Category Archives: Bald Eagles

Tuesday in Bird World

8 April 2025

Good Morning Everyone!

Heidi has good news about the Brevard Ospreys. (see below). Heidi observed nice crops on the youngsters. So two survived! Lovely. We think it could have been the heat. Send good wishes regardless. They all need our support.

Update: Loch Arkaig 1 from Geemeff:

11.47.48 An Osprey arrives on Loch Arkaig Nest One – it’s Affric Blue 152! 11.48.02 Another Osprey drops in, attempts landing on her to mate but slides off – it’s her mate Prince! 11.50.32 They remain quietly on the nest but keep looking around Suddenly they spot something and both depart in a hurry – Prince flies off to the left and Affric flies to the right. Both circle round and can be seen in the distance disappearing behind the two knolls. Now, where’s Garry LV0? Is he lurking nearby, did he cause them to startle and flee, not Louis or Dorcha as they’re on Nest Two at this time: https://youtu.be/cULExhyJn2s

I zoomed in to admire this very handsome pair”.

LRWT Manton Bay: Maya laid egg number 3!

Well, I am not sure it gets much better than having Iris arrive in the early morning on her favourite day to return to her nest in Hellgate Canyon, Missoula. Is she 29? 30? Whatever it is, she is ‘The Queen’ (I love all the images of her with a crown today on FB) and is the oldest known osprey in the world.

Tears were shed by tens of thousands of people around the world on her arrival.

‘A’ checked in: “This has made my week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fit74oVJhk What a wonderful way to start a day. She arrived soon after 8am and looked as though she’d just been for a quick stretch of her wings, landing gracefully and not looking at all exhausted. Welcome home, Iris. I am praying for Finnegan’s welfare – it would be tragic for her to lose him after only just finding him. He was so wonderful last season – such a great mate and father. She had the best support from him. A bit like Gabby and Beau – another new mate who turned out to be a real keeper. “

Looks like Dr Greene was just as excited as we were!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How could he not be?

Heidi’s other images say it all!

Thanks, Heidi!

Geemeff sends us the daily summary at Loch Arkaig:

Woodland Trust daily summary Monday 7th April 2025

More good weather, more mating, more sticks overboard, more fish deliveries – just two today, but the second one was a whopper. Louis’ tally rises to 12, not bad considering he’s only been back for five days. No action on Nest One but plenty on Nest Two to keep us enthralled, entertained and educated by this magnificent pair. 

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.21.05 (05.28.33); Nest Two 21.34.07 (05.42.44)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/ZOzefmcmn1Y N2 Breakfast arrives for Dorcha 06.30.22

https://youtu.be/QTxS7l23hE8  N2 Afternoon tea arrives for Dorcha – it’s a whopper! 16.08.34

Bonus watch – Is this Louis’ mum & dad? You decide. Background: Nest One had a resident pair of old Ospreys for quite a few years, seen at the end of this video taken in 2016 when Woodland Trust acquired Loch Arkaig ancient pine forest. The male looks very like Louis so it’s speculated they could be Louis’ parents and that he was fledged at Nest One himself. The old pair didn’t return in 2017 but Louis showed up instead:  https://youtu.be/s0CbalMmuGM

Blast from the past, this day in previous years:

https://youtu.be/3d_srbJm93c  N1 Louis does his demented penguin act for Aila 2020

https://youtu.be/lfhrCwUjWTM  N1 Uncooperative Ospreys star on Channel 4 news 2020

https://youtu.be/r27apoY0iKs  N1 First look at intruder male now known as Prince 2021

https://youtu.be/hWEOsacS-KU  N1 & 2 USAF Hercules caught on both nest cams 2022

https://youtu.be/n9cs5MWF__M  N2 Louis skydances before dawn 2023

https://youtu.be/47A4MPiPnpY  N1 Prince arrives, stands looking around 2024

https://youtu.be/mMdIL-F6zfA  N2 Dorcha holds on to fish number one despite the gal 2024

https://youtu.be/YrwpIJsVq_0  N2 Louis ducks to avoid a slap from fish number two 2024 (zoom)

https://youtu.be/xqagKOJUIMM  N1 A double rainbow 2024 (Classic Ospreys time lapse set to Haydn)


Come and join the friendly community at Woodland Trust’s Osprey forum, it’s fun, free and everyone’s welcome:

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

Hilarious commentary on the Loch of the Lowes Nest:

“Loch of the Lowes Visitor Centre and Wildlife Reserve

opostenSdr48auh1hgi6g48hth1ggt766m0ghica0g31c8tf34t8it42g972  · 

Who needs to watch ‘Corrie’ when you can follow the osprey dramarama instead?

Last time we wrote, the male known as the ‘Dark Intruder’ (who held territory with the resident female Blue ‘NC0’ in the latter half of last season), looked to be settling down with a new unringed female with a set of impressive ‘eyebrows’ and a mark on the back of head that looks similar to a ‘Cluedo’ piece.

For the last 3 days this pattern has continued, with the pair slowly settling into a routine of spending time together on and around nest each morning, before flying off for the day.

The male, who shall now officially be known as LM24; Lowes Male 2024 – the naming system used for unringed birds holding territory on the reserve, has been enjoying surveying his kingdom from the top of the camera, and has been seen and heard regularly sky dancing high above the nest. This is an undulating aerial dance performed by male osprey, often with fish in their talons to demonstrate their physical and hunting prowess! 🦅

It certainly seems to be doing the trick, with the new unringed female appearing more relaxed in his company and becoming more vocal in her demands for fish.

This new partnership, still in its sensitive early stages, took a big step forwards this morning, with the first mating attempts observed on the nest, although some of these were unconventional to say the least…what’s the saying; ‘Don’t know your wing from your talon??’ Poor LM24, not everyone has to perform under the pressure of being watched by eager osprey fans online and from the hides! 👀

He quickly made up for his enthusiastic misdemeanours by bringing in his first fish to the nest for his mate. True to inexperienced osprey partnerships, the female was no where to be seen – so waste not want not, LM24 made sure it went to good use! 🐟

All of his sky dancing certainly seemed to be working, with yet another unringed female making an appearance on the nest this afternoon! She was on and off the nest multiple times, and it wasn’t long before she started quietly calling for food.

Thankfully for LM24, his new mate turned up and for a while both the females sat on the nest together, with both ospreys and staff alike, looking confused (trying to work out who was who)! 🤔

Rather unhelpfully, this intruding female’s markings are incredibly similar to those of LM24’s current partner, with the subtle difference that her eyebrows start from the middle of her eye, rather than the front of her head, and she appears to have a rounder looking face.

After around 5 minutes of awkward staring, the intruding female flew off and LM24 wasted no time in attempting to mate again, this time opting for the side saddle approach – needless to say he wasn’t successful and the female flew off! 🤦🏻‍♂️

Not one to give up, it wasn’t long before he returned with another small fish to impress his mate with, but once again she was nowhere to be seen and so he tucked into his own fish supper under the close supervision of some hopeful crows!

Whilst the pair’s timing and communication isn’t quite in step yet, it’s certainly looking promising for this young couple, and all being well we would expect them to further develop their bond over the next week. 🤞

However…….is it the last we have seen of the female intruder? Could NC0 still put in a late bid to reclaim her nest? Will LM24 manage to work out which way round he should face when mating? Time will tell…

Follow the livestream to follow the action, or even better pay a visit to the centre and watch from the hides.

https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/…/loch-of-the…/“

Anyone watching streaming cams can now that it is much more entertaining than any of the soap operas on the telly!!!!!!

Port of Ridgefield: An osprey on the nest on Monday – both were seen on the nest on the 26th of March. Thanks, BHA.

Glaslyn: Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn writes: “KC6/Teifi has been with us for almost a week now and Elen is looking comfortable in the nest with him.

Still no sign of Aran as yet. We are concerned, but have not given up hope that he will return.”

Other than Ospreys:

Angel the Leucistic Red-tail Hawk: Window to Wildlife has confirmed what many of us have suspected.

Fort St Vrain: Four eaglets it seems. I don’t want to be pessimistic, but…

Big Bear Valley: What an amazing year it has been at the nest of Jackie and Shadow. https://youtu.be/mj-nCnpx_QU?

‘J’ sends us Rita’s latest:

OK. This image and the comment below really smiled at me.

The reality of the lives of many of our feathered friends in New Zealand:

Many native New Zealand species face threat of extinction, report findshttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/08/new-zealand-our-environment-2025-report-native-species-face-extinction-threat?CMP=share_btn_url

Thank you so much for being with us today. I am still waiting for Aran but he is late. Last year he returned on the 30th of March. I hope it is just a weather issue. I will keep you posted. Please take care. We hope to see you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, BHA, Geemeff, Heidi’, Montana Osprey Cam/Cornell Bird Lab, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Loch of the Lowes Visitor Centre/Scottish Wildlife Trust, Port of Ridgefield, Window to Wildlife, Fort St Vrain Eagle Cam, Rita the Bald Eagle FB, The Guardian, LRWT

Iris is Home…Monday in Bird World

7 April 2025

Hello Everyone,

What a way to wake up on a Monday morning seeing the osprey, the oldest osprey in the world, land on her nest in Missoula Montana’s Hellgate Canyon. And, yes, it is OK to cry a bucket full of glad tears!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is the beginning of the week, and recent days have been challenging. I hope my blog and our beloved raptors’ lives bring some rays of sunshine into your life. Going for a walk or just sitting outside can help make worries melt away. So, I encourage anyone who needs it to do so! All of us, including The Girls, Brock, Dyson, Junior and the Mrs, Mr and Mrs Crow, Little Red and the Mrs, and all the others, send you much positive energy. Get out! Turn the news off for a day! Enjoy all that nature has to offer.

I am still waiting for some very important ospreys to land on their nests and in some cases sooner than later! Elen is already falling for Teifi’s fishing skills. Get home Aran! And, of course, today, I am going to be keeping an eye out for Iris. Charlo Montana still has highlights on its streaming cam so we wait.

But before we look at the nests, ‘PB’ has just sent me the following and I am in tears: “18:19 Shadow brought in fish and had fishing line stuck on his beak. He is trying to shake it off and flew off looking frustrated. You could see the Shiny clear line.”

This is worrisome. Looking for some news for FOBBV and hoping all is well.

Oprey News:

Heidi’s Osprey News:

4/6 – Mispillion Harbor osprey nest (Delaware):  Congrats to Della and Warren on their first egg of the season. Della laid the egg at 14:15, and it was ten days earlier than the first egg last year.

