19 December 2023
Good Morning Everyone,
Baby Hugo has been sneezing. Dr Greene gave her a really good check-up and a thumbs up. Hugo might always have some issues. She is nearly 5 months old and is the size of an 8-week-old kitten. She still retains her baby teeth. She has almost doubled her weight from when we got her (860 grams). She is now 1.54 kilos! It is, however, unclear how much more she will grow.
At the vet. Hugo is a force – she dashes at Calico and Hope and they go flying. Fearless is the constant word I use to describe her.
The girls had a lot of fun playing today. The idea of hiding toys and bringing them out works perfectly. They had so much fun with this tiered ball toy today.
Missey watches and joins in.
It has been so quiet in the garden – the squirrels are all here safe and sound. But only about a third of the sparrows with no sight of the Blue Jays. Where has everyone gone?
The new male at the NCTC nest has been named Scout out of a choice of Beau or Scout.
The brotherly love is over at Port Lincoln just as predicted. Dad brought in a small fish at 813 and Gil and Brad scrambled to get it. Gil won, Mum tries to take it and Brad gets it later. Both eat. Whew.
Read Bart M’s running commentary. It will make you tired!
‘A’ remarks about the two osplets: ”They’re very evenly matched. Giliath is a little stronger but Brad is more determined. Poor mum nearly lost a talon in the struggle (thanks, Giliath). She tried several times to grab her fish back but in the end, left it to the boys to struggle over it for a while. There is still no real aggression between the siblings. A tug of fish, most definitely. Mantling, quite a lot of it, especially from Bradley. But actual aggression, none that I have seen. This pair have been adorable to watch. I have loved every minute of this season at Port Lincoln. There have been no deliveries from the fish fairy for three days, since the fish that were left after the banding process, and of course we have seen both parents, but particularly mum, step up the fishing to make up for it. They are ‘monitoring the situation’, so that if there is hunger on the nest, they will step in and use the same barge they used when the left the post-banding fish. (Thank you – I believe that barge has been moved to its current position thanks to your suggestion.) So we are confident that there will be too healthy fledglings at this nest this season, bar unforeseen accidents of course, always a possibility as Orange has shown.”
Yesterday, Mum caught a huge fish and brought it to the nest. She has done the same today. “Once again, mum is the fisher, bringing in a HUGE fish at 10:52:29. It takes her over 20 minutes to get it back!”
How many of you couldn’t stay away from the Captiva cam? Isn’t that little bobblehead just the cutest thing? Proud father, Clive, has that nest full of fish!
It looks like there could have been another successful mating at The Hamlet around 1742 Monday evening.
Lady Hawk caught it on video.
At Centrepoint, Mum and D3 try and rid the nest of squirrels.
Failed mating attempt between Bella and new male at the NCTC nest.
At the KNF-E3 nest, Alex was incubating the eggs Monday night. Incredibly sad. I had hoped that he would move on…he will, but it is going to take a little longer. If Andria had lived, those eggs would be hatching right about now. Samson incubated eggs for 80 days at Big Bear with Jak incubating for 86 days at Sauces. I hope that Alex stops sooner than that and maybe has a chance for another clutch with the new female.
‘A’ sends the latest news from Ranger Judy about the sea eagles at the Sydney Olympic Forest. Just look at that beautiful juvenile!
“December 18: Early morning at 7am, all three were down on the river. SE31 was flying up and down the home stretch and begging at times. We could hear her squeeing. At 9:20, Lady flew off River Roost and caught a nice bream, watched by SE31 and delivered fresh to the island mudflats. SE31 was quick to claim it and then eat, with both parents nearby. No more observations from today.”
At The Campanile – female is attracted to Lou but Annie wins out!
It’s a daily joy to read these reports, with SE31 getting stronger and more confident. Cannot wait for her to catch her first fish! She’s obviously watching mum carefully.
Surviving winter as a bird!
How much do you know about the Ruffled Grouse?
BirdGuides Review of the Week.
Sadly, Bird Flu is not going away.
Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care! See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, articles, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ’A, H, J’, PLO, Bart M, Window to Wildlife, AEF-NEFL, Lady Hawk, Centrepoint Bald Eagles, Deb Stecyk, KNF-E3, Judy Harrington, SK Hideaways, BTO, The New York Times, and Bird Guides.