Category Archives: Barn Owl

Friday in Bird World

20 December 2024

Hello Everyone,

I hope this posting finds all of you well and happy.

We are getting so excited. Solstice arrives on Sat, Dec 21, 2024, 3:19 a.m. on the Canadian Prairies. The animals will get all of their gifts. Our offerings to the Garden Animals will be finished Friday morning. So grateful that Brock’s heated food dishes have arrived! What a relief. Let us hope that it works in this dreadful cold. The Girls and Brock will have a roast chicken dinner to fill them to their whiskers.

Cookies and cakes are at hand. Food and snacks are ready for Saturday. Then on Sunday our granddaughter will be here with us. She is heading to Australia to see a lovely lad she met in Paris who has been to Winnipeg already. It must be serious.

Brock’s heated bowls.

Hugo Yugo has taken her last pain treatment, is eating well, resting, and playing. She did well thanks to all of your good wishes!

News is scant in Bird World with only one eagle nest with eaglets and all others either incubating or bare of eggs still. The North American Osprey season begins in Florida, but not yet and the European and UK birds are still wintering as are those from North America that do not migrate. The Australian osplets have fledged and it is not hawk and falcon season yet as winter hangs upon us still.

I continue to be completely dismayed that our beautiful raptors continue to be killed over Scotland when it is highly illegal to do so. Precisely why do the Legislators and Judges permit this to continue?

‘Why are birds of prey still being killed in Scotland despite new legislation?’ – special report inDownload

Liberty and Guardian love pre-dawn bonding. The collapse of their long time nest did not deter them from moving on. Lessons that we should learn. https://youtu.be/lIuiKfq-dkU?

Mum, Wilko, and Kasse on the nest at Port Lincoln waiting for fish.

Supplementary fish were delivered on Friday. Each chick had some food. Yes!

Kasse and Wilko on the nest on a blustery Saturday morning. Before the winds got up, Wilko tried catching a fish. Incredible. Wonder if both fledglings watched Mum fish successfully from the nest?

Fish fairy delivery came early on Saturday.

Requests continue to go out for any sighting of the female from the South Australian Coobowie Osprey nest.

The SW Florida nest is full of pieces of huge fish. These two little ones, E24 and E25 will never starve as long as M15 is around.

I love ‘A’s narratives: “F23 is not as diligent with E25 as M15 is, but dad is making sure the younger hatch is eating well. The little one is three and a half days younger than E24, which is a really significant gap for it to make up, but the size gap is not significant. Indeed, there are times when their egg teeth offer the easiest way to tell them apart! At other times, the development of thermal down is more evident on E24, while E25 is still covered in baby fluff. But the baby is feisty, starting some of the rumbles itself and standing up for itself during others. It does not seem to me that E25 is being prevented from eating by E24, though F23 does sometimes take the easier path and concentrates on the nearest beak, usually E24’s. Certainly, there are plenty of feedings (approximately 10 today) and both parents are involved in feeding duties (fortunately for E25). Our hero M15 is as always taking care of his younger hatch, and I continue to have confidence in him. “

Let us hope that Beau turns out to be as good at providing family meals as he is currently at incubating. That would be grand. Meanwhile, Gabby has had to protect her eggs against a squirrel.

‘A’ is thinking the same as I am: “At NEFL, Gabby has allowed Beau to incubate since soon after 3pm. At 3am, he is still on the nest, doing overnight incubation duties for the very first time. Gabby is sleeping soundly on Wallenda, very nearby of course but trusting Beau to care for the precious eggs. She is giving him increasing responsibility in that regard, presumably preparing him for the chicks to come. It is lovely to watch the bond growing between this pair, whose romance has been a slow-burning affair that is finally coming to fruition this season. We have such high hopes for this nest. “

Gorgeous female at John Bunker Sands has her two eggs to incubate. Thanks ‘MP’ for the screen capture.

