Category Archives: birding

Saturday in Bird World

28 September 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

I am starting to put all of the things that excite me or late updates here at the top. On Friday evening 24E1 brought Gabby her first fish gift of the season. She devoured that fish. I know that many have been cheering for Beau. Beau is not at the nest. 24E1 is and Gabby appears to be more than happy with him. His toes are ‘not that bad’ and actually appear to be healing. He is perfectly capable of protecting the nest, taking care of Gabby, and we hope providing for her and their eaglets, if that happens.

Gabby was working on the nest. She knows he is coming. Look at the delight on 24E1’s face when Gabby accepts the fish!

Friday was the most glorious day. There was a clear blue sky. Not a hint of a cloud! There was a nice breeze and the temperature was 22 C. As I write, the European Starlings have come in to try and get as many meal worms out of the nut cylinder as they can. Little do they know that I ordered them 22 lbs of meal worms. They will be here on Sunday.

Mr Crow got into the action, too!

It was Open House at Wildlife Haven. The Director said they wondered if they were taking a huge risk having the event so late in the month, but, no. It was fabulous. Last year it was 15 September and wet and cold. The vet who is doing her internship for a year as part of a project through the University of Guelph was amazing. I learned so much! And I asked a lot of questions for all of us!!!!!!!!!

First up a little bragging. I never win anything. And today, by putting the feather to the raptor (12 different ones), I won the book prize. It is a marvelous volume that I will enjoy.

We got to visit with one of the GHO ambassadors. It was found at the bottom of the nest. The parents would not feed it and then it was discovered why. It was born with only one eye and its beak was crooked so it could not hunt or survive in the wild.

Isn’t this owl a sweetie?

The volunteer with the GHO sent me over to Rick who was hosting a display on Kestrels. He does videography as well as taxidermy. I learned so much about how long it will take to get my Cooper’s Hawk approved for ‘stuffing’.

That is the female Kestrel on the top. She is larger than the male. Rick has a blind and monitors a small population of these raptors. He says the females are ‘fierce’. The males not so much. Want the territory protected? Call the female!!!!!!

Patients are brought to Wildlife Haven by Conservation Officers, Volunteers, and the general public. At intake, they try to get as much information as possible so that the patient can be returned to its territory on release. The goal is always to get them back to the wild. Next is the examination room where there is a host of machines such as an x-ray to try and determine what is needed.

Tess said that the centre is lucky. It has all of the facilities needed including a surgical centre so that raptors with broken wings can be put on the mend and not euthanised.

There are oxygen rich incubators if needed.

Cages for animals awaiting diagnosis. They are using stuffies so that the real animals do not get stressed.

A stuffie stands in for the Bald Eagle who did have wing surgery and is in one of the larger areas awaiting transfer to the flight pens.

The sub-adult Bald Eagle that had the surgery.

You have all heard about imping. Replacing a missing feather with another which is glued in place. According to Tess, you can only imp 2-3 feathers if you want success. Most of the raptors have many more feathers missing either their primaries, tail feathers, or both. She did say that in Manitoba, most of the hydro poles are insulated so that the birds are not electrocuted. She has not seen an electrocution from a power pole.

As I walked around I took notice of all the things that are needed in case you are feeling like making a donation. Those clean old towels are needed all the time! Dawn detergent. Bleach. All manner of stainless steel or plastic container that could be used for feeding animals. Look on the shelves below! If you clean out a house for someone moving (or otherwise), please consider donating items to your local wildlife rehabilitation clinic. They go through gallons of bleach and Dawn!!!!!!

Those old clean towels and sheets are always needed. If you are feeling ‘flush’, a good laundry set is always wanted.

One thing we haven’t thought of – bees wax paper. They use it for bandages for turtles! You can put the beeswax paper on the incision or wound and it actually keeps it from getting infected. They can use these for a fortnight without changing them and they are removed easily with a tongue depressor.

There is a turtle in there with a beeswax bandage under that leaf.

Majestic, the Ambassador Bald Eagle.

It was a great event. The new vet tech is fantastic. I said that at least twice. Her goal is for every animal to live in the wild. She said that the area of wildlife rehabilitation veterinary science is relatively new compared to large animals or domestic pets. One aspect that she is keenly interested in is the resilience of the animals. Can a turtle live in the wild with only three legs? Why not try it? Monitor them. The answer is, ‘Yes, they can’. What about a raptor with one leg? It was not that long ago that the wildlife would be euthanised. Now, some wildlife vets are ‘sticking their necks out’ to see precisely who can live with what injuries and thrive. I highly recommend that you seek out your local clinic and find out when they have Open House!

‘MP’ suggests that it is the right time to get that platform at Achieva fixed before the new breeding season starts. I sent a note to the Tampa Bay Raptor Centre to see if they could help. It is possible that there are so many animals in need that this could still be low on the priority list. The platform needs a new perch if not two of them. The dish needs proper drainage but with the ability to not allow eggs or nestlings to fall down and die or break. Was the tree trimmed to stop raccoons? What about other predators?

Oh, goodness. Falcons are the cutest! Don’t you love how they talk to their eggs?!!!!!!! https://youtu.be/qjh2vn1-vh4?

The Royal Cam chick’s name is Kiwa. Just lovely and the meaning is perfect.

Gabby was in the nest on Friday.

No one at the Newfoundland Power nest…it seems they have all headed south.

‘J’ reports that both eagles have been seen at the John Bunker Sands Wetlands eagle nest.

The Bluff City Bald Eagle streaming cam is up and running. The nest appears alright.

The wind is still blowing reasonably strong at Pa and Missey Berry’s nest in NE Georgia.

If you missed the live Ventana Wildlife Chat live, here is the recording. https://youtu.be/yLBrKSws3Zg? This month focuses on “…the Condor Crew highlight the arrival of our condor “rookies” in San Simeon, while our new interns, Rachel and Griffin, offer a glimpse into the developing personalities of these young birds. We also share some exciting nesting and flock updates, including a video of wild-hatched condor chick 1315 being fed by his dad, and Bucky (1087)’s release date from Oakland Zoo.“

What an adorable family. The Olympic Park Eagles in Sydney.

You still have time to guess the day and time the first egg will hatch at Port Lincoln. Put it under the streaming cam in chat! A big thanks to Brad M for keeping us great historical records and organising all the information including the daily log of nest happenings. It is invaluable. The link is at the top of the chat.

‘PB’ reports that the Seaside Bird Sanctuary in Indian Shores, Florida, suffered substantial damage due to flooding.

‘J’ sends us Rita’s Fun Fact Friday: Rita the Bald Eagle

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Time for Fun Fact Friday! Enrichment for good health! It is very important for any facility that takes care of birds and other animals to provide an environment with lots of enrichment to help them thrive. For a raptor, like Rita, having various perches of different heights with different materials covering them helps to keep her feet healthy, and the wood provides a good surface for her to “feak” her beak to keep it clean and sharp. Being able to bath in her bath tub and having a water mister helps with feather conditioning. A variety of prey items, some of which can be placed in containers that require her to use her foraging skills, is very stimulating. A few examples that simulate foraging in the wild are to place prey items in a floating bowl in the bath tub to be “fished out” or to freeze the prey in ice blocks, or put it in egg cartons or cardboard boxes with holes cut out so the prey is still visible are all great ideas. This allows the eagle to “hunt” and tear at the container to get to the prey. Another idea was to provide a sisal rope toy that the eagle could flip around and stomp on like it would do with sticks or prey in the wild. There are lots of ideas for enrichment online. When researching ideas, I came across a YT video of an eagle that was given a carved out pumpkin! That’s a great idea since Halloween is coming up and the stores will have pumpkins! Those caregivers carved holes in it and stuffed it with prey items sticking out so the eagle could forage for its food. With that idea in mind, I brought a ball for Rita, and Kelly and Laura put fish in for her to pick out! She had such a funny expression when she first saw the ball. Kelly and her team are always striving to provide the best of care for Rita with enrichment in her environment and diet that can help her thrive. They are the bestn and your support can help provide some stimulating enrichment for Rita! Thank you! JK  #ritathebaldeagle

The Hawk & Owl Trust withdraws from the Hen Harrier brooding scheme!

Hawk & Owl Trust withdraws from hen harrier brood meddling sham – Raptor Persecution UKDownload

Friday evening we took a quick spin over to The Mint. On our way to Wildlife Haven, we noticed hundreds of geese feeding on the grass at The Mint. I wondered if they would return to the pond at night for its security.

That did not happen. There were a few geese in the pond along with some ducks, but not many.

Is it because of this?

Calico’s Tip for the Day comes from ‘Everything Gardening’. Get yourself a nice cuppa and sit back and leave the leaves alone.

Missey and Hugo Yugo wish you a fantastic weekend. They want you to take care of yourself. Get outside if you can. Listen for the birds. Pet a cat! And be back with us as soon as you can.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, announcements, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘J, MP, PB’, Wildlife Haven, SK Hideaways, NZ-DOC, NEFL-AEF, Newfoundland Power, Achieva Credit Union, Berry College Eagle Cam, ETSU Bluff City, Olympic Park Eagles, Raptor Persecution UK, The Canadian Mint, Winnipeg, and Everything Gardening.

Saturday in Bird World

17 August 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Friday was the last full day of our time in Nova Scotia, and it turned out to be a blockbuster day. We arrived at Evangeline Beach in time for the Semipalmated Sandpiper murmurations! After arriving from Hudson Bay and the Arctic region, thousands of shorebirds feed on the mollusc. They will fill their bellies and get the much-needed fat on their bones in Nova Scotia before heading off for their flight to South America. It was one of the most magical moments I can remember.

I will post images from the long lens camera – thankfully I took the 600 mm. This is a poor video from my iPhone.

