Morning Update: R8 still hatching at Dade. R7 is a day old. Thanks for the great capture Heidi!
We woke up to the softest white snow Saturday morning. It was -14 C, which is lovely—cool but not freezing. The sun was out, the sky was a pearl grey-white.
We had an ‘interesting’ drive through the park Saturday afternoon. We love seeing the deer, but today was anxiety-provoking. A man with a dog on lead was provoking the deer. We drove slowly, parked behind the incident and didn’t leave. I always wonder why humans feel that they can threaten or hurt wild animals.
The garden is honoured by the continuing presence of a rabbit, one of a long line of rabbits to visit us. The video camera at the front of the house also recorded three deer visits, none of them the buck with the single antler from the other evening. My heart burns a little warmer.
Closer to home The Girl’s got two new toys. A tunnel with a mesh where they can see their sibling and a tiny rocking dome with some wiggly toys. Hugo Yugo and Baby Hope checked it out.
It is day 34 for egg 1 at NE Florida. If we think of the ‘average’ hatch between 36-38.5 days, we have two to four days to go until this little one hatches. It is getting excited.
What I can tell you is that the eggs at NE Florida are getting rolled and Gabby is being extremely vigilant in her duties. No pip as of Saturday afternoon that I am aware.
Those eaglets of Ron and Rose are really strong! This one hatched at 1016 Saturday. There is a tiny bit of shell stuck to its wing. Oh, my. What a little sweetheart. OK. Maybe to us. I bet its sibling might think otherwise!!!!!
Heidi sends word that there is indeed a pip for R8. Wow. These two will hatch close together and from the looks of it, this is a good thing. R7 is a really strong eaglet. So happy. We need good DNA, great parenting, lots of prey, and blessings as Avian Flu roars its ugly head around the world for the winter (again).
Chase brought Cholyn a fish Saturday morning and got his foot caught on the nest. He managed OK! Thank goodness. Chase and Cholyn are one of the oldest bonded couples in the Bald Eagle community. https://youtu.be/6b4Nsskhzzk?
Here is a very thoughtful video on the illegal release of the lynx. What we need to understand about the illegal releases, why a balanced landscape is important, and the history of the animals that used to live in the area. Why did the lynx go extinct? https://youtu.be/teu8i5vlUWo?
Bird flu – HPAI and H5N1 – are spreading around the world during the winter. I worry for each of our families and, of course, all species. They have enough challenges already.
Calico’s Tip for the Day: Make Time for Story Time even if you are a teenager, an adult, or someone living alone (read to a friend). Reading to Calico with the soft sounds of the words got her to trust me and, as we now know, that trust grew into her joining us in our home. An article in The New York Times speaks to how reading aloud to someone can create intimacy. Calico adds that it is also ‘together time’ ‘analog time’ – and it can be very meaningful and supportive. Why not join us in story time? Make it a part of your life’s routine.
There are Beautiful Trumpeter Swans in Yellowstone. We have a pair that live in Manitoba—remember, we can be colder than Mars—at an Artesian spring north of our City.
Calico ordered three new books from me that she thinks might be good for our family story time. Here they are, and I will keep you posted once we have read them.
Polly Atkin loves owls. They are neighbours to the 17th century property she lives in at Grasmere in the Lake District. Her early observations led her to research the owls. Ms Atkin has a chronic illness and these owls are now her intimate friends and companions. Many of us can relate to these relationships.
This is another book about how a Robin became an intimate friend year after year. A description on the Internet lead me to believe that this book is one that we would enjoy.
A description in New River Books intrigued me. “Each month in The Blackbird’s Song, Miles Richardson delves into the science and mythology behind our relationship with nature, exploring everything from our kinship with plants to the way in which nature influences our moods. Along the way, he offers a range of activities to help us access the benefits of the natural world. Whether it be ‘joy-watching’ birds, rediscovering wonder, foraging for Christmas crafts or going on an urban safari, this book contains all the tools and inspiration you need to unlock the transformative power of nature and find real meaning in your life.”
This reminds me slightly of the new book by Margaret Renkl which is the journal included in my listing of books from 2024.
Pets being rescued in southern California. Thinking about the wildlife…
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please check on all those eagle nests as the chicks have hatched at various dates and are at different developmental stages. At Superbeaks, Barron is eating and finding ways around Keke to get his food. At Captiva and SW Florida there is so much food there has not been an issue around the amount of prey one chick gets over the other. Behaviour can be observed and watching these eaglets is a good way to learn about how they change as they grow – wings, feet, plumage, bills, etc. The only osprey nests have fledglings. There is some interest in bonding and mating at some of the Florida osprey nests, but as far as I know there are no eggs yet. Take care of yourself. We will see you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, questions, posts, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, Heidi, J, MP’, NEFL-AEF, WRDC, BVSgirl, FORE, Androcat, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Bart M and the PLO, Ferris Akel Tour, The New York Times, Raptor Persecution UK, Leave Curious, Channel 5 Belize, Yellowstone National Park, New River Books, Amazon, Chief Miller, International Bird Rescue, UKOsprey Information
Well, the joke is on me. You will get Thanksgiving wishes twice! Thankfully, ‘B’ reminded me that the holiday is the last Thursday in November. I should have known that as it was often on my mother’s birthday and the day my grandmother died – the 26th! Well, I am very thankful for all of you and when the day does get here, I hope you get to enjoy it with friends and family.
Brock’s house has been assembled and lo and behold, the cord is about 30 cm or a foot too short to plug into the outside plug. I am going to phone the company and see what they suggest. Otherwise, it isn’t much good – an insulated ‘heated’ house!!!!!! Other people must have this problem.
Hugo Yugo in the middle of food delivery and wanting to help set up Brock’s house.
The house is definitely insulated.
Finished. With legs. It has anchors to hold it in place due to wind. Thank goodness!
Today is wood delivery day which means my posting will be shorter – touching on some interesting articles and catching up with the Australian birds. We are waiting for a second egg for Connie and Clive at Captiva and incubation continues at SW Florida.
It has been 74 hours at the time I am writing this – 1600 Thursday afternoon, since the first egg was laid at Captiva.
I am posting an article form The Guardian about the catastrophic melting of permafrost in Canada’s Arctic region. This is going to impact much of the wildlife and the consequences are still not known.
‘B’ sent me a couple of good articles from The Washington Post. One is about the new camera at the MN-DNR site. They say it is a new couple that has been there four years. Sure sounds like Nancy to me with a new male. Feel free to correct me! https://www.youtube.com/live/5tECFd82AZQ?
The WaPo also had a wonderful article about all of the soap operas – such as Gabby’s ‘As the Nest Turns’ in May which ‘B’ included. I had not seen it and I wonder how many of you have.
Another great article from Raptor Persecution UK showing once again how ridiculous the people are trying to help the hen harriers. The article begins, “For new blog readers, hen harrier brood meddling was a 7-year conservation sham (2018-2024) sanctioned by DEFRA as part of its ludicrous ‘Hen Harrier Action Plan‘ and carried out by Natural England, in cahoots with the very industry responsible for the species’ catastrophic decline in England. In general terms, the plan involved the removal of hen harrier chicks from grouse moors, they were reared in captivity, then released back into the uplands just in time for the start of the grouse-shooting season to be illegally killed. It was plainly bonkers.”
In the wintry snow, Zorro, the male at the Latvian White-tail Eagle nest of Milda, has flown in to check on things. So nice to see him looking well. https://youtu.be/JI25leSBqa8?
Mum was fishing again at 0422 at Port Lincoln!
Mum is away. Has she gone fishing again?
If she did she did not catch anything. It is nearing 1400 on the nest and Wilko and Kasse have only had the small fish Mum brought in during the night. Fish Fairies!!!!!!!! Where are you? I am starting to think these are both males instead of Kasse being a female because they are so nice to one another! Believe me living with four female cats has taught me females do not get along with other females, normally! Hugo Yugo and Missey pair up and Calico and Hope. Missey and Calico just deplore one another.
Very quiet at the nest of Big Red and Arthur. They normally stop in to check sometime in November. We wait.
The bird photographed in Puerto Rico has been confirmed as “…a 2021 fledgling from a nest west of Billings, Montana, ringed by Marco Restani” (Jane Dell on Ospreys FB).
The band looked green to me!
No new reports on WBSE34. Adults were at Goat Island.
‘J’ sent us Rita the Eagle’s Friday news off of Rita’s FB page (mine was scrambled for some reason): “It has been two years since Rita’s accident in November 2022 and it’s been just over one year since Rita came to live at the Marathon Wild Bird Center in the Florida Keys. I spend a lot of time talking with visitors in front of her enclosure and have enjoyed meeting many people who all love eagles! The questions they ask are interesting. My favorite is which foot is she missing? Neither, I said her wing was partially amputated. Oh, right. And there are a lot of questions about what she eats and when. One of the stories I refer to often is that of her second night in her new enclosure. For the first time I had set up the trail camera inside Rita’s space. Let the learning about Ms. Rita begin! At 10:50pm on her second night the alert on my phone pinged. What had set off the camera? Little did I know that this brand camera was sensitive to night movements and, well, Rita was moving. Eating to be exact. Six minutes later she wandered off having eating the whole fish in the black of night. I contacted Jeanne Kaufman the next day and asked her if eagles ate in the dark? I’m pretty sure she said no. Rita eats whenever the mood strikes her be it in the afternoon or evening or, often, in the late evening under the cover of complete darkness. On the days her meal arrives early she will usually ignore it until at least the afternoon. Rarely does she leave any crumbs behind! (KG) #ritathebaldeagle
No new reports on any of the Melbourne triplets other than the return of the one who got itself into a bit of mischief the other day. Melbourne parents bonding! https://youtu.be/tiDm0uKlIF4?
There have been sightings of at least two different ospreys that continue to be in the UK and have not migrated.
Thank you for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘B, J’, Window to Wildlife, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Raptor Persecution UK, Trine and LDF, Port Lincoln Ospreys, NEFL-AEF, Falcon Cam Project, SK Hideawys, Raptor Resource Project, Cornell Bird Lab, Ospreys FB
15 C with blue skies and sun on Friday but it is nippy Saturday morning reminding everyone that fall is certainly here. We have wind and the dry leaves are dancing off the branches of the trees today. The Starlings arrived early for their suet and the little birds are eating seed and having baths. I am perplexed that we have, or seemingly have only one little Red Squirrel, when in the spring there were at least five. Dyson and the three kits are here as are the Blue Jays and Crows. Mind you, the Crows caw for cheesy dogs but are really wanting peanuts right now!
The Girls have been checking the cat food drawer. It is getting stocked up for our week away along with the food for the outdoor kitties and other garden animals. It feels a bit like getting ready and having a dormitory of teenagers to feed. It is definitely taking longer to get them organised than it will me.
The trip is going to be a little different. One of my former teaching and research assistants when I was at Acadia University lives in the area and after a couple of decades we are going to have coffee and goodies and catch up. Another potter that I wrote about several years ago, Susan Delatour, lives near Lunenburg and we plan to catch up and see the birds around the island where she has her studio. Hopefully there will still be migrants and some eagles will be on hand. The Maritimes are gorgeous this time of year. People travel from all over to see the changing colour of the leaves in mid-October. I hope to have some nice images for you.
There is not a lot happening in Bird World which is why it is a good time to take a wee break. The little falcons are growing like crazy. The Sea Eaglets need to get on with their branching and it appears that Wilko and Kasse, the osplets at Port Lincoln, are going to be a bit of a handful and a joy to Mum and Dad. Many of the cameras are still down including Captiva Eagle cam and NE Florida where the residents of the area are without power, tens of thousands of them. It could be some time before the cam is running again and we find out what is happening in ‘As the Nest Turns’. Maybe this year it will stop turning and Gabby and Beau will settle and raise some eaglets. I sure hope he is up to the task!
Isn’t this sad. No Menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay. None. Zippo. This is precisely why a moratorium is needed.
Let’s hope Clive kept his tail down in that nest as it is OK!
Ron showed up at the WRDC nest looking like he had had some prey. He is looking good. Now, where is Rose?
This was on the Loch Arkaig FB page. I am posting it here so you can see how remarkable these ospreys are. Look at that distance flown in a short amount of time!
Karl II’s son (2022) Waba making progress to Chad.
I wonder if your local wildlife rehab clinic could use any hollow logs you have in your garden? We keep ours so they disintegrate and we have insects for the spring birds but maybe you don’t do that…
News from Ranger Judy Harrington and the Olympic Sea Eagles.
