I want to draw your attention to the message that has been posted on the Port Lincoln Osprey Observation Board.
“Today will be a tough day for all.
This is a wild nest. Whatever happens happens. And it happens for a reason. The main point is survival. And that means the first priority for mum is with #1, and then #2.
It’s been hard on the birds these past few days.. And there was little food, and both the kids and the parents are hungry. Hopefully there will be enough fish today to recover. The weather is looking up, but even today there will be lots of wind.
Intervention is out of the question at this moment. There are very strict policies about intervening. So don’t ask.. Anything that is possible will be done. Be assured of that.
I ask you to keep a check on the chat. Stay positive and if that’s hard.. Don’t be too negative. But making speculations and criticisms doesn’t benefit anyone.
Especially the people working hard in Port Lincoln and are more concerned than anyone I can imagine. They need our support! Not our advice (however well meant that might be)!”
I am aching and hurting like all of you. If there was something positive we could do at this stage to change the situation at Port Lincoln, I would absolutely tell you. What I can say is that if there is anyway to help Middle, I believe that Janet Forster will be able to do it and if she can’t, no one else can. She has made this entire project at Port Lincoln work and has expanded it.
The legislation regarding intervention is very restrictive. Port Lincoln Ospreys applied for licenses and there were many restrictions placed on them. They cannot break the law or they will lose the right to have the streaming cam, put up platforms and have the streaming cam.
It is the laws that regulate the permissions and licenses that needs changing. In order to do that, politicans must understand that the life of our sea birds has changed based on the current state of the climate and the oceans. It is not just the laws in South Australia but, everywhere. They were written in an era of non-intervention at a time when humans did not understand how much we have altered the ability to exist for the wildlife of our planet.
John Watson is the head of Sea Shepherd. He is a Canadian committed to taking direct action on the high seas to ending the slaughter of endangered and threated marine wildlife. I am so proud he is a Canada. Watson will tell you that the oceans are depleting at an alarming rate. “Marine life is disappearing right before our eyes” is his mantra. Watson is concerned about the animals – I am concerned about the availability of fish for our sea birds.
It is also the fish in the seas that feed the sea birds like our beloved ospreys, Albatross, and Sea Eagles need to eat to stay alive that are also being depleted by human action. If the oceans were teeming with fish, Dad and Mum would not have trouble getting fish on the nest except in circumstances where the weather just doesn’t allow them out to fish. This is when we need the intervention statues to allow for feeding at the nest. This has happened in other jurisdictions such as the UK and Canada. In Canada, one attempt was unsuccessful because they used frozen fish. Fresh fish caught can be dead but never frozen; Ospreys have not shown they are willing to eat fish that has been frozen.
We may not be able to get fish on the nest to save our beloved Middle (although I hope beyond hope that something positive happens today). If you feel so inclined you might want to write to the Minister of the Environment and Water for South Australia to consider the wildlife acts and allow for interventions in situations like Middle. He is 43 days old today and completely feathered. If he were retrieved too near fledge he might bolt and drown and so might Big. It is an opportune time but permissions and legislations grind on for years, if not decades. It is seldom hours or minutes unless the permissions are in hand prior to an event. The laws are out of touch with the reality and urgency at the nests.
The new Minister of the Environment and Water is: The Honourable Tanya Plibersek, Minister for the Environment and Water. She won the seat in June as a member of the Labor Party but has close associations with the Greens. She could be the best chance that our Ospreys have in South Australia as the permits and the legislation go through her office.
I would like to point out that the Friends of Osprey chair is The Honourable David Speirs. You might recall that Ervie was named after the village in Scotland where he was born. Speirs is the former Minister of the Environment and Water and is now the Official Leader of the Opposition. On more than one occasion, Speirs has said that he is against intervention as has Ian Falkenberg, also one of the board of Friends of Osprey. Their reasons hinge on the existing wildlife act and permissions and permits, the fact that there is no place to care for an osprey in South Australia, and their understanding that ospreys do not do well in care. On this last point, I am attempting to collate evidence based information for them so that they might understand and rethink their position.
The morning has started in South Australia. The sea is calmer. Please send your very best wishes to Mum, Dad, Big, and Middle as they try their best to survive in miserable circumstances. We have to remember that the adults must eat and Mum has not had much fish either. So please…warm wishes.
Thank you for joining me. I hope to have better news tomorrow. I live in hope of miracles.
I hope that your beginning of the week has been a good one. We are on the third bad weather day at Port Lincoln and Middle has had little food. It is a very somber day. We wait to see if the weather changes and then to see if Big will allow Middle to eat. Things are not looking good. I wish I had great news for you this morning but ever so sadly, I do not.
Some of you are coming in late to the Alphabet-Name Game. It is for fun but, I have also discovered that it is a really good way to remember our feathered friends. Someone wrote that SE26 needed to be remembered and, well, the tap started running. That sea eaglet was such an inspiration to so many. I am so utterly deflated that she is not with us! — But, back to the fun part. Take a digital or physical piece of paper and put down all the letters of the alphabet. See what names of the streaming cam birds you come up with for each one. E is for Ervie. A is for ______________. Who can come up with a name for U? Anyone watching those Finnish Osprey nests? Send me your list by e-mail before midnight the 2nd of November. I will then set about collating them hopefully with some pictures! I hope to have the list complete over the weekend. Thank you to those that have already sent in their names. I saw so many that I knew and had forgotten! And do not feel bad if you come up with a lot for one letter and none for others, just send them in to me and join the challenge! That e-mail is: maryasteggles@maryannsteggles.com
In the Mailbox and Comments:
‘F’ comments: ‘The Port Lincoln nest is the hardest I’ve seen since I started seeing ospreys at the beginning of the year, very hard, the only thing missing is for the mother to be sick.’
