Category Archives: condors

Tuesday in Bird World

28 May 2024

Good Morning All,

I apologise for being late with the Monday posting.

At Lake Murray, Mum came down from her perch to sleep with her only surviving chick. Did she hear the GHO. Oh, if this chick can only put on some good weight and if the beams from the strobes were the same as they were Saturday night, Middle might stand a chance. (Note: Little was taken the first night and it appears that Big was taken Sunday night.)

Baby was safe this morning. Oh, please, let this nest keep one!

As we recover from the second GHO predation at Lake Murray, we must – where possible – advise the osprey and eagle nests of the success of the Cowlitz PUD experiment with the metal fish grids. I keep talking about the economical cost. Two fish grids with a welded rod attached to opposite sides of an Osprey platform. That is all you need! It works. A baffle at the base of the pole for raccoons would always sweeten the deal. If you know of a nest that suffers predation from other raptors, please advise them. You can feel free to copy this. They can contact Cowlitz PUD and they will happily tell them how they did it. We need to be proactive. No sense osprey parents working hard to fledge chicks only to fatten them up for owls and eagles who can find other meals.

‘B’ wrote with a very good question. I want to go through my files and put my ‘thinking cap’ on with ‘H’. It is not a topic that we have put into our data forms which are related to ’causes of death in ospreys’ and, specifically, siblicide, but it is worthy of some good notes and someone might be working on this research and I am unaware.

I wonder if there is a statistical difference in predation from osprey nests on platforms that humans have installed specifically for them, as opposed to predation from nests on natural sites that the ospreys have selected?  (That is, are the ospreys somehow better able to select a site from their own choices among natural sites than when they receive implicit encouragement to use a site selected by humans?  Have the ospreys built up some sort of knowledge from experience and historical patterns?)

I have not seen a difference.  In fact, if I think of overall predation by other raptors for the past three years, it ‘seems’ higher on natural nests in the UK and Finland than on platoforms in the US – the deaths there were mostly caused by weather related events or eggs that DNH.  The major predator in the UK and Europe appears to be the goshawk that lives in the nearby forests.  These nests are not in urban areas as a rule like many are in North America.

A goshawk came and took one of the osprey chicks at Llyn Clywedog right when Seren was feeding them in 2023!  

This is a comment by John Williams who cares for these ospreys: ‘This blog was never going to be easy to write, but yesterday at just before 16:30 a goshawk attacked the nest and took one of our young ospreys. It was blue 8B1, the attack was very quick and out of the blue. Both juveniles and Seren 5F was on the nest eating the fish when it happened. All distracted by the food their guard was down. You could see Seren 5F looking down to the ground as if she could see him down there.’ (I have placed a file at the end of this, the entire sad report by John Williams. I was glad to see him refer to the birds as ‘family’ because that is, of course, how ‘H’ and I feel about those we monitor).

A young goshawk took a female chick that had just been ringed at Kielder Forest in 2023 from the nest of Mr and Mrs UV. The couple are raising chicks again this season on that very nest.

Goshawks also attack ospreys in Latvia and in one nest in particular the male has failed to attract a new mate because of this. The rumour, this great sadness of chicks taken, must have spread. It was the nest of Theo and Vita.

The new fledgling, Sacha, named after Sacha Dench and The Flight of the Osprey, was attacked by a goshawk at Tweed Valley. To my knowledge, the ospreys are still breeding there.

CJ7 and Blue 022 are still using their nest in Poole Harbour despite the goshawk taking their fledgling H52 on 5 August 2022.

In the US, people will remember Steve and Rachel and the attacks on their nest. Rachel did not return from migration and Steve and his new mate, Callie, refuse to use the on-camera Hog Island nest despite restoring it and mating and having fish gifts.  “Last year, the rangers posted a photo of a very remote nest on Hog Island that they believe was used by Steve and Callie (H)”. ‘H’ also adds, “Dory and Skiff had Skipper that was predated by an owl in July 2023, but they did not change nest sites.  The primary nest that I know of is Hog Island.”

There was a spate of killings in Finland and I do wonder if some of the nests without families this year are those. I would have to do some more research and check for certain.  

Della and Warren have their first hatch of the 2024 season at Mispillion Harbour.

There is the first hatch at Clark PUD.

Olive and Oscar’s little chick at The Port of Ridgefield is peeking up – look under Mum’s fluffies -. So cute. This nest will be getting lots of predator protection for the 2025 nesting season.

Cutie Pie baby at Boulder County.

And another one at Cowlitz. Let us hope those fish grates hold this year against predating raptors in the area like they did last year.

There is a hatch at Moraine State Park on Monday.

Idris and Telyn are celebrating the hatch of their third chick. It is the 15th year for Ospreys at Dyfi in Wales.

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There are now three for CJ7 and Blue 022. CJ7 is making valiant efforts to get that little one some fish.

Beautiful Dorcha is feeding her three chicks. Louis keeps that pantry full despite in climate weather.

Louis delivered six fish on Monday. SIX large fish!!

And there is the first hatch for Elen and Aran!

The three osplets at Smallwood State Park in Maryland are doing very well. Like Manton Bay they are right on the water and I hope it is full of fish!

The three at Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home are getting a little rowdy, especially the two older ones. Arthur needs to being in many more large fish – if they are even available, maybe not. Or lots and lots of fish deliveries very close together! Fingers crossed for this little one.

Patchogue Nest is so full of garbage you can hardly see the chicks.

Radford University has two babies. Here is the link to their camera in Virginia.

There are four osplets at Field Farm.

At the Loch of the Lowes, Blue NCO lost her chance for a family when Laddie was killed/died. She had two suitors – a Pale Male and a Dark Male. Now Mrs G’s (Glaslyn matriarch did not return in 2023 from migration) granddaughter 7C1 has been battling with Blue NCO for the nest and she was on the nest with the Dark Male on Monday. It is not going to be nice this nest attempted take over.

Archie is working over time to keep his four babies fed!

The trio from the Denton Homes nest are doing very well at SOAR. As well as can be expected when they are being raised in care. Safe, well fed, nice vet care.

Across Europe firefighters work tirelessly to save the lives of storks – whether it is fishing line or floods or just abandonment.

Other ordinary individuals adopt storks and feed them. Makes my heart warm up!

Bety and Bukacek had only one hatch out of two eggs at Mlade Buky this season.

Iris and Finnegan hoping for a family.

The fledglings still visit the nest at the Venice Golf course in Florida while that nest that was loaded with fish at Fisherman’s Creek appears to have no more visitors.

It is very difficult to tell how much food Smallie is getting at Amersfoort. ‘PB’ reports that Smallie was very clever and jumped out of the box to get fed and then back inside. Yeap for Smallie.

Larry’s eyases are getting pretty independent and not sure they want Mum telling them what to do!

Pip/Hatch watch at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum coming up in 3-4 days.

‘H’ reports on the nests she is monitoring:

“5/17 Patuxent osprey nest – There were six fish brought to the nest by Dad.  After two days with very little to eat, chick 3 “Little” finally had a couple good meals on Monday.  At 0715 Dad brought a medium size whole fish, and Little was not allowed to eat.  It’s not just ‘Big’ that is aggressive toward Little, but also ‘Middle’ at times.  Dad quickly brought another fish at 0805, while the two older chicks were still full, and Little was able to eat 52 bites of fish. Little was shut out of the third feeding.  At 1336 Dad brought a very large headless fish, for a feeding that lasted nearly an hour.  Little ate 70 bites of fish at that meal, and had a nice crop.  There were two more fish deliveries from Dad of small fish, and Little was not able to get any bites of those fish.”

“5/27 The Mispillion Harbor Delaware osprey nest of Della and Warren has their first baby of the season.  One egg remains.”

“5/27 Captiva ospreys:  They had a better fishing day with 8 fish brought to the nest, including a partial catfish from Edie.  Darling (CO8) was only completely shut out of one short meal, and s/he managed a couple nice crops.”

Could this Golden Eagle nest be the exception to the rule of ‘Cainism’? There are two healthy eaglets at the Golden Eagle nest in Estonia. The first chick always eats first but there is enough food for all and second chick eats well, too along with Mum. Fingers Crossed.

The camera has been on and off with ‘Highlights’ at the West End. I have been told that Koa has branched. I did not see it! They are so big!

It was yesterday but we can celebrate today. One of my heroes.

Thank you so much for being with me today. This was a quick check on all those hatches and some coming up. It is a busy week and there are still eggs to hatch – lots of them! Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, questions, posts, videos, articles and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, B, Geemeff, J, H, SP, PB’, Heidi McGrue, Clark PUD, Port of Ridgefield, Boulder County, Cowlitz PUD, Moraine St Park, Dyfi Osprey Project, BofPH, The Woodland Trust, Geemeff, Smallwood State Park, Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home, PSEG, Radford University Ospreys, Field Farm, The Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), SK Hideways, SOAR, CS, Mlade Buky Stork Cam, Montana Osprey Project, VGCCO, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Amersfoort Falcons, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Patuxent River Park, Mispillion Harbour, Window to Wildlife, Eagle Club of Estonia, IWS/Explore, and USFWS History Archives.

Hatch at Cornell, Osprey eggs…Saturday in Bird World

27 April 2024

Good Morning,

The rain I wished for arrived Friday morning, along with a chill to the bone feeling. It was much needed, and the smell of the wet earth was intoxicating, especially after all the dust. The grass around the City is turning green, and the leaves on the lilac bushes in the garden are starting to emerge. I cannot wait to see the garden completely ‘green’ again. This morning, the first White-throated Sparrows arrived in the garden. They returned, again, in even larger numbers – 35 or 40 – in the pouring rain around 1930. They are easy to see with their three white stripes on the crown, but I realised that soon the leaves would be out, and I will be scrambling to tell who is where.

The White-throated Sparrow might look like a House Sparrow except for that amazing head and throat. The first time I saw one, I thought it was a plastic head stuck on a house sparrow. Silly me. There are three white stripes alternating with black to make up its crown. On each side, at the top of the black beak, is a yellow dot – someone got into their paint pot! The proper term is lores. Below the beak is a white triangle like a bib, hence the name – ‘White-throated’. [The White Crowned Sparrow lacks the white bib!]

All about Birds says, “White-throated Sparrows eat mainly the seeds of grasses and weeds, including ragweed and buckwheat, as well as fruits of sumac, grape, cranberry, mountain ash, rose, blueberry, blackberry, and dogwood. In summer they eat large numbers of insects that they catch on the forest floor or, occasionally on quick flights out from low vegetation. These include dragonflies, wasps, stinkbugs, beetles, flies, and caterpillars, as well as spiders, millipedes, centipedes, and snails. Parents feed their nestlings almost exclusively animal matter. During winter, White-throated Sparrows readily visit bird feeders for millet and black oil sunflower seeds. In spring they eat the tender buds, blossoms, and young seeds of oak, apple, maple, beech, and elm.” They were certainly busy kicking and foraging in the grass beneath the feeders in my garden. I noticed that they not only consumed the Black-oil seed but the Millet and the Corn.

The white eyebrows are normally sider than the single stripe running down the middle of the crown. You can see the yellow lores clearly in the image below.

“Female White-throated Sparrows put their nests on or just above the ground, typically in level areas in clearings with dense ground vegetation. The nest is usually built under shrubs, grasses, or ferns, sometimes even beneath dead vegetation from the previous year. Birds sometimes put their nests off the ground, particularly if they lost a previous nest to a predator. These nests may be in roots of an upturned tree, brush piles, in shrubs or ferns, or as high as 10 feet up in a coniferous tree.”

‘The Girls’ are just like our little raptors. After every meal they go into a food coma! Hugo Yugo is no exception.

I am afraid to say but it appears that Hugo Yugo is starting to grow – long. Her face still looks like a kitten. I am hoping that my eyes are just fooling me. She still fits in the shoe box.

Meanwhile, Missey still likes it when the plants are watered and will curl up in them like she did as a kitten with Lewis.

It isn’t an end table…it is a two-tier hard sofa for cats. I wish the individual had not felt the need to refinish the tops – the wicker is marvellous and it would certainly be more fitting for it to be in its original condition, however grotty.

The Fig Tree needs a nice new pot.

Richmond and Rosie are going to be grandparents! I get goosebumps when I hear of survivals like this. I am sure many of you watched ZD with me four years ago!

There is a second egg hatching at the nest of Big Red and Arthur Friday afternoon. There will be another beak to fill Saturday. Arthur is already bringing in the squirrels. I hope it is a huge population of them and chippies this spring – he will have six mouths to feed in total.

N1 is a darling. Our friend ‘A’ thinks so, too: “N1 is SUCH a strong little hawklet. It is eating like a small fluffy piglet. Mum is feeding it often and it is eating like a pro, even picking up dropped mouthfuls for itself! This is one precocious little chick. But of course that is hawklets isn’t it? Their nest time is so short compared to eaglets and osplets. They grow so fast and fledge so soon, we have to appreciate every day we have them in the nest. A bit like falcons, really, which returns me to the happy little band at Cal Falcons. A darling, hard-working little dad and a devoted, very experienced mum. This may be the first time all four of Annie’s eggs have hatched (although we have no idea what would have happened last season had that third egg not almost certainly been laid away from the nest on the day Grinnell died) but I have a lot of confidence in this pair to successfully raise all four to fledge, as long as they are not bothered by intruders.”

Too cute!

Big Red positively glows when her eggs begin to hatch and there are chicks to care for. She even looks younger and younger.

UPDATE: From ‘A’: “

The second hawklet is nearly dry when Big Red gives us our first good daylight look at the expanded family from about 06:28:20 when she gets up for a stretch. There is a stick that falls across the nest as she moves and the new hatchling has to struggle out from under it (mum moves it). The second little one appears strong and healthy. I’m sure there will be a meal soon, but at this stage, this is the first really good look we have had at the second hawlet. 

Two eggs hatched and two eggs to come. I wonder whether the gaps between hatches will be similar or whether there will be different time differences. There looks as though there MAY be a pip in the third egg (left hand side at the front as we are looking at the pic), right down at the bottom on the left hand end but of course I may be wrong and it may not even be at the correct end of the egg. So I wouldn’t be relying on my ability to spot pips on hawk eggs or (especially) on osprey eggs. Just too many blotches for me to see anything definitive. “

Cutie pie falcons in Osaka being fed – look how big they are! The pin gathers are coming in and they have lost that sweet baby down but gosh, they are still adorable.

H’ reports that Angel and Tom visited their nest Saturday morning. Yippeeee.

The first egg at McEuan Park in Idaho was laid on the 26th. Thanks, ‘H’.

*Caution. Not recommended. Potential neglect from female/starvation despite male delivering fish*. The first egg of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum nest was laid on the 25th. This is a very problematic nest. Little to none nesting materials. Experienced Dad. Female appears to have many issues. She has failed to cover egg and it has rained heavily on the egg. ‘MP’ reports that the Dad tried to cover it with the few cornstalks available. The female later returns to incubate. Quite honestly, the kind thing would be for this egg to be unviable.

In comparison, Annie is a superb Mum. ‘A’ writes, “Annie was so careful this morning to make sure that little number 4 chick was fed after its older siblings had eaten their fill. She had to go around to the back of the pile to reach the little one, which is way too small to reach over the others and not yet strong enough to push its way to the front. So Annie is making sure that she gets the food to the little one herself. She is very deliberate about it. It has to wait its turn, but Annie keeps feeding and feeding until all the little mouths are closed, and then she e-chups some encouragement to try just a couple more bites and the little beaks open one more time. And when they have all eaten their fill, only then does Annie finish the feeding and remove the leftovers. .(Or on this occasion, she simply ate the leftovers herself, having fed the entire prey item to the chicks.) 

She is a very very good mother, and Archie is doing a sterling job. He would love to do more, and is always there if he feels the chicks might get chilly waiting for mum’s return, but knows his place and is quick to depart when mum arrives back. I think brooding the four is going to be quite a challenge for him within a day or two. “

Annie wants to be in charge of the feedings!

Squirming falcons.

Audacity laid a fourth egg that was crushed. It makes me so very sad to think how much she wants a family – or for that matter all the others like Jackie and Shadow, Chase and Cholyn, and of course, dear Gabby and Beau. When I get down in the dumps about it all, I just go over to Cal Falcons or Big Red’s…you cannot help but smile and have all the gloom washed away.

Falcons are hatching everywhere including in the Netherlands near the city of Duurstede.

Raptor Resource Project staff keeping a close eye on the eaglet at Decorah North.

Later images at Decorah North.

The first osprey in all of Italy hatched on Friday.

Fish arrived at 1326 at Moorings Park and what you can’t see is Tuffy on the other side being fed first.

Look at Tuffy working those wings. Our darling little one has grown up – and is surviving.

Idris incubates the eggs while Telyn enjoys a nice fish supper at the Dyfi Osprey platform in Wales.

Contentment at Glaslyn with Elen and Aran.

I wish that Affric and either Prince or Gary would find the same kind of contentment at Loch Arkaig nest 1. How could osplets be raised with all the kerfuffle going on?

Louis found out about the other male courting Iris and might well have sent him packing. Iris is alone in the rain. Louis has an injury on his chest.

Swampy is beautiful and appears to be doing well! Prey being provided at the nest.

Two osplets at Frenchman’s Creek are self-feeding, getting fed by Mum once in awhile, and you know what? They just might fledge – they might make it!

The eaglets at Little Miami Conservancy are walking on the nest and growing like crazy. Look at that formidable female! I would not want to get her upset.

West End trio doing quite well.

Eaglets at Duke nearing branching and fledge.

The two eaglets on Farmer Derek’s property, Wichita and Cheyenne, are both doing fantastic.

Notice the difference in plumage. Port Tobacco eaglet is getting its feathers but is only beginning compared to the Duke Farms eaglets, Jersey and Leaper.

Fort St Vrain eaglets, FSV49 and 50, are so tiny. They are losing their natal down and finishing up getting their thermal. One has even been pecking at prey.

While it might look boring, the ospreys and eagles have to stay vigilant during the incubation period least their eggs get pecked by Crows (Tom and Audrey’s most recent egg at Kent Island) or they get attacked by intruders. The pair at Boulder are always on the look out for trouble.

Denton Homes eaglet trio now have their thermal down.

Andor and Cruz’s pair are doing well – and are simply lovely.

Jackie and Shadow give me the warm fuzzies – it is like ‘everything is going to be OK’ when I see them together.

The new male at Anna and Louis’s nest, E1, at Lake Kincaid seems to have a fetish for turtles. Tonya Irvin worries that they could become endangered at the lake!

Hoping that the first hatch at Captiva is kind to the second and letting it eat enough.

There are three eggs at Cowlitz PUD.

Nothing is happening, yet, at Oregon Law’s osprey nest.

Liberty and Guardian’s eaglets at Redding are well looked after.

An unexpected snow in Finland has hit areas where the ospreys are nesting.

Others were not affected. The female at Janakallan, Yellow XKT, was on the nest today. Has her partner, Red CCL, lost his Darvic ring?

I have been following the plight of Milda and her two eggs since Hugo went missing. On Friday, Milda left the nest at 1759 and had not returned by 0700 Saturday morning. She cannot do this alone and new males have proven to her to be unreliable. Better unhatched eggs than starving chicks – precisely how I feel about other nests, too.

Researchers in Australia have found that noise from urban pollution (traffic) stunts the growth of baby birds.

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An Osprey rescue in Belgium that could have a very happy ending.

If you missed it, here is April’s Ventana Wildlife Condor Chat.

Our birds and wildlife need habitat, clean water, and food. Humans need to examine the land we use and begin to see a different vision than houses – larger and larger ones – taking over land. In my City, they should be building up, not out.

Did you read Watershed Down? The local community has lost their battle for the iconic and inspiring landscape for that story to housing.

Locals-lose-battle-to-stop-360-homes-being-built-on-picturesque-Watership-Down-farmland-Daily-MaDownload

Thank you so much for being with me today. I am always so happy to hear form you! Take care. We hope to have you with us again soon.

Thank you, as always, to those who sent me notes, provided posts, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, MP’, SF Bay Ospreys, Cornell RTH Cam, Osaka Peregrine Falcons, McEuan Park, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Cal Falcons, Wijk bij Duurstede, Raptor Research Project, Parco Natural Regional di Porto Conte, Moorings Park Ospreys, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Geemeff, Montana Osprey Project, Eagle Country, Frenchman’s Creek, Little Miami Conservancy, IWS/Explore, Duke Farms, Kansas City Bald Eagles, Port Tobacco Eagle Cam, Fort St Vrain Eagles, Boulder County, Denton Homes, SK Hideaways, Tonya Irvin, Window to Wildlife, Cowlitz PUD, Osprey Law, FORE, Finnish Osprey Foundation, The Guardian, Gregarious Joris Toonen, Ventana Wildlife, and the Daily Mail.

*Disclaimer: I have made effort to thank everyone who has contributed to today’s post. If there has been an error or an omission, my apologies. Please let me know so that I can correct my omission.*

Tuffy reads Ruffy the riot act!…Second miracle chick at NCTC…Berry eaglet dies…Thursday in Bird World

11 April 2024

Good Morning,

My plans for Friday and Saturday have altered. There will be blog posts but they will be briefer than normal for those two days.

It is Wednesday evening. The second egg at the NCTC nest of Bella and Scout is hatching. The chick can be heard on the microphone. Thanks ‘T’ or your keen eye! Send the most positive energy to this nest so that Scout does not kill this second miracle chick! Perhaps Bella will feed the little one when he is there so he can understand that it is not a prey item.

For dear Bella, I hope, like each of you, that this little one fledges and thrives.

Scout has been acting ‘odd’ again. We will just have to wait and see what happens.

It was another gorgeous day on the Canadian Prairies. 14 degrees C. There was a cool breeze blowing off the lake at the nature centre that made it feel much chillier. The geese and the ducks arriving did not mind! Everyone walking on the trails was happy and one of the rangers remarked that the muskrat had been seen in the swamp. There were Saw-whet Owls, a Blue Heron heard but not seen, woodpeckers, geese, ducks, Red-wing Blackbirds and the Song and Fox Sparrows have returned from their migration.

I heard the Saw-whet Owl but did not see it and this is not unusual for these nocturnal birds.

Cornell Bird Lab gives us some cool facts about these smallest of owls.

  • Cool Facts
    • The Northern Saw-whet Owl may have been named for giving a call that sounds like a saw being sharpened on a whetting stone, but there is no consensus as to which of its several calls gave rise to the name.
    • The main prey items of the Northern Saw-whet Owl are mice, and especially deer mice of the genus Peromyscus. Saw-whets usually eat adult mice in pieces, over the course of two meals. 
    • The female Northern Saw-whet Owl does all of the incubation and brooding, while the male does the hunting. When the youngest nestling is about 18 days old, the female leaves the nest to roost elsewhere. The male continues bringing food, which the older nestlings may help feed to their younger siblings.
    • The female saw-whet keeps the nest very clean, but a mess starts to accumulate when she leaves. By the time the young owls leave the nest, 10 days to 2 weeks later, the nest cavity has a thick layer of feces, pellets, and rotting prey parts.
    • Migration in saw-whets has historically been poorly understood, because of their nocturnal, reclusive behavior. In the 1990s researchers began Project Owlnet, a collaboration that now consists of more than 100 owl migration banding sites. Researchers use the too-too-too call to lure owls in to mist nets, and band thousands of saw-whets every fall. 
    • Migrating Northern Saw-whet Owls can cross the Great Lakes or other large bodies of water. In October of 1999, one landed on a fishing vessel 70 miles from shore in the Atlantic Ocean near Montauk, New York.
    • The oldest Northern Saw-whet Owl on record was at least 9 years, 5 months old when it was captured and released by a Minnesota bird bander in 2007. It was originally banded in Ontario in 1999.

In the urban area where I live, habitat loss is one of the primary reasons for wildlife decline. My goal over the past decade has been to create a corridor or the birds – an area populated by bird feeders, bird houses, bee houses, and, ironically, safe places for the feral cats to feed, drink, and sleep. (I have discovered that the feral cats do not bother the birds at the feeders. It is the domestic pets that do!) Cornell Bird Lab is reaching out and asking that each of us do something to provide habitat for the birds.

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Make a Difference for Birds Facing Habitat Loss “As I was setting up the nest boxes, I saw my first Tree Swallow of the season and had a pair of bluebirds checking out the boxes right after I put them up—looks like the boxes are bluebird approved!”—Kim Savides, Ithaca, NY Experiences like this are more common than you might think! Creating a nesting space for birds helps replace missing habitat elements and alleviate competition for good nest sites. Cavity-nesting birds like bluebirds, chickadees, swallows, and titmice will appreciate the additional space, while you get to enjoy the magic of witnessing nature close to home. You can get personalized guidance on which nest boxes to install for your region and habitat—along with free construction plans—on the NestWatch website. Don’t have space for a nest box? Create other nesting opportunities by hanging flower boxes or adding potted plants to your outdoor space. Just don’t wait too long; birds are looking for the ideal nesting spot right now!

I promised you some images of ‘The Girls’. Missey and Hugo Yugo have been getting into far too much mischief. They have their own ‘feather’ collection, which consists of a vase full of Canada goose feathers, which they can play with at any time. Ah, but since one feather looks like the other, they have also been into my Pheasant and Peacock feathers vase. The Peacock feathers are quite old. My grandmother’s younger sister raised peacocks on her farm in Oklahoma. I remember their tails fanned out in the front garden as a child.

I there is trouble or anything ‘going on’ you can count on Hugo Yugo being involved. Dear Hope was sitting minding her own business when Hugo Yugo decided it was time to play!

Remember. Hugo Yugo is very, very tiny for her age. She easily fits into that shoe box with room left over. She plays like a kitten and continues to be the size of one even though she is seven months old.

Hope loves to watch the squirrels out of the window and is very curious about the ‘outdoor’ cats. Here she is sitting minding her own business.

Hugo Yugo has spotted Hope and is ready to play!

Hope has so much patience – like the others because of Hugo Yugo’s size.

Hugo Yugo never seems to get tired of play fighting.

She easily pushes Baby Hope over on her back.

Finally, after about twenty minutes, Baby Hope gets some peace. Hugo Yugo’s battery is out of juice.

The sweetest cat…Calico.

‘J’ sends us the latest update on Meadow:

Mid-week Meadow update: We sent the DNA sample to the lab on Monday, so we expect results back sometime in the next couple of weeks. Meadow is eating well from tongs in the kennel — and all that food gets pretty expensive! Meadow is fed four times a day, as eagles grow incredibly fast in order to leave the nest at 12-14 weeks. The average Bald Eagle rehabilitation costs our Center more than $5,000 including medical care, housing, and food. To support Meadow’s care, please contribute at https://act.audubon.org/onlineact…/ar8crC6bIUGX9UsdFBWdnw2

‘H’ brings us the fully daily report from Moorings Park:

“Harry brought a small whole fish at 0711.  Tuffy received one bite and was beaked by Ruffie.  Tuffy moved away and Ruffie ate.  At 0716 Tuffy was beaked again even though he was not in a position to eat.  The fish was gone by 0722.  One bite for Tuffy.

At 0920 Harry delivered a large live fish.  There was no initial aggression toward Tuffy other than ‘the look’, which was enough to keep Tuffy from the table.  At 0928 Tuffy got one bite and was beaked and driven away.  One more bite for Tuffy at 0934, and he was beaked.  Tuffy ate another bite of fish at 0937 and was severely beaked by Ruffie.  By 0940, Ruffie quit the feeding, but she  blocked Tuffy from Sally.  There was still a fair amount of fish remaining.  Sally ate some, and at 0945 Ruffie ate some more.  At 0946 Tuffie started to make his move to get around to the other side of Sally, but by the time he got there, Ruffie was finished eating and moved away.  At that point Tuffy was fed a nice breakfast.  Tuffy was seen crop dropping a few times to make more room.  The fish was gone by 0959, and Sally found a few scraps off the nest to offer Tuffy as well. Tuffy ate at least 63 bites of fish.”

… At 1131 Harry brought a headless fish.  Tuffy moved away as he has been conditioned to do.  Ruffie was fed.  Ruffie wasn’t very hungry and moved across the nest at 1135.  Tuffy could not believe his luck!  Tuffy had Sally and the fish all to himself, and he ate at least 98 bites of fish by 1147, at which time he walked away from Sally.  Then, Ruffie ate again for a few minutes, and Sally finished the fish tail.

…At 1519 Harry delivered a fairly large headless fish, four hours after the last fish.  Tuffy stayed near the front, but turned away from Ruffie, and Ruffie was fed.  At 1521 Tuffy received one bite, then was intimidated by Ruffie with ‘the look’.  The video live stream froze at 1524, and resumed at 1536.  So, while we have no idea what transpired in those 12 minutes, we found the siblings eating side by side.  The meal was over by 1539.  Tuffy had a huge crop…enough said!

‘H’ caught Harry coming in with two fish! A double-header.

“Master-fisher, Harry, delivered two whole fish at 1655, a medium-sized one and a large one.  Harry flew off with the larger fish.  Ruffie ate while Tuffy stayed back.  Tuffy still had a decent sized crop from the 1519 meal, and he did not seem hungry.  Sally and Ruffie ate all of the fish by 1703.

… At 1703 Harry returned with the headless one.”

Everyone loves Tuffy and MM caught this great image! It sure looks like Tuffy is giving Ruffy an earful. ‘MM’ says that Ruffy did not retaliate. Yeah for Tuffy.

This image of Tuffy telling Ruffy the what for touched so many hearts. After I saw MM’s image and H’s little video for me, The Tuffy Fan Club lit up my inbox. If only this little osprey knew what a cheering section it has – my goodness. This is a memorable moment. This is what it is all about—watching the very difficult times and seeing some of these little ones come out fighting and surviving. You never forget them.

‘H’ captured the moment in the video, making my day. I love it when these little beaten ones turn around to their perpetrator. You know that this nest is turning around.

And then, there was a late delivery. ‘H’ writes: “Harry dropped off a small partial fish at 2150.  Sally ate, and she had a difficult time connecting with little beaks due to the darkness.  It was peaceful, but Ruffie got the most simply because she could reach out further to Tuffy.  Tuffy ate 5-6 bites.”

Thursday morning report at Moorings Park from ‘H’: ‘At 0759 Harry arrived with a very large headless fish (possibly catfish).  Ruffie beaked Tuffy immediately, setting the tone.  Tuffy tucked.  At 0808 and 0810 Tuffy tried to approach Sally, but he was intimidated by Ruffie, so he moved further to the sidelines.  Tuffy remained tucked at the sidelines for a very long time.  Ruffie was not being fed that entire time, but she kept an eye on Tuffy. The fish was very tough, and it was slow-going for Sally.   At 0825, Tuffy started to slowly inch closer to Sally, and by 0826 he was at her right side letting her know that he was ready to eat…but, Ruffy was obviously ready to pounce.  Sure enough, at 0826 Sally offered Tuffy a bite, and he was immediately beaked by Ruffie.  At 0832 Tuffy scooted even further away from the feeding line, but Ruffy followed him.  At 0835 Ruffie saw that Tuffy was trying to sneak around to the other side of Sally and she moved across the nest and beaked him.  By 0849 Tuffy was still tucked at the far rail, and Ruffie was getting bites of fish whenever she could as Saly continued to struggle with the tough fish.  It’s Interesting to note, that since Ruffie has grown so much, she can reach Sally’s beak from almost across the nest, so at 0850, Ruffie was still getting a few bites from Sally all the way across the nest.  This increased range of Ruffie seemed to greatly reduce Tuffy’s ability to sneak around to get into a better position.  Slowly, Ruffie seemed to be relaxing as she got full, and Tuffy was once again near Sally at 0852.  Tuffy ate 6 bites of fish and was beaked.  Ruffie soon moved away from Sally, and by 0855 Tuffy was finally being fed.  Ruffie laid down across the nest and Tuffy had a private feeding.  Tuffy ate at least 102 bites of that tough catfish!  This feeding of Tuffy was made possible because of the large size of the fish Harry brought.  For survival of the non-dominant osplet.. size matters.”

‘H’ said that right! You can count fish, but you need regular deliveries of large fish to prevent siblicide. The delivery of 8 small fish does not help! Catfish also seem to help. The head is tough going and slows down the feeding. The oldest gets full and goes away leaving fish for the little one. Diane’s catfish at Achieva certainly pulled that nest through tough times.

‘H’ also caught the second egg at Carthage – four days after the first and Mum has been doing hard incubation since the first one was laid. Can I say, oh, dear before they have even hatched? All chicks were lost on this nest last year.

‘H’ reports that “First egg at Forsythe today, 20.10.02.” Opal is the same Mum from last year but this is a new Oscar.

Like so many others in the area, this nest was hit hard by the Nor’easter in June and then the overfishing of the Menhaden.

The weather is horrible at Loch Arkaig’s nest 2 with Louis and Dorcha. Dorcha is there in the middle of the wind and snow and it appears she could be laying her first egg.

‘J’ sends us Karen Mott’s photo of the three eaglets at Centreport on Long Island. What a surprise when their heads all pop up!

Unless you are an expert on California Condors, I really suggest you grab a cuppa’ and watch this 24 minute film. It’s new. It is by Tim Huntington and the cinematography is gorgeous.

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It feels like video day! Dani Connor Wild gives us her last instalment of her trip to Antarctica with leopard Seals, more Penguins, and story after story.

JBS20 continues to make his fan club nervous as he continues to explore the tower that would be a tree. Fledging within the week probably.

Despite the miserable wet weather, Bonnie and Clyde keep their eaglets fed and warm.

The weather is wet and miserable for the Little Miami Conservancy eagle family, too. Bette is doing a great job as Umbrella while Baker is keeping food on the nest.

The ND-LEEF babies of Dad and Gigi appear to be doing fine.

USS7 – Claire and Irvin’s little one – is super! We can certainly be thankful for these little ones with their soft downy heads and little wings and feet.

Ellie and Harvey filled up Cheyenne and Wichita on Wednesday.

I know that the prey deliveries get fewer as the eaglets get older, but after hearing about Meadow being emaciated, it would be so nice if the parents could keep up the deliveries like they did when the eaglets are in their growth period. The Dukies would have liked some more today I am certain.

Hearts continue to break for Jackie and Shadow and their dream of a family.

Port Tobacco’s ‘Only Eaglet’ is certainly benefitting from all that food brought to the nest and not having to share but Chandler, the Dad, is missing.

Update: B17 has died. Please send your good wishes to Ma and Missey at the Berry College Bald Eagle nest in Georgia. Their only eaglet B17 appears to be unwell. Did it get sick from the damp weather? This photo is from Tuesday.

This is the today’s state of affairs at the eagle nests from ‘J’:

New eaglets:
Bald Canyon 2
Folfan 3
Avon Lake 2

Eaglet died:
Berry College

MIA:
Chandler, the male, at Port Tobacco. Not seen at the nest since 9 April. Intruders about.

‘J’

The eaglets at Decorah North must bring us some happiness. They are lovely.

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We have a Finnish Osprey at home. Cara arrives at the Janakkala Nest on Tuesday the 9th!

Then, almost simultaneously, Stefu arrives at the Seili Nest! They are coming home.

Falcons hatching in Eindhoven and in Japan!

At Port Lincoln, Bradley loves to show off his fish!

‘A’ brings us news of the Mums at Taiaroa Head Albatross Colony: “The mums are obviously foraging closer to home than the males in the Royal Cam families, with both BOK (arrived 12:46) and LGL (13:04) coming in to feed their boys some lunch today (11 April). I thought you might be interested in this footage, not for general consumption because it is a bit long (18 minutes) but it is the beginning that was fascinating to me. The story here is that BOK returned when she was ready to find a mate (so probably aged about four) and this bird, at the time known as Red, was her preferred suitor. This was the footage of the day Red was banded and became WYL, father of TFT chick with his mate, BOK. The thing that interested me the most was that this is a mature bird, ready to court and find a mate. They don’t return to Taiaroa Head until then. So Red must have been at least three and probably four or even five years old. And he allowed the rangers to approach him, extend an arm (for self-protection) and pick him up while holding his bill closed. There is no attempt to flee, struggle or engage in self-defence. He just quietly submits to the rangers’ tender care, while they equip him with the White, Yellow and Lime banding that identifies him as WYL. Imagine doing that to an eagle at the same age! You’d lose a limb. And an eye or three. The stately gentle beauty of these amazing birds never ceases to take my breath away. Looking at those adorable little snowmen with their tiny little fluffy wings that will soon become like the wings of a glider plane, steering their direction as they ride the thermals. These are wings designed not to flap, which would be pretty much impossible given their enormous spread, but to surf the wind currents. Truly amazing birds. So very precious. A haven such as Taiaroa Head shows human beings at our best. Those rangers (and the NZ government that finances their work) dedicate themselves to the wellbeing of the toroa, which are particularly special to the Indigenous people of NZ (the Maoris). How wonderful is it to know that these chicks are hatched in an incubator to protect them from fly strike, and are then weighed weekly, supplementary fed if necessary, and generally given optimal care throughout their prefledge period? Or knowing that the adults, too, will receive supplementary feeding and/or hydration as required, such as if one parent does not return to relieve its mate for an over-long period of time? Or that the sprinkler system will be turned on to keep the chicks and adults on the nests cool on days where heat stress might otherwise impact them?  What a joy. 