The scene at the Midway Atoll where the Laysan Albatross are looking for their mate.

Positively gorgeous Barn Owls! https://youtu.be/AWj2ilhVkoE?

If you live in the UK, please head out and watch the Starling murmurations!

Weatherwatch: It’s murmuration time againhttps://www.theguardian.com/news/2024/dec/19/weatherwatch-its-murmuration-time-again?CMP=share_btn_url

Have you ever seen a budgie have a shower? Did you know how much they loved it? Compliments of ‘J’.

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, J, MP’, Raptor Persecution UK, SK Hideaways, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Bart M and the PLO, Friends of Osprey Sth Aus, SW Florida Eagle Cam, NEFL-AEF, Friends of Midway Atoll Wildlife Refuge, John Bunker Sands Wetlands Eagle Cam, Robert Fuller, The Guardian

Thursday in Bird World

21 November 2024

Good Morning,

Is it Thanksgiving in the US? I think so. So for all of you celebrating, have a wonderful, wonderful day.

We had snow on Tuesday night that started at midnight. Hugo Yugo and I were up watching the delicate flakes fall, but then the rain came. On Wednesday morning, the sky was icy gray and gloomy. Three girls were watching the squirrels scurry about outside waiting for me to dispense the peanuts.

Over coffee, I re-arranged my list of things to do citing the most important at the top going down to the least. There was another section of things to do for fun when life gets overwhelming.

On Wednesday, we set about getting Don a new ID (he can no longer drive so has no license) and passport pictures, as his passport needs to be renewed. Those were the two most critical items on the list. Then, it was time for some fun, so we went to find some things to decorate the window by my grandmother’s dining room table.

My grandmother was the most special person in my life next to my father. I don’t need her table or her quilts or her needlework to remind me of her. She is always present. Her family was from Switzerland where her grandfather was the Regierungsratspräsident or local government council president of Chur, a canton in the northeast. His job was to preside over meetings – not nearly as glamorous as it might sound! We have travelled to see the family home – a traditional house with an attached barn with the vineyards behind the house going up the mountain. It was incredibly beautiful. I am often asked why my great-grandfather left. It was very simple. Simeon was not the first son; Johannes was. All of the other boys would need to find their way as the oldest would inherit everything. So, at the age of fifteen, Simeon crossed the Atlantic alone, first settling in Virginia and then taking a wagon train to West Texas before finally settling in Oklahoma. He had intended to set himself up as a watchmaker, but all of his tools were stolen on that fateful journey to Texas. Instead, he became a cattle rancher.

The table originally belonged to Simeon and my great-grandmother, Caroline. It is unclear when and where they acquired the quarter-cut oak table with its heavy pedestal. At one point, it had several leaves that could be added or removed depending on the number of people dining. I found it buried in a blackberry patch, where it had been for who knows how long, and it only had two leaves left. For more than half a century, this table has accompanied my family, adding to its rich history. If only tables could talk!

We are creating a little woodland scene on that table. Right now, the focus is on placing little felt birds around the pine cones and candle. No telling what it will look like at the end of the week.

Our fun today was attaching little lights that hung down all across the window along with glittery paper snowflakes. Hopefully, Hugo Yugo will not chew on the little lights of the felt birds.

Missy moved in to watch from the sitting area.

Later, Hugo Yugo plunked herself down in front of the wood stove where she refused to move. (It is 0 C outside, but inside the register is reading 25 C – toasty!)

We now have story time before the fire, and everyone agrees that Olivia Laing’s book, In Search of a Common Paradise. The Garden Against Time is not too bad. I’ll let you know more about those later.

Bazz Hockaday has confirmed that the light installed on the barge has allowed Mum to see and catch the fish in the water just below the nest. She did not fish in past years and this is the reason for the change this year. Wilko, Kasse, and Mum enjoying a very early morning snack.

Just a beautiful osprey family. Chicks self-feeding.

