Category Archives: climate change and birds

Sunday in Bird World

15 September 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Thank you to those who sent me screen captures of the ads they received when they read my blog. Hopefully, everything is fixed so that they do not appear again.

Oh, what a day it was. The goal was to finish a few small and manageable tasks since it was so hot outside. Well, nothing was easy. The lights that Wirecutter had given their top rating (for both inside and outside) would only work with a W two-prong outdoor extension cord. Think you could find one in Winnipeg? No. The desire to have lights around the conservatory did not leave my head or Hugo Yugo’s. She loves fairy lights. Consequently, we came home with three boxes to go around the perimeter. Now, attaching the cords to the conservatory was another matter. It turns out those picture frame thingamabobs that you nail into the wall (the brass ones) will slip over a part of the conservatory. Bingo. We have lights. The next was to pick a paint to colour block a section of the wall behind my desk to match the feathers in the oak frames. Done. There was a light switch that needed a cover plate. Done. This weekend was the time to put out unwanted but good-quality items for others to rummage through on the boulevard. Partly through. We did not get the painting done, but we did pick up a delicious pumpkin pie!!!!!!!! Oh, it helped with all the annoyance from the lights. Missey loves the whipped cream.

I would to start with a very sad story coming out of Baltimore. It has to do with starving fledgling ospreys and the decline of Menhaden. It is impacting these birds to such an extent that they get wiped out in the area completely if the industrial fishing of Menhaden is not stopped. If you have not written to your Senator and your Congressperson, then do so. Even if you live elsewhere. Here is the latest article. Imagine 80 starving osplets at one wildlife rehab center. Imagine.

[Baltimore Sun] Osprey starvation in the Chesapeake Bay spurs renewed debate about fish harvest – ThDownload

Many years ago I told the story of how a very large female Sharp-shinned Hawk changed my life. All of a sudden the frantic pace of the work world I lived in didn’t matter. Only her. Today, I read an article in The Guardian of another woman working in a high-powered position whose life was changed by a baby Hare. It is moving and the images are gorgeous. Have a read.

I was addicted to a high-pressure job when a baby hare came into my life. How would raising it change me?https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/sep/14/raising-a-baby-hare?CMP=share_btn_url

In another article, I felt gutted to learn that any elephant has to be killed because there is no food. Wars, famine, habitat loss, drought caused by climate change – what will be the eventual impact on all our wildlife unless we find ways to protect it?

“Zimbabwe orders cull of 200 elephants amid food shortages from droughthttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/14/zimbabwe-orders-cull-of-200-elephants-amid-food-shortages-from-drought?CMP=share_btn_url

So, what is happening in Bird World? Very little. All nests in Australia except for the Olympic Park Eagles are incubating eggs. The Royal Cam chick is set to take to the skies and oceans any moment. Will Partney and Marrum be able to save any other eggs from the Ravens? That is anyone’s guess, but I would put my dime on ‘no’. Diamond and Xavier continue to entertain us as does M22 and F23 in Melbourne. Dad is doing a pretty good job delivering fish to Mum at Port Lincoln. I would like to hear more news and see more images of our dear Ervie.

What is happening at Hellgate Canyon? Finnegan is just a master angler. He would win every fishing award for the season. It is hard to check on the Hellgate streaming cam without seeing Antali with either a huge crop or a fish delivery or both. Finnegan is working over time to make sure that his second hatch is well prepared. These kids are not starving like those in the area of Chesapeake Bay! The Ospreys inland have done well this season save for the heat and some bizarre nest accidents.

The latest news first: Iris and Sum-eh are still home with Finnegan and Antali. Thanks, ‘PB’ for that message!

Antali’s constant screaming for fish explained by the Dyfi Osprey Project. https://youtu.be/w3_WT9456-k?

At Charlo, it appears that C16 is trying his own luck at fishing. He is often on the nest or perch shaking off the water. There are fish deliveries, but they are certainly not as frequent as those of Finnegan for Antali.

Both juveniles are still at the Newfoundland Snow Lane nest where it was windy with some rain on Saturday. There are still fish deliveries. It was impossible for me to tell if Hope is still in the area.

River has a bulging crop at Sandpoint.

Junebug is home at Dunrovin.

No one is home at Foulshaw Moss.

There is good news coming from Big Bear. The evacuation order has been lifted. Jackie and Shadow should be safe but the area around their nest is full of heavy smoke at times.

The cams at SW Florida are getting their maintenance, so they are ready for the start of Bald Eagle season on 1 October. https://youtu.be/aeeH7EzNV5E?

I love geese. How many times have you heard that? Sometimes Calico thinks that I like geese more than cats. It seems that I am always reading books about things with feathers and never cats. Maybe she has a point. :)))))) Decorah Goose Cam is playing season highlights!!!!!!!!! Oh, you can see the goslings jump again! https://www.youtube.com/live/4FB6bLI39lo?

There are highlights at Decorah North, too, but it is snowing and Mrs DNF is covered! https://www.youtube.com/live/ZFuWYnuu9I8?

The NCTC nest of Bella and Scout is live. Bella and Scout were in the nest earlier in the morning.

Thunder and Akecheta were caught on camera during large parts of Saturday.

Wondering what is happening at NE Florida with Gabby and Beau? Looks like we have to wait until the 18th!

Didn’t see E1-M2 at the Kistachie National Forest nest, but his turtle shells are all there! Wonder if the kiddos will have turtle meals this year instead of fish?

One of the highlights of Ferris Akel’s Saturday Tour was a Gallinago or a Snipe. Just look at the plumage.

Ferris was also at the Open House of the Cornell Raptor Centre. It is not clear if the Red-tail Hawk Ambassador was E3, Big Red’s kiddo.

The Peregrine Falcon was very loud and caused Calico some anxiety.

Open Houses are excellent opportunities to learn about the raptors, their needs, and challenges and to just get up close with them. Check out your local wildlife rehabilitation centre. It is normal for the Open Houses to take place in the fall so, you just might be in luck! If not, save the date for 2025.

The RSPB describes the Gallinago or Wilson’s Snipe, “Snipe are medium sized, skulking wading birds with short legs and long, straight bills. Both sexes are mottled brown above, with paler buff stripes on the back, dark streaks on the chest and pale under parts. They are widespread as a breeding species in the UK, with particularly high densities on northern uplands but lower numbers in southern lowlands (especially south west England). In winter, birds from northern Europe join resident birds. The UK population of Snipe has undergone moderate declines overall in the past twenty-five years, with particularly steep declines in lowland wet grassland, making it an Amber List species.”

All About Birds has some Cool Facts about the Wilson’s Snipe:

  • Cool Facts
    • Wilson’s Snipe look so stocky thanks in part to the extra-large pectoral (breast) muscles that make up nearly a quarter of the bird’s weight—the highest percent of all shorebirds. Thanks to their massive flight muscles this chunky sandpiper can reach speeds estimated at 60 miles an hour.
    • Wilson’s Snipe feed by burying their bills deep into soft, wet soil to probe for insect larvae, worms, and other invertebrate prey. The bill’s flexible tip can open to grasp food while the base of the bill stays closed. Snipe can slurp small prey from the mud without having to remove their bill from the soil.
    • Because a Wilson’s Snipe’s eyes are set far back on its head, it can see almost as well behind as in front and to the sides. This arrangement makes it difficult for a potential predator to sneak up on a feeding snipe—it almost literally has “eyes in the back of its head.”
    • The word “sniper” originated in the 1770s among British soldiers in India who hunted snipe as game. The birds are still hunted in many countries, including the U.S., though their fast, erratic flight style means they are difficult targets.
    • Although only the female tends the eggs and nestlings, Wilson’s Snipe parents split up the siblings once they’re ready to fledge. The male takes the two oldest; the female takes the younger two with her. After they leave the nest the mates have no further contact.
    • Researchers have done wind tunnel tests with Wilson’s Snipe feathers to try and duplicate the “winnowing” sound that’s made as birds fly with their tail feathers fanned. They found that it’s the outermost tail feathers, or rectrices, that generate the sound, which apparently happens at airspeeds of about 25 miles per hour.
    • The oldest known Wilson’s Snipe was at least 9 years, 3 months old, based on a band recovered from a bird that was shot in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, in 1973.

‘A’ brings us up to date with the Olympic Park eagles: “Dad brought breakfast (feathered) at WBSE at 06:18 this morning. Of course Lady was there immediately to take charge of the food, and the littles roused themselves from their cuddle puddle for the occasion. They both stand up on their feet to stretch, leaning forward and spreading their wings. Such pretty plumage, changing from one day to the next, and from one striking design to another. SE34 has no hesitation about joining SE33 at the table, moving up beside his older sibling. SE33 is not bothered. 

Lady begins by feeding SE33, as per pecking order, but initially it is distracted by Dad on the perch branch so Lady has to offer the bite a second time. Meanwhile, SE34 backs up for a PS anyway. I don’t think SE33 accepted the bite because SE34 was no longer beside him (implying that SE33 was intimidated by the proximity of SE34) but simply because his attention had been diverted when Lady first offered it. I certainly don’t believe SE33 has suddenly become nervous of his younger brother. 

