Category Archives: Big Red and Arthur

The boys are back in town…Sunday in Bird World

31 March 2024

Good Morning Everyone!

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

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

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

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

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

They make me tired.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Louis and Dorcha’s reunion.

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

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

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

No ospreys at Llyn Brenig yet.

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

Poole-Harbour-Ospreys-return-BirdGuidesDownload

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monty managed all those eggs for incubation!

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

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

Pair of eaglets at Decorah North are sooooo cute.

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

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

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

Port Tobacco’s only eaglet is doing just fine.

Second eaglet Sunday morning at Denton Homes.

At Bluff City, Oliver is growing nicely.

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

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

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

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

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

R6 fledged today from the WRDC nest!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Black-necked-Grebes-thriving-on-RSPB-reserves-BirdGuidesDownload

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

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

Thought or the week:

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

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

Jersey gets fed, Redding has a hatch…Wednesday in Bird World

27 March 2024

Good Morning Everyone!

Dry snowflakes flew about on the Canadian Prairies Tuesday morning and the snow got heavier in the early evening. It is really blowing around and my thoughts go out to all of the geese and ducks that arrived so early. I hope they can find food and hold on til the weather warms up in a few days.

Yesterday, I wrote about the need for a moratorium on commercial fishing in Mahaden. I also mentioned that the individuals who breed farm fish in the UK have discovered how to monetise the ponds. The charge to photograph is substantial at some of the sites, and the owners have proudly admitted that they make more money from the photographers than from selling their farm fish. This is something that could easily be adapted in the US, and it would be a win-win for the Osprey and the entrepreneurs who want to make money. With all the interest in wildlife photography, this should be seriously considered. It could be a nature centre, a golf course, or anywhere along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, which are the most at risk presently. If you know someone who is interested, I am certain that Dr Tim Mackrill would be more than happy to connect them with the parties in the UK. Tim is the Director of the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and can easily be found on X or the Internet.

Lots happening! I feel that we are a page of headline news today. This is more of a run through the nests with a stop at a couple – like Duke Farms – to see what happened on Tuesday.

There is a pip at the Redding nest of Liberty and Guardian.

And now there is a hatch! Proud parents Liberty and Guardian. First hatch, second clutch. How grand.

The eaglet at Berry College is a cutie and will be very spoiled if it is the only one.

Only chick at Port Tobacco is doing wonderful.

Two eaglets of Jolene and Boone at Johnson City-ETSU are looking more like old carpets. They are ‘wooly’ with their thermal down and are getting their juvenile feathers.

Big Red lays a fourth egg at the Cornell RTH nest. Both of them look at it wondering where on earth that one came from! Arthur is probably thinking, ‘oh, no, not again!’. Of course, he will be able to handle it. Let us hope this is a good year for chipmunks and squirrels on the Cornell campus.

Jersey lives another day. The second hatch at Duke Farms flapped its little wings in happiness. It is often too aware and too afraid to let Mum feed it, but that little one is self-feeding and got enough for a crop and then a crop drop and partial crop on Tuesday before Leaper started bonking it while it was eating some fish. Rain is on its way to the nest. We can only send positive wishes and hope that this situation will be rectified because Jersey is a survivor. We have seen this at other nests…keep sending good energy.

Mum tries to feed Jersey from the fish but Jersey is very afraid of Leaper and for good reason.

Mum gives an order for food.

Jersey continued to work on the fish and then the miracle happened. Mum fed Jersey while Leaper slept off its food coma. Jersey ate and ate. ‘J’ remarks, “Hope is Powerful”.

Leaper’s food anxiety is not over. But Jersey got braver and Mum knows this one is a survivor! Keep sending all that good energy to this nest – for prey delivery, Jersey eating, and both to fledge.

‘A’ gives us a good late day rundown at Duke:

“Mum decided not to feed much of that big fish to Leaper, once she realised that Jersey was not going to get anything, so she left the fish and instead began feeding Leaper from the old waterbird torso – it was as if she was deliberately leaving the opened fish for Jersey to self-feed and then filled Leaper to the brim with food Jersey would have had no real chance of getting any real bites off. She then tried to put herself between the pair. Leaper, with the most gigantic crop, nevertheless got up and crossed the nest to give Jersey a serious and prolonged beating (around 17:50), which ended when Leaper headed back to the centre of the nest, where mum immediately lay down between the two. Jersey now could make a good effort at the large fish that had been opened at the head end and unzipped a little down one side. He pulled the giant fish down towards him, stood on it, and pulled bites from it. Mum watched him, then covered Leaper in a blanket of dry grass. Mum’s positioning gave little Jersey the confidence to ignore the fear of an attack and concentrate on trying to eat as much of the fish as he could. It was noteworthy that he still had a respectable crop before this self-feeding. At 18:00, mum got up, leaving Leaper sleeping, and moved to where Jersey was self-feeding to begin feeding him herself. She offered him some of the torso, and after some initial hesitation, he accepted the bite. Just as mum is about to offer him another bite, dad flies onto the nest with another (this time, absolutely huge) talonful of dried grasses. He spreads this to cover first nearby Jersey, who goes into submission, and then Leaper in the middle of the nest, still sleeping. TOO funny. Jersey realises it was not a Leaper attack and lifts his head, so mum immediately takes the chance to offer him a bite of food, which he snatches. He turns away to eat it, then turns back to face and get closer to mum. Jersey turns to dad and takes a bite of what he thinks is food but is really nesting material! He spits it out. Both parents are on the nest now, dad having found the leftover large fish he had buried alongside Jersey, while mum is still with the torso. Jersey has his back to both parents, who are each trying to feed him, dad on his left with the fish, mum on his right with the torso. He is too nervous to take either. He looks towards mum but eventually turns towards dad, but cringes and turns away when dad offers him some fish. He looks back towards mum and snatches a bite from her, which again he turns away to eat. He looks back towards dad, but again cringes away when dad offers him a bite of fish. This happens again, and when Jersey cringes away from dad this time, dad reaches out to try and give the bite of fish to mum to feed to Jersey. She does not take it from him. Jersey continues to watch dad but turn back and take bites from mum. He wants some of that fish though, and dad pulls it out from under the grass. Mum is not looking pleased at the idea he might be taking the fish for himself and goes to stop him. She vocalises, quite obviously warning him not to even think about it. He retreats, without the fish, and leaves the nest.

At 18:08 Leaper wakes up, but Jersey still grabs a bite from mum. Leaper takes a bite from mum but then decides she really cannot be bothered and refuses a second. Jersey literally spins in a circle, gaining and then losing the courage to take a bite from mum. Just TOO funny. Would make an absolutely hysterical gif. Jersey has a good crop. (Leaper’s is humungous.) The more bites Jersey takes without being attacked for eating, the more confident he becomes and the faster he eats. Mum periodically tries to coax Leaper, lying duckling style on the other side of mum, to take a bite, and once in a while she does so, but most of the bites are going to Jersey. Around 18:12, Leaper half-stands, as if to attack Jersey, and mum instantly tries to pacify her with the offer of food, but Leaper decides it’s too much effort, lies back down and refuses the food. Mum resumes feeding Jersey, whose crop is enlarging by the minute. He is eating as fast as he can now, grabbing and swallowing bite after bite. Big bites, small bites;.anything he can get he is wolfing down. Some of the pieces are big. Some are awkwardly shaped. He is finding a way to force them all down, although some take him some time and effort to swallow. He is eating what he can, while he can (yet another valuable survival lesson he has learned this week!!) Oh it is just wonderful to watch. I cannot help but cry. He is fighting so hard to live, and mum is helping him do so with every maternal instinct in her body. The way she warned dad off that fish was pure MOTHER. Do not dream of taking food from the mouths of my babies, you deadbeat dad. Go out and bring in a fish!! (Or is that anthropomorphising too much even for me?) But seriously, the vocal warning she gave him, and THE LOOK when he tried to sneak at least half of that gigantic fish off the nest was an absolute classic. He literally slunk away. 

Jersey went to bed with a happy tummy last night. He had achieved such a lot, and I honestly believe that the lessons he has learned will save his life, as long as mum can keep this level of food coming onto the nest. She must be exhausted, having started hunting before dawn yesterday, bringing in three large prey items during the day. I still wonder where dad has been and why he is not bringing in food now he is back, given that he looked totally uninjured. It really is a mystery, and it may be that mum is going to have to do much or all of the work on this nest. If that does happen, things are still very tenuous here, with Leaper still keeping Jersey in a state of terror whereby he is usually too scared to be fed by mum. There was one feeding today where Leaper allowed Jersey to eat from mum for as long as he wanted without any aggression at all, but that was not the way Leaper behaved when that late afternoon fish arrived, gigantic though it was. 

I am astounded at how well Jersey has done at getting enough food off those two fish yesterday to fill his crop twice – once at breakfast time and again late in the afternoon – with the feeding from mum (from the waterbird torso – at least I think that’s what it was – it was very hard to identify, but there was a lot of meat on it and not much else, such as feet or wings or a head or legs or anything really, so it could have been mammalian for all I know). So Jersey has eaten very well today and in the process has learned some incredibly valuable skills. Leaper is not yet a competitor for leftovers, having had no need to self-feed yet, and so leaves the spoils to Jersey. Once she has filled her crop and gone into a food coma, Jersey can then self-feed to his heart’s content. The combination of mum’s obvious awareness that she must hunt and she must look out for the younger chick, plus the reappearance of dad (despite him so far not bringing in food) and Jersey’s self-feeding prowess (which will improve by the day from here on, especially as his weight increases) may well be enough to salvage the outcome on this nest. Mum is certainly doing her best. “

Jersey has not had food Wednesday morning. It does appear that Mum is the only one bringing in food items to the nest but it is possible that she is retrieving them from Dad off nest as Duke Farms did imply at one time. It is going to be wet. Jersey ate well enough yesterday but it would be good to get that crop filled today sometime with the weather.

The pair at Moorings Park are doing very well. They are absolutely adorable.

The two eaglets at Decorah North are equally cute. There is some bonking as their eyes adjust to the world. Every beak is a potential bite of food – or a sibling!

The Sutton Centre in Bartlesville Oklahoma now has two eaglets! Thanks, ‘J’

‘H’ thinks R6 is ready to fledge any time! It sure looks like Ron and Rose will be empty nesters soon enough.

Lots of fish piled up on the nest of Ellie and Harvey at Farmer Derek’s. These two like to team feed!

In the UK, Blue NCO continues to wait for Laddie LM12 at Loch of the Lowes. White YW arrived early, also, and is waiting for Blue 25 at Foulshaw Moss. Telyn arrived on Tuesday at the Dyfi nest and awaits the arrival of Idris while Elen is at Glaslyn waiting for Aran.

Elen at Glaslyn.

Telyn (Blue 3J) at Dyfi watching for Idris.

CJ7 and Blue022 are getting reacquainted at the Poole Harbour nest in the UK. Other nests with both of the pairs are Manton Bay, Esthwaite, Threave Castle, Blackwood Farms, and Bassenwaite.

This is more the style when I think of CJ7 and Blue 022.

There is some good news coming from the Loch of the Lowes – no, sadly, Laddie isn’t home, but I have not expected him to return this year. There is another sky dancing male trying to attract Blue NCO’s attention. I hope he is a good fisher and stays! One of Laddie’s fledglings with his mate LF15 of 2017 has been sighted in the Lake District possibly looking for a mate or a nest! That is fantastic news – a great moment to celebrate for so few survive those first two years —- and getting an actual sighting of one to record is difficult. This bird is six years old. I wonder if it has a nest in the area?

You might recall that a Peregrine Falcon with its jesses landed in the scrape of Monty and Hartley the other day. It is quite worrying when a falconry bird is flying free. There is no telling how far it came from its home. AE brings us good news:

Many thanks to the California Falconry community for their quick work on this unusual incident! Fun facts: the bird was a 9 year captive bred anatum peregrine who was clearly very excited about the arrival of the first egg. It was from a line of birds that retains that dark streaking through the breast in their adult plumage. While Monty was clearly upset with the intrusion, it was so interesting to see Hartley e-chup along with the intruder like they were having a little baby shower! Glad all seems to be moving along smoothly now.

At the Durbe County White-tail Eagle nest in Latvia, Milda laid her second egg of the season.

‘MP’ sends us a good sighting at the JB Sands Wetlands eagle nest. As you recall, Mum had an injury. She did not hunt or feed the chick for some time. Dad took over. Thankfully, the eaglet was a month old. Things have improved. This is today’s short report: “Today it looks as though mom is back hunting. She brought a fish in this morning along with dad. It’s funny, two days go by and nothing, and suddenly, three pieces of prey already this morning, before 9:00AM.”

It is so good to see both parents back at the nest (just like it is at Duke Farms).

Looks like the parents at JB Sands are trying to teach JBS20 how to ‘branch’ on that tower!

At Bluff City, ‘Viper’ is growing and doing well. We have seen this before at nests. Brood reduction it might be called. Let us hope that Viper fledges and all is well.

This past weekend was pip watch for Chase and Cholyn. Will their only egg hatch?

It is always mealtime when you have three growing eaglets. Cholyn and Chase’s daughter, Thunder, is no stranger to three hatching!

I missed this yesterday. Happy Hatch Day Thunder!

Dixie and Mason are so cute. Aren’t you happy they can peek over the rim of the nest now? Gosh I really dislike that view form the top camera.

Swampy and Meadow are curious about food scraps in the nest and their self-feeding is coming along nicely. Abby and Blaze have done a wonderful job preparing them for life off the nest. Do you remember when we thought that Swampy was going to harm Meadow? Now look at them! Best buddies.

The late Pale Male’s (Central Park’s longest-living Red-tail Hawk) mate, Octavia, has been seen with another male and exhibits some nesting behaviour. Pale Male died in the arms of Bobby Horvath last year. He was the subject of books and films, including The Legend of Pale Male, which is free to watch. I highly recommend it as a community came together to save his nest. It shows the power of people who care! You can find it at thelegendofpalemale.net

927-Fifth-Avenue-Urban-HawksDownload

There are many reasons that people study raptors by putting satellite tags on them. This is one study of the Golden Eagles in Scotland.

Fascinating-new-study-reveals-movements-of-young-satellite-tagged-golden-eagles-in-Scotland-–-RaptorDownload

If you live in the Eastern US, Audubon has a chart prepared so that you know which songbirds will be migrating through your area and when.

This-Wave-Theory-of-Spring-Migration-Will-Prepare-You-for-Your-Next-Birding-Outing-AudubonDownload

Thank you so much for being with me today. We can expect a few more bobbleheads and osprey arrivals! Take care all. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, posts, screen captures, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, AE, Geemeff, H, J, MP’, FORE, WingsofWhimsy, Berry College Eagle Cam, Port Tobacco Eagle Cam, Johnson City-ETSU, Cornell RTH Cam, Duke Farms, Moorings Park, Raptor Resource Project/Explore.org, Heidi M, Farmer Derek, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Poole Harbour, Jenny Moore, Gregarious Toonen, LDF, JB Sands Wetlands, Bluff City-ETSU, Jan Gallivan, Superbeaks, Eagle Country, Bruce Yolton, Raptor Resource UK, Sutton Centre, and Audubon Magazine.

UK Ospreys arriving, Flaco’s necropsy released…Tuesday in Bird World

26 March 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Monday was my birthday, and I had a grand time with the most marvellous homemade Opera cake by my talented daughter. I took the day off – for the most part – from the birds. Today, it is full of information on Flaco and the perils that the Ospreys in the US are facing, plus more information on the impact of Avian Flu. Please read this information. I urge you to join Michael Academia and me in asking for a moratorium to be put in place for the fishing of Mahaden. There is only one nest that I am concerned about. Duke Farms continued to have prey delivery and sibling rivalry issues until this morning. Please see the latest narrative by Allison at the bottom.

We will start today, however, with the necroscopy of Flaco, the Eurasian Owl, that had been at the Central Park Zoo for some 13 years before his cage was vandalised and he escaped into the Central Park and Great Manhattan area where he lived for a year before colliding with a building. Please read the entire article. The summary of the findings are: “Bronx Zoo veterinary pathologists determined that in addition to the traumatic injuries, Flaco had two significant underlying conditions. He had a severe pigeon herpesvirus from eating feral pigeons that had become part of his diet, and exposure to four different anticoagulant rodenticides that are commonly used for rat control in New York City. These factors would have been debilitating and ultimately fatal, even without a traumatic injury, and may have predisposed him to flying into or falling from the building.”

Central-Park-Zoo-Releases-Postmortem-Testing-Results-for-Flaco-the-Eurasian-Eagle-Owl-NewsroomDownload

We have also been waiting on the news about Andria who, after having at least two seizures, fell out of her nest on 8 December 2023 and died. Andria’s necroscopy report has also been released today. Andria was the mate of Alex at the E3 nest in the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana.

Andrias-necroscopy-reportDownload

Michael Academia has asked me to spread the word about the horrific impact that a shortage of Manhaden will have on success of Osprey nests along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the US. I am absolutely more than happy to do this as this is something we know can be remedied and benefit our beloved fish eating raptors. The key is to stop the fishing. Not stop the overfishing, but stop all fishing o Manhaden. Chinese commercial fishing trawlers are depleting the stocks. (They are also overfishing in AustralAsia to the detriment of the seabirds including the Royal Albatross).

In 2023, we – ‘H’ and I – identified both weather events and the lack of Manhaden as the primary reasons that osplets starved on the nests in the NE US. I was also extremely critical that supplementary fish were not provided – and I am certainly thinking that it might well be time to set up ponds just for the ospreys. Why not ponds on golf courses? They need water features anyway and we now know that the photography of ospreys is in high demand – especially when they are catching fish – that there is great money to be made. That should be enough to entice some entrepreneur to help them – and line their pockets at the same time.

A-Tiny-Fish-That-Fuels-a-Healthy-Atlantic-Ecosystem-Now-Stirs-Industry-Debates-The-New-York-TimesDownload
Researchers-peg-Mobjack-Bay-osprey-woes-on-food-shortage-Fisheries-bayjournal.com_Download

Other threats continue including Avian Flu which is now impacting the Penguins.

Penguins-at-Risk-as-Avian-Flu-Reaches-the-Antarctic-BirdLife-InternationalDownload

Telyn, the mate of Idris, arrived in the dark Monday early evening at her nest in Wales. Arrival time was 1929.

Geemeff caught the arrival of handsome Blue 022 at the Poole Harbour nest.

Lloyd Brown brings us the latest on Rita, the former mate of Ron at the WRDC nest who injured her wing and is now in Marathon, Florida.

There are now three eggs for the new couple at the Syracuse Red-tail Hawk cam on the campus of SU in New York.

These two at Decorah North should put a smile on anyone’s face.

Hope and Chandler are really spoiling their only eaglet. What a treat. Like all nests send positive images that both parents stay safe and prey is plentiful.

The two osplets at Moorings Park, like the two Decorah eaglets, melt one’s heart. Harry brought an enormous fish to the nest and one of the osplets got dragged a bit. Thankfully this little one was not injured!

‘MP’ reports that the Mum at J B Sands Wetlands who had an issue with her right leg or talon has not been seen for at least two days, but, thankfully, was on the top of the tower Monday evening. Dad finally brought in prey after showing JBS20 some food in the nest. It could have been like the WRDC where Ron and Rose tried to get R6 to self-feed. JBS20 did have a nice meal late on Monday.

The situation at Duke Farms continues to be dire. Please send positive energy. It appears to me that the male is no longer with us and that the female is having some difficulty not only with getting prey, but also with having food to feed herself and Leaper and leave some for Jersey. Jersey has had only a few bites of prey since Friday.

When nests like Bluff City or Duke change, after starting out so successful, it is good to stop and look at the exceptional ones like the West End. ‘A’ gives us her wonderful narrative of this Channel Islands wonder: “Meanwhile, as I turn on to the West End cam, I see a bunch of huge teenagers. Who are they and what did they do with those cute chicks? Oh wee WE is SO adorable. Check out the mid-afternoon feeding (from 15:10) being doled out by mum. The three actually appear to grow in front of your eyes during the 20 minutes or so of the feeding. There is some bonking on this nest and some chatters actually worry about wee WE!!! No need to have concerns about that little one. Bold and clever. Just too cute for words. I  adore wee WE – my favourite of the season so far (though little Willow was obviously also very special to me because I’m such a sucker for the tiny younger chicks). The two older chicks are the main instigators (Nessy may be the second hatch but that neck has always given it an advantage, so hatches one and two are very evenly matched indeed) but sometimes the little one starts a rumble it cannot finish. It has learned to duck, and tends to stay below the level of its bonking siblings. If it does end up the victim, it ducks and tucks quickly, then gets back to the table at the first opportunity. It has no hesitation in reaching over and in front of its siblings to get bites. All three look very strong and healthy. Thunder is fabulous and you know my feelings towards Akecheta. A dad right up there with the very best. An M15 in fact, and you know what a huge statement that is. But watching him with two three-hatch clutches has been very stress-free viewing. To me, that clearly indicates a good food source and excellent parents.”

Thunder knew precisely how to deal with the rivalry in the nest. Whenever it began, no matter when—even during a meal—she sat on the eaglets. That and plenty of prey brought by Akecheta put an end to the nonsense. It was simple and effective. I am surprised other nests do not use this as a behaviour-changing strategy.

Arthur and Big Red are incubating their three eggs – the last laid on the 23rd of March during a snowstorm in the dark. Cute little Arthur has a prey item for his much loved mate waiting for her return.

Monty and Hartley have their second egg. ‘SP’ says it was an easy labour!

PA Country Bald Eagles have three eaglets in their nest. They have had four in the past but three is actually quite unusual. Most eagles only lay two eggs.

Swampy and Meadow in Eagle Country continue to thrive.

Mason and Dixon at Superbeaks nest in Central Florida can now be seen over the edge of the other camera (side view). They have grown so much thanks to Pepe and Muhlady.

Bartlesville Oklahoma’s Sutton Centre has its first Bald Eagle hatch for 2024.

It is hatch watch for Liberty and Guardian at Redding. Three eggs were laid on Feb 15, 18, and 21. One broke, but which one is unknown. Egg #1 would be 40 days today, so it may be the one. Egg #2 would be 37, and Egg #3 would be 34. Fingers crossed for this devoted couple.

At Glaslyn, everyone is delighted as Elen arrived home this morning!

Blue 022 has been waiting for his mate CJ7 and she has arrived home to Poole Harbour safely. All is well.

As all of you know, I believe in intervention where it is warranted and can save lives of our precious birds. As our planet warms and the climate of various regions changes – including where I live where the temperature is expected to rise and the winters I recall but are rapidly changing will change even more – we will be called to help. Port Lincoln did that this past breeding season. As ‘A’ reflects, “The fabulous progress of Giliath and Bradley is testament to their actions – the pre-fledge period made it perfectly clear that, when required, the parents stepped up their fishing, even though there was a plan in case they didn’t. But they did fish, contrary to the dire predictions of the naysayers, and they certainly have taught their offspring to do the same. I do hope someone is writing up the Port Lincoln experiment for a scholarly journal, because we are sick of people telling us we shouldn’t ‘interfere’ to mitigate the hugely negative impacts of our interference in their habitats. What convenient hypocrisy that is. No interference when it comes to helping the birds but interference a plenty when it comes to destroying their food sources and habitats.”

This is why, when I look at where this post began, with a dire look at the lack of fish to feed the ospreys in the Atlantic region of the US, we must look at not only halting the fishing, but helping nests that can be helped in a manner like that undertaken at Port Lincoln. Barneghat Light might have had an entirely different outcome last year when the June storm hit. Cape May Meadows might not have lost all its chicks and the male – or at least the chicks – and how many others did we watch where a week of fish deliveries might have meant all the difference? Some will tell you that we do not need any more osprey researchers or that there are too many ospreys. I hear there are too many sparrows and European Starlings, but their numbers are plummeting – and, without knowing it, the same can happen to our magnificent raptors. Instead of waiting for that day, let us see what we can do to help. Whether it is habitat protection, wetlands creation, the final lid on the use of rodenticides, the refusal to use plastic, cleaning up the river bank, donating clean old sheets – whatever you can, please do it and get your friends and family to join in. Let us look up with pride and know that we helped. We were part of the solution, not the problem.

Duke Farms: “Mum woke up and immediately stood up at 06:19 and left the babies on their own to go hunting for food. Jersey is still alive this morning and appears to be clinging on, just. Leaper woke him up with a bonking as mum was preparing to leave. Thank god it was just a grab of the back of the neck and a bit of twisting. Not much at all, perhaps because she could tell the little one was almost gone. Bonking is not necessary. 

Just before 06:53 Jersey stands up and tries to flap his little wings. He is a little unsteady but that may well be because of the wing-flapping (he’s only three and a half weeks old). But he’s standing and stretching a little, which is a good sign. He’s not yet lying on the nest, dying. Oh mum, please bring back a fish big enough for the whole family. By 06:40 they are cuddled up together, sleeping. 

And at 07:01:37, mum is back!!! She has a good-sized fish and it is whole. She has not eaten any of it herself. Leaper of course immediately begins thrashing Jersey. Mum stops this by beginning to feed Leaper. The IR light goes off. Jersey is huddled over, back to the food, with Leaper leaning over him to feed, meaning that Jersey is unable to move or even stretch out towards mum. This is a good-sized fish. It should feed both chicks and a bit for mum. But will Leaper allow Jersey to eat anything? Will Jersey get the courage to try and eat? 

07:05:45 and Jersey tries to get onto its feet as Leaper moves towards mum. Just before 07:07, as we see Leaper’s crop expanding, DAD lands on the nest with some nest material. Not much use dad. This is precisely the moment we could have done with a second fish but omigod are we glad to see him. 

The feeding continues after Leaper puts in a very prolonged attack on Jersey. Dad leaves. The attack continues. Leaper is shaking the little one by the scruff of the neck like a rag doll. Jersey is hanging limp and appears to be avoiding real injury.; has done another assault on Jersey (07:07+) There is still some fish mum appears to have fed about two-thirds of it to Leaper (she may have had a few bites herself but not many or much). 

Shortly after -7:13 Jersey raises his head. He’s facing away from the food, but Leaper, now with a giant crop, turns to attack him yet again. It’s only a token peck, but Jersey tucks again. Mum searches for dropped pieces to eat herself. The fish is finished. Leaper has a giant crop. Jersey has not eaten a single flake. Mum has had a few bites but must still be very hungry. 

BUT DAD IS BACK. Let’s pray he brings in something else very very early this morning, otherwise, this will all come too late for Jersey. He is still looking fairly alert and is moving. I have not seen a PS this morning so far though. I am hoping he can make it through the day and that enough food will come in today to save his life, but it’ll be touch and go. Boy is dad a welcome sight. Maybe, just maybe, he is back in time….. Talons crossed for little Jersey. 

We watch in hope.” Then….”Shortly before 8am, and having moved away towards the feeding zone and away from Leaper, Jersey suddenly realises that mum has left some fish on the nest. He heads towards it, which alerts Leaper, who gets up, looks around and considers an attack..She does a couple of crop drops. Jersey moves towards the rails, away from Leaper, and looks over to the food. 

Leaper considers her options. She is VERY full. She flaps her wings, stretches, and turns away from Jersey, who cringes slightly but is still on his feet next to the leftovers,  which are SO close. He is keeping an eye on Leaper and is aware of her every move. He is very scared but he wants that food so badly. Leaper flaps and stretches again, moves two steps closer to Jersey but then stops a step away. Jersey prepares to tuck and turn away but Leaper stays where she is, so Jersey considers turning back towards the food. 

Eventually, just after 08:02, Jersey turns to the food. Leaper ignores this. Jersey examines the food wondering what to do next. Leaper turns to look and Jersey huddles over the top of the fish! Leaper turns away again. aJersey has a little nibble on the fish. Leaper is again interested, and flaps, disturbing Jersey. But Leaper is full, and again settles, allowing Jersey to resume his self-feeding efforts. He is getting quite a few small pieces. Leaper is totally uninterested, on the other side of the nest and facing in the other direction. JERSEY IS EATING. On his own. A life skill being learned early through sheer necessity. But this fish is open and an easy starter kit for the new self-feeder, which is such a blessing this morning. 

Oh he’s doing such a good job, holding the fish down and pulling off pieces. Go baby!!!”

Thank you so much for being with us today, and thank you to those who sent me the news. I am always so grateful. I am also so appreciative of Allison, who watched the Duke Farms nest when I needed a break. Take care all. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, letters, videos, articles, reports, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, MA, MP, SP’, WCS News, University of Georgia – Vet Medicine, The New York Times, The Bay Journal, BirdLife International, Dyfi Osprey Cam, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Geemeff, SU-RTH Cam, Raptor Resource Project/Explore.org, Ondabebe, Moorings Park Ospreys, JB Sands Wetlands Tower Cam, Duke Farms, Cornell RTH, SK Hideaways, PA Country Farm, Eagle Country, Superbeaks, and Sutton Centre Bartlesville.

Pip, pip, hatch…Saturday in Bird World

23 March 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

I had to check first thing. More below. But isn’t a day-old osplet adorable? I wish every osplet could hatch into a wonderful nest like Sally and Harry’s.

Happy Saturday everyone – from all of us. Hugo Yugo is well and there are so many pips and hatches going to happen our heads will be spinning by next week!

I haven’t been staying up as late as I used to. Last year I was still watching the cams at 0100 and back up again before 0700. This year, I am being gentle until the ospreys start hatching all over the place so, sometimes I miss things. That is what happened with the hatch at Moorings yesterday. So grateful for ‘H’ – she fills in my gaps. Thursday night was also a difficult evening when I added up how many hours little Willow had not had any food on the Bluff City nest and observed the battering that Oliver was giving it. Food shortages cause many things for both raptors and humans. Sadly, Willow was too weak to eat on Friday and Oliver continued to thrash her about. It reminded me too much of Zoe. Sometimes we all need just to step back and breathe. Life is often extremely difficult and in instances like this, we feel very helpless.

Hugo Yugo is positively fine. The onesie went into the ether somewhere and the incision is fantastic, regardless. Thank you for all your get well wishes and positive energy.

It has been an excruciatingly painful year with the Bald Eagle nests that all of us have watched. We are only beginning to have the little osplets in the nest. Indeed, the majority of the adults have yet to return from migration. We can only hope that the weather and the quantity and quality of fish will be such that the chicks can survive to fledge – and then, we must hope that the larger raptors do not predate them. It is time to show we care, not just talk about it.

I intend to observe those nests that have had predation and send the owners all the information about the proactive folks at Cowlitz PUD. Yes, that is a public utility company in Washington State that cared enough about its ospreys to put up fish grates to protect the babies from the Bald Eagles. Last year, the family lost all three of their beautiful osplets to an eagle. We have seen other nests that could have benefited and outfitted their platforms before their resident ospreys returned this year. If I seem overly critical, well, I am. The ospreys put so much energy into the eggs, incubation, and feeding that to lose the chicks, often right before or right after fledging, is devastating, especially when mitigation might have altered the outcome.

I reported below that there was to be a walk around the Achieva Credit Union nest. This was posted within the last five minutes – so at 2100 Florida time Friday night. So, please send your concerns to the St Petersburg Audubon Society quickly and coherently.

Good news. The Achieva Osprey nest will have individuals looking at it and around the area as well as trimming the tree near the platform.

Thank you Barbara Walker. This is what she found when they looked around the Achieva nest at the base:

Mother Goose at Decorah has laid another egg – the third. Don’t you love seeing those day old goslings take that leap of faith?

The John Bunker Sands surviving eaglet is doing fantastic. Self-feeding and a lot of flapping and jumping are the order of the day. Mum appears to be improving slowly. I have to imagine that standing on the metal, especially on a hot day, does nothing but put stress on that foot/talon at times. Thankfully, and regardless, the eaglet has not suffered. Dad stepped in to help both and did a fantastic job.

There is a hatch – second egg, one eaglet in nest – in progress at the Cardinal Land Conservancy.

Pip watch began at the Redding Bald Eagle nest of Liberty and Guardian on Thursday. Please let them have one successful hatch! The weather is miserable.

We are on hatch watch at Berry College. This is Pa and Missey’s second clutch. The egg is 35 days old today. Wishing both Pa and Missey luck.

Both Ospreys have arrived safe and sound at the Bridge Golf Club Osprey Nest.

At Port Lincoln, Bradley continues to show us that he can catch puffers and fish! I am so glad that he chooses to catch them on the ropes of the old Natal Nest and then barge them so we can see how well he is doing.

Bradley and Dad have been spending time at Dad’s favourite fishing spot, Delamere. You might recall that Dad and Ervie spent much time there also – as do the whole family now.

I am not sure which bird it is but Threave have one on a nest in the UK! Most will return in a week (based on historical records).

There is a new Red-tail Hawk cam at Syracuse University. The residents are Oren and Ruth and they already have two eggs. Check it out!

Here is the link:

Big Red and Arthur continue to take turns. Big Red has been busy finding bark Friday afternoon.

Arthur returns, not Big Red.

Here comes Mama with more bark.

Snow began to fall gently on Big Red, her nest and the two eggs Friday evening.

The little osplet at Moorings Park is hatched and so cute. Sally has been busy having many small fish meals for her first hatch in 2024. At one time the remaining half shell from the hatch got slipped over the ‘orange’ egg (the one closest to you), but, thankfully, it later came off. Is there a pip in one of the other eggs? We wait to see. Hopefully they will all hatch quickly! Harry is such an amazing fisher and Sally an incredible Mum, they can handle three.

‘AE’ sent this adorable screen capture. Don’t newly hatched osplets melt your heart?

We have some tracking news about Ervie.

Food was scarce, and Oliver at Bluff City realised there was currently not enough, even with a rabbit coming into the nest. S/he has continually beaten little Willow, who has not eaten. The parent will not feed a chick they perceive as dying because it is a ‘waste of food’. Willow must be strong enough to get up and open its beak. Sadly, Oliver isn’t allowing this. This is a typical example of siblicide. And it is horrible to watch. Please note that Oliver has an enormous crop when he is beating Willow. You might recall Zoe at Port Lincoln. This will not end well, and I wish the little one speed in its release.

AE reports Willow had only 2 bites of food. Poor thing.

Poor little Willow. It is raining and she is still alive this morning. I feel so sorry for this family with so little food.

It is an entirely different story at Johnson City where there is plenty of fish. Both eaglets are thriving.

Sometimes I wish the other eggs on the nest would not hatch. Ellie and Harvey’s first eaglet on Farmer Derek’s property is a cutie pie.

The first hatch at Decorah North is on its way! We are going to have so many eaglets by next week!

It appears that Archie won the lottery – Annie and him have four eggs. Wonder if she will go for five?!

Archie incubates!!!!! Those four must be awfully uncomfortable for such a little falcon.

Looks like Lisa has returned to the Spirit Bluff scrape and is bonding with Newman. (I suspect she was injured and healed and has now returned to take her place). Exciting news.

As many of you are aware, I have ranted about humans providing fish for the ospreys in times of immediate need. I wrote the following to Geemeff in a big rant, “So I continue to ask myself – what would it hurt us to put up fish ponds near the raptor platforms?  I mean John Williams has figured out the number and type of fish that come on to Llyn Clywedog – and if I recall, it is about 450-500 fish for a great feed for a family of 4-5.  Would it really break the bank to ensure fish were there?  When the rivers and streams in places such as the NE US have nothing?  Humans did, after all, scoop all the surface swimming fish for the ospreys.” Geemeff reminded me of the following:  ” I like your rant, and remind you of Horn Mill trout farm in Rutland. They estimate they were losing about £60k in fish stocks annually to the Ospreys, and netted all their ponds. Then someone had the genius idea to un-net the biggest pond and install a hide nearby. Now they make more in photographer fees than they lose to the Ospreys. Win-win! Why don’t others do similar?” Geemeff is absolutely right. There is at least one or two other hides making a good income from people wanting to photograph ospreys catching fish. Mention this to anyone you know. All those golf clubs that have osprey nests where there is a dwindling amount of fish could cash in!

At Louis’s original nest at Loch Arkaig, the buzzards fighting for the rights to nest there have locked talons and fallen over the side in this thirty second clip by Geemeff.

Happy Birthday Super Star Kakapo Sirocco!

For the love of the Eider Duck – a Norwegian community and how it protects this precious waterfowl. Who are the Eider Keepers?

The-Eider-Keepers-Hakai-MagazineDownload

What has been the reaction to the Scottish Grouse Bill?

Scottish-grouse-bill-–-reactions-latest-news-–-Raptor-Persecution-UKDownload

BirdLife International shows us how cement was turned into wetlands in Cambridgeshire, UK. If it can happen there, it can happen anywhere.

Turning-cement-into-luscious-wetlands-BirdLife-InternationalDownload

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, screen captures, conversations, articles, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, AE, BA, Geemeff, H, MP’, Achieva Osprey Cam, Barbara Walker, Raptor Resource Project/Explore.org, JB Sands Wetlands, Cardinal Land Conservancy, FORE, Berry College Eagle Cam, Bridge Golf Course Ospreys, PLO, thrive Ospreys NTS, Red-tail Hawk Cam SU, Cornell RTH Cam, Moorings Park Ospreys, Bluff City-ETSU, Johnson City-ETSU, SK Hideaways, Ashley Wilson, Geemeff, Kakapo Recover, Hakai Magazine, Raptor Persecution UK, and BirdLife International.

Hatches and Intruders…Friday in Bird World

22 Mark 2024

Hi Everyone,

It was a gorgeous sunny day on the Canadian Prairies. There was blue sky, little wind, and it wasn’t a bad temperature.

There was a wonderful surprise in the garden – Hedwig appeared! I tried to be ever so careful as to not scare her away. Hoping for bunnies under the peony plant again.

The Little Reds continued to store peanuts while the Chickadees flitted from branch to feeder eating seed. Dyson has been at the table feeder several times a day. She is looking food. I cannot think of anything more relaxing. Calico was on my lap sleeping, Missey was on the wicker having a nap, Hugo Yugo was on top of the cat tree, and Baby Hope was on my bed. The world seems just right with itself.

As I write this there is a hatch happening at Moorings Park! How fantastic. Harry has been checking in on Sally and the progress anxious to see the first baby of 2024.

The hatch at Kansas City is with us! It feels like a really good day – full of joyful news. The little one at the Kansas City Bald Eagle nest is strong! Congratulations to Ellie, Harvey, Farmer Derek and his family.

We were concerned about the talon of the Bald Eagle female at the J Bunker Sands nest in Texas. I mentioned how raptors adapt to the events that cause them injury. One of the first that comes to mind is Ma Berry of the Berry College Eagle Nest. Today, ‘ MC reminded me of an informative article by Roy Dennis on White-tail Eagle 646, who lost a leg. It is a good read and one that provides much hope to us who worry when we see injured raptors.

The-explorer-returns-Roy-Dennis-Wildlife-FoundationDownload

Make a note that pip/hatch watch for the second clutch at Berry Eagles is this weekend.

The third egg arrived Thursday morning for Lucy and her new mate at Lake Murray. Time: 08:24.

There have been several attacks on Osprey females. Edie at the Captiva Nest – she is incubating four eggs – was attacked by another Osprey. (more images later in the blog)

Blue NCO was attacked by a Tawny Owl. She returned to the nest seemingly unharmed. Sorry Laddie. I don’t think you are going to come home…can someone please send Blue NCO a nice great fishing young male?

Here she is later working on her nest and looking beyond the horizon for her mate.

For the fans of Glacier Gardens Bald Eagles, Liberty and Freedom, they are home!

At Rutland, Maya and Blue 33 both have the old snake eye on Friday. Is Maya getting a little eggy?

No one at Glaslyn yet.

Llyn Brenig. They will make quick work out of those sticks. No one home as yet.

I would like to have some of the rain that is falling at Llyn Brenig and at Llyn Clywedog. No sign of Dylan or Seren 5F yet.

No one has checked in at Alyth.

Windy up at Loch Arkaig with precipitation during the night. Waiting for Dorcha and Louis.

The Osprey nests in the UK have the most beautiful natural settings. Poole Harbour is no exception. Waiting for CJ7 and Blue 022 to return.

One of the big differences—besides the sheer number of Ospreys—is how many in the UK get to enjoy the landscape and the rivers away from urban settings. So many of the ospreys on the streaming cams in the US live in towns, villages, and cities with pavement under them instead of rolling hills and trees.

Pip watch starts for Chase and Cholyn on the 29th at Two Harbours.

The Thunder babies are doing very well, indeed. Akecheta is an incredible Dad that takes part in the feedings more often than not. Some varied prey and well, Mama Thunder is one of the best.

The little one crawls out of the nest bowl hoping to get some of that nice fish before its siblings!

‘A’ adores this nest like I do. “

At West End, I really didn’t need the long shot of the nest on the face of a cliff that we were given at 16:21 yesterday – I am now absolutely terrified of what might happen when those three become mobile because it’s a long, long fall down that sheer cliff face. Very scary indeed. Now, when they go near the edge, I’ll know exactly what they’re looking down at!!! I do hope it scares them as much as it did me. 

Hopefully, Akecheta and Thunder will keep that nest as full of fish and those chicks as stuffed to the gills as they have been thus far. These three are just gorgeous fluffy little bundles. The older two have their moments, but wee WE tends to steer clear of them and manages not to antagonise its older siblings. Somehow, it always seems to end up in the middle of the line at feedings, waiting back until the others have eaten a bit and then pushing forward and stretching for some bites. All three are getting fed. 

At about 16:20, with the older pair in food comas, Akecheta takes the opportunity to give the youngest a private feeding. The little one is bold, and even when one of the others wakes up and dad tries feeding it too, baby stands up and grabs for the bites (and gets them). By the time its siblings fully wake up around 16:28, wee WE has a good crop (though continues to eat, maintaining front position and reaching for bites without any fear whatsoever of its older siblings behind. It never looks either in the eye, and this largely seems to keep the wee one out of any trouble. 

These two parents are able to fledge three chicks because they are dedicated in the extreme. They don’t get bored with feeding. They feed until there are no beaks left open (or the fish is gone). They feed frequently to ensure that if one misses out a bit at a feeding, it makes up for it at the next. And Akecheta definitely keeps an eye out for wee WE. I know we keep saying it, but in general, a lot of these males definitely DO take special care to look after the youngest eaglet more than the mums do, though of course there are some exceptions). “

E23 was high in the nest tree overlooking the Pritchett Property in a beautiful heraldic pose. Mum and Dad continue to provide lots of different prey and still enjoy feeding their only eaglet of 2024. What a precious one s/he is to them.

Sadly, the food deliveries at Bluff City have been few and far between. On Thursday late there had been nothing but a small fish and that arrived on Wednesday morning. Oliver continually attacks Willow. Hunger is a terrible thing. I am concerned that Willow will not survive.

The situation at Johnson City looks alright.

Things appear to be fine and the chicks are doing well and practising flapping their wings at Duke Farms.

Pepe and Mahludy’s eaglets, Dixie and Mason, are over a month old. Both are doing exceptionally well.

Swampy and Meadow survived their early ‘play fights’. They are now good buddies, and we are all going to miss them when they fledge. What a joy it has been to watch the nest of Blaze and Abby.

Cal may look out over Captiva Island, but he still enjoys being fed by one of his parents, Connie or Clive. I can only imagine that as time nears, when Cal will go his own way for a while, they also want to spend much time with him.

At the Captiva Osprey nest, Edie and Jack have had to protect their nest repeatedly by other Ospreys attacking. They are incubating four precious eggs.

Caught an Osprey for a second on the South Cape May Meadows nest. Last year Mum lost her mate and all three osplets due to the storm and starvation. It was a sad event to watch. We hope that the situation is better for 2024.

PA Farm Country Eagles have their second hatch! Seems like they just had the first. This is good news.

Bonnie and Clyde of Cardinal Land Conservancy have their first hatch! Gosh, there will be a lot of little eaglets in the nests by the end of the month. They are hatching fast and furious now. Let us hope for nest success.

A lovely image by Lloyd Brown of Rita in her new home. Grateful she will have a life of fish and clean baths, but wish she was flying free.

Darling Shadow continues to bring Jackie her breakfast in bed at Big Bear.

Big Red and Arthur continued to do a lot of incubation shift changes on Thursday.

There will now be legal safeguards for the birds of prey in Scotland – an attempt to protect them from the killing and shooting of the grouse moors. But will it be enough? I tend to think that the archaic practice of beaten grouse hunting should be obliterated altogether.

Scottish-grouse-moors-to-be-licensed-in-attempt-to-protect-birds-of-prey-Birds-The-GuardianDownload

The weather will play a significant factor in the lives of our beloved feathered friends this year. It is dry in Winnipeg. We had little snow compared to some years and we desperately need rain. There could be many more wildfires across my country this summer and record-breaking temperatures that will test even the best raptor families.

Weatherwatch-record-winter-warmth-may-not-be-good-news-for-birds-Climate-crisis-The-GuardianDownload

Our raptors would be in the funeral line, too. Not enough trees, not enough platforms, not enough fish in some regions. They need our help. The Earth needs our help.

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘H, J, MC’, Moorings Park Ospreys, Farmer Derek Bald Eagles (Kansas City Bald Eagles), Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, SPO, Lake Murray Ospreys, Heidi McGrue, Geemeff, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Glacier Gardens, LRWT, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Llyn Brenig, Llyn Clywedog, Alyth SS, Woodland Trust, Poole Harbour, IWS/Explore.org, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Bluff City-ETSU, Johnson City-ETSU, Duke Farms, Superbeaks, Eagle Country, Window to Wildlife, SCMM, PA Farm Country Eagles, HDonTap, Lloyd Brown, SK Hideaways, Cornell RTH Cam, and The Guardian.

Tuesday in Bird World

19 March 2024

Hello Everyone,

My report today is very short. I was out and about on Monday and came home not feeling well. The late morning wind was blowing at a rather brisk rate, and the dust, sand, and salt blasted through the air on the street where I was. It has caused me to have some difficulty with my breathing. It wasn’t like the sand storms in Harbin, PRC, in the spring, but for those of us with even minor breathing problems, these days – until the rain comes – can be debilitating. But today is officially the first day of spring and that is a wonderful thing. The Canada Geese that arrived earlier have sure had a mix of weather from warm to a blizzard, to a thaw and then a freeze. Hopefully today will be nice for them so they can find something to eat other than dead grass and dirt. It is -5 C and will dip to -13 C tonight. Doesn’t sound like spring!

‘H’ did a great cartoon of Hugo Yugo. She still fits in a small shoe box with room left over. She will have her surgery on Wednesday and I will keep you posted. I am more than hopeful that everything will go well.

She is certainly feeling feisty today! Hope might be quite happy if Hugo Yugo is out of commission for a couple of days.

Calico is like Missey. She tries to stay out of the way and watches. I often wonder what she thinks.

Just something that got overlooked yesterday. Dahlgren’s Harriet is missing, she has not been seen since 3/13, and Jack is with a new female.

I have decided to start off with the traumatic news that happened or began to happen on Monday and then move to the joyous.

It was a very sad day for those cheering for Port Tobacco. The little eaglet died during a low-humidity hatch. We have seen a few of those during the last twelve months. A few survive. This poor little one didn’t. Condolences to all.

Here is a good article on why Bald Eagle eggs do not hatch by Elfruler.

WHEN-BALD-EAGLE-EGGS-DONT-HATCH-Bald-EaglesDownload

This article is about eggs in incubators but it does discuss the issue of humidity.

Pipped-eggs-that-do-not-hatch-Mississippi-State-University-Extension-ServiceDownload

One of the eggs has broken at Pittsburgh-Hayes. This is Mum and her new mate. This is the report from Pix Cams this morning:

Jackie and Shadow continue to incubate their three eggs. Their hope is strong. There are articles all over the Internet about this dedicated couple.

Hope-Fades-As-Celebrity-Bald-Eagle-Eggs-Unlikely-To-HatchDownload

Yesterday I mentioned that there continues to be a move to build housing near Jackie and Shadow’s nest. This could have a serious impact on our beloved eagles.

Human-Activity-and-Disturbances-Near-Active-Bald-Eagle-Nests-Audubon-Center-for-Birds-of-PreyDownload

As you know, Jak and Audacity’s only egg of the season broke and appeared to not be viable. I was so grateful that someone posted us a happy time at their nest.

As of Monday afternoon we are waiting to see about any pips at PA Country Farms. It appears that the first egg might not be viable.

Ospreys continue to visit the Achieva Credit Union nest after eggs and chick go missing.

It is not clear what is happening at the Dulles-Greenway Bald Eagle nest. The last news – the camera was not operating after 1200 on Monday – was that two eagles were locked in a fight on the nest. This was posted by the Dulles-Greenway FB.

Oh, this has been such a sad year in the world of the Bald Eagles. Let us hope that they all recover next year.

In the good news, Archie got to see his second egg! Archie was delighted to help Annie incubate the eggs. What a great mate! Hoping he is around for many years to come.

Mother Goose now has six eggs in the Decorah Goose nest.

Waiting for pip/hatch at Two Harbours in about ten days. The egg was laid on 22 February making it 26 days old today. Cholyn is 25 years old this year. She is the mother of Thunder at the West End nest if you did not know.

Fingers Crossed.

There is a lot of fish piled up in the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta. All eaglets have eaten well.

Fraser Point looks good. Hopeful for Andor and Cruz to have a full clutch hatch.

The two eaglets on the Duke Farms nest appear to be doing fine. There is a lot of fish. There is, however, a large precarious stick that has come onto the nest, and Mum was feeding, leaning over it and at least for a while, one eaglet slept with its head under it. Hopefully, it will not cause any injury.

Big Red and Arthur taking turns incubating that first egg that was laid on St Patrick’s Day at Cornell. We will be expecting a second tomorrow.

The three osplets at Fisherman’s Creek seem to be doing alright. The camera is not clear all the time but they are growing and the little one seems to be holding its own.

At Loch Arkaig, that Buzzard is intent on taking over the nest before the ospreys arrive. There has not been an osprey hatch on the nest associated with Cam 1 since Louis and Aila fledged JJ 5, JJ6, and JJ7. We were hopeful last year and continue to wish that an osprey pair will return. But what to make of this situation?

Blue NCO continues to catch some whoppers. Poor thing. She keeps calling for her mate, Laddie LM12. I do hope he makes it back this year.

Blue 33 and Maya are determined to get eggs on their nest first!

For those checking on the Loch Garten Osprey cam, it should be on shortly. The Llyn Clywedog cameras are now live as we await the arrival of Dylan and Seren!

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, cartoons, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘H, J, L’, Elfruler, Mississippi State University Extension, Pix Cams, Forbes, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, Lolita Ozolina, Achieva Credit Union, Dulles-Greenway Eagle Cam, SK Hideaways, Raptor Resource Project/Explore.org, IWS/Explore.org, Duke Farms, Cornell RTH Cam, Fisherman’s Creek Ospreys, Geemeff, The Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), LRWT, and Llyn Clywedog.

Annie lays 2nd egg…Monday in Bird World

18 March 2024

Hello Everyone,

Sunday was quiet. After Saturday that was a good thing. As far as I can tell all of the eagle nests are doing well and there have been no new arrivals at Osprey nests at the time I am writing this, Sunday evening.

It was a good day to spend time with the girls. Calico did not enjoy the dip in temperatures and spent a lot of time in front of the small portable heater in the conservatory. She likes her creature comforts and that little heater is one of them. I figure she deserves it having had to live outside in the winter last year.

Hugo Yugo spent her time in the basket spinning before settling down to sleep behind Calico. She is either on or off – there is no in-between. I wonder what Dr Green will think about her on Wednesday. She is very tiny but getting ‘long’ lime a limousine.

Baby Hope took advantage of everyone’s absence to play the game of finding treats in little green tubes. She is very good at it!

Missey decided to stay out of everyone’s way most of the day!

Oh, I am so glad to have these four! And it was so nice to just stop everything and pay some really good attention to them before osprey season kicks in.

At Cal Falcons, Annie laid her second egg this morning.

Can you please help? Write, research, contact others to help. Once again the developers want to build near Jackie and Shadow’s nest in Big Bear. Please read the following and – because we all love Jackie and Shadow so much and owe them so much (the DDT problems), then we need to fight to protect their pristine home. It is the least that we can do!

The following appeal is from Sandy Steer:
“…Update on Moon Camp…this nearby parcel, proposed for development is so close to Jackie and Shadow, it can be seen from the nest camera. Any development in that area would greatly impact their nesting site and could make them leave the area. FOBBV won an environmental lawsuit in 2022 against the County’s approval of this project. That put the project on hold, but now the County has released a new partial environmental impact report to move toward another approval. We will, of course, be submitting public comments (due 3/18) on this new, but still inadequate study. And when it comes before the County for another approval, we will be asking all of you for letters or calls to assist in stopping it. In the meantime, we are also pursuing getting this 62-acre parcel purchased for conservation, by the Forest Service, or by anyone else willing to conserve it as open space. If you happen to know any superheroes who might like to step up and buy this parcel to save Jackie and Shadow’s habitat plus more than 17 acres of endangered plants on the property, please contact us at fobbvinfo@gmail.com. We’d love to talk with you!”

Everyone continues speculating on what made Diane and Jack’s two eggs and chick disappear. One FB group noted that this happened in 2022 also and there was a second clutch. It was assumed they went down the hole made by the squirrel in the nest. Many would like to see work done on the nest so the couple does not lose more eggs and chicks in the future. Some note how restless Diane was that evening, and it is hoped that security camera footage shed some light on what happened. We know that the nest shook quite a bit at one point. I had one individual contact me, thinking it was possible that a person or persons shook that nest and caused the damage. If that were to be the case – and I am not saying it is – hopefully, their faces will be seen on the security cameras. Regardless of the cause – and I will suggest we will never fully know unless someone excavates that nest – there needs to be substantial work done on the nest itself to fix the hole that everyone knows about and a baffle for any future predators trying to climb up. An IR light would be great.

The big news in Bird World on Sunday was, for me anyway, the first egg of the season for Big Red and Arthur.

Arthur seemed quite delighted as Big Red flew off and let him take over incubation duties.

SK Hideaways has it on video.

Angel and Tom have an impressive nest. Wonder if we will have their first egg this week? Many think that will be the case!

E23 recovered from the GHO hit, but it was quite scary. I hope that this will be the end of it, but probably not. It is, as so many of you have pointed out, ‘that time of year’ – the annual occurrence when we hold our breath and wish that GHOs and eagles got along.

We are still 7-8 days away from pip watch at Berry College for Pa and Missey’s second clutch.

Swampy and Meadow. Gorgeous. Aren’t they wonderful? They look like they are wearing Morning Suits.

Dixie and Mason have their thermal down. Before we know it, they will look like Swampy and Meadow.

No worries about food at the Johnson City nest. Boone certainly had a great day fishing on Sunday! The kids have eaten so much and their crops are so big – old coma.

The snow is melting at Big Bear. Jackie and Shadow have not give up on the eggs yet.

The kids at Bluff City had squirrel for Sunday’s meals. They both seem to be hanging in there.

The Dukies are fine. Mum just keeps feeding them and feeding them. That is one good way to stop the worry about food.

The camera is back up and running at Redding for Liberty and Guardian.

A beautiful day at Captiva’s Osprey platform. Edie and Jack are incubating three eggs.

At the Captiva Eagle nest, Connie and Clive continue to feed Cal well after his fledge. A nice Sheepskin came in during the afternoon.

They are flying into Winnipeg and they are laying eggs at Decorah – Canada Geese. There are five eggs so far. Dad is up there helping keep guard as one of the Decorah eagles has been landing in the branches of the tree near the top.

The two hatches at Venice Golf and Country Club appear to be doing quite well. Waiting to see if third egg will hatch.

We are waiting for Dylan and Seren 5F to arrive at Llyn Clywedog Reservoir in Wales.

Blue 33 and Maya continue to work on their nest at Rutland. As far as I am aware, at the time of this writing, they are the only couple to have reunited at the UK streaming cam nests.

Next news from ‘H’:

I first saw the female from previous seasons on 3/7, but now have not seen her since 3/13.  I first saw the male from previous seasons on 3/9, and I have seen him at the nest every day except 3/14.  A new female first showed up at the nest on 3/17.  She and Dad were in the nest together quite a bit on 3/17, but each time Dad seemed to be giving her the cold shoulder.

Carthage Mum is now back on the nest after having been MIA for a few days.

I am a great fan of Isabella Tree who is the author of several books on rewinding including Rewinding. Knepp Farm took a leap of faith and decided to change from traditional agricultural practices and begin rewinding and reintroducing species to their property in Sussex. White Storks were one of the goals – to being them back. You can read about the history of the White Stork in the region and how Knepp worked to establish the breeding pairs on their property.

Visiting their property is on my Bucket List.

White-Stork-KneppDownload

Knepp White Stork camera can be found here:

In Belgium, at the nature park there are six occupied stork nests. Can you find them?

Storks have arrived at some of the Germany nests including Lindheim.

Waiting for Bette and Bukacek to arrive in Mlady Buky.

Milda. One year she laid her first egg on my birthday…I am hoping she is early this year. Mr H is adorable. Hoping he is a good father. Their nest in Durbe County is looking fantastic.

For those that have life lists, you will be very impressed by this gentleman who has recorded 10,000 birds.

With-an-Orange-Tufted-Spiderhunter-Birder-Breaks-Record-for-Sightings-The-New-York-TimesDownload

That is just a hop, skip, and jump checking on some of the nests. We are now on pip watch for Port Tobacco Bald Eagles. Eggs are 38 and 35 days old as of Sunday the 17th so it looks like egg 1 might not be viable. Meanwhile egg two is hatching Monday morning fast!

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, discussions, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, L, SP’, Cal Falcons, FOBBV, Achieva Credit Union, Cornell RTH Cam, SK Hideaways, Window to Wildlife, Lady Hawk, Berry College Eagle Cam, Eagle Country, Superbeaks, Johnson City-ETSU, FOBBV, Bluff City-ETSU, Duke Farms, FORE, Raptor Research Project/Explore, VGCC, Llyn Clywedog Osprey Cam, LRWT, Dahlgren Ospreys, Carthage Ospreys, Knepp, ZWIN, Lindheim Stork Nest, Mlady Buky, Biruta Lupa, The New York Times, and Port Tobacco Eagle Cam.

Big Red and Arthur have their first egg!

17 March 2024

Hello Again!

I used to send out a notice every time Big Red sneezed. Well, thanks to the ‘hawk-eyed’ ‘L’, we can now report that on St Patrick’s Day, twenty-one year old Red-tail Hawk, Big Red, and her much younger mate, Arthur, have their first egg of the 2024 season. Congratulations!

Time: 14:50

She’s gorgeous.

Congratulations Big Red and Arthur and to everyone that loves the Cornell RTH’s.

Thanks to ‘L’ and the Cornell RTH streaming cam.

E23 fledges…Sunday in Bird World

17 March 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

It was a cloudy, damp -5C day in Winnipeg on Saturday. The sun tried really hard to break open those dark clouds around 1700. The Starlings were pecking at the suet while the squirrels tried to remove all of the peanuts before the Blue Jays showed up for breakfast. Walking was a bit treacherous. The warm weather yesterday melted the snow and the cold overnight temperatures froze the water. It was several loops around the sculpture garden as most of the trails were solid ice.

Both ‘Boyfriends’ came to the feeder today. The spring will see something better than a drawer and a divider but this worked in a pinch to keep the snow of the kibble and their feet a little drier. A new bright red and white carpet is on its way and the deck should be quite cheerful after a good scrub to get rid of the drab winter we have had.

Hugo Yugo has been relaxing on the cat tree. She wishes everyone a very happy and peaceful Sunday. Saturday evening Calico and Baby Hope disappeared to have a good sleep on my bed. Missey and Hugo Yugo took advantage of their absence to have the most marvellous play fight time. It reminded me of Lewis and Missey running and play fighting and diving through the tunnels. Hugo Yugo was worn out at the end of it.

The news in Bird World has been mixed. It feels like a year when we have to celebrate those who make it out of the shell into the world and fledge. The list of failures is long. I remind myself that the raptors would pull up their talons and get on with their lives after dismay, grieving, and, I imagine, reflection. I want to be more like them.

‘The Girls’ and I have several books stacked up to read. We are going to start Wonderland. A Year of Britain’s Wildlife Day by Day by Brett Westwood and Stephen Moss tomorrow. I will keep you informed. We keep peeking at Tim Mackrill’s The Osprey. It looks fantastic. There is some really good scientific information, but there is also some good solid discussion of ospreys from the years of Tim’s experience working with ospreys. For a starter, though, you cannot beat Tim’s book on Ospreys for the RSPB. It is everything you need to know when you start learning about this magnificent species. It appears that Tim has combined his thesis on migration with his years of field work and added to that RSPB volume.

Moving along. I am finding it difficult to check on all my osprey nests and keep up with what is actually happening so please forgive me if I miss something important – and if I did, tell me. My head feels like it is one of those wobbly dogs that people used to sit on the dash of their cars.

E23 flew. S/he has been wanting to. It really was a fludge but E23 recovered so quickly and flew off returning to the nest that we can forgive that moniker. ‘J’ gives the run down: “We have a fledge! 10:51:27 E23 accidentally fledged, went to West pasture, perched in a pine out front, 11:20:19 landed on W pasture front snag, 11:28:48 flew from front W pasture snag to attic. Landed on attic at 11:29. Congratulations E23!”

S/he loses their footing from the branch near the top right and then flies, goes down low, and over to pasture landing on a wire.

Tired.

In the night an owl knocked E23 off the nest tree!

Annie has a long conversation with Archie about his new duties since their first egg arrived!

Looks like Archie listened!

Jack and Diane looking over their nest wondering where their two eggs and their chick are. Everyone else is wondering, too.

Reviews of the footage (the camera has no IR which would have been very helpful) on very slow motion and with only the light from the street, show Diane disturbed a few times after 1000. Those include 23:39:47, 23:46:48, and 00:55:33 -00:56:50. No raccoon could be seen climbing over the edge. I don’t think there are GHOs in the area – nonetheless, no owl could be seen. There are three possibilities: 1. The eggs and chick fell down that hole in the centre of the nest; 2. A predator such as a rat, a squirrel, or a snake made their way to the nest through the drain holes in the bottom; and 3. The squirrel that originally made the hole dug its way through not intending to eat the eggs (as in scenario 2) and the chick and eggs dropped. The pole is rough and could be climbed easily enough. A mouse appeared on the nest of Jak and Audacity today. Any of the large rats in the area could have gotten up that pole. Could they go horizontal and up the drain holes? Well, that is the 64 million dollar question. We might never know.

I suggest that Achieva Credit Union, working with the local wildlife group, put up a predator baffle and cover the drain holes with a stainless or other metal that rats, etc., cannot chew plates with smaller holes—one that would allow water to pass through but not rats or squirrels to enter the nest area. You probably have other better ideas. Perhaps these could be passed on for next year. There is plenty of time to rectify the situation, unfortunately.

Images courtesy of ‘H’.

Daisy arrived home to the Barnegat Light nest in NJ Saturday afternoon. Here is this fantastic Mum landing. You will remember that she went fishing during the storm that took two of her osplets while Duke was missing. She was able to keep herself and the little osprey alive.

Duke arrived on the 28th of March last year.

Edie and Jack have their third egg at the Captiva Osprey platform. Sweet.

The second hatch at the Venice Golf and Country Club came on Saturday morning. As many know, this area has several lakes and ponds (26 of them), and there should be a lot of fish for the family. This has historically been a successful nest.

Lucy and Kenny, the new male mate, have their first egg of the season at Lake Murray on Saturday morning. Time: 1108.

One egg is being incubated at Sarasota Bay. Gosh, it’s noisy there—it sounds like an early St Patrick’s Day party! Ospreys are not bothered.

Ospreys on and off the nest at Patchogue, Long Island. It will be interesting to see what they do to renovate this nest or will they leave some of PSEG’s masterpiece?

Both at Carova Beach on Saturday.

Beautiful day at Old Town Home Ospreys in Maryland.

An Osprey has landed on the Foulshaw Moss nest in Cumbria. Unknown if it is White YW or Blue 35 as the cameras are not running.

Blue NCO still awaits the arrival of Laddie LM12 and today had to protect her fish from a Crow.

Maya and Blue 33 were quite vigilant as they watched for intruders at their Manton Bay nest at Rutland on Saturday.

There are three cute little osplets on the Frenchman’s Creek Osprey nest in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Here is the link to their livestream. Thanks, Ildiko Pokk for posting this nest on FB!

Raining at Collins Marsh Osprey nest. No sight of the adults yet. Last year there was a new couple and they laid three eggs and had two fledge.

No one home – yet – at Salem Electric Ospreys.

Waiting for Whitney and Noble at the Timothy Dygert Osprey Platform on Crooked Lake.

Ospreys at Moraine State Park in Pennsylvania. Last year their three chicks were predated by a GHO. The owl had a vicious attack on the nest and oddly, ate only one of the three osplets. It was quite a traumatic event. I wonder why these platforms don’t learn from Cowlitz and put up guards. It was a simple solution with a metal grid that already exists in many places or that could be welded together easily and put in place.

At the University of Florida-Gainesville, Stella and Talon are incubating three eggs. They were laid on Feb 21, 23, and 27. This means we are looking for a pip watch in 12 days. Just think… so many nests will have a pip watch in twelve days. We are going to be busy!

The cam operator gave us some great close-ups of Big Red at her nest on the Cornell campus in Ithaca, New York. She looks good.

‘A’ has been watching Angel and Tom. “

Angel and Tom were on the nest early (shortly after 7am) and spent over two hours bringing sticks to the nest. At 09:52, Angel flies in clutching a huge branch in her right talons. It’s gigantic and she spends quite some time wrestling with it. The pair continued to come and go until nearly noon – they were both on the nest again at about 11:42 – and there are lots of RTH vocals off camera during the process. 

These two both look so strong and healthy this season. I cannot get over how much Tom has grown. He looks solid and his plumage is gorgeous and sleek. Angel is just magnificent. She looks wonderful, and she and Tom seem very bonded and very confident and relaxed around each other. Let’s hope that continues once we get a hatch. I think Angel will trust Tom this year. He has matured a great deal it seems, but time will tell. They apparently spent the afternoon elsewhere, probably together, and we saw Angel arrive back on the nest around 8.05pm. It was dark and the IR lights had been on for a while when she flew in, so it was a surprise. Both Tom and Angel are doing a lot of cupping, with Angel also lying in the nest bowl for prolonged periods as I mentioned recently. It is SO exciting. I am convinced we will have an egg here any day now – if we don’t have one by the end of the week, I will be very surprised. “

Akecheta is keeping that nest full of fish at the West End and both him and Thunder are providing lots of feedings. All three eaglets look good despite lots of fish juice all over their little heads.

Akecheta makes sure that everyone is fed. Like so many of you, I wonder if he remembers being the third hatch and having two older siblings?

You can see the change in the Dukies. That white down over the thermal that is now coming in.

Chase and Cholyn’s only egg is 24 days old today. Twelve days to go!

Everyone mourned when Jak and Audacity’s only egg broke. There appeared to be nothing inside.

Pip watch beings for Cruz and Andor at Two Harbours on 29 March, 12 days from now. So you can check on both nests that still have eggs on the same day!

Jackie and Shadow are protecting their eggs in another blizzard. What are all the words you could say to define these two? If we could get the energy and materialise an eaglet this might be the nest to receive it.

The John Bunker Sands eaglet is 7 weeks and 2 days old today (forgive my math if I am wrong). What a beauty. Mum has been in the nest. Her limp appears to be improving. So happy. Look like all those juvenile feathers are in!

Swampy and Meadow are terrific. I love the close-ups of Swampy. Finally buddies.

Willow is really having to really stretch that neck to get some prey. Oliver seems to always be in front at Bluff City.

Johnson City kids are now being left alone at night. They are losing that baby down fast and their thermal is coming in. I always feel like this happened overnight. Nice to see them doing so well.

Cam was frozen at Duke Farms. Jersey was getting some nice bites the last time I checked.

This is more than disturbing. Where are the CCTV cameras we so often hear about? Well, they were there, and the shop provided the footage to the police. So, let’s see what happens. ?

