Category Archives: climate change and birds

Fledges at Dyfi…Monday in Bird World

15 July 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Latest updates: Eagle took the oldest osplet at Cowlitz Sunday evening while Mum was feeding. Third osplet at Dyfi in Wales has fledged! Eight Omega ships out catching Menhaden in the Bay this morning – fish our ospreys, whales, dolphins and other fish could eat. Talk about sad. This has to stop.

It was another hot day in Winnipeg. It’s not as hot as it has been. Just 26 C. The boulevard needed mowing, and that is now done. More mulch around the path. I finished but need more. Birds fed and watered many times. They still feel the heat but are more active later in the afternoon and evening when the shade covers the entire garden area. Thank you to everyone who wrote a note and said they enjoyed the baby Blue Jay having its bath. Every season, there is one that loves that bird bath. They are a delight. I made another video. It is 5 minutes long. The birds disappeared while I was sitting on the deck. Still, Dyson comes to the tray feeder along with two Blue Jays and a host of sparrows, old and young. Dyson makes two appearances. You can see the tree branch behind the feeder move. The second time, she goes to another feeder to the left inside the lilacs). I love the Blue Jay pounding away at the seed cylinder at the end. Enjoy. (I will figure out how to edit this!

https://videopress.com/v/p7WSRsNv?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

It is 2033, and the thunderstorm has arrived. The wind is causing the trees to blow around like a tornado. The rain is so heavy I cannot see my neighbour’s roof. It is pounding on top of the conservatory, and all ‘The Girls’ are here for security. I can see a clear sky to the west, so this will be short-lived but furious. I hope we do not lose a tree at the back. Hydro and cable, along with wifi, have just gone out. There is a vast black churning cloud moving south of me. Someone is going to have worse conditions. It’s also reminiscent of my younger years living in Oklahoma, which has all its storms and tornadoes. Did I say we have no power or wifi?

On Wednesday, I will review Connie Dennis’s book about Pickles. So please catch the blog on that day. I will also add a listing of adult Osprey books at the end. This year, the chats on some of the streaming cams were ripe with so much disinformation that many of you wrote and said you would never participate in them again. Take the ‘off-season’ once the ospreys that survive migrate and before the eagles have their eggs hatching to educate yourself. We can have a question section and a fact a day about Ospreys to prepare us. Mind you, we will have the ospreys at Port Lincoln, the falcons at Orange and the CBD, and the WBSE to keep our eyes on. So get your questions ready! I know you have a list of really intriguing ones.

Late news: You know I love Karl II and his kids. Waba, the son of the late Karl II and Kaia from the Black Stork Nest in Karula Forest, Estonia has left RU and is now in northern Estonia! Great news. Thanks ‘TU’. I want Waba to establish a nest in Estonia – maybe even his old natal nest – but only if the fish baskets will be replenished so the storklets don’t starve. We know the food supply is low at times. Speaking of low. Waba’s battery is at 1%. I am hoping he will get some sun and it will charge. This is the area where he is foraging.

The heat wave that hit the Pacific NW and caused such grief at our osprey nests is now moving East. ‘PB’ tells me that the Central area of the US where they live will hit 100 F tomorrow. It will continue to be hot at the osprey nests, and Heidi has just advised that Little at Osoyoos had a one-drop ‘ps’. Dehydrated and weak. Poor thing. Wishing for cool weather, a big fish, or a quick death- since no one is prepared to intervene in the lives of these beautiful feathered osplets (not just at Osoyoos). As you know, my position is that humans have ruined their habitat, destroyed the small quantities of fish the birds require (485-525 per nest of 3 chicks and 2 adults per season), and warmed our planet so quickly that the birds that have been here for 61.5 million years cannot adapt fast enough. We owe it to them to care. Where are the folks as brave as the fish fairies at Port Lincoln? Where are they!

Record-breaking-heatwave-shifts-east-as-millions-of-Americans-under-heat-alert-Extreme-heat-The-Download

In Macedonia, people save the storks by taking out their watering hoses and giving them this great gift of life.

This is the translation: “Humanitarian actions in Macedonia.
The situation with the storks in Gevgelisk is alarming at 50+ degrees. They fall to the ground and dehydrate. The human savior is Miki Stanojkovic from Bogorodica Gevgelisk. An appeal to everyone to leave buckets of water everywhere where there is no river, spring or tap.”

At the nest of the Golden Eagle in Estonia (nest 2), Kristel had prey deliveries from Dad late on Saturday! The eagle also finished the remains of the Raccoon Dog and also fed on leg of sibling. The eaglet is doing some great hovering and working their wings. Appears to be strong.

Note: To this eaglet and to the one at Boundary Bay, their dead sibling is no longer alive and a sibling but potential food. These eaglets are hungry. Eagles are carrion eaters (dead animals). Eagles eat practically anything.

On Sunday, Gwenlais and Senni, took to the skies at the Dyfi Osprey Project. Both returned safely to the nest. Now we are wondering if the third chick will fly on the same day!

Iris at Hellgate Canyon tells us it is still hot there just by her posture! Her and Finn are hanging in there. Iris is amazing. She might not have had a chick since 2018 but she hasn’t forgotten all the tricks on feeding them and keeping them cool and alive. She is my heroine.

Those babies of Iris are so cute. Wonder when we are going to get some names for them.

I feel for the Mum at McEuan Park. Her mate disappeared at the end of June and she had four babies to care for and a heat dome. She has one chick left. She cannot shade it all day because she has to try and catch fish to keep them alive. Where are the fish fairies?

There are two osplets at Allins Cove East. They look good. They are approximately 21 days old.

One gorgeous chick on the Allins Cove West nest the middle of June. It has fledged.

Mum at Bridge Golf Course trying to keep her only surviving Bob cool.

All appears alright at Pitkin County in Colorado.

It will be getting even hotter in Charlo Montana. Charlie is delivering huge fish to Lola and the two survivors (the little one sadly fell off the nest doing a ps). Let’s hope they all make it.

Four big ole babies at Field Farm. That nest is really crowded. Really crowded. Jumping and flapping are going to be a challenge and the crib rails are – well, gone on one side. Stay in the nest kiddos!

Only Bob at Dunrovin appears to be doing well. Enjoying a nice fish dinner compliments of Dad Swoop and mum Winnie. (One egg DNH and the other osplet fell off the nest and died).

‘PB’ noticed that some osprey mums do not shade their chicks like Iris. She is absolutely right. Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

At the Snow Lane nest of Beaumont and Hope, the oldest has been doing a wee bit of bonking on the second. We hope it is short-lived. There have been intruders. Hope has done some fishing in past days. Both chicks appear to be doing well. I use that word a lot: ‘appear’. It is challenging to tell from streaming cam images how emaciated the birds can be. I got back to the eaglets Meadow, Sol, and Luna, who appeared to be doing fine but weren’t.

The pair of White Storklets on the Loburg nest were saved and taken to the local stork rescue and rehabilitation centre after their parents, Frieda and Emil, were missing. The storklets were nearing fledge and were ‘very’ hungry and would have perished if help had not arrived. Thank you, Storchenhof Loburg in Mockhem, Germany.

The only storklet of Bety and Bukacek at the Mlade Buky nest in The Czech Republic has fledged.

Storks. Migration. Routes. A study shows that older storks get to their migration destinations faster than youngsters. Migratory behavior of storks changes over the course of their lives.

“Over a period of seven years, the scientists collected and analyzed the flight data of storks on their journeys to North Africa. This allowed them to analyze how migratory behavior changes over the course of an animal’s life. According to the scientists, they found that young storks take their time to explore new places during migration. With increasing age, however, their flights become faster and more efficient. Young storks therefore take routes that take longer, but also cost less energy. Older storks, on the other hand, optimize their migration routes in order to reach their destination more directly. According to the scientists, they consume more energy. However, the total time of their flight is shorter. Storks’ routes are also based on a wealth of experience. The results suggest that the birds use their spatial memory to find shortcuts. The researchers from Lake Constance therefore assume that individual experience is also a key factor in animal migration.”

https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/friedrichshafen/studie-vom-bodensee-stoerche-im-alter-schneller-am-ziel-100.html

The osplets in the Tweed Valley nests in the UK were ringed.

Another Osprey Rescue and some gifts for the rehab centre. Do you have some extra gravel sitting around? Call your local wildlife centre and see if they could use it!

Want another good story? I have posted this one previously, but it is a good reminder to us – again – that our feathered friends care about their families, will help them, and have feelings.

Eagle Parents Spend Year Nursing Chick Who Fell Out of a Tree, Forsaking the New Nesting Season

Inside the aviary where the chicks of Louis and Dorcha are waiting to take their first flight into the Spanish skies.

At the time of this writing, two of CJ7 and Blue 022’s chicks have fledged – Blue 5R0 and Blue 5R1. Both returned to the nest safely and hungry.

Nest #4 in Finland is doing well.

Issues surrounding food and rivalry are surfacing at the Latvian Osprey nest. This will pass as there are giant fish coming to this nest – we hope that continues and we have two fledges. Look at the size of those babies. Bells will toll across Latvia – surely – when these two take to the skies.

‘A’ reports on what is happening at the WBSE nest:

At WBSE, all is going well. Here is yesterday’s ranger report: 

July 13: Another lovely day and the 16th day since the first egg was laid. An early duet and then Lady had a short break when Dad came in at 6:42. Later, a couple of short breaks with Lady calling from Ironbark Roost. Dad brought in a spray of casuarina at 8:02. Around 9am, he came in for a change-over, Lady very reluctant to get up, even as he circled her. She was even a little slow rising when he brought a mullet at 11:11 – but then she got up and fed as Dad sat. There were the usual changes during the day. Late afternoon, with Lady incubating, Dad was not seen at the river – fishing maybe? He returned at 17:17 – empty-taloned. He moved nearby, and both then settled for the night.

What is going on with the New Jersey Osprey? Don’t tell the Omega ships that there is a lot of Menhaden! They might find a way to fish those shores.

Ospreys-Too-soon-for-a-victory-dance-New-Jersey-Conservation-FoundationDownload

A rescue and return to the nest!

Eagle Owls in old castle ruins. Do you know this streaming cam?

Geemeff’s daily report on Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:

Daily summary Sunday 14th July 2024

A very interesting day today! We were given photos taken by LizB of the Bunarkaig chick during ringing yesterday, footage of the translocated chicks in Valencia, including ours, wingercising getting ready for lift off, and Louis brought Dorcha a fish on Nest Two. The first fish he’s brought since 5th July, and only the fifth fish delivery since the official fish count* stopped at 10am on the day the chicks were removed to join the translocation programme on 1st July. Are things getting back to normal? Difficult to say, but he and Dorcha have been spending time together and carrying out courtship rituals including coy-mantling and attempted mating, and today they had what looked like a proper tail-up mating attempt. No action on Nest One except for the busy little spider with its web visible in today’s sunshine. The forecast for tonight is misty with light winds, and dry with sunny intervals tomorrow.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 00.14.09 (03.45.20); Nest Two 00.17.11 (03.54.45) 

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/F2O6Qu9bv2E N2 Dorcha arrives early, Louis arrives a little later but without fish 04.30.14

https://youtu.be/-w9xcZQB1ZA N2 Was that a successful mating attempt by Louis? 05.26.51 (zoom)

https://youtu.be/map5PyIWzDs  Wingercising ready for lift-off: Arkaig chicks in Spain 13 July and WTS tweet 14th July

https://youtu.be/f3L7h59FXrQ  Bunarkaig chick photos from LizB 13 July and WTS tweet 14th July

https://youtu.be/D2j9GKFPeTs  N2 Finally! Louis brings a headless trout 15.31.07

https://youtu.be/dH2QtdR1ffY  N2 Louis & Dorcha spend time together as the sun sets 21.21.29

https://youtu.be/w_VHNBuj340  N2 Louis returns unexpectedly with a stick 22.09.00)

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

People have been wondering about Giliath. Here he is!

‘H’ reports: 7/14 Osoyoos osprey nest:  The osplets are 34, 36, and 37 days old.  Olsen knows where to find fish early in the morning, and they are usually small ones.  At 0602 he dropped off a tiny fish.  Middle got a few bites, but Big was the primary recipient of fish during the 3-minute meal.  At 0651 Olsen brought a slightly larger fish.  Middle beaked Little.  Big and Middle were eating, and each time Little reached for a bite, s/he was beaked by Middle, and at one point was nearly pushed off the nest.  Little did not eat at this 9-minute feeding.  

Middle was once again beaked Little at 1035.  Little was so close to the edge, I thought Little was going to get pushed off the nest.  As Little struggled to grab a hold of sticks and climb back up to regain solid footing, he got a stick caught under his left wing, and could not get free of it.  Little had that stick stuck under his wing for quite some time, and Middle took further advantage of Little in that compromised state by beaking him even more.  Soo eventually seemed to help remove the stick from under Little’s wing.  That whole episode was so heartbreaking to watch.  

Another tiny fish was brought to the nest at 1106.  It was a 3-minute meal, and Little did not eat.  At 1332 Olsen delivered a large whole fish.  I thought for sure that Little would be able to eat at some point during this feeding.  Little was beaked several times by Middle, and was nearly pushed off the nest again.  At one point, Big beaked both Middle and Little.  They are all hungry.  This was a 27-minute feeding…and Little did not eat a single bite of fish.  Olsen double-backed with another large fish at 1422.  Great!  Back-to-back large fish…just what was needed so Little could eat.  Middle beaked Little again.  Big and Middle were set up on opposite sides of Soo, and Little ended up next to Big.  We only had a partial view of Little near the top of the screen.  But, it was apparent that Little was occasionally reaching in front of Big and getting bites from Soo.  Little received at least 14 bites of fish that I was sure of, but possibly ate a few more.  Big soon tired of that arrangement with Little, and started beaking Little intermittently.  This meal lasted 28-minutes, and Little only ate about 14 bites of fish.  The last fish of the day arrived at 1917, and it was a medium sized whole fish.  Little was the first one at the table, and got some bites right away.  Little had eaten 20 bites by 1919, but was then pushed from behind by Big.  Little was able to eat another 4 bites by 1920, but then Soo moved the fish, and fed Big and Middle.  It was a 6-minute feeding, Little ate 24 bites of fish, and he did seem to have a small crop.  Little ate a total of approximately 38 fish bites today.  Weather for Monday: Sunny, light winds, high temp 99F/37C.

7/14 Patuxent osprey nest:  Little slept standing up last night for the first time…Oh, Little is a Big Man!  Little was not able to eat on Saturday because his aggressive older sisters grabbed all the fish.  This morning from 0520 to 0523 Mom fed Little from a leftover goldfish.  That fish was then taken from Mom by one of the sibs.  At 0651 Dad delivered a large headless fish and distracted the sibs, so Mom resumed eating the leftover goldfish.  Little took the goldfish from Mom at 0655, and self-fed until 0731, at which time he abandoned the goldfish, and went over to Mom who now had possession of the new fish.  Mom fed Little until 0802.  Little had a large crop!   There were other fish brought in throughout the day, but Little was not able to eat anything from those fish.  There were some good wingers with leaps by Little today.

7/14 Fortis Exshaw osprey nest:  We are so happy for Louise after the sad season last year.  Harvie is such a wonderful mate and provider for their three offspring, ages 28, 30, and 32 days.  The kids are getting so big!

Thank you, ‘H’. Sadly unless there is a miracle, we are not expecting the third hatch at Osoyoos to make it because of the extreme heat. Send them good wishes. Soo and Olsen are trying — and no one is helping.

‘V’ sent in some images of the Cowlitz baby that was taken. She says, “Look at its wingspan. I wish there was someway to save the other baby”. I know that we all feel the same and wish those grates had held. They are so near fledge.

Thank you for being with me today. Please take care. Send out nests all your good energy. The heat continues, the predators remain, too. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: Geemeff, H, J, PB, TU, V,’ Loodusklender, Cowlitz PUD, The Guardian Humanitarian Macedonia, Eagle Club of Estonia, Dyfi Osprey Project, Montana Osprey Project, McEuan Park, Allin’s Cove East and West, Bridge Golf, Pitkin County, Charlo Montana, Field Farm, Dunrovin Ranch, MN-LA, Newfoundland Power, Lindsay Wildlife, Eagle Owl Cam, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, PLO, Osoyoos, Patuxent River Park, Fortis Exshaw, Storchenneste, Mlade Buky, swr.de, Tweed Valley Osprey Project, Raptor Centre of Tampa Bay, Good News Network, Woodland Trust Scotland, BoPH, Finnish Osprey Foundation, LDF, BSE, and New Jersey Conservation.

Iris the Swamp Cooler…Thursday in Bird World

11 July 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

The heat is still around. It was 29 degrees, which is cool compared to many places. I saw an idea that popped up on one of the FB pages. It was to freeze water in containers, then remove the solid ice and put it in your bird bath to keep the water cool. I am going to do this tonight!

