Carpenter, Hermanns and Jaxson.
In the weeks that followed, the two young birds feasted on hand-fed culled trout donated by the Division of Natural Resources’ Tate Lohr Fish Hatchery in Oakvale, Mercer County. After maturing enough to eat on their own, they were moved into the Leon Wilson Flyway in the avian center’s flight barn to learn aeronautical skills.
Unfortunately, one of the chicks turned out to be not as strong or resilient as its sibling, and died in early July. The remaining juvenile thrived in its new surroundings, and on Thursday, was ready to return to Gauley Bridge to be released in the wild.
As a carrier containing the bird was carried to the release site, a short distance from trestle and nest, an adult osprey, likely its father, could be seen winging over the scene, vocalizing as it soared.
“That’s icing on the cake,” Wendy Perrone said. “It means an adult is still around to show the young bird how to hunt.”
When the carrier containing the young osprey was opened, the bird at first seemed reluctant to venture outside. But after Wendy Perrone held the bird on her arm, it began tentatively flapping its wings, then slowly became airborne, flying immediately to the top of the nearby trestle, a few feet from its stick-built nest.
“This is such a relief,” Wendy Perrone sighed, as she watched the bird taking in the view of the confluence of the New and Gauley rivers, also the birthplace of the Kanawha, from its lofty vista. “It’s a good day.”
Ospreys, also known as fish hawks or sea hawks, live along rivers, lakes and coastlines, and can be found in every continent but Antarctica. The birds of prey are smaller than eagles but larger than red-tailed hawks.
When on the hunt, ospreys “are a picture of concentration, diving with feet outstretched and yellow eyes sighting straight along their talons” to catch fish, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s “All About Birds” website.
While nesting ospreys can now be found along the length of the Kanawha River, as well as West Virginia’s share of the Ohio River shoreline and large reservoirs like Stonewall Jackson Lake, such was not always the case.
No nesting pairs were known to exist in the state as recently as 1981, according to a survey by the Raptor Research Foundation, following decades of unchecked stream pollution and widespread use of the insecticide DDT.
Industrial and agricultural stream pollution caused steep declines in fish populations, creating a hardship for osprey whose primary source of food is fish. DDT entering the ospreys’ food chain and being absorbed in their tissue caused their egg shells to thin and break before incubation was complete.
A nationwide ban on DDT use and passage of the Clean Water Act both took place in 1972, which gradually helped restore habitat and improve reproduction odds for ospreys in the years that followed.
By the end of the 1980s, an osprey restoration effort got underway in West Virginia, starting at Tygart Lake, involving six-week-old chicks transported from sites in the Chesapeake Bay area and other locales where osprey were relatively abundant. The young ospreys were taken to sites near Tygart Lake’s shoreline where they were fed and sheltered in screened boxes and allowed to acclimate to their new surroundings, before being released when they had matured enough to be able to fly.
A similar project took place from 1989 to 1995, involving the release of 62 juvenile ospreys from a remote site on Blennerhassett Island in the Ohio River in Wood County, involving volunteers from DuPont’s Washington Works plant, in cooperation with the Division of Natural Resources.
By 1994, three nesting pairs of osprey — all products of the reintroduction effort — had been documented in the state. The population has steadily grown since then.
An investigation is underway by the state Division of Natural Resources Police to determine the cause of death of the newly-released osprey’s mother.
‘J’ sent us the update on Challenger, the celebrity Bald Eagle at the Amerian Eagle Foundation who had cataract surgery:
Geemeff’s daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Wednesday 24th July 2024
Today was a quiet day with time for reflection after the sad news received yesterday. The consensus among forum members is that Woodland Trust Scotland, Roy Dennis Foundation, Fundación Migres and the specialist veterinary team all did their utmost to give 1JR a fighting chance, but his health was just too compromised to survive. In domestic news, neither Louis nor Dorcha came into nest cam view today, only Garry LV0 turned up for a few minutes on Nest One which was visited later by a few little birds, some of whom are possibly living underneath the nest. The forecasted rain has turned up and a wet night is ahead, with a strong possibility of thundery showers tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.12.20 (03.53.19); Nest Two 22.49.19 (04.14.03)
At McEuen Park, ‘PB’ caught the only surviving chick of the four self-feeding. Oh, send good wishes to Single Mum and Babe. We need them to make it through this dire time.
The Middle Chick, 6M7, at Glaslyn fledged on Wednesday the 24th at 0840! She picked a wet morning to to take that first flight. Then she was followed by 6M9 at 1027 – congratulations. Aran and Elen have all their babies flying.
These older osplets are really wanting to fly! Just wait – they will take off at the same time! Just wait.
CJ7 and Blue 022 are making doubly sure that their four fledglings continue to eat well! What an amazing year for Poole Harbour. Congratulations.
Wonder where Seren, Dylan, and the chicks are roosting? It is really windy and wee bit damp at Llyn Clywedog.