And more from Olympic Park: A says, “At WBSE, we still have our two eaglets, settled in for the night side by side, duckling style, exactly as they have done for the past week or ten days. Here is today’s ranger report:
October 12: A cooler morning with all awake early and all joining in a chorus. Mating at 7:06 (in front of the children, too, and certainly recreational rather than procreational), then both were off. Good hunting this morning, as both returned with gull nestlings just after 7am. Lady fed both eaglets – a long feed with some self-feeding as well. SE33 managed to swallow the leg scrap at one stage. Later, both eaglets were flapping and jumping in the wind. Around 8:30am, SE33 was up onto the branch – so close to branching? Later, SE34 spent time on the rim as well. Then later, after 2pm, definitely branching – SE33 in the ninth week since hatch, at 67 days . More food arrived when Dad brought a fish piece in at 13:26 and Lady fed both eaglets. She brought in another bird herself at 15:37 – a good prey day again.
These two eaglets are the best of friends and are really enjoying lounging about the house without their parents. It’s a wonder they don’t throw a teen party. But please, stay as long as you like – we are in no hurry to see you go. “
Wilko and Kasse wanting fish. It is now past 1200 and no fish! Mum has sat on them to keep the peace. There were four the day prior. This is not good and underlines the importance of the fish fairies at this nest. It is not clear why there are fish some days and not others. See discussion of osprey fishing later in the post. We know, however, that the survival of the two chicks last year rested entirely on the fairies and the dedication of the Port Lincoln Osprey committee.
A small partial fish came in quite late, around 1243.
Perfectly behaved. Beautiful little osplets. Aren’t they the most adorable things you have ever seen?
‘A’ and her unique remarks: “Dad brought in a big, very much alive perch at 19:09:37 and it was very floppy indeed, knocking both osplets for six. Both quickly regained their footing and were up for a feeding. Wilco got the early bites but mum was very careful to feed both osplets. The fish continued to flop about, escaping mum at about 19:14 and having to be recaptured. This helped Kasse, who had been behind Wilco but now got to the front. From this stage of the feeding, Kasse did slightly better than Wilco, so they ended up eating about the same amount. They are very strong little feeders, both holding their heads up, beaks open, and starting to handle bigger bites now. They love their fish and both quickly develop sizeable crops. This is a very large fish, so there’s plenty for the chicks and mum to eat, dad to remove the fish and have his share, and then return the remainder of the fish for another feeding. Everyone is going to go to bed with full crops at Port Lincoln.
Despite the very long wait for the first fish of the day today, there was no sign of bonking or dominant behaviour from Wilco when the food did arrive. The feeding was peaceful and amicable, with no aggression and no intimidation. Neither osplet appeared nervous of the other and both were keen to eat. This was a great relief to us all, I’m sure, because that really was the worry today with the kids getting pretty hungry before food arrived. Hunger is an experience that is very problematic on an osprey nest, as we know, so I think the osplets handled their first taste of not getting a taste (if you get my drift) in a very mature manner. I was proud of them.
They truly are the cutest little people, with their racing stripe and their cute little round bottoms. It will be nice to watch their individual personalities emerge over the days to come. Certainly, we already know that neither has a vicious streak and both love their mum and love their fish. So far, they love each other too and snuggle a lot. The only foolproof way I have found to distinguish them is the size of their egg teeth. Of course, Wilco’s is the smaller egg tooth. “
It is 11 C when this image of F23 and the triplets was taken. It will get to 19 C today in Melbourne and hotter with the sun bearing down on the ledge at 367 Collins Street.
A reports: “The sun is getting hot at Collins Street and our wonderful mum is shading her chicks, sprawled out in front of her in the shade she is providing. They have plenty of stretching room in the area she has protected with her body and wings. She stands a lot while shading them, and yesterday was working really hard, beak open, panting heavily. But her babies were totally comfortable and completely shaded. She has this down pat. She does the best mumbrella I have ever seen at Collins Street. As long as she is on the nest, we need not have a single worry this season about the chicks being broiled in the Melbourne summer sun. That’s a HUGE relief. We both know how concerned we have been on occasion at this scrape, waiting for that sun to cross the scrape and for some shade to come. Now, we need not worry about it any more, unless of course for some reason the chicks are left alone. She has not made that mistake thus far. “
Notice the eyes of Diamond and Xavier’s chicks, Yira and Garramma. They are no longer slits but are open and the chicks can now see.
‘A’ remarks: “Darling Xavier got the chance to start the breakfast feeding at Orange this morning – 06:50 or thereabouts and the kids were up and consuming food. Too cute. I do love it when Xavier is allowed to parent. He did a feeding yesterday and he is so careful (as I said the other day, honey I choked a chick is not a sentence Xavier ever wants to utter. It’s funny how he keeps checking over his shoulder in case Diamond arrives and he gets into trouble. TOO adorable. This morning, he gave up his position without an argument when Diamond’s hefty frame loomed in the doorway of the scrape.” And later, “At Orange, little Xavier popped in shortly before 11:40 to find the chicks alone, so he quickly settled in for some quality brooding time. (I love the way he tiptoes across the scrape.) Even with only two, he is still so tiny that he broods them standing up. So tiny compared to Diamond. The chicks are hopeful of food and reach up towards dad’s beak and Xavier reaches down and touches one of the chicks with his beak. Sweet.
But Diamond was gone for only a couple of minutes. When she returned to the scrape at 11:42, poor little Xavier knew any argument was pointless, though he put in a token protest before getting up. I do adore the way Diamond peers around Xavier to see the chicks, as if checking that they have not come to some harm since she left them a couple of minutes ago.
Xavier does not leave the scrape – he simply moves to the ledge, where he continues to perch, looking out. Aww. Family time. Too cute. Xavier is such a sweetie, though I do fear that he will choke a chick one day with all the feathers he feeds the babies. He prepares the food so well at times, and then at other times he brings in something with virtually complete plumage and starts feeding it to the chicks. “
At Growing Home, Bubba is doing really well. Just look at the transition now to the juvenile feathers.
At Achieva, Jack looks down at the mess that Milton made of the nest in St Petersburgh that he shares with his mate, Diane.
Beautiful fall day at the nest of Duke and Daisy at Barnegat Light. Bald Eagles have been passing through on their migration and stopping at this site. It is gorgeous.
Gorgeous day on the Cornell campus home to Red-tail Hawk couple, Big Red and Arthur. Sadly, both of their chicks died after fledging. One from a window collision and the other from West Nile Virus.
What do you think the biggest threat is to eagles? We will be looking at this as two bills are set to be passed by the US Congress that will impact the Migratory Bird Act.
“Humans are the biggest threat to bald eagles. Much of the bald eagles’ habitat was lost, many of the birds were shot, and they were exposed to widespread contaminants. Between 1917 and 1952, for example, a bounty was placed on bald eagles in Alaska.”
There has been some questions about how often ospreys are successful in catching fish. That is a very loaded and complicated question. It depends on the time of year and the availability of fish. It depends on the water and wind speed. Ospreys only dive down approximately 1 metre or 3 feet tops. They need clearer shallow water. It depends on the temperature of the water. If the water is very warm, the fish dive down to stay cool. That is one of the issues for Olsen at Osoyoos. If we sit and think of the Chesapeake Bay and the fact that Omega could find no Menhaden, it would mean that the ospreys could fish all day and not catch anything. All About Birds says the success rate is 1 in 4 dives. Again, it is complicated and not that straight forward. Observers in the UK note that it often takes 13 dives for an osprey to get a fish.
Dyfi’s findings on success rate vary greatly from those of others published. The Dyfi Osprey Project put out some facts on Osprey fishing:
Fact 31
Ospreys have two main ways of catching fish:
The wet method: Soaring or hovering above the water’s surface from between 10 – 30m, the osprey will dive head and talon first into the water at great speed after identifying a suitable fish prey. After plunging up to a metre under the water, the osprey will surface, position it’s wings above the waterline and with great strength, become airborne from a half submerged position from a stationary position.
The dry method: Rather than hunting at altitude, an osprey will fly almost parallel to the waterline and pluck any surface feeding fish straight out of the water getting only its legs wet. This method is usually used in warmer countries where the fish live near the water’s surface.
Fact 32
Ospreys will catch anything from tiny minnows weighing only a few grams to fish that weigh up to the size of the osprey itself – up to 2Kg or 4½ pounds. Most however, are around a pound in weight or less.
Fact 33
Because ospreys live on all continents on earth except Antarctica, they have a huge variation of fish species they catch. The old English name for osprey is ‘Mullet Hawk’ which gives us a pretty good idea what their main fish prey species in the UK was (and actually, where they nested) before they were persecuted to extinction by 1916.
Fact 34
Ospreys won’t catch a fish at every attempt. Young fledglings have a very poor success rate, around 5% to start with. However, as they acquire more experience, this success rate shoots up considerably. A recent study (2010) of ospreys fishing on an estuary in the northern Iberian Peninsula showed an average success rate of 69%. Young birds caught fish around two times in every five attempts (40%) whilst more experienced adults caught a fish nine times out of ten attempts (92%)!
Fact 35
In the last few years, ospreys breeding in Scotland have started to catch mackerel where historically they had not. This could either be as a consequence of more ospreys choosing nest sites nearer the sea, or a change in the feeding behaviour of the ospreys. Or both!
Fact 36
Every year at the Dyfi we check carefully the areas underneath the osprey nest and various perches. We find loads of ‘opercula’. The operculum is a hard flap covering and protecting the gills of a fish, it’s made out of fused bones. They look a bit like your Granddad’s big toe nail! This is the only part of the fish that the osprey can’t eat.
Fact 37
Every year, we record what species and size of fish the Dyfi ospreys catch. Roughly speaking, around half are grey mullet, 20% are flounder and 20% are trout. The other 10% consist of other fish like sea bass, garfish and perch.
Fact 38
Nora had a great dislike of flounders (or to be more scientific – had a least preference for flounders). There may be a good reason for this. Of all the fish caught by Monty, flounders not only have the highest water content and the least calories, but they are also very tough and take more calories to eat. Think of all those neck muscles straining to tear bits off. This is very hard to prove scientifically but is based on our (anecdotal) observations. A bit like the celery story – it takes more calories to eat celery and to digest it than there are in it!
Fact 39
Monty has on a couple of occasions caught a ‘twaite shad’ – an extremely rare fish in UK waters belonging to the Herring family. So rare in fact, you need a licence to catch one. Monty, now has all the relevant paperwork in plaice.
Fact 40
Ospreys typically catch fish that weigh between 150–300 g (5 –11 oz) and measure about 25–35 cm (10–14 in) in length, but the weight of fish they catch can range from 50 g (2 oz) to 2 kg (4.5 lb).
Wind tunnels are helping us understand about birds and their migration.
Calico’s Tip for the Day: Do you own a dishwasher? Do you know what Tang is? Well, they have something in common – clean dishes! Calico got some tips from the Maytag factory and she is passing them along to you. First, do not rinse your dishes. Scrape them. Always use the automatic setting on your dishwasher. Once a month put in a packet of those orange drink crystals – Tang. It will clean and freshen your dishwasher!
Thank you for being with us today. Take care everyone. See you tomorrow!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A’, William Dunn, Menhaden-Little Fish, Big Deal FB, Window to Wildlife, WRDC, West Midlands Birding and the Friends of Lock Arkaig FB, Maria Marika, West Wildlife Rehab, Judy Harrington and Sydney Sea Eagles, wskrsnwings, Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Olympic Park Eagles, Growing Home Osprey Cam, Achieva Credit Union, Conserve Wildlife of NJ, Cornell RTH Cam, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Cali Condor, Audubon, USFWS, All About Birds, All About Eagles, Dyfi Osprey Project, The New York Times.
Please mark your calendars. It isn’t stripped bass – they, too, need the Menhaden and so do our ospreys. Remember Cobey from the Colonial Beach nest and let them see that people care. Thanks, ‘PB’.
Thank you so much for all your lovely letters and comments. You have no idea how much I appreciate hearing from you. I don’t always answer quickly, but I will answer. I promise. For everyone who has raked their leaves in the corner of their lot and left them, thank you. The key is to not mow them, to not blow them (who invented those noisy machines?), and to not stuff those leaves in bags. Just contain yourself and leave them alone. The insects will thank you and the songbirds in the spring will thank you even more.
Most of you are aware that my ‘right hand’ person is Heidi. I simply could not make it through all that data without her — or all the deaths. We try to prop one another when we just can’t stand another little one losing its life because there was not enough fish. A few weeks ago, Heidi attended the Hawk Watch Migration count at Cape Henlopen. Heidi has permitted me to share her day with you. In doing so, I hope that you might get so excited that you will head out to learn about migrating birds and how to identify them! It is an exhilarating experience.
I had a blast at the Hawk Watch platform at Cape Henlopen, Delaware on Saturday. The platform is built on top of an old WWII military bunker located at Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware on the Atlantic Ocean. It is just south of the mouth of Delaware Bay, and almost directly south of the infamous Cape May New Jersey Hawk Watch platform on the other side of the bay.
