Today’s posting may be short. I was away most of Wednesday and visitors will be here most of Thursday! It is time for homemade soup, Focaccia, and apple crisp. I also need a slight break from staring and counting the bites that Tuffie isn’t getting at Moorings Park.
When everything seems rather bleak, it is good to turn to a couple that can raise three eaglets, where the female has the nest under control, and where the Dad steps in and helps feed and keep the peace. That nest is the West End with Thunder and Akecheta. It is also Manton Bay at Rutland where Blue 33 has helped dear Maya when they had four!
There is a big difference in size between hatch 1 and 3 at the West End, but no matter. Both are thriving.
Our thoughts are with Meadow and his sibling, Swampy, and Abby and Blaze at the Eagle Country nest after Meadow was blown off the nest during high winds on Wednesday. Meadow was on the branch safe at the time of writing. Meadow is 64 days old today. The average age of an eaglet to fledge in Florida is 11 weeks or 77 days.
Perched for the night. (more images below)
It is so difficult to watch a nest that is struggling and that is certainly what is happening at Moorings Park. It began with the transition to the Reptilian Phase and a perceived drop and lateness in fish deliveries by the eldest chick, Ruffy. The question is: will Tuffie get enough fish to survive this period?
Osprey chicks typically double their weight by day 7 or day 8. Between days 8-10, the soft grey down they hatched with is replaced by a wooly charcoal coloured down. They become more mobile in the nest. The data records that ‘H’ and I have kept indicate that it is during this period of time when the Reptilian phase begins that the chicks are most ferocious if fish is not plentiful. Darker feathers on their heads begin to appear – a kind of black oily spot and some gorgeous copper red ones down at the nape of the neck. When they are about three weeks old, the primaries, secondaries, and the rectories begin to appear.
The chicks are kept warm by their buff-colored plumage of down feathers called the first down. The crop develops within the first week of its life, which stores food so that the chicks don’t need to be fed very frequently. They usually double their weight in the first week of their lives. Under normal conditions, a nest will settle, and the fear of siblicide will pass as the osplets leave the Reptilian phase. That is, of course, not always the case. There are exceptions, and Port Lincoln certainly showed us in its past history that chicks are not safe, even at 42 or 65 days of age, if the eldest is determined to kill them.
Tuffie keeps his beak open and is begging for food and there is none on the nest when Ruffy is asleep. I have seen females hide food or keep food back to feed these little ones. Sally is not doing this.
Tuffie got only a few bites. Nothing more. Ruffy had a crop. I am in the seventh year of my twenty-year siblicide study. It is never easy. In fact, it seems to get more difficult to observe every year, every nest.
In contrast, Duke Farm’s Mum found scraps in the nest and made sure both Leaper and Jersey had some bites.
The rain is coming down and is expected to continue for several days. The eaglets, Leaper and Jersey, will be banded at the end of this week. What an enlightened nest! Wish each nest on streaming cams would band their chicks. Thank you Duke Farms!
There are now three osplets on the University of Florida-Gainesville nest of Talon and Stella.
The three at Little Miami Conservancy are doing well. Mum even changes the side of the nest from where she is feeding to make sure all three get prey.
The first egg for the Patchogue Ospreys on Long Island was laid on Wednesday.
Maureen posted these images of Meadow on Naturechat. Meadow is still on the branch, can flap its wings, and is safe. Not back in the nest but the parents can feed it there.
Parents know where Meadow is and are caring for their second hatch.
We can see Richmond and Rosie – barely. They are quite a distance from the Whirley Crane and its camera.
Louis is keeping Dorcha supplied with fish!
As we sit and ache for dear Meadow on the branch and longing for Tuffie to have a real good meal, imagine why a person would kill over 3000 eagles? Have a read. This is horrible…
There was a confirmed pip in egg two at Fraser Point for Andor and Cruz Wednesday evening.
No eaglets. No matter. Their bond is strong. Our beloved Jackie and Shadow will forge ahead. — I am starting to wonder if they laid their eggs later if they might have more success or is it only the altitude and not the altitude and the weather.
I am not sure what is being served up, but the two Decorah eaglets are warm and DNF is making sure they are both fed in cold damp conditions.
There are two at Centreport. It wasn’t an April Fool’s joke.
Still no sign of Elen after some days at Glaslyn. Aran is now ‘considering’ Blue 372.
Mice. Introduced by humans to Marion Island continue to injury or kill both the Albatross adults and the chicks.
The New Forest in the UK has received funds to help with the restoration of wetlands, bogs, meadows, and heaths. Congratulations.
Thank you for being with me today. Please take care. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, J, L, R’, IWS/Explore, Eagle Country, Moorings Park, Duke Farms, U of Florida-Gainesville Osprey Cam, Little Miami Conservancy, PSEG, Maureen and Naturechat, SF Bay Ospreys, Erica Crowley, Geemeff, BirdGuides, Gracie Shepherd, SK Hideaways, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Centreport Eagle Cam, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, and Agreement on the Conservation of Albatross and Petrels.
There is an update to Tuesday’s posting. Correction: Liberty and Guardian’s first clutch. One egg broken. I inadvertently said second clutch! Regrets for any confusion.
I wished for rain and got a mix of rain and snow on Tuesday. It was a grey, cold, miserable day. This did not stop the birds and squirrels from working away in the garden. Indeed, their frantic eating and collection of nuts made me think that the forecast was wrong and that a big storm was coming.
Baby Hope and Hugo Yugo have asked that you do the birds and squirrels a favour. Either do not purchase suet in those mesh bags that get the little legs tangled up, OR if you do, remove the mesh bag – and cut it up completely – for safe disposal. Don’t think throwing it in the bin will make it secure. These bags wind up in landfills, blow around, and birds and raptors go there to find food. So please, help us keep everyone safe.
The female Downy Woodpecker is eating from a suet cylinder removed from a mesh bag.
Checking for the pick of the peanuts! They find the heaviest peanut, knowing that if it is light, there is either nothing in there, or it is dried up.
There were four Little Reds running around today with the three Grey Squirrels. Everyone wanted peanuts!
If you wish to thank or donate to help with the maintenance and repairs and predator baffle for the Achieva Credit Union Osprey nest of Jack and Diane, please go to the Raptor Centre of Tampa Bay (Tampa Bay Raptor Rescue, Moccasin Lake Raptor Sanctuary) and thank Barbara Walker. Donations are always appreciated, although they did not ask for help- showing them people care for this Osprey couple would be good. Any amount, however small, is always appreciated, but a big thank you would be appreciated as well.
Duke Farms is a beautiful nest to behold even in the rain on Tuesday. The pictures tell the entire story.
The peace on the Duke Farms nest is fantastic. Now the unsettled nest is Moorings Park.
At Moorings Park Osprey platform, it is another story. They are just starting the Reptilian Phase. Ruffy is terrorising Tuffie. It is a repeat of what we saw at Duke Farms. Now what is the problem with Harry getting fish to the nest early in the day? We praised him last year for his fishing skills. So what is up? We know from Mark Smith’s videos that ospreys have many species that would like to take a free fish – eagles, gulls, and other ospreys!
A nice-sized fish finally came on the nest around 1000. This was the first meal of the day for these two. Ospreys (like eaglets) need consistent fish deliveries. Regular deliveries mean food security – ospreys are very sensitive to any change in delivery patterns. Harry used to be good at having a fish on the nest first thing in the morning. The delay can cause the eldest to believe there is a food shortage even if there is not. This results in the younger sibling getting battered.
Ruffy will continually keep Tuffie away from the feeding despite the size of the fish being ample to feed Mum and both osplets. She will even stop eating and go and throttle Tuffie to make sure it doesn’t get up and want food.
The key is going to be Tuffie’s response. Tired, hot, and hungry – getting dehydrated from not having food for some time. That might keep Tuffie away from Ruffy and Mum’s beak. The beaking is meant as intimidation. Whether you call it bonking, beaking, clouting, or bullying – the action is the same and the intention is the same – to frighten the wits out of the younger sibling so they do not eat.
Mum feeds the tail of the fish at 11:51 – this is the third feeding of the day – and Tuffie will not get a single flake. Tuffie is hot and is panting through its mouth. The little osplet needs the hydration that it gets from the fish.
Dad brought a big headless fish at 1523 and Ruffy began attacking Tuffie immediately. Remember. Ruffy has already had three meals! Tuffie has had nothing.
Another partial fish comes at 1754.
Ruffy gets fed. Around 1800 Tuffie gets some fish! The little osplet has gone all day without food in the hot Florida sun. What a relief that third egg did not hatch! Harry needs to pile the fish on this nest and he needs to get one up there right as the sun rises.
Tuffie did not fill its crop. The little one needed to as it had a difficult Monday as well. Ruffy began attacking after the meal. This nest is unstable right now. Two other fish before sunset would be great as Mum Sally has to eat as well.
If serious fighting occurs due to perceived food shortages, we often see it at this milestone – the change from the soft down to the Reptile stage. It can cease in a few days or, as we have seen in other cases, one of the ospreys can die.
In 2023, out of the 173 osprey eggs and chicks followed in the US, ten of those died directly from siblicide. Siblicide is not ‘play fighting’. It is a well documented strategy to reduce the osplets on the nest by the eldest (normally).
To quote Dr Tim Mackrill, Director of the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, “The dominance of older siblings in food-deprived nests invariably means that the youngest chick does not survive. In their New Jersey study, Steidl and Griffin (1991) found that brood reduction (the loss of at least one nestling) was recorded in 36 percent o broods of three and in 23 percent of broods of two, and these losses typically occurred as the chicks began to grow at the fastest rate, two to three weeks after hatching.” (112)
Our 2023 study at the International Osprey Data Project, the loss was 17.3% from siblicide.
Sally could take a lesson from Thunder at the West End Bald Eagle nest. If you recall, when the two older eaglets starting bonking one another when it was feeding time, Thunder just sat on them. Every time they beaked, she sat. And then, surprise. They stopped because they were hungry. Three very civilised eaglets – for the second time for Thunder and Akecheta.
Cruz and Andor’s first hatch at Fraser Point.
The egg bowl is really deep!
At Big Bear, Jackie has taken a break. The question now is when will Jackie and Shadow realise that their dream of three eaglets is not to be for this year? And move on looking forward to another try in 2025.
The third hatch at Little Miami Conservancy is already trying out some big kid bites.
Rain has started at the Little Miami nest.
A miserable day for a hatch at ND-LEEF. It looked like we were going to have another eaglet die due to a crushed egg but ND18 has hatched. The time was around 1008.
At the WRDC nest of Ron and Rose, fledgling R6 returns to the nest for the first time on Tuesday morning since he set off on his adventure on Saturday afternoon.
Swampy and Meadow are growing too fast. We yelled at Swampy for beaking Meadow and now we just want these two buddies to stay on the nest at Eagle Country.
What a beautiful image. Mum and Dad having a beaky kiss while JBS20 has a bedtime snack.
At Carova Beach, Frederick and Betsy are really working on their nest!
Decorah, Iowa, has the same miserable weather that we have in Winnipeg. Poor Mother Goose. There are six eggs, but there is also a mystery. There are three scenarios possible. The original six eggs of Mother Goose are on the nest, and not one of them went overboard when the Intruder came. The second case is that the intruder laid her own egg in the nest, replacing the one lost! The third is that one of Mother Goose’s eggs went overboard but she laid another while the intruder was there. Who knows. What we do know is that there are six eggs.
One of the individuals helping me with my osprey nest observations has several nests near her house. She tells me that in 2021, one of the ospreys “laid two eggs, three days apart, in nests of two other pairs.” Sort of like the Cuckoos.
Oh, gosh. Mrs Decorah North is keeping those two little eaglets warm and dry in incredible conditions. Let us hope that warm weather dries that nest out!
The snow has melted at Denton Homes Eagle nest, home of the Majestics.
Port Tobacco’s only eaglet is nicely spoiled.
White-tail Eagle Milda’s new mate is Hugo! You can imagine how thrilled Hugo Yugo is that this male eagle was named after her. (Just kidding)
Were you worried about Monty and Hartley’s egg the other day? ‘AE’ has sent us the following response from one of the nest moderators:
“As you may know by now hard incubation began on March 29 and things have progressed rather smoothly since then. There have been times some kakking occurred to warn a potential unwelcome visitor away but there was a little incident earlier this morning. Monty had given Hartley a break for awhile early on but they had done a nest exchange again with Monty in hunting mode. One picture is of him on the roof watching for a potential meal. While he was on the hunt he landed on the nest ledge corner a couple of times and on the last one he was followed in by another bird. This was at 8:57am. For those that like to do a review of the events Hartley was taking a snooze with head tucked when Monty arrives on the west ledge corner. (all with the nest box view). In the background you can see the other bird come flying from the west and seems to have followed Monty close to the ledge area. Of course he takes off after it as does Hartley. Monty would come back to the eggs but was drawn off again so I assume it was taking both of them to deter the interloper. Being uncovered as they were during this time is not a concern. Eggs are very resilient and withstand much more than some moments alone. By the time noon came around I did find Hartley again preening in the shade over the Mayors office roof. At 12:20pm there was a nest exchange when Hartley showed up the ledge & hops down to the box to take over. Monty seems to take his incubation duty very seriously as he seemed reluctant to let her take over.Spring semester is beginning for our student camops so they will soon begin again to cover cam duty per their scheduled time. I welcome their dedication to these birds as they incubate and look forward to hatch at the end of April. — Paula A. Forum Moderator“
I want to draw your attention to the new website for Osprey Watch. Some may believe that there are too many osprey researchers already and far too many ospreys. Do not believe this for a second. The almost entire population of the US Atlantic chicks was wiped out in June of 2023. There is no end in sight regarding the overfishing of the Menhaden. What storms will come this year? Elsewhere in the world, people are trying desperately to build up the osprey population. A big applause has to go to Janet, Fran, and Bazz in South Australia for their work. Please go over and check out the new OspreyWatch website and see if you can help! Scientists, researchers, and citizen scientists are all much needed!