Small colony of Dorset Puffins on the brink of extinction.

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Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care and feel free to send me any bird news that you see!

Thank you to the following for their notes, photographs, screen captures, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, AE, Geemeff, J, H, MM, T’, Deb Stecyk, NTCT Eagle Cam, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, Moorings Park Ospreys, Carthage – DTC, Forsythe Osprey Cam, The Woodland Trust, Karen Mott-Centreport Eagles, Ventana Wildlife Society, DaniConnorWild, JB Sands Wetlands, Cardinal Land, Duke Farms, SK Hideaways, Port Tobacco, Little Miami Conservancy, Kansas City Eagles, ND-LEEF, Pix Cams, Berry College Eagle Cam, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Yvonne M, Japanese Falcon Cam, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Lady Hawk, and BirdGuides.

Big Red has an injury…Tuesday in Bird World

2 April 2024

Hello Everyone,

UPDATED CORRECTION: IT IS LIBERTY AND GUARDIAN’S FIRST CLUTCH. ONE EGG BROKE. I APOLOGISE FOR ANY CONFUSION WHEN I SAID IT WAS THEIR SECOND. REMEMBERING WRONG! THANK YOU SP.

We are starting with Big Red. Many of us watched and wondered about Big Red. Several reported seeing a limp before eggs arrived including myself. It appears that our much beloved Red-tail Hawk at the Cornell Campus has sustained an injury to her foot. Please read the article below for all the information and send positive energy to Big Red, Arthur, and their four eggs.

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The warmth of the sun is pouring into the conservatory. Hugo Yugo is asleep in the blue chair while Missey eyes the top of the cat tree. A woodpecker is at the square suet feeder while the Blue Jays flit back and forth from their nest tree to the feeder loaded with peanuts. Dyson and the last year’s kits have already been to eat and Little Red is still scurrying about.

There is something comforting and stabilising about nature and the change of the seasons. No matter what happens in our lives, life outside of ‘us’ continues. That natural rhythm gives me hope every year as life returns to the garden. The soil warms, the first Crocus will appear, and then the tulips. The leaf buds will pop open on the lilac bushes, and the fragrance of the flowers will envelop the entire space around the third week in May. This year also brings new promise as the Black-capped Chickadees are making a nest in two trees in the garden. It is a first. Normally, they nest in the very large Blue Spruce across the road. If deemed safe, Junior and his mate will bring the new Blue Jay fledglings this summer, and we will also have a deck full of baby Crows. Seriously, I cannot wait. That reminds me – both ‘Boyfriends’ have been to the feeding station today. Are they brothers?

The top is the ‘original’ Boyfriend that came to the deck with Calico. He has 2/3 of a white bow tie.

This one has only a part of a bow tie. The one below is actually the friendlier of the pair.

The central heating is off, and nothing made me think I needed a jumper or socks this morning. Today will be a day for a trip to the country or time spent whipping the deck into shape. It is getting there. This year, I will put up privacy screens to become a trellis for climbing flowers for the hummers and bees. Everything is going to be red – hopefully, it will be inviting. There is a new outdoor carpet to replace the old soiled and faded one. I dislike them immensely, those carpets. Most are plastic. This one is made out of recycled fizzy drink bottles, but the energy consumed in manufacturing the original bottles and now this carpet is probably much. I should try and find out. I have the carpet for a single reason – the feral cats. It covers the spaces between the boards and keeps the snow and rain from going under the deck where the outdoor cats often sleep.

It all feels different today – like spring really is coming. It was something we would only dream of on 1 April several years ago.

Megan Boardman spent Easter weekend at Rutland Water, where she took some amazing images of the Ospreys. Megan has happily and generously allowed me to share these with you. She holds the copyright. Do not share them with anyone – just enjoy them here. Thank you, Megan!

Maya in the nest with Blue 33 on the perch.

Megan caught the moment that the intruder arrived at the nest as Maya was laying her first egg. Blue 33 went into action to chase them away!

The first chase.

The intruder comes for the second time. Megan says that it was ‘an action filled day’.

Megan writes, “After things calm down (and first egg laid during the chaos), 33 brings fluff to the nest and Maya flies to wash her talons.”

I am a sap for Blue 33. Here he is protecting Maya again today.

Maya laid their second egg at Rutland this morning.

Sadly, intruders can cause damage and on Monday one of those caused Mother Goose to lose one of her eggs at Decorah.

As you will note from Alison’s terrific commentary, Leaper and Little Jersey are doing quite well at Duke Farms. There has been a big turnaround in food deliveries and life has settled back to being civilised. It is the ‘cherry’ on top of the sundae when life returns to normal without an eaglet being lost in the process.

‘A’ stayed up til the middle of the night (she lives in Australia) to give you this morning round up at Duke. “

Another fish came in at Duke Farms, courtesy of dad, just before 08:05. It is whole and medium in size. There is still half of the breakfast fish left nearby on the nest. Mum is brooding the eaglets and doesn’t get up. Dad leaves again 30 seconds later, knowing better than to attempt to take any fish with him. It is raining this morning, and mum shelters the eaglets, doing her best mumbrella. Just before 08:11, dad is in with ANOTHER fish, a little smaller than the last one but whole. Dad stands there for a bit, periodically looking down at his fish, then flies off the nest at 08:11:50. At 11:04:35, dad is in with yet another whole fish. This is getting ridiculous. He surveys the fish buffet in front of him – three whole fish and a half fish left over from breakfast – actually looking from one to another, to another. I think even he is astonished. Dad leaves at 11:04:49. 

At around 11:20, mum finally gets up and shakes her wings to get rid of the water, while the chicks scramble to get up from beneath her. This leaves Jersey front and centre at the table, and as mum flaps her wings to remove the water, one of her wings strikes Leaper, who immediately grabs Jersey by the back of the nape, though she quickly lets go and herself goes into submission. She is quickly up again while Jersey remains tucked. Mum surveys the brunch selection and chooses the smallest of the three whole fish to begin feeding Leaper. Jersey remains tucked though facing the table. Leaper interrupts her eating to back up for a huge PS (11:21:26) then returns to the table. Jersey remains tucked until 11:23:25, when he lifts his head and turns away from the food. Mum is now eating herself. She is hungry. She downs the last third of the fish, including the tail, as a single mouthful. 

She then moves to a second whole fish. Leaper, who had left the feeding and sat down on the far side of Jersey, who had finally turned towards the table, suddenly changes her mind, turns around and heads back towards mum. This causes Jersey to turn away from the table again. Seeing that mum is offering bites to Leaper, who is refusing almost all of them, Jersey gains the courage to turn around and move up to the table beside his sister, though he is still nervous. Mum ignores both of them, continuing to eat herself. She appears very hungry. It’s a while since I’ve seen her eat fast and greedily like this. She sure deserves it. When Leaper shakes her head, Jersey leans away slightly. He remains nervous. 

Finally, mum reaches out towards Jersey with a bite. He shuffles a couple of paces closer to mum, half-turning away from Leaper as he does so, and grabs the bite. It is his first of the feeding. (Leaper has eaten about half a fish at this feeding so far.) Mum continues to feed Jersey big juicy fishy bites with no objection from Leaper, who is full, so sits watching her brother eat. He is still a bit slow to take bites, nervous of his sister, and is still grabbing at the food rather than eating in a leisurely and relaxed manner. At 11:27:20 Leaper moves towards mum, causing Jersey to turn away, but she is just changing position and has finished eating, so Jersey immediately looks over his shoulder and grabs the next bite. He then eats and eats, and some of the bites are very large. It is a lovely juicy fleshy fish. 

Around 11:29, he refuses a bite – he is too full (he started the feeding with a crop from breakfast), so does a crop drop and accepts the next bite offered. She is very patient with him, offering pieces several times, moving slowly and carefully around him so as not to startle him, turning her head to make a bite easier for him to access – she really is a special mum. I have grown to love and admire her so much over the past week. She has been amazing. Jersey is still eating at 11:30 but is looking as though he cannot fit much more. There is still one whole fish and two half fish (one large, one smaller) left on the nest. Both eaglets have gigantic crops. Again. He refuses a big bite at 11:30:30. Mum waits for a bit, and at 11:31:16 Jersey accepts the next bite she offers and then continues to eat. At 11:32, having refused a bite, Jersey crop drops but still cannot fit in the next bite mum offers either. 

After a short period where he was too full to take the proffered bites, Jersey resumes accepting food. Mum is stuffing him to the brim. A couple of crop drops shortly before 11:35 don’t make enough room for more food, so Jersey refuses some bites but then accepts a very large piece, and another bite, around 11:35:30. Mum is working on the last of this second fish now. The rain, which has never entirely stopped, is now getting steadily heavier and the eaglets are starting to look more than a little damp. By 11:36 mum is eating virtually all of the mouthfuls herself. She tries hard to persuade him to take just one more bite around 11:37 but he says no, eventually underlining his point by backing off and then turning away. The feed officially ends. 

Jersey is full and being soaked by the rain, so he heads for the centre of the nest and tries to dive headfirst under his sister, but is thwarted by her immense crop. He tries again, and there is some general shuffling of eaglets, after which he succeeds in tucking some of his head under Leaper’s crop He keeps trying to find a way to burrow under his sister, and eventually, at 11:40, mum comes over from where she has been standing on the rails, does a little aerating behind the two eaglets, and then settles down to shelter the pair from the continuing rain. What a wonderful mum. 

There is still one medium-large whole fish and one large part of another fish on the nest, along with a scattering of leftovers from the two fish that have already been almost completely demolished this morning (mum has left the second one as a skeleton with something that looks like a jawbone attached to one end and perhaps part of a tail at the other – slim pickings from that carcass I suspect). So there is lunch and dinner on this nest already, regardless of how busy an afternoon the parents have. Now that the rain appears to have set in, that may be a very good thing. 

At 12:26, mum stands up and flaps her wings, sending sprays of water in all directions. Another burst of flapping, and she leaves the nest soon after. The eaglets snuggle up together – it is still raining steadily, though not too heavily. As I type this, it is 13:10 and Jersey is sleeping with his head tucked as far under his sister’s right wing as possible. Both are in food comas, even as they are being soaked by the continuing rainfall. They have their thermal down now – this is the world of grown-up eaglets. (I think they’d prefer being brooded by mum over youthful independence just now.) I hope their mumbrella is back soon. I do hope she is not out fishing!!”

Monday morning and that beautiful peachy orange of the sun is waking up the land at Decorah North.

Those babies are kissed by its rays and Mum is ready with breakfast.

Guardian and Liberty laid a second clutch. They so wanted a family and here they are with two little bobbleheads at Redding. Doesn’t it feel nice?

The breakfast fish seems to be coming in around 0900 or 1000 at Moorings Park. Perhaps I am missing an earlier delivery. Little Tuffie did not seem interested in the first feeding but caught up during the second. The fish was nice and big and there was still much good flesh left for the third meal.

Both osplets are scooting out of the egg cup but Ruffy is the real expert so far.

Due to Ruffy’s long neck and bigger size, Tuffy has to work a bit harder to get food.

Look closely. They are changing. The back of their heads. The feathers are disappearing and that black oily tar colour is appearing as the two softly enter the Reptilian stage.

Notice the difference in plumage at Frenchman’s Creek Osprey nest. These three are getting their juvenile feathers. A really big fish is on the nest for breakfast Monday and the little third hatch is up at Mum’s beak getting first bites.

It looks like the third hatch got a bit of a private feeding later.

‘AE’ sent some images of the Patchogue Osprey platform. Mum and Dad have worked hard to repair the disturbance caused when the nest was flipped upside down. The egg area is quite small compared to last year but it appears that the eggs will not roll out. Might we hope for only two? And as ‘AE’ notes, the plastic bags continue to be brought to the nest.

She also sent us a screen capture of the eaglet at JB Sands Wetlands. Just look at how big s/he is! Dad did a fine job caring for the eaglet and Mum just like Arthur is doing for Big Red. Look at those gorgeous wings!