You are so right, ‘F’. Yesterday I thought we had lost Mum and my heart just sank watching Dad try to feed the two osplets, Big and Middle, and failing miserably. It is very difficult to watch a nest that does not have enough fish. As I continue to mention, I have huge concerns over the commercial tuna fishing fleets that are based in Port Lincoln. Are they taking all the fish? I hope to find out more about this later.
NOTE: There was only 1 fish yesterday, 1 November, in Port Lincoln. Big attacked Middle many times. Mum is currently sleeping on top of Middle. I am concerned now that Middle will not survive unless there is a massive amount of fish brought to the nest. There will be no intervention. Port Lincoln would not have permission unless as Ian Falkenberg and others have said they deem the bird to be ‘near fledge’. There have been ospreys taken into care who have done well at Audubon’s Centre for Birds of Prey at Mailand, Florida such as Smedley who lived to be 28 and Bailey. I am attempting to find other factual information on Ospreys in care. If you know of any, please let me know.
Smedley and Bailey at the Audubon Birds of Prey Centre in Maitland, Florida. Smedley passed away in the past year at the age of 28. Bailey is still alive at the Centre and I understand there is another osprey in care…perhaps more. I must check with our friend ‘L’ that works with these amazing raptors to find out precisely how many ospreys have gone through the centre. Some have stayed as ambassadors while others are returned to the wild.
Making News:
Just more research findings supporting birds and nature are good for our health and might, in the future, be prescribed by doctors! Have a read and smile.
There is a new article on birds and pollution by the British Trust for Ornithology. Have a read when you get a chance. We can all learn something new every day!
One of the older siblings of the Melbourne Four looks up perhaps seeing the parents flying about. Next to her in the gutter is the wee 4th hatch, a little boy.
Victor Hurley, the head researcher for the Victoria Peregrine Falcon Research Group, has posted what he believes are the genders of the Melbourne Four on FP. Here is that announcement:
Oh, goodness. Ervie’s tracker has been off line for a few days and last night the camera went down on the Port Lincoln Osprey barge just when we were all getting more than concerned for Middle. Ervie has been seen roosting on a tree near the water so he is fine. He had flown away early probably hoping to find some fish.
The waves are really, really choppy at Port Lincoln. Rain and gales have hit the nest and the number of fish deliveries has been dwindling since the start of the stormy weather. There was only one fish delivered on Tuesday.
This is one gorgeous osprey looking at us with their crest up high.
They are hard to differentiate between unless they are standing up and you can compare size and then see both head’s. Middle is missing feathers from the nape and so is this bird with this gorgeous crest. Is this Middle? or is it Big fooling me?
‘A’ tells me that there is even snow predicted for Port Lincoln. I simply cannot believe this is happening. This nest is ‘fragile’.
Everything is fine at the scrape box on the water tower in Orange. Indigo is really flapping those wings and Little Rubus watches and then he does some precious little flaps, too. He copies everything that Indigo does – my goodness what an utter joy it is to watch these two grow up together.
Indigo works her wings all during the day. Little Rubus often watches closely and if you look, he will give a little flap to his wings.
Xavier brings in a European Starling for breakfast. Indigo gets frightened and moves back toward the wall and then scurries to the Cilla Stones.
Just look at that beautiful Dad, our loving Xavier.
Xavier decides to take the prey and prepare it elsewhere. By this time Indigo is curious and hungry and comes down from the stones. Will that Starling return?
Yes, it does. Xavier returns in about 50 minutes and Diamond flies in to take the prey and feed Indigo and Rubus. Oh, dear. Look at that is left on the stones!!! The Starling Head. Indigo is going to be scared out of her wits when she sees it.
Just look at those beautiful tail feathers now revealed. If you look at Rubus, he is now losing the soft down from around his eyes and on his wing tips.
Every time Indigo really gets to flapping more down flies through the scrape.
The eyases had a Starling feeding but the head was left. Diamond comes in to take it and Rubus rushes over to take it. Poor Indigo. Rubus is going to put it right near the wall where she is sleeping. Will she be frightened when she wakes up and there is that beak and eyes staring at her? Rubus has never been frightened and Indigo is so easily scared. It would be a trick a younger sibling would pay on its older one!
Rubus grabs the head.
He carries it over and places it next to Indigo!
Diamond returns in a few minutes and retrieves the head and feeds it to Rubus. I don’t think Indigo even moved. Rubus is an endless pit when it comes to prey. Where does he put it? Definitely not in his skinny long legs.
Indigo and Rubus had a European Starling and a Large Honeyeater (Noisy Miner) for their morning meals. Rain is forecast for Orange, too. You can see some dark clouds looming in the distance.
The Melbourne Four continue to be fed and to find out when you have to listen and watch them scurry down the gutter towards the adult with the prey. Their legs are certainly getting stronger and the oldest is starting to look like a juvenile falcon!