Thank you for being with me today. Please take care…lots more arrivals and ospreys working at their nests. I am having a ‘fun-filled’ time trying to keep up with my data entry forms. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, photographs, screen captures, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, AE, Geemeff, J, MA, VV’, Achieva Credit Union, Duke Farms, Moorings Park Ospreys, IWS/Explore.org, Little Miami Conservancy, JB Sands Wetlands, Beverly Davis, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, ND-LEEF, Lloyd Brown and the WRDC, Eagle Country, HDonTap, Denton Homes, Port Tobacco, OBX Osprey Cam, Latvian Fund for Nature, Osprey Watch, Paula at San Jose City Hall Falcon Cam, and The Guardian.
It was a busy Friday. Eaglets were hatching, problem nests to be watched, and ospreys were arriving in the US. I spent the day watching prey deliveries at Duke Farms while trying to catch up with entering data in the forms for the siblicide research project. At noon, I stopped and walked for 7 km. It had gotten warm. +3. The geese continue to fly in. The ones heading to the nature centre have water and some grass. The pond at St Vital Park, where I took my first walk and goose check, is mostly frozen, but it was beginning to show promise of a nice thaw if the +3 temperatures held. The trunk of my car is full of corn, and these poor things will get some tomorrow. What a misery for them.
There was one deer near the hide eating corn and a red squirrel desperately trying to get a peanut out of one of the feeders.
It is such a privilege to walk outside – gosh, it is such a gift to be reasonably healthy and go outside. I cannot imagine being shut in a bed in a room and not going out. The animals in the garden, the girls, and all of those that cross my path during my walks bring such joy and create this wonderful space of contentment.
Scientists continue to discover how intelligent birds are —-.
Idris is home at the Dyfi Osprey nest. Telyn is already there, so another couple has reunited!
UV, the male at nest 5A in the Kielder Forest, arrived home this morning.
A 2021 fledgling of Dylan and Seren at Llyn Clywedog has landed on the Loch Arkaig nest!
Possible pip or Stella and Talon at the University of Florida-Gainesville campus. The eggs were laid on Feb 21, 23, and 27th. This makes egg #1 38 days old today.
FORE fans have had their fingers and toes crossed for the second clutch. Now, Liberty and Guardian have two precious eaglets at their nest in Redding, California. What a happy image. They are so white!
Life on the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta could not be more perfect. The ‘kids’ are starting to look like eagles with their thermal down. That first hatch is enormous. Think she is going to be a granddaughter for Cholyn?
The third hatch is tiny. Akecheta thinks he has a boy.
Gifted parents, Thunder and Akecheta looking out over their domain.
Harry returns to his beloved Flora at Alyth on 29 March.
The situation at Duke Farms was not as good on Friday as I hoped. Remember. Jersey had a nice full crop Thursday afternoon but received no food at the last feeding Thursday night. A small prey item came in at 1104 on Friday. Leaper got it all. There was no prey delivered to the nest when I last checked which was 1649 nest time.
A fish came at 1729 and little Jersey got fed! This nest can go either way. Mum works hard to feed Jersey but there remains tension in the nest.
Little Jersey is smart. He works his way around the rim of the nest. You have seen this behaviour many times before – Patchogue last year, Achieva. They watch and listen and move carefully ready to get into position if there is any food left for them when the older sibling stops and goes into a food coma.
“‘A’ sent us her most welcome Friday summary: “It is notable that Jersey had a crop before the second breakfast of leftovers, which Leaper got to eat all of. Jersey was still exceptionally nervous about approaching mum and the food while Leaper was still up at the table. Watch them from about 11:16am (and especially 11:17). Jersey is lying comfortably, one leg fully outstretched, when Leaper comes over to him and lurches at him as she sits down beside him. He watches her but makes no move to protect himself. She leans over him, nuzzling his head with her beak. Caution, but no significant reaction from Jersey. The pair are seemingly the best of friends. The only time that things seem to get out of control is in the presence of food, especially if Leaper is hungry. Then, I hold my breath. They did wait a long time for breakfast this morning – I did not see it come in or the first feeding, so I don’t know whether there was associated aggression. Due to the waiting, there may have been. But Jersey did have a discernible crop when waiting to see if there would be anything left for him from the second breakfast feeding at about 11:04 (very short and consisting of a tiny leftover and some dropped pieces). There weren’t.
Jersey’s little beak has been opening and closing, as if he is calling for mum. He might be hungry. Leaper is playing with sticks as it nears noon. But it is 14;46 before a parent arrives, and it is dad with a giant stick!! It reaches right across the nest. Leaper heads immediately towards the table. Jersey, perhaps thinking he is being bonked by the giant stick now lying across him with dad manoeuvring it, goes instantly into submission. It is all to no avail, as there is no food delivery and he soon leaves again. The next parental visit is from mum, who arrives at around 15:42:35 and simply perches on the side of the nest. She has no food either. She soon leaves again.
At 15:45, poor little Jersey is sitting hopefully up at the table, searching for leftovers, without success. He is hungry. He finds something that looks impossible to swallow but picks it up and tries. Leaper is alerted to this and comes to investigate. Jersey turns away but hangs onto his piece of whatever it is. As he makes another effort at swallowing, Leaper behind him has a stretch, which causes Jersey to become submissive, dropping his leftover (it was only pellet material at best anyway). Note that submission has often become a bowing of the head rather than a full tuck, which is progress – he gets up faster too.
At 15:47:30, Jersey gives up, turns around, and heads back to the middle of the nest to snuggle up with his sister. Sweet. A cuddle puddle is formed. By shortly after 15:52, Leaper is literally lying on top of Jersey, right across his back. By 16:33 they are both up, standing, and hungry. This nest needs a food delivery asap. And sure enough, even as I type this, Leaper heads across the nest towards Jersey with obvious intent. Jersey turns away and huddles for the coming attack. It is short-lived, consisting of two pecks only, one to the head and one to the wing, but we have returned to a situation where Leaper is hungry. This is NOT GOOD.
At 16:43 Jersey picks up a bony leftover and tries to swallow it, but Leaper grabs it from him and downs it fairly easily. It was almost pure bone, by the look of it. It may have been the piece Jersey was trying to swallow earlier. It looked very similar. FINALLY, at 17:28:35 dad brings in a long thin whole fish. Mum immediately comes in about a minute later to take it from him. He leaves. She gets down to the job of feeding her babies. When the fish arrived, Jersey was sleeping with Leaper lying on top of him. So when the food came, he just stayed where he was. It wasn’t until dad’s departure that he ducked his head. Interestingly, so did Leaper, who was standing up but turned away from the table with his head ducked down. Strange. Jersey had the front position at the table, so was probably aware that Leaper would lean over him to eat. So he was cautious.
Mum starts feeding Leaper. The eaglets are side by side at the table but Jersey has turned his back on Leaper and the food. The fish is still moving, the tail striking Jersey and making him more nervous. As the fish tail hits him, Jersey shuffles further away, ending up down at mum’s tail. There, at 17:35, he suddenly has a brainwave. He realises he has space to go up to mum on the other side, putting her between himself and his sister. He thinks. He looks. Then he starts putting his plan into action, moving towards mum’s head along her left flank. 17:37 and he is nearly there. Mum knows he is there, and at 17:37:20 reaches out to him with a bite. He snatches it. Seven seconds later, a second piece. He takes that too. And a third – he is so grabby that it takes him three or four tries to take the food, but mum is patient, staying still until finally he grabs the bite. She is waiting for him to swallow each bite so she can give him the next. He realises he is safe where he is and moves right up beside mum’s beak and the fish. She is feeding him exclusively at this point, with all the bites going to Jersey. There is nothing Leaper can do about it whatsoever.
Jersey eats a little less quickly now, grabbing the pieces but not snatching at them. Mum waits for him – occasionally, he is scared to take a bite but she waits until he turns his head back and accepts the food. This mum is a gem. She is caring so carefully for her youngest;. I am certain she made a decision three days ago that this little one wanted to fight for his life and she was going to help him any way she could. And that is what she has done. At about 17:38:15 Leaper leans in for a bite and Jersey instinctively turns away, but mum waits for him with the food, and he turns back and takes it. Another few bites from mum before this happens again at 17:38:45. Again, mum waits for Jersey to turn back towards her for the bite. She has not fed a single bite to Leaper since Jersey made it up to her beak soon after 17:37. Jersey has had a couple of dozen mouthfuls, some quite large. Finally, mum gives one bite to Leaper, then returns to feeding Jersey. After half a dozen bites, she gives a single mouthful to Leaper, then back to bites for Jersey.
Mum then becomes more even-handed, giving a bite to one then to the other, occasionally giving two consecutive bites to one or the other, But both eaglets finish this fish with good crops. Both will have happy tummies tonight. Good for dad. He took a while to bring in dinner, but when he did, it was a whole live fish, and although it was skinny, it was pretty long. So that’s a huge relief because this mum really needs a bit of a break, if looking after two eaglets can be considered restful!!! She has worked so very hard over the past week, and she deserves to have dad step up the hunting for the family. These two will need more and more food as they grow of course, so it’s a big job for a single parent. I’m glad of the fish stocking you mentioned and hope it affects this nest.
Just after 17:41, Jersey grabs a HUGE bite. He turns away with his prize to eat it but drops it. He wonders whether to have another try at swallowing it or instead return to mum’s beak for more fish, deciding eventually to try the former course. He fails, as the bite is at the wrong angle. He drops it again, picks it up again, this time at the correct angle, and downs it easily. After a moment of triumph (and just checking to make sure crops really don’t burst) he turns back to mum and continues to accept bites. He has a very large crop but has learnt to eat and eat and then eat some more, regardless of how full you may be.
Another day, another important lesson learnt. Today’s lesson was: you can use mum like a shield to protect you from Leaper during feedings. What an important lesson this one really is, as we all know. Many is the younger hatch who has survived as a result of being A+ students in this particular subject.”
This is A’s summary for Saturday morning, so far, at Duke: “Mum wakes at 6am at Duke Farms and leaves the nest at 06:03:30, presumably to organise some breakfast. There are no leftovers on the nest, though both eaglets went to bed with full crops. Jersey, whose head is underneath Leaper, doesn’t even stir in his sleep. It is still dark. Leaper does some preening, waking Jersey up, and actually does some allopreening of Jersey’s head. Or reaches out to gently touch Jersey’s head or face with her beak. He is a little wary but basically without fear. She can be SO sweet towards him. I am convinced that once these two reach that certain age, they will become firm nest buddies (assuming, of course, a n adequate and consistent food supply). I hope they don’t wait too long for a nice big breakfast fish.
At 06:47, they are still waiting, snuggled up together, doing some preening and so far behaving themselves nicely. It will be an important day for little Jersey. Are we setting a new pattern of sibling interaction on this nest or will circumstances send us spiralling back into food shortage and insecurity-related aggression? After three days now of little or no aggression from Leaper, another day without violence may well be enough to cement a reversion to pre-famine peaceful sibling interaction.
Mum is back at 07:03:46 but she has no food – just a talonful of dry grasses. Leaper jumps up and heads straight for the table while Jersey goes into submission. There is no bonking, but nor is there any food. Mum searches the nest for bites of anything she can find to feed Leaper and finds perhaps six to eight bites of something that has been dropped or spat out yesterday. By 07:09:12 Jersey’s head is up and he is lying on his tummy, albeit with his back to mum. She leaves again soon afterwards, at 07:09:28. At 08:30 they are still waiting for breakfast but are cuddling, asleep, and there has been no aggression so far. “
Please send continued energy to this nest – they need all the good vibes they can get.
There is a little bobblehead at the Little Miami Conservancy Bald Eagle Nest in Ohio – but, wait…there are now two of them!
There is a pip at Denton Homes in Iowa Friday evening and DH14 is with us this morning.
The fish that Telyn Blue 5F brought to the Dyfi nest would sure look good on the Duke Farms nest! She is a master angler.