Today was busy despite the heat. First was a walk at the zoo. The Polar Bears were ‘hot’. They were off in a corner where there was a bit of a breeze and shade, then a swim.

At home, we are making certain that there is always water and food. The birds and animals are coming out mostly in the early morning and later in the afternoon and evening until about 2100.

Mr Crow and all the family have been busy eating apple pieces along with his cheesy dogs and peanuts.

Washing peanuts in the water.

The baby squirrels, three of them, are in and out of the garden with their parents. They love those nut cylinders.

On Wednesdays, we have our local farmer’s market. It is now well-attended. Lots of local honey, veggies, ice cream, some great food, flowers, music, and neighbours. We have several ice cream companies. Fete is one of them. Delicious on a 29 C day.

The Girls have been busy chasing a fly that managed, sadly, to get itself in the house. They stalked, ran, jumped, and nearly broke their necks trying to catch it.

Hope thought she could stare it down.

Missey did, too!

Hugo Yugo (poor thing needs her eye cleaned) flew everywhere. She just about knocked everything off of anything it could be on. But the fly got away!

Calico thought they were all idiots running all over the place for a fly!

This morning the baby Cowbird landed on the sill of the conservatory and they all went nuts – including Calico. Good thing this lot will never be outside by the feeders.

Thank you to everyone that sent me a joke or a photograph to make me smile in the midst of all the tragedy lately. I really do appreciate it. I don’t know what I would have done this year withot these beautiful girls and all your friendship. So far there has not been a death on Wednesday that I am aware. Sadly there could be some today. We will see.

A smile before we move on. The magic of watching birds fledge!

Country-diary-A-young-kestrel-wings-its-way-into-the-world-Birds-The-GuardianDownload

Heat is on everyone’s mind and how it is impacting people of the world – as well as our dear wildlife

I wonder why more of the females do not do this? Swamp Cooling.

Finn delivers.

Cornell Lab posted a video showing Iris keeping her chicks cool.

‘H’ sends us reports: 7/10 Osoyoos osprey nest:  It was predicted to be a very hot and sunny day.  Olsen was at work bright and early, and delivered his first fish at 0448.  Little was beaked, but still managed to eat 32 bites of fish during this 13-minute meal.  Olsen brought a medium sized fish at 0522.  There was not a lot of aggression, but Little never found a good spot to be able to access Mom’s beak, so s/he did not eat at this 15-minute meal.  The next fish at 0940 was very small, and it only took Soo about 4 minutes to feed.  Little and Middle ate on opposite sides of Mom, until Big beaked Little.  Little ate 13 bites of fish.  More than 8 hours passed before the next fish arrived at the nest, and up to this point, Little had only eaten about 45 bites of fish.  My weather source indicated the Osoyoos temperature at 1500 was 104F/40C.  At 1800 Olsen delivered a very large whole fish.  I watched for nine minutes, and our view of the feeding was partially blocked, but there did not appear to be any beaking.  Little was behind the pack however, as the real estate near Soo’s beak was very limited.  Due to the size of the fish, I wasn’t too worried, knowing that Little would eventually get its chance to eat after Big was sated.  My time zone is three hours later, and I was tired, so I went to bed knowing that I could resume viewing the feeding early in the morning.  Well, I was wrong.  When I went to watch that meal, I found that the live stream had gone offline again.  Ahh…but fortunately, ‘A-M’ had posted in the Facebook group:  “Sleep well tonight little ones, all have full crops after nearly an hour long feeding.  Mum got lots too, kudos to Dad for being a great provider in the sweltering heat.”  Appreciate the update, ‘A-M’.   Weather for 7/11:  Sunny with slightly cooler temperatures, high 98F/37C, winds 15-22.

7/10 Patuxent River Park osprey nest:  We were thrilled to see the newest fledgling, when Chick #1 returned to the nest at 0759 after fledging yesterday morning.  Dad brought a few massive fish to the nest and everyone ate very well.  It was a good day!

7/10 Forsythe osprey nest:  At 50 days of age, Larry performed his highest hovers to date.  Larry is looking good to fledge in a day or so.


7/10 Fortis Exshaw osprey nest:  The 24, 26, and 28-day-old osplets are doing quite well, and they are getting big!

Thanks, ‘H’.

I will be running through the Osprey nests again to check how our families are doing in the heat:

Clark PUD: At least several fish have come to the nest but the position of the camera doesn’t always catch their size. Hoping that enough food and hydration are coming in the hot days.

Charlo Montana: Another really hot day for Lola and the trio. Charlie has been bringing in fish. Thank you, Charlie!

McEuan Park: Hot and hotter. There are two chicks surviving. This nest really needs a lot of fish and a lot of positive wishes.

Mum left the nest and came in with a fish. Big ate. Middle is very submissive and needs to eat. Almost falling off the nest to get away from Big despite being ravenous.

Is the male at this nest missing? Are you watching this nest and can you let us know. Thank you.

Two moved up. Is there any fish left? Fish taken off nest by parent.

No fish for Two. Crop totally shrunken, head drooping. So sad. This was an original nest of four chicks. I just wonder if the deaths have been mitigated by no male, the heat and then, of course, no fish???

No sign of the male again. Mum off nest probably trying to fish. Poor babies.

Seaside: Bruce is delivering some big headless fish to Naha and the two osplets.

Pitkin County: The nest looks good. Weather is much different than in the Pacific NW.

More fish. Such beautiful babies on this nest at Pitkin County.

Boulder: Hot. Mum trying to keep Only Bob cool. Notice the difference in heat in Boulder than in Pitkin County.

Sandpoint: Keke doing a great job keeping River cool while Keo continues to bring in the fish. Mum and baby have a nice crop.

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum: Dad is bringing in the fish and everything seems to be alright.

Bridge Golf Course: Cooler there and very windy. Mum and Only Surviving Osplet appear to be fine.

Snow Lane, Newfoundland. I have tears in my eyes for this nest. Beaumont has been hauling in the fish, and Hope has fed her chicks this year. The oldest is getting into the Reptilian phase, and if you look carefully, so is the youngest. I want the weather and fishing to stay good for Dad. If Hope continues, we could have two chicks fledge from this nest. I am afraid to get hopeful.

Steelscape: Oldest is self feeding. Hope Mum steps in so all get some fish. The heat is much less later in the day!

Cowlitz: ‘PB’ reports that Little is continually attacked on the nest by the older sibling. So far it has had about 66 bites of fish on Wednesday. This nest is in a very hot area and this baby needs more fish to survive during this long heat dome.

Cowlitz PUD posted a video of one of the feedings on Wednesday. They really care about their ospreys. They put up the metal fish grates to protect them and they know that there is competition to steal their fish from the local eagles.

‘PB’ reports that Little had no fish this morning.

Geemeff reports for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:

Daily summary Wednesday 10th July 2024

Today was quite a contrast to yesterday with all its action going between the two nests. Instead we had Louis making just the one early appearance on Nest Two, and no sighting of Dorcha, Garry LV0, Affric or the dark female, just a banditry of Coal Tits making a couple of brief visits to Nest One. We did however get the news that our two chicks travelled safely over to Spain today, precious cargo entrusted to Heathrow Animal Control and then on to their new home. It’s very reassuring to hear that in just nine days, they’ve gained half their body weight again, going from 1.1kg on the 1st to 1.5 kg today, 10th. We wish them good luck and look forward to hearing more news in due course. Weather was reasonably settled, and the forecast is a dry night tonight with light cloud and light winds, and more of the same tomorrow.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.35.23 (03.49.41); Nest Two 23.39.33 (03.55.36)

Today’s videos plus a late one from last night:

https://youtu.be/SRSKU62lfrE N2 Colourful sunset seen from Nest Two last night 22.00 (time lapse)

https://youtu.be/HOdzu0e6hQc N2 Skydancing is heard nearby then Louis lands on the nest 05.50.00

https://youtu.be/X7KHs2yg6EI  N1 A banditry of Coal Tits flitting around, no sign of any big birds 15.33.30

Bonus watch – bird stopped play at Wimbledon:

Bonus read – a good summation of the soap opera that is the Ospreys of Loch Arkaig:

https://12ft.io/https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13612473/hapless-husband-nest-Scottish-osprey-soap-opera-Louis-dorcha-chicks-bird-camera.html

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

It is a nest full of four apparently healthy osplets at Poole Harbour. Blue 022 and CJ7 will be one of only a couple of nests on streaming cams to successfully fledge four this year. What a feat!

The information on the Foulshaw Moss ringing of the chicks for 2024.

Ringing-2024-Cumbria-Wildlife-TrustDownload

In readying for the 2024-25 Osprey season in South Australia, Port Lincoln has set up a camera at Tumby Island for Marrum and Partner. Fingers crossed!

It is so wonderful when all of us, no matter what we do, consider the wildlife. Well done Hungarian farmers? Living in a farming province of Canada, this would be very helpful.

Mum delivered a Raccoon Dog pup to the surviving Golden Eaglet at the Estonian nest #2.

‘TU’ reports that the two Eastern Imperial Eaglets in RU were ringed today.

Two healthy osplets on the osprey nest in Latvia.

It looks like there are still only two little Dorsett Hobbys. I could be wrong.

Congratulations to the Roy Dennis Foundation and the Poole Harbour Ospreys. It is the 7th anniversary of the translocation project and just look – a nest of four osplets doing very well. Everyone has to be delighted.

Here are Louis and Dorcha’s two osplets in their new nest in Scotland. I am glad they were taken for the project. As you will undoubtedly know by reading all of Geemeff’s reports and seeing their videos, Louis continues to ‘not be himself’. No one is certain what is wrong but please send him good wishes along with all of our raptors under the heat dome and these two precious little ones.

More information: “The two young ospreys are settling in well to their new surroundings in Spain. They have been given Spanish rings which are yellow in colour. The dominant bird is 1JW. The submissive one is 1JR. The aviary contains nests made from woven sticks and foliage which the birds sit in together just as they did at Loch Arkaig. They can see the surrounding area and when the time comes to fledge the sides of the aviary will be opened up to let them come and go as they please. Food will continue to be provided in the aviary nest until they migrate which will likely be in August or early September. We hope to have some images to share today at some point. These will be posted on Woodland Trust Scotland’s twitter and facebook accounts. We will alert you here once they are up.”

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, announcements, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, PB, TU’, The Guardian, Montana Osprey Cams, Cornell Bird Lab, Clark PUD, Charlo Montana, Weather Network, McEuan Park, Seaside Ospreys, Pitkin County, Boulder County, Sandpoint, MN Landscape Arboretum, Bridge Golf Course, Newfoundland Power, Steelscape, Cowlitz PUD, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, BoPH, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Friends of Osprey Sth Aus, David Attenborough Fans, Eagle Club of Estonia, Imperial Eagles RU Cam, LDF, Osoyoos, Patuxent River Park, Forsythe Ospreys, Fortis Exshaw, Dorsett Hobby Cam, and The Woodland Trust.

Golden Eaglet kills Sibling, Darling catches a fish, Blue survives another day…Sunday in Bird World

7 July 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Oh, goodness. The operative word in parts of North America is ‘hot’. It is not as hot as it has been in Winnipeg – say last summer when we reached 38 degrees C and that might still happen – but, it is ‘hot’ and humid. The garden feels like you are inside a greenhouse. ‘The Boyfriend’, Calico’s tuxedo cat friend with whom she used to visit the garden last summer, slept in the shade of the lilacs while we were planting. We voted, and he got a big tin of sardines for his supper—poor thing. I wish he would stay in the garden. There is a fantastic place for him to sleep, lots of water, and lots of food. Much to my dismay, he can catch a sparrow if he wants. Oddly, he never bothers the birds at the feeders. It was Calico that did!!!!!!!!

Saturday morning, Baby Hope and Calico rested on the tiles in the conservatory, watching a host of baby birds trying to eat seed and Virginia Creepers. One of those babies was a Brown-headed Cowbird. You might recall I mentioned that the Cowbirds had visited the garden 4-6 weeks ago. Well, they snuck at least one of their eggs into the nest of either a sparrow or a European Starling. Those parents fed that baby Cowbird while its parents were off having a holiday! It is approximately three times the size of the baby sparrows. I do hope to get some good photographs of them.

Playing with the phone!

Everyone is vying for a chance to get some cheesy dogs on Saturday evening. There are 9 Blue Jays and 6 European Starlings, a handful of Grackles and 7 Crows at the buffet. The squirrels are over in the lilacs going after peanuts, and a little woodpecker was here eating suet. Oh, they are all so happy. Their songs are beautiful and loud.

We went for a walk at the nature centre and sat on a bench overlooking one of the ponds in the shade. It was idyllic. The slight breeze was cool.

After, I did something I shouldn’t have. We returned to the greenhouse to search for Allium, more tomatoes, and another Hosta. We came home with those, along with a tray of Persian Peppers (they are super sweet) and eggplants, celery, some colourful Milkweed and daisies, and some Jalapeno pepper plants. Almost the makings for salsa! Does anyone have a favourite homemade salsa recipe they would like to share? The greenhouse is closing tomorrow and they were practically giving the plants away today. As I drove away, I wondered what they do with the plants that are left. I hope they give them to people who might not otherwise have the opportunity to enjoy some fresh flowers or veggies.

We are always looking for real-life examples to demonstrate that human behaviour has a significant impact on our raptor families. Here is Terri from FORE, who tells us how she helped protect one Osprey family that has had problems in the past with fireworks. Please read! And thanks, ‘J’, for sending this to us! Thank you, Terri, for making sure this family was safe. You are our hero.

Friends of the Redding Eagles-FORE

Every year on the 4th of July, I am always deeply concerned for the Osprey family who just happen to nest directly across the river from the Redding Freedom Festival where the fireworks display occurs. Last year, 2 of the 3 chicks bailed out of the nest sometime on the 4th of July & were never seen again. 🙁 Somehow, 1 osprey chick did survive the “night of terror” and my friend followed that one for quite a while.

My dear friend and our old mutual friend, “Ospreyman Jim”, R.I.P. have spent many hours watching this beautiful raptor family. Ospreyman Jim named this pair “Ozzie & Harriet” and over the years “Eaglewoman” & “Ospreyman” had a lot of fun joking about who was the better raptor, eagles or ospreys? Sorry Jim, but you know where I stand on that one!🤣

But, honestly I love all raptors including ospreys & all wildlife & I have deep concerns going forward for all of them. I am committed to do whatever I can do to help them & give them a voice, as are all of my Wildlife Warrior friends out there!

So, on this 4th of July, my friend & I worked with our Raptor Rescue Angel Marily Woodhouse from Defiance Canyon Raptor Rescue to come up with a plan to do what we could do to help this beloved Osprey Family.

My friend & I met down at the Osprey Nest Area at 9:30pm, which was a complete Zoo on the 4th of July! This is a very popular spot to watch the Redding firework display since it is literally right across the river from it! We had scoped out a spot ahead of time where, using my binoculars, I could keep an eye on the nest & watch to see if any of the chicks bailed out during the fireworks. Then, we found a trail that we could easily go down to the area under the nest if any of the chicks bailed. We brought all of the supplies we needed to capture them, if we could reach them, and then we planned to meet Marily so she could take them to her Raptor Rehab Center up in Manton. (My only fear was they might end up in the river where I believe last year’s 2 chicks ended up & then we wouldn’t be able to reach them.) But, we figured we needed to take a shot because there was also a chance they could land down below the nest in the blackberry bushes or in a spot where we could reach them.

Thankfully, my friend advised me ahead of time to bring ear plugs & I honestly don’t think I would’ve made it without those! I have extremely sensitive hearing along with being a very sensitive person, so this was not somewhere I really wanted to be! It was truly one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done! And I’ve had to do some really difficult things lately as you all know. 😢Those 20 minutes of horror felt like it went on forever! Watching those poor ospreys up there in the nest trying to comprehend what in the world was happening to them & to their peaceful, quiet habitat was absolutely torturous for me. 🙁 It sounded like they were being shot at with a shotgun repeatedly for 20 minutes! 

Mama Harriet stayed in the nest with the 3 chicks the whole time, but at one point when the fireworks first started, she began flapping her wings & hovered above the nest for a second before she landed back in there with her babes. I was so glad she did!

I thought for sure they were going to all bail out, because if I had been up in that nest I know I would have! There were so many extremely loud concussive blasts this year, and the last few minutes were filled with them! And it is so close to the Osprey Nest which is right across from the Redding Rodeo Grounds. 

We were so relieved when it finally ended at 10:20pm and none of the chicks had bailed out!!! I was so glad it was over & I know Harriet & her chicks were, too! 

My friend went down the next morning at 6:30am to check on the Osprey family & all 3 chicks were in the nest with their sweet Mama Harriet. He said Harriet stayed in there the whole time he was there & I’m sure it was going to take her a while before she felt safe enough to leave her babies alone after what had happened there the night before! Good ‘ole Ozzie brought in 2 fish for the kiddos while my friend was there, so that was a great sign & they need all of the hydration they can get right now with these ridiculously high temperatures we’ve had! It reached 117 degrees yesterday & expecting 119 degrees today! What wildlife can survive these temperatures?!? These 3 chicks are due to fledge around July 12th so they still have a ways to go so I’d ask that you please keep them in your thoughts this next week & hopefully they will make it!