Dozens-of-dead-wild-animals-dumped-outside-Hampshire-shop-Hampshire-The-GuardianDownload

Thank you so much for being with me today. All of the bald eagle nests are doing well – eaglets are growing and parents are very attentive. Next fledge should be R6. Take care all. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, videos, and the streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, B. H. J’, SK Hideaways, Lady Hawk, Achieva Credit Union, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, Window to Wildlife, VGCCO, Lake Murray Ospreys, The Bay Sarasota, PSEG, Carova Beach, Old Town Home Maryland Western Shore, Livia Armstrong, LRWT, Frenchmen’s Creek, Collins Marsh, Salem Electric, Crooked Lake Ospreys, Moraine State Park, UFlorida-Gainsville, Cornell RTH, IWS/Explore, Duke Farms, FOBBV, JB Sands Wetlands, Eagle Country, Bluff City-ETSU, and Johnson City-ETSU, and The Guardian.

It’s raining Ospreys…Achieva chick demise…Saturday in Bird World

16 March 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Before I begin, the little chick at Achieva is no longer with us. It remains unclear as to what happened. No eggs, no chick. Some predator during the night. So sad. jack was so excited about this baby.

Friday was quite the day. Every time I turned around, something new happened with the Ospreys. It was wonderful but, at times, a little overwhelming. Ospreys will populate the news as they arrive and lay eggs, and things will go quiet for a month before everyone begins to hatch. Thank goodness for incubation.

So, we are fully into migration for all the species. As so many have noted, the ‘spring up’ in terms of Daylight Savings Time seems to have caused spring – which was not expected in some places for a few weeks now – to jumpstart. Things to remember about migration: Get your city to turn its lights off. Turn your lights off. Gives the birds a chance. BirdCast says there are 5.5 million birds on the move Friday night. Put up the Feather Friendly stickers on your window. Fill the feeders. Get the water bowls and baths clean. Stock up on seed. Welcome them home! or boost their energy as they fly through. Here are 10 ways in which you can help:

10-Ways-to-Help-Migratory-BirdsDownload
How-turning-off-lights-can-save-billions-of-migrating-birdsDownload
Heres-how-you-can-go-Lights-Out-BirdCastDownload

If you don’t know BirdCast, check it out. You can input your location if you live in the US and see what species are arriving and in what numbers. It is a lot of fun and you will learn something.

‘The Girls’ and ‘The Boyfriend’ are all fine, as are the garden animals. Everyone has been seen, which is such a relief this time of year. The squirrels think another winter blizzard is coming as they haul away peanut after peanut. There are now four Blue Jays, which means two have arrived to join the two who stayed during the winter.

Hugo Yugo will go for her ‘operation’ on Wednesday. Dr Green, the vet who has cared for her all along, will have the honours. The primary issue with all voluntary kitten adoption organisations is that they are overwhelmed and have to rely on the vets having space for their kittens. They never know what is available. Dear darling Hugo Yugo, the tiniest 6-month-old kitten I have ever seen, went into heat last Tuesday. It is unimaginable to me that something so tiny would be ready to breed. Her very loud meow turned into a horrifically loud mating call that brought endless feral males to the deck! Poor thing. So glad she was in the house! So, we decided to try to see if there was any possibility of getting her into our vet before the end of May or September. Luckily, they had a cancellation today. I couldn’t believe our luck. So send her good wishes – she will be sleeping on warm blankets and having good pain meds on the 20th.

I learn something valuable every day. Dr Peter Bloom, who banded Black 61, is also responsible for something extraordinary. Steve Schubert of Morro Audubon says, “Pete Bloom captured and brought in the last remaining wild California Condor on Easter Sunday in 1987, contributing to the captive breeding program . The species was absent from the wild until reintroduction began several years later, in 1992.”

Friday was a bit of a day – . Ospreys were landing in their nests, Ospreys were laying eggs, and a chick was hatching at Venice Golf and Country Club. Thank you so much to ‘H, J, and M’ who helped me stay on top of it all! Very seriously, there is no way that a single individual can monitor 150+ osprey nests, so I appreciate all your sightings! You are amazing.

Lucy laid her first egg at Lake Murray. I so hope the GHOs leave this nest alone this year. She has a new mate having lost Ricky and all three of her chicks in 2023.

It looks like both Mum and Dad have arrived at the Patchogue Osprey platform on Long Island. These two did what most only dreamed of last year—they raised four osplets to fledge!

The first egg has hatched at Venice Golf and Country Club! Congratulations. In 2023, their first egg hatched on the 13th of March – so very close this year.

‘H’ also reminds us, “Olivia arrived at Severna Park on 3/8, Oscar on 3/10. Edie at Captiva laid her second egg on 3/13, expect a possible 3rd egg tomorrow. Opal at Forsythe arrived this morning.”

At Dahlgren, Jack brought in his first ‘stuffie’ of the season on Friday. There might be some difficulty deciphering which female is which, but we will never mistake Jack.

Looks like that stuffed animal is gone.

Ospreys arriving in Europe and getting right to the action.

The first arrival at River Gwash, and the fishing looks good.

At Port Lincoln, Ervie and Giliath are fishing buddies.

In the UK, it looks like Blue 33 and Maya will be the first to lay eggs. Laddie has yet to return to Loch of the Lowes. Blue NCO waits.

That is definitely not an Osprey on Loch Arkaig’s nest 1 that used to belong to Louis and Aila. (Louis and Dorcha are on nest 2).

‘A’ has been watching the West End nest and notes, “I watched a late afternoon feeding from Akecheta where the two older chicks were very well behaved (probably stuffed) and dad concentrated on the youngest for several minutes. It was bonked just once throughout the event. It’s a strong, feisty wee one and it gets itself to the table when it can. I have my fingers crossed for it, but if the food supply remains as good as it usually is with these parents, I am cautiously optimistic. In fact, a lot of our two-eaglet nests with young chicks are doing well, with relatively little bonking, although there is the worry you noted with possible intruders at one nest. Of course, we all know that losing a parent is the worst thing that can befall a nest with young chicks, followed by a food shortage or prolonged rain. So, while we cannot control any of those things, I am still hoping this season has turned a corner.” 

Proud Dad Akecheta with fantastic Mum, Thunder.

Cali Condor caught Thunder giving a private feeding to eaglet 3 at the West End.

‘A’ was watching when Akecheta fed the wee one and says, “Watch Akecheta feeding the baby some lunch from 13:12. The wee one is eating well and getting enough food. It waits its turn – but these parents are diligent enough to ensure that the older two are sufficiently stuffed to let the youngest have its turn at the table. And the size of some of the fish Akecheta in particular is bringing in is awesome! With each day that passes, as the baby of the bunch gets stronger and more agile, I am more hopeful about this nest. The older two have calmed down slightly – Nessie has a long neck!!!!!”

The two eaglets at Bluff City are eating squirrel. Is it just me or is that first hatch twice as big as the second?

Just look at the eaglets at Johnson City. Jolene and Boone have chicks with the ‘fattest little bottoms’ and their thermal down is really coming in….big clown feet. I blinked. Must have.

Dixie and Mason continue to do great at Superbeaks.

Leaper and Jersey had a fabulous feeding. The new male is keeping nice sized fish in the pantry for Mum and the kids. Their crops were popping several times today. No worries at this nest!

Jack arrived at 0921 on Friday with a fish for Diane and the new baby at Achieva.

The last feeding that I saw on Friday was late afternoon. Jack came to the nest empty-taloned but wet later.

The Crows are the only ones at Oyster Bay so far.

Oh, empty platform at Chesapeake Bay. There is confirmation that the ospreys are flooding the area as they arrive from their winter migration.

Let us all hope that it is a much better year for the Osprey couple that find this nest in Cape May Meadows.

There was an osprey on the MNSA platform on Friday.

The Estonian Golden Eagle Helju has laid the first egg of the season!

In Florida, R6 is now learning about having to defend a nest against intruders!

E23 continues his flapping and flying…we are so near fledge.

Sharon Lee captured Gabby and Beau and isn’t it a gorgeous image of the pair at NE Florida?

Jackie and Shadow are so hopeful. More snow. We need to be more like them. I still wish for a fairy to delivery them a baby eaglet.

Big Red and Arthur were working away on their nest at Cornell. I am expecting eggs to be laid here and at the nest of Angel and Tom any day.

Annie almost had me thinking she was laying her first egg on Friday. Archie was in the scrape calling her when she wasn’t there. Gosh, isn’t he cute? And look at those deep chrome-yellow legs. This guy is healthy!

Annie.

Archie.

Monty and Hartley were both at the San Jose City Hall scrape on Friday.

It’s not siblicide in Ospreys. Geemeff sends us an article out of Science that discusses the Eurasian Hoopoe and siblicide.

Watch-out-This-colorful-bird-raises-a-nest-of-cannibals-Science-AAASDownload

YOU can make a difference. Do not give up…the Nightingales won because people stood up for their habitat!

Nightingale-habitat-saved-after-public-outcry-BirdGuidesDownload

That’s a crazy round-up of some of the nests that everyone is following. Don’t be shy! Send me any osprey news that you see – landing on a nest, laying an egg, hatching. Everything is appreciated and welcome. Take care all. Thank you for being with me today. Send good energy to the Achieva nest – there is lots of food competition there for Jack!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, M, SS’, National Wildlife Federation, Spectrum News, BirdCast, Lake Murray Ospreys, PSEG, Isak, Forsythe Osprey Cam, Dahlgren Osprey Cam, Jane Dell, River Gwash Ospreys, PLO, Mary Kerr, Geemeff, IWS/Explore.org, Cali Condor, Bluff City-ETSU, Johnson City-ETSU, Superbeaks. Duke Farms, Achieva Credit Union, Chesapeake Conservancy/Explore.org, SCMM, MNSA, Eagle Club of Estonia, WRDC, SK Hideaways, Sharon Lee, FOBBV, Cornell RTH Cam, Cal Falcons, San Jose City Hall Falcon Cam, Science, and BirdGuides.