The new dad at Pittsburgh-Hayes brought Mum a fish gift on Friday.
There is an Osprey on the Steelscape nest in the US.
The pair at Allins Cove West are working on their nest. Dad arrived on 18 March with Mum landing a few days later.
Both ospreys are home at the Bridge Golf Course Osprey platform.
I don’t often recommend a FB group but I would like to draw your attention to Della and Warren’s Osprey Platform at Mispillion Harbour, Delaware. It is at the Dupont Centre. Heidi has put together a FB page for this adorable osprey family. Let’s surprise her and see if we can get 50 members over the Easter weekend! She is making videos and knows these birds and their behaviour inside and out. By signing up, her hard work doesn’t go to waste.
They are both home at Clark PUD.
The storks are arriving. Betye and Bukacek are back in their nest in Mlade Buky.
Bradley photographed at Port Lincoln.
Wow. A White-tailed Eagle in California! It is a rarity.
I hope to have the news of the Imperial Eagles soon.
Volunteers have done a clean up where Richmond and Rosie fish at SF Bay. Every area should be cleared, every nest cleaned annually before our ospreys arrive (if possible) to try and make their lives start off safe.
Captured and convicted for leaving dead raptors and animals in front of a shop in the UK.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care all. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J’, The Guardian, The BBC, John Williams, Dyfi Osprey Project, Joanne Daly, University of Florida-Gainesville, Vicki Jacques, IWS/Explore.org, Jeff Kear, Duke Farms, Little Miami Conservancy, Denton Homes, Dyfi Osprey Project, PIX Cams, Steelscape, Allins Cove West, Carol Craig, Heidi McGrue, Clark PUD, Mlade Buky, PLO, SF Ospreys, BirdGuides, and Raptor Persecution UK.
Birds are so beautiful. Anyone that has watched a House Sparrow closely will know that it is not just dull brown but is a range of colours from an espresso chocolate with brick red touches to taupe and oatmeal – all the latest catwalk colours. My Blue Jays that grace my garden feeders and look so beautiful when the lilac blossoms appear beside them, are anything but simple blue. Have you ever thought about drawing or painting birds? or making birds out of textiles? Begin your day with a look at these talented individuals and their attempts. Why not try yours?
The wind has finally left, and the temperature in Winnipeg is currently +1 C. It is sunny and gorgeous, and everyone has a hop in their step. It is the beginning of a very long weekend for those who work, and all of the students have been out of school this week for their spring break (public schools, K-12). It is funny when one is retired – there is hardly ever any need to know what day it is unless it is when the City picks up the recycling bins.
‘The Girls’ continue to enjoy the conservatory and the heat pouring in from the sun. What a change in 24-48 hours! They are napping and jostling for the top spot on the cat tree. Of course, Hugo Yugo is the reigning ‘Queen’ of the Tree. She won’t let anyone kick her off that little square and I am certain that she reminds Calico and Missey that they are too big to fit there even if they would like to sun themselves.
Hope tried and gave up. Hugo Yugo sometimes bites her, and they play fight, but here she is just pushing her off the top.
Hugo Yugo was rather ‘smug’ in her victory. You could hear her – ‘na, na, na, na, na, na’.
She is so tiny but she certainly rules the roost around her. She is fearless. I can only imagine what she would do to Leaper on that Duke Farms nest! That eaglet wouldn’t be trying to take her food!!!!!!! It would be lucky to have any feathers left on its head for bad behaviour.
Baby Hope decided to go and sleep with Mamma.
Thank you to everyone who commented or sent a note thanking me and ‘A’ – and especially ‘A’ for her wonderful narrative about the Duke Farms eagle nest. We are happy to inform you of what is happening at the Duke Farms Bald Eagle nest. It is difficult to watch a nest with the potential of siblicide. We both understand that, and believe me, it breaks my heart and brings me to tears, too. However, there is the most ecstatic happiness when a nest turns around and what could have been a dire situation becomes hopeful. That is where we are at Duke Farms right now. Hopeful.
I also want to thank you for your birthday wishes, your supporting remarks about the overfishing, and your shock at the loss of any information about Mr President and Lotus – they were two very loved eagles and we are disappointed not to know how their lives and breeding season are going. We wish them well.
And then this was posted this morning! Congratulations Mr President and Lotus on your little eaglet.
On Thursday morning, Jersey got a private feeding after Leaper was full. The time was around 10:30. At first, Jersey did the snatch and grab, eating as many bites as it could while Leaper was going into a food coma. You could tell that Jersey was very nervous. Mum kept a keen eye. She was feeding Jersey and then Leaper began to move. At that point, Mum looked at her little baby and moved the fish back on the rim of the nest. Leaper put its head down and Mum began to feed Jersey again. This time it was more relaxed. By 1038, Jersey had a nice crop. The feeding continued until 1040 when little Jersey flapped its wings in happiness with a fully crop and was off to sleep. What a relief to see these developments. Mum is completely aware of what is happening on the nest and is making every effort for Jersey to survive.
There were two more feedings. Jersey ate well at 1428 but is very tense. Any sudden movement will see Jersey draw back, not quite going into a submissive pose but well aware. Leaper leaves Jersey alone and by 1436 Jersey has a nice crop. A wonderful blessing. The little one has had a very good day. There will be one last feed on the small bit of remaining fish and Leaper will get all of it.
Little Jersey does not attempt to go to Mum’s beak at the last feeding. Indeed, even in the earlier feeding, Jersey would not eat even if offered fish bites until Leaper was completely finished. This is the cost of the fear that was imposed on the second hatch over the last weekend. Jersey is getting its confidence, but it will be some time before it feels able to eat freely – without the fear of being beaked and shaken – if Leaper is awake and watching.
I know that everyone likes ‘A’s comments so I have them here in full for the entire day for Thursday at Duke Farms:
I was really having difficulty distinguishing mum from dad mid-morning. Based on head shape and feeding style, I really think it may have been dad (he eats more bites than he gives out and he also gives very small bites – or occasionally very large ones – but brooding the eaglets after the late morning feeding was something mum is far more likely to have done than dad. That being said, the following can be considered to apply to either parent – sometimes, it’s so hard to tell when only one of them is there.
Both eaglets already had a crop and there was an almost untouched whole fish lying on the nest when what looked like dad flew onto the nest with a talonful of dried grasses (what is it with dad and grass, usually dry?) at around 10:20 this morning (28 March). They had been in a cuddle puddle in the middle of the nest when big sister leant over Jersey to line up a large PS. When dad arrived, he buried the fish in grass, then dug it out and starts eating it. Leaper is interested and sits up, watching. When dad offers her a bite and she leans over to take it, Jersey gets up and huddles into his submission pose, back to the food. There has been no hint of aggression from Leaper, and they have been happily cuddling all morning.
Dad went to a different feeding school from mum – he eats three or four bites for every one he offers a chick and he hands out the tiniest pieces. More token gestures often than beakfuls. Jersey realises he has nothing to fear and sits up, turns around a bit, looks over his shoulder towards the food, then shuffles forward towards dad. He loses courage when Leaper leans forward for a bite, and again turns away But his head is still up, and he soon turns around again, approaches dad, sidles closer and gets offered a bite. Leaper is right beside him at the table and closer to dad, so Jersey again hesitates and waits. He stretches, turns away again, waits, watches.
Eventually, shortly before 10:30, Leaper has had enough and turns away. Jersey moves up to dad (or is it mum?). Leaper changes her mind and turns back for just one more bite. Jersey waits. Leaper is done. Jersey grabs for a bite but misses in his haste. It’s a bony bite and dad eats it. The next grab is successful and Jersey takes a large piece. He moves closer and eats. Dad is eating a lot himself, but he is also feeding Jersey. Jersey continues to eat. Leaper, lying in the middle of the nest, is playing with dad’s tail, which periodically brushes Leaper when dad turns to feed a bite to Jersey. It’s an idyllic scene.
Soon after 10:40, the little one has eaten enough and turns away. He has a large crop and he has not been beaten for a day and a half now. He is so happy about that that he stretches and flaps his wee wings, nearly losing his balance in the process. Dad flies off the nest. Jersey flops down beside Leaper, so close that his wing is on her head. After a moment, he stands up again, turns towards his sister and stumbles across her, stepping on her beak in the process. She makes no objection to his extreme clumsiness and the pair end up in a cuddle puddle in the centre of the nest.
Just before 11:02, mum (or is it dad?) returns clutching a huge bunch of twigs, lined up as if in a carefully bundled package of sticks of equal length and circumference, though surely I must be seeing things. He (or she) spreads the grass around, then when the kids don’t wake up, returns to eating the leftover fish. Leaper’s interest is soon aroused and she reaches for a bite. Jersey lifts his head and stretches but is too full to bother getting up. As dad is eating rather than feeding, Leaper turns away and stretches, leaning over Jersey as she does so, but there is no fear from Jersey.
She spreads her nesting material all over the nest, around the eaglet pile, and just before 11:15, she flies off the nest. The eaglets return to sleeping. Watch Leaper allopreening Jersey just before 11:17. TOO adorable.
Just after 11:40 mum (or is it dad?) is back with a long stick, which she carefully places. She then settles down to brood the eaglets. Jersey heads underneath mum, his little bottom sticking out in front of her, which is fortunate because just after 11:42, he does a healthy large PS.
Mum brings in a good-sized whole fresh fish just before 14:10. Leaper immediately heads to the table while Jersey stays where he is, lying duckling style in the middle of the nest. He does not go into submission and Leaper does nothing to intimidate or hurt him. Even when Leaper makes contact with Jersey while leaning forward for a bite, all Jersey does is languidly stretch one leg out towards Leaper. No fear. No aggression.
At 14:17 Jersey stands up and positions for a PS (healthy and large at 14:17:30). He then turns his back to the feeding but does not go into submission. Instead, he sits there, preening, while mum feeds Leaper. Pecking order is being respected. At 14:18:30 Leaper has had enough and turns away. Jersey starts to sidle around the nest towards the table but Leaper stretches and flaps her wings, startling her sibling. Mum leans over to offer more food to Leaper, who continues eating. Jersey gradually heads around the nest towards the table.
He retreats again, back around the nest, then back to the middle, where he again positions for a PS. This one (14:17:30) is even larger than the last! After several false starts and a number of attempts that he chickened out of, Jersey eventually gets up to the table at 14:21:20. Leaper, who has turned away and returned to the table several times, is still eating. About ten seconds later, mum offers Jersey a bite but he is too nervous to take it. He has no basis for fear, having not suffered any aggression from Leaper today that I have witnessed.
Soon after 14:22, so close to mum it is awkward for him to access her beak, Jersey finally has the courage to take a bite. There is still a lot of fish left, and Jersey still has a crop from this morning’s feedings. Mum feeds Jersey, who takes everything he is offered. Leaper watches from the centre of the nest, where she is lying duckling style, tired of carrying her giant crop no doubt. She is relaxed and happy, without any grudge against his little brother, who continues to fill up on this nice fish. Mum is feeding him as much fish as he will take from her.
Afterwards, mum broods the babies. As always, the little one burrows under mum head-first. At 15:39, mum gets up and leaves the nest. Jersey doesn’t even wake up. He’s working hard, growing, converting all that fishy protein into eaglet. At 15:42:43, Jersey has woken up, backed up, and produces yet another large, healthy PS. He’s been processing a lot of food the past two days. So good to see. He stumbles onto the sleeping Leaper, disturbs his sister again while preening (his feathers are coming through – Jersey has been very itchy this afternoon) and generally annoys his sibling, who merely stretches out a leg. Jersey plays with a stick and returns to a lot of preening. His right wing is covering Leaper’s head! Leaper stretches out a wing and a leg to reclaim her space and slumbers on.
Jersey continues preening for a few minutes, then finally flops down beside Leaper, who chooses this moment to wake and stand up. Jersey is anticipating retaliation, as he has been all over his sister in the past ten minutes or so as his preening has been quite vigorous plus he has overbalanced several times and fallen onto her. So he goes into submission just in case. But Leaper just lies down again. At 15:53:47, he does YET ANOTHER PS, this one somewhat smaller than the last three but still respectable. He really is very itchy and cannot seem to stop grooming.
Just after 16:57, mum is back with yet more grasses. She spreads them about the nest and leaves again before 16:59. At 17:00 Leaper does a good PS. The two have been snuggling in the centre of the nest all afternoon, changing position occasionally, and sometimes being clumsy, stumbling over each other or onto each other. This can make Jersey slightly nervous, but his reaction to that at this stage of the day is now to stand up and turn away rather than to cower in submission.
At 17:00:32, Jersey reaches over and gently pecks at Leaper, having just pecked at a piece of bark in front of him. Initially, it appears she will retaliate. She stands up, leaning forwards and spreading her wings as if about to launch an attack on Jersey. But Jersey’s response is to stand up, head held high. As he resumes preening, Leaper leans forward to groom her own underside, bringing her close to Jersey, who reacts by leaning back slightly, beak open, and keeping his head up. This is an eaglet who seems prepared to defend himself against an attack. He is not reacting by automatically going into submission. He is quite literally standing up for himself. This is very interesting to watch. It is now nearly two full days of food for Jersey and no beatings from Leaper.