There was a lead hawk spotter-counter there, named Jen. Jen has 25 years experience, and lives in Colorado. She relocates to the area each fall to lead the hawk count. There were also several other experienced spotters arriving throughout the day, some of whom were also from out of state. The spotters all had binoculars and scopes, but they primarily used their binoculars.
I was pleased with my binoculars. I had been worried that I may not be able to find the birds when the spotters called them out, but I did very well in being able to get most of the birds into my view. Haha, except for the Merlins… they were so darn fast, I was only able to see a few of them before they flew southwest behind some trees.
The weather was nice, with a light NE wind. Some spotters had hoped for a little less bright sun for enhanced viewing. But, the hawk watch had their highest total hawk count, and the highest osprey count to date this season. I picked a great day to go there.
I remember what Gessner said in his book “Soaring with Fidel.” It was when he was on the Cape May platform, that he was apprised of the hawk spotting technique: GISS = ‘general impression of size and shape’. The other folks at the platform were very helpful in giving me tips.
Ospreys were fairly easy for me to identify, except when they were very far away and were headed straight for the platform. To my eye, at that distance and aspect, they could have been a large gull. Those folks were so good though, they could still tell it was an osprey even that far away.
The ospreys made me smile. There were so many of them (298). Some ospreys flew high and were off to our left or right, but some were lower and flew right over us. Many were already carrying a fish when we spotted them. I was told that on average (depending on the wind of course), it might take an osprey only about 20-25 minutes to fly over the water from Cape May to Cape Henlopen.
I’m guessing that the viewing platform is less than 500 feet from the Atlantic Ocean. I saw several ospreys diving and fishing. If they missed, they would simply rise up and dive again. Most were successful in catching their lunch. I was told that sometimes the ‘O’s would find a tree to perch and eat, but that many of them would simply just hang on to their catch and keep on flying. Indeed they did… I saw many ospreys carrying fish that just kept on going, and I suppose they knew they had a ready meal when they decided to stop.
I also did pretty well at identifying the bald eagles, even the juveniles. At one time, Jen modified someone’s sighting and said that a particular bald eagle was not an adult, but a sub adult. Wow. Jen also pointed out an adult ‘baldie’ that was missing a couple of primaries on the right wing. I could see that the feathers were missing through my binoculars.
They counted a record number of sharp-shinned hawks. I got to know their shape and their pattern of wing flapping (thanks to Jen’s tutelage). I didn’t have the confidence to call any of them out when I saw them… but, I would smile a little to myself when the spotters would call out “sharpie.” The spotters could spot peregrines, and state if it was a juvenile. They knew ‘cooper’s’ from ‘sharpies’ based on their different styles of wing flapping. And, they spotted several kestrels.
One of the spotters alerted us to an adult bald eagle chasing an osprey holding a fish out over the ocean. So, I quickly found the scene in my binoculars and watched as the eagle was directly upon the osprey. The ‘O’ dropped the fish, and the two birds parted ‘amicably’, lol! Another spectacular scene happened over the ocean… After we were alerted, I quickly viewed it with the naked eye… A previously identified peregrine stooped to try to catch a merlin, but the speedy merlin got away just in the nick of time! Wow again!
Oh, gosh… I was simply blown away by this experience. It was fantastic. After seven hours on my feet, turning around and around, and straining my neck to look up, I was exhausted, hurting, and sunburned (note to self… don’t forget the sunscreen next time). I have a lot to learn about hawk watching, and I am looking forward to it.
Heidi sent us some images:
Thank you Heidi for sharing this awesome experience with us! I am so happy that you got down to Cape Henlopen.
Where did the time go? I remember this wee one eating and now it had its fledgling flight. What a beautiful chick. 64 days old. S/he is stunningly gorgeous. I suspect a ‘she’ with that amazing necklace – the only one to survive of the three that hatched at this nest this year.
That ‘other’ Australian osprey is now a dark little reptile!!!!!! Growing Home’s Only Bob is thriving. In a few weeks, this little dark pesky osplet will look like the one above.
At the Charles Sturt Falcon Cam in Orange, Australia, we are preparing to get out the popcorn and watch Xavier and Diamond’s first eyas of 2024 hatch!
In Ithaca, Suzanne Arnold Horning caught up with Arthur. Big Red and Arthur traditionally start checking on their nest in November (if my old memory and notebooks serve me correctly).
Audacity is working on the nest in the Channel Islands that she shares with Jak in the hope that they might have even one single egg to hatch this year. https://youtu.be/MVtTqzgcVhc?
Lady slept with her babies on the nest. One is more interested in what is happening off the nest while the other is self-feeding. Oh, these babies are growing up just a little bit too fast.
‘A’ comments: “Still waiting for my sea eaglets to leave, and so are the currawongs. As I mentioned in an email last week, the currawongs have been particularly bothersome this season, swooping the parents and generally attacking the nest way more than I have seen in previous years. It is not a great sign, is it. We can but hope, but we have to admit that past experience does not suggest a good outcome. I am worried.
At WBSE everything was very civilised at lunch, with mum feeding the half half of a fish to both eaglets fairly even-handedly. The two are, as you mentioned in your blog, the best of friends, and they have been getting along famously for a while now. In fact, I continue to insist we have a pair of brothers in these two. There is no female aggression between them. They had a minor period early on where basic pecking order was established based on age, and SE34 was fairly confident fairly soon, so there was only a relatively short period where SE34 was even vaguely intimidated by his older sibling.
The pair have been an absolute joy to watch, as is usual with this nest. I give the credit to the parents, of course, who are like a well-oiled machine at this point. Dad has kept food on the nest very reliably and Lady has doled it out, making sure her younger son was never overlooked. These two gorgeous nestlings are the result of their dedication. Now, we watch with extreme apprehension to see whether they can be the fledglings that beat the currawongs and manage a successful life as juveniles. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
Every year I grow to love the two eaglets at this nest and every year, we have a tragic outcome because of those damned pesky small birds. I get why they do it, and I can’t help but admire their courage and their teamwork when I see variants of it in my own garden and in mum’s, but when it impacts our eaglets year after year, it becomes very depressing indeed. These guys prefer fish to currawong anyway! I wish the currawongs would work that out. How many currawongs have been eaten on that nest? I haven’t seen a single one. ” “I’ve been watching my gorgeous sea eaglets this afternoon. Mum has been feeding the pair a fish mid-afternoon. They are well-behaved. Lady is still feeding them although it appears both are very capable of self-feeding at this stage. Mum slept with them on the nest last night, at the back of the nest, near the perch branch, but still, very near to her babies and keeping close watch over them. We don’t even have GHOs here, and I am unsure whether any of our owls are predators for the sea eagles. Which reminds me, that GHO you showed in your blog is adorable, and I know that they are mortal enemies for bald eagles and ospreys but to me, they are still the cutest creatures. Those legs are SO strong (as are their feet) and the silence of their flight is quite eerie. I told you about the gorgeous large Powerful Owl that flew within a metre or two of me in the back yard a few months ago. It flew so close and it was so large and yet it was virtually silent. There was no sound of beating wings, just a very slight rustling as the wind passed through the feathers. I felt so privileged.”
Beautiful fall footage of Boone and Jolene’s nest tree taken before the tree and nest were destroyed by Hurricane Helene. https://youtu.be/tzrHesJqNNA?
Talk about cute. This reminded me to put out some apple pieces for the garden squirrels!
Holly Parsons is getting way too excited about the pip watch coming up for Xavier and Diamond. She is so excited she posted a video about how chicks get out of eggs to show us how much hard work it is for them. No wonder they are soooooo tired after hatch! https://youtu.be/Ptr-kS09H4w?
Melting glaciers in Europe are causing some countries to stop measuring their depth because they no longer exist. Others are having to redrawn national boundary lines. Water will have a huge impact on humans, but also on our beloved raptors.
Calico’s Tip for the Day: Ditch the toxins and embrace white vinegar. Calico is constantly bugging me about the gallons of white vinegar. Now this brilliant cat has found a beautiful chart with everything we can use it for and help save the environment!
Take Calico’s Quick Quiz. How many uses of white vinegar did you know about? And did you learn something? I had no idea about perfectly peeled eggs! We are going to try that tomorrow for our picnic.
Thank you for being with us today. Take care everyone. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, blogs, articles, images, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog: ‘A, H, J, PB’, Virginia Osprey Foundation, Osprey House Environment Centre, Heidi McGrue and The Joy of Ospreys, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Holly Parsons, Suzanne Arnold Horning, Lisa Dulany, SK Hideaways, NEFL-AEF, NestFlix Memories, Olympic Park Eagles, Wildlife Haven, Holly Parsons, The Guardian.
Sunday morning. Baby Hope is the protector of the realm this morning! She decided that there was no way that The Boyfriend would come into the house after he had breakfast. He now arrives at 0900 and 1700 for ‘wet’ food. There are two of them. One has white on both sides of its nose – this one – and the one who is quite skitterish has white only on the right side.
Greetings from a sunny and HOT Saturday on the Canadian Prairies.
Every bird spent some time having a bath today! Water is so essential when it is hot even more so than food! And it has to be changed and filled lots of times a day.
Years ago we had a neighbour, Alf. Alf kept a journal throughout his life, no matter where he was, including being in a British submarine during World War II around Sri Lanka. He always included everything about the weather, who he saw, what he did, and the major news events. Alf was amazing. Every morning, he went swimming with the high school team at 0700. He rode his bicycle up and down the lanes near our town, often picking blackberries and bringing us a pail. Many years after he retired, he started studying German and Russian. On New Year’s Eve, he was always at the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. Alf taught us so much during the time I lived near him while reading at the University of Leicester. The fates worked in my favour in 2003. I was able to visit with Alf a few weeks before he died. He began to feel unwell during the morning swimming and died peacefully in the ambulance en route to the hospital. Alf never married. I think his neighbours were his family and he certainly treated us that way. I want to take a page out of Alf’s playbook and start tracking the garden animals in a properly bound journal. I might even force myself to learn how to draw!
Lately, the digital world has been giving me a headache. The sorting of the photographs, information. While I cannot imagine not being able to find information quickly compared to ordering articles and books through inter-library loan, I want to slow down and pick up a journal and see what was happening in the garden last year on this date. Analog. Today, I would write that the European Starlings returned. Did you know their beaks are not correctly shaped for eating most seed? They like unshelled peanuts, meal worms, and soft suet. On Saturday we picked up the Starlings’ favourite suet and today their meal worms should arrive. What perturbs me is the fact that so many people are highly selective in the birds that they want to feed. Yes, Starlings are an ‘invasive’ species. They can’t help that some humans introduced them into North America. And personally I think they are stunningly beautiful and they are not more aggressive in the garden than the Jays or the Sparrows. In fact, the most aggressive animals are the squirrels. There are more entries on a search engine for bird food to prevent Starlings from wanting to eat at your feeder than what they like to eat. Oh, that irks me.
Saturday evening was amazing. It was so warm. The geese were busy feeding at the fields on the way to Oak Hammock Marsh. They had a presentation on the geese that come to the marsh and then we went out to see the murmurations of the Rusty and Brewer’s Blackbirds (the Red-Wing and Yellow-heads left on migration several weeks ago). We get Canada, Cackling, Snow, White-fronted, and Ross’s geese and the morphs. Tonight there were Blue-winged Teal, two Trumpeter Swans, Canada Geese and a speckled breast White-front juvenile. Tens of thousands of geese did not fly in at once like they would have had the weather been colder. They need to eat more than they need to sleep. Most will come to the safety of the marsh at 0100 or 0200 and go out feeding again around mid-morning.
Oak Hammock is a combination of wetlands, the marsh, and the Tall Grass Prairies.
What is unusual at the end of September are the number of mosquitoes!
The Trumpeter Swans at a distance. One overwintered about 2 km north of the wetlands at the site of an Artisan spring.
The colours were so beautiful and the water was as smooth as glass.
It was just the perfect night.
In the UK, those amazing Pink-footed Geese are arriving from Iceland and Greenland.
We need to know as much about Menhaden as we can. They are critical to keeping the ospreys in Chesapeake Bay alive. https://youtu.be/2Tvq8W8QtLM?
After Helene. Gabby and 24E1 continue work on their nest.
Still wet at SW Florida.
It is raining in Ithaca, New York at the nest of Big Red and Arthur.
It is always nice on a Saturday listening to Ferris Akel’s tour. Today, there were some excellent waterfowl, including gorgeous Great White Egrets, Blue Herons, and Gallinue.
And some female Wood Ducks!
It was the start of a beautiful day at Big Bear Valley.
The cameras picked up a person walking their dog close to the nest tree.