I know part of why this is so upsetting to me is partly because I’m older & wiser now. I still remember when I was younger I really enjoyed watching firework displays with my family & friends & never even considered how it affected wildlife! But, it’s also because now I am so lucky to spend so much time observing our Redding Eagles & many other Eagles & wildlife on a daily basis. I’ve grown to love them & care for them so deeply as if they are members of my own family. So, watching this osprey family having to endure 20 minutes of pure terror felt so wrong to me? It almost made me physically sick to my stomach. 😢I’m sure It didn’t help that I’m still traumatized from what happened or our Luna & Sol 😢

Aren’t there any protections for these nesting Ospreys? I know they are protected by The Migratory Bird Act & several Federal Laws just like Bald Eagles are? According to those laws, you are not allowed to disturb an active raptor nest? So, I’m not sure how this has been allowed to happen each year? Because I can tell you, it was definitely disturbing to this Osprey Family!

So, I’m not trying to be controversial, but I simply would like to start a conversation about what can be done? Is there anything Fish & Wildlife can do? (I will be speaking to them about this & I will let you know what they say.) Would the City ever consider changing the location? I know this has been happening at this location for many years & I’m sure there are good reasons for it being there. Would the City consider using an alternative to fireworks? As many of you know, we live in a high fire danger area & this really seems to be a potential recipe for disaster? Anything we can do as a City to prevent future wildfires is a positive step in my book! I don’t see things getting better as far as our fire danger goes…

Several other Cities are beginning to use drones instead of fireworks, is that something the City of Redding & the McConnell Foundation who pays for the event would consider doing? Raptors don’t like drones, but as long as they are not flying immediately above the Osprey Nest I think they would tolerate drones since it would be happening at 10pm when it is dark & they are not active or flying around. So, that might be a good alternative to consider?

I honestly don’t want to spoil the fun for anyone! But, if we could put our heads together & try to find something that is still awesome & enjoyable for us humans to watch, but at the same time doesn’t disturb wildlife, that would be a win-win for all of us! Not to mention our own dogs & cats!

Here’s an article with more information about other Cities who are now using Drones instead of Fireworks & it looks really cool! I know change is hard for all of us humans, but maybe it is time for us to start thinking outside the box & try something new?!? We are the ones who are supposed to be taking care of the wildlife on our Planet so this would be a great start!

~Terri

If you are concerned about Blue at the Hancock Boundary Bay nest, things looked alright on Saturday. Blue had an early breakfast. Mum was in the nest during the night. It was a nice chunk of ‘something’, and I bet it is enough to keep Blue alive for another day.

Look at Blue. He looks good – I can’t tell if that is a wing or a huge crop. That shade that David Hancock designed for the eagles is really important. It is nice that someone is thinking about their welfare in times of extreme heat.

The Estonian Golden Eagle nest has lost its second chick. The oldest killed it during the past day. This has been expected since the eldest was not successful when the second chick was quite small. The parents withhold food, waiting and watching. Once the second is killed they bring in food.

The Dorset Hobbys welcomed their first hatch on Saturday! No doubt there could be more by the time you read this post.

At Cal Falcons, Sol wants back in the nest.

Mary Cheadle posted a compilation video from 2018. It was the only other year the Loch Arkaig nest did not fledge chicks. The Pine Martens took the eggs of Louis and Aila.

It was windy in Newfoundland on Saturday. Even so, Beaumont continued to provide nice fish for the family. Hope is doing better than she has in previous years feeding their babies—I just wish she would focus more on making sure that they get lots. That little one is feisty and figured out how to get around the big sib for some nice bites at one meal.

Field Farm is still doing great. The four are magnificent. What a nest! It should put a smile on all our faces when others fail.

Clark PUD is in the centre of the heat in the Pacific NW. Dad brought in a small fish for Mum and Only Bob mid-morning on Saturday. Both ate! ‘PB’ reports a large fish coming in later for the family. Way to go Dad!

The Port of Ridgefield cam keeps going offline. Let me know if you happen to catch in on and see how Only Bob is doing. Thanks!

Need a Jackie and Shadow ‘stick fix’? I sure did!

It sounds like Eclipse is wanting some prey, Annie and Archie. No one is reponding..ah.

Little Bob at Blackbush has been brow beaten during a dreary day on the nest. Sometimes it was difficult to see if it got any fish, but it was clear in this feeding that once Big was satisfied, then Middle, Little could eat. Relief.

Things look alright for Only Bob at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum nest.

Geemeff sends us her Daily Summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:

Daily summary Saturday 6th July 2024

Dorcha visited the nest several times today and spent long periods fish-calling, but to no avail. Louis didn’t appear on nest cam although the off-nest reports from LizB showed he was in the area for long periods of time but chose not to respond to Dorcha. He has brought four fish to the nest for her since the chicks were removed on 1st July, perhaps he’ll arrive on the nest with one tomorrow, or possibly give it to her on her favourite perch tree. No activity at Nest One today, no sign of Garry LV0 and the only other nest visitors were a pair of Hoodies pecking around Nest Two without finding any scraps. The weather was much more settled, none of the thunder showers materialised, and tonight’s forecast is partly cloudy with light winds, and some sunshine with a few showers tomorrow. 

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.39.42 (03.29.32); Nest Two 23.27.44 (03.33.56)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/3dWj2hvSzvE N2 Dorcha arrives early, fish-calling, but gets no response 06.03.41

https://youtu.be/jE9WeBXZE4g N2 Dorcha returns at midday but still no Louis 13.22.34

https://youtu.be/fKAlAJUJQ0Y N2 Dyson & Henry Hoodie arrive but there aren’t any scraps for them 20.31.31

https://youtu.be/yCVDmwY87Ic N2 Dorcha pays a late evening visit and calls to no avail 22.14.25

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

The trio at Mashpee NWR in Massachusetts are doing so very, very well. Fledges coming!

The heat that is hitting the Pacific Northwest nests will be moving through and ‘PB’ sent me information that shows that the Missoula nest of Iris and Finnegan will have 101 F temperatures in the coming week. This will hit other nests in Montana. Send them good wishes

.The third hatch at the Ferguson Museum Osprey nest has died of starvation. Sadly, we may see quite a few more before next weekend. This season began with great saddness at many of the eagle nests and continues with the ospreys and even the hawks as Angel and Tom did not, as far as we know, have a clutch this season.

Sandpoint had an early fish and a late one. Both small but Mum and Only Bob had some fish. Thanks, Dad.

The nest is in Sandpoint, Idaho. The weather for the coming week at Sandpoint:

This Osprey breeding season the weather is having a huge impact on nest success worldwide. The chart below is from the eggs that we are monitoring. Those numbers will change by the time that all have migrated but weather is significant.

Two beautiful fledglings at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science on their nest wishing for a fish.

Marilyn feeding her two beautiful osplets at Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home. The third hatch died of siblicide/starvation on 31 May.

At the BUNDstiftung Goitzsche-Wildnis, the nest is really full of osplets with flapping wings! They were ringed on the 25th of June and fledgling is expected any moment!

At the Great Bay nest in Greenland, those osplets are big, appear to be healthy and well, they are just beautiful. Mum feeds, some want to feed themselves.

The Only Bob at Marder’s Osprey nest on Long Island is doing nicely. The other two eggs did not hatch. This sweet baby is 28 days old today.

‘H’ sends in her wonderful reports:

7/6 Osoyoos osprey nest:  It is quite warm in Osoyoos, and predicted to be even hotter in the next few days.  Osoyoos reached 35C/95F at 17:00.  There were only three fish brought to the nest today.  The first fish at 0841 was tiny and only provided for a 4-minute meal.  Little only ate a couple of bites.  The next fish at 1017 was large.  There was some initial beaking of Little and intimidation of Middle by Big.  Middle started to eat at 1023, and by 1028 Big moved away from Soo.  At 1030 Little had a 6-minute private feeding.  Soon, the siblings were all eating side-by-side.  Little also ate solo for another eight minutes at 1049.  The meal lasted for 50 minutes, until 1108.  The next fish was delivered 9.5 hours later.  The kids had spent all day trying to stay in the shade of ‘Mombrella’.  At 2041 Olsen delivered a medium sized headless fish.  Middle beaked Little, and Big beaked both Middle and Little, so Soo fed Big.  Middle was allowed to join in the meal at 2052.  Little grabbed a quick bite at 2056, so Big tried to beak Little, but missed and beaked Middle instead.  So, both Middle and Little were out of the feeding, and Middle beaked Little.  At 2059 Middle was back at the table and Big moved away.  Little arrived, but there was hardly any fish left.  Little ate a total of 8 bites of fish and the tail at this feeding.  The meal lasted 20 minutes.  None of this was unexpected.  We knew that Olsen was going to have a difficult time finding fish to catch in this heat.  And, we knew that the previously peaceful nest might become unsettled.  On 7/7, the temperature is predicted to reach 100 F/ 38C, sunny with light winds.

7/6 Audubon Boathouse osprey nest: Things are going well for these ospreys that live on top of a boat house.  Harbor is 22 days old, and Gray is 18 days.  Despite being four days apart in age, the siblings seem to be getting along well.  

7/6 Forsythe osprey nest:  46-day-old Larry is doing well.  Despite the heat, Oscar and Opal have been able to provide fish for their only remaining osplet out of four.  Larry was achieving some lift while wingersizing today.  All hopes are for Larry to successfully fledge, in order to salvage some joy for this nest that has been incredibly sad this season.

7/6 Captiva osprey nest:  Ding did not eat on 7/5, and had made several unsuccessful attempts to catch a fish by diving from the nest platform.  This morning, Ding started out her day by resuming her fishing attempts.  At 10:26, we saw her dive from the right perch into the water below.  She quickly exited the water, circled around and landed back on the nest with a fish!  Ding had caught a needlefish.  Congratulations, Ding!  How wonderful it was that we got to see Ding catch her first fish.  We savored every bite of that needlefish right along with Ding.  After her meal, Ding resumed her fishing, making multiple attempts.  Later in the afternoon, Edie delivered a meaty partial tilapia for Ding.  Even though her catch-to-attempts ratio will be very low at first, we are all so relieved to know that Ding may be able to provide for herself, so that she doesn’t have to rely on her parents.  We have been told not to expect a report on Darling from CROW until Monday at the earliest.

7/6 Fortis Exshaw osprey nest:  Louise, Harvie, and their 21, 23, and 25-day-old youngsters continue to do well.  Harvie is a great provider, and there has been no significant aggression among the siblings.

‘A’ reports:

The weather in southeastern Australia is due to start warming up but only to be replaced by a lot of rain. Poor Lady and Dad are incubating in this weather, and obviously, the need to keep the eggs dry is paramount. It is now 9pm and here is today’s ranger report from WBSE:

July 7: Lady incubated all night, and was then relieved by Dad shortly after 7am. All day, she was reluctant to get off the eggs when he returned to the nest, whereas he backs straight off. Both have brought in green leaves several times, though no food. Late in the afternoon, Lady was whining for food when Dad turned up, but no delivery. She spent longer today on the eggs than he did – over 7 hours. As usual, the eggs were uncovered only very briefly. At dark, Dad settled early, as did Lady – though she was hungry. The picture shows Lady, reluctant to move off the eggs.

At Orange, it is also 9pm, Xavier is currently perched on the ledge of the scrape (Diamond is perched on the microwave), which is unusual – They are each using the other’s normal sleeping place tonight for some reason. Dear Xavier. Such an adorable little falcon. He has been mating with Diamond, bringing her food gifts and generally bonding. These two still have a way to go until egg-laying time (as I mentioned, she laid her first egg on 26 August both last year and also the year before). 

Finally, at Taiaroa Head, the chicks are becoming friends again after the altercation that resulted from TFT’s attempt to take over TF chick’s nest, an advance that was not well-received. TF has reorganised his garden and resumed his throne after the small disagreement. Both chicks are well, growing fast, and starting to look like albatrosses instead of giant cotton balls. Those wingspans are looking impressive, reminding us that we are approaching the age where they will start to try feeling the sensation of wind beneath their wings. Bittersweet, like all fledges, but in this case, even more so, because it will be so very long (if at all) until we see them land back near their natal nest. It astounds me that after all those tens of thousands of kms and all that time at sea, each of them has somehow imprinted the place from which they fledge, returning there for their first forays into socialising and the task of finding a mate. It is astounding. 

Finn brought one of his huge whitefish in about 18:57 but took it away again (luckily everyone already had smallish to medium crops) and didn’t return it until after 19:43, by which stage Finn had a very large crop. Only after he had eaten for nearly an hour did the chicks get fed. This is not a habit I like. Surely, he can wait for the chicks to eat before he has to spend an hour stuffing his face. It is the one thing that really annoys me about him. Why bring it in, give it to Iris, and then wrestle it back from her almost immediately? If there was sibling aggression on this nest, that is exactly the sort of behaviour likely to trigger it. 

But fortunately, that is not happening on this nest and the chicks are well fed and well behaved enough for it not to be creating a problem. Hopefully, Finn will learn not to do this, especially when the osplets are young. He is still spending all night, every night, on the perch, guarding his family, and if the intruder landing on the nest the other day is anything to go by, he has a reason to be wary. He is doing a wonderful job, despite my nit-picking at his delivery routine. He is bringing a lot of fish to this nest and he is looking after both Iris and their chicks. You know how impressed I am by him. 

‘PB’ reports that fish have come in to Cowlitz and Steelscape ahead of today’s high heat and that all ate including Little at Cowlitz who had about 100 bites. This is wonderful.

And last, a run away yacht crashed into the Port Lincoln Osprey nest barge! Thanks to Bart M and Port Lincoln was notified immediately. So glad no eggs or chicks on that nest.

Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care of yourself. Remember to drink lots and lots of water and to eat some watermelon – low in calories and it is 91% water! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, questions, videos, announcements, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, FORE, Eagle Club of Estonia, HWF-BBC Central, SK Hideaways, Mary Cheadle, Newfoundland Power, Field Farm, Clark PUD, Blackbush Ospreys, MN Landscape Arboretum, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Mashpee NWR, The Weather Network, Ferguson Museum, Sandpoint Ospreys, International Osprey Data Project, VIMS, Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home, Goitzsche-Wildnis, Great Bay Ospreys, Marder’s, Osoyoos, Audubon Boat House, Forsythe, Window to Wildlife, Fortis Exshaw, Sea Eagle Cam, Orange Falcons, Royal Albatross Colony, Lady Hawk, Montana Osprey Project, and Port Lincoln.

Thursday in Bird World

4 July 2024

Good Morning,

Happy 4th of July to all of those that are celebrating. I hope that you have a lovely non-fireworks non-balloon day full of fun and laughter with friends and family.

I want to start with a wonderful article about the work that Port Lincoln is doing to save the Osprey. Thanks so much from our friends in Tasmania, BLP, for sending this in. Today we need a good news story to brighten a little saddness.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-02/osprey-endangered-birds-artificial-platforms-installed-nests-sa/104042676?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

There are several nests in trouble and we need to watch them closely. One does not have rewind and that is McEuan Park in Idaho. If this is a nest that you regularly watch, we would very much appreciate receiving information on the behaviour of the chicks towards Little Mini, the fourth hatch, who appears to have injuries on its neck today. If you could let us know what you see, we would appreciate it. Date, time, and description of what happened would be helpful along with a screen capture if you are able. Thank you so much.

Regarding McEuan: There is a good amount of food coming to the nest and one of the older siblings did a tremendous ‘ps’ while I was watching. I was lucky to catch this. The Big one picks on Little Mini as does Little. This nest feels very unstable.

Gosh, I wish I could send some of our cool weather and rain to so many of you! Another day. Another hot chocolate instead of an iced tea or lemonade. Birds are ravenous – to stay warm. We are feeding them now in the morning and again around 1630. The garden is full of birds from morning to night. They are Grackles, Starlings, Crows, Blue Jays, and about six different species of Sparrow along with some Finches. It is brilliant. You can hear them singing more than half a block away.

Late news on Wednesday comes from Cal Falcons where Nox has been rescued and taken to rehab. This is one of Annie and Archie’s chicks.

This is Nox loafing on the ledge of The Campanile a few days ago. What a cutie. We wish you a quick recovery, Nox.

The news coming from the rehabbers and rescue workers in the US is that the ospreys and eaglets they are helping are not getting enough food – they come into care emaciated! You will continue to hear me call for interventions to provide fish or other prey during distressing times such as what The Woodland Trust did at Loch Arkaig or Port Lincoln at the barge nest of Mum and Dad. It is time to come to terms with the overfishing of Menhaden in the NE US, warming waters and a heating planet that means the fish go deep. It is also time to stop the pesticides and harmful farming methods that cause us not to have the small mammals that so many raptors depend on for food. Ospreys fish off the surface, not lower than a metre. If the weather is too warm, the fish dive. The ospreys are hungry (so are the eagles). They need us to advocate for them.