Gosh, golly. It sounds like gale force winds at Llyn Brenig in the night. The day wasn’t too bad. Waiting for fledge.
Looks a little lonely at the nest of Idris and Telyn at Dyfi. The cam operator caught someone down by the river!
Only Bob was telling Dad, Blue 33, to get the fishing gear out and get that catch on the Manton Bay nest!
The day was gorgeous at Loch Arkaig nest 2 but then the winds and rain began later in the night.
We will have to wait and see what transpires at Loch of the Lowes now that our dear Laddie LM12 is no longer with us. Will Blue NC0 keep the nest with the new dark male?
Three fish delivered to Alyth on Wednesday. Way to go Harry!
Cowlitz PUD – The only surviving chick did fledge on Tuesday and has been returning to the nest regularly. This is fabulous news. If every one of the nests that have had troubles can fledge one chick – that really is a victory in such a challenging year.
I don’t know about anyone else, but if asked to name one outstanding, devoted, more than dedicated, self-sacrificing Osprey female for 2024 in the US, it would have to be our Queen, Iris. Believed to be the oldest osprey in the world, she took a new mate and is raising two chicks in the most extreme heat circumstances after having her summers off since the last chick of hers fledged in 2018, Le’le.
It is the same at the other Montana nests. Fish are not as plentiful as they were ten days ago and the males are working hard to get one or two into the females and chick/s before the heat sets in.
Swoop, Winnie, and chick at Dunrovin. Oh, yes, the chick’s name is Junebug. Cute!
Gosh, the fish look small at Charlo Montana compared to what is coming on the nest at Hellgate.
Keke and River waiting for Keo to get some fish on the nest at Sandpoint on Wednesday.
Only Bob at Bridge Golf Course returned to the nest ten hours after fledging. Thanks ‘H’ for catching that landing – looks like the kid needs some more practice!
‘H’ reports:
7/24 Patuxent River Park osprey nest: The live stream was down for five days, and resumed this morning. Fortunately before the cam had gone down, we had been able to witness Little fledge and return to the nest on 7/18. And, it was also awesome to watch him battle for a fish on the nest that day with his siblings, and come away victorious! We missed being able to observe all the post-fledge action while the cam was down. Big was in the nest when the live stream resumed. At around noon, Dad brought a fish to Big. Earlier, a visiting fledgling had been repelled by Big, but the juvenile returned while Big was eating her fish. The young visitor looked hungry, and seemed to be waiting for Big to leave some leftovers. Haha, boy were we wrong. At 1421 the juvie suddenly flew from the nest, and returned two minutes later with a very large headless fish. This young osprey was a lot more capable than we had thought, and had apparently taken a fish from another osprey eating close by. At 1534 an intruder adult osprey began to buzz and dive-bomb the visitor while he was eating his fish, twice striking him and knocking him over. As the intruder approached the visiting juvie for the fourth time, the juvie quickly left the nest and we did not see him again. The intruder landed in the nest, grabbed the fish, and after several minutes, it left with the fish. At 1557 Dad dropped off another partial fish and Big grabbed that one. Middle arrived at the nest at 1609, and took the large fish tail leftover from Big’s first fish. Over the next several hours, there was some good old fashioned sibling interactions, with Middle stealing the fish from Big and Big eventually stealing it back. Middle left the nest before nightfall, but Big stayed to protect her fish. Much to our dismay, we did not see Little today.
7/24 Colonial Beach osprey nest: There were no fish brought to the nest today to feed 30-day-old Cobey, but Cobey did eat pretty well yesterday. David was not seen on cam at all. Betty left the nest for some extended periods of time, and she returned with a crop and was feaking her beak. We are hoping for an early breakfish for Cobey in the morning.
7/24 Osoyoos osprey nest: The live stream was offline all day until 1824. We immediately saw Middle mantling and eating, with Big hovering over Middle a bit. So, Middle had apparently won a battle for a fish. Very good. At 1832 Olsen dropped off a partial fish for Big, that she ate for 38 minutes, leaving the fish tail behind. Middle finished eating his fish by 1857, and at 1914 he ate Big’s leftover fish tail. There was a strong breeze in the evening, and Big was doing some wingercizing and managed to lift off the nest several inches.
Thanks, ‘H’!
Kristel had one large prey delivery today at the Estonian nest #2.
There has been another miracle besides Iris and Poole Harbour – and that has been the ‘Hopeless’ nest in Newfoundland. The Sow Lane nest of Beaumont and Hope is one of Hope – not hopelessness this year. Hope is feeding her chicks, Beaumont is providing nice fish, and if we hold our breath and send the most positive energy that nothing untoward happens, this nest could have two fledges this year. That would be the best gift!!!!!! A miracle. These two osplets who are getting their soft juvenile feathers have no idea how speial they are.
Fledge for Richmond and Rosie. ‘Pax’ fledged from the new Golden Gate Audubon nest in San Francisco on Wednesday!
In Nova Scotia, the chicks are preparing to fledge. Skylor and Heidi from the Russell Lake nest are looking to the skies. Skylor looks to go first.
‘NP’ caught this great post of the osplet at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum spreading its wings! Isn’t this amazing? This baby wants to fly.
Thank you for being with me today. Please take care of yourself. We hope to see you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, photographs, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘EJ, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, The Guardian, Cal Falcons, J + unknown source, American Eagle Foundation, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, McEuen Park, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Pam Breci, Pitkin County Open Spaces and Trails, BoPH, Llyn Clywedog, Llyn Brenig, Dyfi Osprey Project, LRWT, The Woodland Trust, Scottish Wildlife Trust (Loch of the Lowes), Loch of the Lowes Visitors Centre, Alyth SSEN, Cowlitz PUD, Montana Osprey Project, Dunrovin Ranch, Charlo Montana, Sandpoint, Bridge Golf Course, Eagle Club of Estonia, Looduskalender, Golden Gate Audubon, Osoyoos, Patuxent River Park, Connie Dennis and Ospreys of Nova Scotia, and Colonial Beach.
First. We thought for sure he was no longer with us and well, here is the good news from Geemeff:
“Louis the Loch Arkaig Osprey makes a triumphant return
08.26.37 The two chicks alone on the nest look up and start squeaking. Then Louis lands, with a fish. Wonderful to see him back looking magnificent with a nicely rounded crop. Where has he been? What happened to him? We’ll probably never know, but right now, this is the most wonderful sight. The two chicks immediately go over and take the fish off him. 08.26.55 Dorcha returns, and immediately looks for the fish 08.27.00 Louis departs – please return soon! Dorcha moves over and takes the fish away from C1 and starts dishing up. Normal service has resumed!”
The Girls are anticipating the big birthday party on the 2nd. They have found a few little boxes but they can’t open them! Calico was hiding – but Hugo Yugo, Missey, and Baby Hope, the birthday girl were out playing.
Goodness, it is almost July. Hard to believe. The ‘bad’ news in Bird World generally tapers off this month and that is a good thing. It was pitching down rain in Winnipeg and much cooler than it has been. It was a good day to go to our biosphere, The Leaf. For some reason, I was fascinated by the flowers. Enjoy. The iPhone didn’t do too bad!
There was a special exhibition of plants used in traditional healing. Camomile, Cedar, Sage, Sweetgrass…
The koi pond through the mist of the water fall.
It was a lovely quiet day.
‘H’ is taking some time. We will look forward to her reports when she returns.
We are still hoping that Louis will return to Loch Arkaig. Plans are being made if this doesn’t happen. This is the latest news from George at The Woodland Trust.
Dorcha comes home to well fed-osplets.
The family cuddles together wondering where Dad is.
In all her sadness, Geemeff is still able to send out her daily report for The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Friday 28th June 2024
There is no easy way to say this: Louis is still missing, not seen since Wednesday evening. We still hope to see him safe and well, but as the chicks were beginning to suffer from the incessant rain and lack of food despite Dorcha’s heroics with catching an eel yesterday, Woodland Trust took the unprecedented step of approaching NatureScot for permission to intervene. They are the Scottish Government’s lead adviser on wildlife management. In this case, using the evidence of Steve Quinn’s meticulous fish stats showing Louis’ decline and first hand observations of Louis’ unusual behaviour by LizB, permission was granted. Intrepid licensed raptor experts Lewis and Henry braved the climb to the top of the very tall nest tree and hand-fed the chicks with mackerel, leaving some on the nest as well as on a specially built platform below for Dorcha. Not a moment too soon as Lewis observed the second chick was approaching the stage of being too weak to eat. Luckily, after the initial strangeness, both chicks fed well and downed a whole mackerel each. Dorcha returned soon after they left and fed herself and the chicks from the fish left on the nest. Whatever your opinion about intervention, it’s good to see the chicks with full crops again. In other news, Garry LV0 paid a visit to Nest One and returned bringing nesting materials. Tonight’s forecast for the nest area is light rain showers and a gentle breeze, but the sound of the wind and the movement around the nest suggest otherwise.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.48.40 (03.30.52); Nest Two 23.19.18 (03.59.43)
I wrote to Dr. Greene to find out if Iris’s osplets will be banded. The answer is “no”. The camera and the nest are only for education, not research purposes.
‘A’writes: “Darling Finn slept on the perch all night, as he has taken to doing every night, watching over his family. He is such a sweetie. He left on a fishing trip to get breakfast very early indeed – it was still dark just after 05:30 – but for once, he had left fish on the nest and Iris got up at 05:35 and grabbed a large headless fish to feed the osplets. The pair as always lined up at the table and were beautifully behaved, as mum shared out the food to both. Oh my goodness, Big has had a growth spurt!
Little is slow to get up but makes his way to the table. Mum welcomes him with half a dozen bites. These two are just so sweet together. I saw one short, minor early episode of very half-hearted beaking and that was it. I still believe it could easily have been as much about curiosity as anything else, as there was no real aggression involved in it. More like checking what this small thing was. I am not entirely convinced it could even be classified as real bonking. Certainly, Little Bob did not interpret it as such, as hsi behaviour subsequently did not alter in any respect whatsoever. So it was not even worthy of being considered an act of establishing ‘pecking order’. Little Bob is harder for Iris to feed – he needs to move forward a step so she doesn’t have to reach as far forward and down to reach his beak. She makes the effort, but it means that when the two are side by side and competing for bites, Little Bob generally loses because of its greater height and reach. It’s surprising that Little doesn’t move forward – he normally does in this situation but sometimes makes mum really stretch. He is first to turn away from the table too, his little crop bulging.
So far, Iris hadn’t had a single decent bite for her own breakfast – she will always ensure that the babies have had a decent amount to eat before she starts sneaking in the odd bite for herself. This is truly one incredibly devoted mum. I love watching Iris with her chicks. The way she shades them, shelters them from the rain, keeps them warm at night, righted Little Bob when, early on, his little balloon body ended up flailing on its back – these osplets are the centre of her existence and she prioritises their welfare above everything else in her world. Watching her, you feel genuine joy for her.
Finn is back with a fresh headless fish just before 06:02. Good on your dad. There is still half a fish leftover from last night (and this morning’s first breakfast). He spends a bit of time trying to work out whether to choose the fish he’s just brought in or the half-fish left on the nest. He stands beside Iris for several minutes, reaching out at one stage as if to gently touch her with his beak. He adores her. Eventually, he decides on the fresh fish and flies to the perch with it just before 06:04. Ten minutes or so later, he returns the leftover fish to the nest. Good man! At 06:15 he tries to feed Iris, offering her a bite of fish several times before she accepts a small piece. She then stands up and grabs the leftover fish from the early breakfast (not the one Finn caught this morning) and begins feeding Big Bob while Little Bob backs up for a tiny PS.
Little Bob appears to have entered his own reptilian stage this morning, his little head starting to look oily. Big Bob is definitely a woolly oily teenager but perfectly laid-back and well behaved. He eats far better now, though still does not comfortably manage large pieces and still has trouble finding the right angle to get food from mum’s beak. He experimented with some self-feeding yesterday.
Finn watches breakfast feeding number two for a couple of minutes, then takes the leftovers of his morning catch and flies back up to the perch with them.
I wrote this yesterday – but I will send it anyway. Iris really is looking absolutely exhausted to me. I worry about her. She is putting everything into this season – she adores her babies – but you may well be right. If this is how she spends her last year, she would have wanted it this way. She is such a natural mum. She is in her element. I have come to love her a great deal.
I continue to believe Finn is literally heaven-sent. Just the sweetest guy. His loyalty has been fantastic. Louis never stood a chance against Finn’s determination to win Iris. I worried so much about him, but just look at the mate he has turned out to be. And what a handsome catch he is! I actually don’t hear them chat together at all – I hear Iris doing a lot of chatting but I never hear him answer. He just listens, learns and obeys. “
Osoyoos: It is 77 degrees F and 4 mph winds.
Olsen brought in a tiny whole fish at 0446. Each chick and Soo had some bites. She fed, stopping on and off, until 0453:10.
At 0800:53, Olsen brought in a very alive nice sized headless fish! Thank you for eating, Olsen. You and Soo have to eat in order to care for the babies.
Everyone got fish. Little walked away and the feeding stopped at 0818:25.
Olsen brought in the third fish of the day at 1131:49. It was a really nice size.
All of the chicks already had big crops when this big fish arrived! I am so glad that today was my day to monitor. It has been terrific. Soo fed the chicks and was still eating off the fish herself at 1158. Tears.
Little turns around and looks like it is trying out for the role of Hulk at 1157. Kids are too full to eat anymore.
At 1610 the chicks still had big crops. Did I miss a fish?
At 1728, Olsen brought in a large headless fish. Everyone has eaten well all day. The cooler temperatures and no wind must be helping. This is tremendous for this nest. Please send positive wishes every day to this family. They certainly deserve it. So was still feeding everyone an hour later and still had fish left. Sweet dreams babies…
I will check later but this nest doesn’t need any more fish today to survive but gosh it would be good for all of them if they ate and ate.
From now on I will add the temperature and wind conditions, where possible, on nests we are closely monitoring.
That tiny third hatch at Blackbush seems to be breaking hearts! It is a cutie. ‘MP’ adores this little one for being “persistently motivated, resilient and goal-driven in the face of challenges and difficulties of the parent’s predicament. Dad is lovingly family-oriented.”
‘PB’ has been monitoring the Cowlitz PUD nest and reports: “Cowlitz, little had around 115 bites. Excellent feeding and you can see a crop! This is a spunky little one that knows how to get to mom and be safe from big ones. When big one approached, little scooted closer to mom for protection and was able to feed again.Add 50 mote bites for Cowlitz little 3=165 total so far. Little found a gap between mom and dad to be fed 50 more bites!