A sub-adult Bald Eagle is working on the US Steel nest of Claire and Irvin in Pittsburgh. https://youtu.be/zmF87AzhDPU?
eBird describes the Sooty Falcon thus: “Slim, long-winged, long-tailed falcon that is built for long-distance migration. Adults are all gray, while juveniles have pale, spotted underparts. Breeds on cliffs along the coast or in the desert. During migration and winter, spends most of its time on the wing, and can be seen over any habitat. Quite social, and often seen in loose flocks of dozens or more. Adult is very similar to the dark-morph adult Eleanora’s Falcon, but Sooty is paler gray. Immatures also very similar, but immature Sooty has an unbarred tail without a rufous tip. Much longer wings and tail than Peregrine Falcon. Larger and lankier than other falcons.”
The Peregrine Fund describes the challenges these falcons have: “The Sooty Falcon is categorized as Vulnerable. Some of the threats this lovely falcon faces including habitat destruction, especially in the form of human developments cropping up at important breeding sites, and disturbance. Feral cats also pose a threat to this falcon.”
Those cute little Olympic Park Sea Eaglets had some fish for lunch! Not a bird. Gosh, these two are little darlings. https://youtu.be/JiVqBbKBKX0?
Pip watch for Xavier and Diamond!
Thankfully these two are not going to fledge in the next week!
The first pair of White-tail Eagles are breeding in Northern Ireland in 150 years.
There are no plans for anything to happen to the Achieva Nest. I wrote to the Tampa Bay Raptor Centre and bucket trucks are in high demand right now and the ospreys will need to rebuild their nest on their own.
It is relatively quiet in Bird World right now. Instead of taking a full break, I will be writing a shorter blog until we get the hatches in Australia.
Take care of yourselves. We will see you in six days.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, announcements, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘J’, Oak Hammock Marsh and Ducks Unlimited, The Guardian, The New York Angler, NEFL-AEF, SW Florida Bald Eagle Cam, Cornell Red Tail Hawk Cam, Ferris Akel Tours, FOBBV, PIX Cams, WingsofWhimsy, Duke Farms, eBird, CarnyXWild, OpenVerse, Nesting Bird Life & More, Ildiko Pokk, ETSU-Johnson City, and Raptor Persecution UK.
It was a gorgeous day spent partly in the English Gardens at our Assiniboine Park. Three – yes, 3 – hummingbirds were seen. We felt like we had won gold medals at the Olympics! They were feeding in the white trumpet looking flowers (I have forgotten their name – sorry). I only had my iPhone and seriously they are in there, but you can’t see them.
The Black-eyed Susans were tremendous.
But the winner for the day was the Peacock Flower whose scent was simply stunning. It stopped me in my tracks!
I was sitting in the gardens when ‘J’s note came through that Gabby had arrived back safely at NE Florida. It simply brought tears to my eyes! Gosh she is beautiful! Eagle Goddess caught the arrival on video: https://youtu.be/snsaRCeKZAE?si=5_ti-SJw72R6XW4a
The tears poured more when I realised that Beau and Gabby were together on ‘their’ tree. Let us hope that this is their year to have a family.
When we got home the Bird Feeder with the camera had arrived. Do not let anyone tell you these are easy to install. This one is completely together now and sitting on the large table feeder. No one will go near it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Darn thing. The other issue is scanning the QR code for the app so that you can actually see these birds with the camera. Yes, I made sure the light was bright and that the camera was clean. Nothing. Nothing. Very annoying. I will try again in the morning!
Starting off with a note about the male at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. There was some confusion on my part about the band. Thank you ‘MP’ for reminding me of the information we received last year: “Vanessa Green told me the band was green over black with MS lettering and was banded in 2018 at the nest off of Grimm Road in Carver Park Reserve off of HWY 11 between Hwy 5 and Hwy 7. That makes the male on the Minnesota nest 6 years old not 22 years old. I thought I would correct it so you could retract your statement on 9/3/24 blog.
Although, there is a bird that was banded in 2002 with black over green and white lettering MS like I said this one was, it was banded at the nest off of Kings Point Road just north of HWY 7 and Carver Park Reserve in Hennepin County. How she knows this one is the green band vs the black I don’t know, unless she saw it with binoculars. She told me she was there when the bird was banded in 2018, and besides she said, she is the one to change the coloring in 2009 from black to green.”
Last year, in 2023, the male and female had already migrated by the time they were last seen at the nest. I have included them and the juvenile in the Memorial Wall listing because of the horrific storm and the juvenile seen with the Bald Eagle and not seen again. Should the male show up next year, I will remove him. Female is not banded and will have to rely on head and underwing marks to confirm in 2025.
Geemeff and the Daily Summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Wednesday 4th September 2024 While the Ospreys have gone and the local wildlife isn’t very visible either, the view from the nest cams is stunning and it’s worth popping in from time to time to have a look as the seasons change. The nests looked beautiful bathed in sporadic sunshine today, and more of the same is forecast for tomorrow. Drop in also to Woodland Trust’s campaigns page to see what they’re currently working on, and how you can help: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/protecting-trees-and-woods/campaign-with-us Costs nothing but a few seconds and a couple of mouse clicks, and makes a huge difference. Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.12.13 (05.30.11); Nest Two 21.06.15 (05.38.41)
The Royal Cam chick is readying to take off from the headland at Taiaroa. They will be out on the water feeding for 5-6 years before they step on land again at which time they will be very wobbly. Wish this little one all the luck in the world! It will need it.
At Hellgate Canyon, Antali spent the night on the perch. Iris and Finnegan fed him nicely during the day. Sum-eh was last seen on the 30th. She has probably migrated or fishing for herself and not in view of the camera.
Antali has had several fish deliveries at the nest. Iris is still home and she arrived with a huge crop and a nice piece of fish for her second hatchling at 1214 on Wednesday.
‘PB” got this great screen capture of Iris’s crop and sent it in! So glad Iris and Finnegan are both eating well and fattening up after a busy year with Sum-eh and Antali.
More fish from Dad – a nice bedtime snack!
At Charlo, C16 is still getting fish deliveries from Charlie!
It looks like fish deliveries are being given off nest at Dunrovin. Junebug waited patiently and took off several times after mantling.
The juvenile was on the Cowlitz nest and was getting fish from dad! As ‘PB’ says, this little osplet fledgling is a miracle – it survived the eagle that took its two siblings.
Sadly, there are no surprises on these necroscopies. I wish more people had taken the time this year because there would have been a flood of osprey chicks that starved to death. Besides the heat, the reason is staring us in the face – the industrial fishing for Menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay and at its mouth (within 3 miles of the mouth) has to be stopped. This is outright decimation of a species just like DDT nearly wiped out all the ospreys. Please write your Senators and anyone else that will listen. Omega has to be stopped.
More sad news. Big Red and Arthur’s N1 died of West Nile Virus.
For everyone cheering that the male at 367 Collins Street was M22, the chap who saved the day that year, Victor Hurley has confirmed that it is, indeed, him! He survived. He has a new mate. Let’s hope they have great success. Here is some additional information from Hurley:
The Olympic Park Sea Eaglets are growing. They are standing and moving around. SE34 is still skiddish and is submissive during feedings. Thankfully, there is often enough for both!
Migration is ongoing where I live. Goose flight evenings have begun at the nature centres. People arrive before dusk and watch hundreds, if not thousands, land on the ponds. I will be heading up to Oak Hammock for their migration evening. The hummingbirds are passing through, and in Saskatchewan, the Sandhill Cranes are being seen moving south. Several flocks have been seen just north of where I live. I am hoping I will have some luck and catch these beautiful birds feeding on the newly combined fields, too. Will keep you posted.
Hummers are on the move as I noted earlier and you can track them if you like as they move through the US.
The first successful nesting of the Great Egret takes place in Scotland.
‘J’ sends us news from the Marathon FB of Ron’s Rita in permanent care at Marathon:
Thanks for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, charts, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘EJ, Geemeff, J, MP, PB’, Eagle Goddess, NEFL-AEF, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, The Cool Down, Cornell Bird Lab, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, Dunrovin Ranch, Pam Breci and Cowlitz PUD, Menhaden – Little Fish, Big Deal, Virginia Osprey Project, Suzanne Arnold Horning, Victor Hurley, Tweed Valley Osprey Project, Llyn Brenig, BirdGuides, Hawk Mountain, Olympic Park Eagles, iflscience.com, Marathon Wild Bird Centre, and Hummingbird-News.
We are about 95% ready to leave tomorrow for our mini-break in Nova Scotia. Cat sitters, garden helpers, outside garden birds and animal helpers – well, it is all under control. Mr Crow & Gang have 12 kg of cheesy dogs, there are large pails with wild bird seed, black oil seed, and peanuts prepared for each day we are away to be distributed, cat food and anything a cat sitter could need is piled high on the island including some new treats and toys. ‘The Girls’ are smart and they have caught on to what is happening. They don’t know it but I am already missing them, too. It is the only thing I dislike about even being away one night – is missing them and not having Hugo Yugo snuggling under my chin at night.
I melt every time I look at Baby Hope. It is those celadon eyes.
Calico and I have been working on items to clean cat hair off of the chairs. We have discovered that those natural coconut scrubbers for dishes are fantastic. They look like a donut and are made from the fibres of the coconut shell.
Everyone shares the one little basket that is fixed so they can look down very low and watch Mr Crow eating his dinner.
Hugo Yugo Day 1 with us and now. She is not afraid of anything and is really pretty much the boss of the gang. Yes, she still looks like a kitten but she will be a year old on 2 September. She is a little ‘toughie’.
I have just received word from the Green Ledge Light Preservation Society that the two osplets in the storm along the coast of Connecticut created by Debby are both fine. Only a couple of sticks at the nest needed to be arranged! Amazing. I cannot tell you how relieved and happy I am for those two. knew you would want to know, too – and I want to give a shout-out to the staff at Green Ledge for letting me know so swiftly.
My goodness. Getting organized for a longer trip takes the cake. I am hope that the neighbour will follow the few instructions and feed the garden animals and water the plants. The cat sitter is fantastic so no worries there. ‘The Girls’ have gotten used to Gary. It looks like the weather will be good in Nova Scotia and I cannot wait to walk across a reasonably deserted country lane and sit and watch eagles soaring in the sky for feeding on the fish at the shore.
There will be no post Tuesday morning. I don’t get into the Halifax airport til late Monday evening despite having to leave the house at noon! I was a little shocked to see all the regulations for just flying within Canada. Goodness.
The news in Bird World is dwindling and that is a good thing. We want everyone out there to be safe and building their strength for migration. On my radar are only a handful of chicks to fledge including Antali and C16 and ours in Canada.
That cute little Hobby fledged. Just quick as a wink. They change from bobblehead to Hobby so quickly. I can’t get used to it. It is like the California Falcons – one minute they are hatching and the next they are flapping all the baby down off their wings preparing to fly.
SK Hideaways always does the best videos and here is hers of the little Hobby fledging! Check out her other posts too – especially if you are missing the Cal or San Jose Falcons!!!!!
We will be watching with great anticipation and much enthusiasm as Diamond and Xavier prepare for those eggies that Xavier loves so much.
Beautiful, beautiful little sea eaglets at the Olympic Park nest. Dad couldn’t be prouder. He even fed Lady some bits of bird today – romantic and sweet. The little ones are having some bonking fests. Do not worry. It will end.
‘A’ comments (paraphrased) – The bonking is well underway at WBSE (so far, SE34 is giving as good as s/he gets), it is reassuring because some claim that the WBSE is an obligate siblicide species. Obviously, that is not universally the case, and we therefore have to ask ourselves what is it about this nest that makes it one of the exceptions. I think Lady is the difference. The parents who show a conscious interest in ensuring the younger hatch is fed are the ones who can _ and regularly do – fledge two (or even three or four – look at West End, for example, and some of this season’s osprey nests that fledged four). Lady is careful to feed both her chicks (and Dad keeps the nest well supplied with fish – at least, he has done thus far). Surely this has to make a major difference. But of course we worry when we see sibling rivalry become aggression. I’m sure it will quickly settle down, especially given how very close these two are in size. It’s hard to tell them apart except by the remains of their tiny egg teeth.
There is a live Osprey chat tomorrow sponsored by Explore.org. Thanks to everyone who sent this notice to me. Sadly, I will be on the plane, but I hope they will archive the talk so those who miss it can check it out later. This is the link to join and set an alarm to alert you when the talk is starting:
Do you ever have to pinch yourself when you look at Iris and Finnegan and their two osplets? I still can hardly believe it. What an amazing year it has been, and what a challenging one for these two parents. The heat was enough to kill all the osplets off so many nests, and these two survived without a hiccup. Finn was an amazing fisher, and Iris didn’t allow any shenanigans between those chicks. Each was treated equally. Iris often fed little Antali when she might have wanted a little fish. But thanks to Finn, so many came to the nest that no one was ever hungry.
Antali watches Sum-eh fly all around the area and is often caught watching the train with Mum Iris. She is so protective of her babies. Soon Antali will be flying up and down the river chasing Dad for fish, too.
