Category Archives: birds and weather

Osprey eggs, DH18 update…Tuesday in Bird World

2 May 2023

Good Morning!

The sky is blue, and the sun is bright this Tuesday morning on the Canadian Prairies. By tea time it will be 15 degrees C. This should really bring on the budding of the leaves and hopefully, we will be seeing some green shortly. Everyone in the City is preparing for the arrival of the Baltimore Orioles – stocking up on grape jelly (they like any flavour, actually) and oranges to help them after their long journey. They fly what is known as an ‘ancestral route’ through the Central Plains of the US down to Florida, the Antilles, and then to their final destination in the marshes of Southern Brazil returning to us in May. It is a long journey, 8-11,000 km (5-6800 miles). They are meeting many challenges due to the changing patterns in agricultural production and irrigation, loss of habitat, and climate changes. These guests will be a welcome addition to the garden family. They stay for about 8 or 9 days and fly north to their breeding grounds for the summer.

Your first smile for the day is brought to you by the students of the Hurst Lodge School in Montana – we missed Osprey Week but we can still enjoy their performance!

Monday evening a moth has gotten into the house. This gobsmacks Missy and Lewis. Lewis got so tired of jumping up and down chasing it that he had to nap…all stretched out. Earlier in the day, Missy and Lewis had also been napping in their Big Dog Bed..always together except in the ‘cat tree’ house. There is no longer room for both of them inside!

First, the latest update on DH18. I am so saddened to hear that an infection has been found but, glad it was and is being treated. We wait to see how our warrior is doing in a couple of days. I know that none of us will give up on DH18. His young life was full of tragedy that none of us would want to go through – lost his dad, lost his sibling, was beaked and starving at times, and then trapped with monofilament line cutting through its legs and causing tremendous pain.

If you see wildlife whose lives are endangered by monofilament lines or baling twine, you must contact the proper authorities immediately. Do not hesitate. We will never know why those watching at DH denied that the fishing line injured the eaglets. All we know is that through dedicated hard work and the efforts of hundreds of people, these two eaglets have a chance – one on the nest with River and the other with the AEF. We hope that DH18 will be released and live in the wild…along with its sibling DH17.

We all know the captivating story of Murphy and the Eaglet. ‘B’ sent me an article out of The New York Times today and it is a good one about Murphy. It isn’t long and I urge you to read it til the end. I can gift articles so please copy and paste the link. The author says, “We fail to understand the creatures who share our ecosystems because we assume they are nothing but bundles of instincts.” I wish more humans understood that all living things are sentient beings. The world would be very different, indeed.

tps://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/opinion/murphy-eagle-rock-baby.html?unlocked_article_code=C0NC7KXrItFJ3nP31LqrjicRndEnDVp9sfIua3biiLRQ155Rauw3gBdy1rU7V-QZkhEcamsCx3ZwdP6fAzngaXNAqQcdoRgVQw-hS306a1NHlys2x1G0uDsqatuHWANg2d4qxWknvedOg8DX3sE26d1_z4FvKEZr2pxrFPwmlvhMk9AEauVyVVxlwUBIH4zXJTmn93T3r-STgABY8WCnRb2PlXZi1HWWiEqepcHNNR-Jjijq12d4eMXSHMbEo1vMGm7KlarRk39uWdanOOPk8bcrtI2GB4P1YeIUZBl97r29_4hKZ-brILDoG4nxglajP7u9fvF8UdCyoR0_8KkIeQ&giftCopy=0_NoCopy&smid=em-share

Thanks to those great BOGs we still get to see what E22 is up to around the Fort Myers Bald Eagle nest on the Pritchett Property. The departure of E22 will be so bittersweet.

Bella and Smitty’s only eaglet is doing fine. Smitty brought in four big fish for them on Monday.

‘H’ reports that Kent Island has its first Osprey egg of the season!

‘H’ also reports that Dory up at the Boathouse might be sitting on her first egg. This is exciting! And there is that egg.

Over in the UK, the third egg has arrived at Loch Garten.

Aran continues to deliver his huge fish to Elen at Glaslyn. Oh, you are so handsome, Aran – but, what is important is that you can catch big fish!

Sasha Dench and her team from Flight of the Osprey have been in The Gambia and are driving through Morocco trying to find Blue 4K. He was located earlier and should now be in the UK breeding but where is he?

‘A’ remarks about Tom and the new baby…”Tom returns to the nest around 2.06 pm this afternoon (1 May) – check out the darling little baby from 2:04:12 onwards. Again, Angel is forced to leave the baby on its own. Tom later brought a small opossum to the nest and Angel made it very clear to him that he was not to touch the baby at this point, just bring it food! So Tom has done well today. He has managed not to kill or injure the hawklet and he has brought food. Now that’s what I call progress”. Let us all hope that this progress continues.

‘A’ continues: “Based on his actions this afternoon, I think Tom has got the message. He is delivering prey, and he has watched Angel feeding the baby. I think he is learning fast. And yes, it is a precious darling little thing (and so was its sibling). Angel is being super protective of her baby. When Tom brings the second opossum, she vocalises constantly until he leaves the nest. She remains firmly on top of the chick. She is teaching him. Gee that second opossum is huge. No wonder it provided four feedings and still there are nestovers. “

Excellent news. I am so glad there is food and that Angel is being super protective Mum although the possum family might not be happy about losing its babies. This single surviving hawk let deserves the best of care by Mum and Tom needs to keep that pantry filled – to try and ensure this one survives regardless of its DNA.

There were several fish brought to the nest at the Achieva Credit Union today. The one around 1800, which Diane brought in, was a blessing. Big Bob self-fed off another fish while Diane fed Middle. Oh, this is grand! Today was a good day on the Achieva Nest. With the drought, we can be grateful.

Harry is such a great provider and he also has the advantage of a stocked pond at his doorstep – compared to Achieva. Abby and Victor have been well cared for…is it possible they might never ever want to leave home?! It seriously feels that they are always eating fish! That pond is going to need a good restocking.

Talk about beautiful osplets. I wish the plumage would stay the same when they are adults.

Remember Friday, 5 May. The banding of the Cal Falcons. They are so cute and are getting pin feathers…flapping cotton balls. Thanks SK Hideaways.

At San Jose City Hall, Hartley found the leftover egg from last season and thinks maybe it should be incubated too – in addition to the four he is already incubating! Our giggle of the day. Thanks, Hartley and SK Hideaways.

Missy Berry flew to the nest with a fish for B16. She wasn’t there…they must have found one another because B16 returned to the nest with the fish. Well done! Lots of training going on out there for these fledgling Bald Eagles. Thanks Bel-A-Dona.

The DNA testing has returned for Ron and Rita’s eaglets at the WRDC. R4 is a male and the testing was inconclusive on R5 and will be re-done. Thanks, ‘H’.

Did anyone else notice Big Red looking down, listening, and moving slightly differently at 1838 Monday evening? Pip watch is coming!

Big Red got up and left the eggs around 2000. No pip yet.

This morning at the change over…I am getting excited.

And a bit of a giggle – Big Red getting that egg cup just right.

In Latvia, the two White-tail Eaglets of Milda and Voldis continue to thrive. Wonderful!

‘L’ sent me a photo of the Canada Goose family that lives hear her in the Carolinas. Look how protective they are. Geese are amazing parents. Thank you, L.

The two books I am currently reading are about geese, particularly Pink-footed Geese, Barnacle Geese, Greylags, Brants, and Bean Geese. They are The Meaning of Geese. A thousand miles in search of Home by Nick Acheson and Wintering. A Season with Geese by Stephen Rutt. I must admit that I find Wintering quite a delight to read. Rutt’s writing style sucks you into his burgeoning love for these large flying creatures. It is his discovery and fascination that keeps you turning the pages. Acheson’s book is excellent, too. It is a diary of his year spent with the geese weaving in their history, the science, the challenges of climate change for our feathered friends. Both, however, deal with the migration from the Siberian Tundra or Iceland and Greenland of these beautiful creatures who land in Scotland or Norfolk beginning in September to spend their winters in the UK. Highly recommended.

“grey lag and pink footed geese” by Nick Goodrum Photography is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Thank you so much for being with me this morning. Take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, pictures, videos, posts, tweets, and streaming cams that helped make up my blog this morning: ‘B’, ‘L’, ‘H’, ‘A’, ‘S’, Geemeff, Hurst Lodge School, AEF, The New York Times, SW Florida Eagle Cam, NCTC, Explore.org, RSPB Loch Garten, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Conservation without Borders, Geemeff and Conservation without Borders, Window to Wildlife, Achieva Credit Union, Moorings Park Ospreys, SK Hideaways and Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways and San Jose City Hall, Bel-A-Dona and Berry College Eagle Cam, WRDC, Cornell RTH, Latvian Fund for Nature, and Openverse.

WBSE 30 is released!…Thursday in Bird World

6 April 2023

Good Morning Everyone,

The snow stopped and it is now 1816 and it is starting up again with huge flakes. They are dancing about like large cotton balls or marshmallows. Lewis is having quite the time hoping that he might be able to catch one of them. Of course, he does not want to pose for a photo!

Just think. A few days ago everyone on the Canadian Prairies was sure winter was gone, and spring had arrived. I bet that early-arrival Canada Geese wish they were somewhere else. Mind you, maybe they flew north fast to miss those US storms.

Thursday morning. It is beautiful. No snow falling. Woodpeckers busy at that the suet. Photos tomorrow of them and the kittens.

Taken with the iPhone.

A reasonable guess would have been over 400 birds visited the feeders today. They were mostly House Sparrows and Finches with the regular woodpecker visits and Blue Jays. I know the Black-capped Chickadee has been around because I heard them, but they are quick to flit about, and I have yet to see them getting seed. Mind you, I was not watching them all day.

My head continues spinning with all the news coming out of Bird World. Almost immediately, one new hatch is negated by another nestling dying in a nest, Oklahoma, simply disappearing at collapse or, as at Bartlesville night.

So I hope to bring us a few lighter moments as we begin the blog for the next little while. Stress is not good. Then I plan to put in the golden moment of the day and today it comes from Sydney, Australia!

We are going to start with Murphy, ‘Rock Daddy’. He has now been incubating his ‘rock egg’ for some time and has become overly protective of the territory. So, he is being moved. They are not giving him his own hatchling because they are not certain that he would feed it regularly. Too bad, he could be a great Dad!