Right now there are a number of nests that are struggling. ‘MP’ has just alerted me to another eagle nest with two chicks that have had little food for several days. They join others we are monitoring including the Golden Eaglets in Estonia, Cowlitz, Osoyoos, Steelscape – places where some or all are not getting enough calories in a day to survive and, of course, Ding and Darling at Captiva, where Jack and Edie have simply vanished. Kids are starving and fighting. Heidi will comment later. McEuan Park has now joined this list. ‘H’ noticed Mini with a red neck and submissive and because there is no rewind on the camera and it is difficult to sit and wait for a feeding with so many other nests, we are unclear but it appears that Big and Little are both pecking and bonking Mini. It might not be alive in a couple of days. Like all the other nests, we feel helpless because there is no secure route to provide food and assistance.

Everybody is wondering what will happen to the two chicks of Louis and Dorcha who are in the Spanish translocation project run by the Roy Dennis Foundation. Here are two videos (there is an ad in the middle so keep going) that show you what happened in Scotland and then what happens in Spain. This will be very similar to what the Loch Arkaig chicks will undergo for the 2024 translocation. Very educational!

Another TV interview about the removal of Louis and Dorcha’s chicks.

On Wednesday a rainbow appeared over the Loch Arkaig nest and it wasn’t long til Louis appeared working on the nest. What a wonderful feeling. I hope he is doing much better.

The Loch Arkaig lads made The Telegraph.

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

Daily summary Wednesday 3rd July 2024

Today was much calmer than yesterday in terms of bird behaviour – Garry LV0 paid an early morning visit to Nest One, chattering away to himself, but didn’t come over to Nest Two, so Dorcha and Louis didn’t have to do much alarm calling. The Hoodies were in evidence again, but not when the big birds were on the nest. Dorcha arrived on the nest in time to meet Louis bringing a good sized headless fish – she left with it and he  stayed to do some housekeeping including moving quite a big branch – hopes rise cautiously that he is on the mend. With WTS George taking a well-earned break, WTS Jill stepped in and gave a great interview on Sky TV about the translocation of the chicks. The weather was very unsettled, even the excellent camera lens coating couldn’t keep up and there were ‘camera diamonds’ on screen fairly often. However, the weather also gave us a beautiful rainbow over Nest Two, tonight’s forecast is for light rain showers and a gentle breeze, with a slight chance of sun and perhaps a little rain tomorrow, so we might see more rainbows.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.56.32 (03.31.18); Nest Two 23.47.16 (03.41.23)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/vpUK8HVFXCo N1 Garry LV0 chatters away to himself during an early morning visit 05.56.22

https://youtu.be/LLCSoyakFkU N2 Dyson and Henry Hoodie visit the empty nest 06.03.55

https://youtu.be/mj01V9rxF-w  N2 Osprey flies from left to right under the nest 07:33:45  (slo-mo zoom)

https://youtu.be/5Pd8r2nronw N1 A little songbird visits for a few seconds 07.46.40

https://youtu.be/2V3SGgPo6Sw  N2 Rainbow over the nest 10.48.14 (time lapse)

https://youtu.be/nkSCLuDYS2A  N2 Louis brings a fish for Dorcha then does housework 12.49.01

https://youtu.be/uD0cwQ6ddHs N2 Louis arrives and stands quietly for a moment before departing 17.24.23

https://youtu.be/8SVETWUeZOQ Sky TV interview with WTS Jill Donnachie about the translocation 20.40 

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

I could show you still captures but its the kid’s first flight. 1R0 from Rutland took off on the 2nd of July. Brilliant. Congratulations Maya and Blue 33.

Flying is hard work and Blue 1R0 returned to the nest for rest and to have a good fish feed with Mum Maya.

Another good news story from Geemeff. I doubt you have ever heard of this happening – an island taking out a runway to help birds. Oh, I wish that empathetic and generous spirited nature would spread to our next story. about two little starving eaglets.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/island-airport-tears-runway-help-113721922.html

Beaumont continues to bring in really nice fish to the Newfoundland Power nest at Snow Lane. The two chicks appear well.

The second baby at Hellgate Canyon still has an eye problem. Even so, Iris and Finnegan are taking great care of both of their babies and we hope that the little one’s eye becomes as clear as its big sibling. The little one has been able to open its eye for a bit and then close it and open again. This feels like good news.

‘A’ reports: “Today, I think Little’s left eye may be a bit better – it is still not normal, but it does appear to be open a little more than it was yesterday, when it was either closed entirely or open like a slit. His right eye is normal – large and piercing like it should be – but that left eye is a significant worry. I am not certain how long this situation has existed – I have been worried about his eyesight for a while, based primarily on his efforts to grab at food unsuccessfully, grabbing to the right of the bite being offered and often face-planting instead. I am so pleased to see what appears to be some improvement in the eye today – I will continue to monitor it, as it is literally a potentially life-threatening injury if it prevents Little from being able to triangulate and fish. Such a dear little osplet. He has been so feisty and confident and not once has he cringed or flinched at his sibling. He is brave, and heads straight to mum’s beak, with no qualms whatsoever about pushing in front of Big Bob, while Big Bob is quite happy to wait his turn, even if it takes five minutes for Iris to stop stuffing Little Bob and start feeding Big. 

I cannot stress enough how happy this nest makes me. To see two osplets with such a huge size difference and five days between the hatches get along so brilliantly well from first day to now is a very rare thing. I don’t believe I have ever seen it on an osprey nest, though presumably the year there were three boys at Port Lincoln was a relatively peaceful one on that nest. I am not sure though that even that nest got away with having no bonking at all. The fraternal spirit on this nest is as just as magical as Iris’s romance with Finnegan. This nest is quite obviously blessed. “

Can you pick out the Little Mini at Field Farm in the following image?

All is well at MN Landscape Arboretum.

The three osplets at Collins Marsh are doing very well. They are beginning to self-feed.

‘H’ reports:

7/3 Osoyoos osprey nest:  There were seven fish brought to the nest that I saw.  A couple of the fish were tiny, a few were large, and there was one whopper.  I did not see any aggression during the meals.  Little ate well today, but at the 12:29 meal, s/he was kind of crowded out due to Soo’s positioning, and Little didn’t really make much effort to get up to the chow line.  The feeding duration times (in minutes) were: 4, 4, 8, 10, 7, 60, 11.  I’ll bet you can guess which meal was the whopper, lol.  There were no fish that I saw between 1229 and 1741. Sometime after that, the video feed went offline.  A high temperature of 31C/88F is predicted for 7/4.  And, temps will be gradually increasing each day, peaking at a predicted 41C/106F by the middle of next week.  Fingers crossed that Olsen will be able to find fish to catch.

7/4 Captiva Ospreys:  I try to avoid hyperbole.  But, there is a tragedy in the making at Captiva.  Ding and Darling are 72 and 71 days old.  Ding fledged on 6/22, Darling fledged on 6/26.  They rely on their parents to bring them fish.  Jack was last seen on 6/29, and Edie has not been seen since mid-day on 7/2.  Fishing conditions for ospreys should not have been particularly difficult, so Jack and Edie are simply missing.  The last time Ding had a meal that we know of was 7/1 at 1800.  The last meal for Darling was 7/1 at 1600.  Because Darling won’t allow Ding to be on the nest, Ding has been out of sight quite a bit.  But, when we have seen Ding, she does not look well fed.  Overall in recent days, Ding was been better fed than Darling.  The official word is that there are rescue plans in place if any of the ospreys are found grounded.  Please send positive wishes to this much loved osprey family.

‘PB’ confirms that Little Three had a good feed at Cowlitz:

She notes that Steelscape also had a good feeding for its little one. Excellent news.

‘PB’ also sent this note form a rescue. Oh, our poor osprey babies.

Did Diamond deliver Xavier a very special bonding gift? A racing pigeon?

The two golden eaglets on the Estonian nest have not had food for two days on Wednesday. I hope that we are not witnessing an event like we saw several years ago with Klints. I am very concerned about these eaglets whose nest is in an area of Estonia where there is a military base. Because of their location, it might be impossible to get them the help they require.

The situation is being monitored. I hope that the Eagle Club of Estonia is getting permission to enter the military zone and take the eaglets into care.

‘MP reports issues at one of the Dave Hancock nests in British Columbia today. That is the HWW-BBC nest where two rather emaciated eaglets are not being fed, although everyone insists there is food and the parents are not feeding the eaglets. No one wants to help because they are too near fledgling. Is it better to starve on the nest? All of this reminds me of Meadow. It is often too late when they fall out of the nest.

The decline of the Blackbird is due to another virus.

Blackbird-numbers-plummet-in-south-of-England-amid-potential-spread-of-virus-Birds-The-GuardianDownload

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, questions, posts, articles, videos, summaries, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, BL-P, Geemeff, H, PB’, McEuan Park, Cal Falcons, William Dunn – Menhaden, Little Fish, Big Deal FB, Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, SKY News, Woodland Trust, Geemeff, Michelle Gowland, LRWT, Rutland Osprey Project, yahoo News, Newfoundland Power, Montana Osprey Project, Field Farm, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Osoyoos, Window to Wildlife, Tampa Bay Rescue, Collins Marsh, Pam Breci, Cilla Kinross, Eagle Club of Estonia, Looduskalender, The Guardian

Tragedy at Crooked Lake…Sunday in Bird World

16 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

To all those wonderful men – human and not – for taking care of living breathing things, protecting them, feeding them, loving them – Happy Father’s Day. And to one special Osprey this morning who is injured with a spike in his leg – Jack at Captiva. You are amazing. Despite all, you are still helping feed your family this morning!

There is a lot going on in Bird World. Rescues, uprightings, sibling rivalry, hatches, GHO attacks, and death. You name it, it seems to be happening. The very beautiful and good is tinged with the sorrow and sadness. We just have to breathe and as someone said today, ‘life is very fragile, embrace someone and hold them tight, you don’t know what is coming next’. What a year it has been and we are only half way through. As one reader said to me, “The Memorial Page has exploded”. It has and I am still catching up! It is always sad to lose one of the birds and, please, take the time to check out the Memorial Page. If I am missing one of our feathered friends, please write and tell me so I can add them. I am still working on the European Storks that died so tragically from the horrific weather. And, another thing, the second hatch at Hellgate has not happened. I was sent incorrect information and the more I looked for a second head, I could not find it.

In all of this, Saturday was a gorgeous, hot windy day and we spent it at the duck pond watching the little ducklings and goslings, of all ages, flitter around the pond enjoying the shade and the cool water despite the build up of algae. People were happy being outside. There was a wedding reception in the garden area, and the ice cream man with his bell could be heard at a distance. Even deer were coming out to eat grass in the shade. Now the skies are pearl grey to dark charcoal and you can just feel a storm building up. Despite saying we would have no rain, we are now in an area of Extreme Weather with high winds, hail, and rain predicted. If this continues, we will need machetes for the garden instead of clippers and mower.

There were lots of ducks and geese on the islands in the pond which is shaded. The wind was keeping everyone cool despite the 27 C temperatures. Some of the geese had been in the water with their goslings. Some went in and out, in and out. Others foraged for little pebbles to aid their digestion. The goslings range in size from those that are about half as large as their parents to tiny wee ones that looked like they hatched only a couple of days ago. All of the adult geese are moulting. They will exchange all of their feathers. They will not be able to fly and leave the area until their full moult is complete. I don’t think anyone minds. Each trip I gather a handful of feathers for ‘The Girls’. They go crazy for them. Besides boxes and bags (without handles), these feathers are their next favourite toy. Their most favourite are the tunnels that they race in and out of late in the evening or early in the morning.

Baby Hope will be one year old on 2 July. As so many of you know, just thinking about her brings tears to my eyes. After Calico ‘decided’ that she was coming in the house on 28 August 2023, we thought we would never be able to find her only surviving kitten. (We could tell there was only one by the single teat being suckled). It appears that Calico might have lost ‘Hope’ and that was why she was ready to leave her life on the streets and come inside where she had lots of food, a safe place to sleep, comfy beds and toys and, of course, lots of love and stories. Five days later we looked out at the feral feeding station and there was a mini Calico. We knew it was her kitten. In three hours, Hope was inside suckling on Mum and life was good. We are trying to figure out precisely just what kind of party to have for her!

Hugo Yugo says that she thinks we need grilled cheese sandwiches along with ice cream for the party! What do you think?

Hugo Yugo is still tiny, a little peanut, but she remains the boss of all the others. Despite eating her food and theirs, she has hardly grown. She is a bundle of energy that never stops. She still sleeps draped around my neck at night. And she still begs for her pieces of cheese around 2100. I have been able to wean her off the kitten milk at the vet’s request. She is dynamite!

As I go to press, I am getting sad news. It appears that a GHO attack has taken all of the osplets from the Crooked Lake nest in Iowa. ‘H’ says, “This is without a doubt the most bold owl attack I have ever seen.  Just unbelievable. The owl stayed in the nest and killed all three osplets right in the nest in front of Mom, then flew off with one of them.’

Geemeff is also writing that C2 at Loch Arkaig is now dead or death is imminent. This is so sad and is due directly to siblicide by the ever aggressive C1. First time ever to happen at Loch Arkaig.

We will begin with news from ‘H’.

6/15 Forsythe osprey nest:  There were eight fish delivered to the nest by Oscar, and a few of them were fairly big.  How many times have we seen situations where the fish production at a nest increases after the starvation deaths of one or two of the osplets?  I know I’ve seen it happen a few times, and it just leaves me shaking my head.  After the siblicide/starvation deaths of Mini and Little, there is still some aggression from Big toward Middle.  But, Middle is managing to find ways to eat.  S/he most often squeezes around to the other side of Opal from Big, where there is just a small space between Opal and the outer rim of the nest.  Middle ate at least 345 bites of fish in eight meals.  I hope Oscar continues to have fishing success.  

6/15 Dahlgren osprey nest:  The baby named ‘Hope’ was stuck in a deep hole in the nest for about 1.5 days.  Dahlgren Osprey Cam arranged for a rescue by Tidewater Wildlife Rescue.  TWR performed the rescue this afternoon, and repaired the hole in the nest.  Little Hope is doing well, and we are so grateful.  Keep the fish coming in, Doug!

6/15 South Cape May Meadows osprey nest:  The two little bobs are doing very well.  Zeus has really stepped up, and he is providing lots of fish for his family.  We are so pleased!

6/16 Chesapeake, Kent Island osprey nest:  We wait to see if the first egg of the second clutch for Audrey and Tom will hatch.  The egg is 39 days old, but it was pecked by a crow on 5/16.  I hope there will be at least one 

6/16 Boathouse osprey nest:  The little osplet of Dory and Skiff is doing great.  Their second egg is 35 days old today.

6/15, Patuxent osprey nest:  Dad continues to deliver tons of fish, and many of the fish are huge.  He brought fish to the nest six times today, but we could tell that a few of them were the large leftovers he had previously removed from the nest.  All of the chicks were stuffed many times over.  There was very little aggression today, and Little was even seen eating at the ‘big kids table’!


6/15 Captiva ospreys:  There were 7 fish brought to the nest, four by Edie, and three by Jack.  There was a lot of eating going on…feedings and self-feedings.  Ding and Darling ate their fill.  And, at 53 days of age, Ding was hovering!  We are still worried about Jack.  He still has that foreign body ‘spike’ sticking through his leg.  But, he is able to fish and help take care of his family.  Bless his heart.

I want to thank Heidi – again and again. I could not keep up with the nests without her. So everyone, give her a loud shout out, please!

Those watching the Dahlgren nest and getting ever more anxious that the wee babe named Hope was stuck in a hole can now relax. It has been rescued and all the time it was there, dear Mum kept feeding it. Thank goodness. This is one of those really feel good moments that we need when tragedy seems to be lurking at many of our nests. Thank you to everyone who alerted the owners and to the rescue team that saved the wee one. Bless their hearts they filled in and repaired this nest with sticks, mud, and grasses/moss. Well done!

Tragedy may have been averted at the Wells Fargo Iowa DNR Osprey Platform. The little one with a full crop got on its back and could not right itself. It took the entire day. Will it be alright? We have to wait and see.

My favourite capture of Iris and Finnegan. I hope she lives many more years to enjoy this wonderful relationship.

Zoe fledges and Lucia returns flying strong several times.

Middle flew back to the osprey platform to be with Mum at Lake Murray after avoiding the GHO by flying. Magnificent. Fingers crossed everyone. This is such good news. Seriously this is incredible news. So happy happy.

Polo 7422 published a video of the hit by the GHO on Hope. (Have you noticed so many named Hope or Hugo??)

Going to check on some of the Finnish nests today! I had a lovely note from ‘SP’ today. I have been covering some of them as best I can but I also learned that some of my confusion with the numbering and names is because there are two separate organisations. That is why I cannot find 10 nests on this one site! ‘SP’ elaborates, “The link I gave in my previous male, Sääksikamerat (kaikki näkymät) | Sääksilive (saaksilive.fi), with 5 nests, and 2 views of the active nests (I follow mainly these):                     

Here nests 1, 3 and 4 are occupied. 

  • Number 4 has last year’s couple, 3 chicks, eating a lot, and the making heavy exercises (fighting) from the very beginning (genes from the female). A video in the web by a non-native follower:
    Brutal fight between two eaglets #ospreycam #ospreys #siblingfight #shorts (youtube.com)   
    Hope the fishing weather will be good in July … (Last year the yongest chick got fiercely killed by the sibling.)
  • Number 1 has an older, experienced couple, with so far 1 chick and 2 eggs left.
  • Number 3, with a first time mum (bride from last year) and last year’s male, has 1 chick, one to pop up soon (hole in the egg already). First chick died.

(Last year the female disappeared and the 3 chicks died.

Number 5: the last year’s couple arrived, but somehow they ”changed their mind” abt nesting. The two eggs, not taken care about, were taken by a raven. Very ”nicely”, indeed, both times:

The other robbery:  6.5.2024 – #5 – Korppi ryöstää Saran munan mukaansa – YouTube

This nest, number 5 was interesting last year: After the own 2 chicks had left, a foreign chick, from Sweden, landed on the nest, and stayed very long, for weeks, and got fed by the male.”

Number 1 – adults doing incubation. Waiting for pip/hatch watch.

Number 2 is a failed nest. No activity.

Number 3 has a beautiful osplet. Dad brings a huge fish!

Number 4 has three healthy osplets.

Number LS/5 is a failed nest. No activity.

From separate organisations:

Seilin in the West of Finland. Couple incubating eggs.

Janakkala in the North has three osplets.

Muonion, in the far north, is incubating eggs.

At Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Dad delivered no less than five fish, several large. There is also rain and Mum is keeping those babies warm and dry. Everyone ate.

‘L’ writes: “Dad stood near mom while she fed the babies at Minnesota. I think he is trying to teach her. She literally went over the head of the oldest one to feed the third one. ” It seems that the latter part of the day was not so good at this nest. We live and hope.

Olsen is doing the best that he can at the Osoyoos Osprey Platform. Most of the fish brought in were so small but he landed a whopper later in the afternoon and everyone did eat well.

It has been a miserable day across much of Wales. Telyn and Idris worked to feed their three chicks and to keep them dry even though they are getting their juvenile plumage and can thermoregulate.

Blue 022 is working hard to get lots of good fish to CJ7 so that their four Bobs will all be full and happy.

I know how sad everyone has been after the loss of Sol, so close to fledge, at the Redding nest of Liberty and Guardian. Everyone at FORE is simply heart broken, too.

Luna is alive and well and for this we must be very glad.

All three eggs have now hatched at Niagara Bee. They are all looking good.

I will now be carrying the daily summary by Geemeff that she publishes for the Woodland Trust. It is the happenings on the Loch Arkaig nest of Dorcha and Louis. Lots of good information and links to videos! Thank you, Geemeff, for allowing me to publish this information.

“Daily summary Saturday 15th June 2024

No action on Nest One, and very little on Nest Two. Louis only brought one fish mid-morning, and wasn’t seen again until suppertime when he caused consternation by arriving empty-taloned. Dorcha couldn’t believe it and gave him a right earful while he cleaned bits of fish off his beak. He’d obviously eaten recently and had a nicely rounded crop which added fuel to Dorcha’s ire. Earlier Dorcha had caused a bit of consternation herself when she arrived with an awkwardly shaped stick and proceeded to drag it through the huddle of chicks, although she quickly redeemed herself by being an excellent mumbrella and keeping her three big chicks warm and dry during a torrential downpour. As usual, chick2 got all the fish and beaked the other two to keep them away from the food, therefore it will be good if Louis arrives early tomorrow morning with a fish big enough that C1 & C3 get a share too. Statto Steve Q provided us with a thorough analysis of the fish stats to date – despite the odd blip, Louis’ current total of two hundred and two fish is pretty much comparable with previous years. The weather was very unsettled today with a misty start turning into a rainy day and more of the same forecast for tonight.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.36.53 (02.58.59); Nest Two 23.10.58 (03.27.50)

Watch the livestream 24/7:

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

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/2hIydufKS3I Fish number one and only, headless trout, C2 gets it all 10.17.28

https://youtu.be/FlvoO8n_ZAk  Dorcha: from menace with a stick to brilliant mumbrella 17.32

https://youtu.be/OiKvZO7vkTU Louis finally arrives but he’s fishless! Dorcha can’t believe it  20.13.30

Bonus info – Steve Quinn’s fish stats for week 11:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=15060802

Blast from the past, this day in previous years:

https://youtu.be/ntv71sF-N_s  N1 Simultaneous feeding – mum and dad each feed a bob! 2019

https://youtu.be/1RzPgaEWMr0  N1 Limbo dancing 2020

https://youtu.be/PvklkJGfZIc  N1 Home alone chicks amuse themselves 2020

https://youtu.be/J8geReKxLxc  N1 Mumbrella Aila does her best to shelter the chicks 2020

https://youtu.be/FJYbKk1hA-4  N1 A Jay visits the empty nest 2021

https://youtu.be/tsAAz0z9Ac8  N2 Hooded Crow intrudes and perches on the nest 2022

https://youtu.be/k6W6PKYMMYQ  N2 Chicks battle it out as soon as mum leaves 2022

https://youtu.be/LTMLWBLOZnY  N1 LV0 just won’t get the message 2023

https://youtu.be/hFbYpDjHeyI  N1 Affric reaffirms her bond with Prince 2023

https://youtu.be/yvMLAjhrNaA  N2 Hangry chick attacks Dorcha 2023 (quick-time)”

Looks like we have one hatch at the Green Ledge Light Preservation Society nest on Long Island.

There was a lot of discussion over which eaglet it was that fell from the Fraser Point nest of Andor and Cruz. It appears it was Manini and not Reign as I reported earlier. Congratulations on fledging!!!!! BVS Girl has that first flight on video.

The two Golden eaglets in Estonia nest 2 are plump and healthy. They are flapping their wings and walking.

This is the second hatch spreading its wings. Look at that fat bottom and those big strong legs. I am so happy for this nest. I hope the good fortune continues.

Fish dinner arriving at Cowlitz PUD and we have three hungry osplets.

I cannot tell you how much fish Little Mini got at Field Farm on Saturday. It is often difficult to tell, but the wee one is growing and had a sort of half crop in the morning.

Checking in on the San Jose Falcons.

For images of the Cal falcon fledglings, please go to the Instagram account of moon_rabbit_rising!

Suzanne Arnold Horning posted some lovely images of Big Red and Arthur’s Ns. They have fledged and were found in spots near to Fernow and Tower Road. Both fledglings are doing well.

Tweed Valley Osprey Project gives us an excellent view of Mrs O feeding her three osplets.

Thank you so much for being with me. Watch for that hatch of Iris and Finnegan from Sunday-Tuesday according to Dr Greene. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, observations, videos, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A’, Geemeff, H, L, MM, PB, SP’, Timothy Dygert Live Stream, The Woodland Trust, Forsythe Ospresy, Dalgren Ospreys, SCMM Kent Island, Boathouse Ospreys, Patuxent River Park, Window to Wildlife, Heidi McGrue, Sunnie Day, Montana Osprey Project, SK Hideaways, Lake Murray Ospreys, Polo 7422, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Nesting Bird Life and More, MN Landscape Arboretum, Osoyoos Osprey Cam, Dyfi Osprey Project, BoPH, FORE, Niagara Bee, Feemeff, Green Ledge Light Preservation Society, BVSGirl, Eagle Club of Estonia, Cowlitz PUD, moon_rabbit_rising, Suzanne Arnold Horning, and Tweed Valley Ospreys.

Iris second hatch, Lake Murray Osplet flies when hit by GHO, deaths at Forsythe…Saturday in Bird World

15 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Friday was a really beautiful day. The sky was a clear blue and there was no rain and little wind. The temperature was 24 C. It was a good day to check out the goslings and ducklings at the park later – I went around 1700 and they were coming out of their shady island nests to swim. Even with the sprinkler system, the rain and the heat are causing some algae/pond plant problems.

It was really hard to see the tiny ducklings.

Oh, I adore the little female Wood Ducks.

This Mallard had two surviving ducklings. Many had 12 or 13 and it was hard to tell as the Canada Geese do their ‘daycare thing’ so you might see several geese caring for nearly forty youngsters while the other parents forage.

Five beautiful and tiny little wood ducks.

My garden is lush. The water has caused everything to thrive in a year when I worried as the winter had been so dry. Some of you will recall that there was a peony plant and a climbing rose that were planted on my property in 1902 when the old two-story house was built by Italian rail workers. Both are still alive. The peony is full of buds that will bloom soon and the rose is simply bursting with buds. I coddle it as if it were the most precious thing and I often wonder who lived here and who the woman was who planted the roses and the peonies.

The roses now cover an area of approximately 3 metres by 5 metres. The area is absolutely thick with branches laden with these amazing buds. What a treat! I am already dreaming of what it will be like to sit next to the flowers and sip my tea when they bloom – imagine the scent!!!!!!!

I feel that I am such a bearer of bad news these days. There are so many issues that face our raptors and many of those are playing out around the world. You might recall that there was heavy rain and flooding around the nest of Liberty and Guardian. It was noted that the tree was dead. Today, Sol is dehydrated, and death could be imminent. FORE has tried to get a tree climber but the tree is in too bad of a shape for them to climb. Liberty tried to feed her eaglet but Sol was not interested.

Over the years the citizen scientists, like yourself, observing the nests of all avian species have noted issues with nests. If it isn’t happening (and certainly some places are diligent at inspections), nests should be inspected annually prior to breading season. Dead trees, sadly, should be taken down so that we do not find ourselves in the situation with Liberty and Guardian’s Sol. This might also help with nest collapses when the nests are simply too large and heavy rain would cause them to crash potentially killing eaglets.

Sadly Sol passed away Friday morning. He was 77 days old. Right ready to fledge.

For those concerned for Luna, boots on the ground found her and she is alive and well. What a relief!

At the Fraser Point Nest of Andor and Cruz, Reign has fell off a nest that is collapsing. She was found safe under the nest!

The full report of Ospreys on the Iberian Peninsula for 2023-24 is now available.

Aguila-pescadora-El-Corzo-2024Download

‘EJ’ sent us a news story to put a smile on our faces. We do need a good rescue right now!

Raptor-Resource-Project-Bald-Eagle-and-Bird-of-Prey-CamsDownload

What a beautiful Black stork nest in Poland!

Two juveniles on Tor – those West End fledglings are strong. Thunder and Akecheta got them a lot of high quality food. We see it in their spunk and in their flying. But, oh, to have such open spaces without buildings. They are blessed.

All three West End Eaglets – Koa, Treasure, and Sterling were caught on video soaring together. How lovely.

Idris and Telyn did a great dual feeding for the osplets at the Dyfi nest in Wales. They are looking for names. Need to be unused river and mountain names in Wales. Check it out! Dyfi Osprey Project.

Those Montreal falcons really want to fly! If you are missing the Cal Falcons and San Jose ones, then take a look at these three.

Things have still to settled down at Loch Arkaig. C2 still dominates all the feedings.

Blue 022 gets the fish to the nest for CJ7 to feed the Fab Four.

New dad, Finnegan, is actively involved in every aspect of the family including security, delivering food, feeding Iris, and feeding the chick plus being support. What a guy. So thankful you came along, Finnegan. This is an amazing story unfolding on the nest Iris now shares with you.

Good night, Iris.

‘A’ alerts us to the second hatch. Iris didn’t get much sleep!

“Darling Finn was in with a late fish last night (14 June) at 18:53:45. It’s a nice size and appears whole. When Iris stands up to claim it, we can see the second tiny head in the nest. It is still very tired from the hatch, and only wakes up because Big Bob disturbed it by standing up, getting ready to be fed. Big Bob is gigantic already, so this second hatch is going to need to be a strong-minded chick. Iris begins eating while Finn checks out his offspring. 

Finn stands and watches Iris feeding Big Bob, who is a great little eater. After a couple of minutes, he flies to the perch while Iris continues feeding. By 19:09 Big Bob’s face is covered in fish and he is falling into a food coma. Mum settles down to brood the pair. Finn flies down the nest, then at 19:16 heads off. Dad is back with a stick at 19:30:24 and leaves again immediately. 

Shortly after 19:29, Iris stands and begins alerting. She looks upwards, continuing to alert loudly. Intruder? She calms down relatively quickly but continues to glance upwards and to her left (towards the camera). It is at this point that Finn arrives (from the opposite direction) with the stick, which he nearly brains the chicks with. After he leaves, Iris remains standing and occasionally glances at the same spot again. 

Eventually, after a good rouse and another glance around, Iris goes to settle on the chicks but changes her mind and stays standing, looking around. Around 19:33:40 she has a good flap of her wings. Impressive.At 19:34 she carefully returns to brooding the chicks. At 20:06:30 Finn is back on the perch. He flies off again at 20:12:20.

This morning, Finn arrives on the nest just before 05:18, while it is still dark, to say good morning. He stands beside her. She is her usual very chatty self. He is silent. Having said only yesterday I’d never seen Iris sleeping tucked, she did so quite a bit last night (especially as morning approached). Shortly after 05:25, Finn set off to get breakfast. He returns soon after 06:30 but without a fish. Iris does not sound pleased by this development. 

He does a little busy work on the nest, but when Iris stands up at 06:3424, he immediately flies off. Iris stretches her wings and then flies off the nest herself at 06:34:40. She is back at 06:35:13, so obviously just did a circuit of the car park. Dad is back just before 06:38, again with empty talons. Iris leaves again. Finn is standing on his left leg a lot, which I presume is just resting but I am hoping he has not suffered any injury to the leg. I don’t think so. He wonders whether/how to brood the chicks and looks around for Iris. 

Eventually, shortly after 06:41 Finn settles down to brood the osplets. It appears Iris has taken breakfast into her own talons. Iris is back at 06:56:17. She has no fish. Finn gets up carefully and flies to the perch, allowing Iris to brood the osplets. Iris gets up, moves a large piece of bark, and settles down again. Why? Strange. After a good preen, Finn leaves again around 07:09, hopefully on a fishing expedition. Iris looks to have a good crop still but the chicks need feeding, especially the younger one. 

It is now 07:25 and Finn is not yet back. I do hope this new baby is not too tiny and that it is able to get fed. I also hope that it is a female and the first hatch a male, but I doubt that. This first hatch is precocious, physically and behaviourally. It is strong and a very good eater. I am fearful for the younger osplet, but then always was with the lengthy gap (a full week) between the laying of those two eggs. We will wait and hope.”

An absorbing article about Iris and Finnegan with interviews with Dr Greene and his helper Sharon Leigh-Miles.

‘Thats-a-great-mom-World-famous-osprey-welcomes-a-new-chick-Montana-Public-RadioDownload

‘A’ has finally fallen in love with Ospreys! She writes, “Iris carefully supervised Finn’s first attempt at feeding their chick yesterday morning (14 June) at around 08:55. Initially, he wasn’t very good at it, finding it hard to reach down far enough to put the food into the chick’s beak, but after two or three efforts, he successfully gave the chick a bite. And another. He was good at getting the pieces small enough but leaning down to get the food into the chick’s beak took him a little more practice. But he is learning. Iris standing behind him, watching closely but not interfering, was so sweet. She is happy to teach him how to be a good dad – I’m surprised she is not more protective of the wee one, but she obviously trusts this guy and he has already proven himself to her in many ways. Certainly, he has demonstrated an amazing level of devotion to his family. Let’s hope he remembers that his primary role is away from the nest – fishing for the family and keeping intruders away from the territory. Family time is a bonus. But I do adore how proud he is of Iris and their chick. I wonder how he will manage provisioning for two osplets, Iris and himself. 

By 08:57 Iris was a little concerned that far more fish was going into Finn’s mouth than into the chick’s beak and decided to intervene. When Finn tries to feed the chick a piece that is too large, Iris takes it from his beak and bends down to feed it carefully to the wee one. Finn continues to eat the fish, while Iris feeds the chick saliva several times. He keeps eating. She moves closer, obviously wanting more of this fish to be fed to the chick. (It is large and pretty much whole, so Finn is entitled to eat the head at least. Iris however is concerned only about feeding the chick.) When he turns to feed a piece to the osplet, she takes it from him again and feeds it to the chick. This is repeated several times, with Iris taking food from Finn to feed to the chick. This is SO sweet. They are not so much tandem feeding as team feeding. Iris is clearly teaching Finn about being a great dad. 