I am so in love with this family.
Iris made sure that Antali had some fish. She is really incredible. I am so glad that I got to witness her being a Mum to these two.
At Charlo, C16 continues their quest to take to the skies. C16 is really a gorgeous osplet. I am so happy that Lola and Charlie will have one to fledge. Maybe someone can work on some permanent cot rails for that platform during the off-season.
The Dunrovin Ranch chick is dreaming of flying, too – but still loves to be fed by Winnie. It has been doing some wingers but not to the extent of C16.
In Port Lincoln, Dad has been busy decorating the nest. He sure loves Turquoise. Later, he came in with a white piece of rope. I wonder if Mum would rather he was delivering fish? Port Lincoln will remove the ropes so they don’t harm the osplets! We will have eggs at Port Lincoln by the end of the month. I bet Bart is already a guessing pool on the date of the first one.
In New Zealand, the Kakapo are getting their health checks and new batteries for their transmitters. What a great job the Kakapo Recovery does in making these birds safe and keeping them well.
Geemeff’s Daily Summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Sunday 11th August 2024
The little songbirds were back on both Nest One and Nest two, but they were a supporting act to the main event – Ospreys turned up in the shape of Affric 152 and Garry LV0. They spent a fair bit of time together on Nest One, Garry brought a fish which was seized by Affric who proceeded to leave with it, return, munch a bit on the nest and leave with it again. After finishing it she returned and demanded more fish from Garry but only got a half-hearted mating attempt from him. The forecasted thundery showers didn’t materialise today but there’s a weather warning for the Highlands for thunderstorms starting at 2am tomorrow, and more rain throughout the night.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.14.16 (04.49.55); Nest Two 22.11.11 (05.04.26)
What would we do without Suzanne Arnold Horning? She chases Big Red and Arthur and the kiddos (when they are on the Cornell campus) and so generously posts her photographs on FB. This way we always know that our Red-tail Hawk Queen is safe and sound and living a good hawk life – or King if it is Arthur.
Another nest that has had me gobsmacked this season is the Newfoundland Power Snow Lane nest of Beaumont and Hope. I even went so far as to ask if ‘C’ had some historical images of Hope’s necklace and head markings. I could not believe she had gained such maternal instincts. It is her or her identical twin and this huge change in behaviour has meant that the two osplets did not starve, but look amazing in their juvenile plumage and will certainly (knock on wood) fledge!
Oh, that Boulder County nest is sure trying to get the award for the most bin bags in one season to land on an osprey nest. Caught the entire family at home on Sunday. All are safe.
Lots of very loud fish calling from the Poole Harbour nest. Blue 022 and CJ7 have been brilliant – being one of only a few nests to successfully fledge four osplets in the 2024 season. But, I bet they are tired. CJ7 will need to build her strength for migration. Blue 022 will stay behind being Daddy Door Dash til the kids depart. Hopefully he will have some time to eat some good fish alone to get himself ready. We will look forward to another grand year in 2025.
The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum fledgling is safe and getting those wings strong. Comes back for nice fish meals from Mum – fed on the rails like she always wants to do it.
Concerns raised that H5N1, the highly pathogenic bird flu, could break out in Australia in the spring.
Let’s get a ban on the commercial fishing for Menhaden and see if we cannot have a resurgence of healthy osprey families with two or three chicks fledging instead of one or none! Come on politicians. Stand up for wildlife.
Besides window strike, fishing line, hooks, baling twine – and how many more items that cause our feathered friends injury or death – did we ever think of soccer nets?
Always feel free to send me news. Always grateful! One person cannot keep up.
Polish White Storks continue their journeys after arriving in Africa.
A step in the right direction but an all out ban on fishing is needed. Thanks, ‘PB’.
Atlantic menhaden board votes to study more restrictions on controversial Chesapeake Bay fishery
The measure passed this week is meant to help protect birds and fish that rely on menhaden as a key food source. But researchers say more data is needed to understand the dynamics in the bay.
‘H’ reports:
8/11 Fortis Exshaw osprey nest: The intruder was still around, and she spent some time on the nest. She was not aggressive today, but Harvie did jump on her a couple of times to indicate his displeasure. At 0932, an osprey chased the intruder off of the nest-pole, but we couldn’t tell who flushed her off.
Harvie delivered at least 7 fish to the nest, and the intruder took the first one in the morning. All the rest of the fish went to the siblings. Our view is particularly bad in the evening due to the sun shining on the film coating the camera, and we could not tell who made the fish drop at 1855, but it was most likely Harvie. Also, a chick was seen eating a fish at 2116, but I couldn’t find a delivery for that fish through the glare. Besides Harvie’s deliveries, there were two other fish delivered today… and I still can’t wrap my head around this one: At 1242, the intruder landed in the nest with a partial fish, and one of the siblings took it. After about 3 minutes, the intruder left. I know…bizarre, right? Well, many of us scrutinized that osprey for identification, and we agreed that it was the intruder. Go figure. After the intruder flew off at 1245, she was not seen for the rest of the day. At 1630 an adult osprey landed on the t-perch beside one of the juvies, and provided a feeding for about 18 minutes. The t-perch is too far away for identification, but only Louise would have done that. Louise did the same thing once yesterday as well.
Nakoda, the only chick that hasn’t fledged, was on the nest-perch twice today. At 1352 Nakoda actually flew from a high hover and landed on the nest-perch. Nakoda did not fledge today, but s/he is ready.
8/11 Osoyoos osprey nest: Olsen delivered a large fish at 0735, and both chicks were able to do some self-feeding. Then the live stream froze for more that six hours. I did not see another fish delivered for the rest of the day. Chick 2 was seen doing some very nice hovering in the evening…Yay! Chick 1 fledged on 8/3 at 57 days of age. Chick 2 is 65 days old on 8/12.
8/11 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Captain Mac’s Fish House): The first part of this season was quite rocky as new parents Johnny and June struggled to get their act together. They had one chick to raise, and it has all worked out wonderfully. ‘Fen’ fledged today at 58 days of age. Fen took off from the perch, and made a nice landing back in the nest about 5 minutes later. Congratulations to Fen and his Mom and Dad!
Thank you so much for being with us today. I will report from the estuary with the eagles on Tuesday morning – it could be a little later than normal. Not sure. So please take care. We look forward to having you with us.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, announcements, photographs, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, C, Geemeff, H, J, L, PB’, Green Ledge Light Preservation Society, SK Hideaways, Cilla Kinross, Olympic Park Eagles, Explore, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, Dunrovin Ranch, PLO, Kakapo Recovery, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Suzanne Arnold Horning, Newfoundland Power, Boulder County Ospreys, BoPH, MN-LA Ospreys, The Guardian, Fairhaven Animal Control and Shelter, SOS Tesla, WHRO.org, Fortis-Exshaw, Fenwick Island, and Osoyoos Osprey Cam.
Some of our morning updates before we get to what is the real thrust of today’s news: SE33 has hatched at the Olympic Park Sea Eagle nest in Sydney. Congratulations Lady and Dad. What a beautiful strong little eaglet!
‘A’ remarks: “August 7 (Afternoon) After another shift for Lady, Dad was on incubation duties again for nearly an hour, though he left quickly when she returned. She then fed the chick again, with gentle, tiny bites offered, before settling again. She is restless, as you would expect with a chick and a pipping egg. Just before 2pm, Lady ate a little of the stored fish, and although she tried to feed the chick, she gave up because it was facing the wrong way. Shortly afterwards, she tried again and this time, SE33 ate a little. The pip on the second egg is more raised now. At 14:51, Dad brooded again, then went to the pantry but didn’t feed the chick. Lady was back after a 15-minute break. She was on the nest from just after 4pm, after a last short feed for SE33. Dad brought in a late fish at dark, and Lady ate a little before settling. She has spent longer on the nest today, though Dad has had a couple of shifts. He brought prey, and SE33 was fed four times. What will this night bring? Last season, the eggs hatched 32 hours and 46 minutes apart.”
‘H’ reports:
8/6 Osoyoos osprey nest: I had a busy day, so when I got home, I primarily rewound the stream to check for a possible fledge for Chick 2. S/he did not fledge today. And, when Chick 2 did his wingercizing, he was still only achieving what seemed to be a few inches of lift off the nest (cam view can be deceiving). A person very experienced with ospreys stated on a chat a few weeks ago, that ospreys typically need to do wingers and hovers for 10 days to build up their muscles for flight readiness. I’m not an expert, just a nest cam watcher… but, I have seen ospreys suddenly have the ability to perform some nice hovers, and then fledge in a day or two. Side note: Little died from starvation on 7/15, and his body has remained in the nest. This afternoon, a strong gust of wind lifted Little’s body and swept it off the nest. ‘AMW’, a very kind and caring viewer that lives nearby, drove to the nest to recover Little’s remains. She posted in the Facebook group: “Little is now buried in my yard … and I will plant a flowering annual plant in Little’s memory.” Thank you, ‘AMW’, from all of us.
8/6 – 8/7 Colonial Beach osprey nest: Cobey was awake early and at 0630 he picked up the old piece of fish and managed to pull off some pieces of fish-jerky. He worked on it now and again, and by 0800 he was still trying. David did not bring a fish for Cobey until 1348. It was a large whole fish. At the very young age of 43 days, Cobey has become quite the self-feeder by necessity. Cobey had managed to eat the head of that fish before there was an intruder issue. At 1415 David landed in the nest first, and it seemed that David may have been tangling with the intruder nearby. The intruder landed in the nest immediately after David, and stole the fish, despite David being on the nest. Oh no, no, no! Poor lil Cobey’s only meal of the day was gone! David did not bring another fish.
The nest owner, host of the live stream, is a very caring and avid osprey conservationist. She and others monitor many osprey nests in the Colonial Beach area. She stated that they are finding many dead ospreys, on the ground or in nests. It is thought that not only was fishing difficult when it was very hot, but that there may in fact be a shortage of fish for the ospreys to catch. Some ospreys are having to resort to kleptoparasitism to survive, or to feed their young.
Cobey’s mom, Betty, will have been missing for 4 days on the morning of 8/7. The cam owner provided a statement regarding a possible rescue of Cobey. “The VA DWR recommends that nothing be done at this time… we will continually monitor the nest, things may change.” Please note that the cam owner’s hands are tied, and she must follow the advice of the regulating authorities. Some comments on the chat were hurtful to her. Go easy on the chat. The cam owner is hurting as much, if not more, than you are. Colonial Beach weather forecast for 8/7: Cloudy with showers, risk of thunder storms, high temp 81.
8/6 Fortis Exshaw: There was a fledge today. It appeared to be the same chick that was doing the high hovering yesterday. We missed seeing them for about 3 weeks when the cam was dirty, and we still do not have a completely clear view. As a result, we were never able to learn how to differentiate the siblings. We know that the oldest chick in a brood does not always fledge first, but I suppose we will simply assume that’s the one that flew. The eldest chick was named BJ, and BJ initially seemed to only go as far as the camera at 0803, then returned to the nest at 0834. But, BJ made a true fledge at 0927. S/he made a nice landing on the T-perch at 1536, followed by a return to the nest at 1538. Well done, new fledgling!
‘CG’: “Blue branched this morning, and between the time she branched and the time she fledged, she was doing wingers, hopping, getting some good height, and went from the nest to the branch a number of times. She went to the back of the nest and totally surprised everyone at 1557 hours by fledging from the back north corner of the nest by the screen. One minute she was there then she was gone. She is 100 days old today.
They have been looking for her but haven’t been able to locate her on the cams. There is a ground crew out looking for her too.
Congratulations Blue! Way to go!!”
Geemeff’s Summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Tuesday 6th August 2024
No activity at all on Nest Two, today’s action all came from Nest One, where Affric 152 turned up at dawn quickly followed by Garry LV0. However the pair fled the nest when a third Osprey appeared in the distance – Affric’s mate Prince, perhaps. Garry returned a little later with a stick but didn’t stay long. A few hours later birds were seen in the distance on nest cam and a Wood Pigeon overflew the nest. It rained pretty much throughout the day, and more rain forecast for tonight and tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.23.05 (04.07.43); Nest Two 22.22.22 (04.27.15)
Thank you so much for sending in the moments during the 2023-24 season that put a smile on your face. I really appreciate the time and thoughtful regard that you put into your choices and for sending them in. Most people will hesitate. Why do we think our voice doesn’t count? I hope that there are some surprises in here. I received 79 e-mails with the single word Iris along with what is posted below. So if you sent one of those in and I did not include your initials, my apologies. Just know that you counted in making Iris and her year with Finnegan, Sun-eh and Antali the top of the charts by a long mile. Also I didn’t ask for images but have included them if you sent them in!