4/6 – Carthage osprey nest (Tennessee): Congratulations to  Mom and Dad on their first egg of the season, laid on the same date as in 2024.  Mom and Dad lost their nest and only osplet last May during a strong storm.  They have started to rebuild, and everyone is hoping these ospreys can fortify the nest to make it stronger. Best wishes for this lovely pair.  

4/6 –  Maryland Western Shore osprey nest: The live stream was down for nearly three days.  When it resumed this evening, we saw that Marilyn and Arthur now have 3 eggs. Congratulations!

Thanks, Heidi!

Teifi has settled in, and there are many fish coming to the Glaslyn nest for Elen. Will Aran return? Will he have to fight for his territory against this younger male? Those fish were two flounder and two mullet.

‘L’ sent us Isac’s posting for the Patchogue Ospreys. You will recall that PSEG moved the nest. No sighting of the birds today. Thanks, L.

There is an osprey on another Long Island nest checked by Isac.

Pitkin County: Our osprey couple has returned! Vocoholic has the arrivals on video: https://www.youtube.com/live/ZLAKZwYtrVk?

Border Osprey Report:

WAITING PATIENTLY – Border OspreysDownload

RSPB Loch Garten: An osprey briefly landed on the nest. Some believe this might have been Asha. Waiting for confirmation.

Alyth SS: An unringed female, not the resident mate of Harry, Flora, has been on the nest. Two mating attempts on Sunday.

Balgavies Loch: There is an osprey at the loch on Sunday.

Tweed Valley Nest 1: Unringed female lands on the nest on Sunday.

Dyfi: Idris and Telyn. Beautiful. Waiting for that first egg.

Llyn Clywedog: Gorgeous Dylan and Seren!

Birds of Poole Harbour: Waiting for that first egg for CJ7 and Blue 022 any moment.

Green Ledge Light Preservation Society Ospreys, Long Island: Osprey arrived on 4 April. Waiting for the second and confirmation of who returned first.

Danish Osprey Cam: The male has returned. Waiting for his mate.

Achieva: Fish on the nest, family portrait, and a new baby that seems to be fine so far.

Collins Marsh: New camera platform was going up on March 15 but things still seem to be wonky.

Great Bay Estuary: Two ospreys on the nest today.

Oceanside MNSA: Third egg laid on Saturday April 5.

Golden Gate Audubon: Richmond and Rosie have two eggs. Will there be a third laid today?

Geemeff sends us her daily summary for The Woodland Trust and Loch Arkaig. Thank you, Geemeff!

Woodland Trust Daily summary for Loch Arkaig Sunday 6th April 2025

The glorious weather continued today, unlike this day last year when Storm Kathleen blew in and blew Dorcha off her perch. There was much merriment with sticks – again! We can expect more of these classic sticky situations as they prepare the nest ready for the eggs which could be less than two weeks away, especially after this morning’s marathon mating sessions. The only action on Nest One was when Dorcha turned up, possibly chasing an intruder out of her territory, but Louis confined himself to the loch and Nest Two, delivering four fish which takes his tally to ten. The weather forecast for Inver Mallie, which includes the nest area, is set fair for a few more days.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One  21.19.38 (05.31.15); Nest Two 21.33.32 (05.44.58)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/fMzkjVtbH0I N2 Dorcha grabs the first fish of the day after a tussle 06.26.34

https://youtu.be/2TrKItSxR3o N1 Unringed Osprey visits – it’s Dorcha! 11.37.03

https://youtu.be/pVw-5InEmdM N2 Comings & goings: Dorcha finally gets fish number two 11.38.03

https://youtu.be/DEkObqLTA-g N2 Dorcha grabs fish number three immediately 18.11.52

https://youtu.be/gypEolHWuXg N2 The Sabre Dance as performed by Louis & Dorcha 19.33.24 (Classic Ospreys – Khachaturian)

https://youtu.be/RseZ58O–VI N2 Fish number four – Louis keeps hold of his fish supper 20.30.21

Bonus watch – WT’s virtual tour of Loch Arkaig:

https://arkaigtour.woodlandtrust.org.uk

Blast from the past, this day in previous years:

https://youtu.be/OvVG5MBBjd4  N1 Welcome home – Aila announces her arrival!   2020

https://youtu.be/j_2zRRZeJQY  N1 Together again: the reunion of Aila & Louis 2020

https://youtu.be/L68RvTIrm5o  N1 Bonkers! Louis & Aila get down to business 2020

https://youtu.be/jNmLwYAdLsA  N1 Who does a flypast? 2021 (Slo-mo zoom)

https://youtu.be/oGYDu5iSZUk  N2 Louis brings his lunch and unusually stays to eat it  2023

https://youtu.be/jBls1Jwbkhw  N2 Hooded Crow is chased away by Dorcha & Louis 2024

https://youtu.be/beIyi7Q9FIc  N2 Fish number two, precarious handover in a gale  2024

https://youtu.be/Uz2YCaJzWLo  N2 Poor Dorcha is blown off by the wind  2024

https://youtu.be/y8Jxs3sbhS4  N1 A Barn Owl visits 2024

Come and join the friendly community at Woodland Trust’s Osprey forum, it’s fun, free and everyone’s welcome:

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

Bald Eagles:

NE Florida: Brodie just goes higher and higher at the NE Florida nest of Beau and Gabby. Will it be true flight tomorrow? https://youtu.be/cYTuJVPT8K4?

Fort St Vrain: Third egg hatches. One to go.

HPAI – Avian Flu is not letting up. Thousands of game birds culled in North Yorkshire.

Thousands of gamebirds culled at breeding facility in N Yorkshire after bird flu outbreak – Raptor PDownload

Thank you so much for being with us. Take care of yourself. Please go for a walk. Smell the spring air. We hope to see you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, Heidi, J, L, PB’, Cornell Bird Lab/Montana Osprey Project, FOBBV, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, By the Patchogue Nest, Volcoholics and Pitkin County, Rosie Shields and The Border Ospreys, RSPB Loch Garten, Alyth SS, Balgavies Loch, Tweed Valley Ospreys, Dyfi Osprey Project, Llyn Clywedog, Birds of Poole Harbour, Green Ledge Light Preservation Society, Danish Osprey Cam, Achieva Credit Union, Collins Marsh, Great Bay Estuary, Oceanside MNSA, Golden Gate Audubon, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, NEFlorida-AEF and SK Hideaways, Fort St Vrain, Raptor Persecution UK< Mispillion Harbour, Carthage, Maryland Western Shore

Sunday in Bird World

6 April 2025

Good Morning Everyone,

It is +5 on the Canadian prairies, and spring is almost here! The House Finches have arrived along with the Dark-eyed Juncos. We have had several new woodpeckers over the past couple of days at the suet cylinders, along with the garden regulars. They are all accounted for, and that is a good thing! Brock was here twice today. He is not afraid of me any more. He will sit on the chair until I put his food in the dish. Isn’t that just a marvellous change!?

Now, please tell me you have been outside. Did you smell spring in the air? Are you watching for the hummingbirds migrating through? How about the ducks? Have you seen any? I can’t wait to tell you about the first ducks’ arrival at our local park’s pond. Will they be Mallards? or Wood Ducks?

Ferris Akel’s Saturday Tour went through Wildlife Drive – the first time this spring. There were beautiful shorebirds, at least one Sandhill Crane, but Ferris thought it was guarding a nest, and ducks – ducks of many species.

Oh, I am getting so excited. It doesn’t bother me that the geese poop over everything. It is so nice to see them home. This year there will, undoubtedly, be less due to bird flu which has hit the species hard. We will be grateful for each and every one that made it back alive!

One of our favourite nature centres, Oak Hammock Marsh, is getting a real makeover. They have been renovating for the past two years. We could head out there for a walk to see who is on the water. The new building is not open yet, but the trails are, and the ice should be melted. Then, of course, the American White Pelicans should arrive at Lockport by the end of the month. There is a lot to look forward to.

Ferris says that the rust colour on the back and wings of the cranes is from the soil.

There is not a lot of activity in Bird World. As of Saturday morning, 30 well-known ospreys had not returned to the UK. The weather has been bad along the migration route, and we need favourable winds, but by the 12th, I will start to worry. I am watching the Montana Ospreys, especially Iris and Finnegan, and looking out for Aran. Many are also watching the Russell Lake nest of Oscar and Ethel, who have been raising osplets there for about 15 years. Oscar is waiting for his gal to return. VV constantly checks on 15 nests in the Maryland area while Heidi monitors a long list of US nests. We will know soon enough who has returned and who hasn’t. Send good positive energy to all of them.

Ospreys are arriving at Kielder Forest. Mrs PC8 from Nest 2 was there on Saturday. Here is their latest news.

Latest news _ Kielder OspreysDownload

Iris’s train passes behind her nest, which she shares with her new mate, Finnegan, at Hellgate Canyon. Please come home, Iris! Your favourite date is April 7th – that is tomorrow, Monday.

A reminder of Iris’s – and our – remarkable year at this nest with hopes for another. https://youtu.be/iKSGv30eaDc?

Harry waits for Flora at Alyth SS.

Geemeff sends us the daily summary for The Woodland Trust and Loch Arkaig. Thank you, Geemeff!

Woodland Trust Daily summary for Loch Arkaig Saturday 5th April 2025

Another day of settled weather, and Louis took advantage of the good conditions to deliver four brown trout, taking the season’s fish tally to six. There were many mating encounters and an amusing interlude with sticks, and so far the season seemed to be progressing normally. Dorcha was on the nest when Louis brought the fourth fish at 20.36 but made no move to take it, and she departed without it about 15 minutes later, leaving Louis standing there clutching the fish in his talons. However, in a surprising change to the usual pattern, he then appeared to fall asleep, hunched over his fish near the edge of the nest, and at the time of filing this report (23.00), he was still there looking as if he might spend the night on the nest. No activity on Nest One today.

Night cam switches on (day cam):

Nest One (05.33.14); Nest Two (05.51.56)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/HPXA4EJ5uQc N2 Louis arrives with the first fish, half a brown trout 06.43.50

https://youtu.be/15LM_bVIrGk N2 Comical stick incident! 10:24:26 (Classic Ospreys)

https://youtu.be/23B3e0Ncpeo N2 Fish number two arrives and departs – Dorcha is indignant! 12.16.52

https://youtu.be/YNVCK5SBrn0 N2 Louis delivers fish number three and throws sticks overboard 17.28.45

https://youtu.be/XcSY3N_XTQ4 N2 Louis arrives with fish number four but Dorcha’s not interested 20.36.42

Bonus watch – WT video showing the construction of Nest Two: 

Blast from the past – this day in previous years:

https://youtu.be/000ExVIHdTk  N1 He’s back! Welcome home Louis! 2020

https://youtu.be/MqCZOPYRBMw N1 Louis brings a big stick 2020

https://youtu.be/GiXhBTMjfdI N2 A Great Tit (Parus major) visits 2022

https://youtu.be/xfg_jzAnuCU  N2 Louis does a lovely long loop as he leaves 2023 (zoom)

https://youtu.be/s45fByu5-ZE  N2 Louis swoops around in front of the nest before landing with a fish 2023

https://youtu.be/b7XBOsBjZHU  N2 Fishy tails! Louis eats all his dinner 2023

https://youtu.be/_tcny1NvSfs  N2 Louis sky-dances at dawn 2024

https://youtu.be/onRZQMzzFec N2 Two fish arrive within seconds 08.22.22 & 08.22.35! 2024

Come and join the friendly community at Woodland Trust’s Osprey forum, it’s fun, free and everyone’s welcome:

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

The Wildlife Trusts present 

Wild LIVE: Ecocide – should destroying nature be a crime? 

Free online discussion Tuesday 15 April 2025 from 18.30 to 20.00 GMT+1https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/eve

nts/2025-04-15-wild-live-ecocide-should-destroying-nature-be-crime

A pilot study to examine the impacts of releasing non-native gamebirds (pheasants & red-legged partridges) into the Cairngorms National Park is due to begin this spring:

Pilot study to examine impact of releasing non-native gamebirds in Cairngorms National Park

Louis and Dorcha:

Heidi’s Osprey Nest News:

4/5 –  Smallwood State Park osprey nest (Maryland):  Congrats to Mom and Dad… Mom laid egg#3 at 08:03.

4/5 –  Dewey Beach osprey nest (Delaware, Dewey Beach Lions Club):  I just love this wonderful osprey couple.  Mom seemed ‘eggie’ today, so I was not surprised to see her lay the first egg at 19:15.

4/6 – Venice Golf Club:  The third baby hatched overnight, and three bobbleheads were seen at the first feeding this morning.

A great opportunity for some special person or persons! Check out the Osprey Leadership Foundation! Please apply if you fit the criteria – this would be fantastic and I know some of us ‘oldies’ would have loved to have had this chance.

Osprey on nest 4 in Finland! This is Nuppu and Nemo’s nest – I have not seen any confirmation of this osprey yet. Will keep checking.

‘J’ sends news that Traverse City Bald Eagles have their second hatch.

At Beau and Gabby’s nest in NE Florida, Bodie had a nice fish meal. Later, she soaked in the sun and wind with Juvie and went higher up the branches.

Bodie goes higher! https://youtu.be/cYTuJVPT8K4?

It is, sadly, not going to be long until Bodie flies off the nest. She is doing a lot of flapping.

E03 at the Kistachie National Forest E3 nest enjoyed three fish deliveries on Saturday.

Scout and Bella’s triplets seem to be doing just fine at the NCTC nest.

Betty Lou is growing!!!!!!! Jak and Audacity are truly proud parents!

Angel the Leucistic Redtail Hawk and Tom: There has been no activity since the entry below, when Angel flew off the nest. I do not believe we should count on this couple raising any eyases on this nest this year. This is not to say they do not have another nest in their territory.

4/2/20257:49:08 AMAngelleaves

‘J’ sends us news of other eagle nests: “Watching the bobbleheads at Fort St. Vrain. Just wonderful. So young they can’t do real damage to each other yet, so it’s „safe“, and fluff balls are so cute. One obviously was contemplating hacking the other, but before he could take action, he fell over on his back, feet up in the air – I can’t help it, I snorted. Too funny.

There’s a pip, so number three is on its way.

Denton Homes confirmed by youtube chatters, two little Majestics!

Unfortunately the new hatch at Falconshire Raptors seem to have died, Skye stepped on it several times according to the charts. No official confirmation yet. https://falconshireraptors.com/blog/“

Are we truly the only animals that destroy their home by tossing our garbage everywhere? It sure looks like it. We know the birds find everything – the safe and the dangerous – that we toss. Here is an article about it.

From burger wrappers to masks, bird nests tell story of throwaway culturehttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/04/from-burger-wrappers-masks-bird-nests-story-throwaway-culture?CMP=share_btn_url

Thank you for being with us today! As you enjoy the rest of your weekend, I encourage you to step outside, even just sitting in a chair by your back door. Nature truly has a remarkable ability to heal and can lift our worries, even if just for a moment. Look up at the sky and let a smile spread if you see a goose honking and flying overhead or glimpse a hummingbird.

Embrace the beauty around you and let it rejuvenate your spirit. There are lots of worries in the world. I do not know anyone who is not anxious. We will benefit from stepping outside and listening to our feathered friends or going for a short or long walk with a friend or family member. Nature heals. We need to take better care of it – and our spirits.

Thank you for being with us. Take care everyone. See you soon! And according to WordPress there are benefits to you hitting the ‘like’ button if you enjoyed this posting but for the life of me I am not a social media pro and have no idea what they are!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, Heidi, J’, Ferris Akel Tour, Kielder Forest, Montana Osprey Project, Alyth SS, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust (Loch Arkaig), Osprey Leadership Foundation, Traverse City Bald Eagles, NEFL-AEF, SK Hideaways, Kistachie National Forest E3, IWS/Explore, Window to Wildlife, The Guardian, Smallwood State Park, VGCCO, Dewey Beach

Friday in Bird World

4 April 2025

Good Morning Everyone,

Thursday was a gorgeous day. +5 C. Sunny. We spent the day out in the country away from the city taking in the spring air.

Animals are really important to one’s well-being. My husband thrives around them. We brought carrots for the goats today. Isn’t this little one with its blue eyes just a darling? One of our favourites.

And we brought our own goose home! She will no longer lure ducks or geese to their peril and doesn’t need food!

At home, Calico spent the afternoon watching the birds fly in and out of the garden. We are so grateful she is inside with her daughter, Hope. My heart pangs thinking of her ever living outside in the harsh weather.

I always welcome your e-mails. Don’t stop sending them. It keeps me connected with people of like minds who love the birds and who cry with them throughout the joys and the sorrows.

‘JB’ writes: “I know you got hundreds of emails but I still wanted to add mine. When Dorcha arrived, I was happy for her, but it also low-key, unofficially confirmed in my mind that maybe Louis really was gone since he usually arrived first. But I was still planning to hold onto hope for one more day. Perhaps he was taking an extra rest, esp after last summer. But I still couldn’t shake off that realization that Dorcha arrived FIRST. I was riding the subway to work and was actually feeling really sad thinking that this world is without Louis and how strange it felt, when I saw someone post on the Woodland Trust chat about an osprey on the nest but not being sure who it was. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it on the livestream. It really is a miracle! The fact that any bird can keep coming back year after year is already a miracle, but especially Louis! So many of us, myself included, had doubts. But this shows to never count an osprey out!

And so now I wait with baited breath for Iris’s arrival. I created another drawing. It’s meant to be cheeky and silly, Iris looking at the calendar with anticipation and packing her best summer feathers, some fish jerky, and Finnegan’s love letter to her over the winter. Haha, it gives me a good chuckle.

Hooray for Louis and Dorcha!”

‘JB’s art to go with this letter!

We are all waiting while crossing toes, fingers, eyebrows, and hoping beyond hope to see our Queen land on her nest. Thank you, ‘JB’.

Geemeff sends us the news for today from The Woodland Trust:

Woodland Trust Daily summary for Loch Arkaig Thursday 3rd April 2025:

The day started with owls hooting and the dawn chorus starting up before day cam switched over, but the best music was the sound of Louis skydancing. However when he landed on the nest at 06.22, he ignored Dorcha who had made herself available by raising her tail almost vertically. But it was only a short while later that he departed, circled round, and came back to the nest for a full-on mating with Dorcha at 06.48. The pair spent the rest of the day popping on and off the nest, mating, nestorising and generally showing typical behaviour of newly returned Ospreys. Louis brought the first fish of the season around 5pm but Dorcha wasn’t there to get it. When he returned with it later, she was on the nest and took it from him, however her nicely filled out crop suggests he’s either giving her fish off-nest, or she’s fishing for herself. That single fish kicks off the start of the daily fishing report, with Steve Q expertly crunching the numbers. New volunteers are encouraged to sign up, it’s easy and you don’t need to know much about fish species, so if you’d like your very own Fish Counter badge, please send Deb a message. In other news, a Buzzard touched down on Nest One. S/he mantled protectively on the nest but arrived with empty talons, and no other bird was seen, at least not on nest cam, so its behaviour was interesting. George WTS put on his Press Officer hat, and the return of our Ospreys made the news, link to one article in the bonus section.

Night cam switches on (day cam):

Nest One 21.10.23 (05.39.11); Nest Two 21.27.26 (05.53.18)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/j2Sum_Ko7Lc N2 Dorcha’s keen but Louis isn’t! 06.22.48

https://youtu.be/xMhCZ5qGTqQ N2 Finally – successful mating 06.48.31

https://youtu.be/hzODfj11JQ4 N1 A Buzzard visits mantling over its empty talons 15.32.48

https://youtu.be/zMMO3WcJR_Q N2 First fish of the season arrives but Dorcha’s not there 16.57.54

Bonus read – the return of the Arkaig Ospreys makes the news:

https://news.sky.com/story/famous-osprey-louis-returns-to-nest-in-scotland-after-illness-13340970

Blast from the past, this day in previous years:

https://youtu.be/09TOby_yPfU  N1 A Woodpecker visits 2021

https://youtu.be/-BwfbQolDAE  N2 Aerial antics: ACrow chases a Buzzard near the nest 2022 (slo-mo zoom)

https://youtu.be/_Er_85c3FZU  N2 Louis brings a fish supper but Dorcha’s not home yet 2023

https://youtu.be/XRUIQug73eo N1 Louis touches down briefly on his old nest 2024 (slo-mo repeat)

https://youtu.be/dZWAEwRxHGA N2 Dorcha accepts fish number three at the second offering 2024

https://youtu.be/NKWmX-eR-94  N2 Successful mating 2024

Come and join the friendly community at Woodland Trust’s Osprey forum, it’s fun, free and everyone’s welcome:

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

‘J’ sent us an interesting opportunity for someone who might want to visit Oklahoma.

Wild Heart Ranch

9h  · 

Our spring tee shirt logo! I will have them on our store later today! We have youth sizes up to 3X!
That’s Raegan flying over Greg’s head! 😃

The Wild Heart “Bed and Baby Experience”

It is PRIME CABIN STAY TIME! If you have ever wanted to spend a few days helping to feed the babies, but live too far away to volunteer, OR you live local enough to drive but don’t want to start out volunteering doing dishes, floors and laundry, NOW IS THE TIME TO BOOK A CABIN!  The “Cabin experience”; 18 or older, all access to Wild Heart, you start out feeding whatever animals you would like to help with so long as it is safe for you and the animals. We invest one-on-one time teaching you to feed babies even though we may never see you again. (which isn’t often the case) In exchange for our time, your cabin rental helps fund our staff to care for the babies! Once you are experienced (with us) and do not require supervision, we give you winter rates for your stay!  Our cabins are fully equipped, cozy, comfortable and convenient. They are small, but you won’t be spending a lot of time in them. You are here to experience the magic of Wild Heart and that lives in the clinic and on the land! 😃

We have three cabins to choose from:
Raptor Cabin: Queen bed $350 for one night, then $300 for any additional nights
Retreat: (available Friday & Saturday nights) Twin bed+futon+loft, laundry, stove top and large shower $300 one night, then $200
Lodge: Full sized bed $250 one night then $200

All cabins have kitchenettes with fridge, microwave, coffee maker, toaster, all your linens, showers, TV, a place to sit and store your belongings. They are adorable and we are very proud of them. 

Now is the BEST TIME EVER to rent a cabin because we have a larger staff so you can count on more attention and less chaos. We have recently invested in upgrading and renewing our cabins AND we have Dava assigned to tending our cabins so they are spotless and perfect for your stay. She misses NOTHING!  Text Susan at 918)600-8237 and she will call you when she is back at her desk and get you booked! We book only to our Facebook followers and our monthly donors now get fall and winter rates YEAR ROUND! Raptor $250/200, Lodge $150/100, Retreat $200/150. COME SEE US!
Annette

Osprey News:

Loch Arkaig: I can’t stop smiling. Louis and Dorcha. Home.

Dyfi: Beautiful Idris and Telyn.

Llyn Clywedog: Stunning. Dylan and Seren are both home from migration.

Glaslyn: Elen waiting for Aran. Aran, come home!

Hellgate Canyon, Missoula:

Goitzsche Wildnis: J Castnyer comments on the day: “Zeus has done a great job rebuilding the nest from four badly placed sticks and, right now, what he is doing is providing a large amount of loose material not just to cover possible cracks, but to provide comfort to the nest and for Fjona to feel at ease. Males like Zeus are a treasure, on the level of the mythical Monty (Wales) and Teo (Latvia) or an Idris (Dyfi) or a Dylan (Llyn Clywedog).”

Zeus has done a great job rebuilding the nest from four badly placed sticks and, right now, what he is doing is providing a large amount of loose material not just to cover possible cracks, but to provide comfort to the nest and for Fjona to feel at ease. Males like Zeus are a treasure, on the level of the mythical Monty (Wales) and Teo (Latvia) or an Idris (Dyfi) or a Dylan (Llyn Clywedog).

Eschenbach: Concern expressed over the new female’s immaturity at the nest. Joan Castnyer: “We are not on the right track. The new female is strong and has character, yes, but at the same time she is (rather than young) quite immature. She does not spend much time in the nest and (what is more worrying) does not respond to Herbert’s attempts to mate, as you can see in the video. It is possible that this year no young chicks will fly from this nest and that moving Hermine will turn out to be a mistake. We will remain attentive and confident.”

Boulder County: No eggs yet for Mum and new Dad.

Rutland Manton Bay: Maya reveals egg as she gets up for early night stretch.

Birds of Poole Harbour: Beautiful CJ7 and a couple portrait with her mate, Blue 022.

AlythSS: Harry is home!

Kielder Forest Nest 7: Both ospreys back live! https://www.youtube.com/live/bJONIQs4Sfg?

Threave Ospreys: Egg on nest 1.

Farm Field: Not sure that Heidi will include this in her report:

From Heidi:

Achieva osprey nest:  Jack has a new mate this year, named Jill.  Jill laid two eggs, but egg 1 did not hatch.  Egg 2 hatched overnight 4/4, and our first sighting of the little baby was at 07:08.  Congratulations to Jack and Jill!

Bald Eagles:

‘J’ writes that we have new hatches!

Fort St Vrain: So far twins out of those four eggs! FSV52 and FSV53

Big Bear: Is Sunny practising for her maternal duties in the future? https://youtu.be/H6zU37pL8Kk?

Sunny and Gizmo are so adorable.

Fraser Point: Andor and Cruz’s two eaglets are adorable.

Sauces Canyon: Jak and Audacity could not be more proud of their little Betty Lou.

Kistachie National Forest E3: A nice fish on the nest for 03 who is looking good.

Big Red and Arthur, Cornell’s darling Red-tail Hawk couple make the news: https://youtu.be/3QjjH2DEh2E?

In Hertfordshire, a hawk was harrassing villagers. Now it has been caught.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/03/flamstead-man-catches-hawk-that-had-been-attacking-villagers-for-weeks?CMP=share_btn_url

Geemeff sends us more news:

Good news for all UK wildlife – and us humans too. But a great pity the authorities not only failed to act to clean up our rivers, but appealed the decision when they lost to the charity Fish Legal who took them to court for failing in their duty. They lost – again! It’s cost us tax payers a fortune in court fees which would have been better spent starting the clean-up.

https://preview.mailerlite.io/emails/webview/510835/150736527066924323

A call to action:

Protections are being dismantled, but public lands and waters belong to you, whether it is a National Wildlife Refuge, National Park, Forest, Marine Sanctuary or Marine Monument. Your tax dollars provide a way for you to safely visit, hunt, fish, birdwatch, swim and hike. These lands and waters are where native wildlife have reared their young for millennium and are now protected in perpetuity for the specific purposes laid out by Congress in their establishment.

Call to Action!

Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care everyone. We hope to see you again soon.

Thank you to the following whose comments, notes, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams helped me to write my blog today: ‘Geemeff, Heidi, J, JB’, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Wild Heart Ranch, The Woodland Trust and Loch Arkaig, Dyfi Osprey Project, Birds of Poole Harbour, Bywyd Gwllyd Glaslyn, LRWT, Llyn Clywedog Osprey Cam, Montana Osprey Cam, Joan Castnyer and Goitzsche Wildnis and Eschenbach Osprey Cams, Boulder County Fair Grouds Osprey Cam, Farm Field Ospreys, SK Hideaways, FOBBV, IWS/Explore, Kistachie National Forest, WENY TV News, The Guardian, Achieva Credit Union, Fort St Vrain, Alyth SS, Kielder Forest, Threave Castle, Jeff Kear and UK Osprey Info

Thursday in Bird World

3 April 2025

Good Morning Everyone!

Well, I am over the moon with the arrival of Louis and Dorcha at the Loch Arkaig 2 nest on Wednesday. I mean, seriously, this is magical. I couldn’t believe it and then I couldn’t stop smile and quietly giggling to myself. Just like the miracle eagle babies in the US, it just doesn’t get much better than this in UK Osprey World!

‘The Girls’ divide themselves into couples.

Hugo Yugo and Missey are always together. Always.

Calico and her only surviving kitten, Baby Hope, are likewise always together. Hope waits for Mum to finish eating before she eats – just as she did when she was a kitten.

I am showing it again just for you to get the idea. Hope is very good friends and plays with Hugo Yugo and she doesn’t mind Missey. Calico and Missey are not pals. They do not like one another and so, today, I am off to get some more of that diffuser that should make them ‘love one another’. Wish me luck!

While they are curious about the feral cats and tolerate Brock, they do not like the new ones that are arriving. To keep the stress down for them, the plan is to move the feral feeder to the back of the garden area away from our garden door. I can still keep an eye to see if Brock is coming and if he needs our help.

This blog contains the mention of Louis’ arrival home at least three times. Here are the videos in case you missed them. This in response to the more than 400 e-mails of you with tears in your eyes and the following from one of our long time Bird World friends. ‘B’ writes: “Oh, thank goodness!!  Thank you Mary Ann!  It has been such a difficult year, with the loss of Annie and Archie, and Thunder and Akecheta, E24 and E25, and (so far) the loss of Chase and Cholyn’s eggs at Two Harbors.  We have to be thankful for every blessing we get with Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear, Audacity and Jak at Sauces, Bodie at NE Florida, and now the return of Louis (Louis the Legend!!) and Dorcha at Loch Arkaig.”

‘B’ is so right. There are miracles and blessings and each day with our feathered friends has to be treasured and never taken for granted. We love them dearly.

Welcome home Dorcha! Resident female Osprey returns to Loch Arkaig Nest Two 2nd April 2025 (zoomed):13.58.57 An Osprey call is heard off camera – is it Louis? Sounds like him. I boosted the audio the better to hear the call. 14.04.19 An Osprey lands with a chirp – but it’s Dorcha, not Louis! Welcome home! 

14.06.20 She departs, flying lochwards and disappearing into the distance. Where is Louis?

Welcome home Louis! Resident male Osprey returns to Loch Arkaig Nest Two 2nd April 2025 (zoomed):19.43.55 An Osprey comes unseen from the cam side and lands on the cam post with a thunk and a soft cry. 19.47.30 The Osprey takes off, circles round, heads back to the nest  

19.47.44 It lands – it’s Louis!! Welcome home, it’s so good to see you.

https://youtu.be/8WyDfBGdXgYTogether again! The reunion of the resident Loch Arkaig Ospreys Louis and Dorcha 2nd April 2025:

20.11.35 Louis is on the nest and starts displaying, flapping his wings 20.12.00 Dorcha arrives and is reunited with Louis Louis starts coy-mantling, she just stands there quietly 20.21.54 Dorcha leaves, Louis remains behind and starts nest prep, doing some nest scraping 20.46.57 Louis leaves for the night

Heidi’s US Osprey Report:

4/2 – Venice Golf Club: Congratulations to Mom and Dad on their first hatch.  The baby hatched sometime overnight.

4/2 –  Brevard County:  Mom was very secretive, but the first baby hatched at approximately 13:30.

Updates to the hatches from Heidi!

4/3 – Brevard County: A pip was first seen 4/2 at 21:00, and the second baby was out of the shell 4/3 by around 00:30.

4/3 – Venice Golf Club: The second baby arrived sometime in the overnight hours.

4/3 – Havre de Grace osprey nest: The first egg of the season was laid this morning at 06:59.

Heidi asked me to make a correction: CORRECTION:  PLEASE CHANGE DATE OF Maryland Western Shore egg #2 to  4/1.

And I missed this one from Heidi!

Kent Island: 3/30 – Kent Island, Maryland (Chesapeake Conservancy):  ‘Tom’ arrived home on the same day that he returned last year. Nice to see you, Tom.  Tom is waiting for Audrey, who is currently a week past the date that she arrived last season.

Mary Ann’s Osprey News:

Rutland Mantou Bay: Maya lays her first egg on 2 April.

Golden Gate Audubon: Richmond and Rosie welcomed their first egg of the 2025 season on Tuesday 1 April.

Loch Arkaig: If you missed it, Louis and Dorcha are home. More from Geemeff below but I had to mention it twice. My inbox flowed with over 400 e-mails about this fantastic couple. We all remember Louis and Aila and their triplets during the pandemic. We miss Aila, we embraced Dorcha, and then we worried ourselves to death that Louis might not return this year. Well, he fooled us and I hope that he has recovered from whatever ailed him last season.

Glaslyn: Elen is home waiting for Aran. Now we have a visitor, a male.

Cowlitz PUD: Electra arrived at the nest on 30 March.

Goitzsche Wildnis : J Castnyer writes: “If yesterday it was Herbert, from the Eschenbach nest, who brought a red fish to the new couple, today Zeus did the same to the one from Goitzsche Wildnis. Very attached to the claws, yes. There was a moment of tug-of-war between him and a Fjona who was very interested in the teak, not only because of the color, but because of the appetite it had.” From this it would appear that the original Fjona has not returned but I hope this is just my misunderstanding. Stay tuned for clarification.

Here is that ‘red fish’ that Herbert brought to the Eschenbach nest yesterday:

Geemeff’s Daily Summary for Loch Arkaig!

Daily summary Wednesday 2nd April 2025

What an eventful day – apart from the Really Dark Female (RDF) turning up on Nest Two this morning, the main action took place in the afternoon and evening. Louis and Dorcha have returned! We heard Louis’ characteristic call off-camera then an Osprey arrived, but confusingly, it was Dorcha! Looking a little hollow cropped but otherwise in good shape. She left and the nest stayed empty as the light started to fade but then a chirrup was heard and a wingtip seen from someone up on the cam post, then the Osprey departed, flew off, circled round and landed on the nest – it was Louis! He is looking in magnificent shape with a nicely rounded crop. He stayed on the nest looking around then suddenly started displaying and the reason soon became obvious when Dorcha arrived. Their reunion was quiet, no noise, no mating attempts, just some coy-mantling from Louis, with Dorcha not calling for fish as judging by her crop, she’d eaten since first appearing on the nest. Had she caught her own fish, or had she met up with Louis earlier and he’d given her a fish off-nest? We’ll never know, but what is certain is the resident pair are both safely home, and the nest cam community is absolutely thrilled. And for a bonus, the weather cooperated too.

Night cam switches on (day cam): 

Nest One 21.10.08 (05.41.53)

Nest Two 21.23.55 (05.58.36)

Today’s videos, all Nest Two:

https://youtu.be/GdxCrcgFs9w  First visit by an Osprey – and it’s the RDF! 10.35.35 (zoom)

https://youtu.be/0at1Hn1OO68  Welcome home Dorcha! 14.04.19 (zoom)

https://youtu.be/8WyDfBGdXgY Welcome home Louis! 19.47.44 (zoom)

https://youtu.be/drkXe1oXJ6E  The resident pair are reunited 20.12.00

Bonus link – several members of the community have kindly made donations to celebrate the return of our Ospreys, here’s the link if you’d like to join in: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/support-us/give/donation

If you prefer to show support in other ways, you can buy from Woodland Trust’s shop: https://shop.woodlandtrust.org.uk/

Or become a member: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/support-us/woodland-trust-membership/

Or link your Nectar points and donate them to WT: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/support-us/join/nectar/

Blast from the past, all from this day last year:

https://youtu.be/jKAmWUAhVTY Dorcha stars on BBC Breakfast TV 

https://youtu.be/xopDMmwwx2E Louis delivers the first fish of the day

https://youtu.be/GVX93Gmg5KI George on BBC Radio Scotland 

https://youtu.be/ziFi6Kiqclc Prince brings another fish to Nest One 

https://youtu.be/5eWslEsf8-A Freeze frame comparison of the stranger with Garry LV0 

Come and join the friendly community at Woodland Trust’s Osprey forum, it’s free and everyone’s welcome:

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

Bald Eagle News:

‘J’ sends news that we have a pip/hatch underway at Fort St Vrain in Colorado!

Big Bear: Sunny and Gizmo just cannot stop growing. Snow has started falling but let us all wish that this nest misses any big storms heading for the north of California. https://youtu.be/3rTqyFDnlXE?

More cuteness from the FOBBV Cam: https://youtu.be/CLYP4TJXuYs?

NCTC: It might have been horrific year for Bella last year, but this year is an entirely different story. Bella and Scout’s triplets are doing very well.

John Bunker Sands: The kids are really wanting to fly! https://youtu.be/R06mn7eepQQ?

Other Birds:

Cornell Red Tail Hawks: I reported that Big Red laid her third egg Wednesday morning. Oh, I love this 22 year old incredible Mum and dear Arthur. Here he nudges her off the eggs so she can have a break and he can have some incubation time. I always wonder if Arthur senses that she is more tired than she was 8 years ago? And he is really stepping up to help. Love them. So glad to have the privilege to watch them raise another family. https://youtu.be/ih0pGF7rguQ?

Great Spirit Bluff: Newmann and Elaine have their third egg on 2 April.

‘T’ sends us a video of the Imperial Eagles in RU welcoming a new breeding season.

https://vk.com/feed?w=wall8472470_5332&z=video8472470_456239537%2F8c0732251b6beea12d%2Fpl_post_8472470_5332

Calico’s Tip for the Day: Please read this and educate everyone you know.

I don’t want to end the blog on a negative note so I am putting this article here. I want you to pause and think about how many billions of animals we – humans – kill in the factory farms across the world and the inhumane conditions those animals live in. Now, the EU is allowing the shooting of doves. Seriously? I get an ‘acidic’ stomach just thinking about this. What is wrong with people?

Turtle doves to be shot for sport again across Europe as EU lifts hunting banhttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/02/turtle-doves-to-be-shot-for-sport-again-across-europe-as-eu-lifts-hunting-ban?CMP=share_btn_url

Huge storms heading east from Arkansas could impact many of our beloved birds. Stay safe everyone.

Always nice to see a utility company helping our beloved raptors:

Utility company trying to help nesting Ospreys find suitable nests and prevent electrocution and / or power outages:

Eversource Hoping To Help Ospreys Establish Proper Nesting In Chatham

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

Thank you to the following for giving me help with my blog today: ‘B, Geemeff, Heidi, J, T’, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, VGCCO, Brevard County, LRWT, Kent Island/Chesapeake Conservancy, Golden Gate Audubon, Jeff Kear and Byryd Gwylld Glaslyn, Cowlitz PUD, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, FOBBV, SK Hideaways, NCTC, John Bunker Sands Wetlands, Great Spirit Bluff Ospreys/Explore, Joan Castnyer, Eschenbach Osprey Platform, Goitzsche Wildnis Osprey Platform, SK Hideaways, The Guardian, CapeCod.com, Kaitlin Wright Meterologist, RU Imperial Eagle Cam

Wednesday in Bird World

2 April 2025

Good Morning,

Jackie and Shadow’s kiddos have been named: Sunny for the oldest and Gizmo for the youngest. Thanks 3rd graders!

Loch Arkaig: Gemeff writes that Louis and Dorcha might be home. Just waiting for confirmation from the Woodland Trust.

Ospreys are like buses – wait for ages and then two come along at once!

This is how Dorcha’s arrival happened:

13.58.57 An Osprey call is heard off camera – is it Louis? Sounds like him. I boosted the audio the better to hear the call.

14.04.19 An Osprey lands with a chirp – but it’s Dorcha, not Louis! Welcome home!

14.06.20 She departs, flying lochwards and disappearing into the distance. She’s quite hollow-cropped, I imagine she’s gone fishing. Perhaps already made an attempt judging by the green gunk on her right foot.

https://youtu.be/0at1Hn1OO68 (zoomed)

Think he is home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And earlier, we had the first Osprey visit – the Really Dark Female (RDF) who’s visited before.

https://youtu.be/GdxCrcgFs9w (zoom)

Louis video coming now – he stayed a few secs then flew off lochwards

I had not planned on sending out a post this morning, but Geemeff drew my attention to something and I think that it is something that we have to prepare ourselves for – the fact that Louis and many other beloved ospreys might not return this year.

I know that readers sometimes do not click on links and you might have missed this one in my Tuesday blog. Geemeff suggested that I pin it in print because people are concerned about whether or not Louis (or any of the others not already home) will return. George writes for the Woodland Trust:


“It is clear that Louis suffered some kind of illness last year that saw him perched in a tree for days on end when he would ordinarily have been fishing. While he did recover before the end of the summer it is likely that when he migrated he was not as fit as he has been in past years.

We believe he was two or three years old when we first saw him in 2017 so that means that while by no means ancient he is now getting on in years. There are a few individual outliers that live to 20 and beyond but the typical lifespan seems to be 10-15 years. He is in that zone now.

Migration is tough in either direction, We do need to prepare ourselves for the possibility that Louis might not make it back this year.

It is also important for everyone to process the fact that wild lives don’t tend to end neatly. If Louis does return this season he may be vulnerable to another younger male kicking him off the nest. Or his fishing abilities may go into decline. Remember that the beginning of his breeding career with Aila began with chick mortality because the pair were inexperienced. His middle years have seen him mature into an excellent father, but we can expect a tough time for chicks hatched in his declining years.

That is just how these things go. While it is upsetting for us to see chicks fail, it is natural.

It could be that he arrives back in fine fettle in the next week or two and we have a successful season. But we have to accept that might not be the case.”

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=24047912

We hope that they all return. We wait and see.

Geemeff also sent this announcement that has a stale date. There is going to be a great Q & A on Eagles this Thursday. So check it out.

Thank you, Geemeff!

CROW is asking for your help.

‘RP’ sent us another cute little bird nest idea! Thank you.

We have some ospreys arriving and we have some that need their mates to come home NOW!

Kielder Forest: W6 is home!

W6 arrives, with fish offering! _ Kielder OspreysDownload

Cowlitz PUD:

Llyn Brenig:

Mispillion Harbour: Heidi keeps a close eye on these Delaware ospreys.