Turning left out of the beach road, a lone eagle was waiting for someone to toss out a dead chicken from one of the barns at a local farm.

There were eagles all along the road, sitting on hydro poles near the corn fields waiting for prey! I have images of them on my other camera and will post those for Monday. The day turned out to be really nice in terms of bird sightings.

The Eastern Kingbirds and Northern Mockingbirds have been around the animal sanctuary. The Mockingbirds particularly like the raspberries! The animals are positively charming. We respect what Jen and Will are trying to do here, taking in unwanted or abused farm animals – including a couple of feral cats. It is a lot of hard work, from dawn to dusk. I appreciate the cost of feeding and the vet care necessary for the animals, not to mention the upkeep of fencing! They sure don’t do it for the donations – it is sheer love.

This is Jen with Cece. A woman phoned at Christmas, wanting to know what to do with her newly born pot-bellied pigs. Could Jen help? At the end of it all, the baby piglets died all but one, and it was very tiny and sick when Jen finally was able to rescue it. Cece fit in the palm of Jen’s hand and had to be fed by a syringe. Cece lived to the surprise of many and thrived. Just look at her now! She is trained to live in a house but is learning to live with the other animals running free on the five-acre property.

There are too many wanting pot-bellied pigs for pets. They do grow, they need to be spayed or neutered and they need exercise. Many people do not understand how intelligent they are and are not equipped to take proper care of them. Jen now has eleven!

These two are below the apple tree. They love the apples and rolling in the mud in the little stream next to the tree.

The sheep are lovely. Not as trusting as some of the other animals. These two, mother and daughter, were quite abused and again, not expected to live. It is a testament to the knowledge and dedication — and love – that Jen gives to them. They are thriving like the donkey and the pony that are now nearly 30 years old.

The owner of the rooster had to move and could not keep him. They loved the rooster so much that they offered to help with its upkeep for as long as it lived. The rooster is thriving.

This turkey missed being someone’s dinner on Thanksgiving! It loves nothing more than a good dirt bath.

The sanctuary began with five goats that were not expected to survive. They did, and here they are now—adorable. They love people and want nothing more than to be petted.

Staying at the sanctuary enriched our holiday. I learned so much and am appalled at how harmful humans can be. It is unbelievable what we do to other living souls. It was a real joy to be in a place where life is respected.

Other adventures. included the wonderful surprises awaiting in the small town. Two decades ago, Canning was a small village that appeared destined to fold. Today, with the help of the local distilleries, wineries, tourists, and a group of young entrepreneurs, the town has taken on a new life.

The coffee was fantastic, too! The baking was delicious and is in high demand so you have to arrive early in the day to have good choices. Everything is gone around 1400 and the little shop closes at 1500. They seem to be doing well. They also sell some of the local coffee roasters beans along with pottery and art work including that of Will, one of the owners where we are staying.

The relaxed way of life, the charm of the small villages, and the friendliness of the people helped us enjoy every minute of the time we were visiting the Annapolis Valley. I look forward to returning!

Turning back to Bird World – Dr Green has found Antali. Everyone was quite worried. Antali is spending time with Dad, Finnegan, down river and is being fed well. Maybe Iris and Finnegan are dividing up the responsibilities for the two with Iris providing for Sum-eh???

‘PB’ sent me an image of Finnegan’s latest catch. My goodness. Him and Antali will be having a feast!

After spending so much time around tourists, beaches, and shorebirds, I completely understand the need to protect their nests!

Cages installed to help nesting Ringed Plovers – BirdGuidesDownload

The issue of the industrial fishing of the Menhaden is also harming the Striped Bass. It is the food chain. The commercial fishing needs to stop, not only in the Bay but also far enough away from the its mouth so that there might be some hope for the fish to recover in terms of populations, but this will not happen unless there is an immediate moratorium.

STRIPEDBASS_Issue10_05-17-2024Download

Geemeff’s summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:

Daily summary Friday 16th August 2024

Garry LV0 and Affric 152 spent hours on the nest again today. Although Affric gave Garry much vocal encouragement, he only brought moss to the nest, no fish. Fundación Migres provided more photos of the Scottish cohort including our chick 1JW, we’re not sure which photo he’s in but all the birds look in magnificent shape as they prepare for migration. Photos and tweets cobbled together into a video for those who don’t get on with TwiX. Weather-wise it was wet and windy as forecast, and more of the same tonight but with a possibility of dry spells tomorrow.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One  21.56.53 (05.06.56); Nest Two 21.47.01 (05.13.30)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/RnY54XNtci8 Spain: more photos and tweets of 1JW and the other ten translocatees

https://youtu.be/rQYUcsjAKB0 N1 Affric joins Garry but he brings sticks not fish 10.51.20

https://youtu.be/lD-oLI2NjpA N1 Garry and Affric return later but there’s still no fish 16.20.59

Bonus photo – our ringer Lewis Pate makes The Week In Wildlife (thanks Moira)

https://bit.ly/WeekInWildlifeLewisringingaSeaEaglechick

Watch the Loch Arkaig Osprey livestream 24/7 and join in the conversation here:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

‘A’ comments about the Royal Albatross:

“At Taiaroa Head, TF chick is doing well, according to his latest weighing. He has been fed regularly by his parents over the past two weeks. The chicks are all starting to flap and hop, stretching their wings to feel the wind. It is so sad to think that when they go, they are leaving for up to five years, heading for South America (off the coast of Chile) and not returning to Taiaroa Head for four to five years, when they will return to their natal nesting area to find a mate. We have a long time to become deeply attached to these chicks, born in January and leaving us in September. That’s many months to fall in love with them, watch them, wait for their parents, and hope for their wellbeing. It is such a bittersweet moment, and I will never forget the look of sheer bliss on Lilibet’s face as she fledged into the storm. It was an amazing thing to watch live. I felt very privileged indeed.”

“Lady is doing a great job of feeding the eaglet, really stretching to reach it and giving it just the right sized pieces, and the chick in turn is a great little feeder. SE34 is hungry and is eager to reach out for the bites. I did notice a size difference between the chicks yesterday or the day before, but they are still relatively closely matched. Once or twice, when Lady goes to clean bits of fish off SE34’s face, the eaglet shrinks as if intimidated and on one occasion ducks and tucks, but in general, it seems confident when eating. 

Just before 15:53, after SE34 really reaches to grab a big bite, Lady drags the fish closer to the chicks. Shortly before 15:54, SE33 wakes up. SE34 continues to accept the bites Lady offers. SE33 is sitting up and watching the feeding. It has a PS, but does not interfere as SE34 continues to eat, not appearing to be intimidated at all by its sibling. 

The two eaglets were left alone on the nest for a lot of time today – it was a sunny spring day and I doubt they were cold, and I also presume there was a parent within eyeshot somewhere, though I didn’t see either. 

At 15:55 SE34 is being very careful not to look SE33 directly in the eye, but is not scared to accept yet another bite of fish. SE33 does another (small) PS. Lady continues feeding SE34, who continues taking mouthfuls without hesitation. SE33 sits beside SE34 at the table but is not being offered food, so competes for a bite. Lady looks slightly startled. 

At 15:56 Lady gives a bite to SE33. At 15:56:35 the next bite goes to SE34 and SE33 decides to take exception, beaking its sibling in the head. It grabs a beakful of head feathers and twists at the back of SE34’s head. No damage is being done but SE33 is definitely frustrated and continues its attack for a full 20 seconds before looking up at mum. SE34 stays down. 

Lady offers SE33 a bite, then proceeds to clean up the table, have a few bites herself, and generally not feed SE33. She offers a bite around 15:58 but there is no interest. She offers another and SE33 accepts it. Lady gives SE33 a second bite, then a third, and SE34 lifts its head. Lady continues feeding SE33 (who has the remains of an earlier crop). SE34 is getting squashed by its sibling. 16:02 and the feeding of SE33 continues. SE34 watches but is not offered any bites, nor does it compete for any. On the other hand, SE34 is pretty full by now, with a very respectable crop, and is certainly not intimidated, with its head up. At 16:02:45 Lady offers a bite to SE34, who accepts it without hesitation. There is no reaction from SE33. So it appears the bonking that is occurring on this nest is not causing problems with SE34’s feeding. SE34 is not intimidated out of eating and Lady is keeping an eye on your younger hatch. So far, so good. But as we know, these nests are very volatile and the dynamics can change rapidly and dramatically. Talons crossed that Lady and Dad do their usual sterling job. “

Thank you so much for being with us today. There will not be a posting on Sunday as we arrive home late Saturday. I will look forward to sharing some of the images of the shorebirds and more eagles on Monday. In the meantime, take care of yourself. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for the posts, notes, comments, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, BAH, Geemeff, H, PB’, Jen Lussing and Will Cooper and the animals at the LAILO Farm Sanctuary, Aspinall Pottery, The Village Coffee Shop, Montana Osprey Cam FB, Montana Osprey Project, BirdGuides, Menhaden- Little Fish, Big Deal, Maryland DNR, Geemeff and the Woodland Trust, NZ-DOC and Cornell Bird Lab, and Olympic Park Eagles.

Friday in Bird World

26 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

‘The Girls’ are just fine. We are enjoying Amy Tan’s new book and read an entry or two every evening. Oh, how I wish I had the time to learn to draw like Tan! This morning we are enjoying having no heat on in the house and listening to the Chickadees sing to us. The sky is heavy overcast and I am hoping for a lot of rain.

Hugo Yugo is quite the character and if anything happens one has to look no farther than a little ginger cat. She has ‘decided’ that the butcher block area is ‘hers’ especially when we are away. The key is not to leave anything there that could be knocked, eaten, or tossed off to the floor. This included a yummy packet of cookies today. It appeared she had knocked them off and then played hockey with the bits and bobs. Either ‘on’ or ‘off’ and nothing in between, looking for mischief at every turn. We picked up a small bag of tiny pinecones today in the hope that they would be of interest!