‘MM’: “After a season filled with heartbreak after heartbreak it has made the happy moments even sweeter! One happy moment that happened early on in the season was when Beau finally figured out how to mate with Gabby and she was able to lay two eggs, unfortunately Beau got the mating mastered but that’s where the happiness ended, hopefully next season he’ll be ready.
Another happy moment was the successful fledge of two healthy osprey chicks from Port Lincoln thanks to the fish fairy and the generosity of so many who donated. The two happiest moments of the season for me are tied for first place. I was beyond thrilled when the season started in SWFL and M15 had taken F23 as his new mate after the loss of our beloved Harriet last session. The season got even happier with the hatch of the incredible E23 💜 And of course the other happy moment at #1 is sweet Iris finally getting sweep off her talons by the handsome Finn and their two amazing chicks 💙 ❤️ Thank you for the opportunity to reflect on the good after dealing with so much bad. Praying next season will be filled with many happy moments .”
‘H’: “As I understand it, you are asking for happy stories. Well, this makes me happy. This may sound strange. But, I am happy for Darling at Captiva. Darling fledged on 6/26 at 63 days of age. His post-fledge life was not easy. There was competition for the nest and food from his sibling, Ding. In addition, both of his parents may possibly have had issues with their health, and they stopped bringing food to the nest. Darling had not eaten for 3 days when he ended up in the water and was rescued and taken to CROW on 7/4. He passed away at CROW that night. We don’t know why things turned out the way they did, and we will never understand it. I wish it had not turned out that way. So, why does this make me happy? It doesn’t. The part that makes me happy is that Darling flew. I think of all the ‘littles’ we have known that died from nest accidents, or weather events, or starvation, or illness, or predation, and they never got a chance to fly. Darling was able to experience the sheer joy and exuberance of flying. And, I am so happy for him.”
‘SP’: Amongst all the turmoil of this year, there were more golden moments and miracles to celebrate. (Photos below in order of the list)
Cal Falcons Annie & her new mate Archie fledged four beautiful falcon chicks in Berkeley. This was the first time since Annie’s been a YouTube star that all 4 of her eggs hatched. We were entertained, enamored and completely enthralled with Aurora, Solstice, Eclipse, and Equinox.
San Jose City Hall couple Hartley & second year dad Monty also fledged four beautiful falcon chicks – all girls. Though we lost one, we enjoyed weeks of the girl power brought by Luna (RIP), Zoe, Lucia, and Alma.
Southwest Florida M15 and his new mate F23 fledged the ever-endearing E23, further mending the holes in our hearts left by the disappearance of Harriet the previous year. F23 proved to be a most nurturing and loving mother, while M15 continued his legacy of being provider extraordinaire. E23 was such a character and embraced being an only child with gusto. He proved to be an excellent flyer and at one point a protector of his natal nest.
Oh, thank you for the opportunity to revisit these wonderful moments!”
Cal Falcons.
San Jose.
SW Florida:
‘B’ writes: Too many sad stories, but always some nice ones, too. I liked how you said you think of all the miracles we have seen, to help offset the sadness of the sad stories. I had meant to write you a couple of weeks ago how I followed a similar strategy to help offset the sadness. I had a lower threshold than you, just thinking of the things that make me smile, rather than holding out for “miracles”. But my number one was the same as yours: the arrival of Finnegan, so that Iris has a real and proper (and wonderful) mate for the first time in years. Enough of that two-timing Louis!
In fact, two more of the top things that made me smile were also from Hellgate: the wonderful job Iris does as a mom when having chicks for the first time in years. Especially protecting those chicks in that awful heat. I swear, if “Mumbrella” were an Olympic event, Iris would be a medal winner. And the other is how peaceful and calm those osplets are when there started with such a huge difference in size. Part has to be what a great provider Finn is, and also how diligent Iris is in making sure each chick is served well. Gosh, the larger of the two would just stand and watch patiently if Little was served first, knowing his/her turn would come.
Also, Tuffy’s story always made me smile (even if hard to watch in earlier days), seeing him do what he needed to do to make it to being a beautiful and healthy fledgling in spite of the “Ruff” treatment from Ruffie.
And I couldn’t help but smile whenever I checked in on the Decorah eaglets after their nest (and branch) fell away, to see them happily perched on branches, as if to say, “we don’t need no stinkin’ nest, so long as we got our branch and our parents!”
In spite of all their hard luck getting a hatch, one can never help but smile to see Jackie and Shadow together. I have to hope for another Spirit next year.
And wonderful to see both Annie and Archie at Cal and Hartley and Monty at San Jose have four healthy hatches make it to fledge, even with the sadness of losing Luna at San Jose and the injury to Nox in Berkeley. I was so worried, especially for San Jose, what with the tough urban environment and seeing Lucia get rescued from the sidewalk and taking the elevator back to the roof twice before successfully fledging.
There’s more, but these are some of the stories that make me smile. (And, oh yes, of course there is Treasure and her siblings, also treasures.)”
CG: “My first thought was Tuffy. I watched this nest with trepidation. Tuffy was the underdog. How many times did we think he wouldn’t make it. He was so endearing, and I loved his sneakiness to try to get food. He never gave up. You always talk about the will to survive, and boy, his little body was bursting with it. The last time I saw him was just before they shut the cam down, and he was proudly standing on his nest.
Iris and Finnegan. I knew nothing about her until you talked about her. Finnegan came along and showed Louis the door. He has been a wonderful mate and provider for Iris and their osplets, and Iris has been a wonderful mum feeding and protecting her little ones the way she does. Just look at how they have turned out under their care. They look so healthy, and Big has been a wonderful big sib being so patient with his little sibling except for the one time little sib got uppity and boldly attacked big sib. That won’t be happening again! This has been a wonderful osprey nest to watch.
I could not fail to mention my peregrines Annie and Archie and Hartley and Monty, each pair with four chicks this year. Hartley and Monty went from newbies with one feisty Soledad last year to FOUR this year. What a jump! They handled it all with finesse. No nonsense Annie always handles her chicks with finesse, and her new mate Archie was a great provider and dad. Peregrines are a wonder and miracle every year. I wish all nests could be as calming as theirs with equal feedings, no shortage of food, no predators, and lots of chick shenanigans. “
‘BHA’: My smile of the year has to be Iris, Finnegan and family. (Along with you and probably everyone else.) What a miracle nest this year!!
Also, the San Jose falcons. The antics and shenanigans of the four girls were priceless! (Of course with a bit of sadness that we lost one of them…)
‘PB’: The bird that made me smile is Smallie. He was such a fighter especially how small he was up against 3 big sisters. I’m still sad about it. O18 became my favorite osprey, she was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Her personality matched her beauty. I miss her too! It’s making me cry thinking of them. But before them was a tie between Tuffy and Tiny D. They will all be in my memory forever.
‘J’ loves the Tortilla Bird. ” The photo of that tiny little babe in the tortilla just melts my heart (the feet! the feet!). That someone thought of wrapping it in a warm tortilla to keep it from getting cold is just brilliant – and hilarious at the same time. “
Geemeff: “But just want to say the names chosen for Iris & Finn’s miracle chicks are lovely and very suitable. In a season of sadness, they and the Poole Harbour Four have been some comfort. Iris’ success after so may years of being bullied by her ex, together with the unexpected success of saving one of Louis & Dorcha’s chicks to the point of successfully fledging, are my favourites of this season.”
‘TU’: My favourite article for a good mood is the one in The Guardian about the bird of New Caledonia. I loved it from the first sight.
‘L’: Iris finding Finnegan or vice versa. A wonderful memorable miracle. This nest brings pure joy! Iris is the best osprey mom I’ve ever had the privilege to watch and Finnegan is a precious gem.
Blue is amazing at the Boundary Nest. I think he’s a miracle for surviving erratic food deliveries.
The rescue of Rutland’s Little Bob. Golden moment.
The Purple Martins in Erie PA. All 5 fledged. Enjoyable to watch.
McEuen Park. One, out of 4, that survived to fledge after losing father.
Eagle Country-Tears for Meadow but Swampy lived and fledged.
Thunder, Akecheta and their 3 beautiful eaglets! Koa, Treasure & Sterling. A delight to watch. A stress free nest.
Cowlitz PUD- happiness, a survivor golden moment.
Osoyoos, losing Little which was sad enough. Thankful two will fledge. Happiness and a miracle in my book.
Little Miami Conservancy-All 3 eaglets fledged! Happiness.
Southwest Florida Eagles-One hatch, smart and accelerated in growth. An amazing first eaglet for M15 & F23.
BONUS!!!! Pure joy.
Challenger surviving his health issues.
Hugo Yugo, Calico, Hope & Missey and all the birds and squirrels that visit your garden.
(I could go on and on. So many more miracles and golden moments….The 2 miracle eaglets that definitely would have made my list were unfortunately killed by father Scout at the NCTC nest.)”
‘BA’: “The first time Lucia accidentally fell from the nest area and had to be rescued. First lots of worry about her, and then the smile moment when she was released on the rooftop. And then the chuckle: later watching SKHideaway’s video of it all. Lucia was just out of the box, looking around wide-eyed at all the contraptions and weird stuff, and SKH’s caption said, “She thinks she’s in Disneyland!” That cracked me up. It was such a tense moment, worrying about how frightened Lucia might be, and somehow we knew then she was going to be okay. (And then a couple of days later when she made it back down to the nest area and was reunited with her sisters – that was also a big smile moment.)”
LL: “Anything to do with Iris and Finn”.
JT: “The hatch of E23.”
PM: “Iris, Iris, Iris…West End nest. Those three eaglets were remarkable.”
‘A’: “Just before 09:32, there is a lot of thunder at Hellgate and Iris immediately flies to the nest. The rain really sets in, and Iris opens her roller doors and does her perfect mumbrella, managing to keep two fully grown osplets perfectly dry in the heavy downpour. What a mum she really is. Sumeh is the sweetest big sister ever, and little bro is adorable and such a feisty wee lad. This nest has been such a joy to watch. I could not have imagined enjoying watching a big sister/little brother osprey nest without a moment of stress or worry, but then along came Finnegan.”
I am with you – Iris has put everything into this season, and it may be costly. But it may also give her a reason to return no matter what it takes, as she now has Finnegan waiting for her. These two have bonded strongly and I am really hopeful that the strength of their relationship will give Iris what she needs to make it home again. She truly has been the most wonderful mother. What a waste – Louis truly is a cad.
BT: “Too numerous. 1. Fish Fairies at Port Lincoln. 2. Finnegan ousting Louis and winning Iris’s heart. 3. Annie and Archie raise four little falcons. Jackie and Shadow because they just make me smile all the time.”
RW: “The Fabulous Four at Poole Harbour ties with Iris and Finn.”
CB: “SE31 fledges and spends time with Lady and Dad on the Paramatta River learning to be an eagle. Iris and Finnegan because I never thought Iris would ever raise chicks again. The eagles at Decorah North because they survived so much and continued to be a family at their nest tree even when it had fallen over.”
CD: “I loved Smallie. The wee little falcon longed to live and it did get to fly.”
DDS:
Iris and Finnegan. Never thought this would happen.
Jackie and Shadow and their sticks and hopefulness.
M15 gets another chance to be a Dad.
They didn’t raise a family but seeing Gabby and Beau together made me smile.
The rehabbers that help.
The small Dutch falcon that died but got to fly.
The people who dared to provide fish to the osprey chicks at the barge in Australia.
Thanks to everyone who participated and to those who didn’t but sat and thought about what made them smile this year!