At 17:01:07, with Leaper standing up and Jersey, lying in front of her, Jersey makes the fatal error of staring his sister in the eyes. There is a pause. Jersey continues to watch Leaper. At 17:01:15, Leaper pulls herself up, spreads her wings and leans over Jersey, who stands and turns away in the one movement, still watching Leaper. Leaper pecks Jersey, just once, at 17:01:18, then continues flapping her wings. Jersey remains submissive, as Leaper twice overbalances and falls onto Jersey with her wingercising. Leaper does a little more preening, then snuggles back down beside Jersey. At 17:04:12, Jersey’s little head pops up and he and his sister are snuggled side by side, the best of mates again.
This was the only episode of bonking I saw today (28 March) or yesterday (27 March), and it really was a single peck to the side/back of the head to reinforce pecking order. Obviously, Jersey needed a reminder about the ‘looking one’s older sister in the eyes’ rule. But it was nothing resembling an attack. Let’s see how it impacts Jersey’s confidence tomorrow (29 March). He has eaten very well today. He looks strong and he is getting more confident. He is growing every day and learning vital life lessons. We can only hope the food keeps coming onto this nest. I am confident that as long as it does, Jersey will survive to fledge.
Check the ‘synchronised watching’ at 17:28:43-47 (something, presumably a parent, is above). I love it when a scrape full of falcon eyases does some synchronised watching of a passing parent. TOO adorable.
Just before 18:54, Jersey is standing and flapping his little wings. This suddenly annoys his sister, pecks him (again, just once) in the side of the head. It takes him by surprise and he goes into submission. A few seconds later, at 18:54:44, mum lands on the nest and begins feeding Leaper the meagre pickings from a small bony piece of leftover fish. Jersey remains in submission until 18:58:24, when he raises his head and flops onto his tummy, though he remains with his back to the table.
Around 19:07 he gets up and looks over his shoulder towards mum. He still has a good crop (as does Leaper, who is eating but the bites are small). By 19:08:30 the fish is gone and Leaper turns back towards Jersey. Another big PS for Leaper at 19:08:53, who then snuggles up with Jersey for the night. Mum settles in to brood her babies.
All in all, it has been an interesting day. Jersey has eaten well, and although there were two occasions when Leaper pecked at her sibling, these could certainly not be classified as attacks, and I doubt they will intimidate Jersey much when it comes to eating tomorrow. We will see what the day brings. But today’s two minor incidents were the usual pecking order behaviour of an average nest, not the vicious beatings we were witnessing four days ago.
Jersey is not yet out of the woods by a long shot. But things are improving by the day as his confidence grows, and today was another step in the right direction
It is raining Ospreys in the UK. They must all have felt the wind currents were favourable as quite a number landed on their nests all over the UK.
One of the first was Louis at the Lock Arkaig nest 2 that he shares with Dorcha. Geemeff heard him coming before he even arrived!
Blue HKO, otherwise known as ‘Flora’, the mate of Unringed Harry at the Alyth SS nest, arrived home on Thursday, too.
It was not clear how happy Blue 5F Seren was to find snow on her nest at Llyn Clywedog in Wales when she arrived Thursday! Wonder when Dylan will get home?
Dylan must have been right behind her!
The getting reacquainted is often cumbersome unless, of course, you are Laddie!
At Foulshaw Moss in Cumbria, White YW welcomed his long-time mate, Blue 35 who arrived Thursday. (White YW arrived on the 24th)
The Real Saunders Photography caught E23 lying and being chased by smaller birds – just like he will for the rest of his life. The image is magical and majestic. What a glorious fledgling E23 is!
E23 took a rabbit from Dad and flew off with it – oh, E23 you are learning so fast.
Meadow and Swampy are not flying yet, but it won’t be long. On Thursday, both demonstrated that they could clean up a large fish in record time. Once rivals, the pair shared part of the carcass.
Liberty and Guardian have their second pip – and by the time you read this – a probably second hatch at Redding. Isn’t this incredible? Congratulations.
I would so wish too see this happen at Sauces and Big Bear.
Names have been given for the two osplets at Moorings Park. The eldest is to be called Ruffie and the youngest is Tuffie.
Oh, gosh, these two are so cute. Their fat little bottoms and tiny little tails.
Every year, I used to discuss the beauty of the babies with a dear friend who has now passed. She preferred the White-bellied sea eaglets and I the osplets and little red-tail hawklets.
Egg number 5 has been laid by Mother Goose at Decorah.
The kids at Decorah North are doing very well, indeed. Mr North keeps the food coming and from the look of DNF, no one should mess with her nest! Dad brought in what appears to be road kill later. And this reminds me! Please keep a small shovel in the trunk of your car. Whenever you see road kill, either in the City or in the suburbs or the country, stop your car safely and remove the dead animal to a place where the other animals can feed of it without fear of being hit by a car.
The eaglet at Port Tobacco has a very full crop!
Big Red and Arthur diligently keeping those four precious eggs warm.
Noble and Whitley on the Crooked Lake Osprey nest. What a gorgeous area.
Second to last. I am certain you can tell that I adore Akecheta. Here is a nest with three eaglets – and not their first clutch to hatch three. Thunder is a rigid disciplinarian and it has made all the difference in the world. At the same time, Akecheta keeps that nest filled with fish. So civilised. Just makes my heart beat a little more joyful seeing them together with the three eaglets.
‘A’ agrees: “
At WE, we have two parents doing the most wonderful job. By 16:17 yesterday afternoon (28 March), when Thunder had finished giving the three eaglets yet another feeding, just check out those massive crops. So when Akecheta landed with yet another big fish at 16:17:09, no-one really had much room left to fit in any more food, as all three were in food comas. Shortly after 18:14 Akecheta returned with a huge amount of dry grass and spread it about where the chicks sleep. Mum continued to try to feed the babies, and managed to get them to accept a few bites. Everyone went to bed with large crops. SEDs on this nest. .
The WE nest spends much of the time looking like a fishmonger’s shop. My goodness there were a lot of fish sitting there late yesterday afternoon, two of them sizable leftovers, the other piece smaller. Seconds before 18:00, Thunder arrived back to take over looking after the eaglets for the night. Akecheta left soon afterwards. Mum first fed a few bites to any takers but the kids were pretty full, so she had a snack, checking repeatedly to see if the chicks are hungry. They were not. She had a good meal and the family settled for the night.
There is some niggle between the siblings but nothing to worry about. No-one is getting hurt or intimidated or stopped from eating. They are just the usual feisty offspring this couple seems to produce.”
I always look forward to what Dani Connor Wild is doing. She has just posted a video about her life living four hours south of the Arctic Circle when it is -37 C. Watch it for the beautiful images of Golden Eagles and get the tissue at the end when she shows some quick images of the Penguins in Antarctica. Fortunately, the penguins are not showing any symptoms of bird flu while, at the same time, testing positive. See article below. This is hopeful news.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. We hope to see you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, SP’, Sue Greely, Duke Farms, The Woodland Trust, Geemeff, Jeff Kear, Clywedog Osprey Cam, Real Saunders Photography, Lady Hawk, Eagle Country, Meredith Gertz, Beth Lorenzo, Moorings Park Ospreys, Raptor Resource Project/Explore.org, Port Tobacco Eagle Cam, Cornell RTH, Timothy Dygert Osprey Cam, IWS/Explore.org, Dani Connor Wild, The Guardian, and The New York Times.
Hugo Yugo seems to be doing fantastic. She is extremely lovable and continues to sleep on my head or chest at night. All you have to do is whisper her name and she is there.
I just remembered that I needed to add ‘enchanted’ before Missey. ‘J’ thinks Missey belongs in the ‘Magical Kingdom of Landover’ and ‘she should be able to talk’. Now don’t tell anyone, but I think she does! Missey has now taken Baby Hope under her arm and is proving to be a good second Mum to her if I could only train Missey to clean Hugo Yugo’s eyes.
Good news is coming in from the nests, but we must start with a magical image of a rainbow coming over Telyn at the Dyfi Osprey nest she shares with her mate, Idris, in Wales. Totally enchanting! Now come on Idris, come home.
Irish poet WB Years reminds us: “The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”
Seren Blue 5F arrived home from The Gambia this morning. Now we wait for Dylan to get to Llyn Clywedog in Wales! She might be wishing for that West African sun.
Isn’t this one a cutie? Liberty and Guardian’s first hatch at Redding.
I am always happy to have egg on my face. It appears that darling Laddie did survive and has now returned to his nest with Blue NCO to start another season. Let us all send good wishes and hope that he is up to the task at hand and this lovely pair at the Loch of the Lowes do not have any intruders to harm them or cause harm to their babies this year. I can hardly believe it. Fantastic.
Thanks, Geemeff.
Laddie wastes no time getting reacquainted. Is there a competition between him and Blue 33 for first eggs laid?
I have spent a greater proportion of my post for the last couple of days on the situation at Duke Farms. There is a clear reason for this – the detailed study of the eagles’ behaviour when food becomes in short supply and the reaction of the eaglets to one another. We are only seeing the second hatch, Jersey, gain more confidence today. Jersey is self-feeding, and Mum seems to have figured out how to manage the situation in the nest. The situation here is no different than it would be on an osprey nest when the eldest has perceived insufficient food for all and begins attacking its sibling/s. It could wind up being siblicide, but, I am hopeful that unless there is another dramatic reduction in prey, we will have two fledges at the Duke Farms nest in 2024.
On Wednesday at 11:26, Mum finds an old fish tail in the rim of the nest. She feeds Leaper. Jersey is obviously interested but afraid. The little one moves around the rim of the nest to get closer to the feeding area. At the point where Leaper has a full crop, Jersey moves up and begins to self-feed on the fish tail. Leaper goes to sleep. At this point Mum begins to feed Jersey who has a nice crop by 12:03. Mum literally stuffs Jersey with all the remaining fish taking advantage of Leaper being in a food coma. The feeding ends at 1212 when there is no longer any food on the nest.
We now wait to see if more food will come to the nest. The good news is that food did arrive.
‘A’ notes, “Jersey lined up mum and did a large and very healthy-looking PS straight at Mum from a distance of only inches (17:54:33). He hit her squarely on the top of her head (she was working on getting bites off the remaining prey – that giant fish has now become a very long spine. It looks amazing. Jersey has eaten today. This is one extremely good mother. She has worked very hard to keep these two alive. When it rained this afternoon, she was the perfect mumbrella, keeping both her growing eaglets warm and dry, She is devoted and smart. I am starting to become very attached to her. But both chicks will go to bed with full tummies and good crops tonight.”
Dad came in with a headless fish and little Jersey ate and ate….that sweetie pie was so full it turned away from the fresh fish at 17:54. Reports are that the the Raritan River is low and not as muddy as it was. In addition, the State of New Jersey is putting the trout back into the rivers so let us hope that fish will be plentiful on the nest.
Getting a late night snack. Jersey has an enormous crop.
How cute is little Jersey?
Jersey had a good morning on Friday so far.
Friday morning at Duke Farms with ‘A’: “
Mum was absolutely saturated after sheltering her eaglets overnight, and had the biggest flap of her wings to try and get the water off – then repeated the exercise three more times. Poor mum. It was a long, wet night, but Jersey got the best of it in terms of shelter, staying pretty dry for most of the night.
Jersey has had a lovely morning. He missed out on the first feeding, which mum gave him from the leftover torso (or whatever that was), but there was no bonking whatsoever before or after the first breakfast, just a lot of snuggling and preening, including a little allopreening from Leaper to her little brother. She is very sweet to him when she’s not thrashing him.
When mum returned to feed a smallish whole fish lying on the side of the nest, Jersey went into submission and Leaper began eating, but was full fairly quickly and turned away. Jersey got to the table relatively quickly and began his snatch and grab style of eating. Mum was so patient, even ensuring that when he dropped a piece and she went to pick it up, she moved slowly and carefully near Jersey so that he didn’t get startled or cringe away from the food. She waited for him to take each bite, offering it as many times as necessary. Jersey downed some large pieces, but one was too big for him, even on the second or third attempt, and turned away, so mum ate that bit herself. Jersey had managed the tail, with attached flesh!! He actually ate so much that he had had enough and ended the feeding as a result. He had a large crop.
After breakfast number two, mum broods her eaglets again. So cute. They are probably a bit damp still, and it has been raining lightly on and off through the morning. She is such a devoted mum and she is having a terrible hair day.
Just before 08:46 dad flies in with a large whole fish. Is this the first food delivery from dad in five days? I think it may well be. It’s a lovely big fish and he leaves it on the edge of the nest for mum to manage. The babies are too full to bother, so she gets up and flies off the nest. At 08:53:31 dad is back with a talonful of damp grasses, which he spreads about the place. He then takes hold of the fish, drags it closer to the cuddle puddle of eaglets, and offers a bite to Jersey. Despite being literally entwined in Leaper, Jersey is not too scared to accept the bite!!!
