Category Archives: birds and weather

N1 dead, White-tail Eagle takes Finnish osplets…Saturday in Bird World

27 July 2024

Hello,

Thank you to everyone for your lovely notes. We must continue to find the happiness, the miracles, and as ‘B’ says, ‘the treasures’ in this breeding season. And there certainly are miracles and the most amazing events happening. Iris and Finnegan continue to get top billing with managing to keep themselves alive during the heat and not having been blown off to Las Vegas during the winds! And we still have two chicks at Osoyoos despite the odds being so against Soo and Olsen. Fledges are happening. Take the smiles when they come and as one reader ‘J’ said, ‘I hope Blue falls off the nest’. (There is a rescue in place if he does)

It is hot and humid. 31 degrees. It rained just enough to make it more humid. The birds in the garden frantically ate their breakfast and it i snow after 1600 and they are starting on the last feeding of the day. Their behaviour makes me think a storm is coming despite the weather network saying ‘no’. One day they said ‘no rain’ and it was raining when I checked! They are not always very accurate, but the animals are. Frantic eating means a storm….And it did rain and a thunderstorm was predicted for today and tomorrow. Not bad for a ‘Murder’. They should hire Mr Crow!

What will he choose? Enchiladas? Cheesy Dogs? Peanuts?

I am so very, very sad. Both of the fledglings of Big Red and Arthur of 2024 are dead. N2 died from a window collision, and N1 died from an illness after being seen by BOGs behaving oddly.

Sad News, Red-tailed Hawk Fledgling %22N1%22 Found Deceased After Suspected Illness | Cornell Lab Bird CDownload

A White-tail eagle has taken the smallest osplet, Yellow UPU, off the Finnish #4 nest, to the dismay of all of us that loved that osplet family. The time was 18:11:56. Thank you, ‘AM’ for alerting me. The Ilomansti chick was 55 days old.

Screenshot

The following morning, at 0510, the oldest osplet, Yellow, URA, a male, flew off the #4 nest and was chased by the Eagle as it flew. You could hear it calls. The Middle osplet, a female, is in the nest, scared to death.

There has been an incident at the Patuxent River Park. An osplet/osprey fell off the nest at 1445 and it was not until after 1100 that anyone went to check. Earlier flapping could be heard but high tide came in and all went quiet.

Feeling so grateful. Iris is the poster child of osprey miracles this year and if something had happened to her or her family, I think we would have crawled into a hole and stayed there. Thankfully, Iris and Finnegan and their kids survived category 2 hurricane force winds.

Please help name Iris and Finnegan’s chicks. The site where you vote gives the meaning of the two pairs of names to select from -.

Cornell gives us a fantastic video of Iris’s kids and their amazing juvenile eyes!

Welcome back, ‘A’ who is so happy to be checking on Iris’s nest and the WBSE for us: “I checked our gorgeous boys at Hellgate today – they are looking wonderful and Iris is so proud of them. They had a naming competition underway – I believe it ends on 31 July – so the time has come to name this pair. Fledging is on the calendar and we will soon lose our Hellgate ospreys until next season. I do hope that the bond between Iris and Finn will persist next season and that they will return to each other. This has been a love story for the ages, and I have adored watching his devotion to her. 

Gorgeous boy brought in a large headless fish around 06:39 and there was something of a melee. Iris grabbed and took control of the fish. Finn did some arrangement of the baby rails, which are huge (as are the babies) and then flew to the perch while Iris arranged the feeding of breakfast. As usual, Baby Bob is given the first bites, with both osplets sitting up nicely at the table, side by side, without any aggression. I have adored watching the fraternal behaviour on this nest. Not once has there been any bonking or even any intimidation. Even direct eye contact has failed to prompt dominant behaviour from the larger sibling. The situation remains peaceful, although I sense we are about to enter the ‘fight for food’ period as the osplets begin to claim and mantle delivered prey from their parents. So far, though, Iris is maintaining control of the food distribution. 

Baby Bob is fed for some time before Big Bob is offered a bite, but the older sibling is perfectly prepared to wait its turn. Based on size, I am again thinking that Big Bob is female, with a younger brother, but if that is the case, then the behaviour from both has been exemplary and civil at all times. If we do have a big sister and a little brother, then I can only put the excellent nest dynamics down to Iris’s control on the nest and Finn’s regular deliveries of huge fish to the nest. As far as I can see, the only logical explanation is that these two have not been hungry. 

I do wish they were banding these two osplets, given how incredibly special they are – It is a long time since Iris raised a chick, let alone two. They are healthy and they have inherited some pretty special genes from both parents, it would seem. I would love to know their genders, for obvious reasons, and we would all love to know how they fare as juvenile fledglings and hopefully, later, as adult ospreys. I suppose we will never know for certain if and until they find a mate. But I have wavered backwards and forwards on the gender question, with the size indicator contradicting the behavioural one much of the time. “

July 26: After some rain overnight, it was fine for early morning duets. Lady was off at 6:36. Dad was in shortly after, then incubated for an hour and 25 minutes, giving Lady a good early break. Dad then left the nest, as Lady was close and returned to take over incubating. After a couple more changes, Lady appeared  around midday with a good crop – she had caught her own prey it seems. Then she spent the afternoon on the nest, incubating for nearly three hours until Dad bought in a late fish. She grabbed it and took it to the branch to eat. The eggs were uncovered for some time as Lady ate, then dad incubated for a short while until she finished eating. She then settled for the night. Today she spent a total of 6h27m on the eggs, while Dad incubated for 5h7m.

I love to see how this pair shares the workload so evenly – check the daily division of incubation duties between them, giving each plenty of exercise and the chance to hunt, although Dad does sometimes bring prey to Lady on the nest. But they are a tightly bonded team and I am looking forward to seeing two small fluffy heads appear on this nest. Perhaps THIS year, we will get two successful fledges, with fledglings safely returning to the natal nest despite the attempts of the smaller birds to drive them from their nest and their forest. 

They have not yet hatched and yet already, we are worried about their chances of successfully fledging at this location. I have no idea how we can protect them from this fate, but it is hard to watch season after season after season. Two cute, happy, healthy little sea eaglets are effectively sacrificed every year. It is a tragic waste, of the babies and of the devotion and time the parents put into raising their eaglets. “

Three healthy chicks at the Castle Bolton Estate in Yorkshire – two females and a male!

Kristel fledged, as predicted, at 81 days old on the 26th of July from the Golden Eagle nest in Estonia. You might know that this nest is in a military zone in Estonia where active military exercises take place daily. Many can hear the gunfire in the background. Despite this, the area is large and normal humans cannot enter it. It actually makes this forest area safer for the wild animals and raptors like Kristel and her family who are used to the military exercise sounds.

Richmond and Rosie’s PAX caught on video!

Everyone is home at Field Farm and hungry. Flying uses up a lot of calories!!!!!!!!

Geemeff sends us her daily report for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:

Daily summary Friday 26th July 2024

The Lochenders saga continued today with a game of musical nests – after an absence of two days, Dorcha turned up paying a visit to Nest One while Garry LV0 was there, and then Affric 152 and Garry LV0 visited Nest Two, flying off very quickly when Dorcha appeared. Where were Louis and Prince while this was going on? Was Prince back at Bunarkaig looking after his and Affric’s chick? Was Louis having a leisurely fishing session? Is he still around? As usual, the only answer is ‘wait and see’. RAF jets did a flypast but both nests were empty at the time. More good news from Spain with a tweeted photo of our chick 1JW out and about exploring the neighbourhood, and the message “We are told all the birds are continuing to feed well after taking to the skies for the first time yesterday.” 1JW is certainly better off in sunny Spain – it rained throughout the day here, there’s a chance of rain tonight and tomorrow with a high of only 17°C.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.01.49 (04.04.45); Nest Two 22.58.14 (04.15.15)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/IQMVxtoxhek N1 Garry LV0 visits bringing moss 08.25.36

https://youtu.be/TkmVmX5YaVA  N1 Dorcha spends time with Garry LV0 already there 09.18.24

https://youtu.be/MRew3k_UKwA  N2 Dorcha isn’t amused when Affric 152 & Garry LV0 invade her nest 10.38.11

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

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

Bonus tweet – photo of Loch Arkaig Osprey chick 1JW in Spain exploring his new neighbourhood:

‘CG’ has been monitoring the Hancock Wildlife Nest at Boundary Bay. She sends us the following from the forum:

On 7/25, Blue received food and ended the day with a nice crop.  She also received food Friday morning which she was eating.  She has also been doing wingercises and reached a good height yesterday.  PSs that were seen were good.  There are pictures with the comments.

It is painstaking reading all the comments; you need lots of time on your hands.  People are questioning the lack of food being brought by the parents (Pere and Mere).  Apparently, there was plenty of food at the beginning.  They are wondering if there is something in the surroundings that has changed.  So, . . .

Link to site (press ctrl + click to follow link).  This will take you right to afternoon of 7/25, and from there you can go backwards and forwards.  Page numbers are at the top and bottom of the pages.

Boundary Bay Central 2023-2024 Observation and Discussion – Page 482 – Hancock Wildlife Foundation

The site has wonderful nest history with different views of the nest.  

Take care, let’s keep Blue in our thoughts,

More about Blue:

Post by JudyB » Fri Jul 26, 2024 6:51 pm

blue-kit wrote: ↑More 

Fri Jul 26, 2024 4:25 pm

I haven’t herd from anyone one rescue of Blue. When, where, and how?

Judy B writes: At the moment, it does not appear that Blue needs to be rescued. The parents delivered two fish today – and Blue waited almost an hour before beginning to eat the first one, which suggests to me that Blue was not very hungry (which makes sense because Blue had quite a lot of food yesterday).

Blue is old enough that she or he would likely try to fly if anyone approached the nest with a lift to try to remove Blue from the nest – and so far I haven’t seen enough sustained flapping to think that Blue is ready to fly safely.

We do have plans in place if Blue ends up on the ground, and the local rescue/rehab organization is aware that there are concerns about Blue – but personally, after seeing two fish delivered today, I’m less worried than I was yesterday.”

‘H’ reports:

7/26 Osoyoos osprey nest:  The high temperature was only about 84 degrees, and Olsen delivered 10 fish to the nest today!  Soo started out very early in the morning trying to feed some of that leftover fish jerky skin.  No one was able to eat very much of that.  At 0617 Olsen delivered a nice sized fish that provided a 14-minute meal.  The siblings ate from opposite sides of Soo, and Middle ate 71 bites of fish.  Olsen came right back at 0635 with a similarly sized fish that Soo fed for 13 minutes.  Middle did not have good positioning, with Big hovering over him the entire time, and was only able to eat 4 bites of fish.  At 0944 Olsen arrived with a tiny fish.  Middle had been fed 5 bites of that fish, then s/he grabbed it from Soo and spent the next five minutes eating the rest of it (and was not harassed by Big).  The next fish at 1117 was another ‘Tiny’.  Big bit Middle on the wing, ouch!  Soo fed Middle for 3 minutes.  Fish #5 at 1153 was also a ‘Tiny’.  Middle was fed 20 bites before Big grabbed the fish and finished it.  Fish #6 at 1205 was a bit larger, and Soo fed Big for 7 minutes.  Middle did not make much of an effort to join in.  At 1319 Olsen dropped off a medium sized whole fish.  Big was not hungry, and Soo fed Middle for 11 minutes!  Fish #8 at 1435 was a ‘Tiny’… Big gave Middle ‘The Look’, and Middle didn’t even bother to approach Soo, so that was just a small meal for Big.  Fish #9 at 1448 was a large whole fish that provided a 26-minute meal.  The problem was that neither osplet was very hungry.  They ate peacefully on opposite sides of Soo’s beak, but after a few minutes, Soo was having difficulty finding an open beak.  Both sibs would repeatedly back away, and then later they would somewhat reluctantly accept another bite or two from Soo.  It reminded me of being at Grandma’s for Sunday dinner, and she just kept coaxing us kids to eat more!  Middle ate 55 bites of fish at that meal, and Soo had a nice meal for herself as well.  The last fish of the day was a small fish delivered by Olsen at 1531.  Big was not interested in eating.  Middle almost reluctantly ate 20 bites of fish, and refused many of Soo’s offerings.  Everyone looked quite ‘croppy’.  It was a good day.  Weather forecast for 7/27: Mostly sunny, high temp 90F/32C, winds 9 mph.

7/26 Colonial Beach osprey nest:  It has been a rough couple of days at this nest.  David was last seen the morning of 7/23.  Betty seemed to be on her own to care for 32-day-old Cobey.  There was not any fish brought to the nest on 7/24, and only one medium-sized fish on 7/25.  We did not think that fishing was difficult because of the weather, so we were perplexed.  Well…today was a better day, and we witnessed the return of David.  Four fish were brought to the nest, two each from Betty and David.  Poor Lil’ Cobey was so hungry.  At one point, he even tried to pick up a fish and eat it, but of course he was not able to.  Forecast for 7/27:  Mostly sunny, low 80’s, light winds.

7/26 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Captain Mac’s fish House):  This nest continues to do well.  Johnny usually drops off a couple of fish each day.   And…well then there’s Momma June…June has continued to bring in at least one massive striped bass (I think) every day, and they are usually alive and quite active.  Watch out for those big flopping fish Lil’ Fen!

7/26  Patuxent River Park osprey nest:  As mentioned yesterday… late in the afternoon on 7/25, we heard what we thought was an osprey in distress flapping its wings underneath the nest in the marsh.  Obviously the bird was not able to fly.  Many folks reached out for help to rescue the osprey.  As high tide was approaching in the evening, the wing flapping was obviously in water.  By late evening, we no longer heard any flapping.   At 11 am this morning, we heard some men below the nest.  Patuxent River Park later put out a statement that they had done a thorough search below the nest and did not find an osprey.  You can read their entire lengthy statement in the description under the live video feed on Youtube.  We believe the osprey may have been ‘Big’, the eldest fledgling from this nest.  Yesterday afternoon, Big was knocked off the nest by an adult intruder.  It could have been Big or Middle, but Middle has been back at the nest, and we have not seen Big since the attack.  If Big was okay, we believe that we would surely have seen her back at the nest at some point.  The other option is that it could have been the adult intruder that may have ended up in the marsh, after it went off the nest awkwardly after stealing a fish from Middle a little later that afternoon.  Since a rescue was unable to be done in an urgent and timely manner, in all likelihood whatever injured osprey it was under the nest, was carried away with the tide.

Middle had a good day at the nest.  Dad is supplying ample fish for the fledgling, and fortunately there were no intruder issues today.

We saw Little fledge and return to the nest  on 7/18.  Then the cam was offline for five days.  We have not seen Little since the live stream resumed on 7/24.  It’s too bad that we missed so much activity at the nest.  There are some 70 osprey nests in the entire Patuxent River Park, and I believe at least 12 in the immediate Jug Bay area.  I hope that Little has found a welcoming nearby osprey nest to care for him.  We also have not seen Mom since the live stream resumed.  She is most likely taking a well deserved break to restore herself to optimum health before heading south in a couple of weeks.  At other osprey nests in the past, we’ve seen some of the Moms stop by the nest and even bring a fish before they depart.  We may see Mom again.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust gives us the annual wrap up for the Foulshaw Moss Nest of White YW and Blue 35.