You might remember that Challenger had cataract surgery. ‘J’ writes that it went well and sent us the link. He is now back home!
If you missed the June Condor chat, here it is!
David and Betty welcomed osplet three to the Colonial Beach nest on Friday.
Fledglings continue to return to the Venice Golf Course osprey nest for fish dinner. How lovely.
Family portrait at Oyster Bay. All is well.
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Only Bob is alive and Mum is feeding it – looks OK.
It was really windy and rainy at the nest of Beaumont and Hope in Newfoundland. Hope is feeding the baby better than she has done in past years. 12 C with winds gusting to 40 km/h. Not good for fishing those winds.
Gorgeous day in Colorado. Charlie and Lola are doing really, really well. What a beautiful trio. Did you know that Lola is Charlie’s new mate replacing Charlotte? And she is 14 years old and was banded in Lola, Montana? She must have lost her mate, too. Glad these two found one another – they are a beautiful family.
Two beautiful osplets in Latvia!
A nest full of big beautiful osplets in Poole Harbour.
All is good for the Dyfi kids of Idris and Telyn.
The Dorsett Hobbies have three eggs.
Gorgeous eaglets at the Estonian nest #2. Walking stronger. Eating well. Both of them.
Well the persecution of raptors continues and now there is a Taskforce. I hope it does something besides having meetings — something good for the raptors.
A large number of my readers live in the UK. Here is a great article – for those times you are going out to find wildlife – on where to go, who to spot, etc.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, J, MP, PB’, George Anderson and The Woodland Trust, Geemeff, Geemeff and the Woodland Trust, Montana Osprey Project, Osoyoos Osprey Cam, Blackbush, Cowlitz PUD, American Eagle Foundation, Ventana Wildlife Society, VGCCO, PSEG, MN Landscape Arboretum, Newfoundland Power, Charlo Montana, LDF, BoPH, Dyfi Osprey Project, Dorsett Hobby, Eagle Club of Estonia, Raptor Persecution UK, and The Guardian.
When I set off to check on the Stellar’s Sea Eagle at our local zoo, it was windy, and the temperature in Winnipeg was 5 degrees C. The clouds parted, and the dreary day hinted at in the early hours soon gave way to bright blue skies and sun. It was glorious. I am so grateful to be able to get out and about exploring. It is never taken for granted. Each day is a unique treasure filled with discoveries.
At the far end of the zoo in the Asian area is one very handsome Stellar’s Sea Eagle. I love standing and watching him. Today they were cleaning out a part of his huge enclosure and he was just perched paying no mind. I wonder how long this beautiful creature has lived in a cage?
You might recall that a Stellar’s Sea Eagle landed on the eastern coast of Canada in November 2021. The huge eagle eventually travelled to Maine before returning to Canada. How it got from its regular home in Russia is unknown.
The male Reeve’s Pheasant has the longest feather of any bird globally at 2.4 metres. The layers and layers of curved feathers are quite amazing. I was mesmerised by the limited colour pattern and how using only black, white, and a golden orange-yellow nature created such spectacular plumage to attract a female!
A lone Grey Wolf captured a lot of attention.
I spotted a pair of Eastern Phoebes in the trees. They are classified as ‘flycatchers’ and are one of the first birds to arrive in Manitoba in the spring, normally in March. They depart in September after making their mud nests and raising their young. They incubate four to eight pure white eggs for 16 days. They normally have two broods every breeding season. They are gorgeous little birds with a grey-green-slightly brown head (like a light olive khaki colour) and back with creamy white underparts tinged with a slight yellow-green-grey. Their bill is black and distinctive.
Hugo Yugo is having a bit of a rest before getting into more mischief. She loves to carry objects in her mouth, including the tub stopper, any earrings that get left out, keys, bags of cookies, necklaces, pens and pencils, cables for computers and cameras, and earbuds. Nothing appears to be safe these days. She also likes to hide them.
Gosh, I adore this little ginger. She is such a character – there is never a dull moment and I cannot imagine, for a single second, my life without her.
You will remember agonising over whether Tuffy at Moorings Park would live or die. Today, almost fully feathered (if not completely), Tuffy is a prime example of why you never give up hope for these little ones. I think that it is also a good example of why you do not turn away. We will never appreciate the struggles that the raptors have if we do not hang in there with them through the good, the bad, and the sheer ugly.
Look at Tuffy’s eyes light up when he sees a fish dinner. What a darling.
‘H’ captured that feeding on video for us. Please have a look. You can watch this on YouTube by clicking the YT link at the bottom left.
Many do not make it. In 2023, out of 339 eggs ‘H’ and I monitored, fourteen died from siblicide. In comparison, eighteen starved to death due to circumstances not related to siblicide and 36 did not hatch.
Asha and Brodie have their third egg at Loch Garten. Proud Mum shows off those eggs!
Aran and Elen have their third egg at 0807 on the 28th – this morning – at Glaslyn. Aran was on the perch giving support.
