A note: If you wish to order a signed copy of Pickles, please write to Connie Dennis at: ospreysofnovascotia@gmail.com
I have to say that having Hugo Yugo snuggle with me all night before I left just broke my heart. She was all big-eyed and rolling around wanting attention, and I was trying to make certain that Mr Crow and the ‘Garden Gang’ were watered and fed. Thank goodness for the generous granddaughter who will be stepping into our shoes and caring for them and all the plants while I am away. ‘The Girls’ have Gary as their ‘cat sitter’. We will see how they do. Most of the time, they prefer not to have a sitter!!!!!!!
It is a mini-break to see different birds and walk around familiar parks that I last saw in March of 2023. I love High Park for its old trees, its abundant black squirrels, and the duck pond. There is a little zoo, and tomorrow, I will take you with me when I revisit it. It is nice and cool. 20 C and hopefully the sun will wake up sometime!
Have a great day everyone! So happy to have you with us.
Let’s start our day with Jackie and Shadow – always a pleasure. No matter what life throws at them they just keep on going, getting their nest ready, playing with those big sticks and doing some amazing chortling.
And then there are Finn and Iris. What an incredible couple. And those two babies of theirs. Seriously gorgeous with that juvenile feathering coming in. Finn had breakfast for Iris and the kids early before the heat set in.
Many tell me that with all the tragedies this year the only nest that they are watching is Iris and Finn’s. Finn is decidedly reliable and my goodness what a year when that is needed. Fish is the only hydration that the ospreys get save for when they head to the river for a good spa moment. Those little ones stay cool because Iris protects them – many Mums do not do suh a super job as her. She is giving these babies her ‘all’ including making certain that they are fed before she eats. I think Iris needs to write Osprey Mothering 101 for some of our females.
I wish that Charlie could get more fish on the nest at Charlo Montana. It is hotter than hot! Lola is a great Mumbrella. Just look at her protecting her two surviving babies.
The oldest at Charlo Montana is being a bit of a crank pot about the fish arrivals. Understandable. It is hot and – please correct me if I am wrong – but they don’t seem to be quite as plentiful during this heat spell.
Lola is looking a wee thin. The females lose approximately 30% of their body weight during nesting season. I wonder if it is more during an extended heat dome like they have in Montana?
Only Bob at McEuan Park has a nice crop. No rewind so very difficult to actually catch a feeding. Mum is doing all the heavy lifting at this nest. Dad has not been seen in weeks.
Only Bob at Dunrovin Ranch has a full crop thanks to Dad Swoop and Mum Winnie.
Four antsy to fly osplets at Field Farm. That nest gets smaller every day with these big kiddos. These adults really did a marvellous job in raising FOUR when some could not manage more one. Well done, Mum and Dad.
At Clark PUD, Mum will be hoping that her Only Bob will leave her some fish!
Dad is busy delivering fish to waiting fledglings at Patchogue.
Dad has been getting some nice fish to Mum and Only surviving Bob at the Minneapolis Landscape Arboretum nest.
Dyfi Osprey Project in Wales is proud of their three fledglings this year! Congrats, Idris and Telyn on another remarkable season.
All three are at the nest and hungry. Looks like two have fish dinner with one hoping.
Menhaden report. All I have to do is look at all those boats taking the fish that our osprey require and my blood begins to boil over.
w-0qjq–0www 0EWfvcgrt,`93“““2`4Hopes are high for another osprey couple in South Australia this coming season.
We love our Swallows in Manitoba. They eat so many mosquitoes!
Geemeff’s Daily Report on Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Wednesday 17th July 2024
Louis & Dorcha are both still around and came to the nest this morning, Louis left around 8am and Dorcha around 9am. No fish were brought and neither one returned to the nest. Nest One had some avian visitors but none of them Ospreys, making for a quiet day on both nests. The season has a bit of a school’s out feeling now and Cam2 switched to night mode before 11pm for the first time tonight, but fingers crossed we see Louis & Dorcha again tomorrow, and perhaps a bonus visit from Garry LV0 soon. The thundery showers didn’t materialise, there was only a light sprinkle of rain causing a few camera diamonds which soon disappeared, but heavy rain is forecast for tonight.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.09.23 (03.53.39); Nest Two 22.55.35 (04.00.16)
7/17 Osoyoos osprey nest: Once again, we found the live cam was down in the morning. When it resumed at 1137, both chicks were hiding out in Soo’s shade. The first delivery we saw was at 1415. Olsen dropped off a fish tail… No, not the kind of fish tail that still has a lot of meat attached, but actually just the ‘tail fin’, lol. I think Olsen may have forgotten how much of that fish he had already eaten. One of the sibs gladly ate it. “Thanks a lot, Dad!” At 1524 Olsen arrived with a medium sized whole fish. Both siblings ate peacefully during the 8-minute feeding. The harmony during the meal indicated that they had most likely had a few feedings while the cam was down. Good. The last fish of the day was a small fish provided by Soo at 1627. And once again, the chicks ate in peace. This evening, both chicks were doing some mini-wingers. Osoyoos reached 100F on 7/17. Weather forecast for 7/18: Sunny, high 100F/38C, light winds.
7/17 Colonial Beach: The fish count at this nest has dropped the past several days. The area has been warm, averaging mid 90’s. Today was 93-95F, sunny with 12-19 mph winds. So has the weather been hampering David’s fishing success? There were four fish brought to the nest, and three of them were from Betty. The osