Big Red and Arthur – Page 17 – Mary Ann Steggles

Utter heartache as osprey chicks die…Friday in Bird World

23 June 2023

Good Morning Everyone!

I don’t know how many tuned in to the Zoom chat about birding with Amy Tan and Christian Cooper, sponsored by The New York Times, but it was a great discussion about how people get interested in birding. Cooper has a new book out and Tan is writing a book about her backyard birding experiences for release next year. Can’t wait to read both of them. If you missed it, here it is recorded on YouTube:

Lewis did not feel the anxiety that I was having checking on the osprey nests today. Instead, he decided to sleep right in front of me as I watched the Blue Jays so that he could get some good scratches now and again.

It was quite the morning in the garden. There are at least six fledgling Blue Jays – not just the one sitting in the rock bird nest. They have delighted for hours. Some know how to get a peanut open, others don’t. All know that cats are a ‘danger’ and one even flew directly at the window of the conservatory at Missey. I was shocked – so was the Blue Jay.

One of the recent fledglings. Just look at those feathers! They are incredible. They are getting their crests and Junior is losing his – he can now do his annual moult since the babies are now fledged. The patterning…stop, look. It is like a study for a design class using a limited palette.

Each of the fledglings has a ‘different’ pattern and ‘look’. You get to know them as individuals if you stop and watch for long periods of time. That was one of the takeaways from Amy Tan who does her birding mostly in her garden – she has learned the behaviour of her garden birds and their distinct personalities. It is precisely the same for many of us. The first birds we noticed and those that bring us joy every day are those that are in our garden or the local park we visit. They are family.

This is the little fledgling that was nestled with the clay birds on the deck. he is a good flyer and he can open peanuts (or maybe it is a she).

Notice the different pattern on this one to the one above.

The growing numbers in Junior’s family meant a trip to get shelled and unshelled peanuts and more Blue Jay mix. Watching these fledglings learn about the world brings such happiness and takes my mind off the weather and ultimately, the osplet deaths that may come from the Long Island and New Jersey coastal area nests.

I began writing this blog on Thursday watching and with great tears knowing that we were going to lose a lot of chicks. So, the narrative will change for a few of the nests as you read through. As you do read of all the sadness, pause for a moment and get a little angry. Do not let anyone tell you that the weather and the fires are ‘just nature’. Humans have destroyed nature. In the event that the males cannot fish due to these storms, it is now time for us who have destroyed their habitat, the climate, the water, to step up and provide food until the storm has passed. It can be done. We just have to take responsibility. I want to thank ‘H’ who has helped me for two years now observing nests. She chose many of those that have been hit the hardest and this morning she says she is ‘just crushed’. You get so attached to these little ones when you watch them for days – invested in their eating, mourning when they die. To have this one storm impact so many nests – and believe me, the wild nests are suffering the same heartache – is often just too much to take in.

It is not looking good for Hera at South Cape May Meadows. She will, ultimately, have to try and find some food for herself. It is doubtful the three osplets – only wee – will survive two days without food and cold damp weather. I am already grieving for her. She will keep them warm and dry as long as she can but, ultimately, she will have to leave the nest to fish. They cannot thermoregulate. It is not clear if Zeus is missing or simply cannot catch enough fish to feed the family and is not returning to the nest. The last time I checked the eldest could barely raise its head and fish cry.

The males have not been seen at the nests at Barnegat Light and Forsythe either although Duke has been caught on camera elsewhere. They know their family is hungry and their chicks are starving but there is nothing they can do. The weather – the rain and the heavy winds – have churned up the water so that they cannot see the fish. They must eat to be able to carry on as does the Mum.

At South Cape May, “Two of the babies died overnight. The third will die soon if not fed. Hera brooded all night. No fish for 60 hours at 0700 on 6/23. Zeus has not been seen since 6/20. Surely Little died. Big and Middle were close in age. Ages on 6/22 were 7, 6, and 4 days old.”

My heart aches for Hera. They are showing season highlights. All chicks have passed.

Forsythe has had no fish either for more than two days. The chicks are older and can thermoregulate but the end result is, as ‘H’ reports, “Oscar delivered a very small whole fish at 0639, after 60 hours. Little was too weak to approach the feeding. Big beaked Middle. Opal took one bite. Big was the primary recipient of the fish. Middle got 3 bites. The fish lasted 2 1/2 minutes. Opal has left the nest a few times the last couple of days. She must have eaten, I suspect. But, she apparently was not able to catch fish for the kids. Same with Oscar. He would have had to have fed himself. This is just so sad on many levels.”

Barnegat Light is in the same situation. The weather is miserable and there was no fish for the second full day in a row. The dead and dying, ” Little died overnight at just under 19 days of age. No fish since 1006 on 10/21, and I don’t think Little was able to eat much at those early 6/21 meals. Duke has been seen the past couple of days, but not at the nest. Ages on 6/23: 23, 22, 19 days.”

It was raining at Severna Park Maryland but fish were coming to the nest. It is unclear who got the lion’s share but Middle did get some as Mum was quick to feed him. H reports, “at least five fish were delivered to the nest by Olivia and Oscar. ‘Big’ is self-feeding! Ages 45, and 44 days on 6/22.”

Mum feeding Middle.

At Chesapeake Bay, Kent Island: “The weather was improving, and Tom brought three fish that I saw. Audrey fed the little one at least 5 times. Things seem to be clicking better between Audrey and Tom, but they do seem to have an ongoing intruder issue. The little nestling is 10 days old on 6/22.”

At Dahlgren: “The two siblings have always been quite civil to each other, but then they had a ‘big fight’ yesterday afternoon that was started by Middle. Well, at the next feeding, at 1917, they were back to being besties, no aggression! What a relief! Ages 35 and 31 days old, and ‘Big’ is self-feeding.”

The weather is a bit miserable in Boulder as well but fish are arriving at the nest for all three chicks and Mum and Little is being fed. The male is very interesting. Big fish come on the nest and there is dominance – Little always has to wait as the rain began to fall later with the arrival of a fish, Dad stepped in and moved Mum and got the other’s attention away so she could feed Little. It was very interesting. He has also on occasion done dual feedings! Was this a small third hatch male ill-treated when he was in the nest?

Good night, Boulder.

The two surviving chicks at Collins Marsh are doing well. It is a ‘hot’ nest – constructed out of what appears to be a metal disk covered with twigs on top of a fire watch tower moved to the nature centre. The fish are not always plentiful despite there being a pond and wetlands. I would personally suggest that anyone associated with this centre or if you know someone who is – that they consider stocking the pond. It really helps!

Cowlitz can always use more fish – any fish. It is a blessing that there is only one osplet this year. It would cost so little to stock that water! At the Kisatchie National Forest, it is my understanding (please correct me) that the lake is stocked annually. Yes, for fishers but, it helps the wildlife, too.

Clark PUD in Vancouver, Washington. Does anyone know this nest. It looks hot! One chick is/or entering Reptile phase another with down and looks like a DNH. Let me know if you have any history of this nest. Thanks!

Audubon Boathouse: H reports: “Plentiful fish, and doting parents, what a lucky kid! Age 12 days on 6/22.”

Fortis Exshaw: H reports, “Jasper delivered 4 fish that I saw, and Louise fed the babies at least 6 times. Trying to ascertain if the youngest is getting fed is difficult. There is a lot of bobbing and weaving in that deep nest cup at meal times. At the 1636 feeding, I did count at least 18 bites for Little. Louise seems to ensure that all get fed. Ages 4, 4, and 2 days on 6/22.”

At Patuxent, there are persistent problems with the park tour boat interfering with the nests. They are coming too close. It is too stressful for the birds. H reports on Patuxent I, ” Fish deliveries started to recover a bit on 6/22 after the worst of the stormy weather of the past couple of days. They had at least two large fish. The osplets are 22, 21, and 18 days old on 6/22.:

Patuxent II: H reports, “Also improved fish deliveries today, as the weather is improving. Of note was a large live fish delivered at 1305. As Mom was dragging the heavy fish into position, a park tour boat full of tourists steered very close to the nest to provide a better photo opportunity. This human interference cause Mom to fly away with the fish. She did return later with the fish after the tour boat had passed. The osplets on 6/22 are 39, 37, and 33 days old, and they eat very nicely together.”

Here is that ‘tourist attraction’:

At the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, there are two new little osplets.

Patchogue: It is a good thing that Little Mini had some fish at the beginning of Thursday because the Bigs were sure hungry.

Mini workings its wings at 0617.

Mini having breakfast at 0659.

Mini having fish before bed at 1947:

The Big ones are increasingly heading up to eat first and Mini is having to wait. It has had some fish but not sure how much twice Friday morning.

Loch of the Lowes: The two chicks of Laddie and Blue NC0 were ringed on Friday.

Dyfi Ospreys: These two gorgeous osplets of Idris and Telyn will be ringed on the 27th. They will be given names that day as well – either rivers or mountains of Wales.

Glaslyn: Everything is good with Aran and Elan and the two bobs who will also be ringed but not for another 10 days and a bit!

Poole Harbour: The sun coming up over the horizon on CJ7 and her precious trio.

Loch Arkaig: Louis is such an amazing Dad. Poor Dorcha, she gets a lot of beaking from the wee one. Geemeff wonders if this is part of behavioural development if there is no sibling. I wonder. We certainly recall the Finnish osplet from 2022 who was quite aggressive towards Mum.

Good and bad news coming in from Kielder Forest:

New-post-Mainly-wonderful-news Download

At the scrape of Monty and Hartley, Soledad is really flapping off any baby feathers that could be left – and screaming for food! Ah, Monty has to feed his baby. What a dad! She is so much bigger than he is!

Ferris Akel had a special tour to check on M1 after her brilliant first flight today at the nest on the Cornell Campus of Big Red and Arthur. She is certainly a beauty.

That fledge happened at 0600. traditionally raptor fledges happen in the morning or early evening – not at night and usually not in the heat of mid-day.

M2 and 3 on the nest thinking about flying.

Big Red keeping a good eye on all that is happening. S he knows precisely where each of her chicks are.

Thanks, Ferris for the tour. There will be another fledge soon!

Chase and Cholyn’s Anthony fledged and got a reward for returning to the nest.

It will continue to be a sad day on the NE coast of the US and their osprey nests. It is inevitable that all will be lost at South Cape May if not already and perhaps more at Forsythe and Barnegat Light. Our thoughts go out to these families. Thank you for being with me. Send positive wishes to all the nests that are struggling and those that are doing well. Events such as weather can change things overnight. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, posts and streaming cams that helped to make up my blog this morning: – A big shout out to ‘H’. Also Geemeff and SP, the New York Times, SCMM, Forsythe, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, Severna Park, Chesapeake Conservancy, Dahlgren Ospreys, Boulder County FG Ospreys, Collins Marsh, Cowlitz, Clark PUD, PSEG, LOTL, Dyfi, Bwywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Geemeff and Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Sk Hideaways and the San Jose City Hall Falcons, Ferris Akel Tours, IWS, Audubon Boat House, Patuxent River Park, Heidi McGru and Patuxent River Park, Fortis Exshaw, MN Landscape Arboretum, and Kielder Forest.

Fledges, Zeus missing? and more…Thursday in Bird World

22 June 2023

It is always good to go somewhere and soak in a very different environment and then, it is always good to be ‘home’. It was hard to leave the island. There had to be one last stop by the rocks and the water with the Pelicans and Hooded Mergansers. Before I could get there, a family of Canada Geese swam by! Oh, joy!

This beautiful female Common Merganser sitting on ‘her’ rock watching her babies swim.

Pelicans have to be the comedians of the shore. Notice that the pelican on the right has a ‘caruncle’ – a protrusion from the top beak. It is thought that these are there to attract a mate as they are shed after mating and eggs are laid. Both males and females grow them.

Lake Winnipeg is the 10th largest freshwater lake in the world at 25,514 sq km. It is also very shallow – something that causes these huge swells. At its deepest, it is only 38 m.

The water pounds against the rocks when it is windy – I find it soothing. They were all there, so it was a nice goodbye, and then, crossing the causeway, there was a single Tundra Swan and, to my delight, a Bald Eagle (not an adult but too far at a distance to determine age) who was none too happy that I stopped to say hello! It was near the Black Wolf trail, where their nests are located.

The distance is about 80-90 metres. That eagle with its keen sight knew where I was all the time. It had flown from an old dock to that tree in the distance to keep an eye on me.

I love it when the garden animals realise that I am home! Or maybe it is the smell of those peanuts in the feeders! LOL

Poor Junior looks a little bedraggled now that he is moulting. That Blue Jay in front – well that is the little fledgling that was sitting with the stone birds last week.

Dyson is looking a lot better than she did a few days ago.

There were so many birds getting drinks.

Moorings Park Victor is having a ball, skimming the water for fish, and coming to the nest wet! What a delight!

Little Mini is doing very well despite the Bigs getting some small fish to self feed on previous days. ‘R’ sent me two images of Mini up feeding at dawn and again when another early fish arrives. It seems that things are back to normal with Mini eating well in the early morning and evening. Don’t you just love this little character?

A big fish came into the nest at 18:44, and Mum happily fed Mini from 19:54-19:21, when she was too full to eat another bite. Mum got to enjoy some nice fish. We should no longer have to worry about Mini, but because she is a fourth, I will continue to watch her closely until she fledges! It is simply a delight to see this little one work hard to stay alive and is now thriving.

Mini also had the most amazing ‘ps’ at 20:31. That wide ribbon of white going in front of the perch is going to make a big splash on the sidewalk.

Deyani fledged on Wednesday and returned to the nest. Perfect.

Angel arrived to an empty nest.

Deyani returns to get the little bird for her lunch that Angel brought. This is excellent—the continuation of the nest as a place for prey.

On Wednesday, the Ms were getting a little antsy. One was on the fledge ledge and the railing today sending out the signal that they could fly anytime now and M1 did. She flew Thursday morning.

We almost had an ooops.

Here is the video of that flight!

Perhaps I am the only one but this eyas at the Evergy Topeka scrape – while it has now its back and wing feathers broken out of their shafts – still has the most peculiar head. Where is its plumage?

Climate change is revealing new places for our birds to try and live. Here is some news from Sanibel Islands.

Storms are really playing havoc with the osprey nests along the NE coast of the US today. This is the report from ‘H’. “Ospreys near the Mid-Atlantic coast are not eating well today. Rain and heavy winds. So far today as of 1955:

Barnegat Light, three early fish – Little had 36 bites at the first meal, and at the other two meals the view was blocked. I note that the wind is terrible and Mum is soaked as night begins to descend.

Kent Island, one early fish (two meals)

Dahlgren, two early fish

Patuxent 1, one afternoon fish

Severna Park, two early fish (I think that’s all)

SCMM, no fish so far !!! And now we may know why. ‘H’ reports: “Worrisome. Zeus was not seen at all yesterday. We assume he had no luck fishing for the family, but he did not stop by the nest. Hera flew off the nest this morning at 0810 and did not return until 0953. We assume she went fishing. When she returned, she did not have a fish and her crop was flat. It is damp and chilly, 63 degrees. For some reason, she has not returned to brooding the chicks at 10:20.”

This is very sad, indeed. Hera might know that something has happened to Zeus and that she cannot care for the osplets alone. We wait. Send good wishes to all of these nests, please.

Forsythe, no fish so far (Big and Middle self-fed Mini’s carcass) !!!

Boathouse, plenty of fish and feeds.

Exshaw, three feedings so far. I watched the feeding at 1630 (mdt) to make sure Little was getting fed, and the answer is a very big YES. Louise went out of her way to make sure Little in the back row had many bites, even some big ones that the little stinker surprisingly managed to swallow.

As you can see, some of the nests are doing splendidly and do not have weather issues – others have severe wind and rain causing a lack of food and those horrid wet and cold conditions that can make osplets vulnerable. We may lose some chicks off these nests. I am particularly concerned about Barnegat Light.

Here is a sweep of some other nests:

Cowlitz PUD: The osplet was seen attacking Mum’s beak because it is hungry. The fish are small and most often not enough of them.

Finally!

Boulder County Fair Grounds: Everything appears to be alright. Little got a private feeding!

Outerbanks, North Carolina: Everything is good. Chicks are self-feeding and also being fed.

Dunrovin: Three healthy osplets!

At the Finnish Nests:

#1. It appears that all three are doing good.

#3. Little sometimes hangs back but manages to get up front and get some of the big fish that are brought to the nest.

#4. Everything appears to be alright. Lined up nicely for meals with a wee bit of bother sometimes – but not during feedings that I have observed.

#LS5: Everything looks alright with this nest and its two osplets. It is the only Finnish nest with only two this year.

Janakkalan: The third hatch often gets fed after the two big ones.

In the UK, banding will occur at all of the nests we have monitored as long as the weather holds and there are banners. Chicks cannot be banded after 45 days for fear of causing a premature fledge/fludge. The ideal time is 35-38 days.

Loch of the Lowes: Blue NC0 has to protect her chicks from bad weather.

Nice fish for a late night meal. Laddie has been delivering a lot of fish. On the 15th of June, he delivered a record eleven for the nest.

Dyfi Osprey Project: The ringing of the two osplets of Idris and Telyn will take place on 27 June, weather permitting. Awwwww, sleeping sweeties.

Glaslyn: I love seeing Aran and Elen sharing the perch. The chicks are growing and healthy and all is well.

Loch Arkaig: Geemeff catches the delivery of fish number two in the early afternoon….It is identified as a whole Silver Tourist (a species I do not know but gosh, what a nice one!). I can only imagine if a fish like this landed on the Cowlitz PUD.

Poole Harbour: Breakfast is served at 0426. Blue 022 is really an early bird.

Llyn Clywedog: Dylan fed the Bobs a really nice Brown Trout for their tea on Wednesday.

For the fans of the Albatross, the Royal Cam chick has a name. A really nice compilation by Sharon Dunne aka Lady Hawk.

Does M15 – our amazing SW Florida Dad – have a new mate? Oh, this is fantastic – let us hope that these two bond and we see them in the late fall at the nest. So grateful to those photographers on the ground.

You might really enjoy seeing the winners of the Audubon Photography Awards. There are so many talented individuals!

The-2023-Audubon-Photography-Awards-Winners-and-Honorable-Mentions-Audubon Download

And now for something extraordinary – we really could use a pick me up after the weather and Zeus missing…Middle at Achieva. He is fattening up at the Tampa Bay Raptor Centre and will attend flight school next week. How wonderful is that? Thanks, ‘H’.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care everyone. See you soon – and do not forget to send good wishes to these beautiful nests. Many of them might be in some trouble today.

Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, postings, photographs, and streaming cams that help make up my blog today: “A, H, L, R’, Moorings Park, PSEG, Window to Wildlife, Cornell Bird Lab, Evergy Topeka, NBC2 News, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, Chesapeake Conservancy, Dahlgren Ospreys, Patuxent River Park, Severna Ospreys, SCMM, Forsythe Ospreys, Audubon Boat House, Fortis Exshaw, Cowlitz PUD, Boulder County Fair Grounds, Outerbank ospreys, Dunrovin Ranch, Finnish Osprey Foundation, LOTL, Dyfi, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Geemeff and the Woodland Trust, Lady Hawk and NZ DOC, Laura Davis Nelson and SWFL Eagles, and Audubon.

World Albatross Day…Monday in Bird World

19 June 2023

Good Morning Everyone,

I hope that each of you had a lovely weekend. It is World Albatross Day today and the theme this year is the harm that plastics due to the sea and to these fish eating beauties. They fill up with plastic ‘things and then get so full they cannot eat real food and die. They feed plastic to their babies like SP at Taiaroa Head, NZ. Th e Royal Cam chick of the year. Then they die. How can we help? Let’s start at home. The next time you purchase an item, try to go plastic free. Then do it again. Soon you will be doing so much good for the environment, yourself, and our precious wildlife.

“‘Beat Plastic Pollution’ on World Environment Day 2018” by United Nations Information Service Vienna is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Today is a run-through of many nests because I have not caught up with some for a few days. There are only brief notes to say that they are alright. I know that many of you wait for the news of some of the nests that we are concerned about. Hopefully, this will give you a quick sense of how they are doing. I apologise that this reads a bit like a grocery list. It is also the day that I drive north to the Grindstone/Hecla Island Provincial Parks to attempt a count of the Bald Eagle nests around the island. Last year the nests were flooded. All of the eggs were lost. I will take you to the islands and show you a different part of my province and its wildlife.

The area was initially settled by people migrating from Iceland and many of the communities in the surrounding area are populated by people of Icelandic descent.

I am also looking forward to stops along the way and little day trips to areas where I have never been…a breath of fresh air from the City OR will it be with the forest fires?

We need a smile. Thanks, Cal Falcons.

I want to give a big shout-out to Kathleen at Marder’s. Two of their osplets died, and the third is not in good shape. They responded quickly. Marders has a lift ready to retrieve the two little eaglet bodies. They will be refrigerated so that they can be collected by the DEC. Dr Gavin Hitchener will perform the necroscopy if the bodies are not too decomposed. Marder’s loves their ospreys. This has been a sad year for them and others along this coast.

Nest and Scrape Round Up:

I am going to start with a couple of the Latvian nests. My friend Sassa Bird is dancing with glee as the rains are coming down in Latvia. I hope she doesn’t mind…her note was so joyous. She says, “I can happily report that it has been raining for two days in Latvia. Finally!!! I can’t remember the last time when I was so overjoyed about raining and taking it in with all my senses. I’m so happy for all the wildlife getting some relief. We already see a rapid change in the feeding pattern at our live-streamed white stork nest – they’re getting more and more of all the little creatures that have come out of hiding.”

When I went to check on the nests, the forest is so alive with song and life!

White Storks, Tukums, Latvia: They will be so happy because of the rain! Sassa Bird says they have been eating much better since the rains began.

Lesser Spotted Eagles, Latvia: The nest of Anna and Andris and their only surviving eaglet. The rains have brought out the small animals and Andris brings a vole to the chick on the nest who is hungry.

Video of Anna bringing a bird for the chick, Arturs, on 18 June.

Karl II and Kaia Black Stork Nest, Karula National Forest, Estonia: No rain yet for this couple and their three storklets after the brood reduction of Little Benjamin. Send them good positive energy. Let the rains come and the frogs come out of hiding! Such a lovely family.

No rain but Karl II found some fodder for the storklets and Kaia gave them water…Here are the feedings from Sunday.

Kaia giving water to her storklets.

Black Stork Nest, Lodz Poland: The only surviving storklet was getting a feeding when I last checked! Good news.

Black Stork Nest, Wolsztyn, Poland: Missing Tytania returns to the nest after a three-day absence. Want to see ‘stork’ happiness? Watch. Do not, for a second, ever let anyone tell you that wildlife do not have emotions.

White Stork Nest, Mlady Buky: The four storklets of Bety and Bukacek have been ringed and are growing and growing. The food source must be very good in this area of The Czech Republic.

Collins Marsh: The third osplet has died either late on the 16th or the 17t of June, 9-10 days old. Image is of Mum with her two surviving osplets and a partial fish.

Cowlitz PUD: Looks good today.

Newfoundland Power: Three eggs being incubated at the nest that is considered a ‘lost hope’. Let’s see if we can get a fledge here this year! That would be brilliant.

Fortis Exshaw: There are two hatches. The second shortly after the first. Yeah for delayed incubation! Rain is there and windy. Fingers crossed. It is a really deep nest cup and this could help these hatchlings.

Boulder County Fairgrounds: Gosh, this nest is doing well today.

HellGate, Missoula Montana Ball Park: Star and Louis have three osplets this year. That is why Louis has been so busy! He doesn’t have time to go over to that ‘other’ nest.

Severna Park: ‘H’ says that everything is fantastic. Big and Middle are now thriving and we remember Little. Great screen caps, ‘H’. Thank you.

Forsythe: ‘H’ reports that the nest has settled down with the death of Mini and that all were lined up eating without beaking.

Dahlgren: This osprey nest has just been civil and peaceful all season. The chicks are doing great. Thanks’ H’.

Kent Island: It seems that Audrey has figured out that she needs to feed her Only bob! As ‘H’ says, ‘thank goodness’.

Patuxent I: Serene.

Patchogue. Sunday is always a bad day for fish on this nest. I wonder if it is the number of people going outside to the creeks and lake? Mini never gets all the food it wants, but the wee one started out alright with a massive crop at 0908. That was good because Mini got shut out of several fish later in the day. Keep an eye on Mini for me on Monday. Send me a note telling me how it did. Thank you!

There is so much rubbish on our osprey nests. Mum tried to get rid of that clear plastic. Every nest should be cleaned, thoroughly, before the next breeding season starts.

Oyster Bay: The three seem to be doing alright.

Outerbanks: Kathryn reports that the nest is tranquil compared to the other two nests she observed. It has to be – 9 fish before 1230! Gracious. Incredible.

Barnegat Light: This is now the problem nest with Big beaking Little almost constantly. ‘He’ kept close tabs on this nest on Sunday and Little did manage to get a total of 239 bites but there were a lot of feedings. Hoping the aggravation and dominance from the first hatch settles down.

Finland Saaksilvie 1: All is good.

Finland Saaksilvie 5 (LS): Nice fish deliveries. Chicks are in the Reptile phase. All is good.

Poole Harbour: Life is sweet for the trio of CJ7 and Blue 022. Lots of fish, growing like mad. Little Reptiles in the making.

Llyn Brenig: All is great in Wales!

Loch of the Lowes: Laddie brought in a huge trout for the family. All is good.

Manton Bay: The problem is this is such a successful nest that I don’t always check in. Beautiful trio. Banding soon…Proud parents Maya and Blue 33.

Dyfi Ospreys: Wet chicks! Banding in about a week. Well done Idris and Telyn.

Loch Arkaig: Many have said that they are glad that Louis and Dorcha had only this Bob as it is a handful and a half. Cannot even imagine with all the fine fish the life the Middle might have had! LOL.

The latest news from Kielder:

New-post-Nest-5A-news Download

Imperial Eaglets, Tatarstan, Russia: The two eaglets of Alton and Altynay are doing fantastic! So big and healthy!

Evergy Topeka Scrape: The older siblings have fledged and are getting fed at the scrape and mid-air while the third hatch with its underdeveloped plumage waits in the scrape hoping for a feeding. The company and a wildlife rehabber in the area have been contacted by the situation. The eyas is beginning to develop feathers but is very late and some have not come out of their shafts. Looking better each day.

San Jose City Hall: What can I say? Soledad is trying out for the role of The Hulk.

Angel and Tom RTH: “Deyani is still on the nest at 6.15pm so hopefully we won’t get a late afternoon fledge (it is light at that nest until well after 9pm). Deyani finally killed the pine cone early this morning. It is now just a small piece. It is astounding to me that she is still on the nest. She is flapping and jumping all over the nest, prey spotting on the ground (we thought she was about to take the plunge this morning when she saw something particularly interesting) and perfecting some very vicious-looking grabbing and killing skills on innocent nest material. Such an exquisite hawklet.”

Later ‘A’ remarks: “Deyani’s only meal today was a bird (catbird according to some chatters) after 4pm, so the parents are definitely giving her the hint, I think. Angel spent the previous two nights sleeping on the branch near the nest (until then, she had spent every night on the nest with Deyani). Tonight, she is not there, but is presumably perched elsewhere in the nest tree, within eyeshot of her precious hawklet. So yes, six are clearly there, the food has been cut right back today and mum has left the building (or at least the near vicinity). So it’s time to fly sweetheart. We want you to stay forever but your parents have other ideas.”

One of the ways that we tell if a hawk let is ready to fly is to count the lines on its tail. It is better if you can clearly count six lines before fledge. Deyani clearly has 6!

Cornell Red Tail Hawks: The Ms. Big Red and Arthur’s kids. Flapping, jumping, and walking…But count the stripes on the tail of this one. Not 6.

Whew! Yes, like a grocery list. I will not be listing nests like this again but there could be some that are unfamiliar and you might want to check them out.

Wondering how it is going in The Gambia fighting Avian Flu? The fundraiser was successful and Conservation without Borders also got some additional help.

And last, climate change affects our feathered friends in many ways.

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, tweets, and streaming cams that helped me to create my blog today: ‘A, H, Kathryn, Kathleen, Sassa Bird’, OpenVerse, Cal Falcons, Marders Ospreys, Latvian Fund for Nature, Arlene Beech and the Latvian Fund for Nature, Looduskalender Forum, Eagle Club of Estonia, Lodz Poland Storks, Mlady Buky Storks, Collins Marsh, Cowlitz PUD, Newfoundland Power, Fortist Exshaw, Boulder County Fair Grounds, Louis Matteau and Montana Ospreys at Hellgate, Severna Park, Forsythe Ospreys, Dahlgren Ospreys, Kent Island Ospreys, Patuxent River Park, PSEG, Outerbank 24/7, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Llyn Brenig Ospreys, LOTL and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, LRWT, Dyfi Ospreys, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Kielder Forest, Imperial Eagles Tatarstan, Evergy Topeka, SK Hideaways and San Jose City Hall Falcons, Window to Wildlife, Cornell RTH, and Geemeff and Conservation without Borders.

Fly high Forsythe Mini…Sunday in Bird World

18 June 2023

Good Morning Everyone!

To all the males in the world – raptor or human – who have cared for any living soul in their lifetime, Happy Father’s Day! Rejoice in your compassion and humanity. We thank you.

There is so much news, so I decided to stop and make apricot and cherry jam on Saturday just to shut down. It is necessary sometimes but, first, we have new members of the ‘garden club’. Dyson brought her two kits to the garden today for the first time. My calendar notes show they are 8-9 weeks old (give or take). Dyson has been busy taking peanuts to and from her nest, which I have not located. We have numerous very tall and old trees nearby, and it may be in one of those. Grey squirrels are born without fur, no teeth, and closed eyes. Those eyes do not open until the kits are about six weeks old. Dyson was here with them and I made sure that there were peanuts in all of the tray feeders and on the deck. For some reason, the little ones do not like to get on the ground and good thing – those bloody cats!

Dear Dyson – named because she can suck up peanuts faster than any of Sir Dyson’s vacuum cleaners can get at the cat fur! She is so precious to me and to have her bring her kits into the garden warms me from the top of my head to my big toe.

It is difficult to put in perspective how small they are because they are not standing at the table feeder with Mum.

Dyson is moulting. She looks tired to me. She is not a youngster. Hopefully, lots of good nuts will help her replenish her health now that the two youngsters can fiend for themselves.

We lost two osplets at the Marder’s platform at East Hampton, Long Island, NY, on the 16th, Friday. Thank you for the head’s up ‘SW’. Dr Gavin Hitchener of the Cornell Lab will do a necroscopy if the specimens can be retrieved and if they are not too deteriorated. He is with the Duck Lab on Long Island. So grateful. What is causing this? It would be good to find out… the number of unexplained osplet deaths this season grows.

The areas of recent sudden deaths are included in this map and begin at Edgewater, Maryland (near the D in Maryland-lower left) and follow the coast to East Hampton, Long Island and then to Cananicut Island, Rhode Island (Jamestown). You can see the coastal/water path that this pattern is taking.

The female at Marders with her only surviving chick.

Today, remembering Mini at the Forsythe Nest who died during the night after surviving horrific conditions of siblicide/starvation. ‘H’ noted that before it died last night, it did a tiny PS Saturday afternoon and took a direct shot at Little who had been the problem with it getting food. Fly high, little one!

There were two more osplets that hatched overnight. The first hatch for Fortis Exshaw is reported by ‘H’ for day 40 of egg 1 on 16 June and the the third hatch for Hera and Zeus on the 18th at South Cape May Meadows. Thanks ‘H’ for monitoring these nests!

As most of you know, this has been a tragic year at many of the US Osprey nests. It feels unprecedented. ‘H’ and I have been monitoring – along with Kathryn and ‘L’ – a number of nests and when we see beaking at a certain stage, we get nervous. With the death of Mini at Forsythe, directly from siblicide/starvation, we are watching carefully the Barnegat Light nest in NJ. Chatters have commented how cute the beaking is – it isn’t. As ‘H’ and I know far too well, this can quickly turn deadly. If you see people considering this light-hearted play, let them know that it is very serious dominance behaviour that could lead to the one being abused being shut out from food. Thank you!

‘H’ reports: “Duke arrived with a partial fish at 1905. Just prior to the feeding, Middle beaked Little, and then Big beaked Middle. So both Little and Middle were tucked. After a moment, Middle was up and joined the feeding. It took longer for Little to raise up, in between Middle and Big. After Little received a few bites, he was again beaked by Middle and tucked again. Little did return to the feeding and received enough bites to have a crop. It was a relatively short feeding, and the majority of the feeding was peaceful. After the feeding, Middle and Big engaged in a bit of a beaking-fest.”

Many of you have wondered what the impact of the wildfires has on the behaviour of wildlife and raptors. ‘R’ sent me an informative article. Have a read!

Researcher-Smoke-from-wildfires-impacted-bird-behavior-Local-News-standard-journal.com_Download

Last night I took the time to check in with the Finnish Osprey nests to see what was happening. Here is a brief encounter with the nests and their chicks – all have three osplets but nest #5 which has only 2. There are two nests without any occupants and one that is curious.

#1: There are three wonderful little osplets.

#3. Three osplets!

#4. There are also three!

#LS-5. Two Osplets.

I am trying to find out what happened at the osprey nest at Janakkalan – the nest of Boris and Tito last year. Female and one if not both chicks are believed to have died of Trichomoniasis. There were two osplets on the nest. Then it appeared that something had happened to both of them and today the female is back on the nest. Very confusing. Do you know?

Second chick hatched on 8 June after the first on the 7th.

The history of the Osprey in Finland:

Keeping with a focus on some of our international osprey nests, I went back to check on a German nest we checked on earlier in the season. Those osplets are doing fantastic.

There are also three osplets at the Urdaibai platform in the Biosphere which is part of the Basque region. It has been raining and miserable – and in past years the chicks have died of exposure. Let us all hope that these three make it.

In her 2006 M.Sc. thesis, FACTORS INFLUENCING MORTALITY IN NESTLING OSPREYS (PANDION HALIAETUS): AN ANALYSIS OF BREEDING STRATEGIES, Jennifer Anne Rettew confirms that “Weather is a significant influence on breeding success. There are fewer young in years of heavy rainfall. Even when brooded, if the nest becomes wet, the mortality of eggs and chicks increases. Younger chicks are vulnerable to becoming too cold. Direct sun can also cause significant mortality among nestlings. This is especially true for younger chicks. Small young are susceptible to overheating on hot summer days (Poole et al. 2002). Severe storms can also cause nestling mortality. Storm killed young are most often older young because they are too large to be effectively brooded by adults. Poole (1984) found that severe storms caused a substantial number of deaths in a third of study sites. However, chicks were also emaciated, indicating that both starvation and exposure during the storms led to mortality. Weather can also cause a decrease in parental provisioning, which in turn can decrease nestling viability. Cloud cover or sun does not have a significant effect on hunting ability but wind speed and water surface conditions do. Precipitation increases the length of hunt duration such that prey delivery rates to the nest decrease in rain. Hunting is no longer profitable for adults in terms of energetic costs when wind speeds are greater than seven meters per second (Machmer and Ydenberg 1990).”

We have seen this several times on streaming cams where the chick cannot get under the female who is brooding in bad weather and dies of exposure. Indeed, it is quite common especially in large broods or where there are large chicks and one smaller one that cannot get underneath Mum to stay dry and warm.

I love it when I get mail where the excitement jumps right off the computer screen. That happened this morning when ‘R’ wrote to tell me about the antics of Little Mini at Patchogue. So instead of taking screen captures, I did a very short video clip and then a little longer one. Our Little Mini is a tour de force!

Little Mini had such a good day that on several occasions, it appears that she is so full she can hardly walk. It is difficult to imagine having to worry about Mini any longer. This is a formidable, intelligent osplet that is determined to eat as much fish as it can, when it can – and survive!

One of the neighbourhood children saw this image and thought that Mini had quite the costume on but that the ‘grey sweater’ was ‘too tight’. LOL. I was hysterical! Out of the mouths of youngsters! They all love Little Mini and are so excited she is thriving.

‘A’ reports that Deyani ate a skunk today – amongst other prey items. Oh, gosh golly. Tom fed it to his girl who has been jumping and flapping all over the nest. Fledge is near.

The little RTH living with the Bald Eagles in Redding took a bit of a fright today.

Big Red and Arthur’s hawklets are doing fantastic…getting too close to fledge, too.

Oh, but they still love to be fed by Mama.

I am always amazed at all of the things that a wildlife rehabilitation centre needs – and let’s face it, they rescue wildlife in the strangest of locations, build and repair enclosures, and do all the health stuff. Do you have an unused kayak you could donate? Just think about all the waterfowl that get tangled in line or trapped….they need a way to retrieve them!

Want to learn how to catch a fish? Let Ervie teach you! That third hatch of the 2021-22 Port Lincoln season continues to live and thrive in the area of the barge. And guess what? Mum and Dad were on the barge together the other day…the season will begin to kick off in Australia soon enough.

Gosh, he is a handsome osprey. Perfect form!

Cal Falcons are all fledged and grown up but still hanging around the scrape! Thanks, SK Hideaways.

If you are missing fuzzy little Peregrine Falcons, well, here is a scrape with four little ones and an egg in Alberta Canada! Link to camera is below image of this cute little family:

And last, a beautiful tribute to M15 – the Bald Eagle of the year – from SK Saunders Photography. They did an amazing job with all of their footage! Warning: G et the tissues out.

Thank you for being with me today. We will be back to some full nest checks of the osprey in the US and UK for tomorrow. Take care!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped to create my blog this morning: ‘A, H, R, SW’, Google Maps, Marders Osprey, Forsythe Osprey, Fortis Exshaw, SCMM, Barnegat Light, The Standard Journal, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Fischadlerwebcam, Urdaibai Biosphere, PSEG, Window to Wildlife, FORE, Cornell RTH, Birds in Helping Hands, Fran Scully and Friends of Osprey Sth Bus, SK Hideaways and Cal Falcons, The Real Saunders Photography, and Scotfold-Alberta Falcons.

Lady and Dad’s first egg, fledges, DH2 gets prey…Saturday in Bird World

17 June 2023

Good Morning Everyone,

Gosh, it is a bit of a shock on the Canadian Prairies. W e went from 38C to now plunging to a low of 11 C. last evening and this morning. S eriously, do we have to keep a jumper out for the summer days like this? I t will be warming up to 24 so all those Canada Geese won’t be wishing they had stayed behind. We hope they all find plenty of food, something in short supply it appears in the South.

As we approach ‘Father’s Day’, let us take the time to think of two male raptors this year that have or are having single-parent duties. M15, the SouthWest Florida Bald Eagle, began caring for E21 and E22 on the 2nd of February, the day that his long-time mate, Harriet, went missing. To the shock of everyone, he fed both eaglets, fought off intruders, flirted on occasion with females, and fledged those two eaglets teaching – at least E22 – the joys of bathing in a pond, catching fish, and soaring. What a dad.

Newmann is now taking care of four Peregrine Falcons at the Great Spirit Bluff scrape after his mate, Savanna, was killed protecting the nest from a GHO. As soon as Newmann realised that Savanna was not there to feed his chicks, he stepped up to the scrape and has been Daddy Door Dash ever since.

In the midst of their grieving, both summoned the energy to forge ahead and raise their last chicks with their now missing, presumed deceased mates. Thomas and Kami fledged on Friday. Happy Father’s Day M15 and Newmann.

We want to also give a shout-out to Murphy, who wanted to be a dad so much after 31 years. You did well, Murphy! Foster Dad of the Year!

The latest news on Murphy’s Baby. Thanks ‘H’!

There is an energy about young eaglets right before they fledge when – at a single moment – they realise they are a bird with the potential to fly. Squeeing they will use their nests like trampolines if there are no branches in a tree to jump back and forth. In this video, Jefferson, the only eaglet of the 2023 season of Smitty and Bella at the NCTC nest, demonstrates his zest for life! Can’t wait to see this youngster with its deep espresso plumage take to the skies! But stop for a moment and look at that tail. It is as if someone took a white brush and painted the tail feathers and then dipped them in the deepest richest coffee at the tip. This is an incredibly beautiful eaglet.

https://fb.watch/lchtBqS2hE/

After Jefferson’s morning romp around the nest, he accidentally branched and flew off for a successful fledge.

My friend, ‘L’ reminds me that humans can make a huge difference in the lives of our raptors if they choose to do so. In Huntington NY, the members of the Lighthouse Preservation Society decided to do a good deed for a pair of Ospreys. We can help to create positive change. Always remember that. Never give up!

My friend, the late Toni Castelli-Rosen, and I often chatted about the most beautiful plumaged juveniles. She was a great fan of the White-bellied Sea Eaglets while I adores the Red-tail Hawks with their peach chest feathers and their rusty brown and cream feathering. Of course, then there are the osplets..and to be honest, they are gorgeous as well. Take the time to look at these youngsters. I can no longer tell you which ranks as the prettiest for me but I do know that the plumage of an osplet, feathered before fledging, is so much nicer than that of their parents.

There they are at Patchogue…check it out. The Ospreys have limited colouring – they did not get on the bright bohemian bandwagon for summer dresses! They stick to a brown-and-white palette but notice the chicks. Their feathers have a creme white crescent on the tip of each one, making that very dark eye band stand out from their white chests. For those new to Ospreys, that dark band helps deflect glare when fishing. Football players have adapted it. The tails, when fanned out have scallops at the tip end alternating white or dream spaces with espresso thick lines. They say that the females have darker more distinctive ‘necklaces’ but that is not always the case. The necklace below looks ‘broken’ – it is decidedly not distinctive!

The plumage really helps to camouflage the chicks when they are on their stick nests.

Little Mini had a good day. Every time I checked it had a nice crop! Several times, Little Mini raised its neck high when it was by one of the Big siblings. This tiny osplet is a ‘cracker’. Love this kid. Smart. A fighter. And look at those clown feet.

Big bite for Mini!

The camera at Llyn Clywedog has exceptional resolution. Notice the magnificent necklace of Blue 5F Seren and look closely at the feathering of the chicks. You can see that rich brown colour better.

To compare, the gorgeous plumage of the Red-tail Hawks, the Ms and Big Red. Notice the ‘peach’.

Speaking of Big Red, a very informative video of the intervention at the nest of Big Red and Arthur was released Friday afternoon.

As has been the practice, Little Mini ate well during the early morning, and I expect it to have some fish later on Friday. This little one is getting its feathers, and while we are not out of the woods yet, Mini is being wise and is a survivor. He ate again from 1335 to 1400, and another fish came on the nest, a big one, at 1440. Mini did not get any of that fish. It started to rain..but, no worries on Friday for Mini at Patchogue.

Today’s Mysteries:

Last time ‘H’ and I checked, there were eggs, blink and there are three Osplets. McEuen Park in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

So does anyone know what happened at the Bay Cam, Chesapeake Bay Foundation? ‘H’ checked in and only the goose egg is there. Where are the osprey eggs? What happened? Do you know?

Nest Check-In:

Boulder County Fairgrounds: Rain and mist, cooler temperatures. All seem fine. Several big fish on the nest. Three chicks still with us.

Moorings Park. Victor stays on the nest and Dad brings in fish! My goodness..now look at the plumage. This is brilliant. This chick is so healthy. Victor fledged on the 19th of May.

Outer Banks. Three thriving Osplets.

Pitkin County Open Spaces and Trails: Three beautiful and healthy osplets.

Collins Marsh: Several nice fish and pieces on the nest today. Impossible to tell because Mum blocked the view on how the three ate.

South Cape Marsh Meadows: Two lively hatchlings wanting fish!

Forsythe: Several fish but Little Mini does not get hardly any bites. ‘H’ counted only 17 bites for the wee one by 1100.

Cowlitz PUD: Chick is OK. The fish are not huge and plentiful but feathering and growing.

Barnegat Light: All is harmonious.

Great Bay: All appears to be fine.

First Utility District: Hard to see the chicks but there are at least two of them in beautiful juvenile plumage! Look – standing on the rim of the nest!

Dyfi Osprey Nest: Everything at the nest of Idris and Telyn is absolutely perfect.

Poole Harbour: CJ7 and Blue 022 look down lovingly at their triplets. All is well.

Llyn Brenig: Life is good.

Glaslyn: Life with his new parter Elen and their two osplets is great. Aran seems to be really having a good season – not sure all those fish are, though!

The King and Queen of Glaslyn – Aran and Elen.

Loch of the Lowes: After a difficult start and the fear that something had happened to Laddie LM12, life is now good at Loch of the Lowes. Blue NC0 can see Laddie flying in with their fish for the kid’s bedtime snack.

Loch Arkaig: When we talk about ospreys with dark plumage, the first one that comes to mind is the late Mrs G from Glaslyn. However, one look at Dorcha, Louis’s mate, tells you that she is as dark as Mrs G. Gorgeous deep chocolate feathering and talk about a necklace! Gracious. Hers is the envy of all. Pesky Only Bob is rather spoiled!

RSPB Loch Garten: Both chicks doing great! You can hardly see them in that deep egg cup.

Llyn Clywedog: The two of Dylan and Seren are doing fantastic. Growing and growing on those nice fish Dylan brings in from the reservoir.

Foulshaw Moss: White YW and Blue 35 have a great nest of chicks this year. It looks hot there in Cumbria today; the three chicks are well-hydrated! And growing.

Relief in the form of food for the Decorah hatchery chick – that cute little Only Bob -. Had not had food in several days. Mum believed to have left area but today both parents turned up with fish! Three of them! A fish, a squirrel, and a huge rabbit head which he is eating in the image below.

Congratulations to Lady and Dad at the Sydney WBSE nest. According to ‘A’ who has been anxiously awaiting this moment, the first egg arrived. “Lady is lying in the nest bowl. She now has something precious to protect. Lady arrived in the nest at 14:14:29 this afternoon and it was immediately apparent that she meant business. The egg was laid by about 14:31, when she raised her body slightly to allow the egg to dry and harden. By 14:52, she has settled back down again. We could clearly see an egg in the nest from 15:45:10, when Lady takes a break. Dad arrives at 16:13:20 to see his egg and incubates for a few minutes before leaving again at 16:24:30.”

There is an update on Middle! I hope his crop is full to bulging…precious Middle.

‘T’ reports that a Goshawk attack in Poland kills two storks – knocked off nest. Feathers found when team went to check at nest site. So sad. As ‘T’ says, they fly all the way to and from Africa to have this happen! This happened two years ago also.

For today’s feel good moment, we than Sunnie Day for posting an article on a Canadian power company’s intervention.

Power-corporation-builds-new-home-for-inconvenient-osprey Download

I am going are you?

Here is the info and how you can sign up – it is free!

Christian-Cooper-and-Amy-Tan-on-How-Birding-Brings-Them-Joy-a-Live-Event-The-New-York-Times Download

In Canada, Ducks Unlimited has patterned with the Nature Conservancy of Canada and conservation-minded landowners in Alberta to purchase the largest tract of grasslands to become part of the natural environment in Canada, never to be developed. The group are busy raising the 30 million to finalise the plans. I am delighted.

Conservation-leaders-join-forces-on-largest-private-grassland-project-in-Canadian-history-—-Ducks-Un Download

The British Trust for Ornithology confirms that backyard gardens help increase the population of pollinators. Thank you to everyone who is changing their lawn out for a space for the birds, bees, and butterflies – so many are and if you do not allow anyone to spray those insects that come about will be healthy food for songbireds feeding wee ones in the nest..

Here is the full report from the BTO:

Trends-in-butterfly-populations-in-UK-gardens—New-evidence-from-citizen-science-monitoring-Plummer Download

Thank you for being with me today. Please have a lovely weekend – get outside and listen to some birds. Your spirit will soar! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped to make up my blog today: ‘A, H, T’, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Great Spirit Bluff Peregrine Falcons, World Bird Sanctuary, NCTC, Deb Stecyk and the NCTC, PSEG, Cornell RTH, McEuen Park, Bay Cam. Boulder County Fairgrounds, Moorings Park Ospreys, Outer Banks 24/7, Pitkin County Open Spaces and Trails, Collins Marsh, SCMM, Forsythe Ospreys, Cowlitz PUD, Conservancy Wildlife Foundation of NJ, Great Bay Ospreys, First Utility District Ospreys, Dyfi Ospreys, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Llyn Brenig Ospreys, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, LOTL, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, RSPB Loch Garten, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Sydney Sea Eagle Cam, Raptor Resource Foundation/Explore.org, Birds in Helping Hands, BTO, Sunnie Day and Cabin News, the New York Times, and Ducks Unlimited.

Too much news…Thursday in Bird World

15 June 2023

Good Morning Everyone!

The inbox was bulging with happiness as each of you watched Little Mini at Patchogue eat its heart out Wednesday morning. My goodness, that little one even went back for seconds! More on Mini, later, but suffice it to say it made my day on Wednesday just a wee bit better.

The wildfire smoke is somewhat gone, the air outside is a little cleaner, and the skies are clear in southern Manitoba. There is no sign of the Blue Jay fledgling in the garden Tuesday evening, but I will check again as it gets late. Maybe. What a joy that little one was to observe! And the parents, too, keep a close watch. Overhead, at least 150 Canada Geese headed north to find space, food, and cooler temperatures. They might find some of this smoke from the burning fires. These are the ones without families to care for – so many, and this is not the first chevron of geese going over in the last week. So many without families this year. It is worrisome.

On Monday the 16th, I will be travelling north to do a Bald Eagle nest count. I hope to have some good images of wildlife for you on Tuesday. Today I am going to Delta Marsh on the southern tip of Lake Manitoba to see if I can find some shorebirds! Wish me luck. I will be out all day so hopefully, Little Mini will be persistent and get some nice fish.

Lewis was growling at the rain at couple of days ago.

Today he decided to play with his piece of Honeysuckle branch.

Missey just wants to remind everyone that she is ‘sweet’.

Both kittens remind everyone that planting a tree to remember someone or some pet is good for the environment!

Lewis and Missey also remind us that if you are doing some late spring cleaning, see if there is anything you have and don’t need that your local wildlife rehab clinic could use. It is incredible the things they need – check their wish lists and then also think of power tools to help build and repair buildings and fences. Anyone die recently leaving a lot of tools? Find out if the rehab can use them. What a lovely way to remember a loved one by donating to a good cause.

Wednesday turned out to be a mixed blessing day. We might as well start with the ‘good’ before I throw in a little of the sadness.

‘H’ reports that the Dahlgren Osprey platform and its osplets are doing fantastic. You can see the age difference in the plumage…this is good news.

It is day 41 for the second egg at Kent Island. I wonder if that one is unviable as well.

The other nests that ‘H’ has been monitoring are all doing well and she hopes that there are no turn arounds on them! Me, too.

Severna Park: Oh, we worried about Middle after we lost Little to siblicide but, things continue to go well. Middle is older and bigger and the pair are eating side by side. ‘H’ reports that fish are plentiful.

‘H’ reports that the Barnegat Light feeding 0944 to 1006: The feeding was peaceful eating side by side until, at 0955 Big beaked and bit Little. Little was able to return at 1001 and ate beside Big. Total bites for Little = 60. (I hope this nest won’t go sour now, like so many others that started out peacefully).” We wait and see. Send good wishes..that Big one is rather vicious. Let them make it out of the reptile stage!

At the Cape May Osprey nest, it is day 38 for egg one and ‘H’ says we are on pip watch.

I spent the day checking on some nests that I monitor but do not often report on – or a few even that have fallen through the cracks for one reason or another. At the Collins Marsh nest in Wisconsin, there are three osplets for what I believe to be new adults at the osprey platform near the local nature centre. This nest is very difficult to watch as fish are not always plentiful – at all! Malin, the only surviving osplet, force fledged in 2021. I criticised the local caretaker consistently because help was not at hand and the little one died on the ground. There is a new person at the nature centre. I hope if there are issues they will get out and look for those babies on the ground! The nest is on top of a fire tower that was moved. There is no perch and access to the desk would be difficult (or so I was told by the last caretaker – I don’t believe it!).

No chicks yet at Fortis Exshaw near Canmore, Alberta. You can see the fires burning in the distance. It was raining when I checked in. That is good…no chicks! Bad for little ones.

What you are seeing below is the Marsh Meadows osprey platform in Jamestown, Rhode Island. It is one of several nests on Conanicut Island. The three eggs hatched on May 29, 29, and 1 June. By the 7th of June, all three chicks were dead. Was it starvation by parental neglect? or was it starvation through mitigating circumstances – male was missing?

Both adults were on the nest this morning so, since the male is not missing (so he did not die of Avian Flu as suggested on 7 June), did the chicks die of starvation from inexperienced parents?

Bay and Beau’s two little osplets at Island Beach are doing well.

The three at Wolf Bay, Alabama are thriving. Gosh, look at those three big osplets!

The three at Oyster Bay should be getting along but, there is often beaking.

Dad delivering a fish to the Oceanside, NY, Osprey platform.

Two chicks at Seaside. So far so good.

‘H’ reports that both of the Patuxent River Park Osprey nests have osplets that are full and civil!

I just caught the Dad at Patuxent II bringing in a monster of a fish at 2002. Wow.

Oh, just sit down and cry – joyful tears. It really is OK. Newmann is feeding his peregrine falcon babies. Their Mum, Savanna was killed protecting her nest from a GHO. Newmann has called Savanna and called her and is now taking full responsibility for their last chicks together.

Dale Hollow DH17 has been caught on cam and appears to be doing quite well. River has a new mate (or so it appears). Only time will tell if she rebuilds at the original nest she shared with her partner, Obey, who disappeared this spring.

Bonus and Waba are on the move (slightly).

Now, let’s take a look at Little Mini at Patchogue. Is the saying ‘The Early Bird gets the fish’ applicable? Mini did well for when the Big ones were sleeping. That early fish that landed on the nest at 0536 was a bonus. Little Mini ate, then the Bigs woke up, and by 0639 Little Mini decided he would go back to the table for seconds. He finished eating at 0652. Mini got some from the 0846 delivery between 0908 and 0912. He had nothing from the 1526 delivery. He was in submission. At 1537 two of the Big siblings are having a tug o war with the fish. Then it rains. During some of this time Little Mini seems to be shoved down and around. Parents are trying to encourage self-feeding amongst the big siblings. This may or may not be an issue for Mini. If he can get those early feeds, he is OK.

According to someone on the chat there are three lakes nearby and 2 creeks connected to the bay. Should be lots of good fishing.

0540

0639 Up for seconds.

0652. Full. Leaving the table for the second time.

0912. Enjoying a meal. How does it feel to go hungry and see all the other siblings fed. I hope Little Mini feels full and alive this morning!

Later…after ‘they’ wake up. LOL.

1536. Mini shut out.

1537. Tug o war for the fish.

Fish – teasers and big fish – land at the Patchogue nest after the rain and all the time that big chunk of fish is still on the nest. Mini is quick to take opportunities when the Big ones show no interest. Mum feeds a small live fish at 1723 and then moves to the big chunk left at 1736. Mini rushes and is at the beak at 1737 . He ate until 1751ish. Then another big fish comes on the nest at 1800. Mini is right there – two big pieces of fish. He starts getting fed at 1802 and is moved out of the way at 1830. We should really see some growth in Mini by Friday with all this fish.

Smart Mini. He is filling his crop and then dropping it so he can hold more fish. I hope Mum has a good look at this persistent third hatch. It reminds me of Tiny Tot Tumbles from Achieva or Blue 464 from Foulshaw Moss. A Survivor.

Mini had a really good day and he is going to sleep well tonight. Happy Osplet dreams, Mini.

Mini was up and had an enormous crop Thursday morning…way to go Mini! Dad came through at Patchogue with three large fish by 0959.

Speaking of the Foulshaw Moss nest, White YW and Blue 35 have three osplets again this year.

At the Boulder County Fairgrounds, a team feeding by the adults really helped the third hatch, Little, who has been beaked and shut out from most feedings. This nest is still problematic…and each pulls at our heart.

After…this little guy is really struggling. Send your best wishes that they team up to feed the chicks until Little is old enough to hold its own.

At the SWFlorida Eagle nest, M15 visits. Unclear if E22 is still around. Not seen at the nest for a couple of days. M15 will not leave the area until E22 is known to be gone. M15 has taken his parental duties very seriously since Harriet went missing in early February. Thanks Vijay!

The Ms are well…growing up on Big Red and Arthur’s nest. Fledge watch is what? a week away? They may be big but, when the rain came they all wanted under Mum! Oak leaves. Across Tower Road there are Oak Trees. Big Red likes her chicks, when they fledge, to fly to those trees. The eyases have imprinted everything from the type of prey that is safe to eat to now these leaves. (The pine is for insects).

Big Red’s E3 was out doing an educational visit today.

Murphy is enjoying the life of a single foster dad now…it is quiet and no one takes his food!

There is now only one eaglet in the Estonia hybrid eagle nest. ‘T’ explains: “Good news in Estonia is that the baby hatched in the nest of Greater and Lesser Spotted eagles. There are not enough Greater Spotted eagles, and many of them are lost during their massive European-African migration. They create mixed couples. This nest, in Harju County, Estonia, was the nest of male Tõnn, who used this nest since 2016. Sadly, Tõnn, did not return from Spain in 2020. We don’t know what happened to him.”

Here the chick is taking a mouse form one of the adults.

‘T’ writes that the Russian Ornithologist “Michail Korepov went to the National Park “Sengileevskiye Gory” to check the breeding situation of large raptors. So this year, they found 12 white tail eaglets, 6 owlets and 2 Imperial eaglets – they are growing up in the national park! And the number is not including 2 chicks of Altyn and Altynay.” Very good news on trying to increase the population of these critically endangered raptors for the area.

‘A’ has been keeping an eye on Deyani and writes, “Meanwhile, there are either storms on the way or Angel is having a sudden burst of empty nest syndrome at the thought of Deyani fledging, because at 7.30pm, Deyani has an OBSCENE crop and the nest is FULL of prey. A rabbit, a vole and something unrecognisable are literally filling the nest bowl. I have NEVER seen this on this nest. Any food that arrives is dealt with in seconds by Deyani and nestovers are non-existent. But not tonight. Angel is attempting to tempt Deyani, who is taking the occasional small mouthful from her, but essentially, mum and daughter are standing side by side at the back of the nest, surveying the smorgasbord spread out at their feet. Deyani is going to have to find an appetite if she is to sleep on that nest tonight. It is just after 9.30am here in Melbourne, and it is another cold day. Sunny thus far, but that will change apparently.”

Baby bunnies. They seem to have cleared out an entire nest! Oh, dear.

‘H’ reports that Mini at the Forsythe Nest had only 30 bites on Wednesday. It is, as she says ‘feast or famine’ for this little one.

The third hatch at the Evergy Topeka Falcon scrape still has feather issues. The feathers have grown but have not broken the shaft and it is having difficulty jumping up to the ledge of the scrape to get food.

Will be sending a note to Evergy. The little one tried to jump up to the perch so it could have prey but failed…

Everything about Peregrine Falcons in a nutshell:

Peregrine-biology-natural-history Download

Just look who has returned to the Cal Falcons scrape!

Doug Gillard reports on the little Red-tail hawk, Tuffy, let that has survived in the Bald Eagle Nest with his foster sibling, Lola.

Kathryn reports that one of the goshawks in Estonia has branched. She adds, “I have somehow watched this nest since the eggs were laid and I thought none of them would hatch since they were left out in the cold so often! But look at them now!” Beautiful hawks.

At the Black Kite nest in the Kurzeme Forest, the only chick of Gold and Griegis is doing well.

Dulles-Greenway gives us an update on Pat, the eaglet of Rosa and Martin, that is in care.

Meanwhile, Pi and Flora are being fed by the adults in the wetlands.

Each of us needs to know that what we do matters. We can change the lives of our raptors, but we have to take action. Sometimes it is simply ‘baby steps’ towards our goal, but each success will lead to another. We must realise and inform others that the fate of our wildlife, our beloved raptors depends on us because most of their challenges are human-caused.

Thank you to everyone for being with me today. Please take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, posts, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, Kathryn, T’, Dahlgren Ospreys, Severna Park Ospreys, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, Collins Marsh Ospreys, Fortis Exshaw, Marsh Meadows, island Beach Ospreys, Wolf Bay Ospreys, PSEG, Oceanside Ospreys, Seaside ospreys, Patuxent River Part Ospreys, Lachelle Koestert and Peregrine Falcons at Great Spirit Bluff, Aliengirl and Bale Eagle Live Nests and Cams, Maria Marika FB, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Boulder County Fairgrounds Ospreys, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Vijay and SW Florida Eagle Cam, Cornell RTH, Cornell Cam Chatters, World Bird Sanctuary, Eagle Club of Estonia, Looduskalender Forum, Window to Wildlife, Evergy Topeka Falcon Cam, SK Hideaways and Cal Falcons, Canadian Peregrine Falcon Foundation, Doug Gillard and Nor Cal Birding, Latvian Fund for Nature, Dulles-Greenaway and Forstythe Ospreys.

Both Minis Eat…Wednesday in Bird World

14 June 2023

Good Morning Everyone,

It is the middle of the week and it continues to be another heat wave on the Canadian Prairies – 30 C. There is also another problem – the smoke from the wildfires is set to envelop our City from 1600 Tuesday to 0700 on Wednesday. Right now, the garden ‘looks’ empty but in the midst of the thick lilac bushes, I can see Little Red eating on the solid suet cylinder along with various types of sparrows. A Black-capped Chickadee was sitting on the line for the cable company. On the deck, Calico has turned up again! She appeared, out of nowhere, around 1700 last evening and a big feed was put out for her. She was ravenous. Calico is a really gorgeous cat. She has been living under the deck since last fall. At times I wonder if she has an irresponsible owner. She has had her breakfast and lunch and is lounging in the darkest depths of the garden where it is cooler. She has an insulated house under the deck and food. She appears to have no interest in coming into the house and Lewis and Missey might not like that either.

The sky is now a light pink-grey colour. Solid. If I go outside, it is very smokey. You can smell the wildfires that are being fanned by the high winds. The smoke has driven the animals into the garden where they are eating frantically. All of the squirrels are here, more than 100 sparrows of various types.

In the middle of all this is a small fledgling Blue Jay. It had drinks from the low bird bath and then snuggled up with a pair of very old bird ornaments that my youngest son made eons ago. Then poof, it was gone. I put seed and a very shallow bowl of water down on the ground. Junior and Mrs. know their baby is in the garden. They survey the area from the hydro line and then fly into the garden. Now where is this little one? It was healthy and hopping. I did not see it fly but it had to get to the deck somehow.

They must be so frightened by the smell of the fire.

Oh, and I found the little one. In the corner eating peanuts before it hoped across the back lane and under its nest tree.

Let’s start with something a little fun. Geemeff made the cutest video of Aran feeding Elen and the chicks. Oh, I do adore this Glaslyn nest!

The other day ‘A’ gave us a wonderful narrative of Deyani with the pinecone. Lady Hawk made a video of those moments. Enjoy! Thanks, ‘M’ for sending me the link!

The good news is that Mini had one good feed. The bad news is that Mini was aggressively attacked several times. Mini did not give up though. He waited, listened, watched and tried to get food whenever he could.

On Tuesday morning, Little Mini had a bit of a feed off the 1019 fish. At 11:33 Mum found an old piece of fish tail and Little Mini horked it down. Thanks, Mum! She knew her baby was hungry.

At 1327 another fish comes to the nest. But will Little Mini get any fish? No.

At 13:48 Little Mini did a terrific PS! This tells me we are not dealing with hydration issues.

I have never figured out how to put in those arrows and circles. Apologies. But here is Little Mini’s PS falling…that swirling line attached to the longer straight line to the left over by the pole. Yeap. That is Little Mini’s PS falling down to the ground…wonder who or what might be under there. Now that is a healthy PS!

At 1403 Little Mini has a big crop and is hoping for some fish.

At 1610, Little Mini has a nice crop.

It is now 1720 and three little fish have landed on the nest…obviously intended for the three big siblings to each have their own and self-feed. Will Mini get anything? No. So why not bring in four fish? Or was it coincidence?

Mini is slowly dropping its crop. We need several big fish this evening. Fingers crossed.

Mini looks over longingly at 1736 when Dad comes in with another small goldfish—none for Mini. Maybe this was to be the fourth fish for Mini. Oh, those big siblings.

By 1806, Mini has completed dropping its crop.

Another fish came on the nest at 1819. Big attacks Mini and Mini does not get any of the fish. Will there be a late big fish and will Mini get some? There is another fish at 2023. Maybe Mini will get some. I really hope so.

At 20:37 Mini is at Mum’s beak screaming for fish. Mini gets fed. Mum has been feeding bony fish all day and she is still feeding Mini at 2109! There is no fish left. Well, tears and tears. One good and one great feeding for Tuesday.

‘L caught an early fish – at 0535 and there was our Mini right up there getting fed by Mum while the bigger sibs were ‘waking up’. There was another fish at 0848 and Mini had enough room left from the earlier feed to eat again. This is, indeed, a grand start to Wednesday for our Mini – a full crop Tuesday night, a fuller crop Wednesday morning. Now watch this little one grow before your eyes!

Mini is still eating at 0642.

0907

In his 1991 article, L Scott Forbes (Forbes, L.S. Hunger and food allocation among nestlings of facultatively siblicidal ospreys. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 29, 189–195 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00166400) states: “Previous studies of food allocation among nestlings of siblicidal birds have focussed on the proximate link between food and aggression. However, food sharing among sibs (and brood reduction) need not involve aggression. Here I examine the role of hunger (defined operationally in terms of the amount of food eaten recently) within the broader framework of passive and aggressive food-sharing among nestlings of facultatively siblicidal ospreys (Pandion haliaetus). Feeding among brood members was hierarchical; senior, dominant sibs ate more when hungry, leaving a smaller residual share of food for junior sibs. Senior sibs did not become more generous at large meals (i.e., the prospect of a large meal did not quell the selfish tendencies of senior sibs). That individuals ate more when hungry indicates a proximate link between food and the allocation of resources among siblings. Overall, aggression was infrequent and seemed to be used when junior sibs contested food allocation at meals. Aggression was diminished and food allocation was skewed toward the junior sib in broods with artificially exaggerated hatching intervals, suggesting that senior sibs were more generous when their dominant status was not threatened.” —–We have learned much since 1991 and aggression is not just about food but, at the Patchogue nest, it certainly began when the food supply began to diminish and now the senior siblings are flexing their dominance to eat. On a positive note, Mum has been much more receptive to finding food for Mini since Tuesday morning after a bit of a hiatus starting on Sudan.

AND…

‘H’ reports on Mini at the Forstythe Nest: “Feeding 1627 to 1705, large partial fish. Wasn’t it the old Timex commercials that said: “Takes a licking, and keeps on ticking” ? Well, that’s Mini, for sure. Same scenario, Mini takes punishment from Little, but keeps coming back to Mom whenever possible during a feeding. And, a large fish will always increase the chances of Mini’s success. Mini was at the table a few times during this feeding, including a long private feeding at the end. Total bites for Mini = 59. Total for the day for Mini = at least 311 bites. Good fishing day for Oscar.” That is good news for our other Mini. (more on Forsythe below).

At the Pitkin County Open Spaces and Trails Osprey nest at Emma, Colorado there are three osplets. What a surprise…in the midst of watching so many nests sometimes certain ones get ‘lost/forgotten’ and certainly Emma did. There was concern that the eggs might not be viable and the last time I checked there were two eggs…now there are three chicks in the reptile phase!

The two oldest chicks hatched on 31 May and the third on 2 June. There has been periods of little fish as per a posting on FB.

Here they are today.

Mealtime was, however, pleasant!

The third hatch at the Boulder Colorado Fairgrounds Osprey platform got some fish. It stayed still – playing possum – until the two oldest ate and then went up and had some nice fish. Relief. It had been raining hard most of Tuesday morning.

‘H’ has been monitoring the Forsythe nest for me and this is her report for Tuesday up until the time indicated…just look at that last feeding for Mini. Wow.

Here goes:

Feeding 0733 to 0750, large whole fish –

Little beaked Mini tight away. At 0736 Little beaked Mini even though Mini was behind the line. No opportunity for Mini to eat.  Bites for Mini = 0.

Feeding 0903 to 0910, small headless fish –

Mini got 4 bites, then was beaked by Little. At 0904 Little beaked Big, and Big retaliated, but this beaking frightened Mini who tucked. Big sent Little into ‘timeout’. So they were then positioned [4,1,2], and Mini ate. At 0909 Little came up from behind and beaked Mini. Mini tucked briefly, but did not move away, stood his ground, and continued to get bites! At the end of the meal, Little beaked Mini.  Total bites for Mini = 36.

Feeding 1031 to 1043, large whole fish –

Positioned[4,1,3,2]. Big beaked Little, so Little dropped back. Mini ate. By 1036 positioned [4.,1,2,3]. Mini ate. At the end of the meal, Little beaked Mini.  Total bites for Mini = 52.

Feeding 1151 to 1158, small partial –

Little beaked Mini right away away from the feeding line. Mini stayed there. When the feeding was over, Little beaked Mini.  Bites for Mini = 0.