M15 does not get away without a giggle. This guy has been through so much! Gets his two kids home and all they want to do is fight!

He has brought 21 a fish and 21 spent some time resting in the nest. 21 was away for 5 days. It reminds me of Legacy from the NEFL nest of Gabby and Samson – flew out, away six days, finally found the nest and didn’t leave again for nearly a month (or so it seemed).

The surviving WBSE (White-bellied Sea Eagle) from last season’s Sydney Olympic Forest hatchings has been released. Jump up and down. She has been in care for such a long time, and we are ever so grateful to everyone who helped transport her and care for her so that she could live in the wild. Here is that great news. What a beautiful moment.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The news is that Connick is going to be alright after his slip and fall. Here is that moment on 4th of April caught by Deb Stecyk (you can go to 4:55):

Message from Window to Wildlife:

This is the latest message…older ones are below. It appears that dear Connick could be impacted by rodenticide poisoning. His two half-siblings died two years ago of rodenticide. It broke Joe’s heart, and he left the nest. This is just tragic. CROW and all their volunteers need to spread the word and find a way to prohibit this nasty poison from Captiva. In many ways, it was a real blessing that Connick fell out of the nest so he could get help.

There is a FB fundraiser for Connick’s care. Just look at him at CROW. He is in such good hands. If anyone can save him from this dreaded designer poison, CROW can!

There have been some further tragedies due to the winter storms pouring through the US. The eaglets at Standley Lake Regional Park have died from a nest collapse. Another nest in Minnesota has collapsed.

One of the eaglets at Bartlesville, Oklahoma got out of the egg cup and could not get back and appears to have gone over the edge of the nest. Today, the third egg hatched. So some good and bad for Oklahoma.

As storms continue, it is likely there will be further deaths, sadly. As we mourn, new eaglets are hatching and eggs being laid. Nature does not stop.

I wrote congratulations yesterday but now little DH1 has died. ‘A’ left me a note for when I woke up. So sad for the hatchery parents. As Paul Kolnik points out, the second egg is pipping. Perhaps this family will get one healthy chick. Send good wishes.

Congratulations Decorah. DH1 arrived in the early morning of 5 April 2023.

US Steel has only one egg. There is a hatch in progress. USS6 hatched at 23:58 on 5 April. Congratulations!

While we were delighted to see E21 back at the nest, landing right beside Dad on the 5th of April, E22 wasn’t quite so sure.

Until now 22 has had the area around the pond and nest tree all to himself. He had a right dust up with 21 over ‘bathing rights’.

The iconic image of the day comes from Dulles-Greenway where there are currently three very healthy eaglets. Baby has a really nice crop.

DH19 continues to self-feed to stay alive at Dale Hollow. A survivor – send all your good wishes. River has her hands full.

This was at 1006 Wednesday morning. You can see the huge crop on the two larger eaglets. DH19 fed itself last evening and got a big crop and is now picking away at this carcass. This little one wants to live.

‘A’ reports that D19 had no food later and that it is raining hard and she is worrisome for this baby. It is not good at Achieva either. We will all hold our breath. These two nests may only have two to fledge. Send good wishes.

In the UK, there are two male Ospreys waiting for their mates to return from migration. One of those is Louis at Loch Arkaig who is looking for Dorcha and the other is Aran at Glaslyn looking for Mrs G. As many will know, Mrs G is not a youngster. Glaslyn Osprey Group reminds us ospreys that reach breeding age have a life expectancy of eight years. Mrs G is the oldest living osprey in the UK. We know that Mrs G has been raising chicks for 19-20 years. We do not know how old she was when she began. Glaslyn is preparing everyone for her not to return just in case that is what happens.

Of course, everyone is also waiting for the return of Iris who is approximately 28-29 years old this year and has her nest at Hellgate Canyon in Missoula, Montana. Her favoured date to return is 7 April – tomorrow.

Wind, rain, encased in ice…nothing stops Big Red from keeping her eggs warm. Her and Arthur now have three they are incubating. Last year, Big Red surprised us with her very first clutch of four since she has been on a streaming cam.

Gabby and V3 were at the nest. At times they were vocalising. Intruders in the area?

Victor is over at Sally’s beak. Just look at Abby standing on those beautiful strong legs! And, yes. My friend ‘R’ believes that juvenile Osprey plumage is the most gorgeous in the world. I totally agree.

There are still three growing osplets at the Venice Golf and Country Club. The camera is, like Achieva, not good, and it is difficult to tell what is happening in the nest. As a result, I do not monitor it closely.

The two eaglets at Pittsburgh-Hayes are doing well. There are a lot of flies in that nest, though. Terrible. I hope that this does not do anything to cause the eaglets distress. (We have seen raptors jump out of nests to escape flies in the past).

I found this entry by Elfruler this morning, and I thought it might shed some light on this year with the bald eagle hatches. They clarify that the eaglet at Bartlesville would have died of hypothermia/falling out of the nest. It is so sad when the eaglets get out of the egg cup. I marvelled at how Harriet had ‘rolled’ one of either 21 or 22 (I cannot remember which now) back under her after pondering the situation for some time. Harriet had experience, many don’t, and their babies die. Their beaks are so big that picking them up would injure, if not kill, them also.

They are so cute. I wish they were not so terrible to our eagles….those GHO chicks. Bonnie and Clyde’s owlets are out in the sun this morning.

And some good news. People like David Attenborough can convince people that birding is not a silly, useless hobby and guess what? Birding can be good for the local economy! Tourists are willing to pay top dollar to have their tours organised, their hotels and meal plans arranged so they can get up at dawn to go and see Puffins! Or in the case of Ferris Akel recently – Sand-hill Cranes in Iowa. It is time other locations stepped up and cleaned up their wildlife habitats. In several locations, ponds and lakes stocked for fishing have made their owners more profit by having people with cameras taking photos of ospreys fishing!

What a wonderful world it would be!

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/apr/02/tourists-arrive-skomer-attenborough-wild-isles-wales?CMP=share_btn_link

Thank you so much for being with me. I wish I had news about the eggs in the Channels Islands. We wait to see if they are viable. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their observation notes, their posts, tweets, videos, and streaming cams that helped to make up my blog this morning: ‘A’, Terry Carman and Bald Eagles Live Nest and Cams along with the World Bird Sanctuary, Harley Jeffery Thames and SWFL Eagle Cam-Harriet and M15, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Eagle Cam, Window to Wildlife, CROW, Sutton Centre, Paul Kilnik and Bald Eagles 101, Raptor Resource Centre and Explore.org, US Steel, Dulles-Greenaway, Cornell RTH, NEFL-AEF, Moorings Park Ospreys, VOCCO, PIX Cam, Elfruler, Farmer Derek, and The Guardian.

Aran arrives, NC0 lays first UK Osprey egg, E22 at the pond with Dad…Tuesday in Bird World

4 April 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

Oh, this report was very long and I have cut it down. There is simply too many things happening and I decided not to make your eyes sore. LOL. If there is sadness or worry at some of the nests, the first story should make up for all of that!

There simply are no words to describe the feeling when we see an image like the one below. It is remarkable. What a magnificent day that began with M15 coaxing 22 so he could eat and they wind up in the pond together having their evening bath. Remarkable isn’t even the right word. After all the devastation from the supercells, this melts my heart.

D Morningstar shows us 22’s first bath. Wait to see M15 turn around and look at his fledgling. Priceless. Jumping for joy at 5:28. Gulping water. Learning.

Are you exhausted from all the drama and trauma at the nests? This morning (Monday), I just wanted to pick up squeeing E22 and tell him it is alright. ‘You are a bird. You can do this!’ M15 is one super dad. We have seen just how hard adult eagles work to get their fledglings where they want them so they can feed them if those little Butcher Birds would take a holiday.

There was a lot of debate about whether it would be Maya or Blue NC0 that laid the first Osprey egg in the UK to kick off the season. Congratulations Laddie and Blue NC0! You get the honour in 2023!

The folks at Glaslyn are cheering. One of their couple is home safely. Oh, it is so nice to see you, Aran. Now we wait for Mrs G, the oldest osprey in the UK.

My goodness, Aran, you are handsome!

It did not take Aran long to get a fish on the nest branch!

Geemeff caught his arrival for us! Sure is a nice fish. Was he looking for Mrs G to come and grab it? Let us hope she is home soon.

More on SW Florida. It was quite the morning at the Pritchett Property with M15 doing everything he could possibly think of to get 22 to either get to the nest to eat a fish, eat it at the snag tree, or down by the pond. What a Dad. He never gave up. Victory!

‘A’ sent us the video link for yet another GHO strike caught by Lady Hawk on 22 during the night. Those owls are persistent. E22 do not let that owl daunt your staying home with Dad at the pasture, the pond, and in the trees!

At 0926, Little Bitty 22 (s/he is not so little) continued to enjoy being at the pond and having a bath. What a beautiful sight. There is no word on 21 so far.

Valentine are both back at the KNF-E3 nest in the Kistachie National Forest. Thanks Rhonda A for the video!

It is Monday morning, and it looks like there is a pip at Decorah!

Jackie and Shadow have been mating and Shadow has made sure Jackie is eating well. They were at the nest very early this morning.

The pair spent a lot of time at the nest until the ice pellets and wind picked up in the afternoon on Monday.

I really wish that Shadow could lay those eggs.

After their evening meal on Monday, Duke Farm Dad settled down with the family for a bit. Beautiful

They are soooooooo cute. Just love H19 and H20 at Pittsburgh-Hays.

Second hatch for Bald Canyon Eagles. That first one is just a little fluff ball darling.

Waiting for a pip – while hoping the egg is viable at Sauces Canyon. You send all. your good vibes to Jak and Audacity. This is egg 7 and it is intact. They sure deserve a healthy hatch.

Two eggs have hatched at the Bartlesville Oklahoma Bald Eagle nest. Congratulations. One more to go, maybe.

Dulles-Greenway. Martin and Rosa are doing great with their three eaglets. Oh, please just send some good love to them. It is hard with three and I really do not want anything to happen to either parent!

Oh, my goodness. Ron and Rose’s two eaglets have beautiful white Mohawks and gorgeous thermal down. They had excellent crops when Ron came in with another big fish after 1600 on Monday. Rose did a great job feeding the pair.

Every female adult eagle has ‘that look’. There is no way I would want to mess with Rose!

Just pause and look at those Mohawks. It looks like they have just returned from a luxury salon! I have never seen anything like it. Have you? Normally there are a few dandelions. This is incredible.