‘MP’ writes that Barbara Walker, the Manager of the Tampa Bay Raptor Rescue, has undertaken to put up the necessary deterrents out of ‘high quality’ materials at the Achieva Credit Union Osprey nest of Jack and Diane who lost their eggs and two-day old chick. The precise reason for the eggs to be found under the nest and the demise of the little osplet has never been determined. Thank you, Barbara! – from all of us.

Watching for Iris to return to Hellgate Canyon.

The Owl Pole where Iris loves to eat the whoppers she pulls out of the local river.

Iris’s nest. It will be the best nest on the continent – Iris does an amazing job of keeping it in tiptop condition. Her ‘train’ is also waiting. When she arrives you will hear my scream all the way to Rio! Or Melbourne.

LJ2 working on the nest at Llyn Brenig.

Libby and Branson have returned to their nest at the Lochter Activity Centre in Scotland.

Today there were four eagles at the Dulles-Greenway nest.

The couple at the Wetlands Institute Osprey nest (there are five and this is one of them) are back working on their nest this year in hopes of raising a family.

There is a pip on Monday afternoon at the ND-LEEF nest! Congratulations!

Is there a second hatch at Centreport?

At the NCTC nest of Bella and Scout, the rain is coming down. Bella is protecting her precious eggs in the hope of fledging eaglets off this nest this year.

Chicks doing well at Little Miami Conservancy. And another one hatched this morning, LM3. Now there are three.

A lovely radio interview on BBC Radio Scotland about Louis and Dorcha at Loch Arkaig.

Dorcha and Louis make the BBC news.

Louis pretending he is a penguin delivering Dorcha a fish!

The Greens Ledge Light Preservation Society has put up a new nest for Ollie and his mate at Norwalk. It is a beauty. His nest often got washed out to sea with the high tides. They hope this will help. Ollie has returned home and is waiting for his mate. There is also a new camera. I am trying to locate the link for you.

Note the lovely mesh below the frame.

This was a storm that hit Ollie’s nest in 2022. The nest is on Long Island Sound.

Many have asked about Dmitri. You will recall he rescued the little storklet – the one Mamma Stork was killing – and raised it to fledge. Then Dmitri required surgery. He is well and fixing the stork nest for this year! Thank you to all who helped. He says he is “so happy to be alive and for the birds arriving back from Africa”.

At Utica, Astrid has laid her fourth falcon egg of the season!

Which brings me to Angel and Tom. Our dear ‘A’ is very worried about them and the fact that there are no eggs. I wonder if it is possible that they have another nest this year? or are they just a little late?

The latest word on R6:

The White Storks in Goggling Germany now have 5 eggs!

I love gulls and I purchase chips for them whenever I am at the beach or at Lockport by the dam. Do you feed gulls chips?

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Did I ever tell you how marvellous it is to still have story time with the girls? At least once a day, and always at 1900, we gather in the conservatory and I read to the cats. It all began with Calico and her needing to recognise my voice and to trust me. She was in a little room, my old office, and I would go in with a book and her meal. She would eat, cuddle on my lap (yes I sat on the floor) and I would read to her. She has a preference for certain author’s voices. It has been a wonderful way for me to keep up with my reading and for all four of them to gather together. I now know that volunteers at the raptor centres read to the ambassador birds. They are no different than humans – all living things need stimulation and love. I ordered a number of books before the end of 2023 because part of my year was a promise to cut down on the book orders. I have ordered three books so far which has to be an all time low for me during the winter when there is time to read! So, ‘The Girls’ and I are working through that stack of books during story time. Next up is Chris Packham’s Birdwatching From Beginning to Birder. Will keep you posted as we finish up Tim Mackrill’s The Osprey. Review coming up later this week.

Missey looking at the bookshelf to see if she can find a book for story time.

It was a delight to see that animal skins and feathers are being banned from fashion week in Copenhagen. It could be the start of something special. No more animals bred and kept for the fashion industry!

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Thank you so much for being with me today. All of the nests appear to be doing fine with the exception of Big Bear and Two Harbours where disappointment at a lack of hatch touches all of our hearts. All of the eaglets in the nest and all eggs being incubated appear to be in good order this Tuesday morning. Take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, photographs, videos, screen captures, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘A, AE, Geemeff, H, J, MB, MP, SP, TU’, Cornell Bird Lab, Megan Boardman, LRWT, SK Hideaways, Duke Farms, Raptor Resource Project, FORE, Moorings Park Ospreys, Frenchman’s Creek, AE-PSEG, MP-Achieva, Montana Osprey Project, Llyn Brenig, Lochter Activity Centre, Dulles Greenway, Wetlands Institute, ND-LEE, Centreport Eagles, Little Miami Conservancy, BBC Radio Scotland, BBC, Geemeff, LRWT, Greens Ledge Light Preservation Society, @Stork40, Utica Falcon Cam, Windows to Wildlife, Jeanne Kaufman, The Guardian, Goggling Germany White Storks and SPO, and Amazon.

More hatches, more arrivals…Monday in Bird World

25 March 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

We hope that you have had a nice weekend. The sound of the geese coming into Devonian Lake today—where there was water for them—was like a choir singing. Sitting on the bench at the nature centre and listening to them was soothing on a day when calm was needed. More and more geese and ducks fly over each day, bringing us the hope that not only spring but some rain might come one day. It is still dry and dusty if the wind is whipping it up, and I still have issues sometimes.

Here the Canada Geese are arriving around noon on Sunday. There were hundreds and hundreds in the lake and more than that trying to find some grass over with the Bison at our nature centre.

The Girls continue to enjoy the warm weather. Well, I call it warm. It was -5. But next week the forecast is for +14 on Tuesday. No rain predicted. This is not good.

Hugo Yugo will be completely healed in 10-14 days but she is just so much better every day since she had her surgery. Calico is losing some weight very slowly. I am now adding warm water to her wet food to ‘fill her up’ a bit and she is eating her low calorie hard food. The others are just simply wild with spring fever.

Watching and waiting for Hugo Yugo to strike!

Missey who looks like she came out of the forest.

Calico who dared to give us a chance.

Gorgeous Hope.

Hugo Yugo. So sweet when she is asleep.

The second osplet hatched at Moorings Park Sunday morning. The second hatch is still quite unsteady and has fallen inside its shell. Hopefully, it will be up and steady soon.

Oh, that is so much better!

As of 15:45 Sunday afternoon, there has been no food delivery at the Duke Farms Bald Eagle nest since Friday at noon. Mum found an old bone and got a few bites off of it on Saturday. The first hatch, Leaper, is beating the crap out of the second. We are now at 50 hours without a substantial meal. Mum is ‘starving’, too. Is it possible that something has happened to the male? Mum will have to move in and against her instincts stop brooding and feeding and start hunting. I fear we are losing Jersey. Already they will be intimidated from eating and unless a huge fish or prey item comes and Leaper goes into a food coma, the feeding could be quite one-sided like it was at Bluff City-ETSU.

I last saw or heard the Dad several days ago. I read that the adults at Duke often exchange prey on the branches rather than Dad coming to the nest, but it would appear that this is more than that. He may be missing, injured or killed. As mentioned in the earlier paragraph, Mum is still in brooding mode with her hormones, but she will need to move swiftly into hunting mode. The eaglets are just a month old and have their thermal down, and while it is not ideal, they can be left. It is the same situation as M15 faced when Harriet died, only it was the Dad who had to take over full-time care, including security, hunting, feeding and brooding. Jersey did eat some scraps, and it can dig around the nest, but will it be enough? for leftovers, I continue to be reminded of the resilience of the third hatch at Achieva in 2021, Tiny Little I called her. She did just that and survived and became the dominant in the nest, defending it against adults when she was just 4 months old. These little survivors can achieve much – but they need to survive!

Prey arrived late at Duke Farms. Mum brought it in. Leaper ate. Jersey was too afraid. Mum ate. Nothing more to say unless a huge food item arrives.

Jersey did not get any of the food that arrived at 1800.

Jersey may try and chew on that little bony piece that is left. Look at the crop on Leaper. The Mum noticed Jersey trying to feed itself from the scraps. In the case of the third hatch at Achieva, Diane was able to bring in catfish late, when the older two were full and asleep, and feed the third – once she realised how determined it was to live. And it did live because of Diane’s actions.

This year has already seen several instances of siblicide in Bald Eagle nests in the US. As we move into Osprey season – and still have quite a number of eagle nests where eggs will hatch – it is a good idea to remind ourselves ‘why’ siblicide occurs.

Siblide-in-Bald-EaglesDownload

Here is a longer Master’s thesis on siblicide.

MasterLS_EE_2016_JICamachoGarciaDownload

Hope and Chandler have more than enough fish for their little one and them. That is a whopper.

The surviving eaglet at Bluff City has had plenty of fish and has been renamed ‘Viper’.

There is a pair of ospreys on the Patuxent 1 nest in Maryland Sunday morning when the cam came back on.

Frenchman’s Creek triplets are doing well.

In contrast to the weather in Maryland, the Decorah North Bald Eagles are experiencing heavy snow and high winds. They are forecast for 1-3″ of snow and then rain. There is a new hatch under Mrs DNF.

Welcome DN17.

The snow has stopped at the nest of Cornell Red-tail Hawks, Big Red and Arthur.

We continue to wait for eggs at the nest of Angel, the Leucistic Red tail Hawk, and Tom.

Baiba made a montage of the Eagle Country nest featuring Blaze, Abby, Swampy, and Meadow on the 23rd of March.

Swampy and Meadow had a lesson in plucking. They are magnificent. Those nests that successfully raise two eaglets to fledge in 2024 should get double gold medals.

R6 is older, and he could fledge at any time. He spends much time on the rim of the nest, looking out over Ron and Rose’s territory. gr8lakes suggests that R6 should just take his time. He is in the safest place he will ever be, and when he leaves that nest, life becomes a huge challenge.

Few could raise three gentle souls. Give Thunder and Akecheta a round of applause.

Trudi Kron catches the hatch at the Land Conservancy and the second hatch for Farmer Derek’s eagles.

Berry College was on the top of the list for this week’s hatches and they are right on time! BEL-a-donna caught it.

Both ospreys-Oscar and Olivia – have been spending much of the day at the Severna Park platform in Maryland.

It was windy at the Carova Beach (Outerbanks) Osprey nest of Betsy and Frederick.

The Oyster Bay resident ospreys have returned.

The couple have returned to the Boulder Fair Grounds. What a week this is going to be – eaglets hatching and ospreys arriving.

White YW, that incredible male at Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve Osprey nest, has returned home safely from his migration on the 24th of March.

The remarkable Black 80 has returned from his migration from Africa to Threave Castle. What is the secret to his long life besides luck? He is the chick of Mrs G and her mate, 11(98), at Glaslyn. Great DNA.

First California Condor egg of the 2024 season. Something to celebrate and a brand new couple.

E23 is doing well and F23 and M15 are great teachers.

There was also a beautiful subadult visitor to the M15’s nest. Could it be one of M15 and Harriet’s fledglings returned?

More than that, though, is the touching relationship between F23 and her first eaglet. Sleeping together…this eaglet is going to be so missed if they ever encourage it to leave! (or when its instinct kicks in to seek the wider world)

It is officially hatch watch at the nest of Liberty and Guardian in Redding, California.

The weather has been miserable at many of the Bald Eagle nests and Kansas City is no exception. Ellie and Harvey and their family have been rocking and rolling Sunday night and there was, of course, rain. Harvey has the pantry full and is often with Ellie on the nest.

Hartley and Monty recovered from their intruder and are thinking more eggs!

Closing tonight with the cutest little Peregrine Falcon – soon to be a dad for the first time – Archie at the Cal Falcons nest. His mate Annie gave them four eggs!

Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care. I very much look forward to having you with us again soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, questions, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘H, J, MP’, Moorings Park Ospreys, Duke Farms, Port Tobacco, Bluff City, Patuxent I, Frenchman’s Creek, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Cornell RTH Cam, Window to Wildlife, Baiba, Eagle Country, WRDC, gr8lakes, IWS/Explore, Trudi Kron, Berry College Eagle Cam, Severna Park, Outbanks 24/7 Osprey Cam, PSEG and Oyster Bay Osprey Cam, Boulder County Fairgrounds Osprey Cam, Cumbria Wildlife Trust (Foulshaw Moss Osprey Cam), Jeff Kear, Brian Taylor, Ventana Wildlife Society, Lady Hawk, Real Saunders Photography, FORE, SK Hideaways, and Cal Falcons.