By 06:20, SE34 is back in his position at the table, beside SE33. and he shuffles even further forward, taking prime position closest to Lady’s beak. He is soon rewarded with a couple of consecutive bites of red meat. Lady then begins feeding the eaglets alternate bites. I do love the way she does this. Occasionally, one nestling or the other will get a couple of consecutive bites, but she maintains an even-handed approach until one eaglet or the other starts to slow in its eating and indicates it is getting overly full. She is a very attentive mum, and I continue to believe that her experience in feeding and managing her chicks is the reason this nest fledges two every season despite being an obligate siblicide species. In the end, I keep coming back to the wisdom and dedication of these parents. They are a closely bonded pair and when it comes to raising their family, they work as a tight-knit team to provide for and protect their eaglets. I believe they are both in their mid-20s, which is not quite elderly but it’s certainly extremely experienced, and that experience really counts when it comes to keeping the eaglets safe and warm and dry, and ensuring that both eaglets get enough food. Lady has always looked out for her younger hatch when it comes to food. Every season, she ensures it gets food, whether she has to give private feedings early in the morning or late at night, or put her own body between the eaglets, or even to feed the younger chick through her legs or under a wing. And of course Dad is particularly hard-working when it comes to ensuring there is nearly always food on the nest. If Dad is not bringing in food. there is a good reason for it. . “

Calico’s Tip for the Day: No one can be accused of causing cats to run through the house like a Formula 1 circuit. They will do it and defy you. But if you have a new puppy, Calico has found a suggestion for you to make certain you have a ‘calm’ dog.

The dog trainer: playing too much with your puppy

The important thing many owners fail to do with their dog is encourage it to calm down. There is so much emphasis on playing and running. People think they have to play with their puppy because it wants to, but this encourages the dog to be constantly active. It then doesn’t settle well and its behaviour can quickly become problematic. Spending time teaching dogs to walk calmly on a lead and rest at home should be a priority. To learn how, go to a class or follow online advice.
Ben Marsh of Balanced Dog

Thank you for being with us today. We are always so happy to have you with us. Take care!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, announcements, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘A, PB’, The Baltimore Post, The Guardian, Montana Osprey Cam FB, Montana Osprey Project, Dyfi Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, Dunrovin Ranch, Sandpoint Ospreys, Newfoundland Power, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Debbie Shores, Raptor Resource Project/Explore.org, NCTC Eagle Nest, AEF, KNF-E1, Ferris Akel Tours, The Guardian and the Balanced Dog, Olympic Park Eagles.

Saturday in Bird World

14 September 2024

Hello Everyone,

The weather is still warm and will continue to be. The air was heavy Friday morning. We headed out to the nature centre to see how many geese were on the lake and check on the Mallard family with the two small ducklings. The sky was black, and it looked like rain could start any minute. In the forest, we could hear the Black-capped Chickadees and the American Goldfinch. The Goldfinches migrate, but the Chickadees stay all winter!

We found the Mallard family, but we could only see one duckling. I hope the other one was hiding in the reeds. The tiny duckling has grown but is still not large enough to migrate. Our weather is supposed to stay warm through October, so it should be fine to take off then.

At the hide, a female Downy Woodpecker was at the peanut feeder while another Mallard looked for seed in the grasses. Honking was constant overhead as the winds grew stronger, and the dark clouds gathered.

Even with the impending rain, it was a good morning to be outside for a walk. Always makes our day!

I was just so happy to see Annie! Annie is loafing!!!!!! Oh, it is so good to see you, Annie. https://youtu.be/3Vcnr3Fg9yU?

In Bird World, Hartley and Monty are back at the scrape in San Jose, too!

https://youtu.be/bg-SeoBSjDc?

Please tell everyone to please store their sports nets (of any kind) but especially soccer when they are not in use. Look what happened to this owl!

West Nile Virus killed the only surviving, of two, hawlets of Big Red and Arthur this year. It is also having an impact on all of our feathered friends including ospreys.

What is West Nile Virus and how is it impacting birds? Sadly, the most common in Canada are my beloved Crows and Blue Jays.

West Nile and Dead Birds | West Nile Virus | CDCDownload

“As of September 2003, West Nile Virus has been identified in 11 Page 2 species of native owls, 4 species of falcons, and 15 native species of diurnal raptors, including osprey, vultures, and bald and golden eagles.”

This document from the Cascade Raptor Centre is particularly good:

West-Nile-virusDownload

Heidi reports that Harvie and the two juveniles at Fortis Exshaw Canmore Osprey Platform are still home. You can see the wildfire smoke spreading through the valley behind the nest. Yesterday, Heidi saw five fish delivered in a short period of time to the fledglings at the nest after a period of rain.

Heidi checked on Fenwick Island and Johnny is still bringing Fen fish.

At the Hellgate Canyon nest, Antali had a very late night fish. I can’t rewind but he is holding it at 22:46 and is till eating in the wee hours of the morning. Antali has an enormous crop. It seems Finnegan wants to fill his fledgling up and hopefully get him on his way south.

Antali’s crop was still huge at 0741 when he was fish-calling. No delivery. Antali flew off after Dad (or so it would seem).

Finn sits on the nest with a lunch fish looking around and Antali comes flying in! He is not going to miss that fish dinner.

Finnegan takes good care of his boy. Another headless fish is delivered at 1644. Antalia has not had a sunken crop all day!

Now I love geese and on my ‘Bucket List’ has been a trip to see the Pinkfooted Geese that breed in Iceland and Greenland and then travel with their fledglings to the UK to winter arriving sometime after September 1. In the 1880s, the birds did not come to the UK til the last week of October. Now, to the astonishment of all, a pair of Pink-footed Geese have bred in Lancashire!

The concern was with climate change and the melting tundra that the Pinkfoots might not migrate to the UK. So this is very interesting.

Look at the image below. The heads are the colour of a cafe lait. This dark to medium brown head fades into a boey that is blue grey. The lowest part of the neck is pink! The goose has fluffy white underparts. The legs are, of course, pink matching the lower neck which gives these geese their name.

The female lays a clutch of 3-5 eggs. It takes 26 or 27 days for the wee ones to hatch. At that moment, both the male and the female will lead the clutch to wetlands to feed. In Iceland, they also eat crowberries, which makes their ‘ps’ pink!!!!! Their main enemies in Iceland are foxes and gyrfalcons.

“Pink-footed Geese” by naturalengland is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Pink-footed Goose pair breeds in Lancashire – BirdGuidesDownload

Some absolutely gorgeous closeups on this video by Cornell Bird Labs of the Royal Albatross chick. https://youtu.be/PsUNmjyrOFU?

The area of Shadow and Jackie’s nest is under voluntary evacuation for the Line Fire that is scorching parts of San Bernadino County. Shadow was spotted at the Snag and Roost Tree despite the wind and smoke by Eagle22 on the 12th of September. https://youtu.be/VNOQ7VrBTXc?

They say Jackie and Shadow are safe from the Line Fire (as of 9 September).

Are eagles Jackie and Shadow safe amid California fires? | Raleigh News & ObserverDownload

Connie Dennis reports that Oscar is still feeding Skylor at the Russell Lake nest in Nova Scotia. So no migration other than Mum, Ethel, so far.

Skylor you crack me up!

Dad is still providing fish at Niagara Bee.

Charlie is still supplying fish to C16 at Charlo. Interesting that it is the males staying behind at the nest and having Dad fish and fish and fish!

No love is lost at the Newfoundland nest of Hope and Beaumont between fledglings when a much-desired fish dinner arrives at the nest. That was the only delivery I saw at the nest – fish could be provided elsewhere, I do not know.

Juveniles in Latvia fight over dinner! https://youtu.be/eh85H6lpaW8?

A juvenile at the Kurzeme Osprey nest in Latvia gets a goldfish dinner. https://youtu.be/E-Bm_C8mv4E?

There was an odd break in the transmission from Sandpoint. Keke is still delivering fish. River was on the perch and then mysteriously on the nest with a nice fish. It was the camera. River is not catching fish – as far as I know, none of the males at these nests are getting their own food. Gorgeous wingspan on this fledgling.

At Orange, a Willy Wagtail comes to visit Diamond.

https://youtu.be/fl7TSd-6KiU?

Incubation continues at 367 Collins Street.

Still no breakfast at the Olympic Sea Eagle nest by 1130. Lady found a few scraps in the nest.

Do you love seabirds and Puffins? Dani Connor Wild has some amazing images in her recent video. https://youtu.be/IJi4vnEk1do?

Calico’s Tip for the Day: When the sisal on the scratch post cylinders is ragged, and you are ready to toss the entire thing in the garbage, don’t. First, could you check your online retailers for replacement sisal disks? They are about half the price of a replacement post where I live. The package we ordered also contained new hardware and an Allen key. Calico knows that I am the least ‘handy person’ in the neighbourhood, so if I can do this, so can you!

The Girls had really scratched up that sisal!

New cylinders to compare. Note the small bag with the hardware and Allen Key. We used our handy dandy cat fur remover and tried to get the old scratch post in near new condition.

What do you think? You can see that we got it all finished. Make sure that the Allen Key has everything secure. Gosh, I even amazed Calico and she gave the new sisal cylinders her Golden Paw Award – because they had a small bag of hardware with the Allen Key so I didn’t have to go rummaging around trying to find one!

Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care of yourselves. We hope to have you with us soon!

Thank you to the following for their posts, notes, comments, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: SK Hideaways, Farmer’s Way, Diana Lambertson and The Joy of Ospreys, the CDC West Nile Virus, Cascade Raptor Centre, Fortis Exshaw Canmore, Heidi McGrue and The Joy of Ospreys, Montana Osprey Project, Openverse, BirdGuides, Cornell Bird Lab, Eagle 22, News & Observer, Connie Dennis and Ospreys of Nova Scotia, Pam Breci and The Joy of Ospreys, Charlo Montana, Newfoundland Power, Sandpoint Ospreys, Liznm, Holly Parsons, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac,

Monday in Bird World

2 September 2024

Good Morning,

For many around the world, today is a holiday. I hope that you are enjoying this long weekend, that the weather was good, and that you made some fantastic memories.

It is a beautiful day – Sunday, as I write this. It must be about 24 C. I have not looked, but it is comfortable, and the sun is out. The Crows are pulling worms and insects from the ground around the neighbourhood and pecking at the wooden bark that the City put around the newly planted trees. I have two now in the front to replace the 122-year-olds that had to be cut down due to disease.
We look forward to planting five more trees during the local fall Re-Leaf campaign. That should make the garden area a complete forest, but it will take some time for them to get big enough to be of benefit. I wonder why more aren’t planting large shade trees with summer heating up?