UFlorida-Gainesville: Sadly, that sinking hole we noticed has resulted in the loss of all three of Stella’s eggs with her new mate. Here is the announcement:

“April 1 2025: Hello Osprey fans! I have sad news to report. From the recent heavy rains, a hole opened up in the bottom of the nest and all three eggs fell through and were lost. Tragic and I am truly sorry this has happened to the osprey pair. This event happened once before at the old location of the osprey cam at the original UF ball field. We will keep the camera on in April to see if they repair the nest. I don’t think Stella will lay more eggs this season as she has laid four already. Ospreys are resilient and most likely will be back again to nest.”

Fraser Point: The intruders in the Channel Islands just don’t seem to let up. What a worry especially with two little ones on the nest. Stay safe Mama Cruz. And below is the announcement of the name for one of the nest’s eaglets!

High Spirit Bluff: Poor Newmann. He is a fantastic Dad and now he has yet another mate.

Kisatchie E3: ‘MP’ sends some news: “Today, three nice size fish came in so far… The eaglet is doing a good job tearing food apart as long as dad zips it open. The problem is mom comes in and interrupts her/him and takes it away which the eaglet isn’t happy about. I guess mom has to eat too. So, at eight weeks and five days it’s one day at a time. “

NEFlorida: Just look at Brodie! Isn’t she amazing? I don’t want her to fledge just yet.

NCTC: Scout and Bella’s triplets appear to be doing quite well.

Little Miami Conservancy: The kids are doing very well.

John Bunker Sands Wetlands: They are still on the nest, but they are itching to fly. The winds on this nest will certainly pick them up and send them off to soon. It has been a very special nest to monitor this year.

Foulshaw Moss: Blue 35 has returned to her mate White YW at their nest in Cumbria. I can’t wait for the season to start.

Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home: Heidi writes:
3/1 – Maryland Western Shore osprey nest: Marilyn and Arthur have their second egg, which was laid shortly before 10 pm on 3/1.

Cornell Red Tail Hawks: Oh, grand. Big Red laid egg 3 this morning!

Spring is coming! The arrival of certain birds signals the awakening of the land, the trees, the bushes, the flowers. For me it is the arrival of geese but for others, it is the Redwing.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/01/country-diary-twittering-squalling-redwings-speaks-only-spring?CMP=share_btn_url

Thank you for being with me. I am very grateful for all the news that was sent in today. Take care all. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, videos, and streaming cams that helped me send this blog off to you today: ‘Geemeff, Heidi, MP, RP’, The Woodland Trust, Raptor Resource Project, CROW, Elaine Buckner, Pam Breci and Cowlitz PUD, Jeff Kear and UKOsprey Info FB and Llyn Brenig, Heidi McGrue and Mispillion Harbour, Gracie Shepherd and IWS/Explore (Fraser Point), Diane Lambertson and High Spirit Bluff, Kistachie E3 Bald Eagle Nest, NEFlorida-AEF, Little Miami Conservancy, John Bunker Sands Wetlands, The Guardian, Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home, Cornell Bird Lab

Tuesday in Bird World

1 April 2025

Hello Everyone!

I hope that your start to the week has been a good one! It was certainly nicer in Winnipeg on Monday. The sunshine, no wind, and a warmer temperature are really starting to make me think that spring is truly coming. There was a male House Finch at the feeder this morning with the normal garden characters.

I walked in and found these two on the sofa. When I see them together I choke up. Hope has the habit of not eating until Calico is finished. Even though I put down two separate dishes, she will wait. That appears to be something that Calico taught her when they were living rough under the deck of the house a few blocks away before Calico came in to live with us.

Star came to the feeder today. She looks like she is full of kittens. Oh, I hope they come here. The plan is to trap then, get them fixed so they can get out of the feral community, and get one of the cat rescues to help find homes for them. We posted images in all the local FB groups hoping to find out if either of these two belong to someone.

We had two new visitors today – a grey tabby and a solid grey. Are they lost? or were they dumped and hungry?

He is a beautiful British short hair. Not afraid. Ate two tins of food this morning. Just starving. Bless their hearts.

Brock has been visiting us for over three years now, and that’s a positive thing. However, he is looking pretty rough. I put dewormer in his food and always make sure he gets extra. We are turning the wood box into a heated home for him as he shows no sign of wanting to come into the house although he is more trustful.

Thank you SK Hideaways for giving us a memorial to Grinnell. I cannot tell you how overwhelming it was to remember Annie’s long time mate. It is hard to imagine that she is now gone, too. I don’t know about anyone else but I often check the Cal Falcons scrape and it makes me tear up seeing it empty.

Link to the memorial video: https://youtu.be/fNtZjd2npqw?

As you might have noticed, the 2025 Memorial Page is not yet published. I had hoped to have it done by the end of March but it seems that things take at least four times what they used to! It is coming! It is coming because they deserve to be remembered, but it needs to be done correctly.

Geemeff has done a montly summary of happenings at Loch Arkaig and is sharing it with us. When the ospreys return, she will start her daily posts with videos. Thank you, Geemeff!


March 2025: monthly summary for Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust:

Welcome to season nine for the Arkaig Ospreys! George WTS opened the forum earlier this month and friends old and new have been coming to say hello and join in with this lively community. We’re more than ready for the return of our Ospreys, the nests have had a visit from the intrepid maintenance crew and everything is prepared for their arrival. Both nests have had a few non-Osprey visitors this month, see video links below. We were spoilt last year when Louis and Dorcha both returned in March, but April is more usually when they arrive and with luck we’ll see them any day now. Fingers crossed for a successful season this year, but check out the warning in the bonus section. The weather has been changeable, mainly wet and windy, but with spells of glorious sunshine. Here’s a reminder of last season:

https://youtu.be/pgLrWvnETSY  Woodland Trust official highlights 

https://youtu.be/DO7XJOA6OEs My unofficial long highlights

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 20.48.44 (06.11.18); Nest Two 20.43.47 (06.17.29)

This month’s videos: 

https://youtu.be/5eeCTuyXl-8 Nest Two A Sparrowhawk visits 8th (zoom)

https://youtu.be/upCLWUNKHJY Nest Two A pair of Crossbills visit 15th 

https://youtu.be/TeGDyWSLlxA Nest One & Two Songbirds visit 22nd

https://youtu.be/UVyLxO-CFGc Nest One A Buzzard visits 25th (zoom)

https://youtu.be/uy_sYwKUSNs Nest One A Barn Owl visits 28th (zoom)

Bonus information on expectations around nest cam watching:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=2447912

Blast from the past, this day last year:

https://youtu.be/piR2Y9VrbEU  N1 A Tawny Owl visits and a second calls in the distance 02.00.07 (zoom)

https://youtu.be/Ho7G2glHjwA  N2 Louis brings fish but makes Dorcha wait! 06.35.18

https://youtu.be/ujpBEzlX8xo N2 Sticks come and go! However, Dorcha wants fish 07.49.05

https://youtu.be/1M_q7vylL3U N2 Louis brings a second fish, gives it to Dorcha immediately 08.27.40 

https://youtu.be/6UHtfgM-UPY N1 Ravens do a flyby before landing 17.49

https://youtu.be/3Da1daASQio N2 Louis brings a third fish, teases Dorcha before handing it over 17.16.22 

‘J’ sent us one of those learning moments and will make you smile and feel good. She says, “Wild ranch heart helpline explains people what to do with young birds they find. This is one reaction that came in:

‘AM’ sent me a beautiful image of a Japanese White-eye sipping nectar. I need spring and these beautiful images from Japan certainly bring me hope. What a beautiful bird and a gorgeous image! Thank you, ‘AM’.

It is relatively quiet in Ospreyland and this means that if they are coming, it will be lots of fish hawks arriving around the same dates.

Black Storks:

Latvia’s first Black Stork to arrive home was Kergu who seemed to immediately attract intruders! https://youtu.be/ZV5ffh5UcXw?

Ospreys:

At the Eschenbach nest of Herbert the Germany osprey, mates are changing. Joan Castanyer writes: “The days pass and the new female seems to have everything under control: Herbert treats her as his partner and Hermine seems to have lost the dispute over the nest to a younger, stronger and more characterful rival. Nature is like that and Hermine will have her way. There is no point in looking down on the new female. We will end up giving her a name and loving her like we do with all the other fisherwomen.”

At Goitzsche Wildnis, Joan Castanyer comments: “Zeus is very fast and mates with Fjona like there is no tomorrow. The images in the video are a good example: in the middle of the afternoon and in three minutes he mates, leaves and returns with material for the nest and mates again. He only needs to bring a fish to be the male marvel.”

This means that the females at the two German nests, Fjona and Hermine have been replaced.

University of Florida-Gainesville: I am copying and pasting the information on the website. Stella is incubating three eggs.

“March 17-19 2025: Stella has laid a third and fourth egg! So currently, there are three eggs total that are being incubated. The first egg was accidentally buried by Stellas with a plastic piece and we think it is no longer viable as she stopped incubating this first egg before the other three eggs were laid.

March 10 Update 2025: Stella has laid a second egg today!

March 10 2025: Hello Osprey fans. Unfortunately Stella accidently buried the egg with some material on March 8th and has abandoned incubation of the egg because she cannot see it. We are hopeful that she will lay another egg. Stay tuned! Any questions, email me at hostetm@ufl.edu.

March 7 2025 Hello Osprey fans! Well, Stella has laid her first egg today! Keep watching to see what happens … Send me an email (hostetm@ufl.edu) if you have questions or want to share what you saw on camera (can send me photos!).

Feb 19th, 2025 Hello Osprey fans! It looks like Stella has found another mate! If you recall, Talon disappeared during the middle of raising chicks last year and one chick named Talon Jr (after the missing father) was successfully raised by Stella. This new male has been bringing fish to her and courtship is underway. Keep watching to see what happens … Send me an email (hostetm@ufl.edu) if you have questions or want to share what you saw on camera (can send me photos!). I estimate that we probably will see the first egg sometime in the first part of March. But who knows? This is Nature after all!”

Bald Eagles:

NEFlorida: Bodie really is up on that branch!

Two Harbours: Chase and Cholyn lost their first clutch this year. They have been caught on camera on their old nest mating. They are 27 years old and Cholyn is the mother of Thunder from the West End who is currently missing.

Fraser Point: Andor and Cruz busy themselves with feeding their beautiful little bobbleheads.

Big Bear: Today, we will learn the names of Jackie and Shadow’s eaglets. Shadow brings in so much fish – 9, 10, 11 a day – no wonder these two are growing like weeds.

Just look at that crop!