Finn now concentrates again on eating for himself, so Iris settles down to brood the chick, though it remains visible at her breast. She reaches out to nibble at the fish Finn is holding down, as he continues to eat beside the nest bowl. He feeds Iris a couple of bites, then continues eating. She continues nibbling at the fish too. When Finn flies to the perch shortly after, he leaves the fish beside Iris. He returns to the nest at 09:33:35 with eyes firmly on the leftover fish. Iris has a lot to say. He nibbles on the fish a little, but soon leaves without removing the remaining fish. 

He is soon back again (10:05), possibly with a stick, although Iris standing up obscures our view. She is very chatty. He is tall, dark and handsome, a man of few words. She settles back down to brood and he simply stands behind her on the nest, protectively. After a couple of minutes, he circles Iris and she stands up to show him his baby (and the hatching second egg, presumably). He looks down into the nest, obviously fascinated as always. She continues to chirp. Having closely examined his progeny, Finn flies to the perch. Iris continues chatting. By 10:19, she is settling down to brood again. Finn remains on the perch. There is still half a large fish (probably a fair bit more) remaining on the nest. “

We still have three chicks at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum! Mum provided good shade for much of the day and the three had some good fish.

Wow, that third hatch at Charlo Montana sure came quickly. Charlie looks on at this three kids and his new mate.

Little Mini had a bit of a crop earlier in the day from this feeding but was shut out later – something that bothered me a bit. It was rather submissive during a late feeding allowing the older Little Bob to lean over it and eat. I am hoping Little Mini was just full.

Only Bob at Sandpoint is a fat bottomed little cutie.

‘MM’ watched the Osoyoos nest for us on Friday and she reports: “It was offline again until about 9:30 this morning so not sure if there were any feedings before then but I have counted 6 so far today with the 6th one still taking place. For the most part they have been very small especially the first three or four. I’m almost certain at the first feeding(9:56 am) mom ate it all while the chicks bonked one another. The fish lasted all of 5 minutes, was so small you could barely see it. At 10:56 and 11:34 am dad delivered small fish again with each chick getting a few bites and mom also definitely wasn’t enough to fill their crops. At 1:26 and 2:51 pm he brought fish that were a little bit bigger but not by much. Again they each got enough to keep hunger at bay but still not seeing bulging crops like at other nests. Number 6 was delivered at 4:12 pm and was still ongoing when I started this email. It was definitely bigger than the others. As the chicks get older hopefully the fish will get bigger because there’s no way those tiny fish will fill up 3 growing chicks and mom has quite the appetite as well 😄 I noticed they are pretty well behaved whilst eating but not so much while there’s no food on the nest.”

The 6th fish of the day and the biggest. Thanks, ‘MM’

Two gorgeous feathered babes on the Patchogue nest!

The little one enjoying some fish on the Cowlitz PUD nest.

It is difficult to see if all the chicks are alright on the Oyster Bay nest because of the greenery.

Two surviving osplets at Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home are fantastic.

Smallie spent the night in the scrape. He is looking very well.

Prey continues to be provided for the Ns at the Cornell nest of Big Red and Arthur. Both fledglings appear to be flying strong.

‘H’ reports:

Dahlgren osprey nest:  Early on 6/14, viewers noticed that the 12-day-old chick was in a deep hole in the nesting, and sitting on a bottom wood slat of the platform nest.  The baby is surrounded by some articles of clothing, perhaps gloves (?), and can’t hardly move.  So far, Helen has been able to feed her baby in that position.  Viewers tried for hours to raise awareness with the nest owners.  Finally this morning on Facebook is the response:  Brigitte Schwurack Top contributor Thank you for your message, the owners of the camera are informed.

6/14, The weather started to clear, and it turned out to be a great day!  Due to poor fishing, the youngest osplet, Darling, had not eaten for over 3.5 days.  At 0917 Edie delivered a whole catfish, and Ding ate. Darling was not able to eat any of that fish.  At 1015 Edie brought another whole catfish and fed Ding.  While that was taking place, Jack arrived with a partial fish.  Ding grabbed Jack’s fish, and Darling was quick to grab Edie’s catfish, and ate his first bites of food for over 87 hours.  At 1024 Edie took the fish from Darling and began to feed him.  Darling ate for about 40 minutes.   At 1259 Edie landed with a partial ladyfish, Darling grabbed and mantled, but Ding took it away.  Ding ate until 1334, then walked away.  There was still a lot of fish left, and Darling self-fed on the ladyfish.  At 1337 Edie brought a whole ladyfish, Darling abandoned the other one, and Edie fed some of the new fish to Ding, but most to Darling. At 1428 Edie fed the remainder of the first ladyfish, mostly to Darling, and some to Ding.  Finally, at 1956 Edie delivered a partial catfish.  She fed Ding, and then Ding did some self-feeding.  Everyone’s prayers had been answered for tons of fish.  Darling had a large crop for most of the day.  We are so very thankful that the weather cleared and Edie and Jack were able to catch fish, and that our dear Darling is still with us!

6/14 Forsythe osprey nest: There are not enough fish being brought to this nest.  It has already undergone brood reduction once.  Mini4 died of siblicide/starvation on 6/11.  There were four fish brought to the nest on 6/14, and none were very large.  Big and Middle were both responsible for preventing Little from eating for the second straight day.  Little passed away overnight…COD siblicide/starvation.  Big also controls when Middle is allowed to eat, and Middle ate a total of 156 bites of fish the entire day.  This may end up being a one-chick nest, where once there were four of the cutest little osplets you had ever seen.

6/14 Fenwick Island osprey nest – Captain Mac’s Fish house:  Congratulations to Johnny and June on the hatch of their first baby at approximately 19:45.

6/14, Patuxent osprey nest:  There were six fish brought to the nest by Dad, and a couple were whoppers!  Everyone had a great day, and Little had several good private feedings.  Remarkably, at meal #5, Little was eating right beside Big…as if they had been best buddies their entire lives!


It was almost daylight, and I thought the osplet had survived another night without being hit by the GHO.  At 0538 C1 was standing up in the nest when she was struck hard by the GHO.  The GHO was not able to take her.  C1 managed to grab the rail sticks with her talons, but had been thrown  off balance, and she eventually fell off the nest.  That nest is very high, and we hoped that she was able to flap and float down to the ground.  Well, she did better than that….  The nest owner saw C1 flying across the lake!

‘J’ sent us an update on Connick, Connie and Clive’s eaglet from 2023.

‘J’ also sent us an update on Chance:

‘RP’ sent us a smile:

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, observations, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, EJ, H, J, MM, PB, RP’, FORE, Vicki Jacques, BVS Girl, Aguila Pesiadora, The Raptor Resource Project, BocianiMyBolewice, IWS/Explore, Dyfi Osprey Project, Friends of Loch Arkaig, Montreal Falcon Cam, Geemeff, BoPH, Montana News, Charlo Montana Osprey Cam (Owl Osprey Project), MN Landscape Arboretum, Field Farm, Sandpoint Ospreys, Osoyoos Osprey Cam, PSEG, Cowlitz PUD, Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home, Amersfoort Peregrine Falcon Cam, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, Lake Murray Ospreys, Forsythe, Patuxent River Park, Dahlgren, Fenwick Island, and CBS Sunday Morning.

Monday in Bird World

10 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. (Thoreau, Walden, 58).

The Girls and I are revisiting Thoreau’s Walden – I learn something every time I read this book! Mostly, it cements in me how fortunate we are if we can spend time with the trees, the animals living in the wild, even nature in our own gardens.

I hope that you had a really good weekend and found some time to spend with friends, family, or outside—or all three! We worked in the garden and are sore from the tips of our toes to the top of our heads. The heat and rain have caused everything to grow out of control! So far there has been no rain so it was a good day since everything is drying out. I would love to send this rain to places that are running out of water. It is frightening because there are not only implications for humans but also wildlife.

Wheres-the-Water-CounterPunch.org_Download

Two things to put a smile on your face today. The first comes from ‘T’. Watch ‘the cobra’ attack the Imperial Eagle. Then laugh. (Valid made the video and Rinur posted it).

The second comes from Missey and Hugo Yugo, who adore one another. When Missey lost her best friend Lewis last year, she was the saddest cat. Then Hugo Yugo came into her life and she took over the motherly duties the little ginger cat was longing for. Like Calico and Hope, these two are inseparable.

TWO Great Questions from the InBox:

Question 1. ‘NF’ asks: “Have a question…we had eaglets double fledge 6/7 in Kansas. Do you have any knowledge of that happening before? Many questions about that. Thanks in advance & keep up the good work!!”

Sadly, my data forms are for Ospreys but I could recall instances of eagles fledging close together, but not specifics. Thankfully, Elfruler came through and ‘NF’ sent me their response. I thought some of you might also be wondering. “Hi, Nina, it was fun watching your 2 juveniles take off yesterday!  Yes, there are several records of 2 juveniles fledging on the same day.  In recent years:

Maryland Port Tobacco, 6/4/23, three eaglets fledged on June 4, the first at 6:18, the second shortly after that (cam down, time uncertain), the third accidentally fell at 7:09.

Ohio Avon Lake, 7/7/22, one at about 6:22, the other at about 7:21.

Oklahoma Bartlesville 6/10/22, one at about 15:21, the other at 15:28.

Pittsburg Hays 6/10/22, one at 7:20, the other at 7:50.

Ohio Ashtabula, 6/24/20, one at 6:43, the other at 12:43.

British Columbia Surrey Reserve, 6/28/20, one at 8:15, the other at 10:18.

There are more in my spreadsheets, I’ve just searched the last few years, but from these you can see that it does happen.

Best to you,

-elf”

Question 2. From ‘PB”. “I saw your update on Seaside and #3 passed due to a wind/hail storm…but I watched their in memoriam video of #3 and they showed the storm so how did the little baby pass when under mom? Was it more lack of food?”

Yes, the little one was well protected by Mum. The death was not caused by anything human or by siblicide but was starvation and/or illness caused by a weather-related event. The storm was a mitigating factor in the chick not having enough food and also they get these terrible respiratory illnesses from the cold and damp. We won’t know precisely which it was.

If you missed it, Treasure at the West End nest of Akecheta and Thunder fledged on Saturday. Lady Hawks’ video shows the whole event clearing up many questions. Treasure is on a steep hill and has not been seen eating. Is this a place where the eaglet can get its footing to fly off? More questions than answers. The latest information is that Treasure is on a cliff face near the old nest.

‘B’ reports that Sterling has fledged on Sunday so all three of Akecheta and Thunder’s eaglets this year have taken their first flights.

Hats off to Dylan at Llyn Clywedog – he brought two HUGE trout (along with other fish) to the nest for Seren and chicks on Sunday. My goodness, gracious. Dylan does love his trout and if you don’t know, they stock the Clywedog Reservoir with 45,000 fish annually!

Dr Green just posted the following information as we are now on pip/hatch watch for the first egg at Iris and Finnegan’s nest.

I don’t know about you, but I am sitting on the edge of my chair in anticipation. I never thought Iris would have another devoted mate like Stanley.

Port Lincoln reports that Calypso and his new mate are checking out the Tulsa Platform. Could Mum and Dad be grandparents this year??? Things are beginning to heat up in Australia!

Little Mini right up at the beak for that fish dinner at Field Farm. One determined little osplet. This will certainly help with its survival. Don’t you just love these vivacious fourth hatches? They have to be clever and determined. Remember: It is only about 1 out of 100 fourth hatches that survive. Looks like Field Farm and Poole Harbour are going to be survivors if things continue as they are. Other nests are in trouble.

It rained some more. Each time there was a feeding Little Mini is there. No problems that I can see other than its size. The other three are rather ‘chill’ compared to many nests.

At Poole Harbour, Little Mini is right there. Sadly, Blue 022 has a love for black bin liners. I wish he didn’t bring them to the nest.

Two chicks for the WDNU Tower in 2024.

Two surviving chicks at Seaside.

The trio at the Salt Point Osprey Platform are all thriving. Do you know this nest at Cayuga Lake in Upstate New York? It is the home of Orpheus and Ursula. Here is some information provided by the Lansing Parks and Recreation Department.

“This nest was built by Orpheus in 2013, and with his two mates Ophelia (2013–2022) and Ursula (2022–current), they have reared many healthy fledglings over the years. The nest is ideally located within the Salt Point Natural Area in Lansing, NY, at the confluence of Salmon Creek, a fast-flowing trout stream, and fish-rich Cayuga Lake. Orpheus and his mate continually tend their nest built atop a 55′ dedicated nesting platform with a spectacular 360º view—and protection against marauding great-horned owls. This nest camera is a solar-powered camera operating in one of the cloudiest areas in the USA. After a streak of consecutive overcast or stormy days, the batteries drain and the recording may stop. After a few hours of sunshine, all will return to normal. High winds may also cause noise from the camera housing.”

Here is the link to their streaming cam. These chicks are doing fantastic.

Three at Pitkin County Open Trails and Spaces are doing well. We can just see the tops of their heads!

‘H’ sends in the reports for the nests she is monitoring:

“6/9, Forsythe NJ osprey nest:  This nest has become very unsettled and dangerous.  The nest dynamics continue to evolve for the worse.  The oldest of the four osplets, Big1, has become very aggressive and controlling.  Before today, Little3 was the primary aggressor, and would take out its hunger-frustration on Mini4.  Today, Big1 was beaking all of its siblings.  Every time LIttle3 would beak Mini4, Big1 would beak Little3.  But, several times at each meal, Big1 would beak all of them, including Middle2, so that Big1 would be the only one eating.  Quite often that would set off Middle2, and Middle2 would beak everyone.  There were six meals today.  Middle2 managed to make out okay simply because of its size.  Middle2 was able to position itself further away from Big1 at feedings, and still be able to reach Opal’s beak.  Neither Mini4 nor Little3 had very much to eat yesterday, as Little3 would keep Mini4 from eating, and Big1 would keep Little3 from eating.  Today, I counted fish bites for both Little3 and Mini4.  Mini4 ate a total of 36 bites of fish today, and Little3 ate a total of 17 bites of fish.  There is not enough fish being brought to this nest for three osplets undergoing a growth spurt, much less four osplets.  It’s going to take  A LOT MORE FISH.  This is very sad.”

6/9, Patuxent River Park osprey nest:  It was a good day for this nest.  There were “only” three fish and feedings, but a couple of the meals lasted so long, they should be counted as two meals.  The first fish at 0749 was a large live catfish, and that fish flipped and flopped all over the place.  No one was hurt, and I think the kids were mildly entertained, lol.  That meal lasted for 95 minutes.  Little still does get beaked and intimidated once in a while, but Little has learned to mitigate those occurrences.  S/he simply stays away from Mom in the early phase of a meal, so as not to incur the wrath of Big.  Little waited until about 0830 and then worked his way to the other side of Mom and she began to include her youngest in the feeding.  After a while Little had a bit of a private feeding, and had eaten a total of 80 bites of fish.  When Mom had given up on picking at the catfish skull, Dad moved on over, picked up the skull and pulled off 30 additional bits of meat for Little.  What a cool Dad.  The fish at 1118 was a small headless fish, and the meal lasted 10 minutes.  Big and Middle were not very hungry, and Little ate 55 bites of fish.  The last fish of the day at 1458 was a huge whole fish, that provided for another 95 minute feeding.  Little had a few separate private feedings and ate for a total of 30 minutes. 

Dahlgren osprey nest:  Being first-time parents, the new couple, Helen and Doug, continue to work out some issues with parenting.  There is a learning curve of course, and they are getting better.  Their single osplet is 8 days old, and is looking good…nice and plump!

Fortis Exshaw osprey nest:  Louise and her new mate Harvie are expecting their first baby at any time.  Louise laid three eggs, but we’ve never seen three eggs at one time in that deep egg cup.  All the best to them!

South Cape May Meadows osprey nest:  On 6/8 a crow destroyed one egg, and pecked at another.  We believe that there is still at least one viable egg remaining.  From the nature of the contents of the destroyed egg, we believe that egg was definitely not egg #1, and was more likely egg #3 (not positive, though).  Eggs #1 and 2 would be 38 and 35 days on 6/10.  We are hoping for a hatch for Hera and Zeus.

Fenwick Island, Delaware osprey nest, at Captain Mac’s Fish House:  Johnny and June’s first two eggs were destroyed by crows.  Eggs 3 and 4 remain, and we are on pip watch!

Osoyoos osprey nest:  Soo and Ollie’s two little bobs are doing great.  The third egg is 36 days old on 6/10.

McEuen Park osprey nest: They have three little hatchlings that hatched sometime between 6/4 and 6/8, with one egg remaining.  There is no rewind for that cam, so it was difficult to find a view when the parents were not ‘incu-brooding’.

If you were following Chance, the Red-tailed Hawk that went to an eagle’s nest for dinner and got adopted, you might know that it fell from the nest. Chance is near-fledging. Chance was rescued and is in a wildlife facility. This is the latest from the photographer covering the story, Jann Nichols.

‘PB’ writes that Smallie has been seen and photographed – see image below – but there is no confirmation that the eyas has had any food since being returned after its fall.