Quite the egg cup that Laddie and Blue NC0 have going at Loch of the Lowes. Will they beat Maya at Manton Bay with the first egg to officially kick off the UK Osprey season?

Beautiful CJ7 at her nest at Poole Harbour.

So you have found a baby bird. What do you do? Audubon tells us how we should behave:

https://www.audubon.org/news/when-you-should-and-should-not-rescue-baby-bird

Waiting for Iris? Here is her past schedule.

Harriet is home at Dunrovin and Star is at the Baseball Park. Come on Iris!

Moorings Park. Abby and Victor might like an earlier breakfast, but Dad seems to like to bring in a late fish. They are both well-nourished. No perceivable problems at this nest.

I do wish they would not get so close to the edge!

Victor still protects his head in case Abby wants to take a peck.

Angus and Florence continue to incubate their three eggs at Captiva. Gosh, these chicks are going to hatch late. Wonder what the heat and humidity will be like? Sure hope the fishing is good for Angus if they have three lively osplets to feed.

There were storms in Iowa. Mother Goose seems to be fine in her nest at Decorah.

Arthur and Big Red have quite a ways to go before hatch. I am so very grateful that there nest is up on that light stand!

Do you watch the Great Spirit Bluff Peregrine Falcons? If you do, Savannah just laid her third egg of the season!———— We are one week away from pip watch at Annie and Lou’s at Cal Falcons. Are you getting excited?

As I close the blog for today, I am reminded that there is a concern for the three eaglets at Dale Hollow and the three osplets at Achieva. The fish deliveries dropped off at Dale Hollow over the weekend, possibly due to the fishing tournament held at the lake. River has brought in a nice fish, and the three will go to bed with very full crops. River, you are doing great. It is not easy while you grieve your missing Obey.

DH19 had a good feed but, throughout the feeding, River was distracted with the intruder. It was a lot of work for the little one to get that crop. Please, go away intruder and let River get on with what she needs to do. It would be grand if the same success came to this nest as SW Florida.

Fish deliveries have dropped off at Achieva as noticed by chatters. ‘H’ tells me that the little one has little to nothing to eat. In fact, I believe that all three of the osplets are quite hungry especially in the heat. They need their hydration. Send your best wishes to these two nests, please.

All chicks at Achieva are so ravenous. The third hatch is very tiny. The problem is that Diane simply will not stay the course and feed the little one and often sends fish back when Jack arrives. I am not hopeful this morning.

What might impact Jack’s hunting abilities besides his fish being stolen by other birds? Avian Report says, “Osprey hunting times vary with locality and are influenced by weather conditions, particularly wind speed and tide schedules, where tides occur. A study of foraging Ospreys found that birds tend to hunt more often at dawn and dusk. However, Ospreys concentrated their hunting efforts and were more successful during mid-tide regardless of the direction to low or high tide. An Osprey’s hunting schedule and success are affected by wind speed. According to field observations, ospreys were more successful in catching fish during calm wind hours. As the wind speed increases, the water becomes choppier, and Ospreys have less success catching fish. Consequently, Ospreys tend to avoid hunting during high winds. The hunting success rate of Ospreys is not affected by overcast or bright days or even rain.” We do not know all the obstacles Jack faces getting fish to the nest.

It feels like a roller coaster for all of us. So many things are happening – many are joyful, and others are tragic. When it gets too much, go outside and listen to the birds in your neighbourhood (I hope there are some), take a short walk and breathe in the spring air. Look at the flowers. Then breathe again. Call a friend and step back from a nest. One of the difficulties is feeling helpless. Then pause…and find the joy because it is there. The glass is more than half full.

Cherry blossoms are such a joy. They remind us that spring has arrived while at the same time, they bud, bloom, and fall to the ground symbolising that life is fleeting. ‘A’ sent me some beautiful images from Tokyo yesterday. With some sadness, we must continue to remind ourselves that nature brings us joy. I know she will not mind if I share one of those with you. How gorgeous. Thank you, ‘A’.

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

Thank you to the following for the notes, posts, videos, tweets, and streaming cams that helped make up my blog today: ‘A’, ‘A’, ‘Geemeff’, Betty Weeks and SW Florida Eagle Cam, D Morningstar and SW Florida Eagle Cam, Lady Hawk and SW Florida Eagle Cam, Geemeff and Scottish Wildlife Trust, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Geemeff and Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Eagle Goddess, Rhonda A and KNF-E3, Raptor Resource Project and Explore.org, FOBBV, Duke Farms, PIX Cams, IWS and Explore.org, Gracie Shepherd and Raptors of the World, Paul Kolnik and Bald Eagles 101, Dulles Greenway, WRDC, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke, Audubon.org, Lin Lawson and Osprey Friends, Moorings Park Ospreys, Window to Wildlife, Decorah Goose Cam, Cornell RTH, Dale Hollow Eagles, Achieva Credit Union, and Avian Report.

E on fence, Nests Devastated…Monday in Bird World

3 April 2023

Good Morning,

What a horrible horrible weekend it was. There is some good news and before I even say anything else, we will get right to it. M15 watched and saw 22 fly to the ridge of a nearby roof yesterday. 22, then flew back to the branch below the nest. The Real Saunders Photography caught the difficulty E22 had in trying to get up to the nest from the branch below but, applaud, the effort that M15 made to try and get him there!

On Sunday, one of the local photographers has caught M15 feeding 22 on that roof. While there is debate over whether or not it is 22, there is no reason to believe that it is not 22. Eaglets remember have longer wing and tail feathers than their parents until their first moult. That is where M15 fed his fledgling! He may be also feeding 21 off camera but no one has seen that happen as far as I know. I hope that the address is not divulged so that the public will keep away and let M15 finish the task he began with Harriet when they had their first egg for this season. He is doing brilliantly and this story is one of the bright stars in a bleak world.

The confirmation needed:

One of the fledglings at SW Florida on the pasture fence around 0920.

The rural bird watchers in my province were having a field day on Sunday. There is a ridge of hills – not mountains – where the thermals are pretty good. eBirders report 102 Bald Eagles, 72 Red-tail Hawks, 4 Golden Eagles, 4 Rough Legged Hawks, and many smaller birds: migration and spring. After the loss of so many – and the little eaglet at MN-DNR was found and confirmed dead – it was a hard week in Bird World. The arrival of the migrants gives me some hope. Must begin to compare these arrival statistics with last year.

After a short drive checking on geese arrivals – and they are coming – poor things. Some are here already walking on the snow and ice while others fly overhead. Snow is predicted for today through Wednesday when it turns to rain. They might wish they had waited although if I had been in the northern part of the central US I would get out of town, too. There is more severe weather predicted for them. We get the odd little tornado but nothing like those storm cells covering half the eastern part of the US that are destroying raptor nests!

Junior was here. In fact, every one began to arrive in the garden around 1530 trying to fill up before the snow begins. So nice to see him. He is looking very well, indeed.

Mrs Downy is a regular visitor to the garden. She comes several times a day keeping me on my toes to fill that log with suet!

One of 35 or 40 House Sparrows. You can see the buds on the lilacs coming along nicely. The flowers are usually here by May.

The raccoons are busy early and have seen on at least two nests in the last day or two- Redding and Golden Gate. You might recall that they captured and killed an eaglet at Fort St Vrain in Colorado this year. I do not like them around the nests. They love to eat eggs too.

Oh, I sound like a broken record but when eaglets fledge, we want them to return to the nest. We have all seen M15 trying to coax 22 up to the nest. Well, congratulations to Trey, the only eaglet of Anna and Louis this year, who has flown back to the nest after fledging. This is precisely what we want to see.

Trey fledged on Friday, returned to the nest for a feeding on Sunday. Way to go Trey!

At the Webster, Texas Bald Eagle nest, Ringo has branched!

More news is coming in from the MN-DNR nest and its failure and the death of that much-loved eaglet of Nancy and Beau. The report below was updated. The crew returned to clear out the nest of all the food to try and find the baby to see if it was alive. Sadly, the eaglet was found some ten feet from the nest. How it got there is not known. So very, very sad.

Nancy and Beau continue to grieve. Beau doesn’t know what to do and continues to bring prey to the nest to feed Nancy and the baby. So sad.

Starr is mourning the loss of her nest at The Trio, Mississippi Flyway, Fulton, Illinois. Dennis Brecht has confirmed that Starr and her new mate, Tarek, had two little ones in the nest that perished. Brecht confirmed that the tree snapped about 2 or 3 feet above the ground and that many more trees were down and twisted around one another. Starr was looking at her loss from the Lookout Tree, soaring and returning to the lookout tree. I was hoping her mate was nearby. We are waiting for news from Brecht. As you might remember, Starr was with Valor I and II – the trio. She lost Valor 1 to Jolene, but Valor II stayed with her and disappeared. She has had a rough few years from the days of The Love Trio that raised all those babies in that nest.

The very sad thing is that the eagles are facing not only a huge decline in the population due to deaths from nest collapse but also, we continue to have warnings of active cases of Avian Flu. This is just the beginning of storm season.

Here is yet another nest collapse. This time one of the eaglets survived! Isn’t he a little cutie? Send you best wishes!

Big Red and Arthur have their second egg of the ‘M’ season. Their nest was shaking and rattling yesterday due to the high winds. It would be nice if they had a break. Big Red has a nice crop on her return to the nest from her break. It feels like she is giving Arthur much more incubation time this year.

Angel and her mate, Tom, have eggs they are incubating. Their tree is holding.

I am hoping that the camera angle is causing the distortion of the nest for Mother Goose at Decorah.

‘A’ sent me a great report on Dulles-Greenway.

“At Dulles Greenway, lunch at around 13:04 was probably a possum (opossum?) as it had a long thin tail and was way too large to be any sort of rat. Again, all three sat up nicely to the table, with the two youngest in front and the oldest at the back, waiting for their siblings to feed! Perhaps we have a rare male first/male second/female third in this nest. Otherwise, it’s three boys, I would say. I did see one single beaking at this morning’s breakfast – but I’m pretty sure that was the youngest (if not the second youngest). The oldest sibling is very relaxed, usually last to the table and never getting pushy when it misses out on getting enough food (which it does more often than the younger ones).” 

Pittsburgh-Hayes is doing good. Five feedings already this morning and it isn’t even mid-morning!

Lou finally got some incubation time. ‘B’ sent me the following note: “Mary Malec of Cal Falcons was reported as having said that in the recent storm Annie did not get off the eggs from 1 pm one afternoon until 7 am the next morning, the longest continuous incubating she had seen from Annie.” Lou really does want to stay a little longer. Thanks SK Hideaways for the video.

Looks like we have lift off at Ithaca for the Peregrine Falcons. Egg 1!

We can’t see them but Pip, Tootsie, and Hoot are about a metre above the nest bowl according to the chat moderator. Fantastic.

Abby and Victor continue to thrive under the care of Sally and Harry at Moorings Park. Harry brought in a fish at 2000!

The Montana Ospreys are arriving at their spring and summer breeding grounds. Harriet arrived at Dunrovin and Starr arrived at the Baseball Park on Sunday. Iris is always about a week after Star. Let us all hope the matriarch, the Queen, survived the winter and her return home.

There is a hatch at Bald Canyon, the three eaglets at Tobacco Creek of Chandler and Hope are doing well, and today is pip watch for Jak and Audacity at Sauces. Oh, goodness. Now that hatch, a healthy eaglet, would sure get our spirits up. And then if Jackie lays an egg- well, the sun would be shining bright.

Hatch at Bald Canyon:

Chandler feeding the 20, 18, and 16 day old Ps.

Meanwhile, Shadow is filling Jackie with fish and they have been mating often…hoping for one viable egg! Baiba brings us the action in images.

The egg at Sauces Canyon is 35 days old today. We wait! Best wishes for Jak and Audacity.

There is also one egg at US Steel and we are on pip watch today, too!

Things have deteriorated over the weekend at Dale Hollow. This could, in part, be due to the fishing tournament at the lake and the intruder. Little third hatch was afraid to eat and had nothing of the last two fish brought in. Things were going well. Send good wishes. Note: River has just brought in a nice fish around 0800 Monday. Let us hope there is enough to go around. DH19 in submission and you can see how small it is. Oh, goodness.

I am so sorry to bring such sad news today. Let us hope this is the tragedy’s end as more bad weather and supercells head east. When trees are checked, like the nest at MN-DNR, and the arborist says they are dead, would it not then be of some help to try and lessen the load of the heavy eagle nest by removing some material during the off-season when the eagles are not there and by doing some human intervention on the tree to support it? With all the loss of trees and the number of eagles, thoughtful designs for artificial nests should be considered and implemented.

Thank you for being with me. Take care all. See you soon. Feel free to hit the share button for FB and Twitter!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, tweets, videos, photographs, and streaming cams that helped make up my blog today: ‘A’, ‘H’, Real Saunders Photo, Brittany Laurie and NEFL and SWFL Eaglecam Watcher’s Club, Nancy Babineau and SWFL Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, SF Bay Ospreys, KNF-E1, Paul White and the Webster Texas Eagle Cam, Terry Carman and Bald Eagles Live Nests and Cams, Lady Hawk and MN-DNR, Dennis Brecht and Trio Eagle Nest Lovers Group, Cornell RTH, Angel the Leucistic RTH, Decorah Goose Cam, Dulles-Greenaway, SK Hideaways and Cal Falcons, Melissa Richards, Corona Owl Cam, Moorings Park Ospreys, Sheila Staley and Osprey Friends, IWS, PA Farm Country, FOBBV, PIX Cam, and Lolita Ozolina and Baltgalvas ergo ASV.

Louis is home, Tragedy at MN-DNR nest…Sunday in Bird World

2 April 2023

Good Morning Everyone,

First up, thanks to ‘MC’, just a correction. I had understood that both ospreys were back at Llyn Brenig but the unringed female on the nest Friday/Saturday is not LM6. She did, indeed, lose her coloured band but MC tells me she still had her BTO band so this bird is not her.

This is how I began my blog yesterday – the paragraph below. Sunday morning reveals how devastating the storms are that went across the US. Besides the winds, the heavy snow has caused nests to collapse. The toll will get higher than the three mentioned in my report. Our thoughts are with those touched by that strong weather system, and our hearts are breaking for the loss of the eaglets.

Saturday was a very stressful day because of the Es. E22 is now back on the nest tree, and M15 has been in and out of the nest trying to lure him up to get the fish. When I write this, nothing has been seen of E21. Any time a fledgling flies off the nest and does not return, it is a concern. So, to keep my mind a little calmer, I had Ferris Akel’s Tour in the background. Thank goodness for calm!

E22 below the nest. This is the same place that he was a night fall and it is a good location because he is not so out in the open for the GHOs to hit. ‘A; asks why he doesn’t just fly up to the nest. I am not a bird – there are times I wish I was! But my understanding that he needs to fly off the branch, circle a bit and then fly to the nest. Just flying ‘up’ doesn’t appear to be working for him. That said, this is not a good three-dimensional image of the nest to determine the proper path he would need to take to get to the nest.

M15 trying to lure 22 down to the nest.

M15 even made Southern Living Magazine! If only these stories could generate a change in attitude by the public at large against loss of habitat, banning lead in every form, legislation against rodenticide and the 30 or more other ways in which humans impact the lives of our raptors…I would be happy.

https://www.southernliving.com/southwest-florida-eagle-cam-m15-sleeps-away-from-nest-7369595?utm_source=emailshare&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=shareurlbuttons

Here is E22’s adventure caught by Vicky/Wiskernwings. I love how she talks to the eaglets. HeidiMc recommends starting at 23:50 (the video is long). It shows our Bitty having some goofy times on his first outing.

Real Saunders Photography shows the Butcher birds annoying our Bitty that drives him off the tree after the owl strike. Oh, Bitty get up in that nest! That is all you need to do now for Dad to take care of you. You certainly can fly!

Of course, on top of everything, the house is a building site. Lewis and Missy have been sequestered in the conservatory for their safety today. The workmen have just left – 1400. There might be a new shower in the bath on Monday!

They are not too happy but aren’t misbehaving, just taking it all in stride. The looks they gave me were priceless.

I do not know about you but I have needed a diversion today. There is too much happening including the disappearance and death of elderly Bald Eagles, tornadoes ripping raptor nests out of trees, and of course, the Es. I lurked during Ferris Akel’s Saturday tour and turned to watch when I heard he had found some ducks…

Ferris did turn up lots of waterfowl. It was a great Saturday. Ospreys, Northern Shovelers, a Sandhill Crane, some Canadian Geese and Snow Geese, Ring-necked ducks, Trumpeter Swans, eagle nests waiting for their owners, Common Mergansers and herons, tonnes of herons in their nests!

The Osprey was at quite a distance.

A male Shoveler. Note the size of their bill and its shape like a ‘shovel’ – hence the name. You cannot mistake the male Shovelers.

Common Merganser, male:

Common Merganser, female:

Canada Goose and a Trumpeter Swan:

Snow Geese feeding in the fields from the grain left from the fall:

A Dark Morph Snow Goose:

The lone Sandhill Crane:

A lone Cardinal:

Heron nests – they were everywhere with more herons flying in.

More destruction on the boundary between Tennessee and Kentucky to another eagle nest. How many have been destroyed during the recent thunderstorms and tornadoes besides this one and the Mississippi Flyway nest of the Trio? Have you heard of any others?

Thankfully, River did not have to deal with a tornado. Since Obey disappeared on Tuesday, she has lots to do to secure the nest and take care of the three eaglets. Dale Hollow Cam said that River ‘cried’ Tuesday evening for Obey. We should never underestimate the grief of our wildlife. River has no choice, just like M15. She has to carry on. She has a nest of youngsters to try and feed and raise. So far, she is doing splendidly. Let us hope as they age that, it gets easier for her. She is no spring chicken. Sadly, many of our beloved raptors have lived longer than many imagine. Send positive wishes to her and all the nests. At one time, I learned that there were 25-28 Bald Eagle nests around River and Obey’s nest. That is an enormous number of raptors wanting the same resources. Again, let us hope she can keep the precious fish she catches so she and her babies can eat.

The top two pictures are from early Saturday. The others later in the day. The mate’s absence has to have been so stressful for River and M15. I say this because the kittens were upset about the workmen in the house. That is peanuts compared to what these two Bald Eagles have to go through. M15 persevered against all the odds. Good wishes out to River so she can do the same.

The intruder is still around the nest of River and Obey. It is this intruder that might have injured or killed River. Please go away.

‘A’ sent in a good report of what is happening at this nest:

“River is really doing so much work. The intruder/s is/are landing in the nest tree, forcing River to literally defend her eaglets, who spent a lot of time pancaked yesterday. All three knew what to do and instinctively did so, which helped mum concentrate on what she was doing. I worry that she is getting tired, though the fish she is bringing in are so large that two a day, or even one on occasion, is plenty for both mum and the eaglets. All three eaglets continue to thrive and are constantly dragging giant crops around the nest. They get along famously when food is removed from the equation and DH19, although it respects is position in the pecking order, still has confidence to eat right beside its older siblings once DH17 has eaten its fill. Neither of the older two prevent DH 19 from eating, and although 17 occasionally beaks it, the submission is usually voluntary and not reactionary, with 19 just automatically taking up the submissive pose to wait for its turn.

The situation is one day at a time, as I said yesterday, but so far, River is doing an amazing job. She is one big mama, and she is very protective – of her nest and her babies and their food. She is fantastic to watch in full throttle, as it were. It would be a very brave, very stupid or very hungry eagle that chose to try and tackle her directly. This of course is where she has an advantage over M15, who usually has been dealing with female intruders, who are (sometimes much) larger than he is. River is bigger than most of the females and all the males. But three mouths are a lot to feed on her own, so we watch and we wait and we wish her and her eaglets all the luck in the world.”

River keeping her babies close to her Saturday night.

The Obey River that runs by the nest of River and Obey and their eaglets. If you did not know how the adult eagles got their name, there is your hint. Isn’t it beautiful?

The three at PA Country Farms continue to thrive.

In the beginning I had doubts about how Rose would do as a new mother. It was sure fortunate that Ron got in there and helped, but now, Rose has really come into her own. Those little fluff balls of hers – OK, not so fluffy anymore – are doing fantastic, and R5 always leaves the table with a nice crop. The screen captures are from HeidiMc who watches this nest diligently. It is unfortunate that so many people do not watch the feedings all the way through. Spread the word. R5 is fine.

Heidi Mc confirms that Audrey is back on the Osprey platform at the Chesapeake Conservancy. No sign of Tom yet. Audrey was first reported being back on the 17th of March.

Blue 33 is very good to bring in the fish and oh, is he lucky. Rutland stocks that water right by his nest! Often he brings in a whopper that is still alive and he did that precise thing Saturday morning. Maya finally got control of it and flew off. They have been seen mating and we await eggs.

Blue NC0 has been at the Loch of the Lowes nest all day Saturday. It was like Big Red hanging around the day she finally laid her egg. Expecting an egg for Laddie and NC0 right away! She looks to be in top form. This is good. I love the shine of her beak and those beautiful feathers. What a gorgeous necklace she has. Good luck this year.

John Williams posted a really good image of Dylan and Seren at Llyn Clywedog today. Super couple.

Victor sometimes causes grief. A late fish came in, and he was up and eating. Abby went up to eat, and then Victor gave her a little peck, and, of course, they looked directly into one another’s eyes. It is rule number 1, Victor – do NOT look your beaking sibling in the eye. It makes them mad. And, of course, it did. Otherwise, they are a month old and doing well.

It is generally recognised that around 35-36 days the amount of daily weight gain levels off for male ospreys while that amount continues to grow for the females who need to add another 30-33% of mass and feathers. It is the reason that male ospreys sometimes fledge first because they have finished developing long before the females. We should be able to see in about 10 days time if Abby’s growth takes off and she gets larger than Victor – confirming that she is potentially a female.

Nancy survived the snow storm and so did her precious eaglet. Thank goodness. You may remember that Nancy lost her young male mate last year, Harry. She was left with two eaglets. E1 killed E2 by pushing it off the nest. It was quite tragic as they were all feathered. Nancy was just not able to get the food on the nest fast enough for them. Again, think of River now and send her all your good energy.

Sadly, these could be the last images of the little eaglet at MN-DNR. The nest has totally collapsed due to the storms.

There is going to have to be a concentrated effort – because of the sheer number of Bald Eagles and the lack of nests – to start building artificial nests for the eagles in the US due to the weather conditions caused by

Those storms hit Illinois and Indiana as well. Thankfully the Bald Eagle nest at St Patrick’s Park in South Bend, home to Little Bit ND17, is in tact. No eggs this year. Mum disappeared and there is a young female with Dad.

It was an osprey nest but the geese have taken over and today, with snow on the ground, the first egg for the Canada Geese was laid at Charlo Montana.

Arlene Beech has it for us on video.

Beautiful Mama Goose at her nest at Decorah, Iowa. Fingers crossed that no bad weather disturbs her. There should be 7 or 8 eggs today.

It is windy at the nest of Iris at Hellgate Canyon in Missoula, Montana. Iris’s favourite day to return to her nest is 7 April. Let’s see if her migration clock works this year. Here is the link to Iris’s streaming cam – and if you don’t know her, she is the oldest known Osprey alive in the world. Are we kissing 30 this year?

On Sunday, Louis arrived home at Loch Arkaig. Thanks Geemeff for the note and the video. As you say, no one is going to sleep for six months now!

Karl II and Kaia are still moving a bit and foraging along the return route to their nest in Estonia. Waba continues to stay in Sudan.

Karl II is in Moldova.

Kaia remains in Turkey.

She is feeding here near this water basin in the area.

The fear is that more nests will fail as the trees have been weakened and will fall after the horrific storms that spread across half of the US. It is now time to start building artificial platforms. I have said that twice. Too many eagles are looking for suitable tress and the number of those trees is being diminished. This is only April and the tornado season is not over. Send all of the nests your best wishes.

Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, posts, announcements, and streaming cams that helped to make up my blog today: ‘A’, HeidiMc, Geemeff, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, NEFL and SWFL Eagle Cam Watcher’s Club, Southern Living, Vicky/Wiskernwings, The Real Saunders Photography, Ferris Akel Tour, Dale Hollow Eagle Cam, PA Country Farm, WRDC, Chesapeake Conservancy, LRWT, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, The Clywedog osprey Group, Moorings Park Ospreys, MN-DNR, Terry Carman and Bald Eagle Live Nest and News, ND-LEEF, Charlo Montana, Decorah Goose Cam, Arlene Beech and Charlie Montana, Montana Osprey Project, Geemeff and Friends of Loch Akraig and the Woodland Trust, and Loodeskalender Forum.

E22 knocked off by GHO, Mother Goose Knocked off nest…Saturday in Bird World

1 April 2022

Good Morning Everyone!

Remember when I said everything was going to start happening at once? Well, that day is today. I can hardly log in a UK Osprey arrival, and there is another one. The winds must have been perfect. E21 took his second flight with 22 waiting on the branch. Missy and Lewis were certainly counting on 22 going first until that GHO caused 21 to fledge and then fly. Eaglets in nests appear to be doing well.

Missy and Lewis were very busy on Friday helping with the bathroom renovations. Then, just about the time they were tired, a new little scratch post and toy arrived for them. They had a full day. I hope they sleep through the night!

The bonus is they used it as a scratching post, too. Chasing the furry balls around was a big hit! And they didn’t go under the cabinets. Yahoo.

It was a bit of a sad day, also, as I was writing the Saturday newsletter Friday afternoon. It was a year ago today that we lost Grinnell, Annie’s long-time mate at The Campanile, on the grounds of the University of California at Berkeley.

Arlene Beech caught the intrusion at Mother Goose’s nest. 2023 feels like it is the ‘Year of the Intruder’.

Tandem feedings for H19 and H20 at Pittsburgh-Hayes in the damp cool weather.

Blue 22 might have some misgivings about that unringed female on the Poole Harbour nest. They were all cosied up and his mate, CJ7 arrived today. Blue 22 brought in a fish and the unringed female took it. Will she stay away?

CJ7 on her arrival.

CJ7 and the unringed female fish calling together at Blue 22. The unringed female got the fish. I wonder what CJ7 is saying to Blue 22 today?

The resident male at Lyn Brenig, LJ2, has returned from his migration safely back to Wales.

Meanwhile, at Manton Bay Rutland, Maya checks the rails and inspects the egg cup.

She is drop-dead gorgeous.

Blue 33 did an incredible job getting that nest together for her.

Telyn and Idris continue to get reacquainted. Gosh, I am so happy to see them. I am a great fan of Idris. Apologies beforehand. You will get sick of me singing his praises before the end of the season.

Telyn is tired.

Idris ‘Daddy Long Legs’ enjoying a nice fish.

LM6 has returned to Llyn Brenig so both resident Ospreys are home (she lost her ring last year). Nice. She arrived this morning.

E21 took his second flight. 22 looks so lonely in the nest. He will fly soon!

E22 waiting for a prey drop and for its big sib to return to the nest.

E22 spent the night on the nest tree alone. Where is 21? Has anyone seen him since he flew off today? I hope he is at another tree on the property being fed by M15, but if he has not been seen, this is worrisome. Remember Superbeaks. They are a good example this year. The fledglings need to return to the nest.

It was no a peaceful night, E22 got hit twice by the GHO and like his older sibling was knocked from the nest tree. ‘A’ sent the news: ‘E22, spending his first night alone in the attic, was knocked off his perch around 1.14am by a GHO. He was knocked off the branch and fell to the basement, just below the nest. A second strike by the GHO knocked him lower down the tree. I presume that from this position, he will have no choice but to fly away from the tree if he is to attempt a return to the nest, just as E21 did yesterday.’

Lady Hawk got it on video.

 Our Bitty is OK. He is in the tree. Thanks Nancy M Lockwood! M15 has brought a fish Saturday morning and neither eaglet arrived at the nest to eat it. He is trying to get them to come home so he can feed them in the nest. Fingers crossed.

This is why GHOs are not on my most-liked list. There is no reason other than territory that they should be attacking M15 and his eaglets.

The triplets at PA Farm Country seem to be doing awesome.

We were all saddened when Liberty and Guardian’s only egg of the 2023 season did not hatch on the expected date and, instead, exploded. Here is a great explanation about why that might have happened.

Nancy is hanging in there. There is an intense blizzard at the MN-DNR nest and she has her 5 day old eaglet under her. Send her your best and most positive wishes.

The monofilament line has not proven to be a problem in the last few days. All is well at the Moorings Park Osprey nest of Sally, Harry, Abby and Victor. Those are beautiful babies. Just look at those feathers.

Worcester Peregrine Falcons now have four eggs.

There is some good news coming out of the London Zoo today. Congratulations.

Maybe, just maybe the police and other authorities will persecute as they should! Raptor Persecution UK is reporting an arrest has been made in the deliberate shooting of five goshawks.

When the authorities start doing the right thing many people will be arrested for their crimes against raptors. Here is another!

From Raptor Persecution UK: “Police Scotland have arrested a 56-year old man as part of their investigation into the shooting of a red kite on a grouse moor on Lochindorb Estate earlier this week.

A rough estimation of Lochindorb Estate boundary at the edge of the Cairngorms National Park

It’s hard to keep up with all the raptor persecution news this week, but this is the red kite that members of the public witnessed being shot on the grouse moor on Monday 27th March 2023 at around 11.15am. The Scottish SPCA attended the scene along with Police Scotland but unfortunately the kite’s injuries were so devastating that the bird had to be euthanised (see here).

Police Scotland issued a very fast appeal for information on Tuesday, saying they were particularly interested in finding witnesses who might have seen quad bikes or off-road vehicles in the area on Monday morning.

Yesterday afternoon (Friday 31st March 2023) Police Scotland issued the following short statement:

Arrest after bird of prey shot near Grantown-on-Spey

A 56-year-old man has been arrested and released pending further investigation after a bird of prey was shot near Grantown-on-Spey.

Officers received a report of a bird being shot around 11.15am on Monday, 27 March, 2023, at the Lochindorb Estate.“

I hope that these arrests and the heaviest fines and sentences will begin to deter this despicable behaviour.

My friend, Claudio, has been asking me about the storm in the Mississippi area. Sadly, numerous trees are downed in the area of the FlyWay. This is one fatality confirmed in terms of an Eagle’s nest. So very sad for them. There will be others. This was a massive storm system.

Karl II and Kaia, the Black Storks from the Karula National Forest, are gradually heading north. Kaia is in Turkey and Karl II is in Moldova north of Chisinau. Waba remains in Sudan.

Karl II is feeding at these ponds.

Looking for a book that will teach children about the wonders of wildlife rehabilitation. Christie Gove-Berg has a beautifully illustrated one about a young peregrine falcon injured when the wind forced her into a building. Suitable for children ages 4-12.

Thank you for being with us today. We hope everyone is having a good start to their weekend. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, tweets, videos, posts, websites, and streaming cams that helped to make up my blog today: ‘A’, ‘H’, ‘Claudio’ Cal Falcons, Arlene Beech and the Goose Cam, PIX, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Llyn Brenig, LRWT, Dyfi Ospreys, HeidiMc and SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Lady Hawk and SW Florida and D Pritchett, PA Farm Country, FORE, MN-DNR, Peregrine Falcons in Worcester, London Evening Standard, Raptor Persecution UK, the Stewards of the Upper Mississippi River Refuge, Looduskalender Forum, Amazon and Christie Gove-Berg.

E22 made it to the attic, Karl II and Kaia on the move…Wednesday in Bird World

29 March 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

Tuesday was a very long day, with Victor having a monofilament line wrapped around his tarsus. The ordeal began during the night when it was pitching down rain. ‘A’ gives us a great narrative of Sally’s reactions after she discovered the line: “Fingers crossed that you are right, and the line is a long one that extends across the nest, so whether an eaglet is currently entangled or not, it does definitely need to be removed. So yes, I hope they go ahead and remove it regardless. You should have seen Sally in the middle of the night, digging and working so hard to free the pair. She got Abby free, and she got Victor partly free, at least to the point where he can move around the nest relatively freely. She is such a wonderful mother. She tried so hard and so long. And watching her analysing what to do and where to dig was amazing. They teach us more about themselves every day.”

These things always take longer than we would like! This is the latest news:

Moorings Park management have lined up a 60 foot man lift with flotation tires for Thursday morning sometime between 7 and 9 AM. The Country Club of Naples has granted us access thru their property. To free the nestling from the fishing line it’s entangled with. Unfortunately, this is the earliest this highly specialized equipment is available.

Victor, Moorings Park Osprey chat moderator, 28 March

‘H’ has been monitoring Victor’s leg closely, and it might just be that the line wrapped around the tarsus has come off by itself. This would be fantastic, even though it often doesn’t happen. Indeed, because the machinery arrival would be so long, it would now be desirable, very desirable, if the line came off but if they would still clean the nest.

At 1651:

Victor has been fed all day. Sally is keeping them full and calm. She has been on the nest almost the entire time shading and caring for the babies.

Around 1842 a fish came on the nest. Our eagle-eyed ‘H’ noticed that Victor got up, walked around Abby, and went up to get his fill. It would appear that he is no longer tethered to that monofilament line. Still, it is a worry and should be removed.

Just look at that crop – both have one. Just hard to see the second chick. Sally and Harry are amazing. Victor zoomed the camera in and will do so again tomorrow morning to see if any monofilament line can still be seen. Sunnie Day thinks it is under the nesting material. I do hope that they can come and clean the nest while there is no threat of the osplets flying off the nest.

‘A’ believes that line could still be attached to Victor. Help will come on Thursday. We wait.

So sad for Liberty and Guardian. Their second egg that was nearing hatch has broken. It appears that it did not develop normally.

Dr Sharpe is back to the rescue! We now have a camera on Chase & Cholyn at Two Harbours!

Blue KW0 will continue to cause an interest for a long time. Early this morning, Tim Mackrill was on the BBC. If you have an iPlayer you can go back and listen to the programme (I understand).

Michael St John has sent a link that is apparently good for 24 hours to watch/listen to the programme. Thanks, Michael!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006v5tb

Falcon season is on us! Annie and Lou will be looking forward to hatch in a fortnight while the Manchester NH falcons now have two eggs!

I have received so many notes about the third hatch at the Achieva Osprey nest. This little tyke isn’t afraid to get itself right up there in front to get some fish. Gosh, I sure hope it stays that way! Reminds me of L4 at the nest of Big Red and Arthur last year.

They are sure working to get that nest finished at Patuxent!

Sassa Bird and Terry Carmen remind us of the sadness that swept through the Iowa nests last year when Avian Flu hit.

Both eggs have now hatched at the Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagle nest. Welcome H19 and H20! Just look at those cuties having a meal.

It appears that the fourth egg at PA Country Farms will not hatch. That is just fine. There are three energetic eaglets in that nest and that is quite enough for Oliver and Lisa to handle!

There is confirmation of at least one eaglet for Mr President and Lotus at their new nest in the National Arboretum. There could possibly be a second.

It is quite impossible to even begin to imagine how much we will miss M15 and the Es after the eaglets have fledged. They are so close. 22 was up on the attic branch today!

They shared.

Lady Hawk has 22 branching to the attic on video! — Now I know I must record E22 squeeing to hear it after he is far away. What a familiar sound we have grown accustomed to.

‘H’ just wrote and Duke has landed right on the Barnegat Light Osprey Platform in New Jersey. Thanks for the images, ‘H’. Now we wait for Daisy.

Over the moon. Satellite tracking of Karl II and Kaia indicates that Karl is moving northward out of Turkey! Kaia is in Israel. Send them your warmest wishes for safe passage to their home in the Karula National Forest in Estonia. Waba continues to forage in the Sudan!

Karl II and Kaia could be home by the weekend.

Is this Betty returning to the nest she shares with her mate Bukachek in Mlade Bury, The Czech Republic?

It is snowing on the White Stork nest on the chimney of a restaurant in Pribor, The Czech Republic. The snow is quite beautiful but the storks might like to return to nicer weather! Here is the link to their camera if you do not know this nest.

https://www.youtube.com/live/yfEUXXtyGFc?feature=share

Incredible news coming out of the UK. It is amazing what we can do together when we try!

News has come that Aaron Z2 is at Port Cresor in Wales and confirmation of Dylan at home with Seren at Clywedog. Excellent!

Thank you so very much for being with me this morning. We continue to watch and hope Big Red will lay an egg on the Cornell Campus. Please take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, tweets, videos, posts, and streaming cams that helped make up my blog today: ‘H’, ‘A’, Michael St John, Moorings Park Ospreys, Sassa Bird and Bald Eagles in the US, Jan Gallivan and CIEL, IWS, @TimMackrill, BBC, Manchester NH Falcon Fans, Achieva Credit Union, Ashley Wilson and the Putuxent River Park Osprey Nest, Sassa Bird and Terry Carman and Denton Homes, Pix Cams, Lisa Yen and Bald Eagles Live Nests and Cams, NADC-AEF, SW Florida Bald Eagles and D Pritchett, Lady Hawk and SW Florida and D Pritchett, Barnegat Light, Looduskalender Forum, Blade Buky White Stork Cam, Skarab, s.r.o., and @Wildmoors.

Can you help us find Tweed Valley Osprey Blue 707 -Kirk?

29 March 2022

The discovery of Blue KW0 on Barbados by Michael St John and KW0’s miraculous journey from the UK to the Caribbean gives hope that other Ospreys -believed to have perished – might still be alive. Indeed, the keen eyes of Julian Moore spotted the Garganey, in the image below, on the island on 20 March 2023. The first recorded sighting of a Garganey on Barbados was in 1960 at Foster’s, St Lucy. Since then, Moore says there have been several other sightings. Just imagine. UK Birds could have been crossing the Atlantic for the last 63 years! or more.

The Garganey. They will look like a Blue-winged Teal, but there are two white stripes on the scapular for the Garganey instead of one, like the Teal.

The presence of the Garganey and Blue KW0 confirms that varying species of birds can leave the UK in late August or September for their wintering grounds on the Iberian Peninsula or Africa, only to be blown off course as far as the Caribbean. That is some 4500 miles! With this knowledge, I hope that ‘the collective WE’ of Bird World can help Tweed Valley Osprey Projects find Blue 707 Kirk.

Some Background:

The adult birds at the Tweed Valley Osprey Project are Mrs O and PW3.

Mrs O laid four eggs. PW3 took exception to the first egg and kicked it out of the nest. He clearly believed it might not have been ‘his’. Eggs two and three were laid on the 23rd of April while the fourth was laid on the 29th. The first two osplets hatched on the 29th of May, including our Kirk, with the third on the 31st of May.

Mrs O with her first two hatches.

There are three of them.

When they were 44 days old, the trio were fitted with their Darvic Rings. It was the 12th of July. At the same time, satellite tags were attached to each.

Tony Lightley will fit the bands and the trackers.

Lightley measured and weighed the osplets, determining that all three were strong and healthy males. The Darvic rings were blue with numerical digits 706, 707 and 708.

Here they are with their bling. Kirk 707 is in the middle.

Kirk.

The information that satellite trackers can provide is quite vast. One aspect of this project was to follow these juveniles to their winter homes to try and find out what the challenges were that they faced – so they might be mitigated in the future.

Present during the banding were members of the Conservation Without Borders. Sasha Dench and the crew will use the data from these osplets to follow them to their winter homes. That project is Flight of the Osprey. This is some very good information on what Conservation Without Borders hopes to achieve:

“Flight of the Osprey is an innovative approach to conservation, highlighting grassroots projects along the flyway in collaboration with UN agencies, scientists, media and governments.”

“Accompanying the osprey on its 2022 autumn migration across Europe and Africa, this 10,000 km expedition will gather vital data on the threats faced by this iconic bird of prey and other migratory species. At the same time, we will create a unique platform from which to engage, educate and empower communities along the flyway and further afield, promoting a deeper understanding of the challenges to migratory birds, both within and beyond the conservation community.“

I have never seen each fledgling osprey leave the nest completely on the same day. This is, however, what happened at Tweed. On the 26th of August, all three began their southward journeys. It was a Friday. Excellent information came in on their locations.

  • Glen was around Kendal in Cumbria
  • Kirk was at Loch Esk, near Eskdalemuir
  • Tweed was at the Welsh borders, near Whitchurch

By Saturday the 27th, Kirk and Tweet had reached the SW of England. Then, according to Tweed Valley records, “Kirk followed his brother out to sea but bizarrely turned north towards Ireland. Around 15 miles before reaching Ireland, he turned south again…” It was thought that weather conditions might have caused Kirk to have to fly towards Ireland.

On the 30th of August, Kirk eventually made landfall in Ireland. He flew for 22 hours. Tweed Valley says, “We believe bad weather forced him to turn north rather than follow his brother Tweed south towards Portugal. Since arriving in Ireland he has been touring, heading firstly north towards Limerick before heading west and south down the coast. It looks like he has found a roost along the River Cumneragh and we hope he’s resting before thinking of going south again.”