John Bunker Sands Wetlands: What a great year this nest has had. Two eaglets getting along so well, thriving under the watchful eye of devoted parents and now they are ready to fledge. ‘MP’ sent us a great screen capture.

Duke Farms: Early Monday morning two prey came in and all three of the eaglets – Harpo, Meechi, and Jupi (from oldest to youngest) – ate well. There was some initial bonking til the second fish came to the nest. There was a dual feeding. All is well.

Others:

Golden Eagle Nest in Estonia: Kalju and Helju have only one egg to incubate this year which will cause it to be much easier to watch this nest. The first egg was crushed leaving the second to survive. The adults make frequent shift changes and it appears that part of the prey brought in on Monday was a Greylag Goose. Beautiful eagles.

The top image is from Looduskalender.

Latvian Golden Eagle: Nest of Spilve and Grislis. Spilve has laid her second egg on 30 March.

Image is from Looduskalender.

Here is some good summary information on siblicide in Golden Eagles. I want to point out that in places where food is abundant and the female feeds the chicks equally as we have seen in certain nests last year, the second eaglet survives. This was, of course, not the case with some nests so it is wise to be cautious when watching.

In golden eagles, siblicide, also known as “Cainism,” is a phenomenon where a stronger nestling kills its younger sibling, often due to competition for food or resources, and is estimated to claim about 80% of second hatchlings in some areas. 

Siblicide, sometimes known as Cainism, is the killing of a sibling. It is typically the older and larger of the clutch. In many cases, when testing is done, that eaglet turns out to be a female.

We always ask ourselves why does this happen? Why do the parents not intervene? Well, as mentioned above, it does not always happen. About 20% (an estimate) of second hatch eaglets survive normally because of a nest in a rich area of prey. When siblicide does occur, it is because of competition for food which can be scarce, asynchronous hatching leaving one chick much older and larger, and of course, there is, in certain eagle species something called ‘obligate siblicide’ where the younger chick is almost always killed by the first which is then rewarded with food by the parents. This is typical of a Golden Eagle nest. The older and stronger normally makes intense physical attacks on the younger sibling. In one case, researchers counted 1500 beakings in an hour. The older chick may combine physical aggression with pushing the younger one away from food causing it to starve. Older siblings have also been known to push the other one out of the nest causing it to die.  

So the Estonian nest will surely be safe because there is one egg. We might expect obligate siblicide to happen on Spilve’s nest.  

Geemeff sends some news:

Utility company trying to help nesting Ospreys find suitable nests and prevent electrocution and / or power outages:

Eversource Hoping To Help Ospreys Establish Proper Nesting In Chatham

Moraine State Park turns on ‘osprey cam’ for 2025 season:

https://www.butlereagle.com/20250331/moraine-state-park-turns-on-osprey-cam-for-2025-season

Thank you for being with us today. There will be no news published on Wednesday. We are going to get to meet the Prime Minister of Canada today. See you on Thursday! Take care.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, images, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘AM, Geemeff, J, MP’, SK Hideaways, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Sandy Richard, AM, Joan Castanyer,UFlorida-Gainsville Wildlife Extension, IWS/Explore, John Bunker Sands, Duke Farms, Eagle Club of Estonia, NE Florida-AEF, Butlereagle.com, capeCod.com

Monday in Bird World

31 March 2025

Good Morning Everyone,

It was a bit of a cool Sunday on the Canadian Prairies, but we managed our first extensive walk at the nature centre of the spring. The trails were half snow and half ice with the geese gathering at Devonian Lake.

Goose prints on a small pond.

Nearer to home, there were ‘four’ grey squirrels announcing spring had arrived along with the two reds. Both Crows were present as were the Blue Jays. It felt good seeing them all in the garden filling themselves with cat kibble, peanuts, black oil seed, and cracked corn.

‘AM’ sent me this glorious image of spring’s arrival in Japan and graciously allowed me to share it with all of you. There is nothing more beautiful than the first blossoms of spring whether they are the cherry blossoms in Japan or the crocus popping its head up out of the snow in Manitoba. I cannot wait! Thank you so much, ‘AM’.

On the campus of Cornell University, Big Red laid her first egg of the 2025 season on the 27th of March and her second on on Sunday, the 30th. https://youtu.be/ZO-_WY0dmXA?

Arthur got to see that first egg. https://youtu.be/RCChvBTKMVs?

The second egg arrives. https://youtu.be/KdZvseg9-As?

SK Hideways has it for us, too! https://youtu.be/57OPmltd5b0?

Big Red hatched in Brooktondale, New York, a mere seven miles from the Cornell Campus in the spring of 2003. She was ringed in October of that same year. It is not clear how many eggs Big Red has laid or chicks that have fledged. She has been ‘on camera’ since 2012 but she would have been breeding well before that – in fact, probably seven years prior she would have had her first fledge.

Her current mate is Arthur. When Big Red bonded with Arthur, he did not even have his red tail, but he proved to be a great provided wooing her with his squirrel deliveries. Cornell All about Birds says, “The male, Arthur, was named in honor of the founder of the Cornell Lab, Arthur A. Allen. He was first spotted on Cornell University campus as a fledgling in 2016. He is unbanded and has a paler chest, head, and nape than Big Red. The pair first spent time together in April 2017, after Big Red’s previous mate, Ezra, had died. The hawks completed their first breeding season together in 2018.”

Her previous mate was Ezra.

Big Red is internationally known. She is so loved.

Bald Eagles:

Big Bear Valley: They could not be cuter even with their blood feathers growing in. Two little miracles. Look at that chrome yellow gape (the corner of the mouth). You want to see a bright yellow-orange known as chrome yellow. Look at the feet of the adults, too. The deeper in colour, the more healthy the eagles. These two have their thermal down with the cutest of hints at their nestling life in the form of the dandelions still remaining on the top of their heads.

Little Miami Conservancy: There are now two hatches with some bonking going on within the nest!

WRDC: R7 fledged Saturday. BOGS caught sight of him/her later perched on a nearby pine tree.

News has come to me that the Bald Eagles in Alaska are starting to nest. We will be keeping an eye on the Glacier Gardens nest.

‘J’ writes: “The first of the three Centerport chicks hatched on the 29th.

Osprey News:

Tweed Valley Nest 2: Mrs O has arrived home.

Loch of the Lowes: Blue NC0 might have a new mate. https://youtu.be/nizNtoTncDs?

Llyn Clywedog: Gorgeous Seren 5F sent Dylan into doing a loud sky dance on her arrival over the weekend. Geemeff comments, “Dylan arrived on the nest at 15.34, then must have seen Seren in the distance because he suddenly flew off and loud skydancing was heard nearby before she landed at 15.36.

Welcome home Seren!”

https://youtu.be/kOVwSEKRqY4

Hellgate Canyon: Waiting for Iris and Finnegan.

Boulder County Fairgrounds: Mum and new male are on the nest.

Moorings Park: Ozzie is one of the cutest and sweetest little osplets. Feathers coming in. Full crop!

MNSA Koolpix Osprey Nest: First egg of the 2025 season laid on Sunday.

Collins Marsh Osprey Cam: Their FB posting says: “Osprey cam update…yes this is the current view of the camera…the inside of the tower! This past week the camera was brought down for maintenance, and in the coming days a new mount will be installed to help us maintain it for years to come. The birds will be back soon, last year they arrived on April 6th, so keep watching!”

Osprey House Environmental Centre, Australia: Parents George and Hope and their 2024 fledgling Marina were on the nest on Sunday together.

Rocky Lake/Waverley, Nova Scotia: Both ospreys are back.

Severna Park: First egg of the 2025 breeding season has been laid.

Balgavies Loch: An osprey has arrived. No confirmation of identity.

Wensleydale Osprey Platform: An osprey is there!

Heidi reports:

3/31 –  Barnegat Light osprey nest:  Duke arrived at the nest this morning, on the same date that he returned last year.  Hey there, Duke!

Other Birds:

The Black Storks are reaching their nests in Estonia – and I hope they will also be arriving safely in Latvia, soon. Kergu is due to arrive at his nest today! Looduskalender Forum gives us the following information on this magnificent Black Stork: “Kergu Black Stork nest was found in 2022, but it has been there for longer. Probably even fallen down, and rebuilt again on the branches of the same aspen tree. During installation of camera I noticed that nest is only partly supported by the branches, so added some kind well visible exoskeleton to keep it more stabile (perhaps). In the end of March 2024 it seems quite good, but still, not fully safe.

Nest site is situated in Pärnu county, near wind farm development area. That was the reason to track Kergu, male stork who nested here last year, as well as reason to install webcam. There are proposed some mitigation measures, like preparing better feeding conditions in other sectors of home range. Hopefully results of those measures will be visible also through webcam in time. The measures are at the moment in planning stage, yet. So if somebody has ideas for mitigation measures in that situation, those would be valuable to analyse in current situation.

Kergu has rings (incl. left leg 7047) since childhood, he has been ringed in 2011 as one of three chicks in nest situated about 10 km of current Kergu nest. Three chicks fledged in Kergu nest in 2022 and they were in good condition during ringing. Female in this nest we did not know, most probably she was without of rings. In 2023, here we did not see female in nest. Kergu refreshed nest properly, few times neighbour male Nurme visited the nest as well as not ringed immature individuals. But in general Kergu was in nest alone, listening neighbour bird species, like woodland owls, passerines, etc.”

The nest is waiting! Pictures by Urmas.

Latvian Golden Eagle: Spilve laid her second egg on Sunday.

Port Lincoln Ospreys: “Ervie has been checking out the northern end of Boston Island but always returns to the main wharf to sleep.”

“Giliath obviously loves the town life as he just doesn’t want to go anywhere else.”

“Kasse also loves the town life of Tumby Bay”

Wilko is MIA. They are hoping he will check in soon.

Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. We look forward to having you with us again soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, images, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘AM, Geemeff, H, J’, Cornell Bird Lab, SK Hideaways, FOBBV, Little Miami Conservancy, Tweed Valley, UKOsprey Info, Geemeff, Llyn Clywedog and CarnyXWild, Montana Osprey Project, Boulder County Fairgrounds, Moorings Park Osprey, Looduskalender Forum, LDF, MNSA Jay Koolpix Cam, Collins Marsh Osprey Cam, WRDC, Port Lincoln Ospreys

Sunday in Bird World

30 March 2025

Good Morning Everyone,

Thank you so much for being with us today. Our thoughts were with the people of Myanmar today as they dig their friends, family members, and even strangers out of the rubble of the 7.7 earthquake with their bare hands and any tools they can find. At last count more than 1600 people were declared dead. My son and I have friends there and in Bangkok – our condolences to all who lost a loved one.