She is ready to run! This look just spells trouble.

Missey has decided that she likes the vintage wicker cat carrier.

‘The Boyfriend’ comes about 4 to 5 times a day. I am constantly checking his water bowl sine it has been so warm. Must find another place for his feeding location soon.

It was 24 degrees C in Winnipeg on Thursday, 25 April. Unbelievable for this time of year. The soil is so dry that when I was going down country roads it blew everywhere. We need moisture! After such a successful Wednesday at Delta Marsh and Delta Beach, it was time to go and check on the pelicans.

The American White Pelican lives on our main lakes and near the dam at Lockport, Manitoba. They arrive in April and set off for their southern winter grounds in September. They fish by diving into the surface of the water to get small fish. The ones with the barnacle-like disk on their bill are breeding pelicans. The others are not. They make scrape nests lined with pebbles or lay their 1-3 eggs on mounds of debris. Normally only one chick survives because of the high percentage of siblicide associated with this species.

There were hundreds and hundreds of them on the river.

The one below is a breeder. Notice the keel plate on the upper mandible – the barnacle-like protuberance – indicating a breeding bird.

The only other birds that I saw, other than a few ducks, were a small group of Ring-billed Gulls.

Have a giggle. Thanks, ‘MB’ for the link – Silly Idris wants incubation time!

Big Red and Arthur had their first hatch on Thursday morning. Oh, goodness, gracious.

‘A’ gives us her perspective: “Wasn’t it lovely to see a hawklet hatch yesterday? We could see the half shell shortly before 13:00 and we get our first really good look at the still-damp hatchling at around 14:33, at which point mum decides it is ready to be fed. It is able to sit up strongly and hold up its head (though the baby fox that’s on the menu today retains a little more fur than is ideal for the baby’s first feeding). I must say the sight of that crushed and mangled shell does worry me slightly. We have had several of these this season, most with happy endings but at least one (at SWFL) with a very sad outcome. Let’s hope the other eggs are not in this condition. Arthur is a very proud dad. Are there pips on egg 2 and/or egg 3? That was definitely egg one that hatched, based on the amount of speckling, which means the pip I thought I saw (which was on egg 2, I’m fairly certain) was likely not a pip, as the mark in question still appears to be on that second egg and has not enlarged at all. Thus, it is probably something stuck to the egg. Still, we are expecting pips in eggs 2 and 3 at any time, based on the timing of the delayed incubation principle followed at Cal Falcons. I believe Big Red did something similar here.”

Oren and Ruth have their first hatch, too!

It is sometimes hard to hit a moving beak especially if you are a new Mum and have two little osplet heads bobbling about. Aren’t they cute? The two at Captiva CO7 and CO8. Both have had fish.

That other egg in the Captiva nest. Well, if you read the chat, you might think that a 45-day-old osprey egg – the first to be laid – might hatch tomorrow. Think about that. The average for osprey eggs to hatch is 36.5-38 days, according to the data that ‘H’ and I have collected (as well as many others). At 40 days, we would give up hope -. There is no way that a 45 day old egg will hatch! So sit back and enjoy the two of them.

It looks like dear Tuffy is going to survive Ruffie. Tuffie is now 31 days old and has beautiful, beautiful juvenile feathers.

‘A’ gets pretty excited watching the Cal Falcons. This is from a day ago. “At Cal Falcons we get our first proper view of hatch four, fully out of the egg and still very damp, when mum heads off to the pantry at about 13:43. Of course the little one is not nearly ready to eat and its eyes are still closed. It looks tiny without its fluff. The other three are all fed – again, Annie is careful to make sure all those little beaks are filled several times each. I always worry that one of the three doesn’t get as much as the other two at a feeding, but it never the same eyas as at the feeding before, so she makes sure that with frequent feedings for these youngsters, no-one actually goes hungry. They are ADORABLE. When we first see them as a fluffy cuddle puddle, I wonder how quickly even Annie will become way too small to brood them. They are a largish pile already, and Archie’s valiant efforts at brooding will be entertaining! Oh he is a darling little mate. Don’t you just love the way he leaves beautifully prepared food within 10 or 15 seconds of the nest – Annie seems to be able to collect perfect prey from the pantry in an incredibly short time when she heads off for food – she’s always back within 20 seconds or so with nutritious-looking meat without inedible parts attached. He does a great job. Of course Annie cleans up any bits that are not suitable for feeding to the babies. 

By 14:53, Annie is up and heading for the pantry again. This time, the new hatch is dry and fluffy but not yet ready for a feeding. Still, it has been out of its egg for about 90 minutes or so and already, it seems strong. Archie is quick;ly onto the scrape in case anyone is chilly or a bit lonely, e-chupping to Annie as he checks the kids. But again, Annie is back within 20 seconds, the prey this time a little more feathered than usual, and Annie takes a couple of minutes to prepare the food herself. She then proceeds to feed the chicks yet again, and Archie stays a while to watch the meal. Chick number 3 has front position for this feeding and is doing particularly well. A couple of minutes in, the little fourth hatch pokes its head through the fluff and appears at the front of the line, beside chick 3. It opens its tiny beak, whether for a yawn or for food, I cannot be certain. Oh they are just TOO sweet. Mum has her work cut out for her! 

Archie is still there at 14:55, when chick 4 stands up (it has to pull its head out from between the others, which puts it into the back row at the table) and opens its beak!!! This chick is less than two hours old (it’s probably been officially out of its egg for about 90 minutes at this point), and it is already standing, holding its head up and opening its beak for food. Wow! At 14:56 Archie continues to watch closely, appearing absolutely fascinated. He is on the edge of the scrape, within inches of the little cohort of chicks standing in the middle of the scrape, little beaks open wide. Small squeaks for now – just imagine how noisy these cuties are going to become en masse!! 

Mum is ignoring the fourth hatch, which is at the back of the group and is much shorter than the others so hard for mum to reach. At one point, the baby is even jumping in an attempt to gain her attention! It reminds me of Rubus, and appears to have similar leaping abilities. At such a young age, its strength and balance is truly astonishing. It tries several tactics to try and get mum’s attention but to no avail. Shortly after 14:59 it stands up at the back of the group and appears in danger of falling over backwards. This concerns Archie, who moves around behind hatch 4 to make sure it is okay. He is such a sweetheart. He seems to want something to feed to those open beaks, and e-chups to Annie. I think he’s counting the bunch and realising he now has four children!!!! (No, that’s anthropomorphising, but he definitely appears to be worried by the fact that the youngest hatch, at the back, has not been fed despite all its efforts. Mum continues to try and coax the older three to eat, without success, but continues to ignore hatch 4. Watch at around 15:00 to see Archie’s reaction to this. He seems to very badly want to grab that bite of food from mum and distribute it himself. But of course he doesn’t.

Interesting. I’ve never seen a parental interaction quite like that. He actually seemed to make a half effort at grabbing the food from Annie’s beak to feed the chicks himself. Archie stays beside the chicks, watching with great intensity. Everything Annie does, every movement from the chicks, he absorbs. He is totally engrossed. Several times, he appears to consider taking the food from Annie’s beak, apparently wanting to feed the youngest hatch, at the back, which still has not been fed any food, despite its continual begging for something, its little beak wide open like its older siblings. Of course it does not yet need to eat, only two hours out /of its egg, but it wants to and is trying to, so I am surprised that Annie is ignoring it completely. She is usually really good at reaching the one at the back or the chick facing the wrong way. Perhaps she simply thinks this one is so young, she doesn’t need to include it in feedings yet. I do hope so. Otherwise, this one looks determined and strong, so I suspect it will rapidly learn how to get itself into the front row. It will jump like Rubus if it has to, I suspect, based on what it has been doing this afternoon. I will check for feedings later in the afternoon to see if chick 4 did get fed today.”

A story too good not to tell. A 17 year old male Peregrine Falcon has a mate and a clutch. His name is Dipper.

Frenchman’s Creek has received many letters from concerned viewers of their osprey cam. ‘MP’ wrote and got a response stating, “They were in contact with the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in Florida and several ornithologists who told them of the situation; and per expert opinion, human intervention is neither necessary nor permitted at this time.”

 The female was on the nest feeding one of the osplets today while the other was self-feeding.

‘MP’ reports that the first egg of the season has been laid at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum nest on Thursday the 25th.

There are two osplets at Lake Murray and there is a hint of the third egg perhaps pipping. We will see tomorrow.

The third osplet at Lake Murray arrived overnight. Thanks, ‘H’.

One of the Decorah North eaglets has a fishing hook issue. This would qualify for intervention because it is a human-caused problem. Can they get a permit? Is it possible to get a cherry picker up to help? We wait. Poor baby. Please send positive wishes.

Swampy is on the nest and is being fed well. He was eating a fish and there are now two more as I write on the nest for later! Thanks Abby and Blaze.

The two eaglets at Cardinal Land Conservancy have been named Arnie and Neil.

Murphy has a new eaglet to raise!

News from ND-LEEF:

‘H’ caught an Osprey landing on the Cape Henlopen State Park platform – a change from the Black Vultures. Ospreys have not used this nest since the tragedies of 2022 when the Dad was found dead, the Mum chased off nest by intruding and overtaking ospreys, and the chicks starved on the platform as a result.

Glaslyn: Elen and Aran have their second egg of the season at 12:44 on Thursday the 25th.

It actually appears that there is a new male at the nest of Iris at Hellgate Canyon in Missoula who has been bringing fish and there might have been a successful mating. Many believed it was Louis, but after much comparison it appears it is a new male to be named by Dr Greene. Well, this could be an interesting year. Iris certainly likes his fish and heaven only knows she deserves someone to care for her! This is certainly a twist that I did not anticipate.