Just checking on some of the Bald Eagle nests in the US as the couples continue to do nestorations or rebuilding.
Jackie and Shadow’s nest at Big Bear in California.
Gabby and Samson’s nest near St Petersburg, Florida.
Ron and Rita’s nest in the Miami Zoo.
Bella and Smitty have been bringing in nesting materials to the NCTC nest.
Lady and Dad were bonding at the WBSE nest in the Sydney Olympic Forest.
My thoughts go out to the Port Lincoln nest this morning as we wait to see if Middle will survive. I am sure that I speak for all of us when I say that it feels like our heart has been pulled out of us. The turn in the weather and the amount of fish at Port Lincoln has put our beautiful Middle’s life in jeopardy.
The other two scrapes we have been watching are doing just fine. Much of the fluff is now off three of the falcons at 367 Collins Street. There is plenty of food available at both scrapes.
Take care everyone. Thank you for being with me. See you soon.
It is freezing in Port Lincoln tonight. Turned really, really cold. Mum is working hard at keeping Middle warm. Beautiful Mum.
Thank you to the following for their posts, videos, and streaming cams where I took the screen captures: ‘A’ and ‘H’, Audubon’s Birds of Prey, The Guardian, Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Victor Hurley and 367 Falcon Watchers, FOBBV, NEFL-AEF, WRDC, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park.
The weather on the Canadian Prairies continues to be balmy. It is 10 degrees C as I write to you and it is just past 2030 Saturday evening. The one thing I enjoy so much about living in Canada is that we will never let a good weather day at the end of October pass us by. Visitors at the wetlands today were in their shirt sleeves — short ones! Everyone had come to try and spot the Tundra Swans. There were 13 of them on the water yesterday including the family that I had seen in September.
It promised to be a good day as the sound of Canada geese honking filled the sky. On the way to Oak Hammock, I passed more than one field of corn being harvested. This is a huge bonus for the geese and ducks landing here now on their way south. Lots of food and the weather is supposed to be warm and dry for several more days. The geese will have those fields cleaned up in short order.
I have mentioned Oak Hammock Marsh before but, for those that are new, here is a short description. It is a huge area of wetlands northwest of Winnipeg measuring 36 sq kilometres or 13.89 square miles. The area is owned jointly by Ducks Unlimited and the Province of Manitoba. The landscape changes from season to season and month to month. There are many educational programmes, tours, canoes, and an interpretative centre. It is one of two large nature centres near the city where I live. The other is Fort Whyte Alive. The main difference between the two is the fact that Ducks Unlimited – while restoring wetlands to protect and grow the number of waterfowl – are also proud promoters of duck hunting. That is difficult for me. At the same time, I am grateful that there are expanses of land for waterfowl instead of housing divisions or paved parking lots.
The main building has a little shop, a display of miniature ducks that have won the annual contests, lots of computers set to eBird, and walls of displays – historical finds on the land when they were building, a class room, and cases full of beautifully carved ducks. I forgot my phone or I would have images of these for you – the lens on my camera simply cannot focus that close.
We had so much water in the spring. It rained and rained and rained every day. Torrential rains. This area of the flat prairie flooded in many parts. It made for soggy earth where bull rushes grew. They grew so tall. The Red-winged Blackbirds were eating the seeds the last time I was here. Today, there was no a single one. They are on their way south!
This female Downy Woodpecker was looking for bugs and insects and flitted around the path going in and out of the shrubs. She seemed to care less if I was there with her so focused was she on finding food.
Such a gorgeous Greater Yellowlegs.
There were two American Coots towards the end of one of the trails in ‘Coot Pond’. It was also there that I found the Snowy Owl I had gone to see – one seen flying over the marsh this morning. Sadly, it was dead.
Overhead two raptors were enjoying soaring in the thermals. There are Northern Harriers that I have seen at the wetlands but, there was always only one. These two look as if they were having fun and their silhouette looks like the immature Bald Eagles in both of my books with raptor silhouettes. I just wonder if one of these might be responsible for the demise of the Snowy Owl.
I saw six Great Yellowlegs today. They were all very busy poking around at the edge of the pond looking for food.
The Tundra Swans alluded me today. That is perfectly fine. It was a joy to see them in September!
On my way home I stopped at a park that I frequent occasionally checking for Wood Ducks. I was not disappointed today. A cute little girl, about three or four years old, was feeding the ducks cracked corn – a perfect food for them! This had brought the 20 or so ducks up to a single area. Many looked as if they had already eaten lots of corn and were back in the water swimming. And the light was so strange – the water looked metallic. Everything had a reflection and this cute little female Wood Duck seems to be looking at hers. I wonder if she knows how gorgeous she is.
This Mallard couple sat so still and their plumage was so vibrant and perfect that they appeared to be decoys. And then they moved!
The golden glow of the sun as it was getting lower in the sky caught this precious female Mallard. She looks like she has been eating very well and it is time for the last of the sun’s rays to warm her.
The forecast is for it to be 18 degrees C on Wednesday. I am going to check e-Bird and see if there are any hotspots with shorebirds and ducks still in southern Manitoba!