Feeding from 1235 to 1415, huge whole fish (probably actually constituted 2-3 meals)

Well, rather than recite the play-by-play of who bonked who and how many times, suffice it to say that Little beaked Mini several times. Big beaked at Little a couple of times, Big beaked Mini once, Middle beaked Mini once. They each were fed to being full, left the table and came back to the table several times, including Mini. Mini would always come back, and there were a couple times when Mini had a private feeding.  Total bites for Mini = 164, from that huge fish.
H, 13 June 2023

‘H’ reports that it was a beaking fest at the Barnegat Light Osprey Platform and that it was started by Little! Not very smart.

Tom and Audrey have one hatch at the Chesapeake Conservancy. This one came on the 12th. W ill there be others? Looks like there could be another pip.

Still three eggs at South Cape May. F or a moment – in my state of tiredness and bewilderment (at Patchogue), I thought I heard a chick.

Cowlitz PUD had a nice fish and one of those small goldfish, too…oh, sometimes the fish are so small. The chick seems to be fine and Electra is getting some fish, too…not huge amounts but they are eating.

Big was at the Achieva Nest hoping for some fish and looking to perch for the night. Last news was that Middle was doing well in care.

The camera is down this year at the DuPont Centre, Mispillion Harbour Ospreys. Someone just posted a short video clip showing the couple with three osplets. Oh, I would love to know if this is the same couple from last season. That Mum loved the colour yellow and would bring in all manner of decorations but only in yellow. t hanks, ‘H’ for your keen eye in finding this video.

Bety and Bukacek’s storklets get banded!

R4 and R5 are still hanging out together around the nest tree at the WRDC. Look at the tree between the nest and the house.

One of the fledglings from Thunder and Akecheta’s new nest has made its way to the old West End nest Tuesday afternoon.

Thunder keeping an eye.

Some of you have been concerned about the Surrey eaglet – part of the Dave Hancock Foundation nests. Here is a video update on the little one who appears to have some mobility issues. Great news.

“Recorded June 12 2023, 7:04 pm – as some of you know, younger eaglet SR8 at our Surrey Reserve bald eagle cam nest seems to be having some issues with his right leg, though it doesn’t usually keep him from getting to the food, or standing up to his slightly older and more than slightly larger sibling. We are hoping this spunky youngster will thrive, and I’m always happy when an expert has some promising comments. Please read the forum post that goes with this video – link is https://forum.hancockwildlife.org/vie… (Note – we don’t know the gender of either eaglet; I’m using “he” for simplicity, and because male eagles are normally smaller than female eagles, and SR8 is quite a bit smaller even though less than a day younger, and generally getting plenty of food.)” ~JudyB

Big Red’s Ms are fine after the intervention to clean out the 50 plus maggots out of their ears. They are hopping, flapping, and self feeding. They must feel a whole lot better. Thanks, Cornell!

There is a reason that Jackie and Shadow at the Big Bear Valley Bald Eagle nest are loved by more than 9000 people. Just look.

Does M15 have a potential new mate?

So sad…Savanna died protecting her four eyases from the GHO struck on the 12th. Thanks ‘SP’.

Newmann continually calls for her. Let us hope that he can raise these four to fledge.

Just look at this Cromer eyases! With hawks and falcons we blink and they are ready to fledge! And what an interesting place.

Do you follow the latest on the Chichester Falcons from the UK, too? Here is their latest newsletter. Thanks, Janet Shaw.

newsletter-5 Download

At the Olympic Park in Sydney, we are waiting for eggs. ‘A’ reports: “

At Olympic Park, dark is falling at around 17:30 and dad is mating with Lady on the branch behind the nest. She really is not just receptive to but openly encouraging mating, obviously very keen to get some eggs laid in that nest. The pair is protecting the nest and nest area most of the time now, including one or both of them sleeping in the nest tree overnight. (Sometimes, dad will sleep in a tree nearby, but Lady’s early morning vocals bring him in very quickly for a bonding/mating/nest-checking session.) We all feel the heightened sense of expectation – eggs any day, perhaps any hour! As it nears 6pm, Lady is tucked and sleeping on the branch behind the nest. Dad is presumably somewhere very close by.”

Oh, there is so much going on. Soon we will be watching Diamond and Xavier and anticipating the camera coming back on for the CBD Falcons in Melbourne.

Thanks for being with me this morning. Fledge will be soon for Deyani and the Ms. Be sure to check in on their cameras. Take care. Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, newsletters, and streaming cams that help to make up my blog this morning: ‘A, H, Geemeff, JS, L, M, SP’, Geemeff and Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Lady Hawk and Window to Wildlife, PSEG, Pitkin County Open Spaces and Trails, Boulder County Fairgrounds ospreys, Forsythe Ospreys, Conservancy Wildlife of NJ, Cowlitz PUD, Achieva Credit Union, Mlady Buky Storks, Heidi McGru and the WRDC, IWS, Hancock Wildlife, Cornell RTH, FOBBV, Carol Shores Rifkin and the NEFL and SWFL Eagle Cam Club, Steven Smith and the Peregrine Falcons at Great Spirit Bluff, Sydney Sea Eagle Cam, Raptor Resource Project, SK Hideaways and Cromer Falcons, and the Chichester Newsletter.

Mini finally gets some fish…Loud and feisty Soledad…Tuesday in Bird World

13 June 2022

Good Morning!

So what do you do when you worry? This morning after seeing Tiny shut out of food at the Patchogue nest for another day, it seemed like a good idea to head out for a walk in the forest despite the 29C temps. Tiny has not eaten since it had a huge crop late Saturday. Nothing is better to clear the mind than walking through trees with a slight breeze and looking at ‘the living’.

Fort Whyte Alive is restoring and building wetlands. They are being so careful not to disturb the waterfowl that the new area is intended to benefit. Two days ago, I could see only two Hooded Mergansers despite others saying there were three. Today, I turned, and there were three! Two drakes and a hen. Then turning away – I did not make a peep, but I sure wanted to – there was another hen with ducklings! There were eighteen. After so few goslings and Mallard ducklings, this was just overwhelming. Hooded Mergansers do breed in southern Manitoba but, according to all the ‘counts’, they are more populous in eastern Canada and Ontario than where I live.

Happiness in a pond full of Dragonflies and mosquitoes! A tip: if you go to wetlands and there are mosquitoes about, do not wear open-toe sandals. Yes, I did. LOL. Silly me. But I did have on long pants and a long sleeve shirt. Thank goodness. The running joke in Winnipeg is that people get eaten so severely by mosquitoes that they feel like they have given blood to the Red Cross. There were t-shirts to that effect for one year. The Dragonflies must be eating well!!!!!!!

In addition to the Hen, there were also two Mallard hens with eight ducklings. This was just a wonderful sight.

The two Mallard drakes were having a siesta!

Hooded Mergansers are ‘climate endangered’ according to Audubon. Many hope that the species is adjusting to climate change.

Valley-News-Adaptable-Hooded-Merganser-Adjusts-to-Changing-Environment Download

There are always Red-winged Blackbirds standing sentry at the top of the trees, flying around and following the humans on the paths if they get too close to their nests. This fella kept a really close eye on me and was vocalising very loud.

But then…just around the bend, there were geese with their five goslings. Talk about growing! This is the couple in the water two days ago.

Just lovely. School children were everywhere with nets checking the water, some were in kayaks or canoes, and others were heading to the Interpretative Centre. It is a great place to introduce youngsters to nature and hopefully, they will grow up to be good stewards of the land.

Lewis and Missey literally go and hide when they hear a Peregrine Falcon! It is incredible. Not frightened by eagles or anything else but let those falcons start and off they run! Her name is Soledad, the only eyas of Monty and Hartley at the San Jose City Hall scrape. Nice name.

Soledad is one ‘tough cookie’. Very strong and curious…she goes all over the place! After a meal, of course.

Sometimes Monty looks terrified.

In case you are going to miss, Deyani, SK Hideaways did a really cute video of this gorgeous hawklet before she fledges!

Patchogue is heartbreaking. The fish have changed. There are big bony ones coming on that take a long time to feed so that by the time it could be Mini’s turn, the Big ones are hungry again. Mini is very intimidated but that does not stop it from watching and trying to get up to some fish. It has been beaked by one of the big siblings and has lost out on food on Monday – at least anything more than a few bites by 1606 that I have seen.

Mini hopeful at 1607, but no fish left. This little one had tried and tried. Did I say that I have to go for walks in order to watch this nest now? Pray for lots of fish…we need a fish right after one another.

Mini had only a few bites of food today and was brutally attacked by the older siblings. How sad this has all become. It is unclear if any intervention could take place. ‘L’ is on it -. PSEG says that the osplets are all “doing fine”. It is 2300 and Mini has not eaten for 52 hours…OK. 3-4 bites. By Tuesday evening it will be the very critical 72 hours. Let us all collectively hope for a fish.

It is Tuesday morning and three large boney fish came to the Patchogue nest prior to 1019. Mini had 3 bites before it was sent into submission. The little one tried to chew off a bone. Mini is starving and persistent and a survivor…if it gets a chance. Mum was being so slow to start to feed it from this fish that I thought she was going to refuse. Mini does not understand.

Mum works around that bony head of the fish and finally starts feeding Mini a few decent bites. Is it possible Mini will get the rest of that fish before the others wake up? If so, Mini will survive to live again. Go Mini!

Tears. This nest desperately needs fish delivered like this or Mini will continue to be shut out and desperate. Send your most positive wishes. We need Mini to be another week older and he should be able to handle the Big ones better.

1100. Still being fed. Mum is fighting the bones and trying to eat, too. Mini is getting a crop. So Mini went more than 60 hours. Tears. Come on Mum…feed this baby more quick!

Mini ate until 1108 when the Big ones came up. Now why can’t Mum feed Mini as fast as she does the Big ones? It would make all the difference.

The weather has turned nasty in the UK with thunderstorms, high winds, lightning and hail. Maya kept the three osplets warm and protected as best she could teaching them to tuck their heads in. The minute the storm stopped Blue 33 was on the nest with a fish. Yes, he caught it during the thunderstorm for his family. Great guy! My choice if I were an Osprey!

It might be clear in Rutland but it is pitching down rain at Glaslyn. Elen is keeping the babes warm and dry.

The camera at Dyfi seems to be down.

At Llyn Brenig, Mum is spread out in a great umbrella protecting her chicks.

Dylan is home with Seren at Llyn Clywedog. The storm is passing.

At Loch of the Lowes, Laddie delivered another small gold fish. This nest is hungry. The issue is down to intruders.

Good feed on Tuesday. No animosity at LOTL. Yippeee.

At Loch Arkaig, the storm arrived quickly and left. Dorcha took great care of her Only Bob in the heavy rain and hail – but not until she had bolted off the nest when loud thunder frightened her. Just listen to the wind and heavy rain. Poor thing.

No shortage of fish at Poole Harbour. I saw one on the nest while CJ7 was feeding off another. All Bobs are little reptiles now.

Continuing to watch the Evergy Topeka Peregrine Falcons, where the third hatch is only a day younger than the two oldest and yet…the plumage is underdeveloped. Grateful that the feathers are starting to come out of the shafts but, what will happen to this baby?

‘H’ reports that the feedings remain civil at Barnegat Light. That is fantastic news…We all know that this can change. All it takes is a bad day for fish deliveries to set the nest off so please enjoy it now! You can see they are turning into little reptiles…itchy and a little anxious, they will be.

Birds in Helping Hands reminds us:

We are monitoring the Great Spirit Bluff Falcon scrape. There was a fierce GHO attack and Savannah defended the nest. Hoping she returns and is uninjured.

Newmann, the Dad, has been dropping off food. Savannah has not been seen since the GHO attack. Send your wishes. The eyases are old enough that Dad can raise them alone but our thoughts are with this brave Mum who might have fought that owl to the death to save her chicks.

Young Benjamin has caught up with the other storklets and is now six days old. This is excellent news. This wee one was so tiny. See the change!

There are still four storklets at the nest of Karl II and Kaia in the Karula National Forest in Estonia. There were numerous feedings throughout the day and at the evening feeding by Karl II the storklets had huge crops. Kaia arrived to feed but seeing no one was hungry enjoyed all the fish herself. the parents have to eat, too. This is great news – everyone full and the storklets all growing.

Bety and Bukacek’s storklets are growing and growing and doing fabulous. There are five of them.

This is the latest update on Dulles-Greenway Pat:

Ithaca, New York needed rain. We noticed this on Ferris Akel’s tours and it was getting it on Monday. The Ms were soaked! But with all that beautiful plumage, they are fine. Big Red was on the nest at one point and you could not tell her from one of the Ms.

Not sure they moved!

Murphy and his Eaglet have now been separated. Here is the latest news from Wild Bird Sanctuary.

If you are a fan of Kielder Ospreys then you will be delighted to hear that Blue 437 named Elsin, the only offspring of UV, and grandchick of Mrs G and 11 (98) – the original Glaslyn pair – was spotted in Cumbria. He survived his first migration!

New-post-The-sighting-of-the-year Download

Thank you so much for being with me this morning as we skipped around the nests. My focus remains on Mini at Patchogue (as well as Mini at Forsythe who had 36 bites this morning and Boulder County that I need to check on). Send your best wishes to all the nests. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, posts, and streaming cams that helped to make up my blog this morning: ‘H’, ‘L’, ‘SK’, San Jose City Hall Falcons, SK Hideaways and SJCH Falcons, SK Hideaways and Window to Wildlife, PSEg, LRWT, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Llyn Brenig, CarnyXWild, LOTL, Geemeff and the Woodland Trust, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Evergy Topeka Falcons, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, Birds in Helping Hands, Linda McIlroy and Raptors of the World, Maria Marika, Eagle Club of Estonia, Mlady Buky Stork Cam, Celia Aliengirl and BE Live Nest Cams and News, Cornell RTH, Kielder Forest, and Wild Bird Sanctuary.