The Fraser Point eaglet has been named – and we will be waiting to hear the name of the other one.

Both Bald Canyon Eaglets were named.

Dorcha cannot get a break this year! Poor gal just wants to incubate in peace and quiet.

Dorcha takes off with the ‘brunch or lunch’ fish. Louis was late – keeping intruders away?

Jackie and Shadow and the dawn.

New female replacing Charlotte at Charlo Montana is a 14 year old.

Six goslings taking the leap of faith seen from the US Steel Eagle cam. Fantastic. You might have watched the second leap of faith at Decorah. One gosling made it down to the adults. Volunteers looked and found a second at the bottom of the nest tree that night but parents were elsewhere. I do not think that they found the third. I will try to get more up to date news.

https://fb.watch/rGWOx8ZXEE

Thanks so much for being with me today! Take care everyone. We hope to see you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, tweets, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘A, Geemeff, H, MB, MP’, Dyfi Osprey Project, Cornell RTH, Suzanne Arnold Horning, @CornellHawks, Red-tail Hawk Tales, Window to Wildlife, Heidi McGrue, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, Linda McElroy, Frenchman’s Creek, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Lake Murray, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Laura Rose, Eagle Country, Cardinal Land Conservancy, World Bird Sanctuary, Carol Mandis-beadle, IWS/Explore, Geemeff, Pam Breci, and PIX Cams.

*Every effort has been made to credit individuals for their notes, videos, photographs, etc. If I have inadvertently missed someone, please let me know so I can rectify that oversight.*

The boys are back in town…Sunday in Bird World

31 March 2024

Good Morning Everyone!

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

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

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

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

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

They make me tired.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Louis and Dorcha’s reunion.

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

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

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

No ospreys at Llyn Brenig yet.

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

Poole-Harbour-Ospreys-return-BirdGuidesDownload

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monty managed all those eggs for incubation!

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

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

Pair of eaglets at Decorah North are sooooo cute.

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

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

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

Port Tobacco’s only eaglet is doing just fine.

Second eaglet Sunday morning at Denton Homes.

At Bluff City, Oliver is growing nicely.

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

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

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

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

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

R6 fledged today from the WRDC nest!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thought or the week:

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

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

Jack tries to save the egg at Captiva…Monday in Bird World

11 March 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Sunday was just the most gorgeous day. Blue sky and a warm +5. Great to get outside as much of that ice is now gone.

It was a great day to go for a walk, weather-wise. When we got to our destination, there were approximately nine deer, several of them quite young, in front of us. Then, an individual with a Golden Doodle let their dog off the lead, instructing them to chase the deer. The dog began barking loudly and running at the wildlife, at which time I stood and spread my arms, and told it to go back. This was not before the deer were quite frightened and began to run across a road in the park that was rather busy today. Now, why on earth would someone do this?

The feeders were busy. There were a couple of Pine Siskins and a Dark-eyed Junco, along with the normal group of sparrows, the two Blue Jays, and a female Downy Woodpecker. The Crows could be heard but not seen. Little Red and more Little Reds were eating peanuts along with Dyson. It is always so good too see her.

Dyson looks good!

Sunday’s news is that Jack and Edie have their first Osprey egg together at Captiva. That egg and all that bark have caused a bit of an issue.

‘H’ reports: “Well, at 14.49.39 both Jack and Edie left urgently due to an intruder, and Edie accidentally kicked the egg out of the bowl when she flew off (that’s exactly what Flo did to egg #1 last season).  Jack had been trying to roll the egg back to the center for a while, and finally had to move some bark, then rolled the egg toward the center by 17.08.38, but the egg was still on top of palm fiber.  Jack sat on the egg to incubate at 17.10.  Then a short while later Jack stood to move a bothersome stick, and since the egg was on the fiber, it rolled outward again.”

The egg rolled out again and ‘H’ reports that Edie is incubating palm fibre with the egg being covered by the material to her right. If they could get that egg under Edie by the time she gets to hard incubation of her other eggs, I wonder if it would be viable.

The saga of the egg continued during the night as Edie and Jack tried desperately to get it back to the middle of the nest. ‘H’ reports that the wind finally took the covering off. Now the egg is free! Wonder what will happen now.

We have a first egg at the Decorah Goose Cam!

Thunder and Akecheta welcomed their second hatch. This makes my heart beat a little lighter. Of all the Channel Islands eagles, these two have the best luck with eggs and raising chicks. They will need it this year. These two are already bonking furiously. Thunder appeared to get fed up with this and went back to brooding the pair.

Thunder makes sure they both get fed. Gosh, these two produce feisty chicks. It is a bonk fest.

Everyone continues to root for Jak and Audacity and Jackie and Shadow. The positive energy and love going their way is tremendous. If only it could produce eaglets.

Audacity.

Jackie.

‘A’ reports on Tom and Angel: “That nest of Angel and Tom’s looks very much ready to receive a brace of eggs (not three yet Angel – Tom is a bit inexperienced still to feed a family of five, I fear).”

The battle for the nest at Dulles-Greenway continues. Rosa’s mate, Martin, disappeared in December. They had raised three eaglets – Pi, Pat, and Flora in 2023 to fledge and the nest collapsed. It was rebuilt. Rosa’s new mate, Lewis, did not help and she quit incubating the two eggs she had laid on the 23rd of February, 9 days after she laid the first egg. Did she just leave? was she killed by another female wanting the nest? Currently, Lewis is on the nest with a new female according to the latest reports. I have now placed Rosa on the Memorial Page for 2024.

Lewis and new female in nest.

‘As-the-Nest-Turns-Viewers-riveted-by-latest-Greenway-eagles-saga-1local-loudountimes.com_Download

It looks like Swampy and Meadow have a possum to practice their self-feeding. Later, a parent helps them. They are now in training! These two just about gave me a heart attack today when they were both leaning way over the edge of the nest!

E23 wants to fly and is doing really high hover moves.

More fish stacked at the Duke Farms nest. This new dad is fantastic! There has been some concern about Jersey, the smaller eaglet. Leaper is the oldest. Comments on the chat seem to indicate that Jersey has had some good feedings on Sunday.

Very windy at the nest of Jolene and Boone in Johnson City, TN on Sunday. Eaglets are Little John and JC. I have had some concerns here, but that little one came back to eat after some pretty good bonks.

It is not clear how much food the second hatch is getting at Bluff City yet. Yesterday, Franklin made sure that BC 25 was fed. The chicks are Oliver, the oldest, and Willow, the youngest. Their parents are Franklin and Frances.

Isn’t this Osprey beautiful? Frank Borja took it while watching a Saturday track and field meet in San Diego. We are looking for more information. Osprey has a blue colour band on the left leg, with a numeric, either 61 or 19, depending on which way it is to be read. Do you know this osprey number? We are searching and have sent a query to USFWS and reported the band sighting. The osprey looks to be in very good condition with a nice fish dinner.

‘J’ sent news that Ojai is banning glue traps! This is great news if the stops and on line retailers will stop selling them! Despite a ban in my city, I continued to find these for sale in big retail chains.

Sharon Dunne reporting on the TF chick and its visit with Mum.

Love TF chick? His parents? All the other albatross and seabirds? PLEASE stop using plastic. It is bad for humans (you can find endless articles about forever toxins used in plastic), and it is deadly for Royal Albatross chicks whose parents forage in the sea and fill their babies with plastic! What a garbage dump we have created on our planet. It is time to do something about this. Refrain from purchasing plastic items. Do not use plastic in your microwave. Tell your shops to stop buying cheap imported plastic items that are thrown away. Start investing in buying less but better. The world will thank you.

Toroaalbatross-chick-dies-from-swallowing-plastic-Media-release-11-March-2024Download

A National Geographic article on the forever chemicals hiding in your kitchen.

‘Forever-chemicals-are-hiding-in-your-kitchen.-Heres-where—and-what-you-can-doDownload

What Kills An Albatross?

“What kills albatross” by Tatters ✾ is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Milda and Mr H are working fast and hard to get that nest ready for eggs! I am thinking around the 25th.

I honestly cannot get enough of the Port Lincoln Lads hanging out together. This is pretty awesome.

Arthur was working on the Cornell nest for a few minutes before the snow started Sunday evening.

Off he goes over Tower Road.

We love seeing our falcons out and about the urban areas staying safe.

Olivia and Oscar are now both back at Severna Park’s Osprey Platform.

Dr Sharpe has cancelled his retirement. Please note his comment about the build-up of DDT in the older eagles in the Channel Islands – and this would apply to other areas such as Big Bear Lake where DDT was sprayed extensively.

As many as half a million barrels of DDT were discovered leaking in the Channel Islands in 2020. Leaking. Hidden at a depth of 3000 feet so that no one could discover them – the ocean and inlets are garbage dumps used by humans. Out of sight but not out of mind and certainly harming the wildlife.

Imagine. 500,000 barrels. Leaking.

How-the-waters-off-Catalina-became-a-DDT-dumping-ground-Los-Angeles-TimesDownload

We love Jackie and Shadow. Everyone sat and hoped that with three eggs one of them would be viable. As we close in on the final days that egg #3 might be, let us all applaud this couple who have laid 14 eggs together with 5 of those eggs hatching. It is known that 2 or 3 of that 5 have survived into adulthood. One of those most of you will remember as Spirit from two years ago. I hope that Jackie and Shadow will have another opportunity to raise an eaglet, but if they don’t, they can sure teach us much about getting on with life in the face of adversity. Send them your love!