Today will the party for all the girls – Calico’s arrival into the house a year ago, Baby Hope’s coming into the house, and Hugo Yugo’s first birthday this evening. I will take photos. They only needed a new scratch post and we picked up some Halloween toys and treats. They are incredibly spoiled. I tell everyone the four of them have given to me much more than I can ever do for them. Last evening we had a fright. The garden door was closed but I guess not all the way and the wind whipped it open. Three girls flew out – Calico, Hugo Yugo, and Baby Hope. I ran out to the deck and Baby Hope and Hugo Yugo flew back in the house. Calico didn’t. She went under the deck. My fear was she would leave the garden area. I sat and read to her and took out food just like I did when I was wooing her last summer to come into our house. She would stick her head out. She was terrified of the outdoors – not curious or happy to be out, but terrified. Eventually, I put three girls in the conservatory, opened the garden door, called her and she flew into the house. She went to sleep on the reclining scratching post and didn’t wake up for three hours!!!!!!!! I cannot tell you how relieved I am.

There are now three eggs (as reported in my last post) at the Port Lincoln Osprey platform in Australia. Oh, I hope the fish faeries are getting ready to get permits for delivering supplementary dinners!!!!

Iris wanted a fish delivery, too. She landed on the nest fish calling and in came Finnegan with a nice lunch. What a guy. Does he get the ‘New Dad of the Year’ Award? Surely, he would!

At 1221 Iris flew away with the headless fish. (Finnegan had a nice crop so he is feeding himself as well – thank goodness). Now where did she eat it?

Iris on the Owl Pole later. Was it here? Cannot tell from the camera footage. Or did she hand that fish off to a fledgling?

The Corncrake population is increasing in Ireland again.

RSPB describes them thus: “Corncrakes are related to waterbirds Moorhens, Coots and Water Rails but, unlike their family members, they live on dry land. Corncrakes are surprisingly small – only a little bigger than a Blackbird. This Schedule 1 species is very secretive, spending most of its time hidden in tall grass or reedbeds, you’ll probably hear its rasping call before you see it.”

Waternish has a good description of everything one might need or want to know about Corncrakes:

Corncrakes – Visit WaternishDownload
Irish Corncrakes increase again – BirdGuidesDownload

It is clear that something must be done to the type of material that the Blue Darvic Rings are made of. Blue NC0 lost hers and now a broken one has been found – thankfully the osprey is alive!

Skylor, the surviving juvenile of Oscar and Ethel at the Marshall Lake osprey nest in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, is still with us. Mum Ethel is migrating or has reached her winter spot and sadly, sister Heidi died from being electrocuted. Oscar and Skylor should be on their way south soon. Good to see you Skylor!

Fast action the part of Nova Scotia Power who have put up a ‘Yellow thing’ to protect the ospreys (and other raptors) from being electrocuted. They should be proactive and put these on other commonly used nests. The people who monitor those nests in Nova Scotia know which poles those are – it would surely help save lives in the future. So sorry that beautiful Heidi was lost – what a healthy osplet she was!

USK Valley gives us a delightful view of osprey behaviour. It is a good read.

KEEPING WATCHFUL EYES — Usk Valley OspreysDownload

Power to the Glaslyn osprey nest is down. It is possible the cable might have been damaged by agricultural equipment. It is unclear when it will be restored.

I did not get a screen capture but Blue 022 did bring a fish to Blue B52 at the Poole Harbour nest on Sunday. So both were still home then. Birds of Poole Harbour also confirmed with a sighting turned in by a local.

No confirmed sighting of Idris at Dyfi on Sunday.

At Llyn Brenig, Fledglings Blue 8B8 and 8B9 were home on Sunday with Blue 372 busy delivering fish to both of them.

In the top image, notice the osprey on the tree in the distance eating a fish. The juvenile is waiting for Dad to finish his meal and bring the leftovers – which Dad does!

Both juveniles are still at home at the Newfoundland Power osprey nest at Snow Lane. Fish deliveries are being made. I cannot confirm if Hope is still present. (If you have news, please send me a note). These youngsters are gorgeous. They are dark just like Mum. And notice the difference in size. There is, I believe, the female as the oldest and the younger male.

Keo at Sandpoint delivering a fish to River on the platform. On the chat, “Dorothy Auld​​: Keke was last seen on cam on 28th, cam was down on 29th and part of 30th but Keke was seen on 1 of those days. She was not seen yesterday.”

At Charlo, C16 and Charlie are still there. I cannot confirm Lola. If anyone has seen her at the nest, please let me know.

The Collins Marsh Osprey platform in Wisconsin fledged three osplets this season. I can confirm that there is at least one juvenile still at the nest receiving fish from Dad.

At Blackbush at Old Tracadie Harbour, again, there is at least one juvenile at the nest wanting fish. I did not see a delivery. Without Darvic rings it is impossible to tell them apart without a close analysis of their head markings. It appears to be the same fledgling.

At Osoyoos, Olsen is on a fishing frenzy bringing in some huge fish for a change. Gosh, I wish we had this size of fish when the chicks were small. We might not have lost Little. Weather in various parts of Canada has cooled down a bit for the weekend making fishing much better for the raptors. Heidi has confirmed that Mum Soo is still in town and delivered a fish to fledgling 2. Well done.

Juveniles so full there is a large piece of fish left on the nest.

At Oyster Bay PSEG nest at least one juvenile is there. I cannot confirm that this is one of the fledglings. It could be an osprey passing through on its migration. I did not see a fish delivery and the osprey has a really nice crop.

No one sighted at the Boulder County nest so far on Sunday. It is awfully quiet there!

There is at least one juvenile at the Pitkin County Open Spaces and Trails osprey platform in Colorado – on the nest calling for fish. I did not see a delivery there during the time I watched and in rewind.

White YW and one fledgling are still at Foulshaw Moss in Cumbria.

There are Dads working hard for their fledglings!

Gabby, get home quick! Beau is waiting for you.

A post by Trudi Kron concerning the Minnesota Bald Eagle cam (DNR nest).

Geemeff sends us the daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:

Daily summary Sunday 1st September 2024

Another dry sunny day brought more visitors – Nest One was visited by a pair of Ravens. One settled on the centre perch while the other flew over to Stick Tree and was joined by a third bird. It’s back to rain in the Inver Mallie area tonight however, and heavy rain is forecast for tomorrow. Osprey sightings are being reported down the length of the country as most of the UK Ospreys are now on the move southwards – fingers crossed for safe passage for all migratory birds. 

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.16.55 (05.15.36); Nest Two 21.08.34 (05.33.20)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/6hi6ZJAJNpQ N1 A Raven perches on the nest, a second perches in Stick Tree and a third flies in the distance 19.04.19 (zoom)

Bonus read – how Woodland Trust is saving the rare and internationally important Celtic Rainforest:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/about-us/where-we-work/scotland/saving-scotlands-rainforest

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

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

I was so very happy to be the donor of a new book to the Friends of Loch Arkaig FB group’s grand fundraiser organised by Mary Cheadle. Mary does an incredible job raising funds for the Woodland Trust. This one netted GBP 610.47. Well done, Mary Cheadle!

Xavier might be wanting some eggie time. Diamond is now in hard incubation with three eggs!

‘A’ reports: “Xavier arrived early in the scrape this morning (06:50) to spend a little time with Diamond (he didn’t bring any breakfast though, which was very remiss of him). When he left (07:10), Diamond followed him, presumably with food on her mind, and Xavier took his opportunity to sneak back into the scrape and get some egg time (07:11:12). He was, as is his wont, chatting to his eggs, which is just the cutest thing ever. He is having some difficulty covering all three eggs, as he is even by falcon standards a very tiny little male, but he persisted until he managed to do so. Oh he is SO adorable. 

Diamond was back at 07:14:33 and after a short conversation, Xavier got up off the eggs and left the scrape via a classic GCW leap (07:15:10). Diamond settled back down on the eggs, where she has remained, dozing, ever since. Hard incubation is underway here at Orange, and also at Collins Street, where the eggs are rarely unattended and then only for short periods. I haven’t seen food brought to the ledge this morning, though mum has been out herself and perhaps organised something to eat. “

Good Morning Melbourne!

‘H’ sends us Victor Hurley’s fact sheet! All you wanted to know about eggs and more – that is falcon eggs.

FFS 03-24 Egg incubation requirements (2)Download

Good Morning Mum and Dad at Port Lincoln!

For those who live in Australia, you will understand the joke. I often comment on the fat little bottoms and legs of the falcons and the sea eagles. This sends some Aussies into hysterics? Why? It appears that the largest chicken producer in the country is called Steggles! Seriously I am not scouting them out for human consumption, I promise!

SE 33 and 34 have definite fat little bottoms.

‘A’ reports on her thoughts about the Olympic Sea eagles for the day: “At WBSE, Lady flew off the nest at 05:46:30. She was back in the nest tree, duetting with Dad, by 05:56 but no food is in sight. At 06:56 she is back on the nest, which excites SE34 enough for him to stand up as he comes to the table, flapping his cute growing wings. He is growing nicely now he is getting plenty of food and looking very similar in size to his sibling. His wing feathers are coming through too now, so both eaglets are itchy. SE34 sits up eagerly at the table, but unusually, there are no leftovers on the nest so breakfast is not forthcoming. 

By 7am, SE33 has joined SE34 at the table. Lady has left again, and the eaglets want breakfast. Mum is back again at 07:32 but still with empty talons. She is gone again by 07:39. The eaglets fall asleep waiting side by side at the table. It is nearly 08:23 before Lady returns but again she brings no breakfast. She leaves again almost immediately. When Dad arrives just after 10am, both eaglets eagerly line up in front of him, hoping he has brought food but yet again, they are disappointed. 

10:13:05 and a parent (Lady?) arrives with breakfast. It appears to be an eel. SE34, who happens to be closest, gets the first bites. When he gets a third bite in a row, SE33 loses patience and beaks him. He tucks his head down. With SE34 in submission, SE33 leans over him to take bites of eel. SE34 starts to lift his head around 10:24 but he is not in a position to eat again until after 10:26.As it nears 10:28, SE34 sidles closer. By 10:29:20 his head is up, which prompts SE33 to attempt (unsuccessfully) to beak him again, and he scrambles away from his sibling and goes back into submission. 

At 10:33, Lady is still feeding SE33 and SE34 is still in submission. There is not much of the eel left. SE34, his head still tucked, creeps closer and closer to mum, who continues feeding SE33. By 10:36, SE34’s head is up but Lady continues to ignore him. There is much honking at low-flying smaller birds towards the end of this feeding, as has often been the case this season. They are really bothering the parents in ways they have not done in previous years. Regardless, the meal ends without SE34 being fed. Still, he must be getting enough food because he is very close to SE33 in size and he is growing well. I continue to worry about his lack of survival skills and his unwillingness to ensure he gets fed. That really worries me.”

In Fort Myers, here is an update on M15 and F23 who can be seen in the video working on their nest!

Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care. Have a great week everybody! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their posts, notes, images, articles, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H’, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Montana Osprey Project, RSPB, Waternish, BirdGuides, Jeff Kear and UK Osprey Info, Balgavies Loch Ospreys, Connie Dennis and Ospreys of Nova Scotia, USK Valley Ospreys, Dyfi Osprey Project, Llyn Brenig, Newfoundland Power, Sandpoint Ospreys, Charlo Montana, Collins Marsh Ospreys, Blacbush at Old Tracedie, Fortis-Exshaw, PSEG, Boulder County, Pitkin County Open Spaces and Trails, Jeff Kear, Heidi McGrue and Joy of Ospreys, NEFL-AEF, Trudi Kron, Geemeff and the Woodland Trust, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Olympic Park Eagles, wskrsnwngs.

Thursday in Bird World

22 August 2024

Good Morning Everyone!

We hope that you are well. The end of summer (or winter, depending on where you live) is soon coming to an end! Already some children are heading back to school. Here it is the day after Labour Day. That really does mark the end of the summer for many.

It continues to be hot, and the garden birds are spending more and more time in the baths. It looks like another host of House Sparrows has appeared in the garden. I even ‘thought’ I saw a couple of new baby red squirrels the other day, but I am not sure. I feel very sorry for them and all of the eagles and ospreys we have been monitoring who are caught in this extended heat wave. Please put out water for all the animals and change it regularly, and if you can afford it, feed them. If billions of people joined together, the lives of our feathered friends would be much improved.

Wednesday is our local Farmer’s Market. It has grown over the years to have some exceptional vendors as our neighbourhood community grows and grows in population, attracting many young professionals who like the vibe. From the original stalls selling produce, organic meats, and local honey, we now have artisan ice creams, flowers, organic breads, the most amazing dumplings, empanadas, and Japanese baking. The temperature was not so hot making it that much more congenial to mingle with friends and neighbours this afternoon.

Oh, I hope they continue to come to the market. Their handmade dumplings are delicious. And look at the price!

A mother and daughter grow fields of flowers right outside the City for the bouquets. They are lovely. Just the right size.

I wanted to show you all of the goodies, but Hugo Yugo got on top of the table before I could blink. She is always the first to be curious, quickly followed by Missey! For some reason, Hugo Yugo was not interested in dumplings. Could it have been that they were tofu and cabbage? I could easily be completely Vegan if it were not for dairy. I am trying, but ice cream and cream for my coffee get me every time.

Yes, there she is! Missey first tried the tofu cabbage dumpling and loved it. Then she moved on to the Ube Melon roll! Both got her thumbs up!

Calico and Hope are curious and sweet, but they prefer watching the animals in the garden instead of human-related ‘things’.

Before we went to the market, we stopped in at the duck pond. What a surprise. The Canada Geese were feeding on the Cricket grounds and, for the most part, the ducks had the pond all to themselves. OK. There were about twenty geese at the pond compared to hundreds feeding on the pitch. Most ducks were the sweetest little Wood Ducks – tiny compared to the Mallards. Some of the images are pretty dark despite lightening them…apologies.

I am ready for some rain. For an afternoon, curling up in a chair and reading a book, the stack on the bedside table grows, and by the time I get myself tucked in, I am too exhausted to read. I am not complaining! How many of us wish there were at least 36 hours in a day?

And to my great joy, ‘The Boyfriend’ showed up during the daylight hours. I catch him on the video cameras coming in the middle of the night, but had not seen him during the day. He looks to be in good form.

You might have noticed that we are not hearing from Heidi regularly. She is having a much-deserved break after a season of great sadness. The osplets on all the nests she has been monitoring have fledged (or died). Please give her a big round of applause so she can hear it! Thanks, Heidi, for your outstanding contributions and for taking care of all that data for me on those nests. You will never know how much I appreciate it. Thank you is hardly adequate.

I received a letter today from a family on the Potomac River that put up an osprey platform. They attracted a family that fledged two chicks. They wrote to me to enquire about siblicide occurring after fledge. What happened was that the older sibling prevented the younger one from getting any fish, and the younger one died on their lawn. Years ago, when we thought of siblicide and indeed, until a couple of years ago, the older sibling (usually) killed the younger one on the nest before the age of 21 days. With the heat domes and the lack of fish during the 2023 and 2024 seasons, we are seeing more and more competition between the fledglings of a nest and various intruders for local resources such as food.

Siblicide happened at Port Lincoln several years ago, pre-fledged at 65 days. The chick was pushed off the nest into the water and died. So there is a range. As the planet heats up and more fish dive deep or are lost to commercial fishing trawlers (unless that dire practice can be stopped), we will likely see many more deaths on the nests than we have seen this year. I regret painting a gloomy picture, but I would rather be entirely wrong than write as if we live in Disneyland where everything ends beautifully. Oh, how I wish it were so.

The Ospreys are leaving. The Storks are migrating. Shorebirds are flying south from the Arctic to their homes in South America. The move is on. Bald eagles return to check out their nests’ condition and lay claim to them again. The Eastern Ospreys are preparing to lay eggs like the falcons in Australia. We already have baby sea eaglets. For the next few months, the action will be coming to us from Australia, and then the eagles in the US will begin to lay their eggs.

We will start with a good news story about wind turbines sent to us from Geemeff. I was starting to think there was nothing good about the darn things. One of the things I hate about wind turbines is the refusal of so many factories to paint one blade black. What a simple solution someone found Let’s see what is happening here to protect the sea eagles in The Netherlands.

https://www.dutchnews.nl/2024/08/zeeland-wind-farm-activates-sea-eagle-protection-system

It is fantastic to see the fledglings return to the nest months after their first flight. Today, Alma visited the San Jose City Hall scrape to the delight of all. SK Hideaways caught it.

Xavier arrives with prey. Diamond prefers bonding to eating! https://youtu.be/STISiz5bv34?

This is nothing short of animal cruelty. Do people think birds have no feelings? Help spread the word about the use of birds and include balloons when you ask friends to protect wildlife. Thank you.

The dark eye lines on Hope and Beaumont’s osplets are wide and magnificent. Dark beauties they are! There is a rumour that the second chick fledged on Wednesday the 21st. I did not see it and there is nothing on the FB group. Will confirm later.

Dad arrives to much enthusiasm at the Royal Albatross colony to feed the Royal Cam chick.https://youtu.be/3as5kXIFb18?

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

Daily summary Wednesday 21st August 2024

Nest One had a few little songbird visitors today despite the wet and windy weather, but otherwise no activity. Garry LV0 was last seen briefly on Sunday 18th and seems to have left the area, so with increasing reports of final sightings from UK Osprey projects, tonight’s bonus is the excellent webinar on Osprey migration by Dr Tim Mackrill.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.35.33 (05.14.32); Nest Two 21.27.36 (05.19.35)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/08N3dt1mD6k N1 A Warbler & Coal Tits visit 09.34.52

Bonus info – Osprey migration webinar with Tim Mackrill: 

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

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

Iris brings fish to the nest. Sometimes there is a fledgling there to nab it! The chicks are looking good and no doubt being fed at the nest and elsewhere as Iris, we hope, is packing in the calories, too, for her long flight.

Beautiful fish arriving on the nest for C16 at the Charlo Montana nest.

Junebug on the perch at Dunrovin waiting for fish.

River has been on and off the nest all day at Sandpoint getting fish! She had a big morning brekkie to help start the day.

One lucky chick at Blackbush has a fish dinner.

I did not see anyone at home at Cowlitz. Maybe I missed our fledgling.

At Saaksilvie #1, ringed and unringed are getting some fish dinners.

Clean up crew at the Seilli nest in Finland.

I saw no activity at nest #4 on Wednesday in Finland.

Both fledglings on the nest in Latvia having some nice fish with Mum.

‘A’ reminds us: “We are on egg watch at Orange. As I mentioned, Diamond laid her first egg on 26 August last season, so we are nearing that time. There is lots of bonding and mating taking place. 

22 Aug BONDING 05:50:59, 10.30.59, 14:47:34, 17:30:42 PREY 07.02.32 X takes; 07.04.12 X stashes; 09:15:07 D takes; 13.23.42 D takes

TOWER MATING 07.05.16 LR 17s, 07.06.27 LR 18s, 07.10.49 LR 15s, 07.56.23 LHC 15s, 09:46:48 MW 12s, 13.53.31 MW 10s, 13.54.48 MW 6s

Diamond and Xavier are both looking healthy, unlike the starling Xavier stashed in the front corner of the scrape this morning – Diamond has treated it with the disdain it deserves but it will be recycled in the morning. Nothing is wasted here. There is discussion on the site about the worth of maggots in starlings. Of course we know from bald eagle nests that there’s good protein in maggots. Perfectly edible. “

Always good to see Jackie and Shadow. As a couple they spell, HOPE.https://youtu.be/UCkug0-kyW0?si=XbT6zm2FPZkbCkH8

A big shout out to Mary Cheadle who organises all of the fundraisers for the Lock Arkaig FB group. Thousands of pounds go to The Woodland Trust each year from viewers and fans. Thanks, Mary, for all you do!

There is one more fundraiser. For a donation of 3 GBP or more, you have a chance to win some expensive books on Ospreys, totes, etc. Check out the Friends of Loch Arkaig Ospreys FB if interested. The deadline is 30 August. It is the last fundraiser of the year.

Blue 1RO was 100 days old on Wednesday. Does anyone else think s/he looks exactly like their daddy Blue 33?

It was rainy and looked like a gale was blowing at the Glaslyn nest. The fledglings still think that Aran can pull off a miracle fishing for them! Two came in early in the day but no late fish to keep those crops full during the night.

It was windy with some rain at Dyfi but the wind did not appear to be blowing as strong as it was at Glaslyn. (Maybe just me…)

It was blowing hard at Llyn Brenig – the two fledglings were holding on tight to their nest!

Juveniles at Poole Harbour screaming their heads off for fish at Poole Harbour.

Fledgling still at Mlade Buky. Nice.

New Zealand is rushing to vaccinate its native birds ahead of what they believe will be a huge outbreak of H5N1.

New Zealand rushes vaccination of endangered birds before deadly strain of H5N1 bird flu arrives | NDownload

Studying Petrels and Albatross…what have they found out over the last decades of research?

Decades of Data, Diverse Discoveries | Friends of Midway AtollDownload

Thank you so much for being with us today. It is always a pleasure!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, letters, videos, images, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff’, dutchnews.nl, SK Hideaways, Birds in Helping Hands, Newfoundland Power, Cowlitz PUD, Cornell Bird Lab, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, Dunrovin Ranch, Sandpoint Ospreys, Blackbush at Old Tracerie, Saaksilvie, LDF, Friends of Loch Arkaig Ospreys, LRWT, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, Llyn Brenig Ospreys, BoPH, Mlade Buky Stork Cam, The Guardian, and Friends of Midway Atoll.

Miraculous moments that made us smile…2023-24 Season

Good Morning Everyone,

Some of our morning updates before we get to what is the real thrust of today’s news: SE33 has hatched at the Olympic Park Sea Eagle nest in Sydney. Congratulations Lady and Dad. What a beautiful strong little eaglet!

‘A’ remarks: “August 7 (Afternoon) After another shift for Lady, Dad was on incubation duties again for nearly an hour, though he left quickly when she returned. She then fed the chick again, with gentle, tiny bites offered, before settling again. She is restless, as you would expect with a chick and a pipping egg. Just before 2pm, Lady ate a little of the stored fish, and although she tried to feed the chick, she gave up because it was facing the wrong way. Shortly afterwards, she tried again and this time, SE33 ate a little. The pip on the second egg is more raised now. At 14:51, Dad brooded again, then went to the pantry but didn’t feed the chick. Lady was back after a 15-minute break. She was on the nest from just after 4pm, after a last short feed for SE33. Dad brought in a late fish at dark, and Lady ate a little before settling. She has spent longer on the nest today, though Dad has had a couple of shifts. He brought prey, and SE33 was fed four times. What will this night bring? Last season, the eggs hatched 32 hours and 46 minutes apart.”

‘H’ reports:

8/6 Osoyoos osprey nest:  I had a busy day, so when I got home, I primarily rewound the stream to check for a possible fledge for Chick 2.  S/he did not fledge today.  And, when Chick 2 did his wingercizing, he was still only achieving what seemed to be a few inches of lift off the nest (cam view can be deceiving).  A person very experienced with ospreys stated on a chat a few weeks ago, that ospreys typically need to do wingers and hovers for 10 days to build up their muscles for flight readiness.  I’m not an expert, just a nest cam watcher… but, I have seen ospreys suddenly have the ability to perform some nice hovers, and then fledge in a day or two.  Side note:  Little died from starvation on 7/15, and his body has remained in the nest.  This afternoon, a strong gust of wind lifted Little’s body and swept it off the nest.  ‘AMW’, a very kind and caring viewer that lives nearby, drove to the nest to recover Little’s remains.  She posted in the Facebook group:  “Little is now buried in my yard … and I will plant a flowering annual plant in Little’s memory.”  Thank you, ‘AMW’, from all of us.

8/6 – 8/7  Colonial Beach osprey nest: Cobey was awake early and at 0630 he picked up the old piece of fish and managed to pull off some pieces of fish-jerky.  He worked on it now and again, and by 0800 he was still trying.  David did not bring a fish for Cobey until 1348.  It was a large whole fish.  At the very young age of 43 days, Cobey has become quite the self-feeder by necessity.  Cobey had managed to eat the head of that fish before there was an intruder issue.  At 1415 David landed in the nest first, and it seemed that David may have been tangling with the intruder nearby.  The intruder landed in the nest immediately after David, and stole the fish, despite David being on the nest.  Oh no, no, no!  Poor lil Cobey’s only meal of the day was gone!  David did not bring another fish.  

The nest owner, host of the live stream, is a very caring and avid osprey conservationist.  She and others monitor many osprey nests in the Colonial Beach area.  She stated that they are finding many dead ospreys, on the ground or in nests.  It is thought that not only was fishing difficult when it was very hot, but that there may in fact be a shortage of fish for the ospreys to catch.  Some ospreys are having to resort to kleptoparasitism to survive, or to feed their young.  

Cobey’s mom, Betty, will have been missing for 4 days on the morning of 8/7.  The cam owner provided a statement regarding a possible rescue of Cobey.  “The VA DWR recommends that nothing be done at this time… we will continually monitor the nest, things may change.”  Please note that the cam owner’s hands are tied, and she must follow the advice of the regulating authorities.  Some comments on the chat were hurtful to her.  Go easy on the chat.  The cam owner is hurting as much, if not more, than you are.   Colonial Beach weather forecast for 8/7:  Cloudy with showers, risk of thunder storms, high temp 81.

8/6 Fortis Exshaw:  There was a fledge today.  It appeared to be the same chick that was doing the high hovering yesterday.  We missed seeing them for about 3 weeks when the cam was dirty, and we still do not have a completely clear view.  As a result, we were never able to learn how to differentiate the siblings.  We know that the oldest chick in a brood does not always fledge first, but I suppose we will simply assume that’s the one that flew.  The eldest chick was named BJ, and BJ initially seemed to only go as far as the camera at 0803, then returned to the nest at 0834.  But, BJ made a true fledge at 0927.  S/he made a nice landing on the T-perch at 1536, followed by a return to the nest at 1538.  Well done, new fledgling!

‘CG’: “Blue branched this morning, and between the time she branched and the time she fledged, she was doing  wingers, hopping, getting some good height, and went from the nest to the branch a number of times.  She went to the back of the nest and totally surprised everyone at 1557 hours by fledging from the back north corner of the nest by the screen.  One minute she was there then she was gone.  She is 100 days old today.

They have been looking for her but haven’t been able to locate her on the cams.  There is a ground crew out looking for her too.

Aug6-Fledge2.jpg

Congratulations Blue!  Way to go!!”

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

Daily summary Tuesday 6th August 2024

No activity at all on Nest Two, today’s action all came from Nest One, where Affric 152 turned up at dawn quickly followed by Garry LV0. However the pair fled the nest when a third Osprey appeared in the distance – Affric’s mate Prince, perhaps. Garry returned a little later with a stick but didn’t stay long. A few hours later birds were seen in the distance on nest cam and a Wood Pigeon overflew the nest. It rained pretty much throughout the day, and more rain forecast for tonight and tomorrow.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.23.05 (04.07.43); Nest Two 22.22.22 (04.27.15)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/jMtQ4kDsEIE N1 Garry LV0 follows Affric 152 before a third Osprey makes them flee 05.15.16

https://youtu.be/bzEL4MZcwk0 N1 Garry LV0 returns with a stick 05.52.29

https://youtu.be/FzFbWLsw1xI N1 Various little birds on, over or near the nest 08.33.40

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

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

Thank you so much for sending in the moments during the 2023-24 season that put a smile on your face. I really appreciate the time and thoughtful regard that you put into your choices and for sending them in. Most people will hesitate. Why do we think our voice doesn’t count? I hope that there are some surprises in here. I received 79 e-mails with the single word Iris along with what is posted below. So if you sent one of those in and I did not include your initials, my apologies. Just know that you counted in making Iris and her year with Finnegan, Sun-eh and Antali the top of the charts by a long mile. Also I didn’t ask for images but have included them if you sent them in!

‘MM’: “After a season filled with heartbreak after heartbreak it has made the happy moments even sweeter! One happy moment that happened early on in the season was when Beau finally figured out how to mate with Gabby and she was able to lay two eggs, unfortunately Beau got the mating mastered but that’s where the happiness ended, hopefully next season he’ll be ready. 

Another happy moment was the successful fledge of two healthy osprey chicks from Port Lincoln thanks to the fish fairy and the generosity of so many who donated. The two happiest moments of the season for me are tied for first place. I was beyond thrilled when the season started in SWFL and M15 had taken F23 as his new mate after the loss of our beloved Harriet last session. The season got even happier with the hatch of the incredible E23 💜 And of course the other happy moment at #1 is sweet Iris finally getting sweep off her talons by the handsome Finn and their two amazing chicks 💙 ❤️ Thank you for the opportunity to reflect on the good after dealing with so much bad. Praying next season will be filled with many happy moments .”

‘H’: “As I understand it, you are asking for happy stories.  Well, this makes me happy. This may sound strange.  But, I am happy for Darling at Captiva.  Darling fledged on 6/26 at 63 days of age.  His post-fledge life was not easy.  There was competition for the nest and food from his sibling, Ding.  In addition, both of his parents may possibly have had issues with their health, and they stopped bringing food to the nest.  Darling had not eaten for 3 days when he ended up in the water and was rescued and taken to CROW on 7/4.  He passed away at CROW that night.  We don’t know why things turned out the way they did, and we will never understand it.  I wish it had not turned out that way.  So, why does this make me happy?  It doesn’t.  The part that makes me happy is that Darling flew.  I think of all the ‘littles’ we have known that died from nest accidents, or weather events, or starvation, or illness, or predation, and they never got a chance to fly.  Darling was able to experience the sheer joy and exuberance of flying.  And, I am so happy for him.”

‘SP’: Amongst all the turmoil of this year, there were more golden moments and miracles to celebrate. (Photos below in order of the list)

  • Cal Falcons Annie & her new mate Archie fledged four beautiful falcon chicks in Berkeley. This was the first time since Annie’s been a YouTube star that all 4 of her eggs hatched. We were entertained, enamored and completely enthralled with Aurora, Solstice, Eclipse, and Equinox.
  • San Jose City Hall couple Hartley & second year dad Monty also fledged four beautiful falcon chicks – all girls. Though we lost one, we enjoyed weeks of the girl power brought by Luna (RIP), Zoe, Lucia, and Alma.
  • Southwest Florida M15 and his new mate F23 fledged the ever-endearing E23, further mending the holes in our hearts left by the disappearance of Harriet the previous year. F23 proved to be a most nurturing and loving mother, while M15 continued his legacy of being provider extraordinaire.  E23 was such a character and embraced being an only child with gusto. He proved to be an excellent flyer and at one point a protector of his natal nest. 

Oh, thank you for the opportunity to revisit these wonderful moments!”

Cal Falcons.

San Jose.

SW Florida:

‘B’ writes: Too many sad stories, but always some nice ones, too.  I liked how you said you think of all the miracles we have seen, to help offset the sadness of the sad stories.  I had meant to write you a couple of weeks ago how I followed a similar strategy to help offset the sadness.  I had a lower threshold than you, just thinking of the things that make me smile, rather than holding out for “miracles”.  But my number one was the same as yours: the arrival of Finnegan, so that Iris has a real and proper (and wonderful) mate for the first time in years.  Enough of that two-timing Louis!

In fact, two more of the top things that made me smile were also from Hellgate: the wonderful job Iris does as a mom when having chicks for the first time in years.  Especially protecting those chicks in that awful heat.  I swear, if “Mumbrella” were an Olympic event, Iris would be a medal winner.  And the other is how peaceful and calm those osplets are when there started with such a huge difference in size. Part has to be what a great provider Finn is, and also how diligent Iris is in making sure each chick is served well.  Gosh, the larger of the two would just stand and watch patiently if Little was served first, knowing his/her turn would come.

Also, Tuffy’s story always made me smile (even if hard to watch in earlier days), seeing him do what he needed to do to make it to being a beautiful and healthy fledgling in spite of the “Ruff” treatment from Ruffie.

And I couldn’t help but smile whenever I checked in on the Decorah eaglets after their nest (and branch) fell away, to see them happily perched on branches, as if to say, “we don’t need no stinkin’ nest, so long as we got our branch and our parents!”

In spite of all their hard luck getting a hatch, one can never help but smile to see Jackie and Shadow together.  I have to hope for another Spirit next year.

And wonderful to see both Annie and Archie at Cal and Hartley and Monty at San Jose have four healthy hatches make it to fledge, even with the sadness of losing Luna at San Jose and the injury to Nox in Berkeley.  I was so worried, especially for San Jose, what with the tough urban environment and seeing Lucia get rescued from the sidewalk and taking the elevator back to the roof twice before successfully fledging. 

There’s more, but these are some of the stories that make me smile.  (And, oh yes, of course there is Treasure and her siblings, also treasures.)”

CG: “My first thought was Tuffy.  I watched this nest with trepidation. Tuffy was the underdog.  How many times did we think he wouldn’t make it.  He was so endearing, and I loved his sneakiness to try to get food.  He never gave up.  You always talk about the will to survive, and boy, his little body was bursting with it.  The last time I saw him was just before they shut the cam down, and he was proudly standing on his nest.

Iris and Finnegan.  I knew nothing about her until you talked about her.  Finnegan came along and showed Louis the door.  He has been a wonderful mate and provider for Iris and their osplets, and Iris has been a wonderful mum feeding and protecting her little ones the way she does.  Just look at how they have turned out under their care.  They look so healthy, and Big has been a wonderful big sib being so patient with his little sibling except for the one time little sib got uppity and boldly attacked big sib.  That won’t be happening again!  This has been a wonderful osprey nest to watch.

I could not fail to mention my peregrines Annie and Archie and Hartley and Monty, each pair with four chicks this year.  Hartley and Monty went from newbies with one feisty Soledad last year to FOUR this year.  What a jump!  They handled it all with finesse.  No nonsense Annie always handles her chicks with finesse, and her new mate Archie was a great provider and dad.  Peregrines are a wonder and miracle every year.  I wish all nests could be as calming as theirs with equal feedings, no shortage of food, no predators, and lots of chick shenanigans. “

‘BHA’: My smile of the year has to be Iris, Finnegan and family. (Along with you and probably everyone else.)  What a miracle nest this year!!

Also, the San Jose falcons. The antics and shenanigans of the four girls were priceless! (Of course with a bit of sadness that we lost one of them…)

‘PB’: The bird that made me smile is Smallie. He was such a fighter especially how small he was up against 3 big sisters. I’m still sad about it. O18 became my favorite osprey, she was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Her personality matched her beauty. I miss her too! It’s making me cry thinking of them. But before them was a tie between Tuffy and Tiny D. They will all be in my memory forever.

‘J’ loves the Tortilla Bird. ” The photo of that tiny little babe in the tortilla just melts my heart (the feet! the feet!). That someone thought of wrapping it in a warm tortilla to keep it from getting cold is just brilliant – and hilarious at the same time. “

A Family Saved a Baby Bird With a Warm Tortilla. Its name? Taquito.Download

Geemeff: “But just want to say the names chosen for Iris & Finn’s miracle chicks are lovely and very suitable. In a season of sadness, they and the Poole Harbour Four have been some comfort. Iris’ success after so may years of being bullied by her ex, together with the unexpected success of saving one of Louis & Dorcha’s chicks to the point of successfully fledging, are my favourites of this season.”

‘TU’: My favourite article for a good mood is the one in The Guardian about the bird of New Caledonia. I loved it from the first sight.

Much cagou about something: New Caledonia’s favourite bird thriving after conservation push | New CaDownload

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/02/new-caledonia-cagou-bird-conservation

‘L’: Iris finding Finnegan or vice versa.  A wonderful memorable miracle. This nest brings pure joy! Iris is the best osprey mom I’ve ever had the privilege to watch and Finnegan is a precious gem. 

Blue is amazing at the Boundary Nest. I think he’s a miracle for surviving erratic food deliveries. 

The rescue of Rutland’s Little Bob. Golden moment. 

The Purple Martins in Erie PA. All 5 fledged. Enjoyable to watch.

McEuen Park. One, out of 4, that survived to fledge after losing father. 

Eagle Country-Tears for Meadow but Swampy lived and fledged. 

Thunder, Akecheta and their 3 beautiful eaglets! Koa, Treasure & Sterling. A delight to watch. A stress free nest. 

Cowlitz PUD- happiness, a survivor golden moment. 

Osoyoos, losing Little which was sad enough. Thankful two will fledge. Happiness and a miracle in my book. 

Little Miami Conservancy-All 3 eaglets fledged! Happiness. 

Southwest Florida Eagles-One hatch, smart and accelerated in growth. An amazing first eaglet for M15 & F23. 

BONUS!!!! Pure joy. 

Challenger surviving his health issues. 

Hugo Yugo, Calico, Hope & Missey and all the birds and squirrels that visit your garden. 

(I could go on and on. So many more miracles and golden moments….The 2 miracle eaglets that definitely would have made my list were unfortunately killed by father Scout at the NCTC nest.)”

‘BA’: “The first time Lucia accidentally fell from the nest area and had to be rescued. First lots of worry about her, and then the smile moment when she was released on the rooftop. And then the chuckle: later watching SKHideaway’s video of it all. Lucia was just out of the box, looking around wide-eyed at all the contraptions and weird stuff, and SKH’s caption said, “She thinks she’s in Disneyland!” That cracked me up. It was such a tense moment, worrying about how frightened Lucia might be,  and somehow we knew then she was going to be okay. (And then a couple of days later when she made it back down to the nest area and was reunited with her sisters – that was also a big smile moment.)”

LL: “Anything to do with Iris and Finn”.

JT: “The hatch of E23.”

PM: “Iris, Iris, Iris…West End nest. Those three eaglets were remarkable.”

‘A’: “Just before 09:32, there is a lot of thunder at Hellgate and Iris immediately flies to the nest. The rain really sets in, and Iris opens her roller doors and does her perfect mumbrella, managing to keep two fully grown osplets perfectly dry in the heavy downpour. What a mum she really is. Sumeh is the sweetest big sister ever, and little bro is adorable and such a feisty wee lad. This nest has been such a joy to watch. I could not have imagined enjoying watching a big sister/little brother osprey nest without a moment of stress or worry, but then along came Finnegan.” 

I am with you – Iris has put everything into this season, and it may be costly. But it may also give her a reason to return no matter what it takes, as she now has Finnegan waiting for her. These two have bonded strongly and I am really hopeful that the strength of their relationship will give Iris what she needs to make it home again. She truly has been the most wonderful mother. What a waste – Louis truly is a cad. 

BT: “Too numerous. 1. Fish Fairies at Port Lincoln. 2. Finnegan ousting Louis and winning Iris’s heart. 3. Annie and Archie raise four little falcons. Jackie and Shadow because they just make me smile all the time.”

RW: “The Fabulous Four at Poole Harbour ties with Iris and Finn.”

CB: “SE31 fledges and spends time with Lady and Dad on the Paramatta River learning to be an eagle. Iris and Finnegan because I never thought Iris would ever raise chicks again. The eagles at Decorah North because they survived so much and continued to be a family at their nest tree even when it had fallen over.”

CD: “I loved Smallie. The wee little falcon longed to live and it did get to fly.”

DDS:

  • Iris and Finnegan. Never thought this would happen.
  • Jackie and Shadow and their sticks and hopefulness.
  • M15 gets another chance to be a Dad.
  • They didn’t raise a family but seeing Gabby and Beau together made me smile.
  • The rehabbers that help.
  • The small Dutch falcon that died but got to fly.
  • The people who dared to provide fish to the osprey chicks at the barge in Australia.

Thanks to everyone who participated and to those who didn’t but sat and thought about what made them smile this year!

My list in a bit of a narrative and in no certain order:

The day I learned that Bonus was alive, I cried. Knowing that both Black Storks Waba and Bonus, raised by Karl II, are still flying gives me hope that there are others, too. I continue to be ever grateful for the work of Urmas in Estonia and his team in providing fish for the storks, ringing them, and checking on their well-being. It makes me smile to see the fish baskets that he sets up and fills to keep the storks alive. I wish that more people would engage with wildlife positively and constructively. I am grateful to the Roy Dennis Foundation and the Woodland Trust for removing the two chicks of Louis and Dorcha for translocation. Louis was not himself, and while I had an enormous smile when he reappeared after so many days, he needed to get his strength up, so it still felt like a good win-win. But knowing dear Louis is alive is a huge grin and a happy moment. The fish fairies at Port Lincoln took a stand and saved the osplets of Mum and Dad at the barge and I will forever think that this was a miracle that saved the chicks lives. Didn’t you just grin seeing the hand lay the fish on that nest? Whenever I checked on the nest at Poole Harbour, I smiled at the absolute dedication and great parenting of CJ7 and Blue 022. I remember the year they were courting, and it didn’t seem possible that CJ7 would get a mate, and now, to the astonishment of all, in their third year together, they successfully raised four to fledge. The California falcons will always make me smile: Larry at Alcatraz, Annie and Archie, and Monty and Hartley. Incredible families and, oh, our dear little ones that got themselves into some mischief, including Nox, who is recovering. That photo of him with his wing wrapped was lovely. I was happy when Smallie could come and go in and out of the scrape and got to fly and feel the wind under its wings despite its subsequent death. Big Red always puts a smile on my face as does Arthur when he lines the nest bowl with squirrel fur. They love being parents. And this year, because of the year that it was, I am grateful and smile whenever I see one of the nests have a fledge because they are just that much rarer. So many bird families lost so many of their offspring this year. To the delight and relief of many, Hope and Beaumont look like they will fledge two chicks this year from Snow Lane in Newfoundland – the first for many, many years. The Moorings Park nest just melted my heart when Tuffy overcame the abuse of the older sibling, Ruffie, and survive to become a gorgeous osplet that returned time and again to the nest so we could see that he was alright. What made me mad and also sick at times was the Frenchman’s Creek nest with fish after fish piled up and the poor osplets having to learn to feed themselves to survive – not from starvation but lack of parental attention. They triumphed, and somehow, the nasty fish disappeared. That made me smile big time. There were so many moments. Seeing SE31 flying over the Paramatta River with Lady and Dad, free of the harassment of the Pied Currawong, was simply one of the best moments ever, along with Flaco, the Eurasian Owl, who escaped from the Central Park Zoo and flew freely for a year. Perhaps I have said it more than once, but the resilience of Jackie and Shadow makes me smile every day.

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

The ultimate smile was Iris and Finnegan, though. I never thought I would see Iris raising chicks. Louis drove me nuts, and to see a young male osprey keep Louis on the other side of the territory made me grin every day, especially when Finn chased Louis off the owl pole. Iris is simply amazing. She is old (I have great empathy for her), raising chicks in that heat, and now Sum-eh has fledged. I also smile whenever I get a note or a letter from you. It makes my day, along with my garden animals, my family, and the girls, that much better. Thank you for being there.

Thank you to everyone who sent in their memories and for the images and videos thank you to ‘A, CG, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, NestFlix Memories, Osoyoos, Fortis-Exshaw, Colonial Beach, Menhaden- Little Fish, Big Deal, HWF-BBCentral, Heidi and Windows to Wildlife, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, SK Hideaways for the images of the falcon families from San Jose, Cal Falcons, and SWFlorida Bald Eagles, Wildwest Rehabilitation Centre, Texas Monthly, SK Hideaways, and The Guardian.

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

25 July 2024

Hello Everyone!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

An Osprey Story:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Daily summary Wednesday 24th July 2024

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

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

Today’s videos:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘H’ reports:

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

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

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

Thanks, ‘H’!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Deaths, fledges…Tuesday in Bird World

23 July 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mum is out fishing at McEuen Park in Idaho.

Fish delivery to nest #4 in Finland.

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

A large Hare was delivered to the nest.

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

I found this entry on Looduskalender interesting:

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

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

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

Daily summary Monday 22nd July 2024

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

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

Today’s videos:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Getting ready for a fledge at Bridge Golf.

Three osplets waiting to fly at Collins Marsh, too.

They are all self-feeding!

Bruce is delivering trout to Toketee and Tree at Seaside.

Beautiful osplet at Boulder.

Coming and going at BUND Goitzsche-Wildnis in Germany.

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

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

News from ‘A’:

A report from  WBSE: 

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

And a really cute video from Taiaroa Head:

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

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

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

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

22 July 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

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

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

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

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

‘H’ reports:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The two chicks fledged at Fort Calhoun today as well.

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

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

Tweed Valley had a fledge as well.

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

Fledge at Iowa DNR.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Daily summary Sunday 21st July 2024

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

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

Today’s videos:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blast from the past, this day in previous years:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So much fish that Iris is getting a nice feed.

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

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

Wingers at the Janakkala nest in Finland, too.

Younger babies at the Muonio nest in Finland.

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

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

The video of the delivery and an intruder:

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

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

Moraine chick knocked off nest, fledge at Glaslyn…Sunday in Bird World

21 July 2024

Good Morning Everyone!

Update from Glaslyn: “Our eldest chick Blue 6M8 took her first flight at 08:50 this morning at 54 days old. She made a short flight around the field supervised by Elen before returning to the nest.” Congratulations Aran and Elen.

The beautiful osplet at Moraine that might have fledged today was not predated by the owl so many worried about, but became she became the victim of a tragic accident with Mum defending the nest against a raccoon. They will put up a raccoon baffle for next year…but maybe, every nest should be looking at raccoon and pine marten baffles and those that have owl predation a very bright solar (or hydro) powered bright light with red strobes. They will not bother the ospreys but could help with owl predation. Oh, goodness. It is hard enough for the wee babes to make it to be two or three weeks old but to die right before or at fledge, this is so sad.

I am sitting at the airport gate. It is always good to have a break, but it is even nicer thinking of home! I cannot wait to see Hugo Yugo, Calico, Baby Hope, Missey, Mr Crow, Dyson, and all the other animals, including ‘The Boyfriend’, who was caught on the security camera arriving at 0400 this morning. I hope he had food left! That camera identified him as a ‘pet’. It made me smile. It has been hot in Winnipeg – of course, unlike what it is for Iris and all the ospreys who continue to deal with tragically hot temperatures.

I am home, exhausted. More than exhausted. My head is reeling with news of tragedies….’The Girls’ were all wanting attention. What a joy it was to see them.

Her name can be seen by the public so I will include it here. I most often use initials. Ann-Marie Watson has watched over the Osoyoos nest and others in that area of British Columbia for years. When Little died and went over the edge several years ago, she travelled an hour and ventured into town during celebrations to give the little one a rite of passage. She sends this report about what is happening in the area. To me, it rings of the events of a couple of years ago when Cooper’s hawklets were jumping off their nests to save themselves from being roasted alive. I think her words bring home the tragedy that is hitting the area ——and I hope that it will emphasize how preious those nests are that have chicks that are alive. I wish that there were enough spaces for these babies so that the nests could make it through this dire time. Ann-Marie writes:

I put this up on our FB page and copy to you. I think Soo may have abandoned the nest and Dad is not feeding the chicks. I didn’t see Soo in the vicinity of the nest yesterday and the chicks are at risk right now. The sweltering heat is affecting so many nests in the south Okanagan. 

As upsetting as it is the heat has been a major factor on a lot of nests. I went and checked on quite a few other nests I know of yesterday and it seems a few the parents have abandoned the nests for their own survival.
I called SORCO and OWL rescue for any advice I could get to save our nest in Osoyoos, basically the info I received there are many nests that have been abandoned due sweltering temperatures. Basically too many nests for them to intervene..SORCO is dealing with the owls and Burnaby rescue is at capacity.
This may not be good news for our nest as Mum hasn’t been seen and Dad is not feeding the chicks.
Thinking of you all and as Ann-Mo said take care of your own mental health.
I am taking a break after yesterday’s heartbreaking visits to the nests I went too. So much wildlife is suffering.

20 July 2024

More from Ann-Marie:

Apparently Soo and Olsen returned to the nest today maybe before noon. Both had a partial fish, I’m thinking Soo went off to hunt and cool down, I honestly don’t think she would not be the mombrella for the two chicks yesterday. I have not watched the camera today as needed a break. Things are not looking good for the chicks but if enough fish comes in middle might have a chance. The older chick seems to be getting fed more. The heat is intense and will be for days to come.
I did a little ceremony for the littlest chick yesterday near the nest, I was quite heartbroken it passed away.

I wonder if the local fire department would place some fish on that nest for Soo, Olsen, and their chicks until the heat passes. I do understand from Heidi that Soo has been on the nest. Thank goodness.

There is good news coming out of Raptor Persecution UK. Finally, a fine that is meaningful. I would have liked to have seen another ‘zero’ added to it, but this is a beginning! That got hit hard in the wallet and that is all these grouse moor estates understand.

Poisoned buzzard leads to discovery of multiple pesticide offences – Ashley Game Farm & Director Christopher Hodgson fined £40,000+

“£40k fine despite not knowing who actually carried out the poisonings, plus £1.5k fine for the director. ” (Geemeff)

In her book, Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults, Robin Wall Kimmerer talks of a revitalisation of our planet, of Mother Earth. She insists that we must make a choice of the path we will take – to heal our planet and bring balance back to the world of living beings, human and non- or turn our head backwards in the blinding dust and continue to live a life of materialism. She says that how we have lived has not brought us contentment, and now it is bringing extinction to plants and animals. We need to bring harmony and balance back to our lives. We must choose ‘the Green path’ of wisdom, respect, and reciprocity’ (280). It is a good book that broaches capitalism and materialism, and market forces creating affluence for some and great poverty for others. Grain sits in elevators rotting because people cannot purchase it. Kimmerer understands that there is enough food for everyone if we view the world differently.

I would suggest that there is enough fish for every seabird, every eagle, every osprey. That the taking of millions of Menhaden is ruining the balance of the Chesapeake Bay with the profits going into the accounts of Omega while our beautiful birds, whales, and dolphins starve. Omega is leaving nothing! I hope that we can shift this and see plentiful loads of fish for our feathered friends and a return to a bay full of wildlife!

The 2024 Osprey Field Season – The Center for Conservation BiologyDownload

Waiting for fledge at Glaslyn. It was a bit of a wet day. Everyone including Bobby Bach are doing fantastic – that little one had a nice bit of fish.

Fish after fish coming in to the nest of Idris and Telyn at Dyfi. No one is going to go hungry.

Only Little Mini (4th hatch) at Poole Harbour left to fledge now. CJ7 and Blue 022 are both being Daddy and Mummy Door Dash for these four healthy osplets.

The heat in the US and Canada continues.

Iris is the most amazing mumbrella. Finn is having a difficult time getting as much fish on the nest as he did. The best times are early morning and evening.

Iris moves with the sun to keep those precious babies of hers shaded. Look at those beauties in the top image with their Mum behind them. Did we ever think we would see such a sight? I sure didn’t.

Charlo Montana is hanging in there, too.

‘H’ reports on the Osoyoos nest we are so concerned about:

7/20 Osoyoos osprey nest:  Today was a better day for Middle.  Middle had not had a significant meal since 7/17.  Olsen arrived early, at 0539 with a medium sized whole fish, and when Soo didn’t arrive to feed, Olsen left with the fish.  He returned 16 minutes later with a headless version of the same fish.  Middle grabbed the fish and mantled, and Olsen left.  Middle was being harassed by Big, so it seemed that Middle spent more time protecting his food than eating it.  Big took the fish at 0609.  Big did a much better job of self feeding than s/he demonstrated yesterday.  At 0636 Big walked away from a very large tail portion.  Middle took the fish, but was not very successful at self feeding.  It seemed as though Middle may have lacked the energy to enthusiastically pull and tear off fish bits.  After 5 minutes, Middle quit eating and Big took over.  This scenario of the siblings alternating, each trying to self feed from the fish, continued to play out on and off over the next few hours.  By 1100, there was still a piece of that fish remaining, but it was getting dried up and stiff.  

Soo, had not been seen since the afternoon of 7/18.  At 1123 Soo arrived at the nest with a whole fish.  And, at 1124 Olsen brought a large partial fish to the nest, but when he saw that Soo already had a fish, he left with his.  Soo did not start to feed until 1128, and she fed Big.  Big had beaked Middle, so Middle was in submission.  Big was finished eating at 1155 and walked away from Soo.  There was still some of Soo’s fish left over.  But, at 1155 Olsen returned with a smaller version of his earlier fish.  Soo opted to take that fish, Big beaked Middle, then Soo fed Big until 1201.  In the meantime, Middle was trying to eat some bites of the leftover morning fish, which was now the consistency of fish jerky.  Soo ate some fish while waiting for Middle to arrive at the table.  At 1202 Middle started to be fed by Soo, and had eaten 9 bites of fish before s/he was beaked by Big.  Middle retaliated this time, and there was a big fight.  Soo continued to eat.  For some reason, Middle returned to the old piece of fish jerky, while Mom ate.  At 1209 Soo picked up her leftover piece of fish that she had brought in at 1123.  Finally, Soo fed Middle a private meal that lasted for 13 minutes.  That was more than Middle had eaten in nearly three days.  Soo provided shade from the hot sun for her chicks throughout the afternoon, and the temperature reached 102F/39C by 1600.  Soo delivered a medium sized whole fish at 2058.  The siblings ate simultaneously, one on each side of Mom, and the 10-minute meal was peaceful.  It seemed that Middle was fed more than Big, and Middle ate at least 64 bites of fish.  Soo finished off the old fish-tail-jerky and fed a few more bites to Middle.   Weather forecast for 7/21:  Sunny, high temperature could reach 106F/41C, winds gusting to 13 mph.  

There has been growing concern for the fate of Blue at the Hancock Boundary Bay eagle nest. The parents have been on the perch but not feeding the eaglet while a fairy has tossed up some fish bites. I have just received word that one of the adults has delivered a good sized fish to Blue. That would be incredible news. Time 1458.

Blue had a good sized crop early in the morning.

Deb Stecyk caught that fish delivery to Blue on video:

Mum at McEuen Park holding in there, too, with her only chick.

Everything seems alright at Minneapolis Landscape Arboretum.

Fledge at Field Farm.

Mum feeding her beautiful osplet at Cowlitz PUD.

So far so good at SandPoint.

There are issues with the Marder’s streaming cam. It looks like there is a single osplet being fed at the nest.

One with a full crop, one self-feeding, and the other with a sunken crop at PSEG’s Oyster Bay Osprey nest.

One of the fledglings on the nest at Patchogue calling for a fish.

At the Newfoundland Power nest of Hope and Beaumont, the chicks are getting their feathers. Hope is shading her kids and feeding them – and, I will knock on wood and not say that word that beings with an ‘f’ and ends with an ‘e’. I don’t want to jinx anything.

And then you can’t see anything.

‘PB’ reports that something knocked “CO18 Moraine baby off the nest. It looked like it tried to snatch her but didn’t, and she went off the nest.” ‘PB’ rewound and discovered what happened: “I rewound back and saw the racoon on left side of nest and moving branches and can see it’s eyes…mom was alerting and baby was looking at it…then the racoon moved over to the baby’s side of nest…baby alerted and then mom flew to chase off racoon but knocked baby off balance and baby fell. You can hear branches being hit. Now I’m worried if CO18 is safe with the racoon around. Wish someone could check but probably won’t be until morning.”

Sadly, this beautiful osplet did not survive the predators on the ground during the night. Oh, my goodness.

Beautiful babies at the Kurzeme Forest nest in Latvia.

Heidi reports on Carthage:

West End Eaglets enjoying themselves!

Geemeff’s Daily Report for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust.

Daily summary Saturday 20th July 2024

A very slow day indeed, with no sighting of either Louis or Dorcha –  the first time no Osprey was seen on Nest Two since Louis returned on 28th March. The weather was very wet today, and not very inviting, so have they left on migration, are they still around, will we see them tomorrow?  Nest One saw some activity today, with visits from little songbirds and a visit from Garry LV0 who arrived with a stick and proceeded to do some nest prep before flying off. Tonight’s forecast is partly cloudy with light winds, but rain is forecast for the rest of the week.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.05.33 (04.14.02); Nest Two 23.24.21 (04.24.56)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/Vkh1bYP9V_U  N1 Sweet little singer visits 05.42.57

https://youtu.be/U2bBn4PpMoM  N1 Garry LV0 brings a stick and does nest prep 18.35.28

https://youtu.be/jN1-tY56wnA  N1 A pair of little birds pay an early evening visit 18.42.42

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

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

Owl lands on Saaksilive nest #3. This is probably the same owl that a week earlier killed beloved osplet Taiko.

Monty and Hartley sure make beautiful and mischevious babies!!!!!!!

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, videos, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Ann-Marie Watson, Geemeff, H, L, MP, PB’, Raptor Persecution UK, Robin Wall Kimmerer, William Dunn, The Center for Conservation Biology, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, BoPH, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, HWF-BBC, Deb Stecyk, Trudi Kron, McEuen Park, MN-LA, Field Farm, Sandpoint Ospreys, Marder’s, PSEG, Newfoundland Power, Moraine Park, LDF, Heidi McGrue, Newstflix Memories, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Finnish Osprey Foundation, SK Hideaways, Osoyoos Ospreys.

Saturday in Bird World

20 July 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

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

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

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

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

Cat Naps.

Maneki-neko.

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

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

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

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

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

Royal Stool.

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

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

It was a fun day!

Just how rare do you think Ospreys are in Poland?

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

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

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

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

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

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

One of the worksheets on this nest includes this information:

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

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

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

Worst breeding year for Kielder Ospreys ever.

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

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

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

‘H’ reports:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Daily summary Friday 19th July 2024

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

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

Today’s videos:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spoonbills have returned to Cambridgeshire after centuries.

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

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

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