Hatch for Tom and Audrey…Monday in Bird World

12 June 2023

Good Morning,

Oh, Sunday was a beautiful day – much cooler with a super breeze. A nice day to be out in the garden – it has really been neglected. The tiny tomatoes needed picking and the w—- hole hanging to—–mato plant needed a good spray with Magnesium Sulphate (Epsom Salts). Did you know that about a 1/4 of a cup in a gallon container – mixed well – and sprayed on the leaves will rejuvenate them if they are yellow with green veins. Try it! Planted three oak trees for the future and three more peony plants for me. The bees have really been visiting the climbing rose-s and the rest of the garden is quiet except for Junior, one grey squirrel, and some sparrows. Talk about lonely – missing those critters.

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With the Ms safely back in their nest and everyone talking about ear parasites, how much do we really know?

Everything you did and did not want to know about nest parasites and maggots in the ears of hawks!!

maggots-in-Ithaca-Hawks-35-36 Download

Taking a wee bit of a break from the ospreys to check on some of the other nests that we like to follow such as the Black Storks in the Karula National Forest in Estonia of Karl II and Kaia (the foster parents of Bonus). Oh, they are adorable. There has been or had been some difficulty with getting food as the Blue Herons were taking the fish from the baskets provided by Urmas. The chicks are hungry and for the first time it has been noticed that Karl II was pulling on both chick 4 and 3…perhaps to do a brood reduction due to poor foraging. This is highly unusual. I do not know of Karl II ever initiating an attempt at brood reduction. He must be very concerned about the foraging and the ability of him and Kaia to provide for four on the nest. This is so sad. Urmas has worked hard to supply the fish baskets for the storks but, he cannot stop other species from feeding. They are also hungry.

When they were feeding, Kaia put the food down in front of storklet 1. Parents want at least one of their offspring to survive when times with food shortages are intense. So many nests of all species have food shortages this season.

The only eaglet at the Bucovina Gold Eagle nest in Romania appears to be doing well.

Oh, the love-life dramas of single male Ospreys. W6 needs a mate at Keilder Forest and he would be a fantastic catch. Read about his latest escapades!

New-post-Nests-1A-and-6-update Download

There is much concern at the Kielder nest 2 where the third chick has hatched and it is 75 hours younger than egg 2! The record at Kielder is 100 hours. Please send this nest your best wishes…we are all nervous already.

Late-arrival-of-chick-3-at-Nest-2-Kielder-Ospreys Download

‘H’ nest updates at Barnegat Light: “Another feeding observed, 1517 to 1530 -Little was late arriving to the table as s/he was sleepy. The three siblings ate side by side without any bonking. At one point Big accidentally knocked Little flat on his back, but Little recovered and went back to Daisy for more bites. Little had a total of 30 bites, and some of them were pretty big ones. Later, per the chat: feeding at 1646 “They eat so nicely” “All three in a food coma”

Hatch for Tom and Audrey at Kent Island! ‘H’ reports that this baby was out of the shell around 0330 and that if it is egg 1, it was 42 days old – H was told that Audrey’s eggs tend to hatch at the far end of the scale.

Tom sees his baby for the first time. (This is new-dad, Tom – all ospreys at this nest are named Tom and Audrey).

Dahlgren looks good, also. “Feeding 1413 to 1455, very peaceful, both Osplets well fed. Ya, know, at 4 days apart, this nest is just a pleasant surprise. It still amazes me.”

At the Forsythe nest, Mini is getting battered by Little. Like Mini at Patchogue, it has missed out on a number of critical meals on Sunday. There were ten fish deliveries and ‘H’ counted that Mini got 159 bites of fish. I remember dancing when I counted 97 bites for Tiny Tot Tumbles. Mini will live to see another day but Little appears to be getting much more aggressive…going after Mini which tells me the third hatch is a female, most likely.

‘H’ complete report to give you an idea of how a nest is watched when we think siblicide could become an issue: “Feeding 0818 to 0829, small partial fish – Mini was up front and did not get any bites from Opal before s/he was beaked by Little. Crazy Little beaked big at 0820, and was beaked back. Little did make it back to eat, but Mini never even made an attempt to get back to the feeding line. Total for Mini = 0I’ve noticed that the attacks on Mini by Little the past day or so have become more violent, and include the biting, and last longer. Oh, geez.Feeding 1236 to 1251 – medium whole fish. Over 4 hours since the last fish.Little beaked Mini at the start. Mini in submission. I took until 1248 for Mini to get into a good position [3,1,2,4], but then Middle beaked Mini ! Total for Mini = 0Feeding 1340 to 1353 – medium whole fishMini wasn’t even up at the feeding line, but at 1342, Little reached back and beaked Mini, and again at 1345, and 1346. At 1346 Big Beaked Little. By 1348 Mini had found a safe spot to try to get fed, between Middle and Big, but Big beaked Mini ! Mini never came back. Bites for Mini = 0Feeding 1456 to 1501 – small partial. Mini was not bonked at all, but s/he seems timid of all of them now. Big only had a couple bites and dropped out. Mini held back, sort of between and behind the other two. Mom reached out and gave Mini one bite. Total bites to Mini = 1 Feeding 1529 to 153230 – small fish piece. Poor Mini scrambled across the nest to get to Mom first, and got two bites, before Little caught up with him and beaked him. Total for Mini = 2 bites. Feeding 1608 to 1615 – small fish. Mini first to Mom’s beak, but is soon bonked by Little. Things shuffle around a bit, Mini gets back to the table, then positioned [4,1,2,3], and Mini got some bites. Total bites for Mini = 17. Feeding 1647 to 1654 – small partial. Once again Mini rushed over to Mom, received one bite, then was beaked by Little. At 1652 Little tried to reach between Middle and Little, and Little beaked Mini. Total for Mini = 1. Feeding 1749 to 1803 – partial fish. Mini was bonked by Little at the beginning. At 1752 Mini wasn’t even close by, but Little just had to beak him again. At 175942, Mini got its first bite. Only Middle was still nearby, but at that point Mini got nearly a private feeding. Total bites for Mini = 36. So far, today, 10 feedings (I sent a report on the first two earlier). There may be another feeding this evening, I’ll check in the morning. Total bites for Mini so far today = 159.” How sad it is that your birth order has such an intense impact on your life (as it often does with humans, too). — The feeding for Mini did not change with other deliveries on Sunday night. Mini went into submission even though there was fish left that Mum ate. It is not looking good for this fourth hatch at all.

At the Patchogue Osprey platform, Mini is as keen as Mini at Forsythe for fish but has been often locked out due to the Big ones barging in or the intimidation that comes now from both Big and Third. Thankfully, Mini is older, wiser, and waits and watches…and I am certain that this Mini is a female.

Mini at Patchogue stretching and flapping its wings after finally getting a fish feed. Mum fed the three for over an hour. It is unclear how much was left of that bony fish when Mini got its ultimate time to eat by itself in peace. But, Mini did get some fish.

In the UK, Louis turns up with a late night fish snack for Dorcha. So sweet…and the talon tapping osplet slept through it!

Oh, how I have been missing Jackie and Shadow. Popping in and what a surprise. Our gorgeous Big Bear couple were on the nest! ‘B’ tells me this is an unusual low-lying cloud on the mountain obstructing the view. These two are looking good and they are protecting their territory and taking care of that nest!

Today has been a different posting…I will do a quick sweep of some of the Osprey nests but not all of them. My concerns are with Forsythe and Patchogue. We will go back to tracking the daily happenings of most of the nests for Tuesday.

Patuxent I appears to be good today. Nice crops on both osplets.

Loch of the Lowes: Despite having to defend the nest, literally, from intruders, Laddie managed to get a big fish in and both of the osplets had bulging crops. Blue NC0 had to help Laddie defend…go away intruders!

Dyfi Ospreys: It was raining in Wales. Telyn had been a keen mumbrella for the two. Dry and fish in the nest. Thanks, Idris!

All is well at Glasyn with Elen and Aran and the two osplets.

Poole Harbour: Three itchy Reptilian Bobs for CJ7 and Blue 022. All is good.

Manton Bay: All is well, feathers are coming in – you can see the shafts. But the condensation doesn’t let us get a very good look at Blue 33 and Maya’s three Bobs.

Llyn Clywedog with Dylan and Seren Blue 5F: All good.

Llyn Brenig: As far as I can tell-without watching closely-, all is OK.

Loch Arkaig: Louis brings a large whole fish to Dorcha and chick for breakfast. Well done, Louis.

Boulder County Fairgrounds: My concerns are growing for the survival of the third hatch. Is anyone watching this family closely? Any comments? Hatch dates are May 26, 27, and 29 but that little one appears to be struggling. Please correct me if I am wrong!

In Germany, at the Fischadler web scale, the trio are doing great. T he third hatch just barrels in and pushes its way through the two bigger siblings to get fish. Way to go!

‘A’ watched Deyani yesterday for us and reports, “Deyani had an interesting day, with three breakfasts between 07:10 and 07:33, then nothing until shortly after 7.30pm, when dad brought in a partial rabbit for dinner. As occurred yesterday, the food brought to the nest was about half what they had been bringing up until that point. So it is obvious that over the past two days, the parents are preparing Deyani for fledge – she does presumably need to lose a little bit of weight before she can fly (power-to-weight ratio, spoilt, greedy only chick and all that). Today (12 June) will be the first day of fledge watch – I am not ready, but it appears Deyani is, and Angel and Tom certainly believe their hawklet is on the verge of taking the plunge. The chick is SO curious. I will miss her antics on the nest. Today, she had an epic battle with a pine cone, which landed on the nest with quite a big ‘thud’, obviously from high in the tree. (Had it landed on Deyani, she would really have felt it, I suspect, from the sound dit made and the size of it.) The hawklet had no idea what it was, and initially gazed at ity in astonishment. She then became concerned it may be alive. The tentative approaches with her talon, followed by kicks and other attacks on the pine cone were just TOO funny. Watch her from 5.59pm as she hangs onto it tightly with her right talon and attempts to pull pieces off the pine cone (or defur it). She also had an entertaining moment when a Daddy Long Legs crawled across the pine cone and up the tree. She was entranced as she watched its progress.”

Darling Luna visits the scrape giving us a really good look at how much those chicks of Lou and Annie have grown since fledge.

Birdlife Malta is concerned about changes to EU laws that had allowed for the creation of biodiversity spaces – the Restoration Lawls – and a move by politicians to delete or water down what is in existence. If you live in the EU, speak up!

That said, I know that each of you is interested in so many things, and a new essay in Emergence Magazine might interest you. It is about migrations. The writing is fantastic. Have a read “Creaturely Migrations on a Breathing Planet”.

Creaturely-Migrations-on-a-Breathing-Planet-–-David-Abram Download

Thank you so much for being with me today. I hope that you found something of interest – and that you will always look out for the birds. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to create my blog today: ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘H’, Parasitism in Hawks, Looduskalender Forum, Eagle Club of Estonia, Bucovina Golden Eagles, Lady Hawk and Bucovina Golden Eagles, Kielder Ospreys, Barnegat Light, Dalhgren Ospreys, Forsythe ospreys, PSEG, Geemeff and Friends of Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, FOBBV, Patuxent River Park, LOTL, Dyfi Ospreys, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Poole Harbour Ospreys, LRWT, CarnyXWild, Llyn Brenig Ospreys, Boulder County Fair Grounds Ospreys, Fischadler Web Cam, Birdlife Malta, SK Hideaways and Cal Falcons, and Emergence Magazine.

Ms back in their nest at Cornell, Hatch at Boathouse…Sunday in Bird World

11 June 2023

Good Morning Everyone,

On Saturday, I checked on Mini at Patchogue the first thing and then went off to count goslings and ducklings. I do not even know what to say. The numbers are dismal for hatches this year. Last year, we had floods that ruined the eggs. Some couples laid replacement clutches. But this year, there were simply not the number of geese in the parks to start and even fewer now. We know that the heat has driven all those without little ones north to find food and cooler weather. But what happened to their eggs in the first place? I am hoping that some of our goose specialists will have some answers later in the summer.

I have been following this goose couple all season. Like the other couple, below, they used the nesting baskets provided for their eggs. If there were predators about, this is why their eggs were safe. Why only one hatched for these two is not known. They have always had one little one tagging between them. They are very protective and with reason. This gosling is precious!

There was one other goose couple. They started out with nine youngsters and are now down to five. How adorable is this? A train in the water – Mum and Dad at either end keeping track so no one gets lost or left behind.

Looked and looked. Came across a pair of Hooded Mergansers and some turtles sunning themselves.

And a pair of Mallards with six ducklings.

At the nature centre, the geese and ducks generally remain in the confines of the wetlands, not venturing out as some of the others in our City might. There is a considerable absence of young this year. I then went to another site that I check regularly – where the Osprey flew over head the other evening. There were 38 Canada Geese and 16 goslings of varying ages.

The American White Pelicans were swimming around the edge of the pond and then decided to cross. They are lovely.

When I got home, it was a relief to see Junior enjoying the water in the bird bath and Scraggles on the fence eating a peanut. The garden is sooooo very quiet. (taken through window screens so not so clear)

Scraggles sees me and is frozen…he is living in a tree just down the lane. Wish I could find where Dyson is! The City cut down her original tree as it did Scraggles and she has relocated…

But, first up, there was an intervention at the Cornell Red-tail Hawk nest of Big Red and Arthur. Thanks to streaming cam watchers and volunteers, there was ‘movement’ noted in the ears of two of the Ms. Veterinarians from the Janet Swanson Wildlife Hospital observed and identified the problem as being maggots. They also noted that M3 was keeping its 3rd eyelid over its eye, indicating pain. Arrangements were made to intervene as leaving the infestations could cause pain, infection or damage to the ear and nerves. The intervention was successful and the Ms are now back in the nest with Big Red and Arthur. Thank you! Cause of the maggots: an abundance of prey!

Mini might get shut out of some meals, but, more often than not, Mini leaves with a big crop. On Saturday, there was a moment when the Third tried to intimidate Mini. It went away but was back at the table within a few minutes. Many of Saturday’s fish were very large. Everyone at the Patchogue Nest ate. One thing is for sure – Mini is growing! Those wings are getting bigger. Oh, I hope we are on the stretch to knowing that Mini will survive and fledge!