Big siblings on the grate.

One of the chicks, the eldest, wasn’t looking good to me at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. It seems to have rallied a bit. I do wish this Mum would spend less time eating fish and more time feeding her chicks. That is precisely how we lost the chicks last year! Send good energy to this nest!

‘MP’ has been watching and counting. He says, “I counted her eating five bites to one she attempts to give one chick but if they don’t take it immediately she retreats with it and eats it herself. One chick keeps rolling on their back.” MP continues, “The male appears to be bringing bigger fish maybe so she will have enough for her and the chicks? He does stand there and watch which I’ve never seen other males intently watch the feeding. My take is he’s seeing if she feeds them at all. It is hard to watch not knowing if you are watching the makings of mental illness on a nest of innocent babies leading to their death.”

This is the oldest chick that keeps going over. I fear that the babies are dehydrated. Mum leaves them exposed and the little things cannot regulate their temperature. It is very hot at times and they need many feedings, lots of little bites throughout the day to keep them healthy. So very, very sad. We have seen this same behaviour in Hope at the Snow Lane nest consistently. I once queried an old hand at osprey behaviour about mental illness and our discussions wound up around the theme of how chicks learn. We know that they have instincts and we also know that they copy parental behaviour. That is how they learn. We know that some osprey nests are simply better than others. The environment is richer with fish. The parents are more attentive. Did this female as well as Hope come from nests where the female neglected her chicks? or where there was a drought and the chicks suffered? We will never know the answer to that question because the birds are not ringed and we cannot track their history.

Let us hope that this nest has a turn around.

This was earlier.

Later:

Three eggs visible at the nest of Hope and Beau in Newfoundland at Snow Lane.

Two cutie pies at the Sandpoint Osprey platform. Looks like we have one egg that could be a DNH. We wait. These two are only two days old.

Trio at Great Bay doing fantastic, too. Is it my imagination or are the inland nests doing better this year in terms of survival rates? In my data forms, we have regions such as North America, UK, Europe, etc but we do not have North America divided up by regions. That might prove helpful in the future.

Patchogue osplets are doing very well despite the nest being full of garbage – the plague of being a nest in an urban environment.

Three beautiful babies at the Dyfi nest in Wales enjoying a fish dinner in the drizzle.

Three little ones at Bridge Golf being fed. Fingers crossed.

Two eaglets – still – at the Eastern Imperial Eagle nest in RU.

Still seeing two at the Estonian Golden Eagle nest.

Fledge feels eminent at the Cornell RTH nest of the Ns – two hawlets of Big Red and Arthur. Both have been flapping and jumping from one end of the nest to the other. Arthur has been busy bringing in prey close together to try and stop them from flying today.

Oren and Ruth’s two hawklets (one died) are preparing to fledge form their nest at Syracuse University, too.

Cal Falcon fledglings visiting the tower.

Many of you are travelling to see osprey. For the next couple of days I will be including images. Today is from Mobile Bay and tomorrow will be Rutland. ‘L’ had a lovely tour of the Alabama and Florida coasts and sent some images of Ospreys on their platforms and fishing that she saw and took with her phone for us. Thanks, ‘L’.

Some great news coming in late. One of two chicks fathered by 4K at Belvoir Castle near where I lived in the UK has been photographed in the UK on his return as a two-year-old. 4K was the subject of a book, If You Build It, He Will Come. He was also the focal osprey for Sacha Dench’s first round of Flight of the Osprey. Blue 4K is a mature male Osprey from Belvoir Castle, Rutland, hatched in 2013 and satellite-tagged in 2018. I wondered how he had died and Geemeff gave me the following information months ago, “Blue 4K’s tracker showed him in Guinea setting off north, then stopped transmitting. The tracker was fitted in 2018 so was coming to the end of its service anyway, therefore we just expected to see him back at his nest a month or so later. But after weeks went by, it was clear he wouldn’t be returning, and Simon has assumed he died in Guinea when the transmissions stopped. But of course, we don’t know.”

Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care. We hope to see you again soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, questions, photographs, comments, videos, articles, tweets, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, B, Geemeff, H, J, L, MP, NF, PB, TU’, Thoreau, CounterPunch, Elfruler, Lady Hawk, Llyn Clywedog Osprey Cam, Montana Osprey Project, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Field Farm, BoPH, WDNU, Seaside Ospresy, Salt Point Ospreys, Pitkin County, Jann Nichols Photography, isamersfoort.pl, MN Landscape Arboretum, Newfoundland Power, Great Bay Ospreys, PSEG, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bridge Golf Club, Imperial Eagle RU, Eagle Club of Estonia, Forsythe Ospreys, Patuxent River Park, Fortis Exshaw, Dahlgren Ospreys, SCMM, McEuen Park, Osoyoos Osprey Cam, and Fenwick Park Ospreys, Cornell RTH Cam, SU-RTH Cam, and Cal Falcon Cam.

Monday in Bird World

3 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

It was a scorching Sunday morning. I dedicated much of my time to tending the garden. I strategically planted hostas in areas with ample shade and moisture. The vegetable plants are thriving, and the vibrant red flowers of the annuals will soon bring immense joy. Despite the nuisance of mosquitoes and wasps, there’s nothing like the simple pleasure of being outdoors. It’s important to savour these moments while we can. By 1600, the clouds had opened, and the rain was pouring down. The garden will turn into an amazing jungle right before my eyes – heat and moisture are two great combinations. Not for ospreys, but decidedly for gardens.

Sol is the last of Annie and Archie’s chicks to leave the tower of The Campanile at UC-Berkeley. Fly safe Fab Four. What an amazing year it has been with you and Annie and Archie.

I want everyone to send their good wishes to Mini Little Bob at Field Farm. He is so tiny. Can you see him? There are four of them. I am so concerned for this wee baby but…

Now look. Mini Little Bob pushed himself right up to Mum’s beak! This is one you need to cheer for this season. Just like Little Mini at Patchogue.

Here is the link to the streaming cam at Field Farm:

https://www.youtube.com/live/HwzQ_9Eb8Rg?si=_3UEn7ZepOIRcnBS

Pitkin County’s first egg was April 28. We will be on pip/hatch watch from today.

Aran and Elen and their three beautiful osplets at Glaslyn. It is the couples second year together.

At the Port of Ridgefield (first year for this streaming cam), one egg was crushed and one did not hatch. There is a very lucky Only Bob on the nest. We can now see the top of its head.

CJ7 and Blue 022 are excellent parents to their four osplets. CJ7 feeds and feeds and fish are being kept on the nest so that they do not run out!

CJ7 and Blue 022 are brilliant. Tandem feeding – twice! That is how Mini Little Bob is going to survive.

Only Bob is doing so well at Rutland Manton Bay that I sometimes fail to report it. Bob is 24 days old today.

‘A’ sends news re Dyfi: “I spoke too soon – Baby Bob woke up full of beans and decided to bonk both Middle Bob and then Big Bob, a spat that Big Bob was forced to finish. This little one is far from cowed by its older siblings. The incident was short-lived and not particularly vicious – more tokenistic – and Baby Bob fairly quickly decided discretion was the better part of valour and lay down. Mum Telyn was not at all concerned, leaving the kids to it. I got the feeling she would have sat on them all, had that been required, but on this occasion, her intervention was not necessary. 

You mentioned goshawks as potential predators for the UK osplets, and I assume they are daytime hunters? So far, the parents are not leaving the babies alone for very long, though there were a couple of occasions when both parents flew off the nest for a couple of minutes before one would return. Telyn seems to just stretch her wings occasionally, and Idris spends most of his day on the perch, heading off to fish periodically. He does not seem to take very long to return with a fish when he does decide the pantry needs replenishing. 

These three osplets are looking extremely healthy. Cute round little bottoms, good-size PS’s, and all very active and eating well. Even Baby Bob can manage big bites of fish for one so young. The little one can find itself behind its older siblings, having trouble getting to the front of the feeding line and missing out a lot at some feedings, but at others, when it’s in front, it is allowed to eat without interference by its older siblings, which is a blessing. It is certainly not being prevented from getting food. Mum is sometimes a bit lazy about reaching over far enough for Baby Bob, which is frustrating, but it seems to be getting enough to eat and what it is eating is certainly high-quality nutrition. “

The Dyfi Moderator answered a question on the chat about how many fish are coming in now. The reply: “​It’s about four fish a day now. They do not have a favorite but Sea Trout (Sewin) have been the most common this year.”

It is nice to have ‘A’ watching Ospreys! She comments on Dyfi, a nest that she has fallen in love with: “When I checked the nest this afternoon, there was a large fish for each chick. Mum had already fed them as much as they could eat, and then woken them up to feed them again, and still, when she finished the fish, there were still three other headless monsters on the nest. It was as if an inner ring of kiddie rails had been constructed of fish! Unbelievable. Oh how some of those US nests could do with just one of these gigantic fish Idris brings in. With two of these osplets already pretty much in their oily teenage phase, I am presuming that this level of bonking is as bad as it is likely to get (in the absence of a major food shortage). That, together with relative size, leads me to wonder whether we may have three boys on this nest. Time will tell. But they really are a very laid-back lot. Loving them, and Telyn and Idris.”

Three wiggly babies for Seren and Dylan at Clywedog and they are losing their natal down and turning into reptiles, too.

A gorgeous strong Bob for first time Mum Blue 372 at Llyn Brenig.

Oh, my goodness. It just goes to show me that I have to check on these nests, the ones that are not ospreys, a little sooner than I have been. Those two little fluff balls on the White-tail Eagle nest in the Tucholskie Forest in Poland have their juvenile feathers!!!!!! All wet from the rain but aren’t they beautiful?

There are also two healthy osplets in the Reptilian Stage in the Ramucka nest.

Boulder County has one difficult-to-see chick in that deep egg cup. There is plenty of fish.

Dad feeds Mum and Mum feeds Baby at Boulder.

Two healthy babies at the Bridge Golf Course.

Outerbanks chicks are alright.

Tuffy and Ruffie on the nest with Sally at Moorings Park hoping for a fish meal.

Poor Tuffy.

Big and Middle Bob are doing well at Western Maryland Shore. Both had nice crops Sunday morning.

There is shock for the new couple at Dahlgren when one of the three eggs, pecked by a crow and left unincubated, has hatched!

There are at least two bobbleheads at Collins Marsh. Anyone have better eyes than me to see if there are three???

Three chicks as of 2 June at Kielder 5A!

If every male delivered fish like Louis, there would not be a problem. If every lake and reservoir were full of fish, there would not be a problem. If overfishing was not allowed, there would not be a problem. The nests need large high quality fish for the ospreys to thrive. Look at the size of that fish.

Oren and Ruth’s hawklets have almost all their juvenile plumage at the Syracuse University RTH nest.

I love the peachy plumage on the chest of Big Red and Arthur’s Ns. Fledge is coming too soon for both of these RTH nests in upstate New York.

Anna and Andrew have their first hatch of the season. These are Lesser Spotted Eagles in Zemgale, Latvia. Isn’t that a gorgeous nest and what a bright eyed baby. Please be aware that there is a good cause for siblicide at the nest of Lesser Spotted Eagles. They practice obligate siblicide. –

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Baby’s first feeding:

Prey continues to be plentiful at the nest of the Imperial Eagle in RU. Will both chicks survive?

Smallie is trying to get some food from the older siblings at the Amersfoort scrape.

Aurora and Sol together at Cal Falcons.

Charlemagne, the oldest Turkey Vulture, has died. What a sweetie.

These storklets are fortunate. So many died from the torrential rains in Western Europe over the past fortnight. So sad. Thankful to all those wonderful people who reached out to help when they could.

At Port Lincoln, Bradley joined Schultzie much to the delight of everyone listening and watching!

‘MP’ reports that Diane keeps her and Jack alive at the Achieva Credit Union nest. Is Jack unwell?? Just a thought. ‘MP’ says, “It looks as though Diane is doing much of the fishing now for them both. Although Jack does do some fishing, Diane is doing more on this day, 6/2/24. Here’s a pic of Diane bringing in one of two fish today.”

Many have written about Little at Patuxent and ‘H’ brings up the issue of the protrusion in her report: “6/2 Patuxent-1: We had some concerns with this nest on Sunday.  Dad must have had some difficulty fishing, and he was only able to deliver four fish to the nest.  The first meal consisted of a large headless fish, and the meal lasted for about 50 minutes.  Little had a private feeding near the end of the meal, and he ate at least 86 bites of fish.  The next two fish at 1158 and 1425 were smaller, and Big prevented Little from making it to the feeding line.  As the afternoon wore on, we were worried…hoping that Little would get another meal.  

In the meantime, chatters had been discussing something peculiar going on with Little.  Starting Saturday evening, some noticed that Little was attempting to crop-drop way too often…several times a minute.  The frequent crop-dropping continued on Sunday.  In addition, Little seemed to have a protrusion at the right side of his crop.  Something in his crop (a bone?) was causing an area to stick out, and was even causing a separation of his feathers showing a spot of white under-feathers.  It was quite noticeable.  The object in Little’s crop did not hinder his ability to eat at the morning meal, and he had a large crop after breakfast.  By late afternoon, Little’s crop was empty, but still showed the protrusion.  Little needed food in his crop, for more reasons than one.  We assumed that food would help to dislodge the obstruction.  We also knew that only a very large fish from Dad would allow for a feeding of Little, after the sibs had also not eaten for hours.  

Finally…at 1945 Dad landed with a very large headless fish!  Poor Little…Big was hangry, and took it out on Little several times.  Little started to make his move toward Mom at 2016, but was beaked by Big.  At 2019, Little ate his first bite of fish.  Middle had moved away from the table, and Big was pretty much finished eating, but continued to hover near Little.  With Big close by, Little ate slowly and with some trepidation.  Finally, Big retired from the table, and Little was able to eat freely.  By 2032 Little had eaten at least 140 bites of fish and moved away from Mom.  We had a partial view of Little’s large crop, still with the white-tipped area of protrusion.

Thank you Dad for your tireless efforts to provide food for your family.  We are all hoping for more fish on Monday.  And, we are hoping that the object stuck in Little’s crop will be passed into lower parts of his GI tract where it can be processed.”

“6/2 Dahlgren:  Helen and Doug, the new couple at the Dahlgren VA osprey nest, have a little baby osplet.  Their first two eggs did not hatch.  Congratulations!”

This is a bit of a miracle baby.

And to close it off, two things. Geemeff writes that she now checks the Lake Murray nest before the Scottish ones! Middle made it through another night. We are all relieved.

And always to put a smile on our faces, Louis at Loch Arkaig delivers a whopper of a breakfast fish. I cannot help but wonder if every nest had a Louis (or maybe a Finnegan) and there was plenty of fish what would the data on these nests be?

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me write my blog: ‘A, B, Geemeff, H, J, MM, MP, PB’, SK Hideaways, Field Farm, Pitkin County, Bywyd Gwywd Glaslyn, Port of Ridgefield, BoPH, LRTW, Dyfi Osprey Project, Llyn Clywedog, Llyn Brenig, Tucholskie White-tail Eagle Cam, Ramucka Forest Ospreys, Boulder County, Bridge Golf Course, OBX/Outerbanks, Moorings Park, Western Maryland Shore OTH, Heidi McGrue, Collins Marsh, Joanna Dailey, Geemeff, SU-RTH Cam, Cornell RTH, LDF, Imperial Eagle Cam RU, Amersfoort Falcon Cam, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, Angie Nerf, Rene Alleman, Fran Solly, Achieva Credit Union, Patuxent River Park, and Dahlgren Ospreys.

Tragedy strikes at Carthage! Friday in Bird World

23 May 2024

Good Afternoon Everyone,

It was a gorgeous sunny day and I set out to check the number of ducklings and goslings at our local pond. Little did I know the tragedy that was brewing in Tennessee with the recent thunder storms. I am glad that I got out in nature for awhile. To my surprise there was a Greater White-fronted Goose in the pond just paddling about. I was completely taken by surprise by this medium sized goose with its distinctive white face patch and light pink bill. It was a medium ash brown splotched. When it was paddling I noticed its very bright orange legs.

Not a great image. I have not colour corrected. It is migrating through on its way to the tundra in the Arctic region in the far north of our province.

There was a single female Mallard with 9 babies, lots of wood ducks but I did not see any ducklings. I counted a total of 65 Canada Goslings and approximately 250 adult Canada Geese.

They were so cute! The numbers are extremely good compared to previous years!

A new reader asked me why I felt that people needed to intervene to stop the GHOs from taking the Osprey chicks as prey. They reminded me that GHOs need to eat, too, and that this is nature, not a zoo.

