Thank you to everyone for your continued good wishes. I am very, very slowly feeling a wee bit better. A good friend dropped off two different types of Covid tests, just in case. Both were negative. So, not Covid. Whatever this is – well, I continue to say I do not wish it on anyone! Keep sending those positive vibes!!!!!!!!!
There is a rhythm to the events in the garden. The Juncos return first, then the White-throated Sparrow, and by then it is time for Mr and Mrs Crow to begin to bug me to fill up their food bowls. I have seen them during the winter but, for some reason, they return at the beginning of breeding season to remind me of their presence. I put out whatever I can gather from the fridge and from neighbours along with their usual cheesy dogs and hard boiled eggs along with cat kibble. This year events are earlier by about 14-16 days, but they are, nonetheless, happening in the same way. After spending the winter ignoring me, the first Crow has returned yesterday. In June, the little crows will come to get peanuts and to learn to dip them in the water. It is something that I look forward to with great delight.
The Crow first checked for peanuts and then went to chip away at one of the solid seed cylinders with large nuts and mealworms. It had previously been on the roof of the conservatory demanding treats! They watched as I filled the bowl with cheesy dogs, some cooked food from a neighbour including carrots….their favourite. (During the winter I have a secret feeding station for them).
The Baltimore Orioles will be here shortly. No matter what happens, the wildlife carry on, perhaps a little earlier, but what fun it will be to look forward to those little Crows splashing about, the baby Sparrows all puffed up sitting quietly waiting for the adults to tell them they can move, and the arrival of the Hummingbirds.
Calico talked to the Crow while it was coming and going during the day. Others slept.
We are now entering the period when the two year old returnees are causing havoc at the established nests – some of them their natal nests. We get a brief look at how this is impacting Kielder Forest, but it is happening everywhere.
There is no new news on the killing of LM12 Laddie near Loch of the Lowes. Scottish Wildlife Trust posted the following information on this amazing osprey.
Our hearts continue to break over this ‘murder’. Blue NCO continues to fish call and incubate the eggs although she is having to leave to try and feed herself.
There is always concern when there are three osplets and Lake Murray is no exception. ‘H’ is keeping a close watch.
The little one is trying. Just look at the size difference. Oh, I hope this sweet baby makes it. Fingers crossed.
The 1610 feeding – ‘H’ reports that all ate and there was no bonking. Yippee.
Wish that little one had some of the fish that landed at the Venice Golf Club. Mum might have even brought in two big fish. Wow.
Despite the mess, the two at Frenchman’s Creek are fine.
Both are eating at Captiva but there is still some unrest and bonking by the oldest.
Amongst the Ospreys there have been several nests that have had eggs out of sync. Today, ‘H’ notes that ” The Fenwick Island nest of Johnny and June: June laid eggs on 4/25 and 4/28, and both eggs were predated by a pair of crows on 4/28. June’s third egg would have been due on 5/1.” ‘H’ notes that that egg did not arrive. We both wonder if this third egg that was laid on the 5th of May belongs to a first clutch or a new one. At Achieva, the egg dates were ‘off’ as well (normally every 72 hours). They were “1/28, 1/31, and 2/8”. (The last one could have been very, very late on the 7th but was not seen until the morning of the 8th).
We are wondering if these could be four egg clutches with the third egg laid somewhere else accidentally. It happens.
Tuffy still likes to be fed. Just look. Sally and Harry have the prettiest babies.
N1 and N2 could not be cuter. Look at the size of the crop on that little one.
Everyone loves Iris and each of us is worried, on the one hand, that raising a clutch of chicks might shorten her life or excited at the potential of the world’s oldest osprey getting to raise her first chick since 2018. I am just like all of you. I have been thrilled when Iris and Louis’s eggs have been taken by the Ravens and Iris has had a gentle summer fishing. Now that she has an attentive mate – and gosh, golly, Louis isn’t doing much about it – bringing her fish, I am getting rather excited and torn. I guess we wait and see what happens. Whatever it is, isn’t it nice seeing our Queen being treated well? Getting fish delivered to her for a change!
Here he is at 1640 bringing her another fish. I love this ‘Snake eyed guy’.
Iris flies off and takes it to the owl pole to eat.
There is something magical going on. Maybe it would always be Iris’s last year and maybe this is an extraordinary year for her. I watch with wonder.
Second egg expected. It was raining and I did not see anything. Iris not on the nest.
The New Guy is incubating the egg while Iris is off eating breakfast. Iris tells us ‘I will do it my way’.
The GH owlet at Wolf Bay is doing fine. Look at those legs!
Lady Hawk’s last coverage of E23, the darling of the SW Florida nest of M15 and his new mate, F23. Why oh why doesn’t someone band these hatches?
They are getting a little itchy at Cal Falcon scrape with all those pin feathers coming in.
If you need contentment:
‘PB’ reports that the second egg at Charlo Montana was laid on Sunday. It looks like her name is Lola.
‘H’ sent news that we have another egg at Cape May Meadows for Hera and Zeus. “5/6, The South Cape May Meadows osprey nest of Hera and Zeus: Hera laid egg #2 at 06:29.”
Louis continues to take good care of Dorcha at Loch Arkaig. The killing of Laddie at Loch of the Lowes had made everyone nervous. So good to see the others at their nests as we wait for the first hatch at Rutland.
Adorable baby eaglet that fell out of the nest has a foster!
The eaglets at the Bald Canyon nest have names and both are happy that they are in the nest together! Another great rescue.
Muhlady and Pepe continue to provide prey on the nest for Dixie (fledged) and Mason (still at home). There are continual prey wars when there is a delivery. Both look to be doing very well.
Full crops for the two eaglets of Dad and Gigi at the ND-LEEF nest.
Those two will soon be as big as Jersey and Leaper at Duke Farms who are anxiously awaiting their first flight.
For the two eaglets of Liberty and Guardian at the Redding nest, the votes are now being submitted for the final round in naming. Make sure you vote! The deadline is 7 May – that is Tuesday!
‘A’ sends us the latest from the Sydney Olympic Forest: “
May 5: Both eagles were at home last night and woke early, well before 6am, with duets and mating. They both left by 6:19am, and over the next hour or so, more duets could be heard. Mid-morning at 10:15am, neither could be seen at the river but were spotted at Goat Island. Mid-afternoon, both eagles were still there, and at 16:45pm, one was noted flying off to the west. Both turned up at the nest around 17:16pm – one may have brought a stick – then mating nearby. A duet, and mating again at 5:42pm, with Lady bowing her head to indicate she was ready and willing to mate. Both then settled by the nest for the night. There was rain on and off today.
May 6: There was lots of rain overnight, with both eagles close by. They were awake early, with mating, then both flew off and one returned with a stick. Then both were off again before 6:30am. At 9am, both were seen at the very muddy river , landing on River Roost. Shortly after, there was a duet at 9:15am, and then both were seen flying together, heading north and further. The rain had stopped by then, but it was very windy. There have been issues with the cameras today, with livestream not available for most of the day. One eagle was seen flying over the forest at around 3pm. Just after 4pm, it seemed that two eagles were at Goat Island. Neither was reported at the river at 4:30pm. Then we were able to see the adjacent camera live and saw Lady come home late. She seemed to have just eaten, wiping her bill. She then settled.
This is interesting, especially with Lady initiating mating. But is it really early for Lady and Dad or is it their normal pattern of behaviour? They presumably regularly engage year-round in various forms of bonding behaviours, including mating, to maintain the strength of their pair bond. Yes? So maybe it’s not at all early for them to engage in the early phases of nest-building. “This is interesting, especially with Lady initiating mating. But is it early for Lady and Dad or is it their normal pattern of behaviour? They presumably regularly engage year-round in various forms of bonding behaviours, including mating, to maintain the strength of their pair bond. Yes? So maybe it’s not at all early for them to be engaging in the early phases of nest-building. “
LGK comes in for a feeding for TF chick! Always good to put a smile on your face. TF is so fluffy – like a soft cloud floating around the hill.
There is a lot going on at the nests. I hope to be able to provide some news each day until such time as I am back 100%. We are waiting for hatch watch at Rutland! Take care. We hope to see you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, H, PB’, Kielder Ospreys, Jeff Kear and SWT, Lake Murray Ospreys, VGCCO, Frenchman’s Creek, Window to Wildlife, Fenwick Island, Moorings Park, Cornell RTH, Montana Osprey Project, Wolf Bay, Lady Hawk, Cal Falcons, Charlo Montana, SK Hideaways, SCMM, Jann Nichols, Gracie Shepherd, Superheats, Geemeff, ND-LEEF, Duke Farms, FORE, Sea Eagle Cam.
I thought I would return to normal on Friday, but it did not turn out that way. Despite feeling dizzy and still rather weak, I forced myself to go for a half-hour walk in the park just after some rain so I would not be around anyone. Everything is so green, and the rain that we have had for the past three days has been so welcome. I owe many of you responses, and I will get there – this is just taking a lot longer to overcome than I ever imagined. It is entirely possible that there will not be another blog to go out until Monday – in the hope that another day of absolute quiet and Geemeff’s peppermint tea and saltines will save me.
Hugo Yugo is trying hard to be good.
‘H’ is giving us a smile for the day.
At 10:47 on Friday, the New Guy at the Hellcat Canyon nest of Iris kicked the first egg out of the nest. Don’t let anyone tell you male ospreys can’t count!
Annie and Archie’s chicks are getting their pin feathers! Can you believe it?
A remarks, “Watching the 11am feeding from Cal Falcons (3 May), mum works incredibly hard, circling the chicks to take up feeding from a different angle to reach different beaks. Around 11:17:30, the piece she is feeding them runs out, and even after checking her talons, she has nothing further to give. As she checks the group of chicks in front of her, one grabs at her beak, indicating it is still hungry. (The youngest was at the back, though it leapt valiantly over its siblings to get bites and seemed to be doing relatively well, especially after one of its older siblings face-planted in a food coma and removed one of the obstacles to mum’s beak.
But Annie circles the chicks and around the front of the scrape, 180 degrees around the group to the other side, she finds a decent chunk of food, which she proceeds to feed to the chicks who had previously been at the back of the group. She concentrates primarily on the two younger chicks. As is usual with Annie’s feedings, everyone has a crop by the end of the meal. This piece of prey started off as the body of a largish pigeon, I think, minus the head and legs. These four have demolished it. Poor little Archie must be absolutely exhausted. He is hunting up a storm for this lot, and I can only hope he keeps it up. There’s still such a long way to go if these two are to raise these four and then teach them to hunt. I can only imagine that learning to hunt as a peregrine is a very difficult and exacting task. Mistakes could be fatal. Indeed, I often wonder how parents teach fledglings to dive at speed at a prey bird and hit it at the right speed and angle to kill it without injuring themselves. They don’t eat carrion like eagles, so cannot scavenge or steal food to survive, leaving them with only their parents to rely on until they can perfect a particularly difficult hunting style.”
Annie and Grinnell’s grandchildren get tucked under their daughter, Larry.
‘B’ sent us an article about the new streaming cam for Larry! Thanks, ‘B’.
The chicks are hungry at San Jose City Hall’s scrape of Monty and Hartley.
Oren and Ruth have three hatches at their Syracuse University RTH nest and they are so cute.
Arthur has the Cornell nest he shares with Big Red full of prey, too. I could see chipmunks, voles, squirrels, and birds. The two chicks are getting their pin feathers and it does seem those other two eggs are Dudleys.
Diane and Jack have the second egg of the second clutch on Friday at Achieva.
For French Osprey fans, the first osprey of the 2024 season hatched on Friday!
Louis really likes bringing huge sticks to the Loch Arkaig nest 2.
Bradley still loves his Puffers. Thank you, Bradley, for bringing them to the nest to eat!
At Loch of the Lowes, Blue NCO left to eat. Another osprey landed on the perch. It is unclear if it is Laddie or a stranger.
Gorgeous Tuffy.
Stella and her one surviving chick are hanging in there at the University of Florida-Gainesville. R reports that Poor little Middle is reported to have died around 0200 the other day. Stella looks down at her healthy baby in some disbelief. Her whole season has gone up in flames so to speak.
All three eaglets at Little Miami Conservancy are doing fantastic. The older two are really getting their juvenile plumage while you can see the baby has all of its thermal down (in the back).
Thanks, ‘A’ for stepping in and bringing us some good news form Sydney’s Olympic Forest: “Lady and Dad are not just doing a lot of nest building at Olympic Park in Sydney – they are also mating regularly, and have been doing so for at least a week. Here are the ranger’s reports for the past four days (and who might the ‘third eagle’ be?): May1: Both spent the night by the nest, and Lady came in early when disturbed by a possum passing up the tree. Dad joined her then with an early duet and mating. Both left around 6:30am and returned with sticks. Just after 9am, duets were heard again. They both brought in a few sticks during the morning. Then Dad sat by the nest alone for about an hour, before leaving at 11:20am. Both were then away for the day – somewhere – until Dad returned at 3:26pm with a stick. A very windy afternoon at the nest. Dad brought another stick shortly after and we could hear calls – but could not see the eagles. At 5:10pm, no eagles were seen at the river. At dark, neither eagle had returned home. Dad brought seven sticks today and Lady brought four.
May2: Neither eagle was at the nest last night. A Powerful Owl was head calling in the distance a few times. Eagles were reported at Burns Bay from yesterday afternoon. They were seen soaring and circling over Linley Point in the afternoon and honking early there this morning. At 8:10am an eagle was seen in the Goat Island area flying west up the harbour. Just before 11am, two eagles were reported at Goat Island. And at 14:06pm, we saw a picture of three eagles soaring overhead there. A little later, at 16:10pm, one eagle was seen heading west, but an hour later, none was seen on the river. Then at last light, both Lady and Dad appeared on the nest – moved a stick or two, sat side by side on the branch and then settled for the night.
May 3: Eagles were home last night by the nest. Lady was disturbed early by a possum. Then we heard an early morning duet. Both were then off. Dad returned with sticks over the next hour or two, Lady with just a few. Duets were heard off nest around 7am. Then more sticks and leafy branches coming in and both chewing in the nest bowl. Mating again at 9:29am. At 9:45am, both were off, and were noted down on the river an hour later – one on River Roost, the other on Mangrove Island. At 11:08am, both flew off to the east, then at 11:23am, two eagles were at Goat Island. Rain was steady again in the afternoon. At 15:34pm, one of the eagles caught a good-sized fish. At dark, they could not be seen at Goat Island – so where are they?
May 4: The eagles were away last night, possibly at Goat Island, where they were seen at 11:20am – with a duet heard as well. Then, just before 4pm, Dad showed up at the nest, while Lady was seen at River Roost at 4:25pm. She headed off to the nest soon after and joined Dad. He started bringing in sticks then, and there was a mating at 16:49pm. He brought six sticks in before dark and she brought two. They both then settled for the night close by.
Now this really is early. Surely they are not planning to lay eggs in the dead of winter. The winter solstice is not until 21/22 June for heaven’s sake – which is still over six weeks away – so surely not. Surely they are just enjoying a little quiet grown-up time, yes? They’re not considering producing eggs for a good while yet I presume.
Great, though, to know that they’re together and doing well. Obviously, they spend the whole year together, roosting and hunting and generally behaving as a couple. That’s so sweet. I often wonder whether the storks and ospreys who migrate ever really get to know each other at all, let alone the albatrosses, whose total lifetime of interactions might add up to less than a day when you think about it. Which I hadn’t until now. “
We need a proactive approach to power lines if our ospreys and other raptors are to be saved. Thanks, Geemeff!
Thank you so much for being with us this morning and for all your well wishes! It is appreciated.
Thank you to the following or their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘A, B, Geemeff, H, PB, R, SK’, Montana Osprey Project, Cal Falcons, USParks Service Alcatraz, SK Hideaways, The Mercury News, SU Hawk Cam, Cornell RTH, Heidi McGrue, Sylvain Larzilliere, Geemeff, PLO, Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), Moorings Park Ospreys, UFlorida-Gainesville, Little Miami Conservancy, Sea Eagle Cam, and The Wildlife Society.
I have an early appointment tomorrow, so I apologise for this post going out late on Monday evening.
I so hope that your week started well. It was cold in Winnipeg. 5 C. We live on a weather roller coaster. One day, we put up the winter coats, and then we had to go and drag them back out again along with the toques. The leaves continue to break open on the lilacs; a few Dark-eyed Juncos are still here, along with the White-throated Sparrows and European Starlings. The normal garden birds are here all year, but this spring is different. There are so many Black-capped Chickadees that we have a chorus! It is incredibly beautiful. I will try to make a recording one day for all of you.
Gosh, it is a mixed bag. Eaglets are still growing, with many getting ready to branch and fledge. Falcons, along with the hawklets, are jumping and munching around the world. Osprey eggs are still being laid, and Europe will hatch some in the UK next week. I continue to be busy entering data – egg and hatches in our data forms, changes of partners. It seems a little more hectic than last year and yet, there are not nearly as many eggs in comparison. We are waiting for all of those in the NE to come on board! ‘H’ and I will not be able to catch our breath or have a cup of tea. Severna Park has one and the others are going to quickly follow suit.
If you are monitoring a nest that is not on a streaming cam, I would love to hear from you. In Manitoba, I watch three nests—one is at the University of Manitoba, and the couple has now returned for another year on top of a light stand. The other two are at different sites on Lake Winnipeg. No would would ever know about them and perhaps not about the nest you watch, so please, write to me. There is a comments section and you can always e-mail (maryannsteggles@icloud.com). My interest is in Osprey behaviour and, in particular, siblicide. If you see something, also let me know. I appreciate all the news I receive and try to answer within 24 hours. Sometimes it takes me longer to respond to the comments section, but I do read them daily. Thank you so much.
I will also try to get some good images of ‘The Girls’ this week. They are all fine, including Hugo Yugo, who is chasing Calico through the house. I’m not sure the attention is appreciated! I always wonder about Hugo Yugo. Today, I had a small Brioche roll, and she attacked it – so she loves cheese and bread. Did they give her grilled cheese sandwiches at her foster home? Or is it just her crazy character? She is so different from any cat I have ever owned. Some of you have told me about your lovely ginger cats, and it seems they are a force on their own.
At the nests –
At Superbeaks, ‘H’ caught Mason branching! Congratulations. What an exciting milestone.
My ‘inbox’ lit up like fireworks were going off – I kept hearing pings while I was at my appointment, and then there it was. The culprit was Connie, the resident female bald eagle at the Captiva nest, taking the opportunity to steal part of a fish off the Captiva Osprey nest of Jack and Edie. The problem: two little osplets were in that nest. Lady Luck was sure on hand as those two little ones were not pulled out of the nest along with the moss. My heart sank.
Many of you will have noticed that ospreys do not often leave fish on the nest. I often see comments in the chat asking why they don’t. Well, this is the reason for that. The male will remove the fish, and then he will return it if there is fish left after he eats. Some males have stashes. Leaving the fish on the nest invites predators or the nest cleaning Crows, Ravens, and Gulls to stop by for lunch. Food draws attention to a place we don’t want others to be. Today, Jack and Edie were lucky. Connie won’t forget. She lives right by them – she will swing by that nest to see if there is a fish. Why catch one when Jack and Edie will leave you a nice big piece? Oh…this could have been so tragic.
Heidi has it on video:
What would Connie do if she saw the fish at Frenchman’s Creek? The two kiddos are eating, sometimes being fed, and growing. It is hard to believe, but these two will probably fledge, and we should be ever so glad. The Dad has been feeding, and they are self-feeding, and the nest is still full. The Crows and Gulls and any other carrion eaters in the area will have a feast when these two leave the nest.
In the UK, Blue 372 laid her third egg at the Llyn Brenig nest on Monday the 29th of April.
The Fans of Redding Eagles (FORE) is looking for names for Liberty and Guardian’s two eaglets. Here is the information. The deadline is Wednesday.
At Leighton Moss, Yellow-legged Gulls have taken over the Osprey Platform.
At Moorings Park, dear not-so-little-anymore Tuffy is doing just fine. What a lovely little osplet he is. You just have to watch his behaviour and facial expressions and you will have a smile from ear to ear. He is growing, doing well, and unless some bloody tragedy happens, he should fledge. Meanwhile, Sally and Harry are busy with intruders just like most of the other nests. That is so sad because the exchanges sometimes become violent and one or the other, or both, could get injured or die.
Blue 33 taking an opportunity to cuddle with Maya. He loves doing that! In about six days, he is going to be busy fishing for a new set of osplets. First to lay their eggs, first to hatch. Can’t wait. Mark your calendars for pip watch 5-6 May at Rutland Water.
It was a soggy day for Blue NCO at Loch of the Lowes. Someone at the loch saw Laddie sitting near the nest yesterday, I believe it was. There have been worries that something had happened because of a lack of fish deliveries—and even I get nervous watching this nest. Siblicide is entirely possible. It has happened for the past two years.
I am starting to wonder if the other two eggs on the nest of Big Red and Arthur will hatch. If they don’t, it is fine. Big Red had a leg injury that appears to have healed. Feeding four and caring for them might delight her and make her glow like the sun on a bright day, but caring for two is much easier. It might be nice to have a more relaxed year. N1 and N2 are rather feisty!
The camera operators really want to see those eggs clearly and it is hard. N1 loves to go after N2’s neck and twist it about. But, remember, this is really play fighting like Hugo Yugo does with her sisters. It is not the harm that we see on nests with either siblicide or Cainism.
Dear Archie must have had a chat with Annie and convinced her that he is perfectly capable of helping to feed the chicks. Tandem feeding. Monday 29 April. This should put a smile on your face.
It is frightening how fast these chicks of Annie and Archie are growing.
At Syracuse, there are two chicks and the other egg is pipping. Update: That chick has hatched!
‘J’ sent me a super reminder that the PA-DNR falcons have hatched! Here is the link to their cam with an image of the scrape with Mamma and eyases below.
The news coming out of the UFlorida-Gainesville osprey platform of Stella and Talon is not good. The first chick died from siblicide. Talon is rarely seen – a Dad that was known for bringing a good amount of fish to the nest. Only one fish on Monday and the weather is to be quite hot according to ‘R’ who is monitoring the nest. So we have to think of dehydration. We could lose another chick, so sad.
‘R’ gives us an update: “1700 – Stella brings in big fish. #2 learning how to hide behind her and getting some good bits, even a small crop. #1 is brutal, but speed seems to be working. Talon is gone!” Sadly, another one to add to the Memorial Pages. Another Mum has to be everything to her chicks – security, hunter, and feeder. Thankfully they are well feathered and will be able to thermoregulate when she is out fishing.
The lives of males are often filled with danger that is not visible on camera.
All three are well at the Venice Golf and Country Club Osprey nest. Growing and growing. Sometimes it is hard to tell the third hatch now from the second.
The female at the Wells Fargo Osprey Cam in Des Moines, Iowa has laid a fourth egg on the 29th of April. Last year the couple fledged two chicks.
Two eggs visible at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum nest on Monday. These would be the first egg that got soaked and then buried as the third egg is not due to hatch yet.
Two cute little White-tail Eaglets in the Tucholskie Forest in Poland.
There is at least one egg at Pitkin County! The egg bowl is so deep.
A brief glimpse of some eggs at Clark PUD.
Male brings a really nice fish and relieves the female at the Kalakotkas 2 nest in Estonia.
‘H’ reports: “The Osoyoos osprey nest of Soo and Olsen: Soo laid their first egg of the season on 4/29, at 12:55:56. This was approximately three weeks earlier than last season.”
ZE brought a fish to the Goitzche-Wildnis nest in Germany and the female was really telling him not to eat it all! Cute.
The eaglet at Fraser Point has a name – ‘Reign’.
An Osprey nest in a tree in the US. How many of you can say you have seen this? (There are many, many in the UK and Europe using beautiful big trees).
The GH owlet at Wolf Bay in Alabama looks better. Heavy rain came late on Monday. The drops were so big that on the streaming cam they looked like snow. I have not seen a feeding, but those generally happen at dusk and dawn. If you have, please let me know.
Thank you so very much for being with us today. It is always a pleasure to hear from you and we look forward to having you with us again soon. Remember to look up!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A, B, Geemeff, H, J, MM, PB, R’, Superbeaks, Heidi McGrue, Frenchman’s Creek, Llyn BGrenig, Julie LaLima, RSPB Leighton Moss, Moorings Park Ospreys, LRWT, Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), Cornell RTH, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, SU RTH-Cam, PA-DNR, University of Florida-Gainesville, VGCCO, Iowa DNR, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Bieliki Online Bory Tucholskie, Pitkin County Open Space and Trails, Clark PUD, Eagle Club of Estonia, Osoyoos Ospreys, Goitzche-Wildnis, Gracie Shepherd and IWS/Explore.com, Connecticut Osprey Group, and Wolf Bay Ospreys.
*Disclaimer. Every effort is made to identify the individuals, groups, and institutions that supplied information for my post today. Please let me know if I missed anyone!*
Earth day is the 22nd of April but we have celebrations today across my City so that everyone can participate as Monday is not a holiday.
Today is Earth Day. It is a day for us to remember that conservation, sustainability, biodiversity, and working together to help create a healthier planet for our wildlife and us are paramount. There are many events and initiatives. “The 2024 theme for Earth Day, “Planet vs. Plastics”, calls to advocate for widespread awareness of the health risk of plastics, rapidly phase out all single-use plastics, urgently push for a strong global agreement on plastic pollution, and demand an end to fast fashion.” (Canada Gov). “For over 50 years, Earth Day has been celebrated across the planet as a way to educate the masses about the environment, enact conservation efforts, and promote action towards the environmental movement. It’s a day of action to adjust human behavior and create policy changes for the good of Mother Earth. The annual event is marked with a wide range of events that are coordinated globally by earthday.org—reaching 1 billion people in more than 193 countries!” (Pioneer Woman)
‘The Girls’ and I are working hard to completely end our use of plastics and continue to ‘forest’ our urban garden. This year we will be planting 5 native shrubs along with four new native trees. It only makes a dent. The City’s Million Dollar Tree Project has only planted 44,000 trees, and the City has been cutting down diseased trees to the point that neighbourhoods have lost their gorgeous ambience with the birds and squirrels losing homes. We can all help by doing our part – and often it is close to home. What will you be doing to celebrate Earth Day? I suggest a short walk or a sit outside!
Correction: At the Lake Murray Osprey Platform in 2023, the third hatch was the victim of siblicide. The older two were taken from the nest by the GHO.
Morning Updates to eggs and hatches: The first egg has been laid at Tweed Valley by Mrs O and FKO at 11:35. Likewise, Asha at RSPB Loch Garten has laid her first egg at 10:47. Flo and Harry at Alyth have egg three at 06:53 and the first hatch has happened overnight at Lake Murray in the US.
Dorcha has not been able to catch a break so far this season.
We have been watching several nests getting ready for hatch watch. We should be having pip/hatch watch for Big Red and Arthur at Cornell in a week. On Saturday Arthur spent a lot of time incubating the eggs before Big Red took over later in the day. I wonder if her leg is bothering her and if it helps to have Arthur there during the day since she has to be there all night and if the position over the eggs doesn’t put strain on that leg.
But what is happening at Captiva? The first egg is 42 days old today. Too late to hatch. That would make the second egg 39 days and well, if it was the one that was crushed and went into a bean shape, then that leaves us with eggs 3 and 4. Will they be viable? Egg 3 is 36 days and should pip right away and hatch soon I it is going to. It is late and some believe that no osprey eggs ever hatch this late on the Barrier Islands.
Moorings Park. Harry Delivered a Fish at 0907 much to the delight of Sally who chirped when she saw him approaching the nest.
Harry comes in with a second small fish at 1044 and Tuffy will get some bites this time. Fish were small. Hoping for larger ones.
Tuffy with his/her feathers coming in.
Harry brought in a nice big chunk of fish at 1412 and Tuffy did get some of that fish. Ruffie is being a bit of an agro.
Fish at 1648.
Tuffy had some first bites – for about seven minutes -.
Tuffy had a good day and notice in the last image how ‘healthy’ and how beautiful he is.
It is Sunday morning and Tuffy is enjoying breakfast.
E23 still likes to be a ‘nestling’ and F23 and M15 like having her/him at home. This nest is a very good reminder of how post-fledge should work – fledgling returns to nest, adults bring food, fledgling learns to fly better and strengthen their wings, fledgling observes and learns to hunt all the while being fed by adults.
Thankfully M15 and F23’s nest is reasonably secure but those GHOs did visit. The GHOs and Canada Geese are taking over the eagle and osprey nests at other sites. This situation is not good at Cape May Meadows as ‘H’ is watching for Hera to lay her first egg. GHOs are formidable enemies and are top Apex raptors. They have taken many osplets off nests and injured and killed other raptors. They might be ‘wise’ – all of our feathered friends are – but they are also dangerous, not soft and cuddly!
GHOs took over the Wolf Bay Osprey platform this year in Alabama. I thought there were two owlets but only one is on the nest and waiting for adults to deliver food. Do you follow this nest? Do you know what happened to the other owlet?
Late spring snows have been hitting the nests in and around Montana and Colorado.
This is Boulder County Fairgrounds on Saturday.
The snow is gone at Dunrovin and Swoop is on the nest with his potential new mate.
Three eggs at Clark PUD.
It is nice in Scotland and Blue NCO was right on time with her second egg.
There are now three eggs at the Foulshaw Moss nest of White YW and Blue 35 in the Lake District.
The cam at UFlorida-Gainesville is frozen. There has been rain or so it appears. Do we still have three osplets? Can’t tell. They are under Mum.
At Tweed Valley, it seems to be a bit of a nest swap.
I have been very worried about the fate of Black-Stork Karl II’s family since he was electrocuted in Turkey last fall on his migration south. I have contacted Maria Marika on Saturday and there is no news. She is also concerned about Kaia. The younger storks she tells me return to the north the end of April. I hope we have some news of Bonus and Waba. Last word on Bonus was his battery did not charge on 28 August 2023.
The Royal Albatross Centre asks us to imagine what it would be like if there were no albatrosses. Today, they are protected (have a read how this happened), but what will happen with warming seas and overfishing and if the long haul trawlers do not change the way they load their lines.
I was able to confirm from ‘VV’ that Star and Louis did return before Iris. For a moment I fantasied about whether or not, if Star had not returned, would Louis turn out to be a good mate and provide for Iris and any osplets. — Well, squash that idea.
Loch Garten. Impossible to tell if there are any eggs. Look at that nest!
Great Bay has three eggs. The last one was laid on the 19th of April.
I don’t know why, but I still worry about that tiny third hatch at Little Miami Conservancy.
Bonnie and Clyde’s two eagles at Cardinal Land Conservancy are doing quite well.
Oh, just look at them all lined up being so civilised. They have their Mohawks and are getting their pin feathers – these are the Majestic eaglets from Denton Homes near Decorah, Iowa.
Almost at the precise stage of development, the Decorah North eaglets are quickly losing the downy soft white plumage of their heads and their pin feathers are clearly noticeable.
It was raining in Texas. JBS20 was lured to the nest for a meal.
ND-LEEF eaglets are getting their thermal down and are doing well – it is so good to see so many healthy and well cared or.
Swampy is still on the nest but continues to branch higher and higher. S/he will take to the skies shortly. Let us all hope that Swampy returns to the nest over and over again like JBS20, E23, Cal, and the others who have survived this year to fly.
I realise that camera angles make objects appear larger or smaller depending on the position and angle. That said, just look at how large the eldest chick of Thunder and Akecheta is compared to Akecheta!
Andor and Cruz with their two eaglets. What a beautiful image.
Well, I will say it. I wish more food were coming to the Duke Farms nest for the two eaglets.
Sassa Bird reports that White-tail Eagle Milda, whose partner Hugo has disappeared, finally had a full crop after leaving the nest on Saturday to eat. The eggs were not harmed in her absence.
Have you seen this very informative 25 minute film about the White-tail Eagles in Latvia? Please watch! These are such beautiful and rare birds. It follows the life of the couple from nest building, to an egg tragedy, to a fledge.
Close monitoring of the nests and the eagles in Latvia gives researchers much information on these large raptors.
Thank you so very much for being with me today. We look forward to having you with us again 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, MM, SB, SP, VV’, Earthday.org, Geemeff, Cornell RTH Cam, Window to Wildlife, Moorings Park Ospreys, SK Hideaways, Heidi MC, Wolf Bay, Boulder County, Dunrovin Ranch, Clark PUD, Colin Douglas, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, UFlorida-Gainsville Osprey Cam, Tweed Valley Osprey Project, Royal Albatross Centre, Montana Osprey Project, RSPB Loch Garten, Great Bay Ospreys, Little Miami Conservancy, Cardinal Land Trust, Denton Homes, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, JB Sands Wetlands, ND-LEEF, Eagle Country, IWS/Explore, Duke Farms, Sassa Bird, the LDF, and The Guardian.
And now for some really good news before we even begin. Louis and Dorcha at Loch Arkaig have their first egg of the season! Thanks, Geemeff. This is a good nest to watch. Louis is an excellent provider although they have had their tragedies and triumphs in the past couple of years.
JBS20 fledged this morning without an issue at 08:09:10. The wind was blowing and the eaglet was antsy. Perfect form. Mum waits for the return.
It is nearing 1700 on Saturday on the Canadian Prairies when I start writing this post. I am sitting on my deck basking in the blue sky, the sounds of the songbirds in the garden, and not knowing what to think of the 20 C temperature. It is, by and large, summer.
Baby Hope is looking more and more like Mamma Calico every day. Hope just chills on the back of the sofa in the Conservatory (or glass room as we seem to be calling it) while the others try for the best spot at the open window to smell the fresh air and listen to the birds.
Mamma got to be Queen for a Day.
Of course, Hugo Yugo has the best seat in the house. I would like to give some of Hugo Yugo’s attitude to our little second and third hatches. She has never taken any ‘gruff’ from the bigger and older cats. She just pushes her way in there and gets what she wants — and she never looks them in the eye. First rule to being a little eaglet or an osplet- do not look the older one in the eye when they are in a mood.
The arrivals in the garden today include House Finches, Song Sparrows, Northern Flickers, and Cedar Waxwings to add to the Crows, European Starlings, Grackles, House Sparrows, Blue Jays, and Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers.
I walked along the river, and I was unsure whether to believe my eyes. I did not have my camera with the long lens with me. Still, it looked like a family of Hooded Mergansers. This seriously cannot be possible. The Wood Ducks just arrived at the park. In fact, today I managed to go for a long, long walk at the nature centre and a stroll around St Vital Park to welcome the Wood Ducks while scowling at the water quality and the fact that with no rain, the pond is drying up. Is there a way and a will for our City to fill it? Then, it was a walk down the path by the river with a lovely ice cream cone.
Nothing is green except for a few patches of grass, here and there. I watched five Robins pulling worms from an area where it had rained. What a beautiful sight. Seeing Robins – for me, anyway – is a rare occurrence. They hardly ever come to the garden and – wow, there were five!
Some of the geese have discovered they like bird seed.
These geese were trying to find some plants to eat under the dry grasses.
The geese were particularly aggressive to one another at the park.
The waterfowl in the river. They turned out to be Common Goldeneyes. The ones with the white patch are the males. These are divers not dabblers. They arrive in Manitoba in late March and will migrate in November.
As you can see, I took my own advice and stayed outside most of the day. Going for a walk and stopping to just notice our environment is a good way to relieve any kind of stress. I hope you will get outside soon, too! — As a result, my post is rather short today. There is no news on Meadow and I am going to assume that the old saying applies – “no news is good news”.
It has been a hard week at the nests – well, it has been a difficult season, and it isn’t over. We often think that if there is only one chick on a nest that it will have an easy life, but that is not always the case. Little B17 showed us that. The nests get damp, there is mould, there are diseases, intruders, lack of prey and loss of habitat -. A very good nest can change over night and become a tragedy. Likewise, a nest that is in trouble, can turn around. A good example of that is Duke Farms this year. We can only hope that all goes well especially for those little third hatches. One nest that still hangs in the balance is Moorings Park – if you are concerned about beaking, do not watch this nest at this time. Give it a week – let us hope that the aggression will end with the transition out of the Reptilian Phase.
But all is not negative. There are so many good nests out there to watch but, for now, ‘H’ and I are keeping track of Moorings Park and any potential Osprey nests with conflict because that is what we do. For those new to watching Ospreys, I would caution against Moorings Park for the time being – give it another week and let’s see what happens.
At Moorings Park poor little Tuffy got really beaten by Ruffy on Saturday. Ruffy reminds me of Zoe. I cannot shake her from my head but the brutal attacks on Tuffy that ‘H’ documents below when there is plenty of fish and Ruffy is full to the tip of its beak reminds me too much of that first hatch Osprey at Port Lincoln that killed her two siblings. I hope Ruffy grows out of this attitude. — Please read ‘H’s’ narrative of the day. We must find that golden lining and it does come to Tuffy on Saturday. And just a note. The research that I have done alone and over the past two years with ‘H’ has demonstrated that on average an osplet can live (stay alive but not thrive) on about 100 good bites of fish a day when a nest is stressed. As today’s title suggests, Tuffy got much more than that today.
So, thank you again, ‘H’ for your great eye and constant vigilance: “At 0929 Harry delivered the first fish of the day, a huge whole tilapia, and Ruffie intimidated Tuffy to the side rails, but also followed him and beaked him. The size of the fish almost ensured that Tuffy would get fed eventually. Sally started to work on the fish, and at 0932 Ruffie started to eat. At 0947 Ruffie took a little break just to go over and beak Tuffy. Ruffie also periodically went half way over to Tuffy just to intimidate and warn him. At 1019 Ruffie went all the way to the rail to beak Tuffy. At 1023 Ruffie moved away from the table. Tuffy began to make his way to Sally, but had to get past Ruffie first…Tuffy didn’t make it, Ruffie beaked him and then she ate some more. At 1025 Ruffie moved away from Sally again, and Tuffy shuffled toward Sally, and got his first fish bite, but was intimidated by Ruffie and Ruffie ate some more. By 1029 Ruffie had moved further away from Sally creating a wider swath for Tuffy to traverse without having to come too close to Ruffie. Once at the table, Tuffy ate two more bites, but Ruffie beaked him and then she ate some more. At 1031 Ruffie backed away, and there was still a lot of the fish remaining. Tuffy got another bite to eat, and Ruffie attacked him brutally, beaking and biting him on his head, neck and wing. Ruffie ate some more until 1035, and then moved away. Tuffy stayed tucked in submission and Sally was the only one eating. Finally, at 1037 Tuffy tried to get closer to Sally, but Ruffie intimidated him, and Ruffie ate some more. The same scenario repeated at 1038. I noticed at that time, when Tuffy was tucked that his head had a small bloody spot, the back of his neck was red, and there was a pink area on his wing. Harry landed on the nest at 1039 due to an intruder issue. At 1041, Tuffy raised up and finally got another bite of fish, and he received several fish bits before Ruffie intimidated him, and Ruffie ate some more. At that point Tuffy had only eaten 9 bites of fish since the fish was delivered over an hour ago. At 1044 Ruffie moved away, and it just so happened that Sally turned slightly so that Tuffy was on the other side of her from Ruffie. Tuffy ate and ate! He had eaten a total of 74 bites by 1050, when Sally shifted, and Tuffy was once again exposed to Ruffie. When Ruffie saw Tuffy eating, she charged and intimidated him. There was still a lot of fish left, and Ruffie ate some more. Sounding like a broken record… At 1058 Ruffie moved away, Tuffy ate a few bites, then was intimidated by Ruffie, and Ruffie ate some more. When Ruffie moved away, Tuffy got a few more bites until 1102, when he was intimidated by Ruffie. This time Ruffie did not eat, but simply went away. Go now Tuffy… Tuffy was getting fed, but slowly because Sally was spending a lot of time pulling on fish skin… “feed faster please Sally!” By 1104 Tuffy had eaten 94 bites before being intimidated by Ruffie. Ruffie ate, and moved away at 1106. Then Tuffy ate again. At 1109 Ruffie intimidated Tuffy into a tuck, and Ruffie ate a few bites. When Tuffy resumed eating Sally was feeding faster. Tuffy had eaten 150 bites by 1114; 190 bites by 1119. Then Sally labored pulling on fish skin again… “please hurry up Sally, stuff the kid as fast as you can before Ruffie comes back!” Tuffy had eaten 217 bites by 1122, but then Sally began intruder-alarming, and she jumped up and accidentally landed on Tuffy. Harry arrived. 1123: “get up Tuffy, the intruder is gone”… but he stayed down. Was he hurt? Whew, 1124 Tuffy got up and resumed eating. Ruffie was still laying down across the nest. Tuffy had eaten 230 bites by 1126. At that time, Harry quickly flew off the nest after an intruder, and so did Sally, and she took the fish with her! Ah, but she immediately returned to the nest and still had the fish. Tuffy resumes eating at 1127. Ruffie was still too full to move, and had not been a problem since 1109. At 1129 this was now a two-hour feeding and Tuffy had eaten 250 bites of fish. 1129 there was another intruder issue, Harry was back, Tuffy pancaked. Feeding of Tuffy resumed at 1130, and by 1133 Tuffy had eaten a total of 265 bites of fish… at which time the live stream went down. There was still a little bit of fish remaining at that time.
…The live stream returned 40 minutes later at 1211, and Sally was feeding Ruffie from part of a fish. In my opinion, there had not been ’40 minutes of fish’ remaining on the earlier fish. I would estimate the previous fish would have only lasted about another 10 minutes or so. I wonder if Harry had delivered a small headless fish while the live stream was offline. At any rate, we returned live to find Tuffy on the furthest rail sticks, about as far as he could go without falling off the nest. It was obvious that he had been forced into into that precarious position. And, he was boxed in by the positions of Sally and Ruffie feeding right behind him. At 1219 Sally moved the fish and Ruffie followed, allowing Tuffy a space to climb back into the nest. This kid sure has a difficult life! Tuffy circumnavigated the perimeter of the nest attempting to come around the other side of Sally, but as he got near, he was cut off by Ruffie. By 1226 Tuffy was beside Mom and got two bites, then was intimidated by Ruffie. Another bite of fish, then Ruffie was on him, and a couple more bites and was intimidated by Ruffie who was no longer eating but was stationed right at Tuffy’s tail. At 1231 Ruffie ate some more. At 1237 Ruffie finally moved away, and Tuffy was fed. Tuffy had eaten 32 bites by 1241, and then Ruffie charged in front of Sally to beak Tuffy. Sally and Ruffie finished the fish, and Sally fed Tuffy a couple scraps later. Total for Tuffy at this meal (that we observed) was 34 bites of fish. Because of Tuffy’s position on the nest when the live stream returned, he was most likely forced to the nest edge by Ruffie, and I doubt that Tuffy had anything to eat from this fish while the live stream was down.
…At 1605 Harry dropped off a headless, medium sized fish. Ruffie began to be fed and Tuffy stayed away, waiting his turn. At 1610 Ruffie intimidated Tuffy just for the heck of it, Tuffy tucked. And she again intimidated Tuffy at 1611, so Tuffy moved further away. At 1625 Ruffie moved away from Sally, but Tuffy did not approach, and stayed on the far rim. He knew he had no clear path to get to Sally where Ruffy would not be able to attack him. At 1627 Ruffie ate some more. Ruffie seemed to be finished eating at 1629, and at 1630 Tuffy started to make his move, but about halfway to the feeding line, Ruffie cut him off, and Tuffy ended up tucked at the rail on the other side of the nest. By 1631 the fish was gone. It takes a really big, long-lasting fish for Tuffy to have a chance to eat.
‘H’ continues, “Harry delivered a large headless fish at 1658. It wasn’t just the size of the fish that meant Tuffy was likely to be fed, but also because it was delivered so close to Ruffie’s last meal, and Ruffie would still be full. To start, it just so happened that Sally was positioned in a way that Tuffy could be on the opposite side of her from Ruffie. Sally was preferentially feeding Tuffy to her left. Several times Ruffie tried to get at Tuffy by going under Sally’s chin, but was not able to do so. Eventually, Ruffie’s actions disrupted Sally and she had to move, which exposed Tuffy, and sure enough Ruffie inflicted a brutal and prolonged attack on Tuffy. Sally ate, and Ruffie was not very hungry. At 1705 Ruffie moved away, but Tuffy was hesitant and stayed tucked for a bit. By 1706 Tuffy was at Mom’s beak and being fed. Tuffy had eaten a total of 34 bites by 1707 when Ruffie returned, and Tuffy tucked. Ruffie moved away again at 1713, and Tuffy had a long private feeding. At 1723 Sally moved the fish a little closer to Ruffie and offered her some, but she wasn’t interested. Tuffy moved closer to Mom and started to eat again. To say Ruffie was more relaxed than earlier in the day would be an understatement. By 1725 Tuffy was still eating and Ruffie was standing close by, just watching him eat. At 1742 Tuffy was so crop-heavy he had to go lay down. Sally finished the fish. Total bites of fish for Tuffy at this meal = 249. So far today, Tuffy has eaten approximately 548 bites of fish.”
..At 1900 Harry brought in the fifth fish of the day, a large headless fish. Tuffy moved aside a little bit, and Ruffie started to eat. Tuffy was able to get 6 bites before he was intimidated by Ruffie, then he got a couple more bites at 1904, and by 1906 they were both being fed. From what he has been put through, Tuffy was understandably a little skittish of Ruffie, and Tuffy moved away a few times, even though Ruffie was not acting in a threatening way. Ruffie laid down at 1916, and Tuffy kept on eating. At 1917 Tuffy took a little break and laid down, but went back for more at 1919. By 1924 Tuffy was refusing most of Sally’s offerings, and Sally finished the fish at 1928. Tuffy ate at least 84 bites of fish at this meal. Total for the day = 632 bites of fish for Tuffy !
Remember – it is not the number of fish but the size that matters. Five large headless fish are much better than 8 small ones!
My inbox was flooded most of yesterday with concern for Tuffy. Those that stayed throughout the day even thought Ruffy might kill Tuffy. It was then such a relief to see the little one with that full crop. ‘H’ caught it as did many others including ‘PB’.
‘H’ is also monitoring a few other nests. She reports that Opal laid egg 2 at the Forsythe Nest and egg 3 arrived at Carthage today, too.
Each one of these nests brought some bitter sadness to viewers last year.
Forsythe (Caution watching this nest):
Carthage (Caution watching this nest):
There are now three chicks at Fort St Vrain in Colorado. Like many of you, I hoped that the third egg would not hatch. The two older siblings are just so much bigger than the little one. We will wait and see how this will all work out. Last year one of the two eaglets was dragged off the nest by a raccoon and killed. This appeared to be in retaliation for the eagles taking one of the baby raccoons to feed to the chicks. A predator baffle has been installed at the nest for this year.
Sunnie Day posted a note on FB about the female at Fort St Vrain: “Mom was banded in Colorado in May 15, 2002. she is 22 years old! She has hatched 36 eaglets. “
I cannot say how this nest will behave in terms of beaking yet.
In contrast, the three osplets at the Venice Golf and Country Club appear to be fine. There is plenty of fish in the area and this nest is recommended. The osplets are out of the Reptilian phase, also. They are all getting their juvenile feathers. Perhaps I have missed it, but life seems pretty civil compared to Moorings Park. Please feel free to correct me!
The first egg of the season was laid at the Osprey nest of Dylan and Blue 5F Seren at Llyn Clywedog on Saturday. This couple have successfully fledged a number of eaglets, many of them returning in their second year. Sadly, last year, one of the osplets was taken by a goshawk when Seren was feeding.
There is a difference between the nests of the UK and the US. First, there are far fewer Ospreys in the UK. Many of them have their nests in living trees. They are rural as opposed to living in cities near people. The nests are located near reservoirs or lochs full of fish. In the seven years that I have been researching siblicide, the incidence of this in the UK has been minimal. Loch of the Lowes is one exception that comes to mind. These are good osprey nests to watch. If I were to recommend just one, it would be the nest of Idris and Telyn at Dyfi in Wales for those just learning about UK Ospreys.
Iris worked on her nest at Hellgate Canyon in Missoula, Montana to everyone’s surprise and delight on Saturday. Maybe she just had a tour of the area after she arrived and now she is ready to work on her always amazing nest. (This nest is good to watch because it is Iris, but there will be no chicks. Since 2018, there have been no chicks because the male she has bonded with, Louis, has another nest with Star at the baseball field). Most of us hope that Iris lays her eggs, the Crows eat them, and she has a lovely summer to herself eating trout!
Intruders have been bothering Hera and Zeus and there was some concern for Hera earlier.
Harriet did not return from her migration to Dunrovin. Swoop might have a new female partner. This is the latest.
Now nests that I certainly recommend include the falcons and the hawks. There is little to no sibling aggression. We will be looking for a hatch in about ten days with Annie and Archie. Archie is a first-time Dad – or is he? He can certainly incubate eggs. Maybe he lost his mate, too. In fact, poor Annie has had four mates in four years. That gives you some idea of the dangers that the males face in this urban environment.
Archie loves incubating the eggs!
The little eyases are hatching in Osaka!
And you have to watch Big Red and Arthur, the Cornell Red-tail Hawks! Big Red is twenty-one years old. When her long term mate, Ezra was killed, Big Red chose a very young Arthur – he didn’t even have his red tail which is a marker when the birds turn a year old. Watchers thought she was ‘nuts’. Well, she wasn’t. She trained Arthur and he is an amazing Dad and an incredible hunter. The year was 2017. They had their first chicks in 2018. In all the years, possibly eighteen, that Big Red has raised hawklets, only one has failed to fledge and that was K2 who had to be removed from the nest due to a jaw issue. She was later euthanised.
There are several really good eagle nests. The West End nest of Akecheta and Thunder is top notch.
But what about the nest of Liberty and Guardian in Redding, California? Their two eaglets are younger and they are doing well. (One egg broke).
The Duke Farms nest has turned around. At one point, the bites of fish that Jersey got were counted. Ringing is expected on Monday morning with measurements. Recommend to watch or fledge.
‘L’ found a recent image of Wisdom, the oldest banded Albatross in the world, taken by the USFWS on Midway Atoll. Wisdom is on the right. She is in her 70s.
‘L’ sends us images from the birds at the Fairhope Pier on the Gulf of Mexico in Alabama. An Osprey couple make their home on the lighthouse while a Blue Heron suns itself among the gulls. Thank you for sharing your day – this is where everyone should be, if they can – outside!
Osprey are on the light platform.
Birds never want to pose for a good picture – right when ‘L’ got close enough for the Heron to be in focus! Gosh, isn’t this the problem trying to photograph wildlife?!!!!!!! Or cats.
Just look at those legs.
They are beautiful. There are parakeets in London and in San Francisco and I bet some of you can tell me more places. Here is a beautifully photographed article in a French magazine about the “Parakeets of Paris.”
Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, photographs, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘Geemeff, H, J, L, PB’, Geemeff, JBS Wetlands, Moorings Park Ospreys, Forsythe Ospreys, Carthage Ospreys, Fort St Vrain, SDNP, VGCCO, CarnyXWild and Llyn Clywedog, Montana Osprey Project, SK Hideaways, Osaka Peregrine Falcons, Heidi Mc and Joy of Ospreys, Pam Breci and Joy of Ospreys, Cornell RTH, IWS/Explore, FORE, Duke Farms, USFWS, and MFCH.
*Disclaimer: I make every effort to acknowledge those that send me photographs, videos, articles, etc. If I fail to recognise someone, please let me know and I will rectify the situation. Thank you.*
Thursday and Friday were difficult days. Jackie and Shadow said goodbye to their eggs after one cracked, with Jackie covering them later. The miracle babies hatched at the NTCT nest of Bella and were killed and eaten by the male, Scout. Audacity surprised everyone with another egg, but it broke Friday morning. Little B17 died and Meadow is ill. It felt a little bit like a roller coaster of emotions. Others call it ‘hope fatigue’. These events take their toll and sometimes we need to go outside and listen to the birds or sit and stroke a beloved pet. Then we need to stop and be very thankful for those that survive – they are very precious.
Bella feeds her second little eaglet before flying off to find food. She returns, looks around the nest, cannot find the baby while Scout is on the perch, then Bella flies off saying goodbye. It would have been difficult, if not impossible or Bella with the attitude that Scout was exhibiting. Many wondered if this was not a blessing in disguise.
The empty nest says it all.
The Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey is expressing concern over Meadow’s condition on Friday. Send your positive energy to this eaglet.
So what is giving us hope?
Iris returned to her nest at 20:51:22 Friday night. She looked like she had a full crop. So the Matriarch is fine! She stayed til after 0633 Saturday morning. Perhaps she didn’t want Louis to see her!
Annie and Archie. We are 11 days away from hatch watch. ‘A’ is getting excited. “Annie is looking particularly lovely this evening – she really is an exquisite specimen of a bird. Just beautiful. I cannot wait to see four little fluffy eyases lined up with their beaks open in that scrape. Poor little Archie is going to be run off his talons. And if he thinks it’s difficult to incubate four eggs, wait until he tries brooding four chicks. That should take some serious enfluffling.”
Tuffy is getting smarter and is sometimes braver. This nest gives me hope because of “H’s great observations.
‘H’ reports on how Friday morning began well for Tuffy: “At 0728 Harry arrived with a large live tilapia. Sally started to eat, and for once Sally was positioned near the rail facing outward. Her positioning would afford Tuffy an opportunity to position himself on the other side of her from Ruffie. Tuffy was on Sally’s right, and Ruffie hung back a bit. Tuffy received 5-6 bites of fish before Ruffie reached over and beaked him. So much for Sally’s new positioning. Tuffy scooted away and tucked. At 0728 Tuffy was trying to move around to the other side of Sally, but Ruffie saw him and cut him off at the pass. At 0750 Tuffy was getting a little too close to Sally for Ruffie’s liking, so she beaked him. By 0753 Ruffie moved away from the feeding, but still kept an eye on Tuffy and was giving him a warning look. Soon, Ruffie started to eat some more. At 0803, brave lil’ Tuffy decided to go for it, and shuffled right up to Sally in front of Ruffie, and started to get some bites. Ruffie turned away for a PS, and she then stayed away. Good. By 0813, Tuffy had eaten approximately 100 bites of fish. The view was partially blocked and I was not able to see if bites were dropped. I just had to count when Sally leaned toward Tuffy, and he leaned toward her. At that point Ruffie returned to the table to eat some more, and she beaked Tuffy. Ruffie was finished, this time for good, at 0816…Tuffy untucked and resumed eating his breakfast. Tuffy took a break for about a minute at 0822, then resumed eating. At 0831 Tuffy simply couldn’t eat any more and shuffled away from Sally sporting a very large crop. Sally finished the fish. Tuffy ate an estimated 180 bites of fish. Great way to start the day!”
Look at Tuffy’s crop!
“… At 1128 Harry brought a nearly whole tilapia. Ruffie was fed, and Tuffy remained on the sidelines. Harry stayed in the nest for a while, so Tuffy gradually moved to get into Dad’s shade. Even after Harry left, Tuffy stayed away from the feeding line. At 1207 Tuffy moved to be closer to Sally, and was beaked by Ruffie. By 1214, Ruffie had moved aside slightly, Tuffy moved in, and it appeared that Sally was feeding Tuffy (view was blocked). Sally did move a little bit and we were able to see that Tuffy was eating. By 1218 Tuffy had eaten 40 bites of fish before being intimidated by Ruffie, and he shuffled away. Ruffie continued to eat, and around 1222, Sally reached over to Tuffy to give him some bites, before Ruffie again banished Tuffy to the sidelines at 1224. At 1227 Tuffy was again reaching to Sally to receive fish bits. Ruffie simply did not want little brother to eat, so at 1228 she made a big physical display of dominance and Lil’ Tuffy scurried away. At 1234 Ruffie seemed to be finished eating, and our view was partially blocked, but it was obvious that Sally was feeding Tuffy. The meal was over by 1248 save for a few scraps. Tuffy ate at least 78 bites of fish.”
.”..Harry delivered the third fish of the day at 1705, a headless tilapia. It was a smaller piece of fish, which did not bode well for Tuffy’s chances for a nice meal. Ruffie approached Sally, Tuffy moved further away from Sally. I noted that Tuffy’s crop was flat at that time. Ruffie was giving warning glances to Tuffy as Ruffie was fed. However, Sally managed to periodically sneak a bite to her little one who was standing off to the side. Many of those quick bites to Tuffy went under Ruffie’s radar, but some did not. When Ruffie would notice Tuffy getting a bite she leaned toward Tuffy to intimidate him. So, Tuffy would move a little further away, but would then slowly inch closer to Mom as he dared. By 1731 Tuffy had eaten 14 bites of fish by Sally quickly sneaking bits to him. Then he received 5 bites in quick succession while Ruffie was trying to eat a big piece of skin. Ruffie was not able to eat the skin, so she dropped it, but seemed irritated that Tuffy had eaten those bites…so she charged Tuffy who went to the rails. Ruffie then wedged herself in between Sally and Tuffy. Finally, at 1743, Ruffie was full and moved across the nest and laid down. Tuffy made a beeline to Sally, but unfortunately there wasn’t much fish left. Tuffy ate, and some bites were a pretty good size. Sally did her best to pull every last bit of meat from that fish tail, then she offered the tail several times to Tuffy, who simply could not do anything with it. Total bites for Tuffy at this meal = 46, and he had a small crop. Total for Tuffy so far today = 304 bites of fish.”
Sally was calling for fish at 1957.
The three osplets of Talon and Stella at the Florida-Gainesville campus continue to do well. This is excellent news. They are all lined up like the three lads at Port Lincoln in 2022. You can see the size difference now between the first hatch in the centre and the baby on the right. At one time, they were almost all the same having hatched within a 36 hour window.
‘H’ reports that the Canada Geese and the Ospreys have switched nests at McEuen Park in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho. Grateful for Geese and not owls!
In the UK, Idris and Telyn have their first egg of the Osprey season on Friday at the Dyfi Nest in Wales.
Waiting for Seren and Dylan at Llyn Clywedog to have their first egg of the season. Seren was not impressed with the food gift o a frog that Dylan brought to her and when he wasn’t looking, she dropped it overboard.
Intruders have been bothering Aran and Elen at Glaslyn. It was sent packing over to the Pont Cresor Nest of Aeron Z2 and Blue 014.
Louis fishes in the worst weather and delivers beautiful fish to Dorcha.
I am grateful that Laddie LM12 made it home safe this year to Blue NCO. No eggs at Loch of the Lowes yet.
Blue 33 guards Maya. He has been bringing in gold fish – beautiful bright orange-gold Koi. Someone’s pond is getting raided. He must like the colour!
Bradley makes me smile and it is fantastic that Port Lincoln continues to post videos of him bringing his fish to the barge. It is heartwarming when these fledglings thrive. A still form that video. Check out what is happening at Port Lincoln by going to their FB group.
And there are these various stages of some of the bobbleheads that are doing well:
US Steel 7: It is pitching down rain but Irvin has the nest full of fish and Claire is trying to keep the wee one dry while keeping it fed.
Little Miami:
Johnson City-ETSU:
Superbeaks, Dixie and Mason:
Kansas City, Cheyenne and Wichita:
Duke Farms, Jasper and Leaper who will be ringed on Monday:
ND-LEEF – Dad’s new mate Gigi appears to be doing well:
Eagle Country – Swampy in the nest and Meadow in care. Hoping dear Swampy is not sick, too:
Denton Homes – three Majestic babies:
Decorah North:
Redding with Liberty and Guardia:
Port Tobacco:
Bluff City and Viper:
Fort St Vrain. Two little bobbles doing well.
West End. Aklecheta and Thunder showed us how to deal with three healthy energetic eaglets this year:
Fraser Point, two adorable eaglets for Andor and Cruz:
PA Country Farm – a family who can consistently raise three:
Dade County, R6 has fledged and returns to the nest:
SW Florida, E23- so grateful that M15 had a new family this year after the sorrow of losing Harriet and the joy of raising E21 and 22 to fledge by himself:
Poor E23 has had to defend its nest!
JB Sands Wetlands, JBS20. We lost JBS21. Please keep Mum in your thoughts because of her injury:
Trudi Kron captures JBS20 getting ready to fly.
It isn’t all of them, but count these as blessings. In a year when many nests did not have a single hatch, we can be grateful. There is no news on Meadow Saturday morning form the Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey.
Jackie and Shadow start over. What an amazing pair of eagles these are! ‘A’ writes: “Meanwhile, the sadness at Big Bear is felt by thousands of BB viewers. Jackie and Shadow are much loved by so many. This video really broke my heart. They take it in their stride and carry on, together. While they have each other, there is always next year. Spirit was such a miracle. It was a joy watching that couple caring for their precious eaglet. They were so devoted. That little one sure was spoiled for love. And fish, obviously.”
The Royal Albatross are always bittersweet. Little fluff ball TopFlat Chick, the Royal Cam chick, waits for food deliveries. LGK Lew in on Friday to feed the little one who can be heard squeeing. At the end, you see TF flap its little wings copying the adults.
The top bird sightings in the UK. Please note the huge decline in House Sparrows since 1979 and the growth of some others. House Sparrows live amongst humans that is why they are seen so often and we are destroying their habitat which is why the huge decline. Feed them. Be joyful when you hear their song. Just imagine if they were not there.
Thank you for being with me. Step outside. Celebrate spring, listen to the birds that live around you. Smile. There are things in the world that we have no control over. We change what we can, when we can doing the best we can. We mourn the little ones that are lost, but remain joyful and hopeful for those thriving on the nests.
*Disclaimer: Every effort is made to credit individuals who send me information, those who take screen captures, create videos or posts, those who write articles, and those who operate streaming cams. If I miss acknowledging someone’s contribution, please let me know so I can rectify that omission. Thank you.*
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, streaming cams, videos, and articles that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, J, H, PB, SK, TK’, NCTC Eagle Cam, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, Cal Alcons, Moorings Park ospreys, Florida-Gainesville, McEuen Park, Dyfi Osprey Project, Llyn Clywedog and CarnyXWild, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, The Woodland Trust (Loch Arkaig), Geemef, The Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), LRWT, Port Lincoln Ospreys, US Steel Eagle Cam, Little Miami Conservancy, Johnson City-ETSU, Superbeaks, FARMER DEREK, Duke Farms, ND-LEEF, Eagle Country, Denton Homes, Raptor Research Project, FORE, Port Tobacco Eagle Cam, Bluff City-ETSU, Fort St Vrain, IWS/Explore, PA Country Farms, WRDC, SW Florida Eagle Cam, SK Hideaways, JB Sands Wetlands, Trudi Kron, Lady Hawk and The Guardian.
Spring is here and the geese continue to fly in. The songbirds are quickly following! The Prairies are waking up from a not-so-bad winter.
This pair of Geese kept their eyes on me while I read my book and sipped some mint tea at the nature centre. It was a perfect afternoon to fall asleep in the warm sunshine.
The Blue Jays – now six – are coming to the garden and have difficulty deciding which peanut to take when there is a big pile! It is incredible how long they ponder the selection if Dyson is not rushing them. The squirrels and the Blue Jays have arranged to take turns at the feeder.
This is the one!
After the other birds and squirrels are gone, the Black-capped Chickadees arrive for seeds. They are making a nest in a Blue Spruce tree in the front garden to my sheer delight.
Dyson and the kits are now moulting. Everyone survived the winter. It feels so good to see all of them.
‘The Girls’ are fantastic and I will get some new images tomorrow for you.
Did Tuffy figure it out? Did Mum Sally position herself so that her little one could get on one side away from Ruffy? We won’t know, but both happened and Tuffie got most of the breakfast on Tuesday!
‘H’ reports: “At 0820 Harry brought a whole fish to the nest. The usual feeding scenario took place between the siblings. Tuffy got a couple of quick bites, then was beaked by Ruffie. Over the next 20 minutes or so, Ruffie made sure that Tuffie could not eat. Tuffie had been slowly moving around to the other side of Sally, and at 0845 Tuffie started to receive more bites from Sally. Ruffie appeared to be thinking about acting tough, but ultimately decided to let Tuffy eat. Tuffy had a private feeding for the rest of the meal. There was a break for a minute as Sally was alarming due to an intruder, and both osplets pancaked, but then the feeding of Tuffy resumed. Tuffy had eaten at least 110 bites of fish by 0901, and then he moved away from Sally. Sally finished the fish.”
Harry brought in a second headless large fish at 11:24. Tuffy was in a bad position and did not move up to eat at the beginning. Sally was hungry and fed herself and Ruffy. At 11:28 after scooting around, Tuffy got in position and Sally gave him a bite of fish. Tuffy moved a bit and returned, had some more bites before Ruffy approached and Tuffy backed away afraid of being beaked.
‘H’ reports: “Harry brought a headless fish at 1122. Tuffy automatically moved away instinctively to avoid being attacked by Ruffie.. Ruffie was fed. Tuffy did try to approach the feeding a few times, but shrank away after getting the ‘stink eye’ from Ruffie. At 1130 Ruffie backed up to PS, and Tuffie got one bite. Ruffie returned to eat. At 1132 Ruffie went out of her way to move across the nest and beak Tuffy even though Tuffy was nowhere near Sally. Tuffy got a bite of fish at 1135. At 1136 Ruffie was full and moved away from the table. Then Tuffy ate until 1142, when he started refusing Sally’s offerings. Tuffy was crop dropping at 1145, then he ate some more. More crop dropping by Tuffy at 1147, and by 1148 Tuffy was just too full to eat any more and turned away. At 1150 Ruffy returned for a few more bites, but quit at 1153. Sally finished the fish. Tuffy ate at least 53 bites of fish at this meal.
At 1514 Harry delivered a small-ish whole fish. Tuffy did not initially make a great effort to get to the table, nevertheless, Ruffie beaked and harassed him. And, while Ruffie was eating she took the time to pivot and harass Tuffy a few times. By 1532 the fish was gone. Zero bites for Tuffy.”
Tuffy is aware of Ruffy’s every move and chooses not to be beaked. Instead, Tuffy will move away. He will return and get a nice private feeding.
‘H’ catches us up at Moorings Park: “At 1602, less than an hour after Harry delivered the last fish, he dropped off a headless fish. Ruffie should have been full from her last recent meal, which would have favored Tuffy’s chances of eating…but, it didn’t work out that way. Ruffy blocked every attempt made by Tuffy to get up closer to Sally’s beak. The fish was gone by 1624. Tuffy did not eat.Wow, good for Harry, he brought the third fish in two hours time… a nearly whole fish at 1715. Tuffy started to get bites at 1718, and ate a total of 14 bites before Ruffie beaked him. By 1724, Tuffy was back at the table, and was eating freely beside Ruffie. Tuffy ate 59 bites by the end of the meal and then Sally found 5 scraps to give to him. Total for Tuffy = 64 bites.
Total bites for Tuffy so far today: at least 227 bites of fish.
That was not the end of Harry’s fishing. ‘H’ has a last report for us unless Harry brings in another fish!
“At 1822 Harry delivered a large headless fish (6th fish of the day). The osplets ate side by side for the entire meal. I did not count bites for Ruffie, but it really seemed that Tuffy had more to eat than Ruffie. Total bites of fish for Tuffie at this meal = at least 121.
Total fish bites to Tuffie so far today = 348.”
Tuffy having bites of fish this morning:
‘A’ brings us news of Angel and Tom: “After a no-show day on 8 April (related to the eclipse?), we were graced with a brief afternoon visit from Angel and Tom today. She arrived at 4.41.39pm, with Tom flying in soon afterwards (4.42:22pm). Interestingly, neither brought any nesting material with them. Angel just stood in the middle of the nest, surveying her surroundings. Tom stood on the side of the nest, watching her intently. She clears any fallen debris out of her nest bowl. Tom seems fascinated by that nest bowl. She then moves a couple of sticks. Again, Tom watches her every move, giving her actions his absolutely total attention. After Tom flies off at 4.43:39. Angel remains until shortly after 4.45pm, flying off at 4.45.1The behaviour was interesting today. There was no nest-building material brought in, and the only nest arrangement that was done (by Angel) involved moving a couple of items that had fallen into or over the nest bowl since their last visit on 7 April. Before she left, Angel did a big rouse, which began with her feathers slowly standing up a bit, until she look like she was wearing a puffer jacket. Then the rouse. Then the gradual lowering of the feathers back to their usual ‘flat to the skin’ positioning. It was fascinating to watch. Searching as we are for any sign that Angel is going to give us an egg at any moment, I am wondering whether this puffed-up eggy’ look she has is just my imagination, and whether the fact that they have finished the building phase and are only lining the nest bowl with bark etc (6 April and 7 April) or moving things that have blown or fallen down over the nest bowl. So that should mean that eggs MUST be nigh. Surely. We wait, talons crossed. Speaking of which, how absolutely exquisite are Angel’s ‘nails’? She must be at the nail salon every week to have them looking like that. So perfect. She is such a miracle of nature. I give thanks every time I get to see her on cam. And what a handsome, healthy falcon Tom looks this season. I cannot wait to see him being a mature dad this time around. “
How many would have liked to have transported either or both of the NCTC or Hanover eaglets to the nest of Shadow and Jackie?
Morning diamonds pouring down on the dreams of these two Big Bear Eagles.
Jackie partially buries the eggs Tuesday morning.
The time passes so quickly and Lady and Dad are working on that nest in the Sydney Olympic Forest!
Meanwhile, in the UK, Threave is wishing for their first egg.
At Dunrovin, Swoop arrived and Harriet was not there. She is late. Will she return this year?
Swoop waits…
Geemeff writes excitedly: Now all three, Prince, Garry LV0 and Affric 152, are back – the Lochenders soap opera continues! —– This is the old nest of Louis and Dorcha at Loch Arkaig.
We need to be ever so thankful for those little eaglets that did survive this year. So many nests failed alongside the many tragic moments. ‘J’ has been keep track of the Bald Eagles and this is the tally this morning:
Overview Chicks: 111 eggs 67 chicks 2 died 1 got killed by sibling 2 got killed by dad 1 rescued 3 fledged
No chicks this season: Big Bear still incubating 3 non-viable eggs Chippewa Falls both eggs did not hatch Dulles Greenway abandoned Hanover died within hour, killed by it’s dad KNF E1 abandoned due to Anna’s death KNF E3 abandoned due to Andria’s death NEFL one lost in nest, one abandoned Pittsburgh Hayes crushed egg Sauces crushed egg Two Harbors nonviable egg
Deb Stecyk and what happened on Monday.
Thankfully everything is positively fine with Claire and Irvin’s new arrival at US Steel.
So far all is well at Fort St Vrain and their new arrival in Colorado, too.
The pair at Decorah North have thermal down and don’t look anything like those little cutie pies in the golden sun last week – and thank goodness for that. They are growing and doing well.
The trio at Little Miami Conservancy are – so far – doing fantastic. Quietly think of the effort these parents have to make to feed a family of five!
Viper at Bluff City is huge! Mum Frances protects the only surviving chick (siblicide) in the rain and is well-fed as it gets its juvenile plumage.
Franklin flew in with a big fish dinner around 1831 for Frances and Viper.
Leaper and Jersey are doing well. How long ago was it when we worried that little Jersey would survive? Well, a change of fortune at Duke Farms certainly changed that – juvenile feathers coming in nicely now.
A comments: “Watch the 10.45am (9 April) feeding from Duke Farms today. Mum brings in a nice fresh whole fish and Jersey is at the table when she arrives. He stays there without any sign of submission. He just sits up at the table, waiting for mum to prepare a bite. Leaper lumbers up beside him and he does not move. He does not duck his head or even lean away. He just waits for his food. Leaper sits nicely beside him. When the first bite is ready, mum offers it to Jersey (she has moved the fish slightly to one side so that Jersey is favoured) and he takes it without any hesitation. Not even a glance to check on Leaper’s mood or position. It was MAGNIFICENT. This nest is a triumph for our wonderful mum. It made me SO happy. “
Just look at those crops!
In Scotland, Louis is making certain that Dorcha is well fed and strong for the new breeding season.
Good thing for all that fish – watch this stick display in fast motion.
News coming from Paula in the Forum at San Jose City Hall Falcons from ‘AE’:
Incubation time has been going smoothly most days with an occasional floater coming thru but nothing of a concern so far. :-). Monty has really matured into a really great mate for Hartley. He comes in fairly early to give Hartley a break from all those overnight hours of incubation duty. Hartley takes full advantage of her breaks and at times is very hard to find taking her breaks. This morning I was lucky enough to capture her as she flew up to the cam 2 bar that attaches it to the roof of the City Hall building. Sometimes we will find a bit of her tail feathers to let us know she is up there OR finding the shadow of the full bar may give us a clue.
Have a wonderful day! — Paula A. Forum Moderator
Archie’s has a nap while waiting for his turn to incubate the eggs at The Campanile.
At the Achieva Osprey nest, it has been noticed that one of the eggs has collapsed and is now bean-shaped. We will have to wait and see if any of the eggs are viable and what will happen to this one. My understanding is there is no obvious pip – the shell just began collapsing over the course of the day.
That egg is clearly crushed this morning.
Everything and more you wanted to know about Osprey eggs. I had hoped to find more information on these collapsing eggs. Is it humidity or is it something else?
There is a new streaming cam at the Port of Ridgefield Osprey platform. It is run by Clark Public Utilities in Washington State.
Good news at Abernathy.
The water is beginning to thaw in Finland. Ospreys returning soon.
Bradley and Mum were seen eating fish together at Delamere. I continue to marvel at this wonderful year at Port Lincoln and the fact that brother Ervie is often seen with Bradley, Gil, Mum, and Dad, too.
Congratulations E23. You have now passed the 100 day mark and are 101 days old! What a fabulous season you, your Dad M15 and your new mum, F23 gave us.
Fraser Point kiddos have so many bugs in their nest but they are doing fine.
Maya continues to be monitored at Rutland Water. Please send her positive wishes.
We are in agony when any of our little raptors die. Imagine the beautiful Hen Harrier chicks stomped to death in their nest or shot from the sky after fledging. This happens consistently near the grouse moor hunting estates in the UK. When will society have enough of this killing simply to protect the sport of grouse hunting?
New laws are coming into place, but will they be enough? And will the law provide the kinds of sentences and fines to finally deter this medieval practice?
I want to close with a rescue. You might have seen it, but it makes our hearts warm and glad when a human reaches out and gives a second chance to one of raptors and that is precisely what happened to a Bald Eagle.
The news comes from World Bird Sanctuary: On 3/23/24, a fisherman noticed 2 Bald Eagles floating in the Mississippi River. One was making its way to shore and flew off once it reached land. The other appeared to be drowning, struggling to keep her head above water. The fisherman was able to haul the bird up onto a bank and called Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) for help. MDC picked up the exhausted eagle and transported her to our hospital for care. Upon arrival, the eagle, now patient number 24-120, appeared near death. She was limp when picked up from the transport box, unable to even hold her head up. She was suffering from hypothermia and was soaked down to the skin from her swim in the river. Her breathing was wet and heavy. In this condition, the stress of being handled for an exam could be enough to kill her so our only treatment option was to provide her with heat and oxygen support and hope she survived the night.
24-120 was placed into our eagle oxygen therapy unit and propped up in a support of dry towels to both absorb some of the moisture and put her in a more comfortable breathing position. In the morning, we were delighted to find her standing and alert. An exam showed bruising to her left wrist as well as to the top of her head and her face around both eyes. The pattern of bruising makes us suspect that it was from impact with the water and that head trauma from the impact likely contributed to her inability to swim to shore.
24-120 recovered quickly and was ready for release after 2 weeks in care! It was windy at release time but 24-120 was up for catching the breeze to gain altitude. The MDC officer who picked her up was able to be there to open the door and send her on her way back to the skies! We are so grateful to fellow organizations and individuals who care about our bird species and help make our mission possible. This bird would not have survived without the fisherman who pulled her ashore and the MDC officer who rapidly responded and transported her to our hospital.
Thank you to everyone for being with us today. It was certainly a good day for Tuffy. I hope that you, like me and ‘H’, are beginning to feel that this nest is turning around and that the little one who longs to live so much will thrive!
As always, a first big thank you to ‘H’ for her diligence in keeping up with Tuffy. Thank you also to the following for their notes, posts, comments, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, AE, Geemeff, H, J, MP’, Moorings Park Ospreys, Window to Wildlife, FOBBV, Gaye Kelly, Threave Ospreys NTS, Kitty Carlyle, Red Wing, Deb Stecyk, Gracie Shepherd, Jenna Dorsey, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Little Miami Conservancy, Bluff City-ETSU, Duke Farms, Geemef, Paul-San Jose City Hall Falcon Cam, JB Sands Wetlands, SK Hideaways, Osprey Camera Blog, Clark PUD, Jeff Kerr-Abernathy, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Port Lincoln Ospreys, SW Florida Eagle Cam, IWS/Explore, Oakhum Nub News, World Bird Sanctuary, and The Guardian.
I have said it before and I hoped not to say it again – it has been an incredibly tough year for our Bald Eagle families. Send your warmest and most caring thoughts to all the nests who have lost eaglets or adults – and continue to send supporting energy to those who have eaglets in the nest. They need it! Life is not easy this year.
Monday 8 April might have been the day of the Solar Eclipse, but it was also a day of joy that ended in tragedy in two of the Bald Eagle nests in the US – NCTC and Hanover. It is not the first time this year a young male eagle has mistook its newly hatched chick for prey and it won’t be the last, but for Bella, this is such a bittersweet moment. I cannot even imagine what she will be thinking when she finds her baby gone.
Regardless of its tragic ending, I want to document what happened at the NCTC nest. We have seen eagle eggs left in the cold and eaglets hatch. The best example I can recall is the Latvian White-tailed Eagle Milda when her mate Ramis died several years ago, right after she laid her eggs. Milda incubated for eight days without eating. She left her eggs in cold weather for approximately six hours to forage so she did not starve. No one believed the eggs would hatch, but they did. Sadly, the ending with the new male was the same result as at the two nests today.
This is what I wrote before I knew the ending: Miracles do happen. Not always when or where we want them, but this is a delight for Bella and Scout who have had difficulties this breeding season. A chick is hatching on Monday in eggs, which is believed non-viable!
From Deb Stecyk: Monday, April 8, 2024 – Welcome to Bald Eagles (BE) 101. Could a miracle hatch be underway at NCTC, we think so!! These eggs were left uncovered and not turned for long periods of time in cool temperatures, so we believed these eggs were nonviable!!! However, yesterday we noticed a small pip hole (Day 37) in one of the eggs and Bella’s behavior was highly suggestive that something was going on. Bella was fussing, more attentive and listening to the eggs. She also was sitting up higher while incubating the eggs. A brooding position is sometimes seen when a hatch is in progress. We also thought we heard chirping coming from one of the eggs. Just before dark, Bella took a break while Scout incubated. Bella returned with a catfish, which she did not want Scout to eat!!! The catfish remains on the nest! All these signs are highly suggestive of a hatch in progress. Despite these positive signs we remain guardedly optimistic and glued to our seats waiting to see if Bella and Scout are blessed with a miracle hatch!!! Talons crossed for this new pair!!! If a hatch occurs at this nest it will be precedent setting and unheard of in the eagle community.”
Well, that miracle happened. Remember.
The miracle baby’s first feeding – I hope they call this little one ‘Miracle’. Seems fitting under the circumstances.
It was Stella’s first eaglet to hatch in a few years after losing her mate Smitty. It was the miracle and now at 1930, Scout removed the eaglet from the egg cup and ate it.
The hatch at the Irvin plant of US Steel – parents Claire and Irvin – made the news. Let us hope that this little one remains safe.
Everything is good at the Redding nest of Liberty and Guardian. Experienced parents!
The accidental burial the day prior at Redding.
The little trio at Denton Homes are adorable. Treasure those three heads – this will be a huge effort for the parents to get them all to fledge.
Cheyenne and Wichita are doing fine on a nest piled with fish on Farmer Derek’s property in Kansas.
The two eaglets at Decorah North are getting their thermal down, and some pin feathers. Little treasures they are.
And this is the news you have been waiting for. Every day we hold our breath afraid to check on that Moorings Park nest. The news is good today, too…so read and look! (It always starts out rough but gets better as the day goes on…). It is after 1000 and it is hot on the Moorings Park osprey nest. Tuffie is doing what it can to get some shade. No fish in to the nest by Harry yet. Tuffie hanging in there.
‘H’ reports: “1031 – Harry delivered a beautiful whole largemouth bass. Tuffy was beaked into submission. Ruffie made sure s/he reinforced Tuffy’s ban from the feeding a couple of times. Sally and Ruffie ate the whole fish by 1049.1219 – Harry delivered a whole tilapia. Tuffie was immediately beaked into submission. The feeding was mostly blocked from view. At 1226 and 1229 Tuffie tried to get closer and was driven back each time. At 1230 Tuffy moved to the other side of Sally, but Ruffy followed and beaked him. At that point, with Tuffy out of view, we didn’t know if he was getting bites, but thought it unlikely since he was still next to Ruffie. At 1248 Ruffie moved away from Sally for a couple of minutes, and we knew that Tuffy was eating, then Ruffie returned to the table. Again at 1256 Ruffie moved away, and we knew that Tuffy was being fed. Ruffie later returned to the table, and by 1320 the feeding was over. Sally was still blocking our view of Tuffy. It wasn’t until 1338 that Sally moved and we were able to see that Tuffy had quite a large crop! Yay!”
“At 1507 Harry dropped off a headless fish. Tuffy had been sleeping and did not approach the feeding line for a minute, but when he moved toward Sally he was out of our view. At 1512 we got a brief glimpse of Tuffy, and he was laying down, not eating. Then at 1524, we could just barely see over Sally’s shoulder to note that Tuffy was eating. At 1527 Tuffy was beaked by Ruffie and he moved away. At 1532, we once again could see Tuffy getting bites of fish, and by 1533 the meal was over. Tuffy was seen with a nice crop after the meal.
At 1705 Harry arrived with half a fish. From 1706 to 1710 Tuffy was beaked or intimidated several times to keep him from eating. At 1712 Tuffy managed to get 6 bites, then he was beaked. At 1718 he got one bite and was beaked. Tuffy moved further away from the feeding. Finally at 1731, Ruffie moved away from Sally. Tuffy moved into position to eat but was out of our view. Sally began obviously feeding Tuffy. We could not see the fish pieces actually connect, but just counting the number of times Sally turned in Tuffy’s direction, Tuffy may have eaten 72 bites of fish. Total bites of fish for Tuffy at that meal = 79.”
‘H’ continues her reporting with a new fish arrival at Moorings Park: “At 1830 Harry delivered another headless tilapia. Tuffy was beaked and stayed away. Tuffy received 3 bites at 1837, then he was intimidated and moved away. Ruffy did not seem very hungry, but focused mainly on preventing Tuffy from getting near Sally. At 1841 Tuffy got a few more bites, then a few more bites at 1843. By 1846 Tuffy was eating solo, while Ruffie just laid there and watched. At 1849 Ruffie had a little more to eat, and they ate side by side. At 1851 Ruffie quit the meal for good. And, at 1852 Tuffy quit eating, walked away, and laid down on top of his large crop. Sally continued to eat for a while, but left a large tail portion on the nest. Tuffy had started the meal with a crop, and was noted to be crop-dropping a few times during the meal. Tuffy ate at least 55 bites of fish at this meal.”
Settled in for the night, you can really see the size difference between Ruffy and Tuffie.
There is beaking at the Fraser Point nest of Andor and Cruz. Nothing to be worried about right now – . Remember that it takes time for the eyes to adjust (for falcons this can take up to 5 days) – and a beak, any beak might mean food.
Mamma Cruz sits on them when it gets too be too much. Too funny. She has been chatting with Thunder.
And this is how you do it – constant food and diligent parenting. Thunder and Akecheta at the West End nest raise three.
At the University of Florida-Gainesville Osprey Platform of Talon and Stella, ‘R’ reports that at day 8 (as predicted), “the bonking has started”. Talon continues to provide lots of fish and the trio are doing well, otherwise.
In the second image, Talon is helping Stella feed the trio that hatched within 36 hours of one another. There is no little and no Big – isn’t it amazing. Eggs laid six days apart and hatch 1 and hatch 3 are the same size. We will see as they age but I am hoping Talon and Stella have them selves three nice little boys.
In contrast to the previous year, ‘R’ notes that the fish are larger this year and that it has been relatively wet as opposed to dry.
‘MP’ confirms that JBS20 has branched at the JB Sands Wetlands on Monday the 8th of April. When there isn’t a tree you must consider that both feet are off the nest and JBS20 flew to the rail. Well done!
‘AE’ sent this gorgeous image of JBS20. She will be fondly missed when she fledges.
The adults have had many problems to overcome at the JB Sands nest this year – the death of JBS21 and Mum’s injury and, the many intruders that still trouble the nest. ‘MP’ describes the scene below: “Dad or Pa at JBS has an intruder chase him as he brings prey (white bird) home with chick quite the spectator. The nest is bussing with activity the last coupe of days. The intruder is the one on the bottom and Pa is above with the white bird.”
I don’t want JBS20 to get knocked off that nest before she is ready to fly.
Mum is still doing all the work at the Trempealeau Eagle nest. Two eaglets. They are often left alone because Mum has to go hunting for food. She is trying. She can brood them without food or hunt and keep them alive as best she can. We have seen this before – M15. Decorah. It is not an easy thing to do, but there is little choice for single-parent couples or those that have a partner who is injured or MIA.
This is the latest news about Meadow from the Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey.
I began to wonder that if Meadow was in this rough of a shape, what is the condition of Swampy. Every eagle nest is infested with bugs, but were the eaglets getting enough food those last days before Meadow was blown off the nest?
Did you know that the folks that rescued Meadow had already rescued 18 eagles this year and it is only April?
There is distress at the Hanover Bald Eagle Nest. The little eaglet hatched and all were excited. Then, like Tom at Angel’s nest last year, the new male attacked and killed the eaglet. Condolences go out to all.
Geemeff noticed Maya’s laboured breathing a few days ago. Now Rutland have called in Osprey expert Tim Mackrill to see what is wrong.
Flora and Harry at Alyth.
Beloved Gary returns to nest 1 at Loch Arkaig.
Dorcha and Louis have an intruder doing a fly-by.
Images of Mr President and Lotus and at least one eaglet.
There was a double rainbow at Loch of the Lowes, too. May Laddie and Blue NCO’s breeding season be doubly blessed.
Send your positive wishes to Bella and the Mum at Hanover who lost their eaglets today. They will be devastated that those healthy, bright-eyed eaglets are gone.
Thank you for being with me today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, screen captures, and those operating streaming cams who assisted me in writing my post today: ‘A, AE, Geemeff, H, J, MP, R, SP’, NCTC, Deb Stecyk, PIX Cams, FORE, Trudi Kron, Judy Eddy, Denton Homes, FARMER DEREK, Moorings Park, Florida-Gainesville, MP, AE, JBSands Wetlands, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, Rutland Osprey Project, Stephanie Scofield, Geemeff, American Eagle Foundation, Loch of the Lowes Visitors Centre, and Livia Armstrong.
It was a sad day in the garden on Saturday morning.
Everyone always talks about a Spark Bird. There can be several of these significant birds throughout our lives. As a child in Oklahoma, it was the Blue Jays and Cardinals that my dad fed out of his hand. As a teenager, it was the Red-tail Hawks. Then, decades later, there was the most magical moment. It changed my life. It was a winter morning in the garden when my eyes connected with those of a female Sharp-shinned Hawk within half a metre of me. Since that day, hawks have been visiting the garden in search of a “Sparrow Blue Plate Special”. Now, to have an Immature Cooper’s hawk die in my garden is simply heartbreaking. The carcass is going for testing for HPAI, as there were no obvious signs of trauma. However, I suspect the hawk flew into the garage belonging to the house next door or somehow broke its neck, colliding with the thicker branches trying to catch a songbird.
The happy ending to this, if there could be one, is that the hawk’s body is going to our local museum as part of their specimen collection. If you find a bird whose carcass is in good condition, check with your local natural history museum or wildlife centre to see if they would be interested in having it as part of their specimen collection.
It was 14 degrees C Saturday afternoon at the nature centre. The Canada Geese had moved from the main lake to the smaller ponds and fields to forage. There were hundreds of Dark-eyed Juncos, several dozen Chickadees, Woodpeckers, and House Sparrows enjoying the warmth as a huge hawk flew overhead.
Meadow is at the Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey and is getting the first-class care this rehabilitation centre is known for!
Meadow being weighed.
An ambassador celebration at Audubon!
Two little eaglets being fed at the ND-LEEF nest. Looks like the new Mum has been named Gigi.
There has been some concern for the One eaglet in the nest at Tremplealeau, Wisconsin. The male disappeared and the female is alone.
UPDATE: Dad has returned to the Trempealeau Nest and two fish have come in already – Saturday! Yeah.
The situation at Moorings Park improves for Tuffie bite by bite.
Tuffie had some of the leftover fish early and it appeared that he might have had some other bites. It was when I returned from my walk at the nature centre, that Tuffie had a nice feeding. After Ruffy ate, Tuffie was fed and then both of them ate together.
‘H’ gives us a more detailed day’s report for our little one at Moorings Park. “Tuffy ate at least 54 bites at the first meal of the day; 1109 headless fish, Tuffy was attacked by Ruffie, Tuffy moved away to the rail and never went back to eat. Harry removed the leftover fish;1156 Harry returns with what appeared to be the leftover fish. Tuffy is beaked several times and was not able to eat;1455 Harry in with whole tilapia, Tuffy is beaked and intimidated several times while Ruffie is fed. At 1526 Ruffie moves away, and Tuffy is finally able to eat. At 1533 Ruffie returned to the table, Tuffy was intimidated and turned away. Ruffie ate until 1538, then Tuffy moved up and the two ate side by side until 1540, when Tuffy was beaked again. Ruffie finished the fish. Tuffy ate at least 66 bites at this meal.”
With my bad math, that would seem to be at least 120 bites of fish for Tuffie today – more than the two previous days counts.
Oh, the size difference between these two! So glad that third egg didn’t hatch.
Last instalment from ‘H’ – what a good day for Tuffie all things considered. “1710 large headless fish – Tuffy got 3 quick bites, was intimidated and turned away, later got 3 more bites and was beaked. Ruffie ate until 1722 then moved away. Tuffy had a short private feeding until 1726, then was beaked by Ruffie. Ruffie ate some more, then Tuffy got a few more bites starting at 1730. Ruffie quit the feeding again at 1736. Tuffy voluntarily moved away from Mom from 1738 t o 1740. Tuffy ate a few more bites at 1740, and then Tuffy went and laid down at 1742. Total bites for Tuffy at this meal = at least 77 bites.Total bites to Tuffy for the day so far = 197”.
The crop is almost as big as Tuffie!!!!!!! Get the tissue box.
The little bottom sticking out from under Sally belongs to Tuffie who, all in all, had a reasonable day. Each day is getting better in terms of food intake for Tuffie.
Over the past seven years, turning points come on nests like this one. Whether or not it is the change from the Reptilian Phase into the period when juvenile plumage is coming, or if the weather shifts and the fishing gets better, or if the female ‘decides’ that the little one is going to live and begins to feed it, we should be watching and waiting to see what it is on this nest.
Many of you will have shed tears of joy for little Tuffie today. He is hanging in there and all that good energy from the Tuffie Fan Club must be helping!
The second egg was laid at the Patchogue Osprey platform on Long Island Saturday morning around 0858.
In the UK, Storm Kathleen is hitting areas hard. Dorcha was just blown off the perch at Loch Arkaig.
The storm is not blowing so hard at Loch of the Lowes, yet.
The winds were howling at Alyth, where Harry and Flora have their nest.
Storm Kathleen is kicking up waves at Rutland as Maya and Blue try to protect their eggs.
Idris holding on to a huge fish while the gale blows at Dyfi.
Telyn is soaked.
What a great screen capture of Idris and Telyn.
Extremely gusty at Glaslyn.
Same gusts at Llyn Brenig where there was a fish delivery. You might recall Blue 372. She was over at Glaslyn with Aran and flitting from nest to nest. She is trying to find a mate…well, this is her! And this is what is happening in the image below: “LJ2 has been joined on the nest by Blue 372 this afternoon.Blue 372 is a 3 year old Scottish female translocated to Poole Harbour in 2021, she has been seen on a number of Welsh nests over the past week or so and is now braving the winds up at Llyn Brenig. LM6 our regular female has not yet returned from migration.”
She is determined. Will this be her nest?
‘H’ reports that the Mum at Carthage laid the season’s first egg. Saturday the 6th of April at 10:17:10.
Confirmed pip at US Steel’s nest of Claire and Irwin – and now it is a hatch. looks like another crushed egg hatch. Little one alive and squiggling this time!
Darling Big Red never seems to age except for her feet and legs. She and Arthur continue their dedicated teamwork to hatch those four little hawklets.
Iris might have wished she had waited a few days to return to Montana.
Do not get upset if you check on the little owlet at Wolf Bay. They are both fine. There is a prey item currently on the nest, Saturday evening, that is white.
JBS20 is getting those wings strong. Adult in to fed but JBS20 is good at self-feeding!
Was it a quail lunch at the Redding Eagle nest? or a Guinea Fowl? Both eaglets are doing very well.
E23 gets a fish delivery from Mum. It must have been delicious. The fledgling ate all of it.
A family portrait at the West End nest of Akecheta and Thunder.
Little heads pop up for dinner at the Fraser Point nest of Cruz and Andor.
All is well at Denton Homes.
Happy eaglets at Decorah North.
Diana Persinger recorded a video for FB of a very messy meal for these two at Decorah North.
Everything is good at Little Miami.
Little fluff balls at the ND-LEEF nest.
Worried about Angel? She was on the nest with Tom on Friday.
There are no worries about Leaper and Jersey. They had crops most of Saturday and were about to burst late in the day and Dad had a fish in his talons and Mum had one, too!
The fortune of a nest can shift from good to bad to good. Let us hope this is what is happening at Moorings Park.
Hatch watch has begun for the Fort St Vrain Eagles in Colorado.
There is some thought that the ‘original’ Dad at Pittsburgh-Hayes has returned to the nest after being gone for a very long time. (I would have to check my Memorial Page). Is it possible he was in care, rehabilitated, and released and came home?
This was posted by WingsOfWhimsy with the photos below. They sure look alike.
“WingsOfWhimsy 20 hours agoA little bit of interesting news to share. I will say right up front that I have VERY little personal knowledge to go on here, so I will direct you to either the live cam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l95k-… or the Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/36054… for additional info. There is a theory that the original “Dad” from the Pittsburgh Hays nest has returned. Dad has been away for quite some time, and HM2 has bonded with Mom, although their egg failed to hatch this season. (I believe mom was first seen with HM2 in September.) Recently a visitor has been on the scene, and I have to admit… even I see the similarities! Could it be that Dad has returned? This is certainly exciting, but also a bit concerning. If this is Dad, both he & HM2 likely consider Mom and the nest to be theirs. These comparison photos were shared by a FB Group user: Lynda Philips, comparing Dad and the recent visitor. This is all I know right now, but I will update as best as I can. The folks in the group or on chat are surely more familiar than I am, though. Please consider checking in with them for more details!”
Yesterday I included a video by DaniConnorWild to show you the penguins in Antarctica. Today, here is a sobering article on the unprecedented heat rise on that continent and the fears that it has for the penguins and for humans. The author says with the rise to 38.5 C, “These events have raised fears that the Antarctic, once thought to be too cold to experience the early impacts of global warming, is now succumbing dramatically and rapidly to the swelling levels of greenhouse gases that humans continue to pump into the atmosphere.”
Thank you so much to the following who sent me comments, news, their pictures, screen captures, videos, articles, and those who operate the streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘Geemeff, H, J’, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, Stephen Basly, Tremplealeau, Moorings Park, PSEG, The Guardian, Geemeff, The Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), Alyth SS, LRWT, Dyfi Osprey Project, Marissa Winkle, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Llyn Brenig, DTC, PIX Cams, Cornell RTH Cam, Montana Osprey Project, Wolf Bay, JB Sands Wetlands, FORE, IWS/Explore, Denton Homes, Raptor Resource Project, Diana Persinger, Little Miami Conservancy, Window to Wildlife, Duke Farms, and Sassa Bird.
I had a wonderful day on Thursday. Two sets of visitors – old friends and then the granddaughter. It was a real joy to see everyone, but I did not get to check all of the nests properly, not even half of them, so we are going with the most crucial.
Before the birds, the cats. The girls had fun. New plants to lay in and they got to show off their climbing and chasing skills to get to the top of the cat tree for everyone. I should not say girls. It was Missey and Hugo Yugo. These two are nothing but trouble spelt with a capital T.
Missey was the Queen of the Cat Tree and then decided that it was more fun to rest in the new plant pot and watch the newly arrived Dark-eyed Juncos. She used to do this with Lewis when I would water the plants. Oh, they had such fun. I miss darling Lewis.
Hope and Calico did not come out until they thought it was time for everyone to go home! It was too funny. It seems that Missey and Hugo Yugo love the attention of others while Calico and Hope prefer the house sans visitors. Go figure.
We are going to start off with Moorings Park because it is the osprey nest of most concern. I could not bear to check first thing this morning before preparations for the day got underway. Of course, the other problem is Meadow who was blown off the nest and who miraculously is on a large limb of the tree under the nest.
So, first things first. Moorings Park. FINALLY, Tuffie had enough food to do crop drops. It did not come until the end of the day, and the poor little one must have been ready to drop and expire. Tears. Thanks, ‘H’, for watching this nest for me on Thursday and for making a video clip so I could see that crop fill and drop, fill and drop. The tears were rolling down my face. As I said yesterday, it never gets easy watching Siblicide. Indeed, it gets harder. The joy comes when the little one triumphs. Tuffie had been battered so much and was so frightened and dehydrated that it was questionable whether or not this little one could hold on – both mentally and physically – until there was a moment when it could get fed.
So this is what ‘H’ sent me that started the tears:”Five fish so far: 0841 headless fish, no bites for Tuffy, (and several beat-downs by Ruffie at each meal except meal #5) 1104 large live fish, no bites for Tuffy; 1157 small headless fish, 2 bites for Tuffy; 1603 large headless fish, 3 bites for Tuffy; 1730 large headless fish, I counted at least 99 bites for Tuffy, and no beaking from Ruffie. Throughout the 1730 meal, Tuffy was seen crop dropping several times.”
When my company left, I watched the video and then checked the streaming cam. The first bite must have been the most delicious fish that Tuffie ever tasted.
The other good news comes from the Osprey nest in Wales, Glaslyn. Elen had been away for a little over a week after she first landed on the Glaslyn nest. Then, Aran, her mate, returned, but Elen wasn’t home. Then Blue 372 came calling. On Thursday, Aran gave in to Blue 372. Almost immediately, Elen returned home! Was she watching from the woods?
‘G’s thoughts on Glaslyn: “Elen is giving Aran a right earful !! She has eaten her own fish, then has taken his from him, she’s not hungry just claiming her rights! Refused his offer of mating – quite strongly!”
The happy couple. I hope Elen knows that Aran has spent several days putting Blue 372 off – he just got weak on Thursday. Perhaps he worried that Elen was not coming.
She is back with us for a good narrative of the goings on at Duke Farms. Thanks, ‘A’: “Mum woke up early and after flapping her waterlogged wings, she flew off the nest at 06:20 to search for food for her babies. This mother is just fantastic. I know I keep saying it, but she just keeps demonstrating it It is dad, though, who arrives back first, at 07:26:45, with quite a large piece of furred prey, very dark in colour and with a long non-fluffy tail and no stripe. Again, I have no idea (it’s an American creature). Dad looks to have half-healed wounds on one of his feet, which may tell us something about his activities last week. Leaper immediately spreads her wings as if to mantle the food. She even reaches out as if considering having a try at self-feeding. Not on this piece of prey, unopened and unprepared. But dad is hesitant about feeding the babies but wouldn’t dare eat this food himself. So he waits beside the food, uncertain. He begins to prepare the prey. Leaper moves forward expectantly. Jersey has turned his head the other way, demonstrating token submission. Dad quickly pauses again, looking around for mum. This lengthy wait annoys Leaper, who until now has essentially been very laid back indeed with Jersey, despite yesterday’s lack of food. It is not a severe attack, but it is more than I have seen in the past week. She plucks out some more of Jersey’s head feathers, then grabs the back of his neck and shakes him a little. It is not vicious but, rather, pure frustration. Leaper turns back towards the prey and dad, but dad flies off the nest at 07:29:40. Forty seconds passes. Jersey is still ducked but not really tucked right over. He is just being careful. Leaper approaches the food again, contemplating how he might eat it. He is investigating it with his beak. Fortunately, at this point, mum flies in. She too has furred prey, much smaller and greyer than dad’s, with far less, and less dense, fur. Leaper heads towards her. Mum decides to start breakfast with her own offering and begins feeding Leaper. Jersey waits behind his sibling, his head quickly up. It is obvious he was not particularly intimidated by Leaper’s recent big sister moment. By 07:35 he is contemplating his options, and begins looking over his shoulder. At 07:37, mum finishes the last of her prey item. She moves on to dad’s. She grabs the prey and pulls it around the rails a little, towards Jersey, hoping he will have the courage to skirt around the rails to where she is. Oh how I love this mum. Leaper has had her immediate hunger appeased so mum begins to defur the food (it needs it). She is efficient. For once, it is Leaper rather than Jersey who is watching carefully and learning. At 07:39 mum is still plucking. Leaper continues to watch. As 07:40 approaches, Jersey turns his head towards mum and thinks about how to reach her. He decides to move closer to the rail, then head around the rails towards her. At 07:41, he stands up and begins his mission. Mum is still plucking – I am certain she is delaying as she is now plucking the long tail. Jersey is hesitant, and with mum still plucking, shortly after 07:42, Leaper again gets impatient and turns towards Jersey as if about to attack him again. As she does, we can see that she has a very respectable crop. She changes her mind and heads back to mum. At 07:42:36 she gives Leaper the first bite from the second piece of prey. With Hiis sister busy eating, Jersey takes the opportunity to skirt the edge of the nest, approaching the table around the rails. By 07:43:50 he has reached mum, and three seconds later, he leans over and grabs his first bite of food. Mum gives the next bite to Leaper, then turns to offer Jersey his bite. He takes it without hesitation. Mum continues to feed Jersey. He is still a little grabby, so she is very patient with him, re-offering him the food if he doesn’t get it or get it all on the first attempt. Leaper does not object for half a dozen bites, then leans down and pecks at the food. Mum keeps feeding Jersey. He has had a lot of bites in just under a minute when, at 07:44:43 Leaper leans down and grabs a bite of food. She takes three bites in a row before Jersey begins to compete. Mum now feeds them both and they compete for bites. Jersey is a little worse positioned than his sister so loses more bites than usual. But the bites he does get include the very biggest ones, which he grabs and turns away to eat. Again, the pair are side by side at the table, eating in a civilised manner and both getting enough to eat. This nest really has changed over the past week – yesterday was a very testing day indeed, and yet these two got through it all in a very friendlty and supportive manner. There was snuggling and allopreening, beakies and the using of each other as bedding. It was all very sweet. And even today, the one piece of bonking I saw was not vicious but frustrated and more a stamp of the foot than anything truly aggressive. Afterwards, Jersey was very cautious but not overly intimidated. The moment he got to the table, his confidence was not in question. Yesterday was about the weather, not the food supply. So let’s hope that now the weather has cleared up, this nest will continue to be a safe place for both these gorgeous eaglets to continue their journey in life together. They are so cute playing and cuddling together. I am convinced they will be best buddies very soon.”
“That mum at Duke Farms is really something very special indeed. She made the decision that her little one was going to survive. It was a deliberate decision, and she worked very hard to help him through those very dark few days when his very existence hung in the balance. Had she not done this, I am certain Jersey would not have survived. She saw determination, his efforts to self-feed (very good efforts they were, too), and she has done everything to help him regain his confidence and to eat when hsi sister was trying to prevent that. His fear would have been his downfall, had this mum not done what she has. I adore this mum. As I watch the pair of them, sitting nicely up at the table with little Jersey eating and eating while Leaper calmly looks on, I see two healthy eaglets, now so similar in size that I have to believe we have two boys here. Jersey has grown amazingly in the past ten days. He is looking fabulous. And to think how close he came to leaving us! This nest proves one thing we have often said: the difference between success and tragedy on a nest can often depend on the parenting skills on the nest. A mother like this one (or a dad like M!5 or Akecheta) can swing a nest, can ensure the younger chicks survive and can find a way to feed and protect their babies to fledge and beyond. A lesser mum and Leaper would be an only eaglet. “
Squirrel and a fish so far on Thursday.
Another feeding right before lights out at Duke Farms.
All is well at Decorah North as well.
Meadow on the branch, away from the tree trunk, wondering what to do to get back up with Swampy.
This is, as ‘H’ suggested to me, the ‘saddest’ image:
Meadow has fallen to the ground. Yes, he could be rescued. No, CROW is on Santibel and Fort Myers. Eagle Country is over by Cape Canaveral.
There is a beautiful dove on Iris’s nest, but no Iris yet. The rain makes this image of Iris’s nest look so sad. It is like the world is crying for our matriarch. Let her return safely.
At the ND-LEEF nest in South Bend, Indiana, there are now two little bobbleheads.
Two happy eaglets at Fraser Point for Cruz and Andor and they are showing their love with a dual feeding!
How are those eggs developing at Cal Falcons?
A five hour feeding at the nest of Thunder and Akecheta. How do you spell devoted parents? Three eaglets with equally full crops.
‘J’s list of eaglets that hatched in April – and we are only on day 5.
The handsome ‘Prince’ has been hanging around the Loch Arkaig nest 1. Might we get a mate for this chap? Someone might tell Blue 372!
I wonder if the one ring visitor might be a candidate or is she/he just touching down on the way to elsewhere?
Maya at Rutland has just laid her third egg.
Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, screen captures, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J’, Moorings Park Ospreys, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Duke Farms, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Eagle Country, Montana Osprey Project, Stephen M Basly, IWS/Explore, Sharon Pollock, Lady Hawk, Geemeff, and Rutland Mantou Bay – LRWT.
