4 November 2022
Hello Everyone,
Sunday was a very rainy day. Despite that we did the Chickadee Trail at Bird’s Hill Provincial Park – the long trail. It is fast becoming my favourite place to walk because of the silence. Yes, on occasion, you can hear traffic from the main highway but mostly it is the song of the chickadees that fills the air. They were hungry today as not so many people visited the park in the recurring periods of heavy rain. Every where we stopped, wee little songbirds, the sweetest things, flew down to our hands to grab a seed! It is magical. They weigh nothing. They are so beautiful. And like all other songbirds, we need to protect them.
The paths were a bit muddy but there was a rich earthy scent to our walk that we didn’t have yesterday. What a privilege to be able to visit a place during every season.
So cute.
Calico finally had her party. It wasn’t as glitzy as it might have been, but they all enjoyed those squeezy chicken treats and dear Hugo Yugo was into everything before Calico could get there. She got a new reclining scratch post, much needed as they have used up the other two. They still like to sleep on them like a chaise. She has a new book and lots of dental chewy sticks that she loves plus some other dental treats.
Calico is licking her lips! She loved her new scratch post and devoured her treats and got right into chewing on her dental toys.
Missey decided it was safer elsewhere. Missey loves those squishy squeezy chicken treats. (They smell terrible).
The big news in Bird World is what we knew, but what we wanted to see – a juvenile sea eaglet being fed by Lady or Dad down by the river roost. If it wasn’t for the energy and dedication of BOGS like Rohan Geddes we might not feel the relief that we are seeing this baby being fed by its parent. Now..if we could only see both sea eaglets being fed at the same time – well, that would feel like winning the Super Jackpot Lottery.
Here is all the latest news I could find trolling the Internet.
Are you in Devon? There is a fundraiser to put up some platforms for the Ospreys!
Some Ospreys are doing so well they have decided not to migrate yet. Remember it is all about food availability, not weather.
News of a Kielder Fledgling at its winter home in Senegal!
At Orange, Yira and Garrama share a pigeon. https://youtu.be/zuWX9kr6V3Q?
Strong windstorm caused Di to have trouble flying into the scrape! https://youtu.be/i2wOgHKTVeA?
Wilko and Kasse along with their big clown feet enjoyed an early fish breakfast.
Are those feet really as long as their heads???
Kasse is very full!
Nothing cuter than little ospreys.
More food – and a beautiful family.
The down is quickly disappearing from the Collins Street triplets revealing beautiful deep ebony wings.
Working on those wings! https://youtu.be/s0fAxKZu0xY?
‘BA’ reminded me to mention Bubba at Growing Home. That nest is near Sydney, Australia. So grate to have another osprey cam in Australia. Bubba is doing fantastic. Looks fully feathered to me!
Gabby and Beau at the nest on Sunday.
It was windy in Big Bear Valley. Jackie and Shadow did some quick nestorations on Sunday.
We can’t get enough of Jackie and Shadow. https://youtu.be/MqUK46ZVvv8?
Nest collapse at Iroquois Wildlife Refuge. Will the eagles rebuild so they can be seen on the cam? We wait.
There is good news for the Black Grouse population in Europe.
Calico’s birthday book, Sky Dancer, by Gill Lewis, looks very promising as a book that you might want to add to the list of children in your lives, ages 8-12. (I am enjoying it, too). I will keep you posted as we work through a book where children wonder what ‘the wild’ really is. Gill Lewis is a vet who has travelled from the Arctic to Africa, examining different species and their habitats. She lives in the UK and has a series of books I am keenly interested in. We need to educate our children to know about the history of raptors, such as the hen harriers who were virtually killed out of existence in the UK. In 2016, only three pairs – think about that – successfully raised young in the UK. Lewis says, “I hope that the dream of rewilding our landscape and rewilding our own lives becomes a reality.”
Ongoing results for the International Osprey Data Project: I am behind in entering nests. I still have 8 from Nova Scotia, 2 from Manitoba, and about 20 miscellaneous ones for 2024. This is, however, the results of our mortality study for 2024 so far, without those nests.
Out of 493 eggs, 80 DNH, 103 died, and 309 lived. Of those that died, 1 was from an illness, 10 were nest accidents, 1 was electrocuted, 2 were deemed to be natural deaths, 8 deaths were from unknown causes, 37 were predated with owls being the largest killer, 1 died in rehab, 1 died after translocation cause unknown so far, 19 died from siblicide, 10 starved to death (there will be many more in this category once I finish entering data), and 13 died from weather-related events.
Sharon Dunne brings us up to date with what is happening with the Royal Albatross.
Calico’s Tip for the Day: Bird Feeders should be at least 15 feet or 4 metres from any windows. All windows should be bird friendly. Decals and stickers need to be spaced close together and placed on the OUTSIDE of the window or they are not effective. Calico does not recommend them as it is expensive to purchase enough for them to repel the birds. Instead for those with short budget strings, get window markers made by Crayola. The white and yellow work well. For those with more funds, Calico recommends Feather Friendly strips.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: Rohan Geddes, Judy Harrington, Dixie Rottler, Devon Osprey Partnership, John Thorpe, Joanna Dailey, Falcon Cam Project, SK Hideaways, Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, SK Hideaways, Growing Home, NEFL-AEF, FOBBV, Baiba, Trudi Kronenberg, Rewilding Europe, International Osprey Data Project, Sharon Dunne, USFWS Alaska.