The other records state: “Kirk remained in Ireland since changing course and turning back during his ocean crossing last week. He arrived near Cork on the south coast but has since done a big tour of the south west area of Ireland. He settled in an area next to Coomacheo Wind Farm which was a bit worrying given his total lack of experience in the world. We worried that he could collide with the turbine blades which can be a hazard for raptor species.”

Kirk was not killed by the blades of the wind turbines, thankfully. He fished along the River Clydagh and roosted in nearby forestry.

“River Clydagh and forestry – geograph.org.uk – 4005190” by Hywel Williams is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

The last transmission from Kirk was on the 5th of September.

Tweed Valley reports: “On 5 September after a half hour roost near to the river he suddenly shot off on a northwesterly direction towards the coast. His tracker recorded a speed of 95kmph and an altitude of 240 metres when he set off, the speed dropped off to 60kmph and then back up to 84kmph near to the coast and there have been no further data points since he flew out across the sea. There will be an absence of masts to send signal but it is still the wrong direction if it is the start of any further migration.”

This is the last data. No one has seen or heard from Kirk since the 5th of September.

Unfortunately, for all their usefulness, satellite trackers are not foolproof. It is also almost impossible to ‘notice and photograph’ an Osprey unless you are really looking with camera in hand like Michael St John was in Barbados. In fact, many persons might have seen Kirk and did not know that news of him would be ever so welcome.

I have now written to learn more about the weather patterns in Ireland and SW England on or around the 5th of September. These could be important for understanding how Blue KW0 got to Barbados along with the Garganey. It might also give us clues about where Kirk Blue 707 might be.

We now know birds can ease their flight by hitching rides on ships. It is also thought that Blue KW0 might have stopped off to feed at the Azores. Of course, all of this is conjecture. We do not know all the marvellous things these Ospreys can do. Would Kirk have made it to the Azores? Is he still there?

Map showing the location of the Azores to Ireland (light green, left of the grey UK).

I will let you know when I have more information on the possible wind and weather patterns.

I urge you to circulate this blog widely. Please put it on your Facebook and Twitter feeds, and send it to friends and colleagues that might live in the Caribbean or elsewhere. We do not know what happened to Kirk 707 after the 5th of September. Did he remain in Ireland like the Tundra Swan in Manitoba? So, please send it out to everyone you know in Ireland. Send it out to all birding groups that you know or locate. We do want to get the word out. Let us get a search going – look up. You might see Blue 707! Thank you.

I want to thank Michael St John for introducing me to Julian Moore and for Julian Moore allowing me to include his images of the Garganey. I want to also share my deep appreciation to Geemeff who introduced me to Diane Bennett, Tweed Valley Osprey Project, and to the TVOP for allowing me to use their images in my blog and the information from it in the hopes of finding Kirk 707.

2nd egg for Captiva, news on KW0?…Thursday in Bird World

23 March 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

So Tiger Mozone sends me a message saying, ‘Your bird has been identified’. Yes, Blue KW0 has been identified. The news is exciting. Tim Mackrill found the information on the ring number and the history of the bird. He has asked that this be kept confidential so as to publish it on the Roy Dennis Wildlife blog. When that happens, I will give you all the information. What I will say is that we were correct. It is a Scottish bird that was blown off course last summer and found itself in Barbados. Thank you to everyone who helped in this discovery.

Wednesday was one of the most beautiful days on the Canadian Prairies so far. Blue sky, little wind, -3. The first Canada Goose arriving in our City has been spotted. Mallards are coming in. Spring really might be coming…but, I will not say that too loudly. We have been known to have blizzards in May.

Lewis loves to pose! Today he got to help with more spring cleaning. How much fur can accumulate in corners when there are two large kittens? When do they stop being kittens and become cats? Lewis also believes that any surface in the house, especially in the conservatory, is his.

It is always nice to wake up to a good news story. Thank you, ‘MB’. Another osprey was saved after being tethered to its nest with a monofilament line. Can you imagine how that would cut through their legs and toes? Remember. Call your nearest wildlife rehabilitation centre if you see a raptor (or other bird species) tangled in a fishing line. Don’t know who they are? Take a few minutes to find out and put that information in your phone so that you can call them quickly! It could save a life.

https://fb.watch/jqQxC9cByH/

Congratulations to Angus and Florence who have their second egg at Captiva. 22 March 2023. Looks like it was around 11:13.

‘H’ reports that Rose is now doing approximately half of the daily feeds at the WRDC nest in Miami. She is gradually easing her way into being a confident mother. She is more patient and the prey items are better for the eaglets who can, now, eat bigger bites. Great news. Thanks, ‘H’.

Since last summer, I have received many letters wondering what happened to Malala, the Red-tailed Hawk raised by the Bald Eagles on Gabriola Island in British Columbia. I had a running list to respond to everyone on my old computer but sadly, that list went with the computer when it caught fire. So apologies. Here, however, is the news we have been waiting for. Yesterday I spotted a posting by the head of GROWLS, and in her list of items she addresses is Malala, who was seen with the Bald Eagle parents fishing and hunting. Terrific news.

It has been a tough time for GROWLS. They received donations for a new camera because of the attention paid to Junior and Malala. Then the property owners decided they did not want the camera on their land. People have that right, and I can only imagine the level of invasion they felt when the eagles adopting the RTH made the news. It is entirely understandable that they had enough. This has left GROWLS looking for another site. They cannot do anything until fall, so please have patience if you were one of the donors.

PA Farm Country has a second hatch on Tuesday.

The Salisbury Cathedral Peregrine Falcons now have three eggs. Way to go!

Speaking of falcons, news has come that Shasta, the mate of Sequoia, at San Jose City Hall did, indeed, have HPAI, when she died. I have changed this in the memorial wall. Thanks, ‘H’ for drawing my attention to the announcement.

I am also going to add Sequoia to the memorial board as MIA. Like Sue and Otto, the Syracuse University Red-tail Hawks, if one of a pair dies of HPAI, generally the second does, too. All we know is that Sequoia went missing after Shasta passed. Unless Sequoia is spotted and he does have a band, we might never know what happened. Hence, the MIA designation.

I have also decided to add Zoe to the memorial wall. We may never know what happened to the Port Lincoln first hatch and the only surviving osplet from the Port Lincoln barge 2022 season. Did she fly out to sea, get on a boat, and is in an exotic location? Did she land on a hydro pole and get electrocuted? Is she happily fishing? Without a transmission for some 2 months, we do not know. If she turns up, I will joyfully remove her.

Robert Wright took the following photo and posted it on Port Lincoln Ospreys. It is believed that it is Mum, Dad, and Ervie – yes, Ervie – in one of Ernie’s favourite trees waiting for the fish to run—an incredible image of the three of them. Great timing.

You can really see the change in the Duke Farms eaglets. They now have little dandelion Mohawks and a lot of dark thermal down on their bodies. They can now regulate their own temperatures but Mum and Dad will still brood them and keep them dry and warm if the weather turns.

So civilised. Will they band the pair? I will love to see if they are two little boys if they do DNA sampling.

Jackie and Shadow continue to come to the nest to have a meal and work on bringing in sticks despite the snow.

Even if they do not have a replacement clutch, Jackie and Shadow and their antics and behaviour towards one another will continue to melt our hearts as long as they are visiting the nest!

It was tough to gauge how much food Victor had today. Often Sally had her back to us, and you could not see any of the feedings. Still, both Abby and Victor had crops at various times of the day and nice long feedings. The osplets can now consume an entire fish without even thinking about it. They are in a period of great growth and change. Fewer feedings but more fish. It is an adjustment for everyone.

We can tell that both are progressing nicely and have been fed. Their eyes are clear and shiny and their plumage is developing as it should.

Our little E22 is coming into its own and as Lady Hawk says, he is having some revenge for all that previous beaking by 21!

E22 has been the bravest in terms of reaching higher branches. Let us just hope that he gets himself down in the nest so the GHO does not cause him to fledge early!

There is ‘branching’ at the Corona California GHO nest.

Pip, Tootsie, and Hoot cuddled up together in the nest.

Lou has joined a long line of fantastic male falcons that want to feed their eggs! Xavier and the male at 367 Collins Street in Melbourne come to mind.

We have covered the hatch days of the Kakapo so why not some of the California Condors?

We are getting closer and closer to the first egg at the nest of Big Red and Arthur on the Cornell campus. Her earliest was the 13th of March, but the norm appears to be the week of the 23rd of March. Fingers crossed.

Big Red just after having breakfast on the nest. 22 March 2023

We all get excited about rare birds in our area – or, well, I get excited about the ordinary, everyday ones that return from migration. There are some birds – Alpine Swifts -getting folks in the UK really, really joyful!

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/22/birdwatchers-elated-as-alpine-swifts-flock-to-britain-and-ireland-in-rare-numbers?CMP=share_btn_link

Do you like historical illustrations of birds? These images of Australian birds by Elizabeth Gould are quite remarkable.

Birds-of-Australia-Elizabeth-Goulds-stunning-illustrations-–-in-pictures-Environment-The-GuardDownload

A book of Elizabeth Gould’s drawings will be released in October 2023.

Some sad news is coming out of the Channel Islands. One of the eggs of Chase and Cholyn at Two Harbours was broken during a storm a day or so ago. The good news at Sauces Canyon is that egg 7 is still intact! Oh, let us all hope that egg is viable and Jak and Audacity have a little one to care for – they sure deserve it. Eight eggs! I have no idea how Audacity managed that. No word on Thunder or Akecheta, Andor or Cruz as their new nests do not have cameras. Best wishes to all of them.

There is, of course, so much news out there. Waiting for more arrivals of ospreys in the UK. Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care.

Thank you to the following for their notes, announcements, videos, tweets, posts, and streaming cams that helped to make up the information in my blog today: ‘H’, ‘MB’, San Diego Humane Society, Window to Wildlife, WRDC, GROWLS and Pam McCartney, PA Farm Country Eagle Cam, Salisbury Cathedral Peregrine Falcons, San Jose City Hall Falcons, Bart Molenaar and Friends of Osprey, Robin Wright and PLO, Duke Farms, FOBBV, Moorings Park Ospreys, Lady Hawk and SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Live Owl Cam, Julie Krizmanich and Raptors of the World, Ventana Wildlife Society, Cornell RTH, and The Guardian.