If you are in the UK, Happy Mother’s Day! And to all our feathered friends there – to you as well!

Saturday was breezy and a bit chilly, but it turned out to be a day for restocking the cupboards. Before we left, Brock came to the garden door requesting another dish of roast chicken! He sure loves his roast chicken.

He is getting less frightened of me. I tap on the glass twice. That alerts Brock that I am coming outside with additional food for him. A year ago he would have run under the deck and waited for me to return to the house locking the door. Now he will sit about 30-45 cm away (12-15 inches) waiting. He suns himself on the rug and never rushes to leave. He is more comfortable. Brock has been coming to the garden since 2022 with Calico. His life is not easy but he is fed and now, thanks to a reminder by Geemeff, he is getting his de-worming treatment.

The Crows have been coming to the big table feeder for cat kibble. They are here every day. Soon I will need to make sure that there is ‘meat’ available for them as there will be babies to feed. [Taken through the conservatory window with the iPhone].

Just a warning. Today’s post will be shorter than normal. I had trouble with Meta (Facebook) and the posting of Saturday’s blog. I suggest that you subscribe so as not to miss any news. The blog is free and will always be free. I do not send any ads, and I will never ask for any subscription fees. You can cancel anytime. Usually, there is one post per day.

Geemeff sends us news:

Set backs and successes of raptor re-introduction in Northern Ireland:

https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/uknews/the-revival-of-ireland-s-birds-of-prey-and-the-flight-from-conflict-to-conservation/ar-AA1BT9aV

How many dead Ospreys is OK?

https://www.pressreader.com/uk/western-mail/20250328/281968908489499

Geemeff also sends us the arrival dates for dear Louis at Loch Arkaig and comments on the current state of UK ospreys;

“Speaking of arrivals, Dylan is missing Seren, and Elen is missing Aran. And we’re missing Louis & Dorcha. They arrived last year on the 28th and 30th March respectively, but that was the first time in March. All previous years have been April arrivals. I wish they’d hurry up and arrive, Maya is looking very eggy, any day now she’ll produce the UK’s first egg and we don’t even have either bird back, or even Garry LV0.

Here’s Louis’ dates:

 2017 10 April  

 2018 6 April    

 2019 4 April   

2020 5 April  

2021 11 April  

2022 11 April  

2023 2 April 

2024 28 March”

We wait in anticipation.

Osprey News:

Russell Lake, Nova Scotia: Oscar returned Saturday morning. He has already been fishing and being watched closely by Don and Connie Dennis!

Baseball Park Ospreys, Missoula, Montana: Star, the mate of Louis, has arrived.

Steelscape, Washington: Both adults are back on the nest.

Seaside, Oregon: Bruce and Naha have both returned on the 24th and 26th.

Smallwood: The first egg was laid Sunday morning.

Cowlitz: Osprey was on the nest on Saturday.

Lake Murray: Lucy and Kenny. There were originally three eggs and now there are only two. ‘H’ adds: ” It was noticed 3/29 at 00.45 an egg looked like it had a big dent, and Lucy moved the egg with her beak.”

Western Maryland Shore for Old Town Home: Marilyn laid her first egg on Saturday.

Llyn Clywedog: Seren Blue 5F has joined Dylan at their nest in Wales. Welcome home lovely girl. Dylan did a sky dance on her arrival. Oh, this couple is wonderful.

Achieva: Jack has disappointed me in his fish deliveries for his new female mate. Diane, his former mate, had to supplement the fish for the chicks and well, the eggs haven’t even hatched. There is a lot of competition and no doubt Jack has problems with gulls, other ospreys, and eagles for whatever he catches.

Baseball Park, Missoula, Montana (yes, again): Louis has now arrived and so both Star and Louis are on the nest! Thanks, Dr Greene!

Boulder County Fairgrounds: Dad has been missing. Mum has a new mate, it appears, who has brought her a fish and then there is an intruder. Thank you Noland MacDonald!

Dyfi: The DOP says, “Dyfi Osprey Project

odspSoertn8hc7cm27ul26gm7tc917h0li5gum9al04fc46a9fhc8cig4i94  · 

Happy Mothers Day to Telyn today – and indeed all mothers.

Telyn will be 12-years old in a few weeks and has bred successfully at the Dyfi nest since 2018, raising 18 youngsters to migration age in that time.

​​That’s a 2.6 average offspring to migration age per year – twice the UK average.

Telyn is the daughter of Maya who is still breeding at Rutland Water and is cousins with Glesni and Blue 24.”

Bald Eagles:

FOBBV: Shots were heard and startled the family. https://youtu.be/GtNy3chinF0?

There were reports, perhaps over a week ago, of lights seen and shots heard by individuals watching the John Bunker Sands Wetlands Bald Eagle nest near Dallas. This is a very frightening thought.

Other Birds:

Despite a high number of deaths, there were still record numbers of Sandhill Cranes in Nebraska. Thanks, ‘PB’ for the article.

 – https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/record-high-736000-sandhill-cranes-flock-to-nebraska-during-spring-migration-peak-with-no-signs-of-bird-flu-despite-concerns-180986317/

‘J’ sends me the post of our local wildlife rehabilitation centre, Wildlife Haven. (It is one of Calico’s favourites because of Dr Tess who is helping that turtle with its soft shell and her confidence in wildlife to adjust to their own physical challenges).

Thank you so much to all those that contributed to help my blog to be even better than it could be by my hand alone: ‘Geemeff, H, J, PB’, msn.com, pressreader.com, Connie Dennis and Ospreys of Nova Scotia FB, Montana Osprey Cams, Pam Breci and Steelscape Ospreys, Seaside Ospreys, Lake Murray Ospreys, The Smithsonian Magazine, FOBBV, Wildlife Haven, Nolan MacDonald and Boulder County Fairgrounds, Dyfi Osprey Project, Llyn Clywedog and CarnyXWild, Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home

Saturday in Bird World

29 March 2025

Hello Everyone,

I really hope you enjoyed that video of the turtle escaping Liberty and Guardian’s nest in Redding, California that was in the post Friday morning. That was one lucky turtle!

It snowed in Winnipeg. Then it snowed some more! The measurement in the garden was 43 cm. Our young man was not around so we did the shoveling which really took a lot of time – and energy. It was also chicken Friday so ‘The Girls’ and Brock had their Friday chicken dinners.

‘J’ sent me some news that raises some interesting questions. A real mystery is happening at the Pittsburgh-Hays Bald Eagle nest. Long time ‘Dad’ disappeared last year and is in the Memorial Pages. A new male appeared. Now ‘Dad’ has returned after more than a year, according to reports!!!!!!!

Was he injured and in rehabilitation and released, returning home? How do we know he is the original ‘Dad’? There are no bands that I am aware. We have not been able to find out any further information.

Osprey News:

Russell Lake, Nova Scotia: Oscar has arrived safely home! YEAH.

Oak Tree Nest, Threave Ospreys: Both ospreys are on the nest and working hard!

Loch of the Lowes: Does Blue NC0 have a new mate?

Foulshaw Moss: White YW is very popular. His mate Blue35 has not yet returned, but there are two unringed unidentified females trying to get his affections! Thanks J Kear and UKOsprey Info for the post.

UPDATE: Blue 35 is back!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fort Calhoun: ‘PB’ is keeping a close eye and notes an arrival.

Hellgate Canyon: Iris and Finnegan will have a lot of work to do when they return to their nest in Missoula. Iris traditionally returns on the 8th of April.

Birds of Poole Harbour: No one is going to mess with CJ7 and ‘her’ nest!!!!!

Dyfi Osprey Project: Idris and Telyn enjoying being back together.

HEIDI’S OSPREY REPORT:


3/29 – Moorings Park: Sally was struck by a GHO at 01:10, but she was not knocked off the nest.  To my knowledge, there has not been a GHO problem at that nest before.  Fingers crossed that Ozzie will stay safe.  Little Ozzie is only 20 days old.


Bald Eagle News:

NEFlorida: The juvenile visitor that has been adopted by Beau, Gabby, and Bodie has been officially named ‘Juvie’.

US Steel: Tiny little bobblehead.

Little Miami Conservancy: Hatch on Friday! https://youtu.be/wkamoBLssKQ?

The baby’s first meal: https://youtu.be/qge26cRb4fE?

Baby’s first day: https://youtu.be/uf8vF8EyVQw?

NCTC: A bold owl sat near the nest while a meteorite flew by! Bella and Scout kept that owl at bay. https://youtu.be/UFfi8QFlj94?

Kansas Bald Eagles: Kanza is still the Only Eaglet. That egg is non-viable. Lucky Kanza! All that good prey just for you.

Big Bear Valley: Full crops for Jackie and Shadow’s kiddos. They are adorable. Little miracles. The two were having quite the little spat. Almost like Baby Hope and Hugo Yugo play fighting. Well, Daddy Shadow was on the nest. It was obvious he got tired of it, didn’t like them fighting, and went over and put an end to it. Yes, eagle parents to intervene. Some actually just sit on the eaglets (or osplets) to stop fighting/bonking.

Sauces Canyon: Betty Lou is the sweetest little eaglet.

Kisatachie National Park E3: ‘MP’ sends us good news: “The parents on this nest had some good luck today. They brought in a small fish first thing which chick got to tear a part. The second fish was a big bloody one without the head which dad eat, the head that is. Mom came in behind him and took it to feed chick and herself. Then, a great big Catfish was on the menu for the day. Although, no one in chat knew what it was because the parents brought it in bit by bit or piece by piece. Then, at the end of the day, the great big head was brought in which no one knew until she turned it over and then we could all see it was Catfish head. The pieces brought in were theorized as chicken filets up until then. Even the rangers thought that they had stolen them from some camp site.

So all ate good today.”

This is great news, thank you.

If you missed the March Ventana Wildlife Society Condor chat, here it is: https://youtu.be/0dPEFVWD6Ak?

Wishing all of the new little bobbleheads full crops and a safe fledge.

Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care of yourself. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, news, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘H, J, MP, PB’, PIX Cams, Pittsburgh-Hayes Eagle Cam, UKOsprey Info, Woodland Trust (LOTL), Foulshaw Ospreys, OPPD Fort Calhoun, Osprey Research Project/Hellgate Canyon Ospreys, Birds of Poole Harbour, Dyfi Osprey Project, NEFL-AEF, Little Miami Conservancy, NCTC, Deb Stecyk, Kansas Bald Eagles, FOBBV, IWS/Explore, Kistachie Forest E3 Eagle Cam, PIX Cams, Ventana Wildlife Society, Moorings Park