Mrs O at Tweed Valley laid her third egg on the 27th.
Johnny and June have their second egg at Fenwick Island in Delaware at 0810 on the 28th.
The Ravens took the eggs of Milda and Hugo ending another sad year for this gorgeous Latvian female White-tail eagle. She is now free to find food and not sit incubating and starving – and allowing her health to deteriorate.
There is an egg in the nest of the Lesser Spotted Eagles, Anna and Andres. I have included the link Sassa Bird provided.
This is one of the most interesting articles about the Lesser Spotted Eagle and should alert any potential viewers to the fact that under normal conditions, if there is a second hatch, it is killed by the first even if there is plenty of food present. (I have posted it previously). It is the definition difference between siblicide – the killing of siblings when there is only food for perhaps one – and enough food but the first hatch, the dominant bird, kills the second for no apparent reason.
E23 is still home and still learning about those annoying small birds.
Edie feeding the two osplets at Captiva. It will be easier when they are not bobbling!
The male brought in a fresh fish at the Frenchman’s Creek osprey platform. He called the female several times while one of the osplets played tug-o-war with the fish. When the female did not come, he began to feed the chick/s. This is good news! These chicks will, despite everything, probably fledge. Thank goodness.
There are three eggs at the Radford University osprey nest in Bradford, Virginia. Thanks, ‘PB’ for mentioning this nest!
This is the link to their streaming cam:
Still snowing at some of the osprey nests in Finland.
Lots of shift changes at the nest of Big Red and Arthur – with two wiggling chicks underneath!
Meal before bedtime. Arthur has the pantry nicely stocked.
There is quite a wiggly nest full at Cal Falcons and everyone is hungry!
Gosh, we have fallen in love with Archie.
‘A’ writes, “
dinner at Cal Falcons was a lengthy affair, beginning at around 17:58 and still continuing more than 25 minutes later, with mum e-chupping to encourage the chicks to open their beaks just one more time. The two youngest chicks were at the front of the pack for this feeding, and were fed first, which was great, as the youngest is often stuck at the back and can miss out altogether at some feedings. Annie is very diligent about feeding all four, though, most of the time. At this feeding, she brought in a very large piece of prepared prey (she was gone about five minutes, unusually, and of course Archie came in to keep an eye on the eyases while she was gone – he is ADORABLE).
By 18:23, the younger ones at the front appear to have got a second wind and are again accepting bites of food. Annie is amazing. She has been feeding for 25 minutes, and remember this lot is under a week old. I cannot imagine how much work poor mum is going to be doing feeding these four over the next four weeks or so, until they begin to learn to self-feed. And so far, dad has been fantastic in terms of ensuring a pantry full of delicious well-prepared meat for the family. But of course that load is going to increase dramatically week by week, as these four grow rapidly. So both parents are really going to have their work cut out for them. I do wish them both well in this huge endeavour. Annie is not used to raising four, and we have no idea of Archie’s parental experience, if any. It will be a big task for them both. Annie is still feeding at 18:25. By 18:27, there are finally no more takers and Annie eats a bit herself before taking the carcass (not much edible remains) back to the pantry. We can hearing Archie vocalising in the background – he sounds displeased though I have no idea why (and whether that vocal is indeed one of displeasure, but it is certainly very much like the one Annie uses when she is ‘warning’ that she is not happy with or about something or someone). But surely, after that thorough a feeding, all four eyases will sleep with happy tummies tonight. “
Two little hungry osplets at Captiva.
Nesting material is finally coming in to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum nest. It even looked like Dad was telling Mum to incubate the egg that she kept wanting to cover up – it was the egg left out in the rain and uncovered on Friday.
‘AE’ shares news of Monty and Hartley. “From 6:05pm last night and until 6:38am today Monty was the one doing the overnight incubation duty. Hartley had visited the nest ledge. Monty never got up from the eggs so Hartley took herself over to the sunshade where she spent the entire night!”
Betsy and Frederick have three eggs. There was a wee break in the incubation to fix up some rails. Good idea!
Screen captures of Iris and Louis from Saturday. There was concern over an injury to Louis’s chest. You can see what could b e the injury on the chest close to the left wing. I realise that everyone in the world would like Iris to have a dedicated mate, but I don’t want Louis to be injured and possibly die due to an infection if that is a deep gouge with a piece of wood in it as some believe. Starr is at the baseball park, and if she doesn’t have eggs, she will soon. We know what will happen if Iris lays eggs, and that is fine – she will be free from the duties of raising chicks, which I clearly believe has lengthened her life. She eats well and cares for herself year-round. Most research indicates that female raptors lose at least 30% of their body weight, raising babies.
Swoop and the new female at Dunrovin are working on the nest. Look at that long strip of nesting material! An intruder was about and Swoop was in the nest quickly in protective mode.
There is some concern over the GH owlet at Wolf Bay. It has been slightly lethargic most of the day.