My list in a bit of a narrative and in no certain order:
The day I learned that Bonus was alive, I cried. Knowing that both Black Storks Waba and Bonus, raised by Karl II, are still flying gives me hope that there are others, too. I continue to be ever grateful for the work of Urmas in Estonia and his team in providing fish for the storks, ringing them, and checking on their well-being. It makes me smile to see the fish baskets that he sets up and fills to keep the storks alive. I wish that more people would engage with wildlife positively and constructively. I am grateful to the Roy Dennis Foundation and the Woodland Trust for removing the two chicks of Louis and Dorcha for translocation. Louis was not himself, and while I had an enormous smile when he reappeared after so many days, he needed to get his strength up, so it still felt like a good win-win. But knowing dear Louis is alive is a huge grin and a happy moment. The fish fairies at Port Lincoln took a stand and saved the osplets of Mum and Dad at the barge and I will forever think that this was a miracle that saved the chicks lives. Didn’t you just grin seeing the hand lay the fish on that nest? Whenever I checked on the nest at Poole Harbour, I smiled at the absolute dedication and great parenting of CJ7 and Blue 022. I remember the year they were courting, and it didn’t seem possible that CJ7 would get a mate, and now, to the astonishment of all, in their third year together, they successfully raised four to fledge. The California falcons will always make me smile: Larry at Alcatraz, Annie and Archie, and Monty and Hartley. Incredible families and, oh, our dear little ones that got themselves into some mischief, including Nox, who is recovering. That photo of him with his wing wrapped was lovely. I was happy when Smallie could come and go in and out of the scrape and got to fly and feel the wind under its wings despite its subsequent death. Big Red always puts a smile on my face as does Arthur when he lines the nest bowl with squirrel fur. They love being parents. And this year, because of the year that it was, I am grateful and smile whenever I see one of the nests have a fledge because they are just that much rarer. So many bird families lost so many of their offspring this year. To the delight and relief of many, Hope and Beaumont look like they will fledge two chicks this year from Snow Lane in Newfoundland – the first for many, many years. The Moorings Park nest just melted my heart when Tuffy overcame the abuse of the older sibling, Ruffie, and survive to become a gorgeous osplet that returned time and again to the nest so we could see that he was alright. What made me mad and also sick at times was the Frenchman’s Creek nest with fish after fish piled up and the poor osplets having to learn to feed themselves to survive – not from starvation but lack of parental attention. They triumphed, and somehow, the nasty fish disappeared. That made me smile big time. There were so many moments. Seeing SE31 flying over the Paramatta River with Lady and Dad, free of the harassment of the Pied Currawong, was simply one of the best moments ever, along with Flaco, the Eurasian Owl, who escaped from the Central Park Zoo and flew freely for a year. Perhaps I have said it more than once, but the resilience of Jackie and Shadow makes me smile every day.
The ultimate smile was Iris and Finnegan, though. I never thought I would see Iris raising chicks. Louis drove me nuts, and to see a young male osprey keep Louis on the other side of the territory made me grin every day, especially when Finn chased Louis off the owl pole. Iris is simply amazing. She is old (I have great empathy for her), raising chicks in that heat, and now Sum-eh has fledged. I also smile whenever I get a note or a letter from you. It makes my day, along with my garden animals, my family, and the girls, that much better. Thank you for being there.
Thank you to everyone who sent in their memories and for the images and videos thank you to ‘A, CG, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, NestFlix Memories, Osoyoos, Fortis-Exshaw, Colonial Beach, Menhaden- Little Fish, Big Deal, HWF-BBCentral, Heidi and Windows to Wildlife, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, SK Hideaways for the images of the falcon families from San Jose, Cal Falcons, and SWFlorida Bald Eagles, Wildwest Rehabilitation Centre, Texas Monthly, SK Hideaways, and The Guardian.
A note: If you wish to order a signed copy of Pickles, please write to Connie Dennis at: ospreysofnovascotia@gmail.com
I have to say that having Hugo Yugo snuggle with me all night before I left just broke my heart. She was all big-eyed and rolling around wanting attention, and I was trying to make certain that Mr Crow and the ‘Garden Gang’ were watered and fed. Thank goodness for the generous granddaughter who will be stepping into our shoes and caring for them and all the plants while I am away. ‘The Girls’ have Gary as their ‘cat sitter’. We will see how they do. Most of the time, they prefer not to have a sitter!!!!!!!
It is a mini-break to see different birds and walk around familiar parks that I last saw in March of 2023. I love High Park for its old trees, its abundant black squirrels, and the duck pond. There is a little zoo, and tomorrow, I will take you with me when I revisit it. It is nice and cool. 20 C and hopefully the sun will wake up sometime!
Have a great day everyone! So happy to have you with us.
Let’s start our day with Jackie and Shadow – always a pleasure. No matter what life throws at them they just keep on going, getting their nest ready, playing with those big sticks and doing some amazing chortling.
And then there are Finn and Iris. What an incredible couple. And those two babies of theirs. Seriously gorgeous with that juvenile feathering coming in. Finn had breakfast for Iris and the kids early before the heat set in.
Many tell me that with all the tragedies this year the only nest that they are watching is Iris and Finn’s. Finn is decidedly reliable and my goodness what a year when that is needed. Fish is the only hydration that the ospreys get save for when they head to the river for a good spa moment. Those little ones stay cool because Iris protects them – many Mums do not do suh a super job as her. She is giving these babies her ‘all’ including making certain that they are fed before she eats. I think Iris needs to write Osprey Mothering 101 for some of our females.
I wish that Charlie could get more fish on the nest at Charlo Montana. It is hotter than hot! Lola is a great Mumbrella. Just look at her protecting her two surviving babies.
The oldest at Charlo Montana is being a bit of a crank pot about the fish arrivals. Understandable. It is hot and – please correct me if I am wrong – but they don’t seem to be quite as plentiful during this heat spell.
Lola is looking a wee thin. The females lose approximately 30% of their body weight during nesting season. I wonder if it is more during an extended heat dome like they have in Montana?
Only Bob at McEuan Park has a nice crop. No rewind so very difficult to actually catch a feeding. Mum is doing all the heavy lifting at this nest. Dad has not been seen in weeks.
Only Bob at Dunrovin Ranch has a full crop thanks to Dad Swoop and Mum Winnie.
Four antsy to fly osplets at Field Farm. That nest gets smaller every day with these big kiddos. These adults really did a marvellous job in raising FOUR when some could not manage more one. Well done, Mum and Dad.
At Clark PUD, Mum will be hoping that her Only Bob will leave her some fish!
Dad is busy delivering fish to waiting fledglings at Patchogue.
Dad has been getting some nice fish to Mum and Only surviving Bob at the Minneapolis Landscape Arboretum nest.
Dyfi Osprey Project in Wales is proud of their three fledglings this year! Congrats, Idris and Telyn on another remarkable season.
All three are at the nest and hungry. Looks like two have fish dinner with one hoping.
Menhaden report. All I have to do is look at all those boats taking the fish that our osprey require and my blood begins to boil over.
w-0qjq–0www 0EWfvcgrt,`93“““2`4Hopes are high for another osprey couple in South Australia this coming season.
We love our Swallows in Manitoba. They eat so many mosquitoes!
Geemeff’s Daily Report on Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Wednesday 17th July 2024
Louis & Dorcha are both still around and came to the nest this morning, Louis left around 8am and Dorcha around 9am. No fish were brought and neither one returned to the nest. Nest One had some avian visitors but none of them Ospreys, making for a quiet day on both nests. The season has a bit of a school’s out feeling now and Cam2 switched to night mode before 11pm for the first time tonight, but fingers crossed we see Louis & Dorcha again tomorrow, and perhaps a bonus visit from Garry LV0 soon. The thundery showers didn’t materialise, there was only a light sprinkle of rain causing a few camera diamonds which soon disappeared, but heavy rain is forecast for tonight.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.09.23 (03.53.39); Nest Two 22.55.35 (04.00.16)
7/17 Osoyoos osprey nest: Once again, we found the live cam was down in the morning. When it resumed at 1137, both chicks were hiding out in Soo’s shade. The first delivery we saw was at 1415. Olsen dropped off a fish tail… No, not the kind of fish tail that still has a lot of meat attached, but actually just the ‘tail fin’, lol. I think Olsen may have forgotten how much of that fish he had already eaten. One of the sibs gladly ate it. “Thanks a lot, Dad!” At 1524 Olsen arrived with a medium sized whole fish. Both siblings ate peacefully during the 8-minute feeding. The harmony during the meal indicated that they had most likely had a few feedings while the cam was down. Good. The last fish of the day was a small fish provided by Soo at 1627. And once again, the chicks ate in peace. This evening, both chicks were doing some mini-wingers. Osoyoos reached 100F on 7/17. Weather forecast for 7/18: Sunny, high 100F/38C, light winds.
7/17 Colonial Beach: The fish count at this nest has dropped the past several days. The area has been warm, averaging mid 90’s. Today was 93-95F, sunny with 12-19 mph winds. So has the weather been hampering David’s fishing success? There were four fish brought to the nest, and three of them were from Betty. The osplets are 22 and 23 days old. Due to aggression from Big, Little has not had very much to eat for a couple of days. David delivered a large headless fish at 0710. Little was beaked right away, and then intermittently as Big was eating. Big moved away from Betty at 0737, and Little was able to eat 13 bites before being beaked. Big resumed eating. At the end of the meal. Little was able to eat an additional 8 bites and the fish tail. Little had no discernable crop. Eight hours passed before the next fish arrived. Betty had taken it upon herself to go fishing. Betty delivered large fish at 1410, 1535, and 1740. Even though the fish were large, Big prevented Little from eating. Big just ate and ate and ate, and intermittently beaked Little. At the 1740 feeding, Little made his way over to the other side of Betty, and she fed him 3 bites of fish before Big leaped across in front of Betty to beak Little. As the evening progressed, Little simply looked emaciated, and weak. Little may not survive the night. David and Betty are both thought to be first-time parents. Because Betty has demonstrated fishing success, ‘Dorothy A’., the Mod on the chat stated: “Well I think it is fair to say that fishing is not the problem here. It is a first time dad not knowing fully how it works!” …. What a shame.
7/17 Forsythe osprey nest: Larry fledged two days ago, and he seems to be having a blast. He’s flying around that marsh like he owns it, lol. Opal and Oscar are providing Larry with plenty of fish to fuel his adventures.
Thanks, Heidi.
‘PB’ sent us a morning look at Port of Ridgefield. They sure don’t want their one and only to fledge. Its crop is so full, it couldn’t get lift off if it tried. LOL.
Hartley and Monty finall get some quiet time!
I know you probably will not believe me, but it is time to begin thinking about ‘those birds down under’ that will soon be laying eggs and raising eyases – like dear Xavier and Diamond. I am always grateful that the Northern Hemisphere falcons have finished their season when the Aussies come into play.
Suzanne Arnold Horning continues to track down Big Red and Arthur’s Ns on the Cornell Campus. Word is they have avoided any and all disasters and are doing very well towards being totally independent of their parents.
Ever see a Laysan Albatross take its first flight? Probably not. Have a look at a video by our friend Hob Osterlund. This flight took place on Kauai, Hawaii.
Kristel had two prey deliveries on the 17th. One was part of a hare delivered by Mum, and the second was a Columbid – Kristel was so hungry. Columbid’s have red feet and are members of the pigeon and dove family. Kristel waseating bones before the prey deliveries. After she had a massive crop.
Thank you so very much for being with us today. Take care! See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, images, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, H, PB’, Baiba, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, McEuen Park, Dunrovin Ranch, Field Farm, Clark PUD, PSEG, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Dyfi Osprey Project, Menhaden- Little Fish, Big Deal FB, Fran Solly, The Guardian, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, SK Hideaways, Nesting Bird Life, Suzanne Arnold Horning, Hob Osterlund, Eagle Club of Estonia, Looduskalender, Osoyoos, Colonial Beach, and Forsythe Ospreys.
In Canada, it is a long weekend. Canada Day is tomorrow. I wonder how many towns and cities will opt to do something for the environment instead of burning hundreds of thousands of dollars in fireworks??? Then on the 4th it is Independence Day in the US and I am certain there are other holidays around the world coming up. Fireworks need to be banned. We can celebrate without them and use the money for good works – and no balloons. Oh, I sound like a tired record and just yesterday I saw balloons all over the trees at a house for a party!
We are carefully watching the hurricane in the Caribbean. It will impact the island of Grenada where my DIL and friends are (son in Asia) as well as all the wildlife in the area and other islands. Even on the fringes, they are predicting 100 mph winds.
Thinking of Blue KW0 and our friends in Barbados, too. Stay safe everyone.
In the garden, Dyson was enjoying the need seed cylinder.
Later, one of the many Little Reds came to have some seeds, too.
Everyone has been accounted for in the garden except Hedwig, the rabbit. Mr Crow has been very noisy today. The Starlings have returned, and he isn’t happy. Of course, it doesn’t help that ‘The Boyfriend’ (Calico’s former outside Tuxedo cat friend) likes to eat the cheesy dogs. That seems to set Mr Crow off in the wrong direction. There are many baby sparrows around trying to ruin my herbs and beans!
On Saturday, I posted the update from The Woodland Trust on the Loch Arkaig nest of Dorcha and Louis in western Scotland. We will wait to see what is decided regarding the chicks. No one wants Louis to be injured or ill. At the same time, no one wants the chicks and Dorcha to be hungry and become weak. It is a very delicate situation.