The birds have flown… | Cumbria Wildlife TrustDownload

The naming contest for the Royal Cam chick has started. Please go and vote.

If you missed the July condor chat, here it is:

Hope and Beaumont have two beautiful feathered osplets.

Everything is good at Sandpoint.

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

Thank you to the following for their letters, posts, pictures, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, AM, CG, Geemeff, H, PB’, Saaksilvie 4 Finnish Osprey Foundation, Montana Osprey Cams, Cornell Bird Lab, Sea Eagle Cam, Yorkshire Dales Moorland Group, Eagle Club of Estonia, Golden Gate Audubon, Field Farm, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Lady Hawk, Ventana Wildlife Society, Sandpoint Osprey Cam, Newfoundland Power, Osoyoos, Fenwick Island, Patuxent River Park, and Colonial Beach.

Iris shows the kids she can fish, too!…Friday in Bird World

26 July 2024

Hello Everyone!

Thank you so much for all your notes and photographs and news! I really do appreciate it and I love hearing from you. I might not be able to answer back straight away, but I will!

It is that time of year when overlooked nests are being entered into our data forms and when fledges and deaths continue to have to be inserted. Today, after thinking we had anything and everything that could predate an Osprey, we discovered that Canada Geese ate the eggs of one nest in Maryland. Thankfully, ‘H’ is much better at working magic with this programme that Claudio designed and we now have a category of Predation – Other. We can fill in the odd happenings. I have 43 more nests – and at least 86 more eggs/chicks – to put in the forms. So far, 37% of all osprey eggs have either failed to hatch or the chicks have died. Siblicide still accounts for the seond highest causes after DNH, then predation by owls at 11% and weather events at 11%. I did note a section ‘indirectly by humans’ and it seems to be that these weather events might fall under that as well. If we can get the authorities to recognize human caused climate change, then we might convince them to help with our ospreys. I note that a list was growing under a posting of one FB group – a wish list that included: woven and wired rails like the good folks at Glaslyn do for Aran and Elen, netting below the nest to catch chicks that fall over the edge, predator baffles, stocked ponds, strobe lights and grates to try to ward off predators such as owls and eagles, intervention with fish when required, etc. These were thoughtful listings of ways that we can help without breaking the bank. Is it too much to ask?

Speaking of stocked ponds, Anne-Marie was able to establish that the lake where Olsen is fishing has lots of fish. With the heat those fish have gone deep and he is not able to catch them as Ospreys only go less than a metre deep in their dives.

Some images of the not so wetlands yesterday. Despite the rain, the reeds seem to have taken over lots of the area.

Can you find the eagle’s nest? It is difficult with all the foliage.

It is 1939 Thursday evening and the sun is beginning to get low in the West. The day was not as hot as it has been, but it was warm enough and quite humid still. The birds have been busy coming and going. I have noticed that there has been not so many Blue Jays and my neighbour came to tell me that the local hawk got 2 of them. I took a breath. Everyone has to eat.

I really did think that there was something wrong with Hugo Yugo when I saw her.

Why would a cat nudge herself between two pillows and a hot cover on a hot day in a glass room? I have no idea. It is possible that she was hiding from Baby Hope because a few minutes later she was tearing all over the house!

Thankfully, nothing has happened to the Crows. Can you tell I adore these characters? They rest on my backlane neighbour’s shed. He said that even their bellies are covered with soft down.

Everything is getting quiet. Most of the birds are going to their roosting spots for the night. Hugo Yugo is fixated on a fly that has gotten into the house and now Baby Hope is joining her. No doubt they will have quite the time tonight chasing it and knocking things over in the meantime.

‘PB’ clicked on the McEuen Osprey nest feed just in time to catch Mum delivering a monster fish for her and the baby! 25 C so a bit cooler for them on Thursday. The high heat will return on Wednesday.

The triplets at the Osprey Centre in Australia are doing well.

Iris and her chicks survived the storm that raged through Missoula Wednesday night, but many nests were not so lucky. ‘PB’ informs me that Louis and Starr’s chicks are alright. Their nest is at the Baseball Park or near to it. (They have moved house).

In fact, Louis and Starr’s three chicks have fledged and there are five ospreys flying around the ball park. This is fantastic. Maybe both of these nests by the Clarke-Fork River in Missoula will fledge all of their chicks. That would really be something this year!

Iris is going to have a lot to put in her 2024 diary. Finding Finn, having babies, sweltering heat and then hurricane-force winds. Regardless, Finn just keeps bringing in the fish.

Beautiful Iris.

Finn and Iris have obviously been talking about the need for some small fish to come on the nest so the kids can start to self-feed! Or did they? Finn: ‘Iris, where are you? I don’t feed chicks!!!!!!!!!!’

‘Is it OK for this one to have the whole fish?’ Check out the look on Finnegan’s face.

Tug-o-war with Mum who arrives just in time.

Of course, Iris took charge. She will make sure that both chicks get fish in the heat and storms.

I guess Iris got tired of waiting for Finn to bring in a big fish so she went out and got her own for her and the kids!!!!!!!

Rest assured now that Iris is fishing no one is going to go hungry on this nest. Her first two chicks in six years. She isn’t going to let them die of starvation or Finn slowing down.

Iris has been feeding the chicks and herself for several hours. Finn is on the perch. I wonder what he is thinking?

Three hours into the feeding. Isn’t Iris getting tired? No. She is making sure that there will be no bullying from older to younger and that her and the chicks are well fed. I wonder if there is anything left if she will share with Finn?

Don’t you love the way that Iris pulls back the skin revealing the soft fish flesh? It is much easier to feed the chicks this way!

Finnegan came in with a late fish. ‘PB says it wasn’t as big as Iris’s but big enough to keep these babies well fed for the night!

‘H’ is going to be reporting on Osoyoos, but right now there is a huge fish on that nest and I hope that everyone eats and gets full.

The breeding programme for Hen Harriers in Scotland is doing well. The question is – can we keep the gamekeepers from shooting them? If you do not know about these amazing raptors, I am including some great books below this blog by Raptor Persecution UK.

Hen Harrier breeding success continues on Tarras Valley Nature Reserve – Raptor Persecution UKDownload

I posted these audio stories of the plight of the hen harrier last year. I want to do that again for those of you that might not have found my blog then or who didn’t have time to listen. This will give you a really good idea of why the attempts to increase the population of these gorgeous raptors is ongoing and the challenges that everyone faces.

So please listen! You also get an explanation of the Inglorious 12th of August which is coming up in three weeks. I hope you understand why stomping on a nest of innocent Hen Harrier chicks makes me ill and causes my anxiety to rise. The wealthy pay 1000s of GBP per day to shoot grouse but they also stay in hotels, eat at restaurants, and spend money in the villages. The fines and punishments mean nothing because killing birds is big business with the Driven Grouse Moors seen to be a ‘part of traditional Britain’ – which they are. We live in the 21st century and our attitudes towards killing have changed since medieval times.

There are three episodes. Educate yourself and listen to all of them. Imagine the vast expanse of Scotland because this is where this happens.

Part One. Susie’s Chicks

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/audio/2023/aug/15/killing-the-skydancer-episode-one-susies-chicks?CMP=share_btn_link

Part Two. The Perfect Crime.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2023/aug/16/killing-the-skydancer-episode-2-the-perfect-podcast?CMP=share_btn_link

Part Three. An Open Secret

https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2023/aug/17/killing-the-skydancer-episode-three-an-open-secret-podcast?CMP=share_btn_link

This is my favourite book. It gives us a ‘true’ insight of the live of a Hen Harrier – from hatch – to being shot and what their life was like. Before you read any of the others, I highly recommend this one. It is extremely well written and pulls at your heart. Not fancy coloured photographs, just the first hand account of this magnificent female harrier and her short life.

The other excellent book is A Hen Harrier’s Year. The gorgeous watercolours of the birds are a real winner!

We are all concerned about Blue at the Hancock Boundary Bay nest. Check out the feathers. This eaglet really needs to be rescued and taken into care. I honestly do not understand why nothing is being done for Blue.

At the US Steel nest, we have video footage of Lucky living his life in the skies! Wish this was Blue.

The Janakkala pair are learning to self-feed as fledge dates approach in Finland.

Kristel is 81 days old today. It is the same age as Diana at the other Golden Eagle nest in Estonia fledged.

Kristel had breakfast on Thursday – a Eurasian Collared Dove.

The reintroduction of Ospreys into Ireland begins with the arrival of the chicks today. Here is the latest information:

Nox is making the news.

Hard knocks for Nox, UC Berkeley’s youngest peregrine falcon – Berkeley NewsDownload

Only one osplet remains at the Ferguson Museum osprey platform. The other two have died from lack of fish.

This was the whole family at the Middle Farm nest on Fisher’s Island, NY, on the 28th of June. Tragedies can begin to happen without our knowing and within less than a month a family of five is now a family of three.

Cowlitz PUD fledgling returns to nest for a fish meal!

The wind has hit Sandpoint Osprey nest and Keke and River are holding on tight.

Lola at Charlo Montana needs to pick up her talons and go out fishing like Iris. The chick is 43 days old today.

Royal Cam chick news:

Geemeff sends us her daily report about Loch Arkaig for The Woodland Trust:

Daily summary Thursday 25th July 2024

Today we received the wonderful news that the surviving Arkaig Osprey chick 1JW has fledged! All eleven members of the Scottish cohort took to the skies over Valencia today, more info in WTS George’s comment, link below. A bright spot in an unusual season. His dad Louis was also around today, visiting his nest bringing a stick and doing a little nest work, good to see him after an absence of a few days. Nest One also had Osprey visitors – Affric 152 arrived moments after Garry LV0 did. Neither stayed long, and both flew off in the same direction. With an identical broken feather spotted by LizB on both the blue-ringed Bunarkaig female and on Affric when she landed on Nest One, it’s almost certain they are one and the same. With an unfledged chick still on the Bunarkaig nest, what’s Affric doing on Nest One with Garry? The forecasted rain was much in evidence today, and more expected tonight with thundery showers overnight easing off to light rain tomorrow.

WTS George’s comment https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=15479208

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.59.55 (04.13.42); Nest Two 22.46.53 (04.15.09)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/Dy4yQvefzA8  N1 Affric 152 follows Garry LV0 to Nest One 11.57.40

https://youtu.be/ePTJwID4lmQ N2 Louis visits his nest bringing a stick 13.43.15

https://youtu.be/kroSVUdVBKU FLEDGE – the great news that 1JW has found his wings and flown 15.00 

Bonus photos – 1JW on a feeding platform near to the aviary:

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

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

Special blast from the past: On July 25, 2020, the world came together to tell the story of a single day on Earth, hundreds of thousands of members of the public responded sending their typical day to Ridley Scott. This was my entry:

https://youtu.be/dvhu_pfem50 Life in a Day: distant cousins 2020

A simple solution that can be done right at the factory. Paint one blade black and save the lives of our birds.

Mum and Dad are having ‘some fun’ on the barge at Port Lincoln!

Just look at this!

News on Luna’s necroscopy at Redding:

There has been no word about N1 who appeared to have an accident Wednesday morning during a streaming cam event at Cornell. She was seen sitting peacefully but no one has seen her since.

There are concerns about Little who fledged on the 18th at Patuxent River Park and has not been seen on camera. People want to know why they support boat tourism and do not care for their chicks. Does anyone know what is happening here?

In Poland, the life of the Black Storklet was saved. When rescued the storklet weighed only 1500 grams when, at this age, it should have been at least 2500.

Maria Marika gives us the background information on why this little storklet fell into such poor conditions.

‘H’ reports:


7/25 Osoyoos osprey nest:  The osplets are 47 and 48 days old.  The temperature was lower today, and Olsen brought four fish to the nest.  The first three fish were small to medium in size, and Big was able to acquire all three of them to self feed.  Big had meals lasting 10 minutes, 30 minutes, and 9 minutes.  The last fish arrived at 1817, and it was very large.  Although it was big, it was obviously not a 3-hour fish, but it took Soo 3-hours to feed from it.  Big was in rare form and she was a complete tyrant on the war path for almost the entire three hours.  Big was intent on preventing Middle from eating, regardless of whether Big was hungry or not.  It would take too long to provide details, so I will try to summarize.  Over the course of the three hours, Big ate the equivalent of at least 4-5 meals.  Big was almost constantly beaking or otherwise harassing Middle, even when Middle was not anywhere near Soo.  There were numerous times in the process of beaking Middle, that Big nearly pushed Middle off the nest.  There were even several times that Soo was nearly forced off the nest by Big diving over her to try to get to Middle.  In fact, at 1929 Soo did have to leave the nest briefly when she had to jump to the extension bar.  The aggressiveness of Big caused many distractions and delays as Soo was attempting to feed.  To make matters worse, the fish was very tough, and the few times when Middle was in a good position to eat, it would take Soo too long to offer fish bites.  Instead of receiving multiple bites in rapid succession, Middle would only get a few bites before Big attacked again.  There was not a single period of time when Big actually retired from the meal to rest, so that Middle and Soo would have some ‘alone time’.  I counted fish bites for Middle, and there were a few times when I could only surmise bites based on the movements of Middle and Soo.  Middle ate at least 140 bites of fish during that 3-hour ordeal, and Middle did have a moderate crop after the meal.  Due to cam downtime issues, we don’t know how well Middle ate yesterday.  Weather forecast for 7/26:  Sunny, high 84F/29C, light winds.

7/25 Patuxent River Park osprey nest:  Big had spent the night on the nest so that she could guard her leftover fish, and she had a nice breakfast early in the morning.  She was joined in the nest a little later by Middle.  They both came and went from the nest throughout the day.  We did not see Little at the nest.  At 1443 an adult intruder landed in the nest, and a minute or so later, a juvenile osprey approached to land.  The intruder jumped up and intercepted the juvie, talons to the face, and flew away.  The young osprey fell below the nest out of our view.  Based on certain characteristics, we thought that the juvie was either Big or Middle.  At 1502 Middle was in the nest when Dad delivered a large partial goldfish.  Dad had been followed in by the adult intruder who immediately engaged in a battle for the fish with Middle.  Dad jumped on the intruder twice to try to help out, but his efforts were futile.  The intruder ended up with the fish in its talons and sort of fell/flew off the nest dragging Middle with him.  Middle landed back in the nest a few minutes later.

After a while we started to hear loud rustling noises and ‘wing flapping’ below the nest.  The flapping sounds were heard intermittently in spurts, as if the bird would need to rest at times.  As the tide came in, the flapping efforts started to sound more ‘watery’ like flapping in water.  We believed there was an injured osprey struggling below the nest out of our view.  The nest is 10 feet above the marsh.  If the incident at 1443 involved Big, and if Big had landed awkwardly in the marsh, she could have been injured.  Or another possible scenario, was that the adult intruder may have landed in the marsh and been injured when it went off the nest somewhat awkwardly holding a large goldfish, with a juvenile osprey attached.  A ten-foot height does not allow much time to recover and fly before landing in the marsh.

We were convinced that there was an osprey needing help…and soon!  We had a gut feeling that it was Big below the nest.  Some chatters called the park office, some called a local raptor rehabber who said she’d try to find someone with a boat.  And posts were also made on the chat to the attention of the park.  We needed help.  After many long hours, no help came.  As high tide hit, and as darkness fell, we no longer heard the flapping below the nest.  

Annie is moulting and loafing!

Yesterday, Koa was seen on the West End cam at the old nest of Thunder and Akecheta!

Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, posts, questions, articles, videos, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘EJ, Geemeff, H, J, PB, TU’, McEuen Park, Osprey House Environmental Centre, Hellgate Osprey, Wild Skies Raptor Centre, Montana Osprey Project, Osoyoos, Raptor Persecution UK, The Guardian, HWF-BBC, US Steel, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Eagle Club of Estonia, Gregorious Joris Toonen, Berkeley News, Ferguson Museum, Cowlitz PUD, Sandpoint Ospreys, Charlo Montana, Bird Cams, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Factsdailyy, PLO, Heidi McGrue, Celia Aliengirl, Bocianimy, Maria Marika, Osoyoos, Patuxent River Park, and SK Hideaways.

Hurricane force winds go through Montana…Iris is alright…Thursday in Bird World

25 July 2024

Hello Everyone!

Update: You will now know that the cameras in Montana are down due to hurricane force winds. We are grateful that our friend EJ is there, right near Iris. ‘EJ’ reports that a massive storm went through Missoula, Montana Wednesday night. She went to check on Iris and the chicks Thursday morning and they are fine! This is such a great relief.

Kova has fledged at the Surrey Reserve. Only eaglet left is Blue at Boundary Bay for the Hancock Wildlife nests in British Columbia, Canada. Thanks, ‘J’.

Wednesday was a little hotter. 27 C. Today’s excursion was to Delta Beach to check on the Bald Eagles. The humidity and heat were overwhelming from the moment I got to the wetlands. The staff had cut narrow paths through the tall reeds – they didn’t allow any breeze to filter through. There were NO Red-wing Blackbirds doing murmurations. None. The Bald Eagle nest was vacant. I felt bad that I had not gone to check earlier. And then there was a juvenile sitting on a branch overlooking the southern tip of the lake. I bet it was waiting for a parent to return with a big fish! There were gulls and Killdeer along the shore. Stilt Sandpipers, Sanderlings, Ruddy Turnstones, and Semipalmated Plovers danced among the sand and the water. It was a delight. Frogs jumped around the pond while ducks flew off. I could hear Sora. Robins were pulling worms off the grass. Hot, humid – and positively invigorating.

I will post images, other than this frog taken with my phone, when I can find the cable to hook the big camera up to the computer. Oh, the joys of returning from a brief holiday and not being organised.

One of the routines when going to Delta Marsh is to stop for lunch at a small town Chinese restaurant. The owners are the happiest most delightful people. Their food is really good, too. She told me that ‘Canada is the best!’. They were in Las Vegas last week and it was 54 degrees C. She couldn’t wait to get home. This is the heat that is impacting our birds and all wildlife. In Phoenix, they are cooling the animals down with ice and snow surprises.

It’s snow miracle: zookeepers in Phoenix surprise animals with icy wonderland | Phoenix | The GuardiDownload

From kindness to – what? This is the most disgusting article I have read in several months. I have a problem with influencers in the first place having watched young girls at university try to emulate the Kardashians. Now TikTok is getting people to shoot millions of birds over Lebanon!!!!!!!

‘Massacred for TikTok likes’: is social media feeding the slaughter of 2.6m birds in Lebanon? | BirdDownload

If you missed the on line chat about Annie and Archie’s fledgling, Nox, here it is! Thank you, Sean and Lynne!

My inbox is full of good news stories. Thank you to everyone who sought the positive and sent it to share!

An Osprey Story:

GAULEY BRIDGE, W.Va. — Sometimes, it takes a village to save an osprey chick.

When Beckley nature photographer Kim Ayers stopped in Gauley Bridge on June 7 to photograph the occupants of a long-established osprey nest built atop a train trestle over the Gauley River, she quickly realized something was amiss.

“I could see an adult osprey in the nest that wasn’t moving, except for a wing, which was blowing in the wind, and I could hear the babies — they were so vocal. I knew right then something wasn’t right.”

Ayers had been visiting the nest for years to check on the progress of the ospreys who made it their home and photograph their activities. She visited the nest once every few weeks since March, when newly-hatched chicks had first been spotted at the site.

During Ayers’ June 7 visit, it was apparent that the adult female was dead, and her two offspring needed food and protection.

“I wanted to just stop and cry,” she said. Instead, Ayers called Three Rivers Avian Center at Brooks in Summers County and asked for help.

“If not for Wendy and Ron Perrone (who operate the avian center), what would we do when something like this happens?” Ayers said. “I’m so thankful they’re here.”

“When we got the call, we knew we couldn’t make it there by dark, so we started working the phones to find a volunteer who was closer,” Wendy Perrone said.

The Perrones soon made contact with Matt Carpenter of Fayetteville, a teacher and experienced climber, who offered to ascend the trestle’s rusty steel beams to reach the nest, secure the young birds in bags, and retrieve the remains of the mother osprey, which had apparently been dead for several days.

Carpenter was accompanied to the scene by his partner, wildlife biologist Lindsay Hermanns, and friend Amber Jaxson, who transported the two young osprey in the back of a Mazda to Beckley to meet the Perrones, who brought the birds back to the avian center.

“They heard the call and volunteered,” Wendy Perrone said of Carpenter, Hermanns and Jaxson.

In the weeks that followed, the two young birds feasted on hand-fed culled trout donated by the Division of Natural Resources’ Tate Lohr Fish Hatchery in Oakvale, Mercer County. After maturing enough to eat on their own, they were moved into the Leon Wilson Flyway in the avian center’s flight barn to learn aeronautical skills.

Unfortunately, one of the chicks turned out to be not as strong or resilient as its sibling, and died in early July. The remaining juvenile thrived in its new surroundings, and on Thursday, was ready to return to Gauley Bridge to be released in the wild.

As a carrier containing the bird was carried to the release site, a short distance from trestle and nest, an adult osprey, likely its father, could be seen winging over the scene, vocalizing as it soared.

“That’s icing on the cake,” Wendy Perrone said. “It means an adult is still around to show the young bird how to hunt.”

When the carrier containing the young osprey was opened, the bird at first seemed reluctant to venture outside. But after Wendy Perrone held the bird on her arm, it began tentatively flapping its wings, then slowly became airborne, flying immediately to the top of the nearby trestle, a few feet from its stick-built nest.

“This is such a relief,” Wendy Perrone sighed, as she watched the bird taking in the view of the confluence of the New and Gauley rivers, also the birthplace of the Kanawha, from its lofty vista. “It’s a good day.”

Ospreys, also known as fish hawks or sea hawks, live along rivers, lakes and coastlines, and can be found in every continent but Antarctica. The birds of prey are smaller than eagles but larger than red-tailed hawks.

When on the hunt, ospreys “are a picture of concentration, diving with feet outstretched and yellow eyes sighting straight along their talons” to catch fish, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s “All About Birds” website.

While nesting ospreys can now be found along the length of the Kanawha River, as well as West Virginia’s share of the Ohio River shoreline and large reservoirs like Stonewall Jackson Lake, such was not always the case.

No nesting pairs were known to exist in the state as recently as 1981, according to a survey by the Raptor Research Foundation, following decades of unchecked stream pollution and widespread use of the insecticide DDT.

Industrial and agricultural stream pollution caused steep declines in fish populations, creating a hardship for osprey whose primary source of food is fish. DDT entering the ospreys’ food chain and being absorbed in their tissue caused their egg shells to thin and break before incubation was complete.

A nationwide ban on DDT use and passage of the Clean Water Act both took place in 1972, which gradually helped restore habitat and improve reproduction odds for ospreys in the years that followed.

By the end of the 1980s, an osprey restoration effort got underway in West Virginia, starting at Tygart Lake, involving six-week-old chicks transported from sites in the Chesapeake Bay area and other locales where osprey were relatively abundant. The young ospreys were taken to sites near Tygart Lake’s shoreline where they were fed and sheltered in screened boxes and allowed to acclimate to their new surroundings, before being released when they had matured enough to be able to fly.

A similar project took place from 1989 to 1995, involving the release of 62 juvenile ospreys from a remote site on Blennerhassett Island in the Ohio River in Wood County, involving volunteers from DuPont’s Washington Works plant, in cooperation with the Division of Natural Resources.

By 1994, three nesting pairs of osprey — all products of the reintroduction effort — had been documented in the state. The population has steadily grown since then.

An investigation is underway by the state Division of Natural Resources Police to determine the cause of death of the newly-released osprey’s mother.

‘J’ sent us the update on Challenger, the celebrity Bald Eagle at the Amerian Eagle Foundation who had cataract surgery:

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

Daily summary Wednesday 24th July 2024

Today was a quiet day with time for reflection after the sad news received yesterday. The consensus among forum members is that Woodland Trust Scotland, Roy Dennis Foundation, Fundación Migres and the specialist veterinary team all did their utmost to give 1JR a fighting chance, but his health was just too compromised to survive. In domestic news, neither Louis nor Dorcha came into nest cam view today, only Garry LV0 turned up for a few minutes on Nest One which was visited later by a few little birds, some of whom are possibly living underneath the nest. The forecasted rain has turned up and a wet night is ahead, with a strong possibility of thundery showers tomorrow.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.12.20 (03.53.19); Nest Two 22.49.19 (04.14.03)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/5z5M0SPFXu4 N1 Garry arrives with a stick 08.40.50

https://youtu.be/mZHjWrUX0kQ  N1 Various little birds flit around 18.38.14

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

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

Bonus podcast marking the 70th anniversary of the return of breeding Ospreys to the UK at Loch Garten:

Scotland Outdoors – Operation Osprey – 70 Years of Breeding Osprey in Scotland – BBC Sounds

At McEuen Park, ‘PB’ caught the only surviving chick of the four self-feeding. Oh, send good wishes to Single Mum and Babe. We need them to make it through this dire time.

The Middle Chick, 6M7, at Glaslyn fledged on Wednesday the 24th at 0840! She picked a wet morning to to take that first flight. Then she was followed by 6M9 at 1027 – congratulations. Aran and Elen have all their babies flying.

These older osplets are really wanting to fly! Just wait – they will take off at the same time! Just wait.

CJ7 and Blue 022 are making doubly sure that their four fledglings continue to eat well! What an amazing year for Poole Harbour. Congratulations.

Wonder where Seren, Dylan, and the chicks are roosting? It is really windy and wee bit damp at Llyn Clywedog.

Gosh, golly. It sounds like gale force winds at Llyn Brenig in the night. The day wasn’t too bad. Waiting for fledge.

Looks a little lonely at the nest of Idris and Telyn at Dyfi. The cam operator caught someone down by the river!

Only Bob was telling Dad, Blue 33, to get the fishing gear out and get that catch on the Manton Bay nest!

The day was gorgeous at Loch Arkaig nest 2 but then the winds and rain began later in the night.

We will have to wait and see what transpires at Loch of the Lowes now that our dear Laddie LM12 is no longer with us. Will Blue NC0 keep the nest with the new dark male?

Three fish delivered to Alyth on Wednesday. Way to go Harry!

Cowlitz PUD – The only surviving chick did fledge on Tuesday and has been returning to the nest regularly. This is fabulous news. If every one of the nests that have had troubles can fledge one chick – that really is a victory in such a challenging year.

I don’t know about anyone else, but if asked to name one outstanding, devoted, more than dedicated, self-sacrificing Osprey female for 2024 in the US, it would have to be our Queen, Iris. Believed to be the oldest osprey in the world, she took a new mate and is raising two chicks in the most extreme heat circumstances after having her summers off since the last chick of hers fledged in 2018, Le’le.

It is the same at the other Montana nests. Fish are not as plentiful as they were ten days ago and the males are working hard to get one or two into the females and chick/s before the heat sets in.

Swoop, Winnie, and chick at Dunrovin. Oh, yes, the chick’s name is Junebug. Cute!

Gosh, the fish look small at Charlo Montana compared to what is coming on the nest at Hellgate.

Keke and River waiting for Keo to get some fish on the nest at Sandpoint on Wednesday.

Only Bob at Bridge Golf Course returned to the nest ten hours after fledging. Thanks ‘H’ for catching that landing – looks like the kid needs some more practice!

‘H’ reports:

7/24 Patuxent River Park osprey nest:  The live stream was down for five days, and resumed this morning.  Fortunately before the cam had gone down, we had been able to witness Little fledge and return to the nest on 7/18.  And, it was also awesome to watch him battle for a fish on the nest that day with his siblings, and come away victorious!  We missed being able to observe all the post-fledge action while the cam was down.  Big was in the nest when the live stream resumed.  At around noon, Dad brought a fish to Big.  Earlier, a visiting fledgling had been repelled by Big, but the juvenile returned while Big was eating her fish.  The young visitor looked hungry, and seemed to be waiting for Big to leave some leftovers.  Haha, boy were we wrong.  At 1421 the juvie suddenly flew from the nest, and returned two minutes later with a very large headless fish.  This young osprey was a lot more capable than we had thought, and had apparently taken a fish from another osprey eating close by.  At 1534 an intruder adult osprey began to buzz and dive-bomb the visitor while he was eating his fish, twice striking him and knocking him over.  As the intruder approached the visiting juvie for the fourth time, the juvie quickly left the nest and we did not see him again.  The intruder landed in the nest, grabbed the fish, and after several minutes, it left with the fish.  At 1557 Dad dropped off another partial fish and Big grabbed that one.  Middle arrived at the nest at 1609, and took the large fish tail leftover from Big’s first fish.  Over the next several hours, there was some good old fashioned sibling interactions, with Middle stealing the fish from Big and Big eventually stealing it back.  Middle left the nest before nightfall, but Big stayed to protect her fish.  Much to our dismay, we did not see Little today.

7/24 Colonial Beach osprey nest:  There were no fish brought to the nest today to feed 30-day-old Cobey, but Cobey did eat pretty well yesterday.  David was not seen on cam at all.  Betty left the nest for some extended periods of time, and she returned with a crop and was feaking her beak.  We are hoping for an early breakfish for Cobey in the morning.

7/24 Osoyoos osprey nest:  The live stream was offline all day until 1824.  We immediately saw Middle mantling and eating, with Big hovering over Middle a bit.  So, Middle had apparently won a battle for a fish.  Very good.  At 1832 Olsen dropped off a partial fish for Big, that she ate for 38 minutes, leaving the fish tail behind.  Middle finished eating his fish by 1857, and at 1914 he ate Big’s leftover fish tail.  There was a strong breeze in the evening, and Big was doing some wingercizing and managed to lift off the nest several inches.

Thanks, ‘H’!

Kristel had one large prey delivery today at the Estonian nest #2.

There has been another miracle besides Iris and Poole Harbour – and that has been the ‘Hopeless’ nest in Newfoundland. The Sow Lane nest of Beaumont and Hope is one of Hope – not hopelessness this year. Hope is feeding her chicks, Beaumont is providing nice fish, and if we hold our breath and send the most positive energy that nothing untoward happens, this nest could have two fledges this year. That would be the best gift!!!!!! A miracle. These two osplets who are getting their soft juvenile feathers have no idea how speial they are.

Fledge for Richmond and Rosie. ‘Pax’ fledged from the new Golden Gate Audubon nest in San Francisco on Wednesday!

In Nova Scotia, the chicks are preparing to fledge. Skylor and Heidi from the Russell Lake nest are looking to the skies. Skylor looks to go first.

‘NP’ caught this great post of the osplet at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum spreading its wings! Isn’t this amazing? This baby wants to fly.

Thank you for being with me today. Please take care of yourself. We hope to see you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, photographs, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘EJ, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, The Guardian, Cal Falcons, J + unknown source, American Eagle Foundation, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, McEuen Park, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Pam Breci, Pitkin County Open Spaces and Trails, BoPH, Llyn Clywedog, Llyn Brenig, Dyfi Osprey Project, LRWT, The Woodland Trust, Scottish Wildlife Trust (Loch of the Lowes), Loch of the Lowes Visitors Centre, Alyth SSEN, Cowlitz PUD, Montana Osprey Project, Dunrovin Ranch, Charlo Montana, Sandpoint, Bridge Golf Course, Eagle Club of Estonia, Looduskalender, Golden Gate Audubon, Osoyoos, Patuxent River Park, Connie Dennis and Ospreys of Nova Scotia, and Colonial Beach.

Wednesday in Bird World

24 July 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Morning Updates: Cowlitz chick did fledge and fly, not just to the fish grate! Congratulations. This kid beat the eagle………yeah. Dad flew in with a fish, Mum followed, and then the Baby was back on the nest for a fish reward. It could not have been more perfect.

Bridge Golf Course Chick fledges this morning!

Last update is Cornell: The Sedlacek’s were filming N1 this morning when she appeared to have some kind of accident. Cornell has said nothing on X.

Tuesday was a beautiful day—20 degrees C and overcast. This is my view as I start writing my post for tomorrow. I needed the solitude and quiet, listening to only the birds and watching squirrels scurry about that this little oasis provides. I am very fortunate to have such a gorgeous, tranquil place to visit and to be able to stop and breathe when needed.

I can hear a Crow cawing, and the scent from the flowers envelopes the entire area. This gorgeous Monarch landed so close.

When I got home half the bowl of little juicy grape tomatoes were missing. Guess what?! Hugo Yugo has a new game – Tomatoe Floor Hockey. Baby Hope decided to join in for the fun.

Outside six baby crows wanted hot dogs, Blue Jays were everywhere, and Dyson’s kits were running around with about 150 little sparrows. The most wonderful chaos. Thank goodness for the garden animals and ‘The Girls’. They cushion some of the saddness.

There will be more osprey deaths announced. We will be saddened, and then we will get angry. It is partly because it has been an endless year of disappointments. I remember a time, not so long ago, when it was the little osplet deaths from siblicide that were so heartbreaking. This year, it is something else. Weather, just straightforward starvation, predation, nest accidents – older chicks nearing fledge that are dying before our eyes – wow. Not little ones with their soft down or just getting into the Reptile phase. No – feathered chicks. Close to fledge. The parents got them there through some challenging times. Then to lose them. Well, it breaks your heart.

Allow me to ramble a bit. Can we do something about these deaths in older ospreys? To answer that question, I need to share a post that my son posted from Borneo, where he has been fishing.

Studies have shown that in North American as much as 40% of the food purchased is wasted. If we shared, no one would be hungry. This also goes for the animals.

Saving your food that would otherwise be thrown away will feed the Crows, the Blue Jays, the Starlings. It will also feed the feral cats. Get one of those nifty pails with a good lid and collect daily and find a spot to put it out. You will see that the food is gone quickly. Buy a meal for a person at a restaurant that supports these programmes. Donate to a food bank. ——Put out life saving water! Every little bit helps. Every living being counts.

Then we can work on what needs to be done with the birds on streaming cams. The Migratory Bird Laws must be amended so that quick help can be given – not endless bureaucratic paper work. There must be provisions for providing food – and individuals to do this – during the inevitable heat dome periods that will increase in number and severity or when a parent dies. The Mum at McEuen has done well, but she lost three babies out of four because of heat and the loss of her mate. Put up baffles on every known nest. They are inexpensive. Don’t wait for something to happen. Fort St Vrain now has baffles after a raccoon took one of the eaglet babies, Achieva was getting a baffle after the chick fell through the hole this year, Moraine Park needs one, and they say they will install it next year. But, again – don’t wait. Encourage every cam owner to put up baffles. If there is any chance of an owl striking, then put up solar red strobes and a big bright light. Lake Murray tried everything – we have to continue to try. I am hoping that Cowlitz will look again and decide to put in another fish grate. That should stop the eagle but not harm the ospreys. We need emergency numbers to phone when there is an accident. This has been known for years, and efforts were made years ago to try to get the cam owners to post an emergency number under the stream. Those of you watching these nests have been the first to notice something wrong with a nest!

Today, the utter disappointment for non-action is pointed directly at Charlo Montana. When chicks are ringed (right about the age of those on this nest), the chicks pancake. They are taken down in little bags, weighed and measured, and checked over while their Darvic rings are put on. Often people help with the railings on the nest at the same time or during the off season. Fish are left to soften the intrusion and many times the occupants are misted if it is as hot as it is in Montana. None of this happened. The baling twine was removed. That is also a good thing but under the circumstances they really needed to do more. My inbox went up to 163 letters from viewers who expected Charlo to help their ospreys and didn’t. No one understands why this family was not provided with fish in the scorching heat and poor fishing conditions.

Let us all send Charlie, Lola, and the remaining chick fish, cooling weather, and a fledge.

So that is my rant…in days to come I will be posting other deaths. We need, each of us, to sit quietly and breath like I did at the park today. I have to remind myself to stop and think of the miracles this year – Finn and Iris, the fledge of four for CJ7 and Blue 022. They defied the odds and did it. What a pair. I still remember Blue 022 courting CJ7 near the end of the season and all of us wondering, a few years ago, if they would return and raise a family. They did…several. And this year was amazing.

Well, the death I was waiting to post is one of the Loch Arkaig translocation chicks. The vets did everything they could in Spain. The chick appears to have had congenital issues that caused its heart failure.

This is a good place for Geemeff’s Daily Summary for Loch Arkaig because she always has the inside scoop with The Woodland Trust!

Daily summary Tuesday 23rd July 2024

The main story of today is the news just received of the sad loss of our chick 1JR. Try as they might, the veterinary team in Valencia were unable to save him when he started having seizures. More details in WTS George’s post, link below. Tonight’s bonus video is 1JR in happier times a few days ago, looking strong tucking into a big fish dinner. We”re happy to hear his brother 1JW and the other ten Scottish Osplets on the translocation project are all well and thriving. In other news, Dorcha went adventuring and turned up on Nest One, before returning later to her own nest. Neither of the two males were seen although sky-dancing was heard while Dorcha was at Nest One. Was it Louis, or Garry LV0, and were they dancing for Dorcha or another female? Today’s weather was settled, tonight’s forecast is partly cloudy with light winds, but rain is forecast for tomorrow.

WTS George: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=15457681

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.10.19 (03.37.54); Nest Two 23.04.59 (03.53.04)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/yw2IAFZ5Iro N1 Dorcha pays another visit to Nest One 09.42.30

https://youtu.be/Z8amhCfcwhQ  N2 Dorcha returns to her own nest 11.16.01 

Bonus video – Arkaig Osplet 1JR tucking into his fish dinner 18th July:

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

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

A good news osprey story!

And another great save. Thanks, ‘J’.

Texas family saves orphaned baby bird by wrapping it in tortilla: ‘That’s all I had’ | Texas | The GDownload

Some more kindness. We need it.

You might see an osprey that needs help. Make sure you have the nearest wildlife rehabilitation clinic’s contact information in your phone!

One of our readers, ‘EJ’, got to visit Hellgate Canyon, and she was overjoyed to see Iris! ‘EJ’ sent us these photographs that give us an entirely different perspective. ‘EJ’ stayed far away to avoid disturbing our miracle nest.

Despite the heat, Finn continues to bring in good sized fish that will safe his family from the effects of the heat dome that continues over the area.

Blue is calling out for prey when he sees an adult about. It looks like he did not eat the delivery from Monday. You can see it covered up on the nest. I wonder why the adult doesn’t feed this eaglet?

The recent osprey hatches in Australia are reported to be doing very well.

The latest on the Dorsett Hobby chick from SK Hideaways.

Family portrait (of a sort) at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. One beautifully feathered osplet.

Cowlitz PUD are fantastic. When sent the images of the osprey in a box, they responded! And we know they care because they put their heads together and came up with the fish grates. They did not protect the chicks this year but they worked last year (there are eagles all over the area). We have one survivor and it is doing well. Dad came in with a big fish for Mum and osplet.

Looks like we have only one left to fledge at Field Farm.

Kristel, the Golden Eaglet at the Estonian Nest #2 is nearing fledge. She is growing stronger. Prey deliveries are like their life in the wild – sometimes abundant and sometimes not. Kristel worked on eating nestovers today. I did not see a delivery. It is hard to drop a small vole on a nest with an excited eaglet!

Sandpoint osplet, River, is preparing for fledge as well!

In Boulder Mum looks on as chick does some nest renovations! Fledge is near.

‘PB’ reports that McEuen osplet is up and waiting for Mum to arrive with a fish – had a reasonable ps, too.

It will not be long until we have little White-tailed eaglets at the WBSE nest in the Sydney Olympic Park.

I am often very proud to be a Canadian. (Not proud about the Omega company and its trawlers – let’s be clear – or any other Canadian ecological disaster company and we have some doozies or our garbage that floats around and gets on bird nests). I am proud that many of our Osprey nests have done well this year. I have mentioned those in Nova Scotia and then there is also Niagara Bee with its three healthy (or seemingly so) osplets.

Tomorrow I am going to go and check on a Bald Eagle nest. It looks like the heavy rains and storms that we had over an extended period of time caused our local osprey nest to fail. It is not clear what is happening in the north of our province.

Betsy and Frederick’s kids at the Outerbanks (Carova, OBX nest) fledged awhile ago. They are returning to the nest – great news.

The three at Blackbush are just getting bigger and bigger. We are going to have a lot of fledges coming on the same day from the looks of things.

The ospreys around Mobil Bay seem to be doing well. ‘L’ checks on them and today sent us an image with a female and two chicks on a nest she watches often. Thanks, ‘L’ for sharing!

Another good news story to help soften the week.

‘H’ reports:

7/23 Osoyoos osprey nest:  The first fish of the day did not arrive until later in the morning.  At 1004 Olsen dropped off a small whole fish.  Big beaked Middle, grabbed the fish, and ate the entire fish in 8 minutes.  At 1419 Soo arrived with a large headless fish.  Big took the fish to self feed.  Soo allowed Big 36 minutes to work on the fish, then at 1455 she took it.  There was still a large piece of fish left.  Big beaked Middle, so Soo fed Big.  By 1507, Middle had worked its way over to the other side of Soo, but the feeding was going slowly.  The fish was tough, and Soo was also distracted by something.  Big was being disruptive as well, by trying to reach across in front of Soo to get at Middle.  Middle finally got a bite of fish at 1509, and then 6 bites by 1512, but was then beaked by Big.  By 1521 there was still a good sized piece of fish remaining, and Soo was still feeding Big.  As the feeding continued, Big would intermittently intimidate Middle and cause him/her to move away.  Middle was only able to grab a bite of fish now and then.  At 1547 Big had a bulging crop and started to walk away, but changed its mind, beaked Middle, and resumed eating.  At 1549, Big moved away, and I could not see how much fish was remaining.  Middle moved in and got a few bites of fish before being beaked by Big, then Big ate some more.  The meal was finally over at 1555.  When Soo had taken the fish from Big at 1455 it was not large enough to have provided an hour-long meal.  The fish being tough, plus the various distractions, caused the meal to drag out.  Middle only ate a total of 23 bites of fish.

At 1620 Olsen delivered a large partial fish, and Soo took it.  The feeding began at 1622, and Middle was beaked by Big.  By 1625 the siblings were positioned on opposite sides of Soo, and Middle was able to grab a bite of fish now and then.  Big backed away at 1643.  Middle had only eaten 25 bites up to that point.  The rest of the feeding belonged almost exclusively to Middle.  It was a 30-minute feeding that ended at 1652.  Middle ate at least 107 bites of fish.  Thank goodness.  When I checked the live stream a couple of hours later to see if another fish had been brought to the nest, the cam was offline.  Weather forecast for 7/24:  Sunny, high 93F/34C, winds 16 mph.

7/23 Colonial Beach:  29-day-old ‘Cobey’ seems to be doing well.  There were only two fish brought to the nest yesterday, but there were four fish today.  It looks like Betty has had to return to being the primary provider, and she caught three of the fish today.  Predicted high temp for 7/24 is 81 F, with light winds.

7/23 Barnegat Light osprey nest:  As you know, Duke and Daisy did not have eggs this season.  But, their love story continues to delight and inspire viewers.  Daisy and Duke continue to hang out with each other every day.  And, we actually saw Duke catch a fish in the Bay!  Kudos to the cam-ops for always managing to find them.

7/23 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Captain Mac’s Fish House):  Things are going well for this osprey family.  39-day-old ‘Fen’ seems to be more calm, and I haven’t seen him/her attacking June or Johnny for a few days.  I’m sure that has something to do with the ‘whales’ that June has been bringing to the nest that have provided many meals.  June caught another one of those whales this morning, and Johnny contributed a large fish of his own in the afternoon.  High temp for them on 7/24 is predicted to be 79, with 12 mph winds.

Thanks, ‘H’ for all your wonderful reports – every day! And for catching that fledge at Bridge Golf.

The tortilla rescue is doing well.

Smile. More ospreys being saved.

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, photographs, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘EJ, Geemeff, H, J, L, PB’, Cowlitz PUD, Cristofre Martin, Charlo Montana, The Woodland Trust, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Orange Beach Wildlife Centre, The Guardian, British Wildlife Rescue, Montana Osprey Project, HWF-BBC, Osprey House Environmental Centre, SK Hideaways, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Field Farm, Eagle Club of Estonia, Looduskalender, Sandpoint, Boulder County, McEuen Park, Niagara Bee, Outerbanks 24/7, Blackbush, Pacific Wildlife Care, Osoyoos, Barnegat Light Ospreys, Colonial Beach, Fenwick Island, Wildwest Wildlife Rehabilitation, and Bobby Horvath.

Deaths, fledges…Tuesday in Bird World

23 July 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Late News:
Coming from the Charlo nest: “The cam was shut off while ORI removed baling twine from the nest.  When the cam resumed, chick #2 seemed to have some sort of seizure and fell off the nest.  The men returned and recovered the chick’s body.”

Before we get on with today’s news, Dr Erick Greene listened and he will open a poll on Monday or Tuesday so that you can choose a name for Iris and Finnegan’s osplets. There will be a list of potential selections – we don’t make up our own. So please watch for the survey on Montana Osprey Cams FB page! Iris has chicks to be named for the first time in six years. The last was a Le’le in 2018. This is so wonderful.

There is an interesting statement embedded in the announcement below – Finnegan is bringing fish to the nest that weigh as much or more than he does. Amazing. He really is amazing. Iris did well in picking a mate. Louis did well to stay away – and it seems he knew it. Thank you, Louis.

Maybe one way to look at 2024 is not at the sadness but at the little miracles that happened. This is certainly one of them.

We continue to have storms in the evening with lots of lightning and thunder. Hugo Yugo was quite afraid last night around midnight when the entire conservatory lit up along with a loud clap. The garden is loving the heat and humidity. Tonight it looks like the first feast of green beans! And the celery is thriving. The squirrels have not done much damage to the veggies and herbs. Dyson has even managed to leave the tomatoes alone!!!!!!! But she has been relentlessly digging in the perennials that line the path to the feeder.

There are hundreds of baby sparrows. Six baby blue jays are also pecking away at the cylinders and drinking from the bird baths. I have not seen the baby cowbirds since returning from Toronto. Perhaps they flew out of the garden to learn about the big wide world. I hope they return. It is safe here, and there is always plenty of food and water. Even the hawk has no luck now, as the trees, shrubs, and vines are so loaded with leaves that the little birds can hide easily.

Not great images. I am just using the camera phone through the glass with the Feather Friendly strips on it. Heavily cropped to get the image bigger.

They are going through seed and peanuts. A three-gallon pail of each morning and evening – oh, and, of course, the cheesy dogs. Kilograms of them!!!!!!

Cowlitz Osplet. I checked and saw no osplet on the nest. Assumed fledge! That darn bird jumped up to the top of the grate. I think we should call it ‘branching’ despite the fact it is a term that we associate with eaglets. Sometimes osplets hop to the perch! So no official fledge at Cowlitz – meaning no flying and return to the nest at the time of this writing.

I received a request to find information about what appeared to be an osprey in a box at the bottom of the Cowlitz PUD nest from ‘AM’ in Asia. Cowlitz has posted about the incident at this link. I am including the images of the osprey and the box. We have no idea what condition the osplet was in when the individual found it or the depth of their knowledge of wildlife care. But it appears they were trying to do some good.

Wild animals need to be taken to a qualified rehabilitation clinic. Do not presume that another raptor will adopt them. Try and get help if you can. If you can pick up a raptor, remember ——-they are ill. Otherwise they would be taking your face or arm off. Seriously. I always call it ‘Remembering Rubus’.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/pQ8jiJfRNf6K9QmK

It was still hot in Winnipeg today – hot and humid but not nearly as much as it was for our ospreys in Montana!

Dr Erick Greene’s post says it all – almost:

The ash from the wild fires can get into the lakes and rivers and cause the fish that the ospreys depend on to die.

Wildfires aren’t just a land thing. Smoke and ash can choke the ocean too | OceanaDownload

Fish deliveries coming in to Charlo Montana for Lola and the two osplets.

Mum is out fishing at McEuen Park in Idaho.

Fish delivery to nest #4 in Finland.

At the Golden Eagle nest #2 in Estonia, Kristel had a great day on Monday. Nice prey deliveries. Look at her. The eyes are bright and clear and the feathers are shiny with no apparent issues. (As opposed to dull and falling out). She displayed amazing mantling behaviour and also nest protection.

A large Hare was delivered to the nest.

Mum flew in and out with a mouse. It is possible that she wishes her eaglet to imprint the prey so they know it is OK to hunt for this mammal after they are independent. Big Red and Arthur bring different prey items to the nest to teach their eyases what species to hunt.

I found this entry on Looduskalender interesting:

At the BBCentral nest in British Columbia, Blue had been eating the remains of any food that he could find on the nest. A prey delivery came from one of the adults mid-afternoon. Perhaps it is just me, but Blue seems to be developmentally ‘behind’ for the age that is given to him (86 days). I am talking about his ability to hold down prey and self-feed. We know eaglets are always hungry unless their crop is about to burst open. That said Blue demonstrates excitement when a parent arrives with prey and then is not interested. Is this because of his lack of self-feeding ability? or is it something else? I wonder. We only have to look at Kristel, the Golden Eaglet above, to understand this conundrum. Kristel often doesn’t get prey and the parents almost get their talons taken off when they arrive. Kristel tears into the food eating til her crop is full and leaving any extra for another meal. Her feathers almost glow and look silky. No tears at the ends…the overall condition of the two seems to be diametrically opposed. — If you disagree, please shout out to me. I am worried about Blue.

So far Blue has not eaten from the piece of prey.

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

Daily summary Monday 22nd July 2024

Today didn’t have the excitement of five ospreys visiting various nests not necessarily their own, but did see Louis and Dorcha on Nest Two, although at different times, and Garry LV0 bringing a fish to Nest One. Alas for him there were no takers so he flew off with it to a nearby tree, to munch it on his own, spotted by LizB through her long-lens. The weather was reasonably settled, a spectacular sunset seen from nest cam two ended the day, and tonight’s forecast is partly cloudy and light winds, with sunshine tomorrow. 

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.20.44 (03.53.23); Nest Two  23.23.09 (03.57.04)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/bDbqDZ8sN64 N2 Dorcha spends some time on her nest, no sign of Louis 12.27.51

https://youtu.be/g0q-Tf1BJIc N2 Louis arrives with a stick and does some nest work 15.34.26

https://youtu.be/SgnwBnDdY-g N1 Garry LV0 brings a fish but no one’s there 19.58.57

https://youtu.be/z52q-f7fFmg N2 Spectacular sunset 21.30 to 22.30 (2.3 minute time lapse)

https://youtu.be/O3qE7yHRm_M N2 Spectacular sunset 21.30 to 22.30 (one hour full version)

Today’s blast from the past is one of my all time favourites. On this day in 2020, newly-fledged Doddie JJ6 was having fun testing his wings. He was watched by younger siblings Vera JJ8 and Captain JJ7 who reacted like spectators at a tennis match. It was a perfect moment which definitely needed to be preserved:

https://youtu.be/C9r2h07HYeM  Carnival of the Ospreys (Classic Ospreys – Saint-Saëns) 22 July 2020

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

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

We need the Menhaden saved if there is to be any hope for the Osprey population in the Chesapeake Bay Area! Please see the comment under the post.

The osprey nests in Nova Scotia have done very well this season. I know that Connie Dennis will correct me, but I believe they have tracked 31 nests and out of those only one chick has died! That is fantastic. These ospreys do not depend on the Menhaden. There are plenty of other species available, thankfully, and they are plentiful. Looking forward to seeing this lovely Osprey family soon.

Getting ready for a fledge at Bridge Golf.

Three osplets waiting to fly at Collins Marsh, too.

They are all self-feeding!

Bruce is delivering trout to Toketee and Tree at Seaside.

Beautiful osplet at Boulder.

Coming and going at BUND Goitzsche-Wildnis in Germany.

News from ‘H’: 7/22 Osoyoos osprey nest:  It was hot again today, and the air was smoky.  There were only three fish brought to the nest, but both osplets ate.  All things considered, they were lucky to have as much as they did, and they both were able to eat well yesterday.

Olsen started things off with a fish at 0619.  I couldn’t see the fish, but Soo fed the chicks for 6 minutes.  Both osplets were fed, and Middle ate at least 49 bites of fish plus the fish tail.  There was no aggression until Middle took the tail, and Big beaked Middle at that time.  After breakfast both chicks were doing some ‘wingers’, and there was a welcome rain shower in the morning.  Olsen dropped off the next fish at 1255.  It was a medium-sized partial fish, and Big took it to self feed.  Big only ate for 8 minutes, and there was still a good size piece of fish remaining.  Middle did not attempt to eat any of that fish, so I suppose s/he wasn’t very hungry.  Soo arrived at 1339, and she fed the chicks from that leftover fish for 10 minutes.  The osplets were positioned on opposite sides of Soo, and for some reason, Soo preferentially fed Middle.  It was interesting to watch, but Big did not seem to mind that s/he was not being offered many bites.  Big ate the fish tail.  That meal lasted for 10 minutes, and Middle ate 110 bites of fish.  The temperature reached 100F/38C in the afternoon, and it was several hours before the next fish arrived.  Olsen dropped off a medium-sized partial fish at 1948.  Big took that fish and ate the whole thing.  The area will be getting a slight break from the extreme heat for the next several days.  Weather forecast for 7/23:  Partly cloudy with smoky air, high temp 92, winds gusting to 14 mph.

News from ‘A’:

A report from  WBSE: 

July 23: A quiet night and an early duet. Dad came to the nest early, at 6:30, but Lady was reluctant to leave. He circled her and hinted, but she sat tight, so he left at 6:35. She then sat for another 90 minutes, backing straight off when he returned at 8am. He gave her a good break, then, of over an hour, then both took a couple of short shifts on the nest. Both were heard calling off the nest at times, too. Lady had a good break in the middle of the day, away for 2.5 hours and returning with a full crop and some leaves. She was on the eggs from just after 3pm until dark, when she was heard calling –wanting a break? Dad was nearby but not coming to the nest. Lady backed off the eggs at 5:30, had a stretch, but then sat down to incubate again, settling for the night. That long late shift meant she spent seven hours on the eggs today. No food was brought to the nest, though both brought sticks or leaves.

And a really cute video from Taiaroa Head:

At the Tatarsan Eagle nest in RU, one of the recently ringed eaglets, Tanai, was believed to have died. It was jumping from branch to branch and fell off the tree. ‘TU’ reports that it returned to the nest five days later! This is wonderful news.

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, queries, posts, images, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘A, AM, AMW, Geemeff, H, PB, TU’ Montana Osprey Cams, Cowlitz PUD, Montana Osprey Project, Jacqueline Harris, Oceana, Charlo Montana, McEuen Park, Finland Osprey Foundation, Eagle Club of Estonia, Looduskalender, HWF-BBC, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Save Our Menhaden FB, Connie Davis, Heidi McGrue, Collins Marsh, Seaside Osprey Cam, Boulder County, Fischadler Cam, Tatarsan Eagle Cam RU, WBSE Eagle Cam, NZ DOC, and Osoyoos.

N2 dies at Cornell while others fledge…Monday in Bird World

22 July 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

I hope that you had a lovely weekend. The summer is slipping away quickly! It was 30 or 31 degrees C today with a lot of haze in Winnipeg. All I could do was think of Iris and the Osoyoos nest. And the news that I posted on Sunday from Ann-Marie. Iris is getting some good fish – we can be so thankful because of Finn’s great fishing skills. He eats the head bit and tonight he gave Iris the gift of such a big fish that she had a wonderful dinner, too. She always feeds those kids first! I am greatly saddened by the death of N2. Cornell needs to do better in terms of bird proofing its windows. We need to do better in our cities and turn our lights off during migration. Make your cities turn off those lights in those tall buildings. You can do it -.

It is always lovely to be home. The trip to Toronto was so good, and I am having trouble adjusting to not being pampered. LOL. The cats did well with the cat sitter this time and came out immediately when we got home. Mr Crow saw the car and came to tell me to get his dish filled, and the Blue Jays arrived in groups. It has been lovely. This year is an excellent one for the garden, and all the herbs have done exceptionally well, along with the tomatoes, those lovely little grape ones.

The fledges have started to happen, all in a bundle. I might miss some, so please send me your news. Always feel free to send me news. I might not be able to respond right away but send it to me. I am grateful and I promise you are not bothering me. Never.

On Sunday, the only surviving osplet of the Bald Eagle attacks fledges at the Cowlitz PUD. The chick returned to the nest. Well, let’s hope this one gets fed, gets stronger, and is never attacked by a Bald Eagle in their life. I am hoping that the engineers at Cowlitz PUD are putting their heads together on how to make the grates work – maybe a third one?

‘H’ reports:

7/21 Osoyoos osprey nest:  (To correct a significant typo in yesterday’s notes: Soo had not been seen from the afternoon of 7/19 to just before noon on 7/20.)  Despite the extreme heat, there were 7 fish brought to the nest on 7/21.  Olsen started out with a headless tiny fish.  It provided for a 1-1/2 minute meal and Middle ate one bite.  At 0517 Olsen arrived with a small whole fish, but when Soo didn’t show up, he left with it.  He brought the fish back at 0521, and Big took it to self-feed.  Soo later took the tail portion and fed for 2-minutes.  Middle ate three bites.  Soo brought a small fish at 0743.  Soo and Middle engaged in a tug-o-fish, but Soo kept the fish and fed for 4-minutes.  Middle had one bite of that fish.  In general, Big usually beaked or intimidated Middle at the beginning of each meal.  Soo brought a slightly larger fish at 1020.  Both chicks ate, one to each side of Soo, but Big seemed to be offered more bites.  At 1027 Middle grabbed the large tail piece.  S/he kept trying to swallow it whole, but the piece was too big, and Middle was constantly being harassed by Big.  Finally at 1034, Big took the tail after Middle dropped it, and after much effort, managed to hork it down.  Middle ate about 25 bites of fish at that meal.  Fish #5 was a medium-sized partial delivered by Olsen at 1128.  Middle arrived at the table first, but was soon intimidated by Big.  It was a 7-minute feeding, and Middle ate 5 bites of fish.  The fish-bite tally for Middle so far = 35 bites of fish. 

Big’s crop had been getting filled all morning, so when Olsen dropped off a headless fish at 1156, Big was not very eager to eat.  Yay!  Soo fed for 4-minutes, and Middle was able to eat at least 39 bites at that meal.  Soo provided some shade from the hot sun throughout the afternoon for the chicks.  The temperature at 1645 was 40-41 C, depending on the weather app used.  At 1740 Middle was seen to have a good PS.  Finally, at 1741 Soo brought a large headless fish to the nest.  Both chicks ate, one to each side of Soo, and surprisingly there was no aggression from Big.  It was a 36 minute meal, and both osplets seemed to be fed somewhat equally.  Middle ended up with a nice crop, Woohoo!    Weather forecast for 7/22:  Sunny, but with smoky air from BC wildfires, high temp 102F/39C, winds gusting to 22 mph.

7/21 Colonial Beach osprey nest:  The 27-day-old youngster has been given a name:  “Cobey”, as a play on Colonial Beach…Isn’t that cool?  Fish were practically falling out of the sky today.  The high temperature was unchanged… it has been in the mid-80’s for several days.  There were 8 fish delivered to the nest, four each from David and Betty.  In recent days, David has been pretty low on everyone’s list for ‘Dad of the Year’.  Who knows…perhaps David is finally getting the hang of this ‘Dad thing’, lol.

7/21 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Captain Mac’s Fish House):  The fish have not been numerous the past few days, but they have been massive in size.  June and 37-day-old ‘Fen’ started out the day  with a couple of meals from a large leftover fish.  Then June brought a huge bass to the nest, which they feasted on for the rest of the day. 

7/21 Forsythe osprey nest:  Larry is 61 days old, and fledged 6 days ago.  Opal and Oscar are supplying Larry with plenty of fish to fuel his adventures.

7/21 Mispillion Harbor osprey nest:  The siblings are 53 and 54 days old, and they have both been practicing their ‘wingers’.  Chick #1 is a little more advanced, and is achieving some decent height above the nest, but no hovers as yet that I’ve seen.  Exciting times !

In the UK, an individual has been charged with shooting a Tawny Owl and a Wood Pigeon. These might seem like small acts, but they aren’t. Every bird counts and we don’t have the right to kill them in the way that many thought it was fine to go and shoot all the tigers in the jungle in the Victorian era.

Man charged with shooting Tawny Owl & Woodpigeon & dumping them in wheelie bin – Raptor PersecutionDownload

The French have issued you some of their own fines, too.

The last of the four osplets so gallantly raised by Blue 022 and CJ7 at Poole Harbour fledged at 1717 on Sunday. They did it! Success when so many have failed.

The two chicks fledged at Fort Calhoun today as well.

They have eyes on Mum, Dad, and Baby at Port of Ridgefield where the baby is now off the nest and flying.

‘BHA’ reports that Baby is on the nest at The Port of Ridgefield. Tears. This was one of the best news items that I could hear today. Celebrate this victory – the chick survived….it flew…and it looks really healthy and strong.

Tweed Valley had a fledge as well.

Harbottle was the last to fledge at Kielder 7. She flew today! Hallington flew on the 18th while Hawkhope flew on the 20th. Congratulations for a great season amidst the overall sadness.

Fledge at Iowa DNR.

Collins Marsh raised three and we could have a fledge or two soon.

I smile every time I see those two big chicks of Beaumont and Hope’s in Newfoundland. Let the goodness continue for this couple and these babies.

Richmond and Rosie’s two osplets for the 2024 season at Golden Gate Audubon have been named! Gorgeous names.

The province of Nova Scotia has had a good year for its ospreys. Connie Dennis reports on the family near to where she lives. They are preparing for fledge.

Baby Ospreys. Three of them at Osprey House in Griffin, Queensland, Australia! Wishing Australia luck this season.

The ongoing heatwave that is raging through our planet is of particular concern for our avian friends.

What ongoing heatwaves could mean for bird populations around the globe – BirdLife InternationalDownload

Geemeff’s Summary for Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust:

Daily summary Sunday 21st July 2024

Today was all about musical nests – Dorcha visited Nest One while Garry LV0 was there, and got scared off by Affric 152, who ought to be on the Bunarkaig nest looking after her newly ringed but still unfledged chick, while over on Nest Two, Louis was visited by the strikingly marked Really Dark Female. He didn’t appear to object to the presence of the RDF, and was happy to go off and leave her in sole occupation of his nest. No fish were brought to either nest, a little visitor trilled away merrily, possibly resident in all those sticks underneath Nest One, and although it was another damp day, tonight’s forecast of partly cloudy with light winds suggests a dry night.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.01.48 (03.49.44); Nest Two  23.26.44 (04.01.12)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/nQ2pO2kcevM N2 Dorcha and Louis together on the nest but he brings no fish 10.48.58

https://youtu.be/xjqv-5EWRFA N1 Three Ospreys on the nest: Affric 152, Garry LV0 and Dorcha! 11.27.59

https://youtu.be/J4Y2emy_rkM N2 RDF visits Louis on the nest 11.28.36

https://youtu.be/umi0spLP–4   N1 Affric follows Garry to the nest 12.36.07

https://youtu.be/1gNzX5yamuU N1 Garry LV0 returns alone, bringing a tiny clump of moss.13.20.19

https://youtu.be/_csOnS_xA10  N1 A little visitor – or perhaps lower nest resident – trills merrily 17.56.37 

Bonus read – moosical cows! Woodland Trust protect an iron-age fort with musically trained cows (yes, really!):

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/press-centre/2023/07/little-doward-cows

Blast from the past, this day in previous years:

https://youtu.be/9NT23F7pAQo Woodland Trust’s George on STV Evening News discussing the effect of climate change on the Ospreys 2022

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

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

I am beyond broken hearted. N2 hit a window on the Cornell Campus and has died. Every building on that campus and every city with skyscrapers, every public building must have bird proof windows. Especially Cornell.

Red-tailed Hawk Fledgling %22N2%22 Found Deceased On Campus | Cornell Lab Bird Cams Cornell Lab Bird CamDownload

The kids bother Annie and Archie’s bonding…oh, wait. It was just Eclipse!

Iris picked a good one! Finn delivers a whopper late in the day to make up for the smaller deliveries earlier on Sunday. So much fish – it just came when needed. The heat remains in Montana.

So much fish that Iris is getting a nice feed.

Charlo Montana needs some big fish. Lola has a sunken crop. She needs to be in good health in order to take care of her babies -.

The Baby at McEuan is looking around for Mum to return to the nest with their late dinner.

Wingers at the Janakkala nest in Finland, too.

Younger babies at the Muonio nest in Finland.

One successful prey delivery to Golden Eaglet in Kurzeme Forest. One might have failed. The eaglet is ravenous.

Boundary Bay Blue has had some food shot up to the nest, but this eaglet is so hungry. Food has not been plentiful. The adults brought a large flat fish to the nest on Sunday – this should help.

The video of the delivery and an intruder:

Thank you so much for being with us today. Continue to send your best wishes to all the nests struggling to get enough prey and high temperatures. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘BHA, Geemeff, H, PR’, Cowlitz PUD, Raptor Persecution UK, Celia Aliengirl, BoPH, Pam Breci, Port of Ridgefield, Tweed Valley Osprey Project, Mary Cheadle, Collins Marsh, Newfoundland Power, SF Bay Ospreys, Connie Dennis, Osprey House Environment Centre, BirdLife International, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Suzanne Arnold Horning, All about Birds, SK Hideaways, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, McEuen Park Ospreys, Looduskalender, Bird Parenting, HWF-BBC, FIN Osprey Foundation, Trudi Kron, Osoyoos Ospreys, Colonial Beach, Fenwick Island, Forsythe Ospreys, Iowa DNR, and Mispillion Harbour.

Saturday in Bird World

20 July 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Update: I have gotten my Littles mixed up. Thanks, Heidi. “Little from Colonial Beach passed away overnight on the 18th. Little at Osoyoos passed away on the 15th, Monday afternoon.”

Toronto. 25 C. Sunny skies. It was a great day, and my faith in humans increased. Walking down Wellington Street West, there was a small area with trees amid the financial district skyscrapers. I looked, and someone had put up a suet feeder and spread seed on the ground for the birds. My heart grew!!!! A shout out to whoever is doing this for their kindness and generosity of spirit.

It might feel a little bit like ‘cat world’ this morning. The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) had an exhibition of wild felines and also cats in art. It was fantastic. If you are ever in Toronto, go on line and check out the museum’s programming. In the late winter and early spring, the wildlife photography is on exhibition. The museum has two places to grab food – the lower level makes the best sandwiches and they are huge, quite sharable! They also have another place for coffee and dessert on the main level. The cake is delicious. Both are VERY affordable.

Isn’t this just the cutest stuffed animal you have ever seen? A Bay cat? from Borneo?

Cat Naps.

Maneki-neko.

What is the story of the Japanese lucky or welcoming cat? Do you know?

What is the story of maneki-neko, the Japanese beckoning cat?Download

Many wild cats were killed for their claws or their fur. Tiger claw necklace.

British shot tigers in India. Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, was no exception.

Shooting Tigers in Early 20th-Century India – Imperial & Global ForumDownload

Royal Stool.

Prestigious cat with claws. I could not find out if the owner had killed the animals and the cap was a display of their hunting skill.

There was also an excellent video display about human destruction of wild cats by hunting, collecting skins, and now the destruction of their habitat. They suggest that one way to save the habitat is to stop using products that contain Palm Oil.

It was a fun day!

Just how rare do you think Ospreys are in Poland?

Osprey – a huge bird, rarer than lynx in Polish forests

When I read the article above that Geemeff sent to me, the first thing I thought of was stock the lacks with fish. Or as Geemeff states, why not pull a Gwash? So what is Gwash, you ask.

“As far as fish goes, we need more people to follow the example of Gwash Trout farm – after losing significant numbers of trout to Ospreys, they un-netted their biggest pond, built a hide, and charged photographers a fee. Now they make more money from those fees than the value of the fish taken by the Ospreys. What a result! Surely others could do the same?”

https://www.rivergwashtroutfarm.co.uk/horn-mill-osprey-hide/

There are many other osprey platforms that could bank on osprey tourism to help the birds. The first one that comes to mind is Osoyoos where a former student of mine used to watch Olsen fish in the local lake when she lived there. Why not stock that lake area? Put up a hide? The family needs 525 fish a year according to John Williams who has monitored the Llyn Clywedog osprey platform for years. That is nothing! We could raise $5000 to purchase commercial fish for the ospreys on line with a GoFundMe. Spread the word, get these platform owners on line, change the laws now before the heat get to the point that all of them die before the nests even get started. Yes, I am serious.

At HWF-BBCentral, Blue’s crop looks pretty flat to me and it appears to be hot on that nest. Need some fish tossing! Blue had fish meals on the 18th according to the Hancock Wildlife Forum.

One of the worksheets on this nest includes this information:

Finnegan continues to take as good a care of Iris and their two osplets as he can in the raging heat that continues to hit parts of Canada and the US.

Charlie got an early fish on the nest for Lola and the two remaining chicks at Charlo Montana on Friday. Every nest in this area needs as much fish as the males can muster. I would really hate to lose them all after they have endured this high heat for more than a week now. Temperatures should break in a full week – seriously – but it will get hotter for Iris before it even begins to cool down. My concern for these ospreys grows and grows.

Keeping an eye on McEuan Park. Weather is set to improve. Mum is off the nest a lot. Is she fishing? No rewind. Hoping she is safe and delivering fish and I am just missing seeing her. Only Bob had a feeding thanks to the hawk eyes of ‘PB’ – the cam is terrible.

Worst breeding year for Kielder Ospreys ever.

‘Worst year’ for Kielder’s breeding ospreys – BirdGuidesDownload

Fledge watch is on for the chicks of Aran and Elen at Glaslyn.

I am thinking the last two at Poole Harbour might be taking to the skies soon, too.

‘H’ reports:

7/19 Osoyoos osprey nest:  The heat wave continues, and Olsen and Soo are having difficulty finding fish.  There were five fish brought to the nest today, compared to only one small fish yesterday.  That was certainly an improvement, but the fish were small, and unfortunately only one chick benefited.  At 0800 Olsen delivered a partial fish, and Soo fed for 7 minutes.  Big prevented Middle from eating.  Soo brought a tiny fish at 0926, for a 3-minute meal, and once again, Middle did not eat.  At 1223 Soo arrived with another tiny fish for a 3-minute feeding.  Middle was only able to eat the small fish tail.  Soo brought fish #4 at 1236, and I couldn’t see the fish, but Soo fed for 5 minutes.  Big prevented Middle from eating at that meal.  By 1600 the temperature had reached 100F.  Olsen arrived with a nice-sized partial fish at 1701.  He waited for Soo to arrive, but when she didn’t show, Olsen removed the fish.  Olsen returned with the fish at 1710, and again waited for Soo.  But after a couple of minutes, he once again left with the fish.  Olsen returned with the same partial fish at 1723, and this time he let Big take it.  Olsen stayed on the nest and waited.  Big was not able to do much with it, and after a few minutes, Middle tried some self-feeding.  Middle was actually able to pull off a few pieces of flesh, and I crossed my fingers that Middle would be able to continue eating.  Middle became frustrated though, and soon quit.  The siblings took turns trying to eat some of the fish, but by 1810, they had both abandoned the fish.  At that point, Olsen removed the fish from the nest, and it looked about the same as when it first arrived.  Each chick had only eaten a few bites of that fish.  By nightfall, Soo had not been seen since the afternoon.  The situation for Middle is dire.  Middle has not had much to eat since 7/17, and with the scorching heat, that is especially worrisome.  Weather forecast for 7/20:  Sunny, high 101F/38C, winds 12 mph.

7/19 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Captain Mac’s Fish House):  For several days it has seemed as though little ‘Fen’ has been ‘hangry’ most of the time, due to too few fish brought to the nest.  And, today there was still only three fish delivered to the nest, but two of them were massive… one at 0930 from June, and another large fish from Johnny at 1405.  June and Fen were literally eating all day from those two fish.  At 1955, June and Fen were still eating part of June’s morning fish.  Fen seemed satisfied!

7/19 Colonial Beach osprey nest:  This nest has one surviving osplet out of three.  Chick #3 died at just a little over one-day-old from unknown causes.  Chick #2 passed away on 7/18 at 22 days of age, from siblicide/starvation.  At the time, the area had been suffering from a heat wave, and David was not providing enough fish.  David and Betty are believed to be first-time parents.  And while Betty has been a stellar Mom, David seems to not fully understand his responsibilities as a provider.  The heat wave has subsided, but, David’s fish deliveries are still way down.  Betty has had no trouble catching fish the past few days.  Some of the fish that Betty has caught are huge…that gal can fish!  There were five fish brought to the nest today, and four of them were delivered by Betty.

The Patuxent River Park osprey nest live stream was offline on 7/19.  We certainly want to continue to observe the family to see how the fledglings are making out…and in particular our hero, Little #3.

The Fortis Exshaw osprey nest camera has been covered with PS for several days.  Way to go kids!  We are hoping for some rain to clean the cam.

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

Daily summary Friday 19th July 2024

The day started with a temperature inversion and a spider in the mist gave a ghostly feel to Nest One, which was visited a bit later by a Wood Pigeon. Louis and Dorcha spent time on Nest Two, she was fish-calling and he was coy-mantling, there were a couple of half-hearted mating attempts and a comedy moment when Dorcha landed on Louis’ wing. After they departed, a pair of Hoodies checked out the nest but they were out of luck as there weren’t any scraps to be had, it’s been several days since Louis brought fish to the nest, the last time was on the 15th. The weather improved somewhat after the damp start but more rain is forecast for tonight and tomorrow.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.11.08 (03.33.21); Nest Two 22.57.26 (04.00.34)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/OD_RwDg4LUA N1 Spider adds to the eerie misty morning scene 03.59.18

https://youtu.be/6SBcqw1oX38 N1 A Wood Pigeon visits 07.24.06

https://youtu.be/wp5mZUIOlQU N2 No fish and a failed mating attempt 13.23.38

https://youtu.be/1GsH538qZJs N2 A pair of Hoodies check out the nest 15.07.55

Bonus action – Woodland Trust guide to helping wildlife in summer:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2023/06/10-ways-to-help-wildlife-in-summer

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

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

Spoonbills have returned to Cambridgeshire after centuries.

Spoonbills return to Cambridgeshire for first time since 17th century | Birds | The GuardianDownload

Thank you so much for being with us today. Stay cool. Take care. We hope to see you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, posts, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams: ‘Geemeff, H, PB’, ROM, The Conversation, Imperial & Global Forum, Wodny Spawy, River Gwash Trout Farm, HWF-BBC, Montana Osprey Project, The Weather Network, Charlo Montana Ospreys, McEuen Park, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, BoPH, BirdGuides, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, The Guardian, Osoyoos, Fenwick Island, Colonial Beach, and Fortis Exshaw.

Friday in Bird World

19 July 2024

Hello from Toronto,

Update: We lost Little Bob at Osoyoos Wednesday night. Sad, sad. The osplets are getting their feathers. It has been a horrible, horrible year.

Oh, my goodness, Thursday was a gorgeous blue-sky day. It wasn’t too hot, and there was a wonderful breeze. High Park was only a disappointment in that there were fewer ducks or species of ducks than I anticipated. Robins were dancing all over the lawn searching for worms, a lovely lady feeding pigeons and squirrels (she comes daily to the same bench), and a delightful little zoo.

When I was doing a residency at Hospitalfield in Scotland, I would often drive through the countryside and see the gorgeous Highland Cattle at the farms.

Their ‘hair’ is like stiff bristles.

I particularly loved the Emu. The San Diego Zoo describes these birds as: “Tall and majestic, the emu belongs to a group of flightless running birds known as ratites, the most primitive of the modern bird families. The ratite family includes the kiwi, ostrich, cassowary, and rhea, all birds found only in the Southern Hemisphere. The emu is the second-largest living bird in the world (the ostrich is the largest). Adult female emus are larger and heavier than the males.”

The peacock was trying to impress the peahen and spread his tail feathers in quite the show in front of me. As a child, my grandmother’s sister had peacocks on her ranch in Oklahoma. They were stunning.

One of the nicest parts of the afternoon was visiting with this lovely woman who comes to the park daily to feed the squirrels and pigeons—a kindred spirit.

Toronto has ‘Black’ Squirrels, Winnipeg doesn’t!

The biggest disappointment was the lack of duck species.

Moving on to check on our birds.

Hot, hot, and hotter for Iris. Where’s all that fish?! Iris looks worn out in the heat of the day.

She was tired and trying desperately to keep her babies safe despite being in the heat of one of the hottest days, and it was going to get hotter with no break until Tuesday. That is four days away! The fish deliveries have dropped due to the extreme heat – not Finn’s fishing skills. Fish go deeper. Ospreys only fish the top metre of the water. Sending positive wishes for all of them as you can see the heat is not going away.

Finn has come in with a big fish. The chicks now join Iris is cheering Dad’s arrival – and these fish, despite being plentiful, are so welcome since it is hot. Iris tends to feed her chicks before herself and she needs to eat and stay strong.

Charlo Montana. Lola needs fish. The little twiddler brought in so early in the morning cannot sustain this family. At first, she let one of the chicks self-feed, and then she took over. She has to eat, too. They need more fish!

Single Mum at McEuen Park still holding in there and the only surviving Bob is still with us. They have that hot hot heat, too. ‘PB’ reports that the osplet had a good ps and crop!

How in the world are these amazing ospreys able to stay cool and alive during this incredible heat wave?

How The Hellgate Ospreys Stay Cool In Summer Heat

Self-feeding and a fledge at Field Farm.

Blackwater had a fledge!

Beautiful baby at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Mum and Dad will once again fledge a single chick. Let’s hope that being the only survivor means that this baby is nice and healthy. So many weren’t this year.

The two Llyn Brenig chicks have their names.

More ringing in Finland. Great footage including a drone view of nest.

Geemeff sends us her Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust summary:

The Capercaillie is highly endangered. Decoy capercaillie nests have been set up and baited with chicken eggs plus a wax one so the researchers can ID which predator took the eggs. Also deer carcasses left.https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/artificial-predator-feeding-sites-could-save-scotlands-capercaillie

===============================================================================

“I can’t think like an Osprey…” said the man in charge.

No, that’s true, but you can build nest platforms in safe places once you demolish this old bridge. Sorry for the loss of the chicks when the nest was blown off in the storm – a sturdy nest platform in the general area of the old one, with high sides and a few starter sticks and moss, will definitely get the attention of the returning pair next Spring.

https://www.25newsnow.com/2024/07/18/birds-forced-build-new-home-after-storm-destroys-mcclugage-bridge-nest

===========================================================================

Daily summary Thursday 18th July 2024

A dreich day with mist and rain, and heavy rain from around 11pm. Tonight’s forecast is drizzle and light winds, but looking at the nests via night cam, it looks more like heavy rain and fog. Not a pleasant day, but although Louis and Dorcha only showed up once this morning, arriving around 08.55 with Louis departing at 09.03 and Dorcha departing at 09.36, there were plenty of little visitors to Nest One, and what sounds like a juvenile Tawny Owl calling near Nest Two around 10.30pm. Despite Dorcha’s calls, Louis didn’t bring a fish and made a half-hearted mating attempt before leaving. Neither adult returned to the nest today after that one visit. Over in Spain, we received more footage from the translocation programme of 1JR , formerly known as the submissive chick, looking strong and healthy and tucking in to a big piece of fish on his own with no one trying to intimidate him or take his fish away. It bodes well for his future success. 

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.30.05 (04.03.54); Nest Two 23.14.11 (04.08.55)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/qaojgIgK74A  WTScotsocial tweet and footage of 1JR tucking into his fish dinner in Spain

https://youtu.be/eUp1mUx7Wcw N1 A little bird hops up on the nest – juvenile Robin? 04.53.20

https://youtu.be/38ok-uZ5sHg N1 A Jay visits 05.15.24

https://youtu.be/wa59vTuwYJc N2 No fish, just a failed mating attempt 08.54.10

https://youtu.be/1FIRDaevMNU N1 Various little birds visit 10.43.32 – 10.53.50

https://youtu.be/pxWsh7-M96g N2 Is this a juvenile Tawny Owl calling nearby? 22.33.16

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

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

Twin Cities Metro had their first fledge.

One lucky stork and some wonderful caring people who saved it in Switzerland.

‘H’ reports: 7/18 Osoyoos osprey nest:  The two osplets are 40 and 41 days old.  This was not a good day for this osprey family.  It was sunny and hot. Two out of three weather apps stated the high temperature reached in Osoyoos was 102F/39C.  There was only one fish delivered to the nest.  Soo brought in a small whole fish at 0531, and she fed for approximately six minutes.  I tripled-checked to make sure I did not miss another fish delivery.  Olsen was not seen on camera today, and Soo spent a large portion of the day being ‘Mombrella’ to help shade her big chicks.  Unfortunately, we don’t know how well the chicks ate yesterday, because the cam was down for half of the day.  Weather forecast for Friday:  Sunny, high temp 100F/38C, light winds.  The severe heat wave is expected to last through Monday.  Please note in one of the attached photos, the crop on one of the chicks at 9:00 pm. 

7/18 Colonial Beach osprey nest:  There was only one fish brought to the nest today.  The temperature was quite a bit cooler, with a high of ‘only’ 86, and light winds.  David delivered a large whole fish at 1310.  It was so big, that it was equivalent to several meals.  Betty and her 24-day-old youngster ate on-and-off for nearly two hours.  The nestling still had a large crop at 1945.

7/19 Patuxent River Park osprey nest:  The story of the youngest chick at this nest is one of survival.  Little was one of those tiny underdog nestlings, that for weeks had to compete for every single bite of life-sustaining fish he ate, amid the dominance of the aggressive oldest sibling.  Fortunately, thanks to ‘Master Fisher Dad’ and his ‘whopper’ fish deliveries, Little was able to make it through that dangerous period of time.  Due to the lack of proper nutrition during those formative weeks, Little’s development was delayed.  Well, today at 68 days of age…Little fledged at 0850!  Happy tears!  Little made a nice landing back on the nest about 4.5 hours later.  And, not only that… Apparently during those few hours that Little was away from the nest for the first time, he had undergone some sort of metamorphosis, and he found his ‘mojo’.  Over the past several days, Little was still coming up short with the fish grabs.  He could not compete with his larger and more aggressive older siblings when they would fight for fish.  But now as a new fledgling, and with his new-found courage, he must have had a long talk with himself during those few hours that he was off the nest … “I am strong, I am important, My life matters, I have rights, and I’m not going to take it any more!”  After he flew back to the nest, Little was hungry.  He had missed out on a couple of fish drops at the nest, so he munched on any fish scraps he could find.  At 1529 Dad delivered a medium-sized whole fish.  All three fledglings were already at the nest.  Well, in a flash Little jumped into action.  He fought for that fish.  Middle had initially acquired the fish, but Little grabbed Middle by the nape with his beak and didn’t let go for nearly a minute.  Middle dropped the fish.  Big was standing off to the the side, wide-eyed, wondering who that kid was, lol.  After Middle dropped the fish, Big was eyeing the fish laying on the nest, but she decided not to get involved!  Middle walked away (unhurt).  Little calmly walked over to the fish, proudly picked up his prize, and chowed-down!  Little was a changed osprey today, in more ways than one.

7/18 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Captain Mac’s Fish House):  This nest still seems to come up short on fish.  The weather has not been very hot. The high temp today was in the upper 70’s, with light winds.  34-day-old ‘Fen’ is still behaving aggressively toward both of his parents.  I believe Fen is ‘hangry’.  Johnny delivered three fish to the nest, and the partial fish were not very big.  June has started to allow her youngster some time to try to self feed, but so far Fen is rather clueless as to how to proceed.  Then after about 15 minutes of Fen trying to nibble on the fish, June will feed Fen.  It is possible that the waterways being congested with boating traffic this time of year, compounded by reduced fish availability from the many vacationers out fishing, may be affecting Johnny’s ability to catch fish. 

Thank you so much for being with me today. I wish you could have walked through the little zoo or sat by the water listening to the songbirds and enjoying the squirrels with me. Take care! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, H, PB, TU’, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, The Weather Network, McEuen Park, Cornell Lab Bird Cams, Friends of Blackwater NWR, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Twin Cities Metro Osprey Watch, Werner Fahrner, Osoyoos, Colonial Beach, Fenwick Island, and Patuxent River Park.

Thursday in Bird World

18 July 2024

Hello from Toronto!

A note: If you wish to order a signed copy of Pickles, please write to Connie Dennis at: ospreysofnovascotia@gmail.com

I have to say that having Hugo Yugo snuggle with me all night before I left just broke my heart. She was all big-eyed and rolling around wanting attention, and I was trying to make certain that Mr Crow and the ‘Garden Gang’ were watered and fed. Thank goodness for the generous granddaughter who will be stepping into our shoes and caring for them and all the plants while I am away. ‘The Girls’ have Gary as their ‘cat sitter’. We will see how they do. Most of the time, they prefer not to have a sitter!!!!!!!

It is a mini-break to see different birds and walk around familiar parks that I last saw in March of 2023. I love High Park for its old trees, its abundant black squirrels, and the duck pond. There is a little zoo, and tomorrow, I will take you with me when I revisit it. It is nice and cool. 20 C and hopefully the sun will wake up sometime!

Have a great day everyone! So happy to have you with us.

Let’s start our day with Jackie and Shadow – always a pleasure. No matter what life throws at them they just keep on going, getting their nest ready, playing with those big sticks and doing some amazing chortling.

And then there are Finn and Iris. What an incredible couple. And those two babies of theirs. Seriously gorgeous with that juvenile feathering coming in. Finn had breakfast for Iris and the kids early before the heat set in.

Many tell me that with all the tragedies this year the only nest that they are watching is Iris and Finn’s. Finn is decidedly reliable and my goodness what a year when that is needed. Fish is the only hydration that the ospreys get save for when they head to the river for a good spa moment. Those little ones stay cool because Iris protects them – many Mums do not do suh a super job as her. She is giving these babies her ‘all’ including making certain that they are fed before she eats. I think Iris needs to write Osprey Mothering 101 for some of our females.

I wish that Charlie could get more fish on the nest at Charlo Montana. It is hotter than hot! Lola is a great Mumbrella. Just look at her protecting her two surviving babies.

The oldest at Charlo Montana is being a bit of a crank pot about the fish arrivals. Understandable. It is hot and – please correct me if I am wrong – but they don’t seem to be quite as plentiful during this heat spell.

Lola is looking a wee thin. The females lose approximately 30% of their body weight during nesting season. I wonder if it is more during an extended heat dome like they have in Montana?

Only Bob at McEuan Park has a nice crop. No rewind so very difficult to actually catch a feeding. Mum is doing all the heavy lifting at this nest. Dad has not been seen in weeks.

Only Bob at Dunrovin Ranch has a full crop thanks to Dad Swoop and Mum Winnie.

Four antsy to fly osplets at Field Farm. That nest gets smaller every day with these big kiddos. These adults really did a marvellous job in raising FOUR when some could not manage more one. Well done, Mum and Dad.

At Clark PUD, Mum will be hoping that her Only Bob will leave her some fish!

Dad is busy delivering fish to waiting fledglings at Patchogue.

Dad has been getting some nice fish to Mum and Only surviving Bob at the Minneapolis Landscape Arboretum nest.

Dyfi Osprey Project in Wales is proud of their three fledglings this year! Congrats, Idris and Telyn on another remarkable season.

All three are at the nest and hungry. Looks like two have fish dinner with one hoping.

Menhaden report. All I have to do is look at all those boats taking the fish that our osprey require and my blood begins to boil over.

w-0qjq–0www 0EWfvcgrt,`93“““2`4Hopes are high for another osprey couple in South Australia this coming season.

We love our Swallows in Manitoba. They eat so many mosquitoes!