Rosie returns from migration…Sunday in Bird World

3 March 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

We are within a fortnight of Ospreys potentially arriving home from their winter grounds to their spring/summer breeding sites. I get ‘Osprey’ fever. Suddenly, you will think that eagles have vanished from the face of the earth as this post gets taken over by the ‘fish hawks’. I will continue to report on the eagles and, as we know, falcon and hawk season will begin also. I will, however, be watching closely for all osprey arrivals and eggs laid. Last year ‘H’ and I monitored over 300 osprey eggs from the time they were laid through fledge and migration. It is daunting and we hope to add more nests this year. You can help!

We do not have all of the European nests in our data system. If you are fans of a particular nest in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, etc., please do send me the name, a link to the streaming camera, the names of the adults, the date of their arrival, dates for eggs laid, hatch, and fledge. The more eggs and chicks monitored the better the data. My long term study is on siblicide, but I am now including mitigating factors leading to siblicide and other causes of death to the osplets. Last year there was the Nor’easter in the US, overfishing of the Menhaden, and in the UK much predation by other raptors. That also happened in the US. Do not be shy. I am very grateful for all the eyes on the nests and information.

If you see an osprey nest and are concerned that siblicide is taking place and I have not mentioned it in my post, please do let me know. You can do this through the comments or by sending me an e-mail: maryannsteggles@icloud.com

Thanks so much!

Tim Mackrill, Director of the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, has been talking about his new book, The Osprey. There is much about migration because that was the focus of Mackrill’s PhD at the University of Leicester (yeah – my alma mater!). It is a really good listen and you will learn a lot so, even before we get to Jackie and Shadow, here is the link to that Zoom presentation. I promise you will thank me after you listen to all of it!

Waiting. We are waiting for a storm to hit, but we don’t know if it will actually happen. Meanwhile, the big storm that is going through the area around Big Bear appears to be worse north of Jackie and Shadow. Still, I know that we all worry about them. There are three eggs. The first was laid on the 25th of January. So how do you count? Is it six days in January, 29 in February and now three in March. If so, the first egg is now 38 days old which is right in the frame of 38-39 days for Jackie’s historical hatches. The third egg is 33 days old. The couple have been so diligent, so careful, so dedicated to this clutch. Please let one of them hatch and be a perfect little eaglet.

Jackie and Shadow continue to make the news: CBS evening news with Nora O’Donnell. Thanks, ‘R’

I didn’t know it. ‘B’ wrote and directed me to BENSWEATHER.com This will give you a better forecast for Jackie and Shadow’s nest.

It continues to be miserable. I really do not like it when the weather is wet and cold and there are little ones. These eggs can wait a few days, OK!

A video of the mid-morning switch over.

Richmond was waiting for her and preparing the nest. Rosie arrived Saturday morning at 0713. Relief.

The first one was stuck to a shell and feared lost. The second unzipped its egg in what felt like record time. Now both of them are the cutest little bobbleheads! Duke Farms aka Dukies.

One of the first feedings for both eaglets at Duke Farms.

Should we call it ‘Spike’? One of the Johnson City eaglets.

Indeed, my stomach sank several times today because of the Johnson City eaglets. I knew there were two. I could only ever see the one trying to be a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Finally there was the second head.

There’s another one with a long neck or as ‘J’ says, ‘A Nessie’. This time at Superbeaks.

Meadow goes under Abby to eat! Declares it a ‘no bonking zone’ from Swampy.

Ron and Rose are still feeding R6, their ‘big’ baby.

There were several fish species delivered to Cal at the Captiva Bald Eagle nest on Saturday. They included a Tilapia, a Sheepshead, and a Striped Mullet. Cal likes to be fed, too! That Sheepshead looks yummy. Cal can also self-feed much better than R6.

A video of E23’s successful branching earlier on Saturday.

Two immature Bald Eagles have visited the Dulles-Greenway nest that belonged to Rosa and Martin and then Rosa and Lewis (part of one season only). Could these by Rosa and Martin’s fledglings returned older? I would love to think that one of their offspring would take over their nest like Samson did with his parents, Romeo and Juliette, at NE Florida.

Did you know that California Condors rarely nest two years in a row? Kinda like the Royal Albatross. Well, that might change this year.

Why are condors important to the environment? Remember, I promised to slowly introduce you to these amazing carrion eats. See if you can make a list before peeking below! Don’t look.

The US National Park Service says, “

Indicators of Wildland Health

In addition to keeping wild landscapes clean, California condors are also good indicators of the ecological health of wildlands and ranchlands. Condors are very long-lived birds and they reproduce slowly, averaging successfully fledged young every two years. Condors can fly many miles in a day in search of food. They are also sensitive to certain toxins (like spent lead ammunition), and nestlings are at risk from ingestion of garbage (like small bits of microtrash). Because of their far-ranging movements, longevity, slow reproduction, and sensitivity to toxins and pollution, condors are strong indicators of ecological health on the open landscapes they inhabit.

As members of a high-profile endangered species, condors serve as the proverbial “canaries in a coal mine,” drawing attention to toxins and pollutants that affect many other species of birds, mammals, and wildlife. Promoting condor recovery also supports wildland health and vibrant wildlife populations in general.”

Another article on what is causing the gorgeous Rainbow Lorikeets to become paralysed.

They are one of the most rare birds in the world. They live a perilous life. How can you help the California Condor? Audubon California gives you some ideas. If you live close, you could volunteer. You can also donate and you can also advocate on their behalf. If you decide to donate at some time, please provide your funds to the Ventana Wildlife Society. You can go to their website and see the amazing work that they do on behalf of these amazing birds in Pinnacles and Big Sur.

Helping-the-California-Condor-Audubon-CaliforniaDownload

Calypso, the 2019 fledgling from the Port Lincoln Osprey barge. First believed to be a female has now been determined by behaviour to be a male.

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Ferris State University will have its osprey cam up and running before the birds arrive.

It’s to Murphy the Bald Eagle incubating a rock and then getting an eaglet to raise. No, it is Hinkley, the Vulture, who is nesting with rubber duckies at the World Bird Sanctuary. So cute.

Lena continues to want to bond and is preparing the scrape on the cliffs of Anacapa.

For those of you waiting for Angel’s cam to go live, it is!

https://www.youtube.com/live/admo2pS3SuY?si=oRdQ_v4OXVH9_QQX

And last, but never least, Big Red. She spent a lot of time at her nest on the Cornell Campus on Saturday. Some of us were holding our breath thinking it would be the earliest egg laid by this 21 year old Red-tail Hawk. And then she left! Lookin’ good. For those of you that are not familiar with Red-tail hawks, just look at that tail and you can see why they got their name.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Thank you to ‘B, J, R’ for their notes. Thanks also to the following for their posts, articles, videos, screen captures, and streaming cams that also helped me to write my post today: Osprey Leadership Foundation, FOBBV, CBS News, Cali Condor, Bensweather.com, SF Bay Ospreys, Duke Farms, Ondabebe, Johnson City-ETSU, Superbeaks, Eagle Country, SK Hideaways, Dulles-Greenway Eagle Cam, Ventana Wildlife Service, Friends of Osprey Sth Aus, The Guardian, US National Parks, Ferris State University, World Bird Sanctuary, WRDC, Window to Wildlife, and Cornell Red-tail Hawk Cam.

E23 branches…Saturday in Bird World

2 March 2022

Hello Everyone,

It was +5 degrees on Friday. The day was so beautiful at the nature centre. The ice was melting on the smaller ponds. It was a good day for a very long walk. The thought of more snow and being inside instead of out in the fresh air was inspirational to getting that 5 km completed. It really is one foot in front of the other and before you know it you have accomplished something you didn’t think you could do! I still remember the first walk at the nature centre and thinking about how far 2 km was. It was daunting…and now, it feels like nothing. When my mother broke her hip, the doctor told her – because she didn’t want to walk because of the pain – that if she “didn’t use it, she would lose it”. It has motivated me beyond belief – that single thing that doctor said.

Our weather alert reads: “A strong winter storm is poised to affect southern Manitoba this weekend. This system will likely bring snow, rain, freezing rain and even a few rumbles of thunder. Snow will begin in southern Manitoba Saturday evening…snow may change to freezing rain before switching back to snow Sunday night. Strong winds gusting up to 60 km/h Saturday night and Sunday may produce reduced visibilities.” Remember. I did wish for winter. Be careful what you wish for!

That forecast has now changed to gusts up to 70 km/h for the Montana Low that is moving in with 2-5cm of snow.

There were five young deer near the hide. They did not notice me.

Hugo Yugo is just cute. An order has been placed for a kitten onesie from Amazon. Let’s hope it works! Thanks Auntie ‘J’.

Missey often looks for high places to take a nap, far away from Hugo Yugo and Baby Hope when they wake up and tear through the house.

Before I left for the nature centre, 27,235 people were watching Big Bear Eagles Jackie and Shadow incubate their eggs. Is there some Guinness World Record for the number of people watching a Bald Eagle streaming cam? Surely, this must be the winner. Its 1020 nest time.

The eggs before sunset at Big Bear. Good night, Jackie and Shadow.

It is a miserable morning in Big Bear.

The big news of the morning is that E23 has officially branched. S/he made it look easy! There was no question of those two feet being solidly on that branch and whether or not the eaglet flew to the branch. Lovely milestone for M15 and F23’s first eaglet together.

While we wait….it is day 29 for Jak and Audacity’s egg at Sauces. We are a week away from pip and hatch watch if this egg is viable.

One of the three eggs at Fraser Point has broken.

It is difficult to imagine that we once worried that Meadow was going to starve to death at the beak of Swampy. These two are huge – like so many of the other eaglets this year.

Meadow was trying to hork a possum tale. It is caught in this video. The sequence begins at 10:38 if you want to fast forward.

Another look at what fishing line can do to our beloved raptors. Just look at the feet and talons of this poor hawk. It makes me ache.

Geemeff spotted the little Duke Farms eaglet moving at 0859 Friday morning. That one is now looking good and the other is pipping fast.

Ondabebe got the little one on video.

Bella and Scout now have two eggs. Scout is very attentive when he watches Bella rolling those precious little white ‘things’.

Sylvia caught Scout figuring out incubation – he is a good observer!

Oh, my goodness, they’ve grown. They are so cute. Dixie is 11 days old and Mason is 9. They are all over the nest. Did I blink? What is it about time that it seems to go by so quickly? Pepe and Muhlady are going a fantastic job.

Meanwhile, at the WRDC nest, R6 would have loved to have been fed a nice fish meal by Rose or Ron. They seemed to leave fish on the nest to see if he would go for it. He tried. “Needs more practice”, says the adults.

The eaglet, JBS20, at John Bunker Sands Wetlands is huge. That nest doesn’t give this little one much room to move about. Thanks, ‘MP’ for this great capture!

First egg at Fort St. Vrain in Colorado!

Claire and Irwin have their first egg at the US Steel Plant nest. Friday night.

You might have followed the Lover’s Trio of Starr, Valour I and Valour II, whose nest was along the Mississippi Flyway near Fulton, Illinois. Dennis Becht found her, and Starr is currently on eggs. (I must catch up and find out who her current mate is – not either of the Valour’s that I am aware of).

Ospreys are beginning to return to their nests for the upcoming breeding season in the UK and Europe.

Thinking of Iris. In case you have been wondering how old she might be.

Frederick has arrived at the Outer Banks Osprey nest in North Carolina (Carova Beach) on Friday afternoon around 13:13. Welcome home. Betsy will be back soon!

The streaming cam at Loch of the Lowes has gone live. We await the return of Laddie LM12 and we will see if Blue NC0 does return. Did she leave for migration early in 2023? or did something more sinister happen?

Rutland Water, Manton Bay, has remained live. The lid and bricks are to thwart the Egyptian Geese from making a nest before Maya and Blue 33 arrive. We could be less than two weeks away from arrival.

In Latvia, female White-tailed Eagle, Rasene, and her mate Akacis, are preparing their nest in the Kemeri National Park. They will join four other couples this year raising eaglets. You can easily see why they are called ‘White tailed’ eagles.

Acacias is helping prepare the nest when he arrives at the end of January. He has been working for a month.

Another beautiful Latvian raptor streaming cam to follow:

As spring approaches each year, I see posts telling people to save their dryer lint or pet hair and put it outside for the little songbirds. Please do NOT do this, and please DO tell anyone you know why. Laundry soap and dryer sheets have toxins in them. Pet hair. The cat or dog might have been treated for fleas or ticks. This is also toxic to little birds.