This is the Daily Summary from Geemeff:
Daily summary Saturday 29th June 2024
Midnight, and a tumultuous day ends. What started with the triumphal return of Louis in the morning, seemingly unharmed and bearing a fish, quickly turned to worry as he only brought half a fish and the dominant chick got most of that. The irony was that just as licensed raptor expert Lewis was preparing to climb the nest tree and hand-feed each chick a mackerel as he’d done the previous day, Louis appeared with fish, and inadvertently cost the chicks the chance of a solid meal. It was around 8pm before Louis returned with a second half fish, and the submissive chick was bullied away from the fish and not allowed to eat, forcing it to seach for scraps and eat bits of grass. The fish tally now stands at two hundred and fifty three including Dorcha’s contribution of one fish. There was much discussion on the forum, often at great length, of the best way forward, but behind the scenes, George and Woodland Trust Scotland were consulting the experts and a plan has been drawn up. This includes Lewis feeding the chicks tomorrow and a strong possibility of the chicks joining a translocation programme under the auspices of the UK’s foremost raptor expert, Roy Dennis. Link to George’s comprehensive post outlining the details: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=15217474. In other news, Garry LV0 visited Nest One twice, and was in turn visited by a male Osprey who looked like Prince, the mate of sometime visitor Affric 152. It was wet and windy overnight and rained on and off during the day – tonight’s forecast is for drizzle and light winds, with the prospect of a cloudy but mostly dry day tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.55.42 (03.27.10); Nest Two 23.14.07 (03.56.34)
UPDATE: The fish fairies came and fed the chicks and left fish. Words is that the chicks also fed themselves and it looks like Dorcha had a good meal, too. Thank you, Woodland Trust.
Louis did come in at breakfast with a half of a trout for his family. Something is obviously wrong. Get well, Louis. You are trying!
I had a question from a reader, ‘RM’: ‘What happened to the little osplet that always got picked on whose name began with a ‘T’? Turns out this is Tuffy! And I was so glad to report that Tuffy fledged and that s/he returns to the nest often for fish! While I was telling them Tuffy was on the natal nest waiting and watching for a delivery. Ruffie and Tuffy are doing so well. Great parents. Good location for fish.
At The Campanile, Aurora and Nox show up to let us see how well they are doing! Just lovely.
Still around San Jose, too. So nice to see the fledglings.
Osprey babies in care…lots of them. If you re in the area and you fish, why not drop some off?
I hope to get out and see these two Skylark and Heidi flying around chasing their parents for fish in August before they leave on migration. The photo is by Don Dennis and Connie Dennis is the admin for the Ospreys of Nova Scotia FB page. These two are real beauties. They are growing nice and strong due to lots of fish availability.
Port Lincoln wants to install more platforms. They have done an amazing job! The community spirit behind this Osprey project is incredible.
Some nests had trouble raising three chicks, some had trouble with two, and a few raised four!
The four at McEuan Park in Idaho are doing well.
The four at Field Farm are super. We sure didn’t know if Mini Little would make it, but the spunk of that kid in the face of those big siblings just makes your heart beat a little faster. You actually have to look really close to figure out which one is Mini Little – bet this feisty bird is a female. That would account for the increasing growth and the tenacity.
When the fourth egg at Poole Harbour hatched, my heart sank. I just didn’t know if CJ7 and Blue 022 could do it, but gosh, golly, they did. Look at those beautiful babies!
The other nest with four, ‘H’ reminds me, was Forsythe and they are now three. One died.
There has been concern over the past week for the leg of the second hatch at the Bridge Golf course osprey nest on Long Island. Heidi gives us the latest:
The Green Ledge Light Preservation Society on Long Island has named this year’s three osplets: Goose, Peach, and Shea!
At Newfoundland Power, Hope eats about 10 bites to every one she feeds her chick but, luckily, Beaumont has brought in some nice fish and the baby is getting fed. Gosh, could we hope for a fledge. Last chick to survive on this nest was in 2019. All others have starved. Hoping other 2 eggs are non-viable.
Ferris Akel caught up with Big Red, Arthur, and N1 and N2 on Saturday.
The Ns together on the adjacent light tower to their nest.
Big Red on Bradfield ready to roost for the night.
Arthur flying to Bradfield.
He arrives.
In Australia, ‘A’ reports on the WBSE: “Lady slept on the nest last night, brooding her egg. She has not left the nest at all today, except for a three-minute period when she backed up for a PS and a stretch. When Dad brought in some bedding at 08:23, she took the opportunity to fly off, perhaps for some breakfast, but not before making it clear to Dad that the egg needed brooding. So he settled down to keep it warm until her return. So far, we don’t have a second egg, but I expect Lady to lay one some time today. I would be really surprised if she only has the one, though she is ageing, so I suppose it is possible that the number of eggs laid could drop from two to one at some point for that reason alone.
There was no verbal communication between Dad and Lady but she was confident to leave him with the egg, knowing he would incubate it until her return. It was obvious. She would not have left the egg otherwise. So I enjoyed that little moment of non-verbal communication between two birds that know each other so intimately. I love that they are together year-round, not migrating alone like the ospreys (I think that is such strange behaviour) or spending years living a solitary life at sea like the albatrosses. “
‘A’ sends news that we have another egg in Sydney: “We knew the second egg had to arrive today, and tonight it did. The egg was unattended for only 17 minutes in total today, and last night it was incubated overnight, so with 75 hours between the two eggs, we will be hopeful the delayed incubation does its job and gives us two hatches about a day apart. Talons crossed. This pair is so bonded, they don’t even need to communicate verbally any more. It is lovely to watch them working together like the well-oiled team they are. I cannot believe we have two eggs already – it is freezing cold here, mid-winter. Yet this is a normal schedule for these two so I’m sure they know what they’re doing. I just hope there is not too much rain – young chicks certainly do not need to be in damp nests, as we know too well.”
Later…
‘A’ comments on Iris and Finnegan and their chicks: “Finn brought in a lovely fish for an early breakfast at Hellgate this morning – well before 6.30am – and he had not eaten himself. Nor did he fight Iris for the fish. He delivered it immediately for the chicks to be fed and waited on the perch until they’d been fed. Also noteworthy was the fact that Little Bob was first to the beak (as usual), with Big Bob using his height to lean over Little Bob when offered a bite. But Iris fed Little Bob first, then Big Bob. No aggression from Big Bob, who happily waited for its little brother to eat. Little Bob has hit the reptilian phase himself and no longer looks like the cute fluffy chick he was only a couple of days ago. He is getting his oily look, though he’s still not woolly like Big Bob.
These two are doing wonderfully well, but I am worried at how exhausted Iris is. She lights up when she feeds her babies, though. She is patient and careful and dedicated to them both. I keep feeling more and more that you may well be right, and I hate to think of Iris having to migrate at the end of this season. That thought genuinely terrifies me. She is going to be put under massive physical stress by that, and as the climate changes, there’s no guarantee the area she winters in will have any fish for her, with temperatures soaring above 50C in some of those north African countries. So I am desperately worried for her, though like you, I believe if this season is the last time we see her, we can be happy that she spent this year doing what she obviously loves doing the most. What a mother she is. I’m so grateful to have been able to see her raising chicks. ” “Breakfast at Hellgate today was timely and large, and the kids were fine until early afternoon, but by the time Finn brought in a nice fresh whole fish at 17:50, Iris still had a good crop but the chicks looked a bit hungry. As always, the osplets lined up nicely at the table, and Iris favours Little Bob early in the feeding. Both osplets attempt to eat literally from each other’s beaks but there is no aggression. Each chick is prepared to wait for their turn, and Iris feeds a few bites to one, then a couple to the other. She feeds them and feeds them until their crops are bloated with fish, but I think they still need more frequent feedings. I may have missed some feedings today though – I am going only on the crops, which appeared to be essentially non-existent when the late afternoon tea arrived.
By 18:09 Big Bob is crop-dropping to fit in the bites mum is giving him/her. Little Bob has given up on trying to hold his crop up and is lying down at mum’s feet, watching Big Bob attempting to stuff in even more fish. He looks impressed. By 18:10:30, Iris has swallowed the tail and quite a bit of attached fish. The osplets are full, but Big Bob has a nibble on some leftover fish. Iris is having a lot to say to Finn, who has returned to the nest, but I’m unsure what she is saying. His snake eyes make it clear he is not happy that there are no leftovers for him! He did deliver the fish whole, after all. But Iris and the two chicks demolished it entirely in slightly over 20 minutes. “
H’ reports:
6/29 Captiva osprey nest: Edie and Darling both returned to the nest today! Darling had not been in the nest since 6/27 when Ding had been very territorial and aggressive toward Darling and forced him off the nest. The past two days, we had seen Darling in a few flybys, and we had heard him, so we knew he was okay. Well…apparently in the 48 hours that Darling was off the nest, he spent some time thinking about his big sister Ding. I can just see him shaking his head, and shuffling his feet back and forth on a nearby branch, staring at Ding on the nest… and he came to the conclusion that he simply wasn’t going to accept Ding’s bossy ways. “No siree…that’s my nest too!” Darling wanted to be back in his nest to try to get some fish from Mom and Dad. At 0929 Ding was in the nest, Darling landed, a scuffle broke out, and they both went overboard. At 1105 Jack delivered a partial fish to the Ding at the nest.
Now, about Edie… We had not seen Edie since 6/23. She had delivered fish for two days after her ‘fishing line incident’, so her absence was not thought to have anything to do with that. It was believed that she was exhausted and needed a break to recharge her batteries a bit. But, we didn’t know for sure, and we were worried about her. At 1219 Edie landed in the nest with a partial fish! We were thrilled to see her, but she looked a little thin. Ding grabbed the fish…but Darling flew in and he landed right on Ding’s back. They battled for the fish, Darling grabbed it and mantled, Ding tried to grab it, Darling maintained possession…but eventually Ding won the fish. At 1357 Edie brought a small piece of a catfish, and Darling got that one. The siblings spent the next couple of hours coming and going. At 1523 Darling was in the nest, and Ding flew in and chased Darling off the nest. Edie delivered a whole catfish at 1600 and Ding took possession. Finally, at 1718 Edie delivered a medium sized partial fish, and since Ding was still working on her catfish, there was no competition for this meal. After he finished his fish, Darling ate some of the catfish that Ding had left behind, and he had a nice crop. The two ‘non-besties’ spent the night sleeping in the nest. We hope that Darling gets a really big fish of his own tomorrow.
6/29 Osoyoos osprey nest: The fish deliveries by Olsen got off to a later start than usual. The first fish dropped off by Olsen was a medium sized whole fish at 0808, that Soo fed for 10 minutes. There was another fish at 0952 that provided a meal that lasted 11 minutes. At 1025, Olsen delivered a large whole fish that Soo fed to the chicks for 14 minutes. There were no more fish deliveries through 14:40 that I saw. When I next checked the cam, it turned out that the live stream went down at approximately 1515. The high temperature was 84F/29C, and the winds were 5-8 mph. For 6/30 the temp is predicted to be a little cooler, but with gustier winds.
6/29 Fortis Exshaw osprey nest: Life at Canmore continues to be splendid for this osprey family. Louise sure did pick a fine mate in Harvie! Six good sized fish were brought to the nest, and I think there was a leftover fish, too. Louise fed some long meals to her kiddos. And, speaking of the kiddos…they love each other…well, I mean they get along great!
6/29 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Capt Mac’s): There were only 4 meals for this little 15-day-old osplet. And, they went from 0625 to 1555 (9.5 hours) without eating. Three fish came in after that time, and June was able to feed her youngster meals lasting 18, 10, and 7 minutes in length. The high temp was only 80F, with light winds, so I can’t think of why Johnny may have had difficulty fishing. Being a Saturday, the waters in that area may have been crowded with recreational boaters and fishers.
6/29 Audubon Boathouse osprey nest: 15-day-old Harbor, and 11-day-old Gray are doing well. There’s always lots of fish where they live, and they have a wonderful Mommy and Daddy. But, young Gray is often subjected to what most of the youngest osplets on a nest have to endure…that is dominance and aggression from their older sibling. Hang in there, Gray!
6/30 Colonial Beach: It seems that the youngest hatchling has died. It hatched overnight on 6/28. Our view is always partially blocked by some sticks, but we last saw movement of the baby on 6/29 at around noon. Fly high sweet osprey baby.
H’ reports also that it appears that a rescue is under way at Bridge Golf for the second chick with the injured/deformed leg.
‘PB’ reports about the state of the nest at Steelscape in WA on FB:
The Dyfi Osprey Project has posted the weight of their chicks over the years alongside some information I am attaching.
‘J’ writes that Actor Raymond Franco has a thing about Ospreys. You can check out the videos on his FB page.
Late word is coming in that the last osplet at Terrapin Bay could have been predated. Will update tomorrow.
Thanks for being with me today. Please take care. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, questions, announcements, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, PB, RM’, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Moorings Park, SK Hideaways, Raptor Centre of Tampa Bay, Ospreys of Nova Scotia and Don Dennis, PLO, McEuan Park, Field Farm, BoPH, Heidi McGrue, Green Ledge Light Preservation Society, Newfoundland Power, Ferris Akel Tours, Sea Eagle Cam, Montana Osprey Project, Window to Wildlife, Osoyoos, Fortis Exshaw, Fenwick Island, Colonial Beach, The Dyfi Osprey Project, Ramon Franco FB, and Pam Breci.