This is massive. Normally, he would not have had the courage and would have cringed away from dad’s beak, probably going into a submissive tuck. But now, he takes the bite without hesitation. He is not interested in the second bite offered so dad starts hoeing into the head of the fish himself. Leaper at this stage decides to stand up and stretch. Jersey stays where he is, not cringing or tucking. Leaper lines up for her second PS of the morning (Jersey too has done a very large and healthy PS earlier this morning).
Leaper now moves up to the table beside Jersey, who is a little nervous and pulls away just slightly but still remains up at the table, his head up. Leaper does nothing to intimidate or hurt him. Dad continues to eat. Leaper watches. So does Jersey. Eventually dad gives Leaper a bite. Jersey stays where he is. He considers leaning towards dad but thinks better of it. Still he is up at the table, wary but not in submission. Dad continues to feed Leaper. There is NO bonking. There has been none all morning.
Suddenly, at 08:59:30, Jersey reaches across in front of Leaper to take a bite from dad. Leaper is fine with this and does nothing to stop Jersey eating. Dad is doing pretty well out of this fish head himself, feeding the occasional mouthful to Leaper. Jersey remains beside and slightly in front of Leaper, watching carefully. It is 09:03. Just after 09:04, dad offers a bite to Jersey, who accepts it, without any reaction from Leaper. This is SO good to watch.
Jersey takes another bite. And another. Dad doles out the tiniest pieces. A very different feeding technique to mum’s (I haven’t watched dad feed these chicks at all in the past week). Both chicks are still full from their earlier breakfast, and turn away from the table to snuggle up together again.
We will see what the rest of the day brings, but so far, this has been the best morning on this nest in about a week. Little Jersey has eaten very well already, with a very large crop, as has Leaper, and there has been not one incident of aggression from Leaper at all. Nothing. Perhaps the food insecurity has gradually abated and Leaper has calmed down. We will see. CertaInly, it was wonderful to see dad bring in a nice big fish this morning.”
There is word of a possible pip at the Centreport Bald Eagle nest on Long Island, New York.
R6 does not want us to forget how handsome he is! Ron and Rose at the WRDC nest agree along with all his fans.
It will not be long til these beautiful eaglets leave their natal nest area. Clearly M15 and F23 have E23 in training. I had to laugh. I thought Hugo Yugo was very loud when she protests that she is ‘starving to death’ on the kitchen counter. Well, E23 sure is loud! it was a good year for M15. This amazing dad deserved it.
Not only are the Osprey having great challenges due to the overfishing of shallow swimming fish like the Menhaden, but now there are different issues with the salmon industry – and they are, as Geemeff, describes, sounding ominous.
At the same time, I would draw your attention to these two articles that outline the severe impact that the fish shortage because of commercial fishing is going to have on the Atlantic and Gulf Ospreys in the US.
I will continue to call for individuals that have the access and authority to set aside a pond for the birds of prey so that they can eat. For all of us to call for a moratorium on commercial fishing of Menhaden and for the curtailing of fishing by long line trawler regardless of where they are fishing in the world. There are not too many Ospreys in the US. What is happening is a steep decline right before our very eyes. The population is anything but stable. ‘H’ and I found this in comparing the data from the US and the UK in the 2023 nests that we observed.
Somewhere there is a Bald Eagle nest struggling, just like we saw when an adult is injured, dead, or missing for a few days. This time it is due to the frolicking killing by a human.
Checking in on Monty and Hartley and their incubation.
Hartley lays her third egg!
Archie is so cute. These males are so tiny and trying to get four big eggs under them is sometimes a bit of a challenge.
The Black Storks are beginning to arrive in Latvia! Oh, how I wish Karl II was going to be flying into Estonia. What a loss he will be.
Is Mrs O back at Tweed Valley?
Warren and Della are back at Mispillion Harbour working on their nest. Della is notorious for loving ‘yellow’ things – she brings them to make the nest more beautiful! Kinda’ like dear Jack did with his stuffies at Dahlgren.
The trio at Frenchman’s Creek are doing well. The third hatch does have to wait in line, but sometimes manages to get a private feeding.
The triplets at the West End are doing exceptionally well. As I have said, Thunder sat on them when they acted up and they didn’t get to eat then. Food is a great motivator!
Harry came in with a couple of big fish for Sally and the two osplets. Looks like the other egg is not going to hatch – no problem! Two healthy osplets are just fine.
Mark your calendars. We are 3 days and 11 hours from ‘Iris Watch’. For those who do not know who Iris is, she is believed to be the oldest osprey in the world. Her nest is in a parking lot at the Riverview Health Centre at Hellcat Canyon, Missoula, Montana. Her first mate, Stanley, and her were very happy. Her second mate, Louis, has another nest and life has been rough. There have been no chicks for at least five years and many would like to see Iris have another mate. Louis would have to give up the territory and his domination of Iris despite having Star on the nest at the Baseball Park. For me, I hope she has another wonderful summer fishing and catching those big whoppers she is known for. Iris gets her name from the flecks in her right eye.
In San Francisco, Richmond and Rosie will have more rain which is delaying their nest building – and it looks like they have a lot of materials required. Do you remember the year the Crows kept taking all of their sticks when they would bring them in? Oh, goodness. Maybe they will leave the ospreys alone this year!
Many of you have asked about Mr President and Lotus. The AEF has posted the following information today. Unfortunately, it appears that we will not even get updates on their breeding season.
Thank you for being with me today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, Michael Academia, SP’, The Scottish Wildlife Trust, FORE, Geemeff, Duke Farms, Centrepoint Eagles, WRDC, Misqually Valley News, frontiers, AOL, SK Hideaways, Maria Marika, Tweed Valley Osprey Project, Heidi McGrue, Frenchman’s Creek, IWS/Explore, Moorings Park, Montana Osprey Project, SF Ospreys, and the AEF.
Dry snowflakes flew about on the Canadian Prairies Tuesday morning and the snow got heavier in the early evening. It is really blowing around and my thoughts go out to all of the geese and ducks that arrived so early. I hope they can find food and hold on til the weather warms up in a few days.
Yesterday, I wrote about the need for a moratorium on commercial fishing in Mahaden. I also mentioned that the individuals who breed farm fish in the UK have discovered how to monetise the ponds. The charge to photograph is substantial at some of the sites, and the owners have proudly admitted that they make more money from the photographers than from selling their farm fish. This is something that could easily be adapted in the US, and it would be a win-win for the Osprey and the entrepreneurs who want to make money. With all the interest in wildlife photography, this should be seriously considered. It could be a nature centre, a golf course, or anywhere along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, which are the most at risk presently. If you know someone who is interested, I am certain that Dr Tim Mackrill would be more than happy to connect them with the parties in the UK. Tim is the Director of the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and can easily be found on X or the Internet.
Lots happening! I feel that we are a page of headline news today. This is more of a run through the nests with a stop at a couple – like Duke Farms – to see what happened on Tuesday.
There is a pip at the Redding nest of Liberty and Guardian.
And now there is a hatch! Proud parents Liberty and Guardian. First hatch, second clutch. How grand.
The eaglet at Berry College is a cutie and will be very spoiled if it is the only one.
Only chick at Port Tobacco is doing wonderful.
Two eaglets of Jolene and Boone at Johnson City-ETSU are looking more like old carpets. They are ‘wooly’ with their thermal down and are getting their juvenile feathers.
Big Red lays a fourth egg at the Cornell RTH nest. Both of them look at it wondering where on earth that one came from! Arthur is probably thinking, ‘oh, no, not again!’. Of course, he will be able to handle it. Let us hope this is a good year for chipmunks and squirrels on the Cornell campus.
Jersey lives another day. The second hatch at Duke Farms flapped its little wings in happiness. It is often too aware and too afraid to let Mum feed it, but that little one is self-feeding and got enough for a crop and then a crop drop and partial crop on Tuesday before Leaper started bonking it while it was eating some fish. Rain is on its way to the nest. We can only send positive wishes and hope that this situation will be rectified because Jersey is a survivor. We have seen this at other nests…keep sending good energy.
Mum tries to feed Jersey from the fish but Jersey is very afraid of Leaper and for good reason.
Mum gives an order for food.
Jersey continued to work on the fish and then the miracle happened. Mum fed Jersey while Leaper slept off its food coma. Jersey ate and ate. ‘J’ remarks, “Hope is Powerful”.
Leaper’s food anxiety is not over. But Jersey got braver and Mum knows this one is a survivor! Keep sending all that good energy to this nest – for prey delivery, Jersey eating, and both to fledge.
‘A’ gives us a good late day rundown at Duke:
“Mum decided not to feed much of that big fish to Leaper, once she realised that Jersey was not going to get anything, so she left the fish and instead began feeding Leaper from the old waterbird torso – it was as if she was deliberately leaving the opened fish for Jersey to self-feed and then filled Leaper to the brim with food Jersey would have had no real chance of getting any real bites off. She then tried to put herself between the pair. Leaper, with the most gigantic crop, nevertheless got up and crossed the nest to give Jersey a serious and prolonged beating (around 17:50), which ended when Leaper headed back to the centre of the nest, where mum immediately lay down between the two. Jersey now could make a good effort at the large fish that had been opened at the head end and unzipped a little down one side. He pulled the giant fish down towards him, stood on it, and pulled bites from it. Mum watched him, then covered Leaper in a blanket of dry grass. Mum’s positioning gave little Jersey the confidence to ignore the fear of an attack and concentrate on trying to eat as much of the fish as he could. It was noteworthy that he still had a respectable crop before this self-feeding. At 18:00, mum got up, leaving Leaper sleeping, and moved to where Jersey was self-feeding to begin feeding him herself. She offered him some of the torso, and after some initial hesitation, he accepted the bite. Just as mum is about to offer him another bite, dad flies onto the nest with another (this time, absolutely huge) talonful of dried grasses. He spreads this to cover first nearby Jersey, who goes into submission, and then Leaper in the middle of the nest, still sleeping. TOO funny. Jersey realises it was not a Leaper attack and lifts his head, so mum immediately takes the chance to offer him a bite of food, which he snatches. He turns away to eat it, then turns back to face and get closer to mum. Jersey turns to dad and takes a bite of what he thinks is food but is really nesting material! He spits it out. Both parents are on the nest now, dad having found the leftover large fish he had buried alongside Jersey, while mum is still with the torso. Jersey has his back to both parents, who are each trying to feed him, dad on his left with the fish, mum on his right with the torso. He is too nervous to take either. He looks towards mum but eventually turns towards dad, but cringes and turns away when dad offers him some fish. He looks back towards mum and snatches a bite from her, which again he turns away to eat. He looks back towards dad, but again cringes away when dad offers him a bite of fish. This happens again, and when Jersey cringes away from dad this time, dad reaches out to try and give the bite of fish to mum to feed to Jersey. She does not take it from him. Jersey continues to watch dad but turn back and take bites from mum. He wants some of that fish though, and dad pulls it out from under the grass. Mum is not looking pleased at the idea he might be taking the fish for himself and goes to stop him. She vocalises, quite obviously warning him not to even think about it. He retreats, without the fish, and leaves the nest.
At 18:08 Leaper wakes up, but Jersey still grabs a bite from mum. Leaper takes a bite from mum but then decides she really cannot be bothered and refuses a second. Jersey literally spins in a circle, gaining and then losing the courage to take a bite from mum. Just TOO funny. Would make an absolutely hysterical gif. Jersey has a good crop. (Leaper’s is humungous.) The more bites Jersey takes without being attacked for eating, the more confident he becomes and the faster he eats. Mum periodically tries to coax Leaper, lying duckling style on the other side of mum, to take a bite, and once in a while she does so, but most of the bites are going to Jersey. Around 18:12, Leaper half-stands, as if to attack Jersey, and mum instantly tries to pacify her with the offer of food, but Leaper decides it’s too much effort, lies back down and refuses the food. Mum resumes feeding Jersey, whose crop is enlarging by the minute. He is eating as fast as he can now, grabbing and swallowing bite after bite. Big bites, small bites;.anything he can get he is wolfing down. Some of the pieces are big. Some are awkwardly shaped. He is finding a way to force them all down, although some take him some time and effort to swallow. He is eating what he can, while he can (yet another valuable survival lesson he has learned this week!!) Oh it is just wonderful to watch. I cannot help but cry. He is fighting so hard to live, and mum is helping him do so with every maternal instinct in her body. The way she warned dad off that fish was pure MOTHER. Do not dream of taking food from the mouths of my babies, you deadbeat dad. Go out and bring in a fish!! (Or is that anthropomorphising too much even for me?) But seriously, the vocal warning she gave him, and THE LOOK when he tried to sneak at least half of that gigantic fish off the nest was an absolute classic. He literally slunk away.