E22 branches, DG3 out of the nest for 5 hours, 3rd hatch at Achieva…Wednesday in Bird World

22 March 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

It was simply a gorgeous day in the Canadian Prairies. The temperature worked up to -1; there was a cloudy sky and little wind. It was a perfect day for a walk at the nature centre until….DG3 decided to go walkies in the nest and found itself over by the rim! Needless to say…I didn’t go out but, stayed home, baked cookies, read your lovely letters, and enjoyed the kittens.

We have been shifting furniture. A bit of spring cleaning. Not sure the dried hydrangeas will survive. When the kittens first arrived, they enjoyed tearing them apart and eating the pinecones I had collected on my walks. In the winter, I smear suet over them and put them in the lilac bushes. Let’s see if these hydrangeas last! Not counting on it.

Missy and Lewis used to fit together on top of their climbing tree. No longer.

Dyson was here today eating peanuts. So lovely to see her and the three babies from last year. Little Red was running on the hydro wires on the lane and the lilacs were filled with birds, including Mr and Mrs Woodpecker. Life is good. Each survived the winter including Little Red who had to find another home after the garden shed was torn down to make way for the conservatory.

The woodpeckers love the logs with the drilled holes filled with suet.

Michael St John and I continue to track Blue KW0 and its adventures getting to Barbados from Scotland. Hopefully, Tim at the Roy Dennis Foundation will discover the owner of that mysterious band and where and when this lovely osprey was ringed in Scotland. This morning Geemeff sent me a really good article on birds – all manner of birds – hitching rides on the big ships. Geemeff asks an important question: do they land on the boats out of choice or necessity?

With Ships, Birds Find an Easier Way to Travel

Jackie and Shadow have far worse weather than I do. Glad Jackie isn’t buried under that snow. They continue to visit the nest and are seen mating on the tree.

The wind could not have been more perfect at the Southwest, Florida Eagle nest of M15 and the Es. E21 was on the rim of the nest, letting the breeze blow against its wings. E E22 was in the nest. Then E22 began to flap his enormous wings, and at 17:04:34, he branched. It was magnificent. E22 was 73 days old on Tuesday.

After making it to the spike, E22 explored other branches higher up. Our brave little one. Yahoo….22.

Poor 22 had another first yesterday. It got hit by the GHO while it was sitting on the rim of the nest. Thankfully 22 went into the nest and not over the side! Thanks, Heidi!

All three eggs have now hatched at Achieva Osprey in St Petersburg, Florida. The third was Tuesday, the 21 March around 10:00. The hatch dates for the three are March 18, 19, and 21 so there is only three days difference between one and three. Not bad. Jack and Diane will be particularly busy. Fingers crossed.

Moorings Park Osprey platform. Just look at Victor’s ‘ps’. Looks healthy! And he has a fat little bottom—time 0739, 21 March.

A considerable fish came to the nest at 10:48. It had its head and Sally worked away trying to get the flesh from the bones.

That time Sally took allowed Abby to get herself into a right state.

Victor and Abby are 19 days old today. You can still tell them apart by their heads but Abby is now bigger.

Abby remains aggressive. She demands to eat first. Victor, of course, doesn’t like it.

Victor goes into submission. Good lad. There is lots of fish left. Either Victor needs to wait or he needs to carefully move around to the other side of Sally.

You can see how Ally is working away at the head of that fish.

Victor is very hot. He has moved around the rim but Abby is keeping him at the side. Come on Abby! There is fish left and you have had lots.

Victor got up in the shade and Abby followed him.

At 12:02, Abby is in food coma. Victor is up in the shade of Sally and there is fish left. Come on Victor! Come on Sally. Now is the perfect chance.

Harry’s eyes remind me of Blue 33.

To the relief of all, Victor is eating!

Victor got some fish and Sally finished the tail at 12:34. That means that she fed Abby, Victor, and herself from 10:48-12:34. Remarkable.

Thank you, Sally, for shading the babies!

Of course, Victor does not know when to leave a good thing alone. He went on a ferocious attack on Abby. Victor, everything is fine. Leave Abby be! No revenge is necessary.

In Virginia, Martin and Rosa continue to do well with the three eaglets at Dulles-Greenaway.

I do not know about the weather but these little ones cannot regulate their temperature yet and the oldest has gotten out of the egg cup and over to the rim of the nest. It needs to get back! This happened around 11:00 on Tuesday.

The chick is still moving at 12:37.

The oldest was out of the nest cup for over 5 hours. At one point, Rosa went over to encourage it to get closer to the egg cup. It must be extremely hungry, and I hope it has not gotten a chill. And then, a miracle happened. All three are in the nest! Tears.

The female eagles are at a loss as to when this happens. Most will not help because they could harm the little one. You might remember that one of the Es got out of the nest cup this year, and Harriet did use her beak to roll it back under. That was a brilliant solution.

I cannot see DG3’s head in this image.

Then a few minutes later it is there and seemingly tired.

Now all three are back in the cup. Thank goodness.

DG3 feeling better a few hours later.

At 17:04, the trio were enjoying a meal.

I continue to have mixed feelings about Rose. Thankfully Ron is feeding the eaglets! Rose flew off early on Tuesday morning and Ron flew in and fed the little ones.

Rose returns and does a feeding. Did she bring the fish?

She’s gone again. Ron is looking after the little ones. No worries. Ron is really rather amazing and is having a wonderful time looking after his babies while Rose eases herself into motherhood.

‘H’ has sent me a note. Apparently Rose has done an amazing feeding of the eaglets. She is being patient and offering small pieces. It was 16:16. Thanks, ‘H’. I do hope that Rose gains more confidence. ‘H’ says there was no beaking and both left the meal with nice little crops that you can see in the image below.

Bravo, Rose!

The two eaglets at Duke Farms are older than those at Dulles-Greenway and WRDC. They hatched on the 27-28th of February and are 23 and 24 days old. Their thermal down is coming in and Mum and Dad do not brood them all day long.

They also have enormous crops. It is a wonder they can sit! or move.

The Latvian White-tail Eagles, Milda and Voldis, continue to incubate their eggs. Gosh, these are beautiful eagles.

Arthur and Big Red continue to work on their nest. It seems that Arthur is very much aware of the construction across Tower Road. Let us all hope that this does not cause issues for this Red-tail Hawk couple on the Cornell campus this year.

Meanwhile in Mlade-Buky, The Czech Republic, everyone is awaiting the return of White Storks, Bukachek and Betty.

Checking on Karl II and his family. Waba continues to forage in Sudan. There was a hiccup on the tracker, but it shows that Kaia is on the move north from Chad. Precisely where is unknown. Everyone feels that Karl II should be arriving in Estonia at any time but there is no tracking news. We wait.

How long does a Bald Eagle live when it is cared for? fed? Mrs B was at least 49 years old when she passed. Wow.

Flaco, the escaped Eurasian Owl from the New York City Zoo, thrives in Central Park. Check out the latest on Falco and other NYC urban hawks with Robert at urbanhawks.com

In Canada, especially in some of the most beautiful parts of our country, the developers are taking over land traditionally supporting Bald Eagles. Dave Hancock and his foundation are working diligently to replace nests in trees lost to developments, including parking lots! I have mentioned it before, but it is worth pointing out again in case you missed it, Dave is including a sunscreen because of the rising summer temperature in the lower mainland of British Columbia.

The geese are taking over some unused Bald Eagle nests in Iowa. This one in Decorah had goslings jumping last year to our delight. Now there are eggs again this year! Bravo.

Red Tide has come to the coast of the Barrier Islands in Florida. So what is Red Tide? NOAA says, “Harmful algal blooms, or HABs, occur when colonies of algae—plant-like organisms that live in the sea and freshwater—grow out of control while producing toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals, and birds. While many people call these blooms ‘red tides,’ scientists prefer the term harmful algal bloom. One of the best known HABs in the nation occurs nearly every summer along Florida’s Gulf Coast. This bloom, like many HABs, is caused by microscopic algae that produce toxins that kill fish and make shellfish dangerous to eat. The toxins may also make the surrounding air difficult to breathe. As the name suggests, the bloom of algae often turns the water red.” In fact, not all of the waters are red but, this can be very deadly as you can see form the Plover below in the care of CROW.

How will this impact our eagles and Ospreys?

If you are watching the Loch of the Lowes nest and are confused because you cannot see the Blue Darvic ring for Blue NC0, it appears it has split and come off. I cannot emphasise how important these rings are in identifying the birds. The recent mystery surrounding Blue KW0 would not even exist without that ring!

Maya and Blue 33 continue to reacquaint themselves after their return to Rutland after their winter migration.

The Scottish Government is trying to come to grips with the illegal killing of the raptors because of the grouse-hunting community. They have now implemented a grouse shooting licensing bill. It is a first step. Still, the legal system must deal with those who defy the laws allowing gamekeepers to get off with little or no penalties for horrible crimes against these amazing birds, such as stomping on five Goshawk chicks in the nest!

Breaking news….Scottish Government introduces grouse shoot licencing bill

I want also to introduce you to a lovely Ukrainian tradition today. One of my former students from Acadia University in Nova Scotia, CD, teaches at a university in northern Manitoba. She posted that March 22 is the Day of the Forty Martyrs. Her baba (grandmother) would make bread (pasta) covered with little dough birds. Of course, I saw the post and thought how interesting. Here is the story from the Ukrainian Cultural Centre:

The importance of this day, which comes immediately after the spring equinox, pre-dates Christianity in Ukraine. According to folklorist Olexa Woropay, on this day the magpie puts forty twigs in its nest and forty larks migrate from south to north. Bird-shaped buns called zhaivoronky were baked – forty of them, of course – and were given to children so that the poultry breed well. Some traditions report the children playing with the forty bird-shaped buns, tossing them into the air to invite all the birds to return from their winter migrations.

What a marvellous tradition! Guess who is baking paska today?

Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care all. Remember to get outside, even for a few minutes if you can! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, tweets, announcements, videos, and streaming cams that helped to make up my blog today: Geemeff, ‘H’, ‘CD’, Hakai Magazine, FOBBV, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Heidi Mc and SW Florida Eagle Cam, Achieva Credit Union, Moorings Park Ospreys, Dulles-Greenaway, WRDC, Duke Farms, Latvian Fund for Nature, Cornell RTH, Blade Buky, Bald Eagle Live Nest Cams and News, Urban Hawks, Hancock Wildlife, L Rose and Decorah Eagles Love Nest, Diane Lambertson Captiva Island Eagles and Ospreys, LOTL, LRWT, Raptor Persecution UK, and the Ukrainian Cultural Centre.