Country diary: Feeding time for the swallows and martins | Birds | The GuardianDownload

Geemeff’s Daily Report on Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:

Daily summary Wednesday 17th July 2024

Louis & Dorcha are both still around and came to the nest this morning, Louis left around 8am and Dorcha around 9am. No fish were brought and neither one returned to the nest. Nest One had some avian visitors but none of them Ospreys, making for a quiet day on both nests. The season has a bit of a school’s out feeling now and Cam2 switched to night mode before 11pm for the first time tonight, but fingers crossed we see Louis & Dorcha again tomorrow, and perhaps a bonus visit from Garry LV0 soon. The thundery showers didn’t materialise, there was only a light sprinkle of rain causing a few camera diamonds which soon disappeared, but heavy rain is forecast for tonight.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.09.23 (03.53.39); Nest Two 22.55.35 (04.00.16)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/4wpfSlXahCc Louis & Dorcha meet on the nest but there’s no fish 07.47.28

https://youtu.be/-M7049KwfMA Who does a distant flash flypast? 13.32.33

https://youtu.be/jDOUXZzLinI Coal Tits and a Great Tit visit 15.16.10

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

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

‘H’s report:

7/17 Osoyoos osprey nest:  Once again, we found the live cam was down in the morning.  When it resumed at 1137, both chicks were hiding out in Soo’s shade.  The first delivery we saw was at 1415.  Olsen dropped off a fish tail… No, not the kind of fish tail that still has a lot of meat attached, but actually just the ‘tail fin’, lol.  I think Olsen may have forgotten how much of that fish he had already eaten.  One of the sibs gladly ate it.  “Thanks a lot, Dad!”   At 1524 Olsen arrived with a medium sized whole fish.  Both siblings ate peacefully during the 8-minute feeding.  The harmony during the meal indicated that they had most likely had a few feedings while the cam was down.  Good.  The last fish of the day was a small fish provided by Soo at 1627.  And once again, the chicks ate in peace. This evening, both chicks were doing some mini-wingers.  Osoyoos reached 100F on 7/17.  Weather forecast for 7/18: Sunny, high 100F/38C, light winds. 

7/17 Colonial Beach:  The fish count at this nest has dropped the past several days.  The area has been warm, averaging mid 90’s.  Today was 93-95F, sunny with 12-19 mph winds.  So has the weather been hampering David’s fishing success?  There were four fish brought to the nest, and three of them were from Betty.  The osplets are 22 and 23 days old.  Due to aggression from Big, Little has not had very much to eat for a couple of days.  David delivered a large headless fish at 0710.  Little was beaked right away, and then intermittently as Big was eating.  Big moved away from Betty at 0737, and Little was able to eat 13 bites before being beaked.  Big resumed eating.  At the end of the meal. Little was able to eat an additional 8 bites and the fish tail. Little had no discernable crop.  Eight hours passed before the next fish arrived.  Betty had taken it upon herself to go fishing.  Betty delivered large fish at 1410, 1535, and 1740.  Even though the fish were large, Big prevented Little from eating.  Big just ate and ate and ate, and intermittently beaked Little.  At the 1740 feeding, Little made his way over to the other side of Betty, and she fed him 3 bites of fish before Big leaped across in front of Betty to beak Little.  As the evening progressed, Little simply looked emaciated, and weak.  Little may not survive the night.  David and Betty are both thought to be first-time parents.  Because Betty has demonstrated fishing success, ‘Dorothy A’., the Mod on the chat stated: “Well I think it is fair to say that fishing is not the problem here.  It is a first time dad not knowing fully how it works!”   …. What a shame.

7/17 Forsythe osprey nest:  Larry fledged two days ago, and he seems to be having a blast.  He’s flying around that marsh like he owns it, lol.  Opal and Oscar are providing Larry with plenty of fish to fuel his adventures.

Thanks, Heidi.

‘PB’ sent us a morning look at Port of Ridgefield. They sure don’t want their one and only to fledge. Its crop is so full, it couldn’t get lift off if it tried. LOL.

Hartley and Monty finall get some quiet time!

I know you probably will not believe me, but it is time to begin thinking about ‘those birds down under’ that will soon be laying eggs and raising eyases – like dear Xavier and Diamond. I am always grateful that the Northern Hemisphere falcons have finished their season when the Aussies come into play.

Suzanne Arnold Horning continues to track down Big Red and Arthur’s Ns on the Cornell Campus. Word is they have avoided any and all disasters and are doing very well towards being totally independent of their parents.

Ever see a Laysan Albatross take its first flight? Probably not. Have a look at a video by our friend Hob Osterlund. This flight took place on Kauai, Hawaii.

Kristel had two prey deliveries on the 17th. One was part of a hare delivered by Mum, and the second was a Columbid – Kristel was so hungry. Columbid’s have red feet and are members of the pigeon and dove family. Kristel waseating bones before the prey deliveries. After she had a massive crop.

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, images, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, H, PB’, Baiba, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, McEuen Park, Dunrovin Ranch, Field Farm, Clark PUD, PSEG, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Dyfi Osprey Project, Menhaden- Little Fish, Big Deal FB, Fran Solly, The Guardian, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, SK Hideaways, Nesting Bird Life, Suzanne Arnold Horning, Hob Osterlund, Eagle Club of Estonia, Looduskalender, Osoyoos, Colonial Beach, and Forsythe Ospreys.

Wednesday in Bird World

17 July 2024

Good Morning Everyone!

As promised, I am including a review of the latest children’s book on ospreys by Connie Dennis from Nova Scotia, Canada. Calico and I have read it several times since its arrival last week and Calico gives the book her Golden Paw Award! The cover below gives you a good idea of the quality of the images and the other page shows the great layout.

I am going on a little holiday to Toronto from Wednesday evening through Saturday. I will take you to some of the City’s parks where I will be ‘birding’. The blog will be much shorter on Thursday than usual – I arrive in Toronto late, late Wednesday night. However, we will have Heidi’s reports, Geemeff’s, and a few nests Thursday morning! Things will be back to usual Sunday. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy my little excursion.

BOOK REVIEW:

Connie Dennis and her husband, Don, are more than just residents of Nova Scotia. They are privileged observers of the lives of the Osprey couple, Ethel and Oscar. Their home provides a front-row seat to the incredible fish-eating raptors, and they have used this unique perspective to create Pickles the Osprey. An Osprey’s Journey in Nova Scotia.  This children’s book is beautifully illustrated with Don’s photographs, offers a rare glimpse into the life of these majestic birds, a perspective that only Connie and Don could provide.

Pickles the Osprey is a delightful book. It has Calico’s seal of approval, which is very hard to earn! Pickles gives us a first-hand view of his life as an osplet in a nest in Nova Scotia.  He introduces us to his parents, who work hard to provide their chicks with a nice nest and fish. We learn what kind of fish ospreys consume in Nova Scotia, which differs from fish hawks in other parts of the world.  Connie provides useful scientific facts in a manner that is not dull to young people.  She also peppers the story with ‘Fun Facts’ alongside the humour of Pickles.  Children will learn about the unique talons of the osprey that allow them to grasp fish and carry them back to the nest.  They will learn about fledging and migration.  In addition, Dennis brings up one of the main challenges of our raptors – hydro poles.  The couple worked tirelessly to ensure the ospreys in Nova Scotia were safe.  They have provided images of the help that Nova Scotia Power has given to the raptors such as Oscar and Ethel. 

The book has stunning close-up images of Pickle’s nest and great graphics.  Included are photos of Canadian currency with ospreys and some fun photoshopping with Pickles sharing a meal of fish tacos with his parents after migration. I had no idea that ospreys appeared on our paper currency!  And I did not know that Ospreys are the provincial bird of Nova Scotia.  This proves that there is always something for us to learn. Grandparents, parents, and teachers will find this an excellent resource to help young people understand the life cycle and the challenges that ospreys face in a contemporary world—highly recommended!

All profits from the sale of Pickles the Osprey: An Osprey’s Journey in Nova Scotia go to Hope for Wildlife. Connie will also sign and mail copies anywhere. This way, ALL profits go to Hope for Wildlife.  The address for ordering is below.  Copies can also be obtained from Amazon and Indigo.

https://morningdovepress.myshopify.com/products/pickles-the-osprey-by-connie-dennis

[Thank you to Morning Dove Press for the images!]

For slightly older youngsters, I highly recommend Belle’s Journey. An Osprey Takes Flight by Rob Bierregaard and Kate Garchinsky. This book gives you an excellent glimpse at osprey migration using a GPS satellite-tagged bird and twenty years of research into bird migration. Belle takes her first flight from the nest and travels down the coast of the United States all the way to South America. Through her trials and tribulations, we learn about the great challenges and why so many do not last the journey. It is another Calico favourite, and Heidi tells me it suits adults, too.

It remains hot with no break in sight for some of our Pacific Northwest nests. Let’s check and see how a few of them are doing:

At Charlo Montana, Lola’s posture says it all.

It is much nicer for the ospreys in the early morning and evening. Iris is hot like Lola and keeping her babies cool. These poor females.

Iris doesn’t know but Finn has a big fish coming in if he doesn’t lose it!

Finn ate on the fish for nearly an hour and delivered a huge headless piece to Iris. She is delighted as are the chicks.

‘PB’ sent me the Owl cam view of this feeding!

Dunrovin. It is hot there for Swoop and Winnie.

At McEuen Park, Mm continues to try to keep her only surviving baby safe and fed as best she can. She often alerts that intruders are near. Did they harm her mate? Will they try a nest takeover?

Cowlitz PUD: The one remaining osplet, not taken by the eagle, is getting to be a fair size. Maybe the eagle will give up. That would be wonderful for Electra. It started out promising until the heat hit the nest and the eagle. Take a breath.

Steelscape:

The Only Bob at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum continues to appear to be thriving.

Expecting fledges at Field Farm any time!

Hoping Beaumont and Hope keep up the good work with their two osplets. Knocking on wood!

For those birds in the area where Menhaden is their main source of food – and it is being scooped up by the millions of pounds, let’s stop this.

Bailey isn’t the only raptor donating blood. Connick did and saved a Red-tailed Hawk. Thanks, ‘J’!

A great Osprey rescue.

Geemeff’s Daily Summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:

Daily summary Tuesday 16th July 2024

A slow day today, no fish arrived on the nest but Louis did bring a very impressive ten foot pole, and spent some time positioning it on the nest and doing some nest-scraping. Despite Dorcha calling loud and long for fish, he decided to attempt mounting her but a wayward breeze put paid to that by blowing him away. LizB says: The mating attempts, along with coy mantling, skydancing, nest scraping and bringing in nesting materials are all normal bonding behaviours to reinforce their bond after what they see as a nest failure following the loss of their chicks. No Ospreys visited Nest One, just a Thrush visited and perched for a few moments. The light rain and light winds of tonight’s forecast were already in evidence when night cam switched over much earlier than usual, and thundery showers are expected tomorrow.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.24.45 (03.27.14); Nest Two 23.10.47 (03.40.54)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/b9ycwbSrAqQ A Thrush visits and perches for a while 11.34.21 (zoom)

https://youtu.be/bcctn-mHR5s Comedy moment: the wind blows Louis away during a mating attempt 13.03.11

https://youtu.be/tmvFGPHenBo How does Louis manage to fly with a 10 foot pole? 18.35.27

Bonus read – Scottish Ospreys translocated in 2023 to the place in Spain where our chicks are now:

https://euroweeklynews.com/2023/07/15/twelve-scottish-osprey-chicks-arrive-in-pego

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

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

‘H’ reports:

7/16 Osoyoos osprey nest:  The live stream was offline until 0930, so we may have missed a couple of Olsen’s early fish deliveries.  It was another very hot day, with a temperature of 102F/39C at 1600.  We did not see a fish delivery until 1759, and it was a very large whole fish brought by Soo.  After such a long time without a meal, I was concerned that there might be some aggression, but there wasn’t.  It was a peaceful, 41 minute feeding, and Soo and her two remaining chicks had a nice meal.  At 2113, Olsen dropped off a small partial fish, and there was some slight intimidation from Big toward Middle.  This feeding lasted for 7-minutes, and Middle was able to eat during the last 2 minutes.  Weather for 7/17: Partly cloudy, high 99F/37C, light winds.

7/16 Audubon Boathouse osprey nest:  As you know, Dory and Skiff’s two young chicks were killed by a Great Horned Owl in the early morning hours.  There was some light rain in the evening.  Dory dropped down from the perch and tried to cover her chicks’ bodies to protect them from the rain.  In 2022 Dory and Skiff fledged three chicks.  They have had 6 chicks over three seasons, and half of them were predated by a GHO. 

7/16 Mispillion Harbor osprey nest:  Della and Warren have done a wonderful job raising their two 49 and 50-day-old chicks.  The chicks have both been doing some major wingercising.  They have not achieved any significant lift as yet, but it won’t be long!

7/16 Chesapeake Bay Foundation osprey nest (Annapolis):  This is a cam without rewind.  Three eggs were laid, and three hatched.  The two youngest nestlings died within days of hatching.  The oldest chick seems to be doing very well, and is estimated to be 37 days old.

7/16 Patuxent River Park osprey nest:  It is still difficult for Little to acquire food because of his aggressive fledgling sibs.  Mom doesn’t even get enough to eat.  It has been extremely hot at the nest area (101F on Tuesday), and the fish count to the nest has dropped.  Little’s only meal of the day was at 0515 from a large leftover fish, but it was a good, long feeding from Mom.  For the first time, Little was performing some high hovers that were completely out of our sight.  I think the kid may be ready to fly…but he needs a good meal first. 

7/16 Colonial Beach osprey nest:  This area reached at least 97 degrees today.  Once again, there were only three fish brought to the nest.  The chicks are 21 and 22 days old.  Chick #1, Big, has just started to become aggressive during meals over the past couple of days.  At 0720 David dropped off a large flatfish, and Big prevented Little from eating during the meal.  David delivered another large fish at 0900, and Little was finally able to eat for about 5-minutes at the end of the meal.  More than 8 hours passed, and finally Betty arrived with a medium sized fish.  Due to aggression by Big, Little was only able to eat two bites of fish and the fish tail.  I am worried for Little.    

Sweet Baby Blue at the HWF-BBC Central Nest in British Columbia. I am so glad that you have been enjoying seeing the fish pieces fly to the nest! They all deserve our help.

Kristel had a Raven and, consequently, a huge crop on the 15th. Kristel was 10 weeks old. She is waiting for more prey deliveries this morning.

Cute little Dorsett Hobby Mum is learning!

Mr Crow would like you to learn more about Crows so that you will consider feeding them! Just as the creator of the video states – the Crows know our car! And there is nothing shy about them when it comes to telling us their food trays are empty. Just like all the other birds living in an urban environment, their habitat is being destroyed as I wrote and there are little food choices for them. Please help if you can. You will be rewarded much more than you give.

Thank you for being with us. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams, videos, images, screen captures, posts, comments, and letters: ‘Geemeff, H, J, PB’, Connie Dennis, Don Dennis, Morning Dove Press, Charlo Montana, Montana Osprey Project, McEuen Park, Dunrovin Ranch, Cowlitz PUD, Pam Breci, MN LA, Field Farm, Newfoundland Power, Lesley the Bird Nerd, SK Hideaways, Hancock Wildlife Foundation, Eagle Club of Estonia, Looduskalender, Osoyoos, Audubon Boathouse, Mispillion Harbour, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Patuxent River Park, by Rob Bierregaard and Kate Garchinskyand Colonial Beach.