Jersey went to bed with a happy tummy last night. He had achieved such a lot, and I honestly believe that the lessons he has learned will save his life, as long as mum can keep this level of food coming onto the nest. She must be exhausted, having started hunting before dawn yesterday, bringing in three large prey items during the day. I still wonder where dad has been and why he is not bringing in food now he is back, given that he looked totally uninjured. It really is a mystery, and it may be that mum is going to have to do much or all of the work on this nest. If that does happen, things are still very tenuous here, with Leaper still keeping Jersey in a state of terror whereby he is usually too scared to be fed by mum. There was one feeding today where Leaper allowed Jersey to eat from mum for as long as he wanted without any aggression at all, but that was not the way Leaper behaved when that late afternoon fish arrived, gigantic though it was.
I am astounded at how well Jersey has done at getting enough food off those two fish yesterday to fill his crop twice – once at breakfast time and again late in the afternoon – with the feeding from mum (from the waterbird torso – at least I think that’s what it was – it was very hard to identify, but there was a lot of meat on it and not much else, such as feet or wings or a head or legs or anything really, so it could have been mammalian for all I know). So Jersey has eaten very well today and in the process has learned some incredibly valuable skills. Leaper is not yet a competitor for leftovers, having had no need to self-feed yet, and so leaves the spoils to Jersey. Once she has filled her crop and gone into a food coma, Jersey can then self-feed to his heart’s content. The combination of mum’s obvious awareness that she must hunt and she must look out for the younger chick, plus the reappearance of dad (despite him so far not bringing in food) and Jersey’s self-feeding prowess (which will improve by the day from here on, especially as his weight increases) may well be enough to salvage the outcome on this nest. Mum is certainly doing her best. “
Jersey has not had food Wednesday morning. It does appear that Mum is the only one bringing in food items to the nest but it is possible that she is retrieving them from Dad off nest as Duke Farms did imply at one time. It is going to be wet. Jersey ate well enough yesterday but it would be good to get that crop filled today sometime with the weather.
The pair at Moorings Park are doing very well. They are absolutely adorable.
The two eaglets at Decorah North are equally cute. There is some bonking as their eyes adjust to the world. Every beak is a potential bite of food – or a sibling!
The Sutton Centre in Bartlesville Oklahoma now has two eaglets! Thanks, ‘J’
‘H’ thinks R6 is ready to fledge any time! It sure looks like Ron and Rose will be empty nesters soon enough.
Lots of fish piled up on the nest of Ellie and Harvey at Farmer Derek’s. These two like to team feed!
In the UK, Blue NCO continues to wait for Laddie LM12 at Loch of the Lowes. White YW arrived early, also, and is waiting for Blue 25 at Foulshaw Moss. Telyn arrived on Tuesday at the Dyfi nest and awaits the arrival of Idris while Elen is at Glaslyn waiting for Aran.
Elen at Glaslyn.
Telyn (Blue 3J) at Dyfi watching for Idris.
CJ7 and Blue022 are getting reacquainted at the Poole Harbour nest in the UK. Other nests with both of the pairs are Manton Bay, Esthwaite, Threave Castle, Blackwood Farms, and Bassenwaite.
This is more the style when I think of CJ7 and Blue 022.
There is some good news coming from the Loch of the Lowes – no, sadly, Laddie isn’t home, but I have not expected him to return this year. There is another sky dancing male trying to attract Blue NCO’s attention. I hope he is a good fisher and stays! One of Laddie’s fledglings with his mate LF15 of 2017 has been sighted in the Lake District possibly looking for a mate or a nest! That is fantastic news – a great moment to celebrate for so few survive those first two years —- and getting an actual sighting of one to record is difficult. This bird is six years old. I wonder if it has a nest in the area?
You might recall that a Peregrine Falcon with its jesses landed in the scrape of Monty and Hartley the other day. It is quite worrying when a falconry bird is flying free. There is no telling how far it came from its home. AE brings us good news:
Many thanks to the California Falconry community for their quick work on this unusual incident! Fun facts: the bird was a 9 year captive bred anatum peregrine who was clearly very excited about the arrival of the first egg. It was from a line of birds that retains that dark streaking through the breast in their adult plumage. While Monty was clearly upset with the intrusion, it was so interesting to see Hartley e-chup along with the intruder like they were having a little baby shower! Glad all seems to be moving along smoothly now.
At the Durbe County White-tail Eagle nest in Latvia, Milda laid her second egg of the season.
‘MP’ sends us a good sighting at the JB Sands Wetlands eagle nest. As you recall, Mum had an injury. She did not hunt or feed the chick for some time. Dad took over. Thankfully, the eaglet was a month old. Things have improved. This is today’s short report: “Today it looks as though mom is back hunting. She brought a fish in this morning along with dad. It’s funny, two days go by and nothing, and suddenly, three pieces of prey already this morning, before 9:00AM.”
It is so good to see both parents back at the nest (just like it is at Duke Farms).
Looks like the parents at JB Sands are trying to teach JBS20 how to ‘branch’ on that tower!
At Bluff City, ‘Viper’ is growing and doing well. We have seen this before at nests. Brood reduction it might be called. Let us hope that Viper fledges and all is well.
This past weekend was pip watch for Chase and Cholyn. Will their only egg hatch?
It is always mealtime when you have three growing eaglets. Cholyn and Chase’s daughter, Thunder, is no stranger to three hatching!
I missed this yesterday. Happy Hatch Day Thunder!
Dixie and Mason are so cute. Aren’t you happy they can peek over the rim of the nest now? Gosh I really dislike that view form the top camera.
Swampy and Meadow are curious about food scraps in the nest and their self-feeding is coming along nicely. Abby and Blaze have done a wonderful job preparing them for life off the nest. Do you remember when we thought that Swampy was going to harm Meadow? Now look at them! Best buddies.
The late Pale Male’s (Central Park’s longest-living Red-tail Hawk) mate, Octavia, has been seen with another male and exhibits some nesting behaviour. Pale Male died in the arms of Bobby Horvath last year. He was the subject of books and films, including The Legend of Pale Male, which is free to watch. I highly recommend it as a community came together to save his nest. It shows the power of people who care! You can find it at thelegendofpalemale.net
Thank you so much for being with me today. We can expect a few more bobbleheads and osprey arrivals! Take care all. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, posts, screen captures, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, AE, Geemeff, H, J, MP’, FORE, WingsofWhimsy, Berry College Eagle Cam, Port Tobacco Eagle Cam, Johnson City-ETSU, Cornell RTH Cam, Duke Farms, Moorings Park, Raptor Resource Project/Explore.org, Heidi M, Farmer Derek, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Poole Harbour, Jenny Moore, Gregarious Toonen, LDF, JB Sands Wetlands, Bluff City-ETSU, Jan Gallivan, Superbeaks, Eagle Country, Bruce Yolton, Raptor Resource UK, Sutton Centre, and Audubon Magazine.
Hugo Yugo was in at 0800 and ready to come home at 1200. She is wobbly and quite ‘out of it’ actually. She had to have a larger incision than normal as, according to her marvellous vet Dr Green, “the ovaries were elastic and didn’t just pop out.” I am used to picking them up much later in the day so I have begun to have sympathy pains with Hugo Yugo. She will have a quiet time in the ‘Big Dog Bed of Missey and Lewis’ in the big bedroom this afternoon. Thank you for all of your good wishes for her. She feels loved!
Well, two hours later. Hugo Yugo escaped and can walk very well in her little pink onesie, but she is certainly not going to win any beauty contests in that thing. This little one is the sunshine in my day. She is going to be fine!
2100. Hugo Yugo is tearing through the play tunnels with Calico Kitty Kitty. She is fine. The onesie is nowhere to be seen. I didn’t take it off – did Calico, Calico Kitty Kitty, and Missey help her? She is her insatiable self leaping over couches and running from one end of the house to the other. I know. Dr Green said to keep her still. Well, that isn’t working.
Thursday morning, Hugo Yugo is eating like a 17-hand Quarterhorse. She is perfectly fine!!!! Tears of joy. Here she is.
I sent my post out early on Wednesday because of Hugo Yugo’s surgery and missed including some events – we will start with those.
The first one is a happy one. The first egg hatched at PA County Farms.
The second one is also happy. Annie and Archie now have three eggs at The Campanile Falcon scrape in San Francisco on the UC-Berkeley Campus. Will Annie and Archie stop at three or continue to four eggs?
Archie thinks three is enough!
The third is very happy. R6 branched! Just look at his face. He knows precisely the great milestone he just crossed! Congratulations Ron and Rose.
More good news. The Venice Golf and Country Club had their third hatch before the camera went down. They have easily raised three in the past with lots of sources for fish in the area.
There is some good news coming from the NCTC nest. Fellow Canadian, Deb Stecyk monitors the NCTC nest. She writes of the broken egg of Scout and Bella (If you did not see it), “March 18, 2024 With the arrival of spring it was a sad day at the nest with the loss of one egg. Both Scout and Bella were observed moving the broken egg shell and nibbling on the contents and egg shell. It tugged at our hearts watching Scout when he first noticed the broken egg shell, his concern and uncertainty seemed apparent. Of note Scout incubated the eggs for about 3 hours yesterday (2 shifts) with Bella taking on the balance. Perhaps the loss of one of her eggs, prompted Bella to be more protective and stay close to home. When we finally got a better look at the broken shell it did appear to have grey material inside the shell, although it may be a collection of nesting materials trapped inside the egg shell. If the egg contained liquid anything that it came in contact with after it broke would definitely stick to the inside of the shell. The egg shell was buried beneath the adults for some time before it was finally moved out and onto the nest. We will keep our fingers crossed that it was the non viable egg that broke. After the incident we had good views of the remaining two eggs all positive signs of things to come. We will continue to hope that Bella and Scout are blessed with two healthy eaglets. With each passing day we are one day closer to hatch watch, it is now after midnight so we have 15 sleeps to go “.
Trudi Kron has been monitoring the JB Sands Eagle nest. You will remember that there has been concern for Mum. Trudi notes that the middle talon of Mum’s right foot is swollen. The swelling goes up and down during the day. Is it broken? the toe? It does not appear that the leg is the issue. Eagles adapt, thankfully. We wish Mum a speedy recovery. Dad has done an incredible job.
Trudi made a lovely video of a day in the life of JBS20.
Sadly, Dahlgren has now confirmed what ‘H’ reported a week ago – that is not Harriet on the Dahlgren Nest with Jack.
The three eaglets of Thunder and Akecheta are doing splendidly. They are all growing and all being fed. It is difficult to see them as they are in the back of the nest, but what a wonderful family.
‘A’ reports: “
At West End, those three are adorable. Akecheta was on afternoon duty today, with the eaglets lined up nicely at the table, and though wee WE was at the back, it was in the middle and pushed forward to get its turn. These three have been behaving so nicely for so many days now that I am forced to believe we have three boys here. The size discrepancies at this stage appear to me to relate to their hatch order and their pecking order rather than to gender, but of course it’s way too early to know. He is a wonderful dad. He does a lot of the brooding and general kid watching in the afternoons. Thunder always does the night shift.
How funny is that? Just as I type that, I see the first bonking in days – number one chick bonked number two (Nessy), who immediately retaliated with determination, leaving the older one down for the count! TOO funny. At the next feeding, with mum, around 5.27pm, all three are again lined up nicely, and all three eat. Wee WE is a feisty little thing, reaching for food and even eating from out of its sibing’s beak if there is an overflow situation within reach!! They are all active and appear to be very healthy. The aggression is negligible and the youngest is not at all afraid of its siblings or of getting to the table. It doesn’t have Nessy’s reach, and usually has to wait its turn, but it always gets fed. There is always plenty of fish on the nest. “
Food appears to me to have been scarce for the past couple of days at Bluff City. Franklin dug around for awhile and found some leftover squirrel for the two eaglets. Fingers crossed for a big prey drop on Thursday.
Jolene saved the day at Johnson City when she brought in part of a big fish. Anyone know what is happening in this area at the moment to see a prey decline? or is it my imagination?
The two eaglets at Duke Farms are eating well.
Synchronised eagle dancing at Eagle Country with Swampy and Meadow. Life is good in Central Florida.
And now the mystery is over and it is also good. Mrs DNF (Decorah North Female) was not injured. It was a cow placenta that was brought in to the nest and it stained her feathers and beak as well as the eggs and nesting material.
At 14:12 on Wednesday, there was a pip confirmed on one of Ellie and Harvey’s eggs. They are the eagles on Farmer Derek’s property. It is also known as the Kansas City Bald Eagles if you get confused.
And this morning the eaglet has hatched!
We are four days away form pip watch at Little Miami Conservancy in Ohio. The couple are incubating three eggs.
At Loch of the Lowes, Blue NCO waits for Laddie to arrive. I want to be hopeful, but I have feared since Laddie migrated in less than good condition that he might not return this year. If he does, I hope his health is good. If he doesn’t, I hope an energetic young lad appears on the scene.
The Foulshaw Moss Osprey nest of White YW and Blue 35 in Cumbria is now live. The Ospreys are expected back in a week.