My long answer: For me, Ospreys are treasures. They have been on this planet since the Palaeocene Era approximately 65 million years ago, just like the owls. Unlike the other raptors that eat all manner of prey and even carrion, Ospreys eat exclusively fish. There has been the rare occasion when fish stocks were not available and they have been seen to eat birds. Perhaps twice that I am aware of in decades. Osprey talons are made for catching fish, not other types of prey. They do not attack and take the chicks of the eagles and the other raptors. They leave them alone. Have you ever seen an Osprey knock an eagle or eaglet or an owl off its perch or in the nest? In addition, the extreme curved nature of their talons makes them poor fighters against eagles, goshawks, and large owls. Despite the siblicide, they are gentle creatures going on about their business hoping that humans stop overfishing and, of course, they will shortly begin to notice our impact on the climate if they haven’t already. GHOs can live on other prey. In fact, if we would change our agricultural practices and, not use pesticides and herbicides, and stop poisoning rats and pigeons, the owls would help us get rid of those and be quite well-fed and healthy. They do not need to eat Osprey chicks – and if my research is correct, in 2-3 years time, there will be an alarm sounded for a decline in the osprey populations. We will want every chick to survive!

I am a great supporter for intervention in all manner of raptor situations. Not just ospreys. Humans have ‘messed’ with nature so much that the old saying ‘let nature takes its course’ seems wildly inappropriate in the face of great habitat loss, warming seas and dying fish, overfishing to the point that more than 90% of the fish since the beginning of the twentieth century are gone. Because of what humans have done to the planet (our manipulation and control of nature) – including leaving our garbage everywhere – we have a responsibility to all wildlife, and that includes owls, to take care of them and in some instances, that also includes GHOs – but not if they are harvesting osplets.

But, specific to now. ‘H’ and I are intimate with the Raptor families (almost exclusively Ospreys) we monitor for our data information project. I am in my 8th year, and ‘H’ has been with me for nearly three years. The osprey families are a part of us. We understand and recognise their behaviours and can tell when ‘something is up’. We are probably closer to the ospreys we watch than to many members of our own family. Indeed, I can predict the behaviour of many osprey families better than I might my own kids. We sit with them when they are laying eggs, monitor their labour, cheer their hatches, and cry when other osprey intruders attack, such as at Fortis Exshaw last year, and they lose chicks. They are such a huge part of our lives. A piece of us disappears each time one of them dies. We might be accused of caring too much – not being too cold and ‘scientific’. We understand that Ospreys have emotions just like humans do (so do the other raptors/animals). We empathise with them. So, knowing that Lake Murray Mum lost all three of her chicks ast year and seeing how well she and Dad have provided for the trio this year – well, to lose one because the strobe lights or the fish grate protectors were not in place early enough knowing the GHO was there – makes me sad, disappointed, and angry. These osplets are their children like we have children. Do we want someone to steal them and eat them in front of us? That is what the GHO did to Lucy with dear Little.

I hope that answers your question.

The storms going through the central US (or is it the Midwest or both? I forget) have caused havoc for the raptors on the streaming cams and off. We will never know the full extension of the destruction and deaths. In Europe, the gorgeous little storklets, so healthy and happy, have drowned in their nests due to torrential rains. Any that survive are precious and need to be protected.

As all of you know the Denton Homes Bald Eagle nest collapsed. It was rebuilt by the company about 8 feet off the ground, similar to the nest at Fraser Point. The trio of eagles were in care and returned. At least two of the eaglets are observed to have trouble standing or walking. The male came to the tree but did not come down and feed the eaglets. They are now in care. We will never know why the adult eagles rejected the nest and/or their chicks. Human speculation is useless in these situations.

On Friday, storms pounded Tennessee. The Mum at Carthage was doing the best to protect her Only Bob when the nest collapsed with her own it. From the looks of the scene it was not a proper platform but something more makeshift on top of a pole. My breaks for this Osprey family that had done so well this year.

I want to show you images of the Only Bob who could not have survived this tragedy from earlier in the day. ‘H’ has a done a video of the collapse.

It is obvious that all osprey platforms in areas impacted by heavy storms such as the Central and Midwest US should have category 5 hurricane platforms. If anyone wants those specifications, talk to Connor at Window to Wildlife. Poor Mum was holding on tight when the nest just flipped. Additionally, these nests need to be inspected annually and rebuilt, if required.

This is news from Iowa but it might represent many other regions like Tennessee.

Things appear safe at the Johnson City ETSU Bald Eagle nest.

Little Miami Conservancy is OK.

Bluff City is offline and I am concerned as that fast moving storm that hit Carthage is heading right towards the Bluff City-ETSU nest.

One of the eggs at The Port of Ridgefield Osprey Platform has broken and was eaten by the male later on Thursday.

Thank you Lake Murray for keeping those strobes going! It could save their lives.

Strobe lights might help Iris. They could be set up in the parking lot. Too late to install the wonderful fish grates of Cowlitz PUD.

Hatch watch at Cowlitz PUD.

Few Bald Eagles in the Channel Island this year. That baby below is precious.

Gracie Shepherd caught up with the Trio at the West End – my goodness. They really messed with the stats in the Channel Islands because it looks like they are going to fledge three healthy eaglets. Look at that hover!

I was caught off guard. They ringed Monty and Hartley’s Fab Four on Thursday – FOUR GIRLS! Monty must be run off his feet. No wonder feedings are a frenzy!

There is good news out there. And we have to celebrate all these little miracles.

Banding Day Highlights.

‘H’ and I are both worn out from the recent tragedies. Her report for Captiva and Patuxent are below. They are short and this newsletter will probably be short also.

I think I missed a feeding later at Patuxent, but from what I had seen earlier, Little was beaked now and then, but had eaten 243 bites of fish in the first 4 meals.

Captiva: I missed the last two meals, but CO8 was very well fed today; had a bigger crop than CO7 at times.

Louis and Dorcha appear to have another precocious and quite lively Big Bob on their hands this year.

The two osplets of Betsy and Frederick are doing fine.

It is a good thing that Idris and Telyn are very experienced parents and that there is plenty of fish at Dyfi – Big and Middle Bob are already going at it. I hope it is just because their eyes are not focused yet and any beak represents potential fish! And guess what? Three hatched early Saturday morning. Bring in the fish Idris!!!!!!!

And now there are three at Dyfi.

Waiting to see if there is another hatch at Poole Harbour. There was a second pip noticed.

Flora and Harry now have two Bobs at Alyth!

Please note the following fundraising from Dr Sharpe and the IWS team:

Want to save birds and do something really beneficial, then get people to either stop using sticky tape on trees or cut it off!!!!!!!!!

Thank you so much for being with me today. If you are in the area of storms, please take extra precautions to stay safe. We hope to have you here with us again soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, images, announcements, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘BHA, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, Denton Homes, DTC-Carthage, Heidi McGrue, 9ABC News Iowa, Johnson City-ETSU, Little Miami Conservancy, Bluff City-ETSU, Port of Ridgefield, Pam Breci, IWS/Explore, Gracie Shepherd, SK Hideaways, Patuxent River Park, Window to Wildlife, Geemeff, OBX Cam, Dyfi Osprey Project, Birds of Poole Harbour, IWS, and Wild Mountain Birds.

More Osprey eggs…Sunday in Bird World

28 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

When I set off to check on the Stellar’s Sea Eagle at our local zoo, it was windy, and the temperature in Winnipeg was 5 degrees C. The clouds parted, and the dreary day hinted at in the early hours soon gave way to bright blue skies and sun. It was glorious. I am so grateful to be able to get out and about exploring. It is never taken for granted. Each day is a unique treasure filled with discoveries.

At the far end of the zoo in the Asian area is one very handsome Stellar’s Sea Eagle. I love standing and watching him. Today they were cleaning out a part of his huge enclosure and he was just perched paying no mind. I wonder how long this beautiful creature has lived in a cage?

You might recall that a Stellar’s Sea Eagle landed on the eastern coast of Canada in November 2021. The huge eagle eventually travelled to Maine before returning to Canada. How it got from its regular home in Russia is unknown.

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Red-tail Hawk

The male Reeve’s Pheasant has the longest feather of any bird globally at 2.4 metres. The layers and layers of curved feathers are quite amazing. I was mesmerised by the limited colour pattern and how using only black, white, and a golden orange-yellow nature created such spectacular plumage to attract a female!

A lone Grey Wolf captured a lot of attention.

I spotted a pair of Eastern Phoebes in the trees. They are classified as ‘flycatchers’ and are one of the first birds to arrive in Manitoba in the spring, normally in March. They depart in September after making their mud nests and raising their young. They incubate four to eight pure white eggs for 16 days. They normally have two broods every breeding season. They are gorgeous little birds with a grey-green-slightly brown head (like a light olive khaki colour) and back with creamy white underparts tinged with a slight yellow-green-grey. Their bill is black and distinctive.

Hugo Yugo is having a bit of a rest before getting into more mischief. She loves to carry objects in her mouth, including the tub stopper, any earrings that get left out, keys, bags of cookies, necklaces, pens and pencils, cables for computers and cameras, and earbuds. Nothing appears to be safe these days. She also likes to hide them.

Gosh, I adore this little ginger. She is such a character – there is never a dull moment and I cannot imagine, for a single second, my life without her.

You will remember agonising over whether Tuffy at Moorings Park would live or die. Today, almost fully feathered (if not completely), Tuffy is a prime example of why you never give up hope for these little ones. I think that it is also a good example of why you do not turn away. We will never appreciate the struggles that the raptors have if we do not hang in there with them through the good, the bad, and the sheer ugly.

Look at Tuffy’s eyes light up when he sees a fish dinner. What a darling.

‘H’ captured that feeding on video for us. Please have a look. You can watch this on YouTube by clicking the YT link at the bottom left.

Many do not make it. In 2023, out of 339 eggs ‘H’ and I monitored, fourteen died from siblicide. In comparison, eighteen starved to death due to circumstances not related to siblicide and 36 did not hatch.

Asha and Brodie have their third egg at Loch Garten. Proud Mum shows off those eggs!

Aran and Elen have their third egg at 0807 on the 28th – this morning – at Glaslyn. Aran was on the perch giving support.

Mrs O at Tweed Valley laid her third egg on the 27th.

Johnny and June have their second egg at Fenwick Island in Delaware at 0810 on the 28th.

The Ravens took the eggs of Milda and Hugo ending another sad year for this gorgeous Latvian female White-tail eagle. She is now free to find food and not sit incubating and starving – and allowing her health to deteriorate.

There is an egg in the nest of the Lesser Spotted Eagles, Anna and Andres. I have included the link Sassa Bird provided.

This is one of the most interesting articles about the Lesser Spotted Eagle and should alert any potential viewers to the fact that under normal conditions, if there is a second hatch, it is killed by the first even if there is plenty of food present. (I have posted it previously). It is the definition difference between siblicide – the killing of siblings when there is only food for perhaps one – and enough food but the first hatch, the dominant bird, kills the second for no apparent reason.

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E23 is still home and still learning about those annoying small birds.

Edie feeding the two osplets at Captiva. It will be easier when they are not bobbling!

The male brought in a fresh fish at the Frenchman’s Creek osprey platform. He called the female several times while one of the osplets played tug-o-war with the fish. When the female did not come, he began to feed the chick/s. This is good news! These chicks will, despite everything, probably fledge. Thank goodness.

There are three eggs at the Radford University osprey nest in Bradford, Virginia. Thanks, ‘PB’ for mentioning this nest!

This is the link to their streaming cam:

Still snowing at some of the osprey nests in Finland.

Lots of shift changes at the nest of Big Red and Arthur – with two wiggling chicks underneath!

Meal before bedtime. Arthur has the pantry nicely stocked.

There is quite a wiggly nest full at Cal Falcons and everyone is hungry!

Gosh, we have fallen in love with Archie.

‘A’ writes, “

dinner at Cal Falcons was a lengthy affair, beginning at around 17:58 and still continuing more than 25 minutes later, with mum e-chupping to encourage the chicks to open their beaks just one more time. The two youngest chicks were at the front of the pack for this feeding, and were fed first, which was great, as the youngest is often stuck at the back and can miss out altogether at some feedings. Annie is very diligent about feeding all four, though, most of the time. At this feeding, she brought in a very large piece of prepared prey (she was gone about five minutes, unusually, and of course Archie came in to keep an eye on the eyases while she was gone – he is ADORABLE). 

By 18:23, the younger ones at the front appear to have got a second wind and are again accepting bites of food. Annie is amazing. She has been feeding for 25 minutes, and remember this lot is under a week old. I cannot imagine how much work poor mum is going to be doing feeding these four over the next four weeks or so, until they begin to learn to self-feed. And so far, dad has been fantastic in terms of ensuring a pantry full of delicious well-prepared meat for the family. But of course that load is going to increase dramatically week by week, as these four grow rapidly. So both parents are really going to have their work cut out for them. I do wish them both well in this huge endeavour. Annie is not used to raising four, and we have no idea of Archie’s parental experience, if any. It will be a big task for them both. Annie is still feeding at 18:25. By 18:27, there are finally no more takers and Annie eats a bit herself before taking the carcass (not much edible remains) back to the pantry. We can hearing Archie vocalising in the background – he sounds displeased though I have no idea why (and whether that vocal is indeed one of displeasure, but it is certainly very much like the one Annie uses when she is ‘warning’ that she is not happy with or about something or someone). But surely, after that thorough a feeding, all four eyases will sleep with happy tummies tonight. “

Two little hungry osplets at Captiva.

Nesting material is finally coming in to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum nest. It even looked like Dad was telling Mum to incubate the egg that she kept wanting to cover up – it was the egg left out in the rain and uncovered on Friday.

‘AE’ shares news of Monty and Hartley. “From 6:05pm last night and until 6:38am today Monty was the one doing the overnight incubation duty. Hartley had visited the nest ledge. Monty never got up from the eggs so Hartley took herself over to the sunshade where she spent the entire night!”

Betsy and Frederick have three eggs. There was a wee break in the incubation to fix up some rails. Good idea!

Screen captures of Iris and Louis from Saturday. There was concern over an injury to Louis’s chest. You can see what could b e the injury on the chest close to the left wing. I realise that everyone in the world would like Iris to have a dedicated mate, but I don’t want Louis to be injured and possibly die due to an infection if that is a deep gouge with a piece of wood in it as some believe. Starr is at the baseball park, and if she doesn’t have eggs, she will soon. We know what will happen if Iris lays eggs, and that is fine – she will be free from the duties of raising chicks, which I clearly believe has lengthened her life. She eats well and cares for herself year-round. Most research indicates that female raptors lose at least 30% of their body weight, raising babies.

Swoop and the new female at Dunrovin are working on the nest. Look at that long strip of nesting material! An intruder was about and Swoop was in the nest quickly in protective mode.

There is some concern over the GH owlet at Wolf Bay. It has been slightly lethargic most of the day.

‘AE’ got a great screen capture of JBS20’s feet! She said, “Gotta love those feet! I never appreciated orange bird feet so much until I started watching bird cams. He’s waiting for breakfast to be delivered.”

Prey delivered, JBS20 eventually arrives to eat leftovers.

Swampy appears to be doing just fine since he fell from the nest to the branch and fledged and returned. Everyone keep sending him good wishes.

Have you been watching the FOLFAN eagles? Here is the latest.

All three eaglets at Little Miami Conservancy are doing fantastic. Look at the nice crop on the third hatch.

The two eaglets at the ND-LEEF nest both went to bed with full crops. I did not notice any aggression at the last feeding of the day. They both look like they are doing well.

I have written ‘R’ who is observing the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest of Talon and Stella. It looked to me that the two osplets had only one feeding on Saturday and that it was hot. Mum shaded them, but was on and off the nest. Is the Dad missing? One osplet, the third hatch, has already died of siblicide. At one time, Talon was bringing in plenty of fish. Something is amiss. Will another so-let’s life be in jeopardy? or both?

Bradley still loves eating his Puffer Fish on the natal nest!

The thawing of the permafrost is going to have a significant impact on birds and their migration. Many that travel to the UK for the winter from Scandinavia, Greenland, and Siberia, may stop migrating. What else is happening with the permafrost thaw?

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Another deliberate killing of a raptor – this time a Red Kite.

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Incubation continues at Great Bay Ospreys.

Your smile for the day comes from the Venice Golf and Country Club Osprey platform where the nest is full. Aren’t those three gorgeous in their juvenile plumage? The oldest is almost as big as the female.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care. We want you back with us soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, observations, videos, articles, images, posts, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, AE, Geemeff, H, MP, PB’, CBC News, Moorings Park Ospreys, Heidi McGrue, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Tweed Valley Osprey Project, RSPB Loch Garten, LDF, Sassa Bird, Research Gate (B-U Meyburg), Frenchman’s Creek, Radford University Osprey Cam, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Cornell RTH Cam, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, Window to Wildlife, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, San Jose City Hall Falcon Cam, OBX Osprey Cam, Montana Osprey Project, Dunrovin Ranch, Wolf Bay, JB Sands Wetlands, Eagle Country, American Eagle Foundation, Little Miami Conservancy, ND-LEEF, UFlorida-Gainesville, Port Lincoln Ospreys, American Bird Conservancy, BirdGuides, Raptor Persecution UK, and VGCCO.