We should all want a Bald Eagle as a neighbour. But why? I hope you have a read.

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If you missed the Condor Chat on the 29th, here is the archived zoom chat.

Tim Mackrill talks about his new book, The Osprey. (My copy is on the way from the UK and I will compare it to his earlier version for the RSPB in April).

Thank you for being with me today. We still have our eyes glued to the Big Bear nest of Jackie and Shadow as we move towards the more realistic dates for a first hatch based on the nest’s history. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to everyone that sent me news, ‘AE, Geemef, H, J, MP’, and those that posted on FB, wrote articles, made videos, or ran streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning. They include: FOBBV, Gracie Shepherd, D MorningStar, Eagle Country, Joseph Trotter, WINORR, Ondabebe, Sylvia, Superbeaks, WRDC, JB Sands Wetlands, Lisa Levesque, PIX Cams, Dennis Becht, Jane Dell, Lin Lawson, Carova Beach Ospreys, Toni Hoover, LOTL, LRWT, LDF Forum, Sassa Bird, For Fox Sake Rescue, Raptor Resource Project, the Ventana Wildlife Society, and the Osprey Leadership Foundation.

Tuesday in Bird World

27 February 2024

Good Morning,

It is so nice to have you with us today. Thank you for all of your notes and comments. I am catching up on my replies – and apologies for taking a few days.

We woke to beautiful white snow blanketing the garden Monday morning and again on Tuesday. What a sight! It was -4 C, but today, Tuesday, it is -18 C. The gusts have blown the snow in covering the Boyfriend’s feeder and the Starlings are back in the lilacs. They seem to arrive on snow days. Interesting. There were 17 of them along with 60 or so House Sparrows and one of the Blue Jays.

The table feeders had to be cleared yesterday and will need it again today. I did say I wished for snow, right?

One of the Memorial Trees. This one is for Melvin named after the Jack Nicholson character in As Good As it Gets (1998). Melvin didn’t like patterns either! Every cat and family member has a tree.

This Weeping Caragana is gorgeous in the summer. Planted in memory of my adorable Red Abyssinian, Honey.

Mamma Calico and Baby Hope cuddling. They are quite inseparable. I love how Calico is still so gentle with her only ever kitten. Baby Hope will be eight months old on 2 March.

Missey is showing off her new ‘registration tag’.

Missey continues to serve as Mamma Missey for Hugo Yugo. They still love that quiet place in the store room with all the blankets.

Someone wrote asking – does Hugo Yugo really just fit in a shoe box? The answer is yes. She is that tiny! It is so hard to tell scale in images but Dr Green continues to say that she will probably remain the size of an 8 or 10 week old kitten the rest of her life. It is tragic how her mother nearly starved to death carrying seven babies. We feel blessed to have Hugo Yugo – she really is a ray of sunshine.

Calico watches ‘The Boyfriend’ from the conservatory. He is just leaving after having his lunch.

Have to get out and clean his feeding area!

I have included many articles and posts about Flaco. One of the best I have read is an Opinion piece in The New York Times by Carl Safina. A number of his books sit on my shelf and have been read by me, and ‘The Girls’, including his book about the rehabilitation and release of Alfie, the Owl, he mentions in this article. I hope you enjoy it.

Opinion-What-Flaco-the-Owl-Can-Teach-Us-About-Risk-The-New-York-TimesDownload

Cal officially branched – the whole meaning of branching – Monday at 0643. Remember – both feet on the branch. Should fly to branch rather than shuffling those talons. Cal did a good job. Congratulations!

R6 turned six weeks old! These are captures from Heidi Mc’s video diary. Did I mention that R6 is trying out for the role of Hulk in a new movie? (And I thought Calico was pleasantly plump – look at this eaglet!)

Lots of good feedings going on at Eagle Country. No one is left out! Swampy and Meadow looked like they were ready to burst a few times on Monday.

Abby loves to feed her babies!

JBS20 had a huge crop Monday at the John Bunker Sands Wetlands eagle nest.

The eggs at Duke Farms late Monday morning. We are on hatch watch. It is day 36.

That little eaglet at Johnson City is strong. My goodness. It was eating right after hatching and it can hold that neck up high and straight. Oh, goodness, I feel for that second hatch!

9667 people were checking on Jackie incubating the three eggs Monday morning. We are now TWO days away from pip/hatch watch on the 29th.

It has started raining at the nest Monday afternoon. Oh, please, don’t let those talons slip!

Milda and her new mate continue to provide nesting materials for their nest in Latvia.

Milda on the left and her new mate, H492, right.

When I think of Milda it draws me to the beautiful Black Storks in both Latvia and Estonia. What will it be like without Karl II this year? Will Kaia return? Will there be storklets in the nest in Karula National Forest? or has the drought decimated the population – along with that horrible bird flu? We must wait with hope tempering our saddened hearts.

If you missed it, Ervie is back on line. His tracker began to work again on the 23rd. Much relief if you didn’t know. Thank you, PLO!

Annie says ‘meet me on the ledge’. Archie obliges.

I love it – Eat, Pray, Love! Monty and Hartley style.

Newmann is a ‘hot’ commodity. Which female will he choose? It looks like there are at least three candidates, but are there more?

Around the world, Peregrine falcons are feeling ‘springlike’. The Norwich scrape streaming cam will go live shortly.

There are ‘definitely two’ ‘R’ says in the screen capture at the UFlorida-Gainesville osprey platform of Sheila and Talon. This is a new nest. The original one was on the light stand and those lights were replaced last year. ‘R’ has monitored the ospreys around the Campus and there were 9 couples, if I remember correctly, last year.

Dixie and Mason appear to be doing just fine under the watchful eyes of Pepe and Muhlady.

Gorgeous Mom at Centreport. She laid her second egg on the 25th of February.

Chase & Cholyn and their egg at Two Harbours. All the guys love to incubate…must be nice to have a soft spot to rest! It looks like it will be only one egg this year for this pair – this is day 4. Let’s hope for them it is viable. They have been together for what? 25? 26? years.

The first egg was laid at Standley Park in Colorado.

Bette shocked everyone when she laid her third egg at the Little Miami Conservancy on the 25th of February!

At Decorah, it seems that there is some competition amongst the Canada Geese for the abandoned eagle nest. Goodness.

Richmond is expecting Rosie to arrive any day and he is getting their home ready!

Many are saying that Flaco was thin and malnourished, suffering from being in the wild. It is always good to read official sources if you can to sift the truth out of a lot of disinformation. So if you missed it, the necroscopy on Falco indicated he was in good health when he collided with a building and subsequently died of trauma. “Flaco had been in good physical shape, the necropsy found, succeeding in catching prey even though he had no experience hunting because he came to the zoo as a fledgling 13 years ago. According to the necropsy report released on Saturday, the owl weighed 1.89kg (4.1lb), just 2% less than when he was last measured at the zoo.”

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A new book by Isabell Tree will be released in North America on the 7th of May. Its title is Wilding. How to Bring Wildlife Back. An Illustrated Guide. The Guardian has a review. Tree is one of my heroes. She dared to take part of the estate of Knepp Farm and create an ideal location for wildlife to return. As a result, the first White Stork hatched in the UK in 600 years on the property in Sussex.

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One of my favourite rehab clinics is asking us to please, please fight against the use of rodenticides. Tell your neighbours, your friends, your family, and speak to those in power where you live. There are alternatives. Imagine…Cal, E23, Meadow, Swampy — all those dear bobbleheads dying because their blood will not coagulate from a designer poison.

We need to get rid of rodenticide and come up with some solution for fishing line and all that lead in fishing and hunting equipment. This is a good news story. We always need them.

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There have been sightings of Bradley and Ervie as well as others in South Australia.

In other news, Lewis and Rosa have left the Dulles-Greenway nest. It is not clear what has happened to them. A new couple have taken over the nest. The Bald Eagle pair in Bartlesville, Oklahoma at the Sutton Centre have two eggs. Indeed, it is raining eagle eggs as my friend SP said and it is hard to keep track.

‘J’ has a list of hatch dates for us to watch for -. Some have already hatched!

Ventana Wildlife Society’s Condor Chat will be held on the 29th, Leap Year Day. Here are the details. Go to the Ventana Wildlife Society to sign up!

Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, photographs, charts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘Geemeff, H, J, R’, The New York Times, Window to Wildlife, WRDC, Eagle Country, JB Sands Wetlands, Duke Farms, Johnson City Eagles, FOBBV, LDF, PLO, SK Hideaways, Raptor Resource Project/Explore.org, Norwich Cathedral, Florida-Gainesville and RM, Superbeaks, Centerport Eagles and Liz Schwartz, Jeni McDaniel, IWS/Explore.org, SF Bay Ospreys FB, The Guardian, A Place Called Hope, BirdGuides, Brooke Copp, and The Ventana Wildlife Society.

Liberty lays another egg, Thursday in Bird World

22 February 2024

Hello Everyone! Hugo Yugo hopes that everyone is going to have a super day today. She wants you to look closely. Despite missing a whisker or three, her eyes are clear. She now has the face of a cat on a kitten’s body, and all she wants to do is sleep, play, and cuddle – not necessarily in that order. I love waking up at night and finding her sleeping under my chin or on top of my head…seriously, it just makes me so happy. Then there is her constant ‘purr’. She does this when she gets her needles, too. The happiest little kitten, nearing six months old.

The eggs in Eagle World are really starting to come. I will not be able to keep up with them so if you see something, let me know! Thanks, so much.

The Centerport Eagles have their first egg of the season.

Mum and the new male at Pittsburgh-Hayes have their first egg. She turned so quickly there was just a quick glimpse of the egg at 2016 Tuesday night, the 20th.

The video:

Denton Homes has its first egg.

And then, there were two. He is named Mason. Is this a nod to the Mason-Dixon Line?

At Big Bear, Jackie has the most determined look. Those eggs are going to hatch! Well, at least one of them we hope. We are now one week away from pip watch for Jackie and Shadow. Hold your breath. Send good energy their way and to Jak and Audacity who still have one egg they are incubating.

I clearly would not want to break Jackie’s focus..look at those eyes.

SK Hideaways did an amazing job capturing Jackie and Shadow and the weather – protecting those eggs!

Twenty-five year old Liberty just laid the third off for her and mate, Guardian, at the Redding Eagle nest in California. The local time was 1642.

After having quite a beating by Swampy, Meadow still managed to get a nice crop at a feeding. Dear Swampy, don’t you think you could just let it up now…geez. We know you are the boss and so does Meadow.

This video will put a smile on your face – Meadow full to the top!

Their intentions were good. PSEG responded to a reader, alerting them to the fishing line in the Patchogue nest of Mini. They cleaned it, but to everyone’s dismay, they turned the nest upside down. This has created a huge mound. The eagles will not be able to build up the sides sufficiently enough – those rails would have to be super high – to avoid the eggs or the chicks rolling out. If you feel so included, let PSEG know that you are grateful they cleaned the nest, but if they could get back and turn it right side up, that would be fantastic. This is the e-mail to contact (please be polite – we will need them all season, but this needs to be fixed!): pseg-li-customerservice@pseg.com

All appears well at the WRDC nest. A ‘gold’ fish was brought into the nest. Could anyone possibly identify the fish? I tried Florida Fish ID and came up with too many options!

Big Red and Arthur were both working on their nest on the Cornell Campus on Wednesday.

Water, water everywhere. This is the map showing the 41 affected areas of the vast flooding in Wales. Let us hope that all is back to normal, not only for the people of Wales but also for the wildlife and the raptors that will be returning.

Around the Ospreys nest at Glaslyn in Wales.

I have not been able to log on to all the nests.

Rain and wind at Llyn Brenig.

The Egyptian Geese have been checking what they hoped would be their nest at Rutland, but the use of a simple bin lid and bricks seems to have encouraged them to seek another site. I don’t think Maya and Blue 33 would take too kindly to their home being occupied when they return fro migration.

It is going to be one fantastic view at Dyfi. They are testing the camera, and it will be online soon.

One of the words on people’s minds today is ‘branching’. I was taught – of course, eons ago, that ‘branching’ was when the eagle (various species) flew from the nest bowl to the branch. That definition appears to have changed according to some American source.

Audubon: A pre-fledge milestone is an activity called branching when the eaglet takes short hops/flights to branches within the nest tree. The young eagles normally branch for up to 7-10 days before fledge, exercising theirs wings and legs, taking short flights to branches in the nest tree.