Big Red and Arthur had snow on Wednesday. She is keeping those eggs warm and dry. Yes, there are now two. Right on time!
Arthur helped.
If you watch the Leicester Peregrine Falcons, they have their first egg!
We will wait and see if Osprey eggs hatch in Florida’s Barrier Islands late in the season. Pip/hatch watch for the four that Edie and Jack are incubating is 24 April.
One of many articles I will be posting now and again on osprey nest success and what factors help.
‘A’ reports on Top Flat chick. “At Taiaroa Head, there was some concern about TF chick and supplementary feeding was considered when his weight dropped from a massive 5kg last week to 3.3kg this week. His last feeding had been on 14 March from LGL. A reweigh after LGK came in and fed TF on 20 March showed TF at a very healthy 4.4kg today (21 March). TF was 58 days old today. At 17:18 this afternoon, TF was visited (briefly) by the famous Henry the Heron. He’s a very impressive heron. And very curious about the toroa chicks every season. He always visits the Royal Cam chick throughout the season, and this year is no exception. Meanwhile, TFT chick was fed this afternoon by dad WYL, meaning both chicks have happy tummies right now. They are such fluff balls. It’s lovely that our gorgeous chicks have not had any reason to spill, so their gorgeous plumage has not been marred by oil and remains snowy white. Absolutely beautiful. “
The German Ospreys are arriving home.
Reports coming from the Strait of Gibraltar report ospreys, numbering at least 30, flew across on Wednesday. They are on their way. Many will be stopping off to take on food and water before reaching their final destinations -their spring and summer breeding nests.
For those of us who love the songbirds and who doesn’t, do you ever wonder about their song. ‘R’ found this for us today!
And last, what we might all be wondering is said by ‘A’: “At Big Bear, the question is being asked, if Jackie is still incubating her obviously failed eggs, why are she and Shadow mating in March? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw5d1P1xSyY&list=TLPQMjEwMzIwMjQLv1nCV0k5Nw&index=11. Dare we hope? I believe I wondered about this 10 days or so ago, having witnessed similar behaviour then. Is there any chance whatsoever of a replacement clutch for these two? It’s not as though the temperatures are likely to endanger a successful second clutch, is it? What a turn-up for the books that would be!!”
Thank you for being with me today. Please take care. I look forward to seeing you soon.
Thank you to ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, L, R, Trudi Kron’, PA Country Farms, SK Hideaways, WRDC, Diane Lambertson, Deb Stecyk, NCTC, Trudi Kron, IWS/Explore, Bluff City-ETSU, Johnson City-ETSU, Duke Farms, Sharon Lee, Farmer Derek, Little Miami Conservancy, Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL) Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Cornell RTH, BBC News, bioone, NZ DOC, The Washington Post, Gregorius Joris Toonen, and FOBBV.
My report today is very short. I was out and about on Monday and came home not feeling well. The late morning wind was blowing at a rather brisk rate, and the dust, sand, and salt blasted through the air on the street where I was. It has caused me to have some difficulty with my breathing. It wasn’t like the sand storms in Harbin, PRC, in the spring, but for those of us with even minor breathing problems, these days – until the rain comes – can be debilitating. But today is officially the first day of spring and that is a wonderful thing. The Canada Geese that arrived earlier have sure had a mix of weather from warm to a blizzard, to a thaw and then a freeze. Hopefully today will be nice for them so they can find something to eat other than dead grass and dirt. It is -5 C and will dip to -13 C tonight. Doesn’t sound like spring!
‘H’ did a great cartoon of Hugo Yugo. She still fits in a small shoe box with room left over. She will have her surgery on Wednesday and I will keep you posted. I am more than hopeful that everything will go well.
She is certainly feeling feisty today! Hope might be quite happy if Hugo Yugo is out of commission for a couple of days.
Calico is like Missey. She tries to stay out of the way and watches. I often wonder what she thinks.
Just something that got overlooked yesterday. Dahlgren’s Harriet is missing, she has not been seen since 3/13, and Jack is with a new female.
I have decided to start off with the traumatic news that happened or began to happen on Monday and then move to the joyous.
It was a very sad day for those cheering for Port Tobacco. The little eaglet died during a low-humidity hatch. We have seen a few of those during the last twelve months. A few survive. This poor little one didn’t. Condolences to all.
Here is a good article on why Bald Eagle eggs do not hatch by Elfruler.
Yesterday I mentioned that there continues to be a move to build housing near Jackie and Shadow’s nest. This could have a serious impact on our beloved eagles.
As you know, Jak and Audacity’s only egg of the season broke and appeared to not be viable. I was so grateful that someone posted us a happy time at their nest.
As of Monday afternoon we are waiting to see about any pips at PA Country Farms. It appears that the first egg might not be viable.
Ospreys continue to visit the Achieva Credit Union nest after eggs and chick go missing.
It is not clear what is happening at the Dulles-Greenway Bald Eagle nest. The last news – the camera was not operating after 1200 on Monday – was that two eagles were locked in a fight on the nest. This was posted by the Dulles-Greenway FB.
Oh, this has been such a sad year in the world of the Bald Eagles. Let us hope that they all recover next year.
In the good news, Archie got to see his second egg! Archie was delighted to help Annie incubate the eggs. What a great mate! Hoping he is around for many years to come.
Mother Goose now has six eggs in the Decorah Goose nest.
Waiting for pip/hatch at Two Harbours in about ten days. The egg was laid on 22 February making it 26 days old today. Cholyn is 25 years old this year. She is the mother of Thunder at the West End nest if you did not know.
Fingers Crossed.
There is a lot of fish piled up in the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta. All eaglets have eaten well.
Fraser Point looks good. Hopeful for Andor and Cruz to have a full clutch hatch.
The two eaglets on the Duke Farms nest appear to be doing fine. There is a lot of fish. There is, however, a large precarious stick that has come onto the nest, and Mum was feeding, leaning over it and at least for a while, one eaglet slept with its head under it. Hopefully, it will not cause any injury.
Big Red and Arthur taking turns incubating that first egg that was laid on St Patrick’s Day at Cornell. We will be expecting a second tomorrow.
The three osplets at Fisherman’s Creek seem to be doing alright. The camera is not clear all the time but they are growing and the little one seems to be holding its own.
At Loch Arkaig, that Buzzard is intent on taking over the nest before the ospreys arrive. There has not been an osprey hatch on the nest associated with Cam 1 since Louis and Aila fledged JJ 5, JJ6, and JJ7. We were hopeful last year and continue to wish that an osprey pair will return. But what to make of this situation?
Blue NCO continues to catch some whoppers. Poor thing. She keeps calling for her mate, Laddie LM12. I do hope he makes it back this year.
Blue 33 and Maya are determined to get eggs on their nest first!
For those checking on the Loch Garten Osprey cam, it should be on shortly. The Llyn Clywedog cameras are now live as we await the arrival of Dylan and Seren!
Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, cartoons, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘H, J, L’, Elfruler, Mississippi State University Extension, Pix Cams, Forbes, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, Lolita Ozolina, Achieva Credit Union, Dulles-Greenway Eagle Cam, SK Hideaways, Raptor Resource Project/Explore.org, IWS/Explore.org, Duke Farms, Cornell RTH Cam, Fisherman’s Creek Ospreys, Geemeff, The Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), LRWT, and Llyn Clywedog.
It was a cloudy, damp -5C day in Winnipeg on Saturday. The sun tried really hard to break open those dark clouds around 1700. The Starlings were pecking at the suet while the squirrels tried to remove all of the peanuts before the Blue Jays showed up for breakfast. Walking was a bit treacherous. The warm weather yesterday melted the snow and the cold overnight temperatures froze the water. It was several loops around the sculpture garden as most of the trails were solid ice.
Both ‘Boyfriends’ came to the feeder today. The spring will see something better than a drawer and a divider but this worked in a pinch to keep the snow of the kibble and their feet a little drier. A new bright red and white carpet is on its way and the deck should be quite cheerful after a good scrub to get rid of the drab winter we have had.
Hugo Yugo has been relaxing on the cat tree. She wishes everyone a very happy and peaceful Sunday. Saturday evening Calico and Baby Hope disappeared to have a good sleep on my bed. Missey and Hugo Yugo took advantage of their absence to have the most marvellous play fight time. It reminded me of Lewis and Missey running and play fighting and diving through the tunnels. Hugo Yugo was worn out at the end of it.
The news in Bird World has been mixed. It feels like a year when we have to celebrate those who make it out of the shell into the world and fledge. The list of failures is long. I remind myself that the raptors would pull up their talons and get on with their lives after dismay, grieving, and, I imagine, reflection. I want to be more like them.
‘The Girls’ and I have several books stacked up to read. We are going to start Wonderland. A Year of Britain’s Wildlife Day by Day by Brett Westwood and Stephen Moss tomorrow. I will keep you informed. We keep peeking at Tim Mackrill’s The Osprey. It looks fantastic. There is some really good scientific information, but there is also some good solid discussion of ospreys from the years of Tim’s experience working with ospreys. For a starter, though, you cannot beat Tim’s book on Ospreys for the RSPB. It is everything you need to know when you start learning about this magnificent species. It appears that Tim has combined his thesis on migration with his years of field work and added to that RSPB volume.
Moving along. I am finding it difficult to check on all my osprey nests and keep up with what is actually happening so please forgive me if I miss something important – and if I did, tell me. My head feels like it is one of those wobbly dogs that people used to sit on the dash of their cars.
E23 flew. S/he has been wanting to. It really was a fludge but E23 recovered so quickly and flew off returning to the nest that we can forgive that moniker. ‘J’ gives the run down: “We have a fledge! 10:51:27 E23 accidentally fledged, went to West pasture, perched in a pine out front, 11:20:19 landed on W pasture front snag, 11:28:48 flew from front W pasture snag to attic. Landed on attic at 11:29. Congratulations E23!”
S/he loses their footing from the branch near the top right and then flies, goes down low, and over to pasture landing on a wire.
Tired.
In the night an owl knocked E23 off the nest tree!
Annie has a long conversation with Archie about his new duties since their first egg arrived!
Looks like Archie listened!
Jack and Diane looking over their nest wondering where their two eggs and their chick are. Everyone else is wondering, too.
Reviews of the footage (the camera has no IR which would have been very helpful) on very slow motion and with only the light from the street, show Diane disturbed a few times after 1000. Those include 23:39:47, 23:46:48, and 00:55:33 -00:56:50. No raccoon could be seen climbing over the edge. I don’t think there are GHOs in the area – nonetheless, no owl could be seen. There are three possibilities: 1. The eggs and chick fell down that hole in the centre of the nest; 2. A predator such as a rat, a squirrel, or a snake made their way to the nest through the drain holes in the bottom; and 3. The squirrel that originally made the hole dug its way through not intending to eat the eggs (as in scenario 2) and the chick and eggs dropped. The pole is rough and could be climbed easily enough. A mouse appeared on the nest of Jak and Audacity today. Any of the large rats in the area could have gotten up that pole. Could they go horizontal and up the drain holes? Well, that is the 64 million dollar question. We might never know.
I suggest that Achieva Credit Union, working with the local wildlife group, put up a predator baffle and cover the drain holes with a stainless or other metal that rats, etc., cannot chew plates with smaller holes—one that would allow water to pass through but not rats or squirrels to enter the nest area. You probably have other better ideas. Perhaps these could be passed on for next year. There is plenty of time to rectify the situation, unfortunately.
Images courtesy of ‘H’.
Daisy arrived home to the Barnegat Light nest in NJ Saturday afternoon. Here is this fantastic Mum landing. You will remember that she went fishing during the storm that took two of her osplets while Duke was missing. She was able to keep herself and the little osprey alive.
Duke arrived on the 28th of March last year.
Edie and Jack have their third egg at the Captiva Osprey platform. Sweet.
The second hatch at the Venice Golf and Country Club came on Saturday morning. As many know, this area has several lakes and ponds (26 of them), and there should be a lot of fish for the family. This has historically been a successful nest.
Lucy and Kenny, the new male mate, have their first egg of the season at Lake Murray on Saturday morning. Time: 1108.
One egg is being incubated at Sarasota Bay. Gosh, it’s noisy there—it sounds like an early St Patrick’s Day party! Ospreys are not bothered.
Ospreys on and off the nest at Patchogue, Long Island. It will be interesting to see what they do to renovate this nest or will they leave some of PSEG’s masterpiece?
Both at Carova Beach on Saturday.
Beautiful day at Old Town Home Ospreys in Maryland.
An Osprey has landed on the Foulshaw Moss nest in Cumbria. Unknown if it is White YW or Blue 35 as the cameras are not running.
Blue NCO still awaits the arrival of Laddie LM12 and today had to protect her fish from a Crow.
Maya and Blue 33 were quite vigilant as they watched for intruders at their Manton Bay nest at Rutland on Saturday.
There are three cute little osplets on the Frenchman’s Creek Osprey nest in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Here is the link to their livestream. Thanks, Ildiko Pokk for posting this nest on FB!