I know that many of you have pets, perhaps more than one. One of the wonderful things about them is how happy they are to see you when you get home. Well, when I pulled up and parked the car, I could hear a sound. I didn’t recognize it at first but, then, I saw her. There was Dyson running down the branch of the tree to greet me. She said all of her hellos and beat me – she was already waiting on the deck for peanuts – by the time I sat my camera down. Now how did she know that there was an enormous sack of fresh nuts just purchased for her???
Suzanne Arnold Horning was out and about today and she has photos of Big Red, Arthur, and L4 on the campus today. Oh, L4 looks so grown up. Remember that little one clamoring over its siblings to be right up and front at feeding time? and L4 being the first one to catch their own prey? Beautiful juvenile. I am so glad that L4 is staying in the territory. Wish this juvie had a band!
Look at those beautiful Juvenile eyes. Looks like L4 is over around the field by Highway 366.
Beautiful Big Red. Our fabulous Mama who will be 20 years old in the spring of 2023. Incredible.
This is another image of Big Red today from Ferris Akel’s tour. Isn’t she a stunner? And she has her dinner!
L4 will get her ‘red tail’ when she turns one. It is really a mark of honour for so few survive. Gradually, L4’s eyes will get darker and darker and one day she will look like her gorgeous Mum.
The Illegal trade in Song birds coming out of Indonesia. Oh, however so disgustingly sad. There are moves around the world to stop the illegal trade in birds and many places are banning the sale of parrots and other exotics to try and stop this practice. What is happening where you live?
We all know about Taiaroa Head where the NZ DOC take such good care of the Royal Albatross colony. Nearby is Dunedin’s Eco Sanctuary. Check out this birdwatching trip in New Zealand.
There was a big fire across from the nest of Harriet and M15!
Nest News:
The weather is truly miserable at Port Lincoln. It was pitching down rain and there was concern that Dad would not be able to bring any fish to the nest but, Dad is extremely dependable. If there are fish – even small ones – he will bring them to Mum, Big, and Middle. It was between small and small medium size. Middle got the first good bites and that is a good thing because at 085754 Middle got up to walk away and then turned as if he might want another bite. At 085757, Big takes exception and gives Middle a brief reminder that she is eating – and eat she did – all the rest of it! It is certainly true that things appear to be civil but, when Middle eats his fair share before Big or Big thinks Middle is going to eat all the fish, she doesn’t put up with it. There was a ‘look’ from Big at Middle at 091225 that said it all.
Oh, the family was soaked.
Breakfast arrived at 08:49. Middle will get the greatest share of the fish for the first six minutes of the feeding. Indeed, Middle will have a small crop. Middle is on the left and Big is on the right. You can see that the fish is not huge but it is not tiny either. Dad is extremely reliable.
All is forgiven as the pair try to get some warmth as the rain continues.
The rain stopped by the winds are blowing at 31 mph. It could be very difficult for Dad or Mum to bring any fish to the nest in these winds. Send this nest your best wishes, as always.
Middle is hungry. Big has gotten the lion’s share of the fish for yesterday and that was not much, just the two deliveries due to the stormy weather. So Middle was peckish and pecked – yes, he pecked Big – twice. Here are some images of the last encounter. BTW Big does retaliate but, it is not as viscious as previous times.
What precipitated the event was the sighting of a parent and the hope of some fish. The two followed and did a wee bit of fish calling. Middle puffed up real big before pecking Big —-oh, please let there be lots of fish on Monday in Australia!
At 367 Collins Street, the falcons did survive the fireworks but, at the same time, it was so apparent that Mum was frightened out of her wits. She returned to her perch above the scrape before dusk. Very grateful all is well.
It is impossible to know when the Melbourne Four are being fed unless you see them being fed at the end of the ledge above or hear them squeeeeeeing which they are doing now at 1400! I am not worried about them. These parents have done a smashing job feeding these four and learning how to care for them. ‘A’ tells me it is blistering hot in Melbourne today and the eyases know to stay in the shade. So they are eating and they are sleeping in the shade and isn’t that wonderful — all is well.
Oh, goodness they are loud! Rewind to 1404 to hear them. It is a wonderful sound. You can just picture them jumping a bit with their beaks wide open snatching that precious prey.
At 1411 one of the eyases is heard running down the gutter. Then they mantle once they get to the scrape box. They have a piece of prey and they are going to self-feed. How exciting! This wee one keeps looking back to see if anyone is coming to try and take its treasure.
All finished and the fluffy eyas is running down the gutter back to the feeding wanting more!
The Melbourne Four had their usual four feedings yesterday despite the fact that we cannot always see them. Great parenting! Glad things are now quiet.
‘A’ reports that she saw that dreadful synthetic spider web decorating a property in Melbourne for the first time yesterday. This needs to be banned before it becomes ‘the thing’ to do. It is dreadful for all the small birds and other animals including pets that can get tangled up in it.
No more had Alison said this and there is an article in The Guardian urging Australians not to adopt the spiderwebs as they continue to follow the Americans trend of Halloween.
All is well at the scrape in Orange of Diamond and Xavier. We are so lucky that there are several cameras covering all the angles including the outside of the water tower at Orange. It gives the viewer real insight as to what is happening everywhere.
There were two feedings in the morning. At 0648 Diamond arrives with a pigeon and feeds Rubus and Indigo. Then at 1027, Xavier arrives with an Eastern Rosella Xavier will begin the feeding and Diamond will take over. She loves her Rosella, too. Just look at Indigo and Rubus. Look at their size. Gone are the days when Rubus was so tiny he could not get to the beak for food. Now it is watch out or Rubus will get it all. I do wonder if Rubus – who is four days younger and that is a huge amount of time in a falcon’s early life – is not a female.
Rubus is really getting all of the first part of the feeding. What an aggressive youngster. Reminds me of Izzi.
Rubus also gets full and goes over to the Cilla Stones making it easy for Indigo to finally get some breakfast.
But then…Rubus decides he would like some more prey. Poor Indigo. Just look at that adorable face. How could anyone ever get mad at that?
Rubus is still like a fluffy cotton ball with sparkling decoration around the edges.
Just close your eyes for a second and remember little Rubus trying to jump up and get prey and now look. Snatching it right out of the parent’s beak!
Diamond slept on the edge of the scrape box for part of the night departing sometime after 0100 to go up to the top of the tower.
The nest with prey delivery problems is Port Lincoln and that is because of the weather. The forecast is for rain and wind on Monday and Tuesday.
Thank you so much for being with me this morning. Take care everyone…and remember to work on your Bird Names Alphabet. I cannot wait to see all of the names you come up with! See you soon.
Thank you to The Guardian, Suzanne Arnold Horning for her photographs of Big Red’s family including the phenomenal beauty, L4, Ferris Akel’s Tours, Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross.
It was so nice to hear from so many of you. I am glad you enjoyed seeing some of the feathered friends at my local zoo. I have not been there for years and it was simply a delight to see how zoo management has changed. One of the big features is our Polar Bear Conservation Project. Children love them. The place was packed – that made me happy but, I wish more people would sit and watch the birds and not be so attracted to what they are told is exotic – aka, ‘the tiger’.
Making News:
Alaska to Tasmania in one 13,000 km epic journey?! It seems a Godwit has set a new record!
Please don’t put all your leaves into bags. If you must, rake them and put them in a pile, Lovely Greens made this great poster to remind us that it is better for the birds if you just leave the leaves! Look at all the wonderous creates that will thank you.
The Kakapo Recovery Group – those great people that monitor, care for, assess, and generally make sure that as many of these critically endangered non-flying parrots live – have opened up adoptions for the next year. I can say as someone who waited too long – if you are intending to make a donation to the Kakapo by adopting one of the birds, do it now! Don’t wait. My Kakapo lives in one of my huge plants, often hiding, just like the real ones.
If you are looking to help out other wildlife groups or nature centres, many are busy making money selling their annual calendars now. Check out the individual websites.
Checking on the Australian Nests:
The takings at the Port Lincoln Osprey nest would not win any awards today. It is now 2100 on the Canadian Prairies on Friday night and it is 12:17 in Port Lincoln. There have been two deliveries: 061847 and 093829. Both were small! And I do mean small. The first appeared to be a chunk of fish and the second was simply a teaser. Let us hope something bigger comes on the nest soon. Still, it has been pleasant and that is fantastic.
Another fish, a little larger, came in at 131223. Big got the lion’s share of this fish. Middle is hungry and was doing a bit of snatch and grab but at 1315, Middle pulled away as if he was afraid Big would attack. Big continued to eat and at 1324, Big took the tail and ate it. This nest needs 2 big fish to come on it. Middle will be fine but both Middle and Mum need to eat, too.
Middle pulls away. He has had some bites but Big had domineered the feeding.
Middle watches Big eat the fish tail.
I don’t know if anything could get cuter than the antics of Rubus and Indigo. Particularly when prey is delivered. The pair of them seem to go after Xavier much more than Diamond – jumping, and pulling, and trying to take the prey out of Dad’s beak. I wonder if Xavier and Diamond have noticed that it is double the work taking care of these two than it was when they had only Yurruga last year or Izzi in 2020? Mind you those two were a little like energetic Rubus!
This scrape is the real winner in terms of prey deliveries. They had six deliveries yesterday of which 5 were Starlings. Today, there have been three deliveries already – a Starling at 060733, a parrot at 063831, and a Noisy Friar at 091333.
Here is a video of the earlier feeding:
It is getting much more difficult to tell when the Melbourne Four have been fed. They had a whole pigeon early and if you rewind you will not see any feedings. Still it is 1300 and, based on past performance, we know that the adults would have been in with prey. The sun is shining and so far there is no rain falling.
There is some serious concern over the Mum at 367 Collins Street. She was abruptly woken last evening and flew off the perch at 213426 and has not returned. It sounded to me like it was people partying in the CBD. Were there fireworks set off? Was it the Spring Carnival Fireworks? If that is truly the case, this is a very good reason not to have fireworks! It definitely disturbs the wildlife! I hope that Mum is perched somewhere safe. If you live in Melbourne and know what was happening around this time in the CBD, please send me a comment. Thank you!
‘H’ caught it all on video. Thank you ‘H’ for alerting me to this happening and creating this video for us. It is much appreciated. There are falcon sounds coming from the ledge above a few minutes later.
Continuing with the loud noises that happen when there are big gatherings, dozens of people were treated for cardiac arrest in Halloween celebrations last night. Perhaps it is time for civic leaders to recognize the harm to all by loud surprising noises bouncing off of tall buildings in urban spaces.