‘AE’ got a great screen capture of JBS20’s feet! She said, “Gotta love those feet! I never appreciated orange bird feet so much until I started watching bird cams. He’s waiting for breakfast to be delivered.”
Prey delivered, JBS20 eventually arrives to eat leftovers.
Swampy appears to be doing just fine since he fell from the nest to the branch and fledged and returned. Everyone keep sending him good wishes.
Have you been watching the FOLFAN eagles? Here is the latest.
All three eaglets at Little Miami Conservancy are doing fantastic. Look at the nice crop on the third hatch.
The two eaglets at the ND-LEEF nest both went to bed with full crops. I did not notice any aggression at the last feeding of the day. They both look like they are doing well.
I have written ‘R’ who is observing the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest of Talon and Stella. It looked to me that the two osplets had only one feeding on Saturday and that it was hot. Mum shaded them, but was on and off the nest. Is the Dad missing? One osplet, the third hatch, has already died of siblicide. At one time, Talon was bringing in plenty of fish. Something is amiss. Will another so-let’s life be in jeopardy? or both?
Bradley still loves eating his Puffer Fish on the natal nest!
The thawing of the permafrost is going to have a significant impact on birds and their migration. Many that travel to the UK for the winter from Scandinavia, Greenland, and Siberia, may stop migrating. What else is happening with the permafrost thaw?
Your smile for the day comes from the Venice Golf and Country Club Osprey platform where the nest is full. Aren’t those three gorgeous in their juvenile plumage? The oldest is almost as big as the female.
Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care. We want you back with us soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, observations, videos, articles, images, posts, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, AE, Geemeff, H, MP, PB’, CBC News, Moorings Park Ospreys, Heidi McGrue, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Tweed Valley Osprey Project, RSPB Loch Garten, LDF, Sassa Bird, Research Gate (B-U Meyburg), Frenchman’s Creek, Radford University Osprey Cam, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Cornell RTH Cam, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, Window to Wildlife, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, San Jose City Hall Falcon Cam, OBX Osprey Cam, Montana Osprey Project, Dunrovin Ranch, Wolf Bay, JB Sands Wetlands, Eagle Country, American Eagle Foundation, Little Miami Conservancy, ND-LEEF, UFlorida-Gainesville, Port Lincoln Ospreys, American Bird Conservancy, BirdGuides, Raptor Persecution UK, and VGCCO.
It seems that ospreys were busy laying eggs on Sunday. It was like bunnies were delivering them – whether it was the first or the third – to nests around the world. I hardly had time to pull my head out of the data forms to check on other nests! So, today’s posting reads a little bit like a list. And in about 36 days there will be sixty or more osplets hatching around the world. Imagine it…they will join their siblings. Let us hope that all of the nests prosper this year.
I love a good rescue story with a happy ending and the one today comes from a friend ‘S’ who lives in Hawaii. A nestling White Tern had fallen off its branch; they do not build nests. The proper authorities were called, the chick was taken up to a much higher branch and the parent immediately came to it. Saved!
Check out the webbed feet that help them cling to branches where they nest and roost.
Animalia says, “White terns are often seen on their own or in small groups. They are a diurnal species but are more active at dawn and dusk. To eat, it dips its beak to catch prey at the water’s surface or just beneath it. A dive is often preceded by extensive hovering, and the bird may use the wind to sustain its flight. It may catch flying fish from the air, and it is commonly seen foraging near groups of predatory fish and dolphins which drive their prey towards the surface. An individual may carry a few small fish in its bill, taking these to its young with the prey held crosswise. If disturbed by a predator, a White tern will hover, flutter and make buzzing sounds. This bird has a graceful flight. It flies easily low above the waves, without landing. It will touch the surface once it has spotted prey. Its flight is buoyant, involving erratic changes in speed and direction.” They are often called ‘fairy terns’.
‘The Girls’, and I hope you had a beautiful day. It was sunny and warm—16 C—on the Canadian Prairies, but a brisk, cool wind was accompanying it. Ice cream did not taste the same, even with a heavy jumper!
Archie was encouraging the pipping chicks to hatch! What an incredible Dad he is – ‘SP’ has often wondered if he has raised chicks before and lost his mate. We will never know, but I hope that he is with Annie for eons. Cannot wait to see these fuzzy little ones with their pink beaks and legs jumping for food.
Falling in love with Archie. His enthusiasm is contagious.
The four Osaka Peregrine Falcon chicks being fed on the 20th. This is what Archie and Annie will be looking forward to very, very soon!
We have not been able to follow Nancy and Beau at the MN-DNR nest as they moved nest when theirs collapsed last year. Trudi Kron reports that the couple have two eaglets in 2024! Fantastic news.