Raining at Collins Marsh Osprey nest. No sight of the adults yet. Last year there was a new couple and they laid three eggs and had two fledge.
No one home – yet – at Salem Electric Ospreys.
Waiting for Whitney and Noble at the Timothy Dygert Osprey Platform on Crooked Lake.
Ospreys at Moraine State Park in Pennsylvania. Last year their three chicks were predated by a GHO. The owl had a vicious attack on the nest and oddly, ate only one of the three osplets. It was quite a traumatic event. I wonder why these platforms don’t learn from Cowlitz and put up guards. It was a simple solution with a metal grid that already exists in many places or that could be welded together easily and put in place.
At the University of Florida-Gainesville, Stella and Talon are incubating three eggs. They were laid on Feb 21, 23, and 27. This means we are looking for a pip watch in 12 days. Just think… so many nests will have a pip watch in twelve days. We are going to be busy!
The cam operator gave us some great close-ups of Big Red at her nest on the Cornell campus in Ithaca, New York. She looks good.
‘A’ has been watching Angel and Tom. “
Angel and Tom were on the nest early (shortly after 7am) and spent over two hours bringing sticks to the nest. At 09:52, Angel flies in clutching a huge branch in her right talons. It’s gigantic and she spends quite some time wrestling with it. The pair continued to come and go until nearly noon – they were both on the nest again at about 11:42 – and there are lots of RTH vocals off camera during the process.
These two both look so strong and healthy this season. I cannot get over how much Tom has grown. He looks solid and his plumage is gorgeous and sleek. Angel is just magnificent. She looks wonderful, and she and Tom seem very bonded and very confident and relaxed around each other. Let’s hope that continues once we get a hatch. I think Angel will trust Tom this year. He has matured a great deal it seems, but time will tell. They apparently spent the afternoon elsewhere, probably together, and we saw Angel arrive back on the nest around 8.05pm. It was dark and the IR lights had been on for a while when she flew in, so it was a surprise. Both Tom and Angel are doing a lot of cupping, with Angel also lying in the nest bowl for prolonged periods as I mentioned recently. It is SO exciting. I am convinced we will have an egg here any day now – if we don’t have one by the end of the week, I will be very surprised. “
Akecheta is keeping that nest full of fish at the West End and both him and Thunder are providing lots of feedings. All three eaglets look good despite lots of fish juice all over their little heads.
Akecheta makes sure that everyone is fed. Like so many of you, I wonder if he remembers being the third hatch and having two older siblings?
You can see the change in the Dukies. That white down over the thermal that is now coming in.
Chase and Cholyn’s only egg is 24 days old today. Twelve days to go!
Everyone mourned when Jak and Audacity’s only egg broke. There appeared to be nothing inside.
Pip watch beings for Cruz and Andor at Two Harbours on 29 March, 12 days from now. So you can check on both nests that still have eggs on the same day!
Jackie and Shadow are protecting their eggs in another blizzard. What are all the words you could say to define these two? If we could get the energy and materialise an eaglet this might be the nest to receive it.
The John Bunker Sands eaglet is 7 weeks and 2 days old today (forgive my math if I am wrong). What a beauty. Mum has been in the nest. Her limp appears to be improving. So happy. Look like all those juvenile feathers are in!
Swampy and Meadow are terrific. I love the close-ups of Swampy. Finally buddies.
Willow is really having to really stretch that neck to get some prey. Oliver seems to always be in front at Bluff City.
Johnson City kids are now being left alone at night. They are losing that baby down fast and their thermal is coming in. I always feel like this happened overnight. Nice to see them doing so well.
Cam was frozen at Duke Farms. Jersey was getting some nice bites the last time I checked.
This is more than disturbing. Where are the CCTV cameras we so often hear about? Well, they were there, and the shop provided the footage to the police. So, let’s see what happens. ?
Thank you so much for being with me today. All of the bald eagle nests are doing well – eaglets are growing and parents are very attentive. Next fledge should be R6. Take care all. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, videos, and the streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, B. H. J’, SK Hideaways, Lady Hawk, Achieva Credit Union, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, Window to Wildlife, VGCCO, Lake Murray Ospreys, The Bay Sarasota, PSEG, Carova Beach, Old Town Home Maryland Western Shore, Livia Armstrong, LRWT, Frenchmen’s Creek, Collins Marsh, Salem Electric, Crooked Lake Ospreys, Moraine State Park, UFlorida-Gainsville, Cornell RTH, IWS/Explore, Duke Farms, FOBBV, JB Sands Wetlands, Eagle Country, Bluff City-ETSU, and Johnson City-ETSU, and The Guardian.
Before I begin, the little chick at Achieva is no longer with us. It remains unclear as to what happened. No eggs, no chick. Some predator during the night. So sad. jack was so excited about this baby.
Friday was quite the day. Every time I turned around, something new happened with the Ospreys. It was wonderful but, at times, a little overwhelming. Ospreys will populate the news as they arrive and lay eggs, and things will go quiet for a month before everyone begins to hatch. Thank goodness for incubation.
So, we are fully into migration for all the species. As so many have noted, the ‘spring up’ in terms of Daylight Savings Time seems to have caused spring – which was not expected in some places for a few weeks now – to jumpstart. Things to remember about migration: Get your city to turn its lights off. Turn your lights off. Gives the birds a chance. BirdCast says there are 5.5 million birds on the move Friday night. Put up the Feather Friendly stickers on your window. Fill the feeders. Get the water bowls and baths clean. Stock up on seed. Welcome them home! or boost their energy as they fly through. Here are 10 ways in which you can help:
If you don’t know BirdCast, check it out. You can input your location if you live in the US and see what species are arriving and in what numbers. It is a lot of fun and you will learn something.
‘The Girls’ and ‘The Boyfriend’ are all fine, as are the garden animals. Everyone has been seen, which is such a relief this time of year. The squirrels think another winter blizzard is coming as they haul away peanut after peanut. There are now four Blue Jays, which means two have arrived to join the two who stayed during the winter.
Hugo Yugo will go for her ‘operation’ on Wednesday. Dr Green, the vet who has cared for her all along, will have the honours. The primary issue with all voluntary kitten adoption organisations is that they are overwhelmed and have to rely on the vets having space for their kittens. They never know what is available. Dear darling Hugo Yugo, the tiniest 6-month-old kitten I have ever seen, went into heat last Tuesday. It is unimaginable to me that something so tiny would be ready to breed. Her very loud meow turned into a horrifically loud mating call that brought endless feral males to the deck! Poor thing. So glad she was in the house! So, we decided to try to see if there was any possibility of getting her into our vet before the end of May or September. Luckily, they had a cancellation today. I couldn’t believe our luck. So send her good wishes – she will be sleeping on warm blankets and having good pain meds on the 20th.
I learn something valuable every day. Dr Peter Bloom, who banded Black 61, is also responsible for something extraordinary. Steve Schubert of Morro Audubon says, “Pete Bloom captured and brought in the last remaining wild California Condor on Easter Sunday in 1987, contributing to the captive breeding program . The species was absent from the wild until reintroduction began several years later, in 1992.”
Friday was a bit of a day – . Ospreys were landing in their nests, Ospreys were laying eggs, and a chick was hatching at Venice Golf and Country Club. Thank you so much to ‘H, J, and M’ who helped me stay on top of it all! Very seriously, there is no way that a single individual can monitor 150+ osprey nests, so I appreciate all your sightings! You are amazing.
Lucy laid her first egg at Lake Murray. I so hope the GHOs leave this nest alone this year. She has a new mate having lost Ricky and all three of her chicks in 2023.
It looks like both Mum and Dad have arrived at the Patchogue Osprey platform on Long Island. These two did what most only dreamed of last year—they raised four osplets to fledge!
The first egg has hatched at Venice Golf and Country Club! Congratulations. In 2023, their first egg hatched on the 13th of March – so very close this year.
‘H’ also reminds us, “Olivia arrived at Severna Park on 3/8, Oscar on 3/10. Edie at Captiva laid her second egg on 3/13, expect a possible 3rd egg tomorrow. Opal at Forsythe arrived this morning.”
At Dahlgren, Jack brought in his first ‘stuffie’ of the season on Friday. There might be some difficulty deciphering which female is which, but we will never mistake Jack.
Looks like that stuffed animal is gone.
Ospreys arriving in Europe and getting right to the action.
The first arrival at River Gwash, and the fishing looks good.
At Port Lincoln, Ervie and Giliath are fishing buddies.
In the UK, it looks like Blue 33 and Maya will be the first to lay eggs. Laddie has yet to return to Loch of the Lowes. Blue NCO waits.
That is definitely not an Osprey on Loch Arkaig’s nest 1 that used to belong to Louis and Aila. (Louis and Dorcha are on nest 2).
‘A’ has been watching the West End nest and notes, “I watched a late afternoon feeding from Akecheta where the two older chicks were very well behaved (probably stuffed) and dad concentrated on the youngest for several minutes. It was bonked just once throughout the event. It’s a strong, feisty wee one and it gets itself to the table when it can. I have my fingers crossed for it, but if the food supply remains as good as it usually is with these parents, I am cautiously optimistic. In fact, a lot of our two-eaglet nests with young chicks are doing well, with relatively little bonking, although there is the worry you noted with possible intruders at one nest. Of course, we all know that losing a parent is the worst thing that can befall a nest with young chicks, followed by a food shortage or prolonged rain. So, while we cannot control any of those things, I am still hoping this season has turned a corner.”
Proud Dad Akecheta with fantastic Mum, Thunder.
Cali Condor caught Thunder giving a private feeding to eaglet 3 at the West End.
‘A’ was watching when Akecheta fed the wee one and says, “Watch Akecheta feeding the baby some lunch from 13:12. The wee one is eating well and getting enough food. It waits its turn – but these parents are diligent enough to ensure that the older two are sufficiently stuffed to let the youngest have its turn at the table. And the size of some of the fish Akecheta in particular is bringing in is awesome! With each day that passes, as the baby of the bunch gets stronger and more agile, I am more hopeful about this nest. The older two have calmed down slightly – Nessie has a long neck!!!!!”
The two eaglets at Bluff City are eating squirrel. Is it just me or is that first hatch twice as big as the second?
Just look at the eaglets at Johnson City. Jolene and Boone have chicks with the ‘fattest little bottoms’ and their thermal down is really coming in….big clown feet. I blinked. Must have.
Dixie and Mason continue to do great at Superbeaks.
Leaper and Jersey had a fabulous feeding. The new male is keeping nice sized fish in the pantry for Mum and the kids. Their crops were popping several times today. No worries at this nest!
Jack arrived at 0921 on Friday with a fish for Diane and the new baby at Achieva.
The last feeding that I saw on Friday was late afternoon. Jack came to the nest empty-taloned but wet later.
The Crows are the only ones at Oyster Bay so far.
Oh, empty platform at Chesapeake Bay. There is confirmation that the ospreys are flooding the area as they arrive from their winter migration.
Let us all hope that it is a much better year for the Osprey couple that find this nest in Cape May Meadows.
There was an osprey on the MNSA platform on Friday.
The Estonian Golden Eagle Helju has laid the first egg of the season!
In Florida, R6 is now learning about having to defend a nest against intruders!
E23 continues his flapping and flying…we are so near fledge.
Sharon Lee captured Gabby and Beau and isn’t it a gorgeous image of the pair at NE Florida?
Jackie and Shadow are so hopeful. More snow. We need to be more like them. I still wish for a fairy to delivery them a baby eaglet.
Big Red and Arthur were working away on their nest at Cornell. I am expecting eggs to be laid here and at the nest of Angel and Tom any day.
Annie almost had me thinking she was laying her first egg on Friday. Archie was in the scrape calling her when she wasn’t there. Gosh, isn’t he cute? And look at those deep chrome-yellow legs. This guy is healthy!
Annie.
Archie.
Monty and Hartley were both at the San Jose City Hall scrape on Friday.
It’s not siblicide in Ospreys. Geemeff sends us an article out of Science that discusses the Eurasian Hoopoe and siblicide.
That’s a crazy round-up of some of the nests that everyone is following. Don’t be shy! Send me any osprey news that you see – landing on a nest, laying an egg, hatching. Everything is appreciated and welcome. Take care all. Thank you for being with me today. Send good energy to the Achieva nest – there is lots of food competition there for Jack!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, M, SS’, National Wildlife Federation, Spectrum News, BirdCast, Lake Murray Ospreys, PSEG, Isak, Forsythe Osprey Cam, Dahlgren Osprey Cam, Jane Dell, River Gwash Ospreys, PLO, Mary Kerr, Geemeff, IWS/Explore.org, Cali Condor, Bluff City-ETSU, Johnson City-ETSU, Superbeaks. Duke Farms, Achieva Credit Union, Chesapeake Conservancy/Explore.org, SCMM, MNSA, Eagle Club of Estonia, WRDC, SK Hideaways, Sharon Lee, FOBBV, Cornell RTH Cam, Cal Falcons, San Jose City Hall Falcon Cam, Science, and BirdGuides.
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