All of the Bald Eagles in the US are building their nests or renovating their old nests. Sometimes hearing that Xavier brought in another Starling can be like fingernails on a chalkboard. So ‘A’ and I have come up with something that we hope is fun and helps oil everyone’s brain! ‘A’ began making a list of the names of streaming cam birds that correspond to the alphabet. Then she sent it to me. Oh, it was fun trying to remember all the names and clear up the few missing bits. So, we both thought you might enjoy it, too. So, get a sheet of digital or real paper, get out your pen or your keyboard and put down all the letters of the alphabet. Then start adding the names of the birds next to them. Let’s give ourselves until Midnight Wednesday 2 November -CDT. I will give you a count down so you remember. I will post the results as soon as I can collate all of them. You can send them to me via e-mail: maryasteggles@outlook.com
To get you started. Can you think of a female Peregrine Falcon living at The Campanile whose name starts with an A. It is ____________________!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy!
Take care everyone. Thank you so much for being here with me. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their posts and/or their streaming cams where my screen captures came from: ‘H’ for her alert and video of 367 Collins, ‘A’ for her fun game idea, Lovely Gardens, CBC Canada, BBC, Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Kakapo Recovery, and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross.
So happy to have you here with me. I set out ‘in my mind’ last evening that I would get up early and head out to find Snowy Owls sitting on large round hay bales near Oak Hammock Marsh. I got a text from a friend – ‘no’ owls seen. So, determined to see a Snowy Owl today, I did something entirely different! I went to the zoo.
How long has it been since you have been to a zoo? With all the criticism against keeping animals in small cages, our Assiniboine Park Zoo set out to try and make the enclosures for the animals considerably larger. At the same time they addressed issues of ‘boredom’ and the environments that the animals would live in if they were out in the wild. It was a much more pleasant place to visit because of those major changes.
One of the zoo volunteers saw me looking at the map and asked me what I wanted to see. The answer was Snowy Owls and Birds. I wonder if they were disappointed that I didn’t say ‘tiger’ or ‘cougar’. As it happened we were very close to the Snow Owls and it was feeding time. Fluffy yellow chicks raised specifically for the purpose were being dished out. For several seconds, it seemed that a woman standing near to me was going to pass out she was so overcome by seeing the owls eat the chicks. I stood in wonderment trying to figure out if she thought that they ate lettuce – our zoo purchases an inordinate amount of Romaine lettuce – or fruit. It is a good thing that she was away from the cougar or the Stellar’s Eagle compounds at that specific moment.
The real character of the entire four hours was the Toucan. He made eye contact immediately. What an incredibly beautiful bird he is.
This is the Toco Toucan. They are the largest of the species at 62 cm long with a bill/beak that is 17 cm long. Their lifespan is approximately 20 years. The Toco Toucan is native to South American rainforests where its numbers are decreasing due to deforestation.
I wish we could have had a conversation. This chap was a real cutie pie.
These little Sun Conures were tiny in comparison to the Toco Toucan. No wonder they have the ‘sun’ as part of their name. Oh, those faces ranging from yellow to orange to red are the colours we painted the sun as children. They are native to northeastern South America. They are approximately 30 cm in length but these certainly did not look that big unless you count that long olive green tail in the measurement! These little cuties were using their bill and their feet to dig around the edge of their enclosure. They have a stubby quite muscular tongue that helps them move their food around in their mouth.
This beautiful Golden Eagle was finishing up its breakfast and not the least bit interested in anyone looking at it. What a beauty. It is one of the largest birds of prey in North America, about the same size as a Bald Eagle. Unlike a Bald Eagle whose legs and talons are bare, the Golden Eagle has feathers on its legs. In Canada, they are ‘at risk’. Their meals consist of small mammals such as rabbits and squirrels.
The Stellar’s Sea Eagle is the largest of the sea eagles. With its striking bright yellow beak and legs and its espresso brown/black and white plumage, it is easy to recognize this raptor. It has a wedge-tail and fine pointed wings. They are rare. In the northern areas they will stand on the ice and fish and love the salmon in the north. It is thought that they almost exclusively breed in the north of Russia. You may recall that there is a Stellar’s Sea Eagle that has come to Newfoundland, Canada travelling south to parts of New England. I believe it is back in Newfoundland.
There were so many little Red Squirrels. This one is eating a ‘helicopter’, the seed of the Maple Tree.
Little Red stuffed these Maple Tree seeds in every part of the old shed. There were boxes full. Never knew if he used them for insulation to stay warm as well as eating. There is a large box full of them in his new home if he ever moves in!
It was great fun. Lovely to see families out with small children running about. Next time you are looking for a place to go – think the zoo!
A very small fish landed on the Port Lincoln Osprey barge at 061847. Middle got some of the tail but Big got most of it at 062652.
Breakfast arrived at 0618 on the ledge of 367 Collins Street for the Melbourne Four. Another plucking lesson, too!
This big one has run off with a nice piece and is self-feeding.
After eating it was running to get those legs strong, finding scraps of prey, and flapping those wings. What a brilliant place for these eyases to get exercise! I wonder how being able to run and flap freely – running a great distance – might give these falcons an edge in terms of physical strength that would help them survive? Just a thought!
This is the Recap for the morning feedings at Orange. Goodness Xavier has been busy hunting!