As you know the posts by Audubon caused a stir in Bird World and everyone wanted to know what had happened to Meadow and when. The Raptor Centre of Tampa Bay posted this on their FB page on Sunday:
It certainly is a worry for those chicks that we love and who might suffer from lack of food and/or abuse by their siblings. Even Hugo Yugo craves anything with Calcium; we often think it is because her mother was starved when carrying those 7 kittens. What will Hugo Yugo’s life be like? Is this why Mini at Patchogue had the injured leg, ‘AE’ ponders. We won’t know, and sadly, we cannot tell, but there is concern for these chicks who suffer and do not get food regularly like the others. As you might recall, Meadow was beaked often and kept from prey at one time. This includes our dear Tuffy, who had a bit of a rotten ride for a while.
Today, Tuffy has been eating well. ‘H’ sent me the first screen capture below showing Tuffy smiling at the camera. How adorable. I hope that Tuffy’s health has not been compromised from lack of food and beaking for those days we worried about this little one.
He is right up at the beak at 1700 and no doubt will be smiling again.
Tuffy having a nice meal before bedtime on Sunday. Great crop, too.
On Sunday, Louis brought Iris a fish gift. — Don’t fall off your chair! Iris has been thwarting his advances. Keep it up – get some more fish, Iris!
‘H’ reports that the second egg was laid at the Seaside Nest in Oregon.
The third egg for Boulder County was laid on the 21st!
There are three eggs at Ferris State University’s Osprey nest. The three egg clutch was completed on the 21st. Their camera is now on Twitch and there is no rewind that I can see, but they do have an up-to-date FB page.
There are three eggs for Herbert and Hermine at the Eschenbach Osprey nest. Sunday began with a snow-covered nest that gradually melted during the day.
The second egg at the Cowlitz PUD osprey nest in Washington arrived on Sunday the 21st.
The three osplets at the University of Florida-Gainesville are entering the Reptilian Phase!
Waiting for the arrival of the first egg for Aran and Elen at Glaslyn.
First egg in the nest at GribSkov on the 21st.
There are now three osprey eggs in the nest in the Ramucka Forest in Poland.
‘BHA’ reports that the third egg (and hopefully the last) was laid at the Port of Ridgefield on Sunday.
It’s three eggs for Mispillion Harbour on the 22nd!
Second egg for the new couple at Dahlgren.
And then there were three at Alyth for Flo and Harry!
Bety and Buky have been incubating their two eggs in Mlady Buky.
Dunrovin Ranch’s latest newsletter reflects on the absence of Harriet and the great matriarch she was of their osprey nest.
The American Eagle Foundation posted some images and information on Mr President and Lotus and their eaglets at their new nest. I know that many of you loved this eagle pair and are so disappointed not to be able to see them raise their chicks.
The GH owlet named Wyatt branched at the nest on Farmer Derek’s land on Sunday.
Down in the Sydney Olympic Forest, Dad and Lady are starting the nest renovations for the 2024 season! Wow. Cal Falcons hasn’t even hatched their eggs yet….did time start moving at warp speed?
The Cream-Coloured Courser is only one bird that is beginning to breed further north than its norm. Climate change is driving more and more birds to cooler areas to make their nests.
All About Birds shows this normal distribution map.
Key:
Animalia describes them as wading birds that forage for insects. Their numbers are decreasing but so far they are listed as of Least Concern.
“These coursers are found in Canary Islands, Cape Verde, North Africa and Southwest Asia. Their two eggs are laid in a ground scrape. The breeding season extends from February to September, but they may breed also in autumn and winter when local conditions (especially rainfall) are favourable. They are partially migratory, with northern and northwestern birds wintering in India, Arabia and across the southern edge of the Sahara. Some birds also breed in the southern desert regions in northwestern India and Pakistan. They are rare north of the breeding range, but this species has occurred as far away as Finland, Ireland and Great Britain.”
Thank goodness some communities understand. Portsmouth stops seaside condos from being built due to worries over wintering bird habitat! Give them five gold stars.
There appears to be an egg at the Balgavies Loch nest on the 21st also. So many eggs on the 21st – it is raining them.
Movement has been noticed in one of the eggs at Captiva. ‘H’ reports that egg 3 is 37 days old today.
And, sadly, dear Audacity laid another egg on Sunday and it had a puncture.
Thank you so very much for being with us today. Things are going to get quite exciting the third week in May when these osplets start hatching! Take care all. Happy Earth Day.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, screen captures, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘AE, BHA, H, PB, SS’, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, Osaka Peregrine Falcon Cam, Trudi Kron, Raptor Centre of Tampa Bay, Moorings Park, Montana Osprey Project, Seaside Ospreys, Boulder County, Ferris State University Osprey Cam, Fischadle Eschenbach LiveStream, Cowlitz PUD, University of Florida-Gainesville Osprey Cam, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, GribSkov, Ospreys in Napiwodzko-Ramuka Forest, Port of Ridgefield, Mispillion Harbour Osprey Cam, Alyth Ospreys, Mlady Buky Stork Cam, Dunrovin Ranch Newsletter, American Eagle Foundation Live Nest Cams, Farmer Derek, Eagle Cam, BirdGuides, OpenVerse, Animalia, and All About Birds.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