Mini waiting at noon for the next fish and it arrives. A nice big one.

Mini decides to sleep on the fish but is still in a bad spot for feeding.

Mini moves out of the way.

Oh, but Mini watches and waits and then just look at all that fish that is left and who is up there for a feeding.

After…a nice crop.

Just look at our Little Mini. Clown feet, the red copper feathers at the nape of the head. This osplet is changing and in the nest few days will look very different! Little Mini is going to have some nice feathers growing from that wooly charcoal coloured thermal down. Look carefully at the size of Little Mini’s wings. Not so ‘Little Mini’ anymore. Thankfully.

Throughout the day, Little Mini had a good crop. Dad always brings in at least one nice fish at the end of the day if not two. Mini was too full to eat! All is well.

It appears that Mini might have been shut out of all the early morning feeds at Patchogue. A fish has been left in the middle of the nest to encourage self-feeding and while Mini can sit at the open end and pull some flakes, he really is not yet able to hold it down and pull to get enough food. I am hopeful Mum will feed the little one. Big is now hoping and wing flapping.

‘H’ has been watching the Boathouse Osprey platform of Skiff and Dory closely for the first sign of a pip and it came Saturday morning! Day 39 for egg 1. ‘H’ reports that it was a quick hatch. Dory was not giving any secrets away but the first full view of the chick came at 1338. Thanks, ‘H’. Already wanting fish!

While there is jubilation at the Boathouse, there is growing concern at the Forsythe Nest that ‘H’ has been monitoring. Here are Saturday’s observations. “The aggression seems to be getting worse. There were 9 fish deliveries, but they were all small or small partials. Feeding 0750 to 0808 -Mini did not start out next to Little, and managed to get some bites, but when Middle slid back a little bit, Little attacked Mini. By 0757 Mini was back in a pretty good place [4,2,3,1]. Mini got some bites until Middle dropped back, and at 0806 Little again attacked Mini. Mini didn’t make it back. Total bites for Mini = 35. Feeding 0835 to 0900 – Mini started out eating beside Little and got many bites before Little even started to eat. Little already had a big crop. By 0840 Little wanted to eat, and beaked Mini (Mini never retaliates, simply goes into submission). At 0856 Mini was back at the table eating beside Middle. Big and Little had dropped out. Total bites for Mini = 45. Feeding 1030 to 1045 – Positioned [4,1,2,3]. Positioning stayed the same. There was no aggression. Total bites for Mini = 30.nFeeding 1158 to 1206. Positioned [1,4,3,2]. At 1159 Little beaked Mini, but shortly thereafter, Little dropped out. Mini soon came back and ate. Middle dropped out at 1204. Total bites for Mini = 29. Feeding 1603 to 1610 -Positioned [4,1,3,2], Mini should be good right? At 1606, Little lunged at Mini right across the front of Big, Mini dropped back. Then, Little beaked Big and Middle. Big attacked Little. Little then attacked Mini who was already in submission. Big attacked Little again. At 1607 Big and Middle ate. At 1609 Little tried to get back to eat, and was beaked by Big. Big wouldn’t allow Little to return. Then for some reason, Big beaked Middle. Mom, Opal, finished the fish. Total bites for Mini = 6. Feeding 1645 to 1654 – Positioned [3,4,1,2] Mini stayed tucked in submission from the start. So I went back to see what had transpired before the fish arrived. Well, for some reason at 1644 Mini beaked Big a couple of times. So Big punished Mini. Mini tucked and stayed tucked. They lined up to feed right around where Mini was. Little beaked big up at the food line, so Big beaked back and Little was out. So, Little had just a few bites, Middle and Big finished the fish. Bites for Mini – 0. Feeding 1735 to 1745 – Positioned [1,2,4,3} Mini had 2 bites and then was beaked by Little, then Big beaked Little. At 1736 Mini tried to stand up and was beaked by Big!!! So Mini stayed in the back. At 1743 Mom reached over and gave Mini one bite. At 1744 Little turned around and beaked Mini. Bites for Mini = 3. Feeding 1803 to 1812 – Mini tucked when the fish arrived. The other three ate. At 1805 Mini tried to approach the feeding line next to Little and is beaked. Ditto at 1807 and 1810. Bites for Mini = 0. Feeding 1855 – 1908 – Mini tucked when the fish arrived. But Mini did approach the line, positioned [1,2,3,4}, got one bite of fish then was beaked by Little. At 1857 and 1859 Mini tried to approach and was beaked by Little. At 1903 Mom reached out and gave Mini 4 quick bites, but as soon as Little realized it, she beaked Mini. Total bites for Mini = 5.

Sunday morning saw improvements for Mini at Forsythe. ‘H’ reports: “Feeding 0539 to 0606 – Huge live fish,From the start, Little beaked Mini pretty badly, Mini out. Ditto at 0545, 0546, 0552 0604. At 0553 Big beaked Little. Each time Mini tried to engage, s/he was beaked by Little. Now, I was encouraged by the size of this fish, because the large fish tend to increase Mini’s chances of getting a private feeding at the end. Well, inexplicably, with 75% of the fish remaining, Oscar took it off the nest!! Cringe. Really Dad? Bites for Mini = 0. Feeding 0650 to 0716 – Oscar had taken the previous fish to the perch to eat, and he brought back 1/2 of the large fish. Mini got bites early, Little was late to the table, but by 0652 Little beaked Mini. Again 0655 Little attacked Mini when Mini raised up; that time Big beaked Little very aggressively and Little was out. Big laid down beside Little, between Little and the feed line, so Little couldn’t get back! One time Little tried, and Big raised up and gave her ‘the look.’ So, Middle and Mini ate. By 0706 Middle dropped out. At 070648 Mini walked away with a large crop, but Mini returned at 070830; and walked away again at 071030; and Mini returned to feed at 071315. Both Middle and Big returned for a few bites later on, but Little never did make it back to the front. Total bites for Mini = 102 YES!!!

‘H’ reports that the Dahlgren cam was down all day. She notes reports of two good feedings at Severna. Her observations of both nests at Patuxent revealed that all is well.

Kathryn reports on the Carova Osprey nest. She observes, “The dad has delivered 8 fish so far today. And it is only 3:30pm! They are averaging one fish per hour. It seems like the chicks are rotating feedings and one usually naps while the other two eat and then the one eats at the next feeding. Here they are all amazed because the dad brought two fish at once and one was flopping around! A commenter suggested this may have been done purposely by the dad to get them used to an alive fish! So cool.”

The fish are not always plentiful at the Cowlitz PUD nest. Most days, they might be said to be ‘pitiful’ compared to the size and number being brought to Patchogue. One nice sized fish did get on the nest on Saturday after Kathryn observed only a couple of tiny ones and the Only Bob got a feed.

The wee one had a nice crop and Electra had a good meal, too.

Imagine raising these little osplets from eggs found in a chimney. Sunnie Day posts a heartwarming story from MSN.COM:

Syndication: Cape Cod Times

ORLEANS 06/10/23 Wild Care’s Stephanie Ellis feeds just days old hungry osprey chicks their breakfast of ground quail She raised the birds from eggs that were removed from nests built on chimneys in Osterville and Falmouth by wild life officials The mission next, get the chicks placed into surrogate nests soon along with chicks their same age to be raised by a new set of parents Cape Cod Times/Steve Heasli in ORLEANS 06/10/23 Wild Care’s Stephanie Ellis feeds just days old hungry osprey chicks their breakfast of ground quail. She raised the birds from eggs that were removed from nests built on chimneys in Osterville and Falmouth by wild life officials. The mission next on ORLEANS 06/10/23 Wild Care’s Stephanie Ellis feeds just days old hungry osprey chicks their breakfast of ground quail. She raised the birds from eggs that were removed from nests built on chimneys in Osterville and Falmouth by wild life officials. The mission next, get the chicks placed into surrogate nests soon along with chicks their same age to be raised by a new set of parents. Cape Cod Times/Steve Heasli.

‘A’ has been pondering the nest of Angel and Tom and the upcoming fledge of Deyani.

“Can I nominate Angel as mother of the year? She only raised one, I know, but the sheer horror of watching her mate kill their first-born shook her to the core, and her ability to raise the second hatchling as she did, smothering it with love and protection, hunting for it alongside Tom to make sure it was properly fed until he got his act together, putting up with constant bombardments from the blue jays and their extended family, literally bouncing off her at the rate of up to a dozen hits per minute, was nothing short of inspirational. Even when Deyani was nearly as big as mum, Angel was on the nest during rain, sheltering her baby to the best of her considerable ability (she is a fantastic mumbrella, with those warm and cosy underfluffies looking very safe and appealing), spreading her wings to cover a huge area. She has been absolutely devoted.” “Meanwhile, it just occurred to me that rarely has a chick been so lucky to be born second on a nest. (Yes, I know, it’s a bizarre thought, but true.) I do miss that first hawklet, even though we only knew the little one for a day. It was such a sweet little cutie, and I will never forget its adorable face as it looked up at its dad and yawned. It was our final view of the chick alive. At least its death was quick – hawks are obviously relatively efficient in that regard. But I think a lot about what Deyani has missed out in without her sibling and Angel’s grief was truly something awful to watch. She was heartbroken. And very very angry. She knew she still needed Tom but she didn’t have to like that fact! I hope she has forgiven him for his error – he has done his best to do his best, as it were, and as I mentioned, he even fed Deyani the other day (or, rather, Deyani took food from his beak in a manner reminiscent of feeding). I hope they stay together now and build on what they have done this season. It is such a lovely, peaceful, prey-rich area to raise chicks.”

I did not, as mentioned earlier, check on many nests on Saturday. I am so grateful to those who monitor Osprey nests for me and those who send me news of nests I have been monitoring for one reason or another but did not on Saturday. ‘SP’ sends me new screen captures of the eyas from the Evergy Topeka Peregrine Falcon scrape. Oh, goodness. The wee one looks much better now that those feathers are breaking out of those quills. Now this really is a relief.

Dmitri’s storklet is certainly growing and eating – thriving under the care of this generous and compassionate man.

Dmitri has his storklet outside on the ground in this short video.

Ervie looking good! I kept the comment so you could see it is Ervie. Hard to locate that tracker the way he is situated.

Don’t these Osprey Mums know that we want to see that every chick gets fed?! Barnegat Light 1815 Saturday.

On Sunday, ‘H’ was able to get sight of some feedings, “Feeding from 0644 – 065230. Little was in the back, kind of clueless as to how best to get fed. After several minutes Little started to move around Big and got two bites from Daisy. But, clumsy Big inadvertently knocked Little into the back row again. It was a long time until Little finally got beside Big and began to consistently get bites. Soon Big and Middle dropped out. They are clumsy and awkward, but, there was no intentional bonking between any of them. Total bites for Little = 17.

Crossing the Pond and look at those healthy chicks of Idris and Telyn at the Dyfi Osprey nest in Wales.

What a beautiful Osprey family – CJ7 and Blue 022 – and their trio at Poole Harbour.

Lady

Laddie has had to spend too much time guarding the territory and needs more time being able to fish for the family. There were no less than six intruders seen. Laddie delivered a fish in the morning and one around 1330. Blue NC0 was fish crying for her and the kids Sunday morning.

At Loch Arkaig, we have the ‘bobbing’ Bob. The Only Bob seems to like to beak Dorcha’s talons. It reminds me of a nicknack my grandmother’s had – a bird that would bob its head and pick up a toothpick. The Only Bob is 11 days old today, and you can see it is entering the Reptile phase. See that oily black head. Louis delivered at least five fish on Friday and is known for being diligent…the chick is definitely not hungry!

It is also time to begin checking on Dad and Lady at the WBSE nest in the Sydney Olympic Park. It is now time that eggs could be laid! ‘A’ is going to keep tabs on this couple for us. She reports, “Shortly after 2pm, both Lady and Dad were back on the nest in Olympic Park. Dad arrives first, around 14:02, and arranges a stick before just standing in the middle of the nest for a couple of minutes, looking around as if surveying the area. Checking it for potential threats perhaps? Lady joins him just before 14:07. Dad does some aerating in the centre of the nest as Lady watches. They then stand in the middle of the nest for a moment. Their visits to the nest are becoming increasingly frequent. These two are definitely trying for an egg (or two). Lady is not only ‘receptive’ but appears to be actively encouraging mating, which would lead one to presume her ‘window of hormonal opportunity’ is open.”

I know that many of you are interested in bird feeders and their cameras and this particular video caught my eye. There is a Cooper’s Hawk that visits!

Thank you for being with me today in Bird world. Take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, posts, and streaming cams that helped to create my blog today: ‘A’, ‘H’, Kathryn, ‘SP’, Cornell RTH Cam, PSEG, Audubon/Explore, Forstythe Ospreys, Outerbanks 247, Cowlitz PUD, Sunnie Day and MSN.com, Window to Wildlife, Evergy Topeka, Storks on line, Janice Love and Friends of Osprey Sth Ads, Barnegat Light and Conservation Conservancy of NJ, Dyfi Osprey Project, Poole Harbour ospreys, LOTL, Friends of Lock Arkaig and the Woodland Trust, Sydney Sea Eagle Cam, and Gettysburg Live Cam.

Category Archives: Big Red and Arthur

Utter heartache as osprey chicks die…Friday in Bird World

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Fledges, Zeus missing? and more…Thursday in Bird World

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World Albatross Day…Monday in Bird World

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Fly high Forsythe Mini…Sunday in Bird World

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Lady and Dad’s first egg, fledges, DH2 gets prey…Saturday in Bird World

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Too much news…Thursday in Bird World

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Both Minis Eat…Wednesday in Bird World

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Mini finally gets some fish…Loud and feisty Soledad…Tuesday in Bird World

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Hatch for Tom and Audrey…Monday in Bird World

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Ms back in their nest at Cornell, Hatch at Boathouse…Sunday in Bird World

Syndication: Cape Cod Times

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