BirdieCam RECAP: 6:07:33 starling, X leaves, 6:20:58 D feeds; 6:38:31 X w/RRP?, he feeds; 09.13.33 X w/Noisy Friarbird, D feeds
Everyone has had breakfast, some more than others. Wish for fish – a big one for Port Lincoln.
Take care all. This is just a quick check and all are doing well at the 3 nests we are watching in Australia.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross.
It has simply been an extraordinary day on the Canadian Prairies. Here it is 2113 and the temperature is +10 C. Earlier it was 13 C. There were individuals walking around with their summer flip flops! Fall is such a harbinger of the cold, cold winter that well, it is nice to have a break. I am starting the news for tomorrow because it is happening right now in Australia. Tomorrow I hope to get out early and find some Snowy Owls in the fields north of where I live. Perhaps a Northern Harrier or two and might there be a duck?
Snowy Owls arrive in Manitoba when the temperature begins to drop. You can see Snowy Owls on the utility poles, hay bales, and in the fields of Southern Manitoba. They rarely venture to the center or the north of our province. They blend in perfectly – their beautiful white plumage with its dark flecking – with the snow covering the land. Their eyes are a bright yellow as are their legs. They feed on grouse, lemmings, rabbits, and weasels in the winter. Any that remain here in the summer live off of voles and mice in the fields. We always think of owls as hunting from dusk to dawn but, the Snowy Owls hunt during the daytime. They range in size from 50-70 cm with reverse sex size dimorphism (the female is noticeably larger than the male).
Update on the status of SE29. Oh, my goodness, a broken leg above the talon. Sweet baby. So glad 29 is in good care!
Missing Annie and Alden? They were bonding in the scrape box yesterday!! ‘H’ caught it!
Progress is being made on the Notre-Dame Bald Eagle’s nest that collapsed. This is the natal nest of Little Bit ND17. Parents working very hard to get it ready for the upcoming breeding season.
Australian Nest News:
Friday on the Port Lincoln Osprey barge has simply been ‘interesting’. The day arrived with a small fish and deep breaths as I wondered whether Big would attack Middle. Or would Middle decide to give Big a peck again? ‘H’ calls what Middle got last night as ‘The School of Hard Knocks’ – it certainly was! But, today both have been civil. That said, something else is happening.
If one of the chicks does something, the other immediately does the same thing. Now seriously bear with me. This meant that both of them stuck their little bottoms in the air and did a PS in the window of 1030 and 1031. I kid did you not.
Big was sleeping and Middle was looking out over the water with a really nice crop.
Middle begins flapping his wings.
Then Big stands up and flaps her wings.
Middle raises up its fat little bottom with its head bent down low and gets ready. At the same time Big begins to lower her head and raise her bottom.
Middle goes first. Just look at that incredible ps. This chick has been eating well…if we did not know it we could ascertain that from the volume and the velocity of this incredible perfectly white ps. (There are some sticks there as well, check above or below so that you can tell what is ps. Middle has strong legs and a fat bottom and is growing like an incredibly bad weed.
Nine seconds separate the ps of each osplet.
Then Big decides to do some wing flapping.
Then Middle! The one good thing about their method is that it allows room for both to flap on the nest. I sure wonder what Mum thinks when she watches these two.
Then they both quiet down.
Dad arrives with another fish. It is 1232.
Gosh, I couldn’t see the size of that fish but Mum was still feeding the osplets at 1300. Big appears to have gotten the largest share. In the image above you can already see the crop that is large and — it will continue to grow!
At 1301 Middle had to stop eating and have another ps. Then he went back to the table probably hoping to get some more good bites which he did get. Now will he get that important fish tail?
Then – all of a sudden – the two osplets look up and there is Dad landing with another fish. Can you believe this?
Dad lands with a very small fish. A good practice fish for self-feeding. Mum ignores him and continues to feed Middle. She also gives some bites to Big who seems to always be able to find room for more.
At 1315 Dad takes his unwanted little fish and I presume goes over on the ropes to have his own lunch.
Dad returns empty taloned. He is looking closely at the fish that Mum is still feeding Middle and Big. Mum has been feeding the two and herself for over an hour. That was a BIG fish!
Incredible. At 1350 Mum is just finishing up that fish. Happy to see her eating well today, too.
Middle and Big had another meal at 1945. Wow. Dad is having some excellent fishing days.
Rubus and Indigo are adorable. Indigo ran off the Cilla Stones this afternoon to join Rubus in the corner. Oh, these eyases are so cute! That cuteness comes in part from their behaviour – their facial expressions, their interaction with one another and with Xavier and Diamond and their environment inside the scrape.
Rubus has been playing with the feathers. Is he looking for food scraps?
Indigo is over on the Cilla Stones watching her little brother as he intently stares at a feather.
Wow. That was a bit of a leap. Has Indigo been secretly going to gymnastics classes? I wonder how many points she would get for that landing?
Indigo is so curious as to what Rubus is doing and finding in those stones in his corner of the scrape.
Ah, two little sweeties! ‘A’ tells me that Cilla is certain that Indigo is a female as she is already as large as Xavier and still growing but, will not declare gender of Rubus for a bit. Four days younger and he is growing and growing. I have always called Rubus a ‘he’ and said ‘little brother’ but, in fact, Rubus could be a little sister for Indigo.