National Eagle Centre: Branching: When eaglets move from the nest to a branch and flap their wings before jumping off. This common behaviour serves to strengthen flight muscles and acclimate the eaglet to life outside the nest.

Loudon:  Branching means both feet are off the nest bed onto a nearby branch or trunk.Branching is a critical developmental step on the path to independent flight. Prior to branching, an eaglet spends time jumping, flapping, and actually “hovering” off the nest, learning to get wind under its wings.  When branching, an eaglet will perch on a branch in their home tree. From there, they can flap their wings, jump off and land on a lower branch or back at the nest. This behavior strengthens their flight muscles and improves their agility and landing skills. The adults may encourage this behavior by withholding food. Eaglets may be observed exercising their wings, but they may also be perched on a branch out of camera range.Branching typically lasts seven to 10 days, when it is especially vital to keep the nest free from any human disturbance that could cause premature fledging. An eaglet that leaves the nest too soon may need to be cared for by the parents on the ground, where they are at greater risk of predation. But if all goes well, branching will help the eaglet take its first successful flight and spend the next few weeks honing its flying and landing skills and learning to forage for food.

Of course, the focus of all this ‘branching’ discussion is Cal at the Captiva Bald Eagle nest who apparently walked up the branch but left a talon on the nest and did not branch.

Cal has certainly found his way to sitting on the rim of the nest, but he has done this before. Lusa’s body is deteriorating and soon the feathers will be blown off the nest and what remains will become part of the history of this nest.

Mum at Duke Farms is out of the snow!

No eggs yet at Three Bridges.

I am not convinced that this will be a successful year at Dulles-Greenway. Lewis doesn’t seem to fully understand what his role is…yet. Just like Beau at NE Florida.

Just like Cal, E23 is looking out to the wider world beyond the nest. Standing on the rim and flapping wings. What a great year for F23 as a first time Mum and M15. E23 is doing fantastic.

It was windy and the structure was shaking at times at JBS Wetlands. It did not seem to bother the Bald Eagles one bit.

It is Pip Watch at Johnson City!

Some of the non-breeders are causing mischief at the Royal Albatross Colony.

This note arrived for members of the VENTANA WILDLIFE SOCIETY today from Kelly Sorenson. I did mention some of the issues with images, but in case you missed it. These California Condors are precious. There were 21 condors lost in Arizona last year to HPAI. Ventana has worked diligently, including getting pens for vaccinations to stop harm to the California group

I have received a few notes from individuals that did not know anything about the California Condors and some that knew a little. I will provide some good information on their history and current numbers and the challenges in the days ahead just as part of my desire to educate us on their importance and the horrific hurdles in trying to build up the colony numbers.

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, screen captures, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘H, J, M, SP’, Rob Schwartz, PIX Cams, Trudi Kron, Superbeaks, FOBBV, SK Hideaways, FORE, Eagle Country, Lady Deeagle, PSEG, WRDC, Cornell RTH Cam, Wales Flood Alert, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Llyn Brenig, LRWT, Dyfi Osprey Project, Audubon, National Eagle Centre, Loudon Wildlife, Window to Wildlife, Duke Farms, Three Bridges Eagle Cam, Dulles-Greenway, SW Florida Eagle Cam, JBS Wetlands, Rollin’ Rag, Sharon Dunne, and VENTANA WILDLIFE SOCIETY.

And his name is Archie and her name is Dixie…Wednesday in Bird World

21 February 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

The City put up the signs and cleared all the diseased Elm trees on my block. It is so sad to see these 122-year-old trees cut down, but…I understand they had to go. I wish there had been some foresight, and smaller trees were planted some time ago in anticipation that these might have to be cut down. The beautiful canopy that covered the streets in my neighbourhood once the leaves come in the spring is now gone for the most part. I feel like I live on a barren moonscape. Thankfully, my little plot has trees and shrubs that shelter the animals. There will be more planted this spring. I wonder what options the City will give us for species.

Congratulations to the New Guy who has a name – Archie Williams. Apparently it was a no brainer. We hope that you and Annie have a great season and a long life together.

He isn’t ‘Whatshisname’ anymore! And yes, he was lucky to be picked by Annie…his entire life changed. The ‘King’ of the Campanile.

So many books were written during the pandemic as people worldwide were required to stay ‘put’. So many of those books talk about nature’s glory right before us or the healing power of birds and trees. The book that I am just finishing, 12 Birds to Save Your Life by Charlie Corbett, is one of those. (Priced between $10-21.99 CDN.). No beautiful coloured images but a good solid read to make you look again at the life around you.

Corbett’s mother dies of cancer. He falls apart. The 12 birds in the book bring him back to life. One of those is the House Sparrow.

Long-time readers of my blog will know that I love House Sparrows. they will also know that I disdain people who set up bird feeders only to resort to everything possible so that they do not have to provide seeds for these little songbirds. How reckless. Why they are gone, and their numbers are declining significantly, we will not get them back. In my garden, it is the songs of the sparrows that can be heard halfway down the lane not those of the Blue Jays or the European Starling, the Woodpeckers, or the Pine Siskins. Sometimes it is the Crows, but it is always the sparrows. Here are some quotes from Corbett about his relationship with Sparrows.

“Male House Sparrow (Passer Domesticus)” by foxypar4 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

“Not that long ago, the house sparrow- that most important, nay saucy, of characters, – provided the background music to the life of town and country dweller alike; the cheerful chirruping never ceased. But no more. They have vanished form our streets, and even from large tracts of the countryside, too. The silence is deafening….I wander the silent sparrow-free streets and lanes. Some people blame loss of habitat, while others blame overpredation from sparrow hawks and cats. Some people even blame unleaded petrol. Personally I think it is a mixture of the first two theories. Sparrows used to thrive in town and country because in the old days our houses were more tumbledown affairs, with gardens full of grass, flowers, and seed. Sparrows like to nest in cracks in the wall, under broken tiles or tucked into a loose brick, and they eat grasses, grains, and seeds. We no longer tolerate this sort of idiosyncrasy in our houses. Our gardens, more often than not, are lifeless low-maintenance lawns. Green deserts….We have left no room for nature. Put simply, there is nothing for them to eat. We’ve evicted them from our lifestyles without even realising that we’ve done it.”

He continues, “From these sparrows, I learned an incredibly important lesson: just to live. To take solace in the everyday. Even in the grey skies of an empty Tuesday afternoon – a prime time for endless thinking and creeping melancholy. But a sparrow doesn’t know it is Tuesday afternoon. They get on with what needs getting on with, oblivious to my inner struggles. As the philosopher Alan Watts once said: ‘The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.’ ” (173-75).

In North America, the population numbers of House Sparrows has, according to Cornell Bird Lab, declined by 84% since 1966. In Europe and the UK, the numbers are also declining dramatically. These declines are significant enough for me to beg you to feed them at your feeders. Don’t try fancy trips of aluminium foil or whatever, but embrace them for their lovely song and let’s see if we can help get their numbers up.

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The House Sparrow is on the Red List of Birds in the UK. They are cited as being ‘Globally Threatened’. As my Great Bird Count suggests, the number of House Sparrows in my garden has dropped dramatically since last winter. Instead of counts in the hundreds, there were maybe 45 tops.

Egg collectors still threaten endangered species. Convicted for the third time what will they do with this man?

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We had the first hatch at Superbeaks and the next egg is showing signs of an eaglet being here by the time I hit ‘publish’ tomorrow morning, the 21st. Superbeaks confused me. They kept saying they could hear the chick in egg #3. Well, egg three when you also 1 and 2? That was my thinking, but Superbeaks counts differently – thanks, ‘H’, for that. The third egg is the first egg of the second clutch. Egg one and egg two from the first clutch did not hatch. OK. I get it now.

Cheeping heard from egg 4 so it won’t be long. First chick of second clutch at Superbeaks has been named Dixie.

Meadow did alright on Tuesday after the rain at the weekend and Swampy having her nose out of joint. Thank goodness. So much food and super parents – it just didn’t seem possible we could lose an eaglet. Things seem to be on the mend.

Oh, the weather was quite nasty in Big Bear Valley when I checked on Jackie and Shadow earlier. I worry about them slipping on wet sticks and puncturing the eggs that are now 8 days away from pip.

And then the snow came. I really am on tender hooks as to what is going to happen at this nest. Note: “Tenters and tenterhooks were commonly used from the fourteenth century, both as an important part of the process of weaving woolen fabric. Starting sometime in the eighteenth century, the phrase “on tenterhooks” came to mean “in suspense,” the way a piece of cloth is suspended from tenterhooks on a tenter.” That suspense is going to turn into a full blown anxiety attack in a week if we don’t get some decent weather on this nest.

Still snowing.

Horrible wind and little pelts this morning on Jackie.

Jak and Audacity still have their one precious egg at Sauces Canyon. Fingers and toes crossed for them as well.

Is there a second egg for Pa and Missey at Berry College? Sure looked like Missey was in labour when I checked, but she wasn’t giving us any peeks so I cannot say for sure.

Yes, that egg did arrive, but not until later! Congratulations Pa and Missey on the 2nd egg of your second clutch!

The Royal Albatross chick was weighed on the 20th. It didn’t look like it was going to fit in that sack, but it did!

Royal Cam chick slept partially alone.

Two nice fish came to the Captiva nest. Adults appeared to eat one of them while Connie fed the other to Cal. Perhaps Clive or Connie will move Lusa’s remains off the nest soon.

Is there going to be a bonded couple on the Captiva Osprey platform, finally? Jack and LO7??

So grateful to Ildiko Pokk for getting those screen captures of two little osplets at Pelican Bay.

At SW Florida, it looks like M15 and F23 are keeping E23 well fed. That eaglet is huge! And yes, some mysterious meat appeared on the nest on Tuesday.

The American Eagle Foundation is reminding people that we may see Gabby and Beau only occasionally. They have now abandoned the egg and since they do not need “the nursery tree”, we will likely not see them much. They are still in the area and will not migrate til later. Gabby normally returns in September.

Ron and Rita seem to be enjoying every minute they can with R6. What a big eaglet! Goodness, when HE stands up, you can see those beautiful strong legs and that fat little bottom…love the colour combo of light greys and espresso brown/black with that pop of white on the top of the head! This is a guy with good taste! — And yes, R6 is a ‘guy’.

The JB Sands Wetlands eaglet is getting bigger too…It is so nice to be able to ‘see’ this little one as it develops. Thermal down now.

They are on egg watch at Pittsburgh-Hays. Nothing so far on Tuesday the 20th.

News from Ventana Wildlife Society after the big storm that hit – they got all that rain and wind, too.

Iris’s cam is lie at Hellgate Canyon in Missoula, Montana. We are not expecting her back for 5 weeks, but she could fool us.

For those that have concerned themselves with Flacon and his living in the wild to the point of being ill that something might happen to him in the Central Park/Manhattan area, this post should help you get some peace. Flaco is in less danger than many of the raptors in the area for some of the reasons listed – and is at the same level of danger as the hawks and others that eat mice/rats due to rodenticide.

There is a new study on these designer rodenticides that has come out. Each of us should create a web of individuals and businesses that will spread to other individuals and businesses to stop the use of these dangerous toxins.

New-Study-is-First-to-Find-Exposure-to-Neurotoxic-Rodenticide-Bromethalin-in-Birds-of-Prey-Tufts-NDownload

Milda and H492 have been visiting their nest in Durbe County, Latvia. I am so looking forward to little White-tail eaglets this year.

Arthur visited the nest at Cornell – Big Red was there on Monday. We are not expecting eggs for at least another three and a half weeks.

The earliest that an Osprey on a streaming cam has arrived in the UK was Maya on the 12th of March at Rutland. That was early. Using that as a marker, we are 21 days from a possible arrival. Wow. I am getting Osprey fever! Thank goodness those eggs of Jackie and Shadow will have hatched by then!!!!!!

Thank you for being with me today. Take care all. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, screen captures, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: The City of Winnipeg, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, 12 Birds to Save Your Life, Openverse, The Guardian, Raptor Persecution UK, Superbeaks, Eagle Country, FOBBV, Gracie Shepherd, Cornell Bird Lab, Sharon Dunne, Window to Wildlife, Iloilo A Pork, NEFL-AEF, WRDC, Lloyd Brown, JB Sands Wetlands, PIX Cams, Ventana Wildlife Society, Lucille Powell, @urbanhawks, David Lei, Tufts Now, LDF, and Cornell RTH Cam.