So far…

Precious Mum having a nap. She has brought in all three fish on Thursday at the barge and it is now 1330 nest time. Help us out Dad or fairies…Mum is more than pulling her weight. Gosh, golly. She is gold.

When asked about Yira, Cilla Kinross replied on the chat: “I have seen her once in the field (no photos) and several probable sightings via ledge and tower cam. Some videos available on the Youtube channel FalconCam Project.”

The photograph of this bird has been making the rounds. I am unclear now who took it, but it was taken in Puerto Rico. A dark green band could be an osprey ringed in either France (Corsica) or Portugal. Enquiries have been sent out. It reminds me of Blue KW0 discovered in Barbados two years ago. I will let you know what I discover. spotted in Barbados who was a UK osprey. They do sometimes get ‘carried away’ by the winds.

No further news on SE33.

Two couples wanting the Little Miami Conservancy Bald Eagle nest? https://youtu.be/4MzB3SGpiMc?

At the NE Florida nest of Gabby and Beau, the couple were working on the nest. Later in the day a sub-adult comes visiting.

The day started with rain at Captiva. It cleared. No worries for that egg. Connie and Clive will keep it safe and warm – iguanas included!

I wonder if any ospreys will be interested in the Captiva Osprey platform? There sure are some beautiful sunsets!

Thunder and Akecheta at the West End nest.

Those sweethearts, Jackie and Shadow, were working on that nest today!

They had a little visitor.

Beaky kisses with our lovely couple! https://youtu.be/bevGnWpWOag?

Eagles at Denton Homes working on that new nest!

I love owls, but not when they bother osprey chicks (or any other chicks for that matter). Please eat the mice! There are plenty of them. Barn owls are particularly gorgeous.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/20/country-diary-flushing-out-barn-owls-with-an-explosive-sneeze?CMP=share_btn_url

All About Birds says: “Ghostly pale and normally strictly nocturnal, American Barn Owls are silent predators of the night world. Lanky, with a whitish face, chest, and belly, and buffy upperparts, this owl roosts in hidden, quiet places during the day. By night, they hunt on buoyant wing beats in open fields and meadows. You can find them by listening for their eerie, raspy calls, quite unlike the hoots of other owls.”

Their call sounds like they have a sore throat and need a lozenge. I mostly see GHOs and Snowy Owls. The Snowys are starting to arrive for the winter in Manitoba and can be seen sitting on poles or hay bales in the empty fields.

“Female Snowy Owl Portrait” by Charles Patrick Ewing is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Speaking of owls, I don’t know if it was Owlvira or Hoots that visited the nest on Wednesday, but one of the owls made a brief stop.

Lukin, the WTE chick in a nest on a crane near Sydney, took its first short flight to the top of the crane.

What is it like being a wildlife vet? https://youtu.be/C4g2v08D2gY?

Research indicates that wildflower gardens planted in urban settings is as beneficial to insects as wildflower fields in rural areas.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/20/patches-of-wildflowers-in-cities-can-be-just-as-good-for-insects-as-natural-meadows-study-aoe?CMP=share_btn_url

Checking in on the Black Stork migration. This was the last news. Gosh, I hope Waba kept on going!

Ducks Unlimited Canada is partnering with an Adjunct Professor and others to determine what is happening to the Eider population. One discovery is that their traditional breeding grounds, the Gulf of Maine, is warming and warming. It is one of the fastest warming places on the planet. Where are they going? What is happening?

Where have all the eiders gone_ — Ducks Unlimited CanadaDownload

A beautiful person sent me this. If you can, please feed the birds this winter.

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, images, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: Bazz Hockaday, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Bart M and PLO Obs Board, Ospreys FB, Little Miami Conservancy, NEFL-AEF, Window to Wildlife, IWS/Explore.org, FOBBV, SK Hideaways, Denton Homes, Toronto Wildlife Centre, The Guardian, Live Owl Cam, All About Birds, Openverse, Looduskalender