‘A’ notes that Indigo is losing all of her cotton fluff and will be looking much more like a falcon as Rubus continues to copy everything she does and remains a ball of cotton. From the time stamps that ‘A’ sent me, these two had a few good meals yesterday. Looks like there were five – that is appearing to be the daily average for the scrape at Orange.
The Melbourne Four seem to have relocated – for part of the afternoon – to the other end of the ledge.
The eyases are running up and down and then resting. All is well. No need to panic! ‘H’ caught them doing their famous gutter stomp heading to the other end for prey!
The weather report from ‘A’ for the eastern coast of Australia is rain and more rain. Storms put out power and pumps were working over time. This could inpact hunting for the Melbourne adults. We wait to see.
Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care of yourself. See you soon! (Please be advised if the weather is grand, I could well be out birding until late Friday. There might not be a late evening newsletter going out after this one. If that is the case, I will see you Saturday morning!).
Thank you to the following for their posts and streaming cams that make up my screen captures: ‘H’ for her video clips of Cal Falcons and the Melbourne Four, ‘A’ for her over view of the nests, the Eagle Cam, Window to Wildlife, Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam.
Oh, the forecast for the Canadian Prairies was spot on. We went from -1 to 13 degrees C right now. The sky is blue with only a whisp of a cloud but, there is some wind. It was a lovely, lovely day. It should be this way tomorrow and for the weekend and maybe even into early next week. I went out to a small market in the country hoping to see some of the Snowy Owls that are returning but, alas, none. The most activity is in my garden where the Crows are alerting the rest of their family that the buffet is open – peanuts, cheesy dogs, cheese, and eggs. Here they come!
In the Mailbox:
‘H’ sent a question to the mailbox and I bet a lot of other people are wondering about the use of the term ‘predation’. ‘H’s question was: If a Crow steals an Osprey egg, is that the same as saying that the egg was predated by the Crow?
The answer is a simple yes. The egg was not allowed to develop into the Osprey, ended any hope of life. I found an article on Crow’s predating Cormorant eggs using the term ‘predation’. It is helpful to see how others apply the term.
The oddest thing happened at the Orange scrape this morning. Xavier landed on the ledge of the scrape with a freshly caught Starling. Diamond and Xavier appeared to have a chat. Indigo ran over and wanted to take the breakfast prey item and then quickly ran to the Cilla Stones but returned. Both eyases indicated that they were hungry but, nothing happened. Xavier flew off with the Starling and has yet to return!
I suspect Diamond asked Xavier to take the Starling and prepare it. Oh, if we could only speak falcon. How frustrating that we can’t!
Diamond left and returned. It is 0728 and the Starling has not been returned to the scrape yet.
Ah, Xavier returns with ‘a’ Starling, unplucked at 0830. Rubus and Indigo also get a plucking demonstration but they are starving and Rubus, especially, is jumping and biting at Dad’s beak.
Xavier was doing a pretty good job considering he is being run over by his very large ‘babies’. Can we really call them babies now. Just look at how big Rubus is getting…my goodness. Indigo really has to work for her prey bites now.
Then Diamond shows up. Mum stands at the ledge and watches what is going on before her eyes. Xavier continues to feed Indigo and Rubus. He is doing a pretty good job.
Then Diamond decides it is time to take over and feed the kids.
She gets the prey and little Rubus, for some reason, runs over to the other side of the scrape.
Oh, but don’t worry. Rubus can’t be somewhere if food is elsewhere. He quickly gets back over and starts leaping for bites!
Both Indigo and Rubus have finished their meal. Indigo has stretched and now, for some reason, each has decided to go into a different corner. This won’t last long. They love to have a cuddle puddle.
Just look at Indigo’s wing feathers as she stretches.
I wonder how long they will stay like this?
Not long is the answer! Indigo goes over to join little Rubus. Well, OK. ‘Little’ Rubus is not going to apply for long. Aren’t they just sweeties?
At the scrape on 367 Collins Street in Melbourne, Mum slept on her perch above the four eyases. She flew off early.
An adult returned with a freshly caught pigeon (I could recognize it this time easily, thank goodness) and began plucking and plucking and plucking. The Melbourne Four will be very capable of plucking their own prey with all of these lessons. This was followed by a pretty good feeding. It looked like all that was left of the carcass was the backbone holding the wings when the parent flew off. One eyas appeared not to want to eat. I wonder if it is getting ready to cast a pellet? Eyases are often not hungry when this process is happening and many are very frightened when their body begins to regurgitate a hard clump of bones and hair!
Middle doesn’t look the worse for wear after the dust up with Big last evening. I wonder if Middle learned anything from pecking Big when everything was otherwise going quite well?
The breakfast fish that arrived was small, a bit of a teaser but, if both of the osplets behave each will get some fish. Dad landed with it at 070928.
Big got the lion’s share of the fish. Middle waited and was a wee bit nervous. Middle did wind up getting the fish tail which he turned away (Big was eyeing it) and horked.
Middle did wind up with a nice little crop. And the meal was civil. Hopefully Middle will just eat and leave Big alone today.
Everyone has eaten. That is a great start to the day in Australia. No one is traumatized. Everyone will sleep or pick at the leftovers on the nest until the next meal arrives.
Thank you so much for being with me for this early report on the breakfast offerings in the Australian nests. Take care everyone. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams: Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross.Thanks ‘L’ for the report on electrocutions and how to cease those unnecessary deaths and ‘H’ for the great question on predation.