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, photographs, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, FB, H, J’, Window to Wildlife, Decorah Goose Cam, IWS/Explore.org, FOBBV, Dulles-Greenway Eagle Cam, Loudoun Times-Mirror, Eagle Country, Lady Hawk, Duke Farms, Sylvia, Johnson City-ETSU, Bluff City-ETSU, Rollin’ Rog, Frank Borja, Ojai Raptor Center, Sharon Dunne, NZ DOC, National Geographic, Open Verse, Biruta Lapa, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Cornell RTH, Linda McIlroy, Lucille Powell, Dr Sharpe, and The Los Angeles Times.

More Eagle eggs…tributes to Flaco…Sunday in Bird World

25 February 2024

Good Morning Everyone!

It is +7 C in Winnipeg and everyone seems to be outside, smiling, walking their dogs or cats. The squirrels and Black-capped Chickadees were out at The English Garden. It really was superb despite my angst over the fact that we need the snow, we need our normal winter.

I am smiling. 4.8 km. It was a good day for a walk. Limited ice, lots of sunshine!

At home, Missey and Hugo Yugo found the store room. Quilts piled high on storage bins in case they wanted to look out. It is awaiting spring cleaning, but these two did not care! Well, not quite true. Hugo Yugo raised her head. She did not want her nap disturbed by me.

Lewis and Missey spent hours at this window next to one another, watching the Chickadees that had a nest there. Life goes on. Hopefully Hugo Yugo will spend time there with Miss.

It has been a horrid week. Trees were cut down, Hugo Yugo was ill and is now well, and ‘The Boyfriend’ disappearing topped it all. He did return. And then he was gone again. Not like him! A few of us feared the worst, but then he showed up at 1620 Saturday for food, and as I am writing this, he is eating kibble from the dishes left by my neighbour. Turns out he was locked in her garage for a few days. So…please check to ensure no kitties are locked in yours if you leave for a few days. Things turned around. I cannot do anything about the trees, but plant more in my garden or move which I don’t wish to do — I really couldn’t leave the garden animals. So, forward!

First, there is a correction. I had originally posted that Stella and Talon had their first egg on the 21st. Then I heard that they had three and thought I was wrong. It appears that the second egg was laid yesterday -Saturday- at the Florida-Gainesville nest, so let’s rewind. If there is to be a third, it should be in the nest on the 27th.

Andor and Cruz have their first egg of the 2024 season at Fraser Point in the Channel Islands. You may recall that they are Lillibet and Victor’s parents. Victor was rescued and treated by the Ojai Raptor Centre before being rereleased to the wild in 2023.

The first egg for Dad and the new female at ND-LEEF (ND17’s nest) was laid Saturday evening.

The Centreport Eagles have egg number 2. It feels like the sky is raining eagle eggs as of late.

Jak and Audacity teach us the meaning of love and hope. It has been three years since they fledged a single eaglet. Will we dance for joy on 8 March – we certainly will – if this egg survives to hatch!

PB sent a great image of Meadow this morning. Unless something changes, it appears that we no longer have to worry about Meadow’s survival. Isn’t that fantastic?

They are both rather itchy at Eagle Country.

Beau and Gabby also teach us about love and endurance and accepting one another’s learning curves. The couple returned to their nest after abandoning their egg on Saturday working away. Maybe they will have eaglets next year, maybe not. For now, the two are keeping their territory out of the hands of intruders and living their lives.

Tiny bobbleheads at Superbeaks.

JBS20 has had nice crops all Saturday. The arrival to the nest of the second adult made for some happy moments. AE sent a screen capture of that happy reunion.

Are you holding on to the edge of your seats? Today is the 25th of February. We are four days away from pip/hatch watch for Jackie and Shadow. FOUR.

Shadow has been up to his old stick trick to try and get some incubation time – and when the exchange happens, we get to see three intact eggs.

At the Captiva Eagle nest of Connie and Clive, their surviving eaglet, Cal, is getting proficient at self-feeding!

Ron and Rose are having R6 feed himself most of the time, too.

Chase and Cholyn’s precious egg at Two Harbours.

A view of the two eggs at Duke Farms.

And two eggs at Decorah North!

Royal Cam chick watched over by parent LGK followed by some good feedings. It is always hard to see these little ones left while the adults are out foraging. I wonder what kind of a gardener this one will be?

Giliath is doing well. Making the rounds and catching Puffers, too.

Bonding taking place at Lake Murray Osprey Platform. Lucy lost all her chicks to the GHO last year as well as her mate. I am disappointed that the protective guards used at Cowlitz PUD successfully in 2023 were not tried at this nest.

It is touching that so many are grieving over the death of Flaco, the Eurasian Owl. Tributes poured in from everywhere – the major newspapers and stations as well as a myriad of FB groups.

People and news crews gathered to remember this remarkable owl. Poems were written, tears were shed.

The Guardian carried Flaco’s story.

Flaco-New-York-Citys-beloved-owl-dies-after-striking-building-US-news-The-GuardianDownload

The personal testimonials about how Flaco inspired them to change jobs or to even live are very touching in this New York Times article.

New-York-Mourns-Flaco-an-Owl-Who-Inspired-as-He-Made-the-City-His-Own-The-New-York-TimesDownload

Could there have been other factors contributing to that collision?

Flacos-Crash-Might-Have-Been-More-Than-Bad-Luck.-Heres-What-We-Know.-The-New-York-TimesDownload

My inbox has been full of the same question – how do I feel about Flaco’s death? The simple answer is I was both sad and conflicted when I heard about his death. I am glad that out of his fourteen years (13 in captivity), he could live one of them freely, being an owl, learning to hunt and flying freely. This will conflict with many people whose opinions I respect and who I contact for help if a raptor is in danger in their area. My thoughts come from seeing our local eagle, Majestic, sitting in a 10 x 10 ft cage – it is a cage, come on. She did this for years and years before an enclosure like the one Rita has was built. Majestic cannot fly and cannot live in the wild. There was nothing wrong with Flaco – he was, as all animals in small enclosures in a zoo are, nothing short of a display object. I cannot even imagine what it would be like for a healthy owl to be confined. So…I am so sad he has died, but I am so glad he was able to fly free.

I just received a message that the ospreys from West Africa are beginning to arrive in Spain! We are less than three weeks away from UK arrivals if they are as early as Maya was one year. Gosh, golly…..And remember. We are FOUR days away from pip/hatch at FOBBV with Jackie and Shadow.

Thank you for being with me today. If you want more images and discussion about Flaco, I urge you to check out Bruce Yolton’s blog. He is a photographer and has followed Flaco from the beginning. I know that he preferred that Flaco was safe in his enclosure, so we will agree to disagree. He is, however, talented and observant of all wildlife in the area. Take care everyone. There are too many Bald Eagle eggs, and the Ospreys are coming online. It is going to get busy. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, images, posts, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘AE, EJ, MP, PB’, IWS/Explore.org, Trudi Kron, ND-LEEF, Eagle Country, NEFL-AEF, Superbeaks, JB Sands Wetlands, FOBBV, Window to Wildlife, Duke Farms, Bald Eagles of Centerport Live Stream, tulsaducati, PLO, Laurie Spencer, Brendan Hall, Stella Hamilton, MandaPanda73, Pauline Ludwig, Janet Walker, Ian Ingle, The Guardian and The New York Times.

Blue KWO makes Birders Bird of the Year list!

19 January 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Mamma Calico and Baby Hope wish each of you a very wonderful Friday.

They had fun playing with the Chinese chair – Hugo Yugo and Missey – while Baby Hope looked on, wanting to enjoy her bird video.

Oh, it was an odd morning. It felt like the air was full of water. All of the seeds were frozen together although there was nothing more than the humidity. No new snow. The squirrels were all out – Dyson and her kits and the two Reds. The Blue Jays were here along with the various sparrows. I did not happen to see the Crow or the Starlings. Of course, ‘The Boyfriend’ arrived at 0900, 1200, and 1658. He is, like Calico, a creature that is attune to time, but does not wear a watch.

The girls ‘helped’ me put together a new desk. After 25 years, it was time to get a longer one to spread all of my books and papers about it. I broke my desire to not buy anything in January. Fortunately, I did not fall into the right after Christmas sales and the discount on this desk was too deep to ignore. I had a gorgeous one with a glass top in my office when I was teaching and helping direct the School of Art, but my one at home was much smaller. Of course, it had to be put together! The base is heavy metal, and they did not drill any pilot screws, not one. What a job to keep everything straight and then try to drill a pilot screw and not go through the top. Ridiculous! Now I know why it had such a discounted price! Can’t imagine what the folks who paid full price felt when they had to fight trying to get those screws into holes under a piece of 1 inch metal tubing. It is now together, and I love it, but I am glad you could not hear me when I was trying to get those screws tight. Hugo Yugo was in there like a rocket, supervising every second. 

Geemeff sent me the news and I am jumping up and down for both Blue KWO and my friend, Michael St John in Barbados, that spotted this Scottish bird – and wasn’t sure what he was looking at. How in the world did this osprey get to the Caribbean from the UK last fall? We might never know that secret but Blue KWO continues to thrive on the island and has been seen with another osprey! Might we have a bonded couple?

I’ve shared below the announcement two recent images that Michael took. One with Blue KWO and her ‘friend’ (potential mate) and another of her with a nice catch. Michael has gotten to see her catch fish twice. How lucky! And how lucky he spotted that blue band. 

This is so exciting. I remember the day I got Michael’s note and posts went out everywhere trying to find out all the information that we could about the bird. Many did not believe that an osprey could get from the UK to the Caribbean – but, well, there is the proof. There are also other birds on the island that should be in the south of England but are basking in the beautiful blue skies of the Caribbean. I wonder how grateful they are?

Well, I couldn’t be more happy. Well done, Michael St John! May Blue KWO’s crop always be full and may it be a long and productive life on your island.

At the NE Florida nest, Gabby was on and off the egg. She missed Beau bringing her a fish present, which he ate on the nest himself. She must have been hungry to have left the egg unincubated….maybe she knew Beau would be there and take over? We have about a week or nine days to go (I think by my bad math) to see if this egg is viable.

It is day 27 (if my math is correct) – so 9 days. 27 January we should be watching for a pip. With Beau’s delivery of a fish to the nest, I really would like to see these two get a chance to raise a little one this year. A change of heart for me…they have worked so hard and Beau has come such a long ways in his journey to adulthood.

Beau did not incubate the egg.

Gabby has been gone almost two hours. Beau is waiting and watching for her.

Gabby is back at 1537.

Rose has turned out to be a great Mum over at the WRDC nest. R6 has had Coot and an Ibis to eat today! What a little cutie pie.

Meanwhile, in Fort Myers, M15 and F23 decide to blanket little E23 with its huge crop (so big the eaglet can hardly move) with nesting material! SK Hideaways caught it on video.

Clive had the nest full of fish today! C10 and C11 had the biggest crops. They could not have felt any hunger! Notice that almost all the white down dandelions on their heads are gone. You can see the pin feathers coming in – everywhere -and they are now completely covered by dark thermal down. Both ate well today. No worries at all. 

Please send your positive wishes to Lori Covert who owns the land that the Captiva eagle and osprey nests are on. Her house has flooded from all the rain and there is ongoing issues with the wiring. 

‘A’ sends us the past reports for two days at Sydney—SE31 is sure a beauty:

January 18: It was a fine early morning and our juvenile was seen on the island at 7:30am, flying around a bit and then on the exposed mudflats nearby. Then after a short fly about, she disappeared into the mangroves behind River Roost. No adults were seen before this. Then later, at 9:30am, she was seen picking at bits of rubbish on the mudflats. Sometimes there may be dead fish for scavengers. However, human rubbish may cause injuries. There were no more reports until just after 4pm, when one adult was seen on River Roost, but SE31 was out of sight.

January 19: At 7:30am, no eagles were seen at the river. Shortly after, we spotted SE31 hidden in branches on the island. At 8:15am, she was seen flying low over the mudflats in Ermington Bay, behind the island. She was possibly hunting and flushed out other water birds – ibis, herons, ducks. As the tide was going out, more of the mudflats were exposed and we saw her picking at scraps on the mudflats. She spent some time flying about the island, swooped several times on one circuit by an angry magpie. We feel she was eating at one stage, though prey was not identified. At 9:30am, neither adult had been seen. I returned at 12:10pm, and finally saw her fly from low at River Roost to a higher branch. Finally, just after 6pm, one adult was seen down on the river, but SE31 out of sight.

At Port Lincoln, Dad comes in with a fish at 0946. Brad decides to chase Dad off the nest and Gil grabs the fish. Go figure!

I love Jackie and Shadow in the morning…thank you, SK Hideaways for these diamonds!

There is concern that neither egg at Berry College is viable. The average for hatch of Bald Eagles is approximately 36.5 days. Egg one is 42 days old today and egg two is 39 days.

On the 17th, the Decorah North Female (DNF) caught a pheasant and had a fantastic lunch on her snowy nest.

The smallest penguin visits the Royal cam nest in New Zealand.

A flock of over 100 Cedar Waxwings photographed in Oklahoma. This is a double ‘wow’.

Mark Smith caught an Osprey catching a very poisonous Manowar Jellyfish. 

The Cattle Egret is a common sight in the Caribbean. They are often around the cattle in Grenada and I have photographed them for many years. They are characters like Hugo Yugo. Today, the numbers in the UK have grown since 2008. Here is why.

Cattle-egrets-how-changing-climate-brought-a-bird-of-the-tropics-to-UK-Birds-The-GuardianDownload

A new approach in Mongolia is protecting the last Dalmatian Pelicans. BirdLife International tells how what is happening.

Saving-East-Asias-Last-Dalmatian-PelicansDownload

In case you missed it, ‘R’ has reminded me of the video at the end of the article on the Billion Dollar mouse. It is roughly 20 minutes long and is full of personal recollections that we think you will enjoy. 

This is the link: Vimeo.com/285024252

Please cut and paste.

Thank you for being with us today. Please take care. We look forward to seeing you again soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, articles, videos, photographs, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ’A, Geemeff, J, MSJ, R’, NEFL-AEF, WRDC, SW Florida Eagle Cam, SK Hideaways, Window to Wildlife, PLO, Chickiedee64, Raptor Resource Project/Explore.org, NZ DOC, Janice Blanton, Mark Smith, The Guardian, BirdLife International, Vimeo and Birdlife International.

M15 saves E23, Pips, eggs…Sunday in Bird World

14 January 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Hearts were breaking. The worry beads were out. E23 had something stuck in its mouth. Was it a fishbone? Both M15 and F23 tried to get it out. Finally, around 0910, M15 got it out and that little eaglet was fed the RK Rabbit. (Thanks, ‘H’ for the great captures). Thousands of people breathed a little quieter. M15, you are amazing. Let us all send good wishes to this little one with the hope that there was no injury. 

It is a cold -25 C as I write this – with the wind chill it is -45 or -50 C in areas with cold weather warnings not to go out. Postings are up for people to please keep their pets inside. Winter has come. We will have several more days of -25 C and then it is going to warm up to -8 C. The weather has done this before and those little reprieves were great help – just to get outside and get some fresh air and go for a walk. 

Extremely cold temperatures. How could I not worry about this adorable Tuxedo?  He won’t come inside but will tell me when his dry kibble bowl is empty by banging on the garden door. ’The Boyfriend’ now has a heated bed in his insulated home. It all worked out. Calico gifted hers to him, and I crawled under the deck and got it all hooked up. Yes, he is in there! He should be very toasty. His insulated house has straw bales surrounding it on the top, the back and the sides. Only the front is open. There is straw inside and now a heated cat bed. He might never leave! I wonder if he will be wanting room service.

Calico is gorgeous. I love how the sun gives her a soft, golden look. On Monday, I will have ‘known’ Calico for a year. On 26 January, we will start the 7th month of Calico living inside. So far, she has not wanted to go out, but she has looked on occasion. 

Missey washed Hugo Yugo for over 30 minutes. I wonder if she is going to clean that eye! Notice how she is really holding that little one down. Hugo Yugo’s fur is getting very frizzy. 

Baby Hope is watching Missey clean up Hugo Yugo – she is also hoping she is not going to be next. Calico still holds her down and cleans her, too, despite the fact that she is almost as big as Mamma.

‘H’ is overjoyed and has sent me a close up of the pip at the WRDC nest of Rose and Ron. This egg is 38 days old today, I believe. The chatters have been wringing their hands in anxious anticipation. Now the wait for hatch!

Another view of that pip.

Rose on Sunday morning. Hatch in progress.

Over at Superbeaks, Muhlady has laid the first egg of her and Pepe’s second clutch. Congratulations! The time I was given was 1437.

No confirmed pip at Berry College at 1510 but chatters note some ‘suspicious’ spots.

We can clearly see the pin feathers coming in on the wings of E23 at the SW Florida Bald Eagle nest of M15 and F23.

You can see the ear. See the ‘hole – like a black dot’ in line with the corner of the beak. It will be covered with feathers as the eaglet develops.

C10 and C11 have not quite lost all the dandelions that make up their Mohawks, but the time is coming. There is lots of dark thermal down covering their bodies now and C10 was doing some standing today. Clive is keeping the nest full of prey. 

Lori Covert is looking for names for C10 and C11. Here is that announcement so you can take part. 

*NAMING* Time to name CE10 & CE11! The landowner is taking name suggestions. Around 1/19/2024 the land owner and her family will pick 2 names from the suggestions. If you’d like to submit names you can direct message Lori on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/p/C2A0dTTpZr8/) or you can email her at lcovert@covertmarketing.com

Beau continues to help out with incubating the egg at NE Florida. Gabby and him have a short conversation at the last turn over of the day Saturday night.

Snow continues in Iowa. It looks wet and heavy. You can really hear the wind. Compare the top image with the bottom captured later in the evening.

Raining in Pittsburgh at the Pittsburgh-Hayes nest.

Chat moderators are reminding us that the first mating of the 2024 eagle season for Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear was 31 December. Some are thinking we could have eggs soon. I wonder. It is really windy Saturday night at the nest. I did not see the eagles there today, but I might have missed them.

At Port Lincoln, the day has started off good for both Brad and Gil have had a fish breakfast.

Report from WBSE, thanks, ‘A’: ”January 13: The first observation for the day was of one adult at River Roost at 11am, shortly joined by the other. Then, at 11:45am, what appeared to be a subadult was seen circling overhead, though neither adult seemed to take any notice. At 12:25pm, our juvenile was seen circling higher and higher, out of sight. Shortly afterwards, at 12:50pm, she was seen at Juvie Roost. More tomorrow if there’s any action.”

And here is that report: ”

January 14: Our juvenile was spotted on Mangrove Island at around 8:20am, though no parents were seen by our river watcher. Shortly before, one eagle was seen to fly to the Goat Island area and catch a huge fish, which it sadly dropped. SE31 was spotted flying high over the river, over the Homebush Bay area, for a good 30 minutes, returning to Mangrove Island at 10:20am with a raven escort. At around the same time, an adult was reported at Goat Island. Heavy rain began at around 4pm, steaming up our cameras. SE31 was seen at around 5pm taking a short flight around the island, watching the water intently. “

Nice to see Sally at the nest at Moorings Park on Saturday.

The Sauces Cam in the Channel Islands of Jak and Audacity is now live.

Hartley and Monty are flirting…. I wonder when we will have eggs. Any thoughts?

Ever since the discussions of Beau’s ‘missed opportunities’ at the NEFL nest with Gabby, there have been more and more postings of young males ‘missing their mark’. D3 at Centreport is one, and in ‘Red-tails in Love’, it was pointed out that Pale Male, the resident RTH in Central Park, was amorous with a head as well. They learn. But then you have the shock of the egg to the first time Mum (and/or Dad) and then that chick screaming for food. It has to be as overwhelming for them as it is for us.

Parrots. I recently posted a short blurb about the parrots in the UK. There are also parrots all over Stuttgart, Germany. I am including this because these are our feathered friends, but it also demonstrates how a small action can make a big difference to the lives of the birds we love so much. It does not take thousands of people just a few informed, dedicated, and persuasive individuals to get to the right government departments. They need to be organised and convince these people that helping the birds is also helping humans!  

So where did the parrots in Stuttgart come from? Bianca Han writes in the Stuttgart Amazonian: ”It all began in 1984, when a yellow-headed amazon (Amazona oratrix), presumably escaped from a private enclosure, was repeatedly spotted on the grounds of Wilhelma in Stuttgart. Apparently there were several unsuccessful attempts to catch the amazon and it is rumored that animal rights activists took pity on the lonely amazon and bought another one and set it free. The two parrots found each other as a pair and raised three young in 1986. The population has grown steadily ever since. In 1995, 16 were counted and a further 10 years later as many as 38 parrots. At the end of the 1990s, two ringed blue-fronted amazons joined the population. It is not known where they came from. One disappeared after a short time, the other became a long-term partner for the yellow-headed amazon “Thea”. The population is growing very slowly. It stagnated for many years and even declined in some cases. Some years it fluctuated between 50 and 60 Amazons. In the winter of 2017 to 2018 and the following year, the population grew to 65 amazons each year (including one amazon that was in care to recover from injuries). In January 2021 I was able to count 62 parrots.” An organisation was formed to save the parrots. ”Regularly from February, the wild parrots begin to eat tree hazelnuts on the ground. Unfortunately, in recent years many places frequented by parrots have been thoroughly cleaned by the Stuttgart City Cleanup. On a smal strip of green just under two meters wide, the parrots have found their way. On one side runs the tram and on the other side runs a busy road. At the beginning of 2023, we were able to register many accidents. We were able to see some collisions with vehicles, which luckily turned out glimpse. Two Amazons had to be treated by veterinary surgeons. One remains permanently incapacitated another could return to the flock after 5 weeks. We miss some Amazons, who regularly visited the place for food intake. We have become aware of the urgent need to create alternative safe feeding grounds for them and to maintain existing ones. For this reason we have now established the association “Freundeskreis Stuttgarter Amazonen”. Hahn adds, “You can support the unique wild population of the Yellowhead Amazon by becoming a member of our association, by making a donation or by purchasing our annual calendar. More information at www. stuttgarter-amazonen. de

The first success of the Association Freundeskreis Stuttgarter Amazonen e.V. was the planting of two Hazelnut Trees by Netze BW Wasser GmbH. They also agreed to protect the Stuttgart Amazons. “On Thursday, November 23, 2023, the replanting of two tree hazel trees took place on a Netze BW site. Especially in the fall, the Amazons spend some days in this protected and inaccessible area, as there are already fruit and walnut trees here. It is to be hoped that the newly planted hazel trees will become a focal point for the Amazons in the winter months in the medium term.”

Parrots have been in the Hesse region of Germany for millions of years. ”Fossil finds have shown that around 50 million years ago, in the Eocene period, parrots lived in Hesse. Their remains can be found today in the sediments of the Messel Pit near Darmstadt. Parrot bones from the so-called Miocene (around 29 million years ago) have also been found in France and Germany. After that, Europe was long considered the only continent on which no free-living parrot species could be found. The colorful birds could only be admired in private holdings, bird parks or zoos.”

It is fascinating. I hope to learn more. Thank you to ‘J’ for bringing this to my attention after the UK posting and for translating the information from German to English using the free version of DeepL.com

Saturday is Ferris Akel’s tour around the area of Ithaca, New York. Of particular interest today were a lovely Red-headed Woodpecker and a pair of Mute Swans that are not local. Mute Swans are identified by their orange bill, and the know between their eyes at the top of the bill.

This would be true for all our wildlife.

Thank you so very much for joining me today. Please take care. See you soon!

Subscribing is free. You get the blog in your inbox daily. You can unsubscribe at any time!

Thank you to the following for their notes, information, posts, articles, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ’A, H, J’, WRDC, Lloyd Brown, Superbeaks, Berry College Eagle Cam, Lisa Kitchens Simms, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Window to Wildlife, NEFL-AEF, Raptor Resource Project/Explore.org, PIX Cams, FOBBV, PLO, Bart M, Eagle Cam, Moorings Park, Gracie Shepherd, SK Hideaways, Teresa Rose, Ferris Akel Tours, and Animal Welfare Watch.

Jack blown off nest…Wednesday in Bird World

10 January 2024

Good Morning,

Oh, that -21 C was a bit brisk yesterday! It was still cold, -15 on Tuesday, but it didn’t seem quite so bitter. The Blue Jays and the Woodpeckers were out feeding alongside the squirrels and the sparrows. It is always reassuring to see them!

The male and female Downy Woodpeckers come and go to the feeder. They are enjoying that hunk of suet. This is the female. I could see the red feathers at the nape of her neck. Looks like a smudge in the image but you can see it, too. 

‘J’ told me that they do not have Blue Jays in Germany. She loves them and I am thrilled that she ‘met’ these amazing Corvids through this blog. ’J’ found a video of a Blue Jay shovelling snow. I have seen the ones in the garden do this same manoeuvre to get to seed.

‘The Boyfriend’ was outside. Seriously. How could you not feed this lovable guy?

Missey was staring at him from the Conservatory table.

An affectionate moment between Missey and Hugo Yugo.

Another adorable face. Yes, she has me wrapped around her tiny, tiny paw.

Calico has signalled it is story time and Baby Hope is getting ready to jump up!

Calico is ready to hear about Pale Male.

If you do not know who Pale Male was, then get your detective hat on! You should be able to find the documentary for free. Thelegendofpalemale.net

Indeed, this is what the two Blue Jays have had to do for a few days in southern Manitoba.

In the UK, Swans ring bells for food!

C10 does seem to get the bulk of the food at the Captiva nest despite not being aggressive (lately) to C11. Regardless, though, both eaglets appear to be doing extremely well.

‘A’ sent in some observations of Captiva – warning some beaking discussion: “CE10 had a large breakfast this morning while little CE11 didn’t manage to get up to the table for quite some time, and when he did, he was ignored by Clive, who at that stage stopped feeding the kids and ate a large meal himself!! However, interestingly, CE11, who at that stage had prime position, CE10 having gone into a food coma, began to attempt to self-feed on the side of the fish Clive was eating. The fish had not been unzipped along that side, so CE11 had to peck through the skin, but there was a distinct dent in the side of the fish by the time he finished (he was quite persistent, continuing to attempt to self-feed for a minute or two, and getting some flakes of fish from the exercise, so it was an excellent first effort – he may need it, as ever since the slightly hungry day three days ago, CE10 has been a little more aggressive in ensuring first position at the feedings and CE11 has become a little less confident. Eventually, though, he generally gets fed, as this nest sees a large number of speckled trout thanks to Clive (he has already brought in a nice very big trout this morning, and of course there were nestovers there already). CE11 did get fed at the second feeding, shortly after 8am, and I’m sure will get plenty to eat later on as well. CE10 woke up with a large crop, which was refilled at the first feeding. CE11 had one too, but crop dropped fairly early on, waiting for some breakfast that didn’t come until the second feeding, and he could have eaten a fair bit more there as well. CE11 does start a lot of the bonking – it is worth noting, though, that CE11 has some avian form of restless legs syndrome. Since the earliest age, little CE11 has been flapping his tiny wings in his sleep. And now, for some reason, CE10 has started objecting to being woken up by CE11’s dreams of flying. Several recent bonking episodes have been started this way, with poor little CE11 getting woken from sleep by an attacking CE10, who has been annoyed by a random wing slap in CE11’s sleep. In one such episode early this morning, CE10 had hold of the front of CE11’s throat and was really twisting and tugging at it. I was quite concerned about the potential damage, given that it was the front of the neck rather than the scruff that was being twisted by a pretty sharp, vicious-looking beak, albeit a relatively small one.”

M15 and F23 prepared for the upcoming storm. Squirrel and fish on the nest to keep E23 well fed and they will hunker down if it gets bad.

There was a beautiful and tender time at the SW Florida nest when M15 joined F23 in feeding their only eaglet, E23.

Here it comes.

I am continuing to track the storm that is hitting Superbeaks harder than at Fort Myers. There is some concern that Muhlady has gone into labour and is laying the first egg of their second clutch. Here is the weather map. It is 1855 in Florida.

This is at Superbeaks.

Muhlady flew off the nest around 17:43.

The wind is blowing hard up at The Hamlet with Gabby incubating as the rain starts. You can hear the howling wind.

Later. The winds have picked up and Gabby is still protecting that egg. The nest tree is really starting to sway.

This is Fort Myers at the same time. It is windy there, too, but the rain has not come. It will be there soon enough but it looks like the bulk of the storm hit the central and NE areas of Florida.

Still rather quiet a few hours later for F23 and E23 in the nest at Ft Myers.

This is Abby at Eagle Country at the same time. The cam focused on the nest tree shows that rain is starting to fall but it does not appear to be too windy yet.

Abby hunkered down but things are a little quieter at Eagle Country.

The winds were blowing hard in the morning at the Achieva Osprey Nest. Jack and Diane had even lined the egg cup with bark and then…the strong winds blew Jack and part of the nest off! Those winds had calmed by evening.  There were no chicks and no eggs and – well, that is sure a relief.

Thanks B. Snyder for capturing that horrific moment.

Cali Condor Jackie and Shadow at the nest. Oh, don’t we love the couple. I really hope they get to raise an eaglet or two this year.

Rotating eagles in the Kisatchie National Forest E1 nest.

At Port Lincoln, both Brad and Gil have had some fish before noon. The supplementary fish yesterday appears not to have been the one on the nest but one that got dropped in the water from the information on the obs board. My error. Apologies. Thanks ‘VS’.

‘A’ sends the report on SE31: ”January 10: No parents were seen on the river early when our watcher was there shortly after 7am. At 8am, SE31 appeared, flying from behind the island to move to River Roost. She may have been eating earlier – hopefully – though not seen. In the attached photo from early in the morning, she is possibly clutching something. At around 2pm, one adult was seen near Goat Island. No more day reports. In the late afternoon, at 5:10pm, one adult was reported at Burns Bay, honking away. The other may possibly have been there as well, and was confirmed shortly after. Then, at 5:30pm, SE31 was seen on the island.”

My addition: Just look at this magnificent sea eagle!

“At Orange, Marri was seen and heard today and Diamond was in and out of the scrape a lot as usual. Time stamps for the day are as follows: BONDING 06.06.36 X arrives for brief bonding RECAP 07.23.46, 15.42.00-15.42.15 Marri heard; Diamond was watching 14:41:16 fly down, 14:41:39 fly up & short scream, 14:49:03 another fly up & short scream; Marri involved?; 14.49.03 (?) Marri fly up; Marri screaming outside until 15:42:19; 17:37:50 Marri heard in the distance, then D flies out. Diamond was most recently back in the scrape around 20:35:28 and left at 20:42.” Thanks, A.

Humans. What can we say? Why would anyone do this?

We are getting closer and closer to the hatch of the Royal cam chick/s. This is what you can expect in the coming days.

There is a book coming out that I am very interested in because I spent much time at Belvoir when I lived in the UK. Simon Curtin has written, If You Build It, He Will Come – about the ospreys return to Belvoir after 200 years. Geemeff says, “In particular, the story of Blue4K, fledged at Rutland in 2013, who found a mate and bred for the first time in 2022 at the late age of nine years old. He was sat-tagged in 2018, and followed by Sacha Dench on the Flight of the Osprey expedition and successfully sighted in his winter home in Dobire, Guinea. The author adds “all my profits from the book will be donated to conservation charities so anything you can do to spread the word will help sell more copies when it is published on 27th February, and raise more money for good works.“ More to come when it is released.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care everyone. Stay safe. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, posts, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ’A, Geemeff, H, J’, SPO, Our Blue Planet, Window to Wildlife, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Lady Hawk, Weather Tracker, Superbeaks, NEFL-AEF, Eagle Country, Achieva Credit Union, B Snyder, FOBBV Cam, Cali Condor, Tonya Irwin, PLO, Bart M, A Place Called Hope, Kakapo Recovery, Ventana Wildlife Society, Simon Curtin, Sea Eagle Cam, and Holly Parsons.

Eagle love…Wednesday in Bird World

3 January 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

It has been a ‘rough’ couple of days. It is going to take me a bit of time to get my head ‘cleared’. Thank you for your patience…we might expect ‘something’ to be coming, but it isn’t always easy to accept it, anyway. Darn difficult this one is! 

Let us start on a positive note. I encourage everyone – and Culley would, too – to live. Just get out there in nature and find the joy that you might miss. My granddaughter always listens and today she was in one of our parks known for its chickadees. They come right up to you – was happy to supply the seed for her and her partner!

Our weather is to turn cold next week so this looks like a good thing to do before then! 

Hope and Hugo have been into a lot of mischief lately. Hugo has just noticed the bird video. Hope would rather ‘pose’ – she is the only one that cooperates!

Remember. Hugo is not afraid to romp and leap on cats 10 x her size!

Calico wants a comfy duvet. And quiet. These two will eventually find her and leap on her.

Laura Culley. Falconer. Flew High on New Year’s Day 2024. She inspired me more than anyone else to follow my dream of researching avian behaviour and also studying falconry.  I was not the only one, of course. Culley touched the lives of all who met her. She visited people in hospital with Mariah, she attended raptor exhibitions, and she was always willing to encourage young people to think about falconry. She was a remarkable woman whose beautiful hawk Mariah was with her for 30 years (I believe that is correct). She was a great ambassador and she always said that we are the servants to the birds. Not them to us. The birds always come first and they are of superior minds.

One of her favourite tunes. She shared it with many who came to understand falconry and her love for it and the hawks. She challenged anyone who would listen to watch the hawks and learn from them – to understand that there is so much disinformation. In fact, Culley loved the Cornell streaming cam of Big Red and Arthur for all the new aspects of the hawks life that were learned by all the citizen scientists watching. I recall one day her mentioning all of the facts that Sibley got wrong in his big book…it was easy to find them! She was brilliant.

The conversations that I had with Culley had to do with what do the raptors know. The first thing she taught me was that the raptors have been around for EONS. An EON is a billion years. They have evolved to a much more sophisticated level than humans. People asked if Big Red knew that one of her fledglings had been killed by striking the glass at Cornell and dying. Culley would say, ‘And why wouldn’t she?!’ Would Big Red know her eyases if they were in the territory. Back at you with ‘And why wouldn’t she?!’ Humans know their children – then why wouldn’t Big Red and Arthur. She delighted in how well the hawks communicated – something she observed through decades of raising her eight birds and working with others. She pulled back the curtain and helped so many to understand the minds of these amazing birds. Culley will not be forgotten! Not in EONS. 

Laura took Mariah duck hunting in Wyoming. If you ever read that RTHs do not hunt ducks, that is rubbish. Laura bunked a lot of the myths associated with hawks and opened our eyes to their extraordinary powers. Mariah was a great duck hunter!

One of the chatters wrote, “And when we worried: why did Big Red leave the babies for so long; aren’t those little ones too close to the edge; isn’t that bite of food too big…….she calmed our fears. EONS, after all, taught Big Red so much we don’t know.”

Laura Culley cut through it all. She could spot ‘bs’ just like Mariah could see a rabbit a mile away. My only regret is that I did not get to help her with her manuscript – her 28 years with Mariah – due to the pandemic and then her illness. I hope – and believe – that someone else is doing this. 

A reminder from Laura about life:

Rest in peace. Your work will be carried on by all those who loved you, Laura.

Did you know that there were relief carvings in the Babylonian era of hawks on fists more than 3000 years ago? If you carry your hawk on your fist while riding a horse, it is ‘falconry’ but if when walking it is called ‘hawking’. Falconry is believed to be one of the oldest sports in the world. It has endured throughout history because hawks were used to catch food for their owners. The males were originally called tiercels while the female hawks were ‘hawks’. We now think of tiercel as the third hatch which is often a male.

Seriously. E23 has been doing little wingersizers. This one is going to melt your heart into a pile of mush.

M15 is always the great provider – reminds me of some of those UK Osprey males such as Blue 33, Idris, Aran, Dylan, and Louis. Of course, Clive is, too.

The eggs is moved to the rim. Fish and Rabbit on the menu.

A fur fest. Wonder what E23 thought about all the plucking?

E23 covered in fur.

Love.

It is hard now to imagine what C10 and C11 looked like E23 a week ago! Look at their thermal down and clown feet and – wait – is one curious and pecking at that fish?!

‘J’ calls these ‘fish pillows’.

The nest is loaded with fish thanks to Clive – and C10 and C11 are now too big to fit under Connie. Good night, Captiva.

We are now about 85 days away from the first Osprey landing in the UK. hat should, if they safely return, Laddie LM12 at Loch of the Lowes (we believe his mate Blue NC0 died but we will wait and see) and Blue 33 and Maya at Rutland. 

Hoping to see eggs at the NCTC nest of Bella and Scout soon.

Rosa and her new mate were at the Dulles-Greenway Bald Eagle Nest. (Is he a Beau, too?)

Beau takes good care of intruders around the territory while Gabby incubates and finds her own prey (or so it seems).

Beau injured protecting nest.

And to the shock of all, Beau is incubating Wednesday morning in The Hamlet. It is not known if the egg is viable, but let us hope that he is coming into a new mode of helping Gabby that it is!

Gil and Brad woke up to some damp weather. Waiting for breakfast. It must be grand when they are able to catch their own meals and are not dependent on Mum and Dad.

Dad came in with a fish at 1119 and Gil was all over it! Yesterday Fran and Bazz took their yacht out, and went around the barge for photos. They try to do this once a year according to the FB post. At the end of the screen captures are some of their images plus, an image of an osprey taking a dead fish from the floor of the barge that had fallen over. Another myth bunked.

Wisdom is dancing and well..an update from the Midway Atoll.

Bringing-in-the-New-Year-with-Wisdom-and-a-new-makalena-short-tailed-albatross-chick-Friends-ofDownload

Lou taking good care of Annie. 

They are keeping an eye on one of the Royal cam couples and have put in a dummy egg in case the partner does not return. Fingers crossed.

Thank you everyone. Take care of yourselves. We hope to see you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, posts, music, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ’E, H, J’. Laura Culley, Heather Dale, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Laura Davis Nelson, D Morningstar, Window to Wildlife, Deb Stecyk, Dulles-Greenway Eagle Cam, NEFL-AEF, Jan Lester, PLO, SK Hideaways, Friends of Midway Atoll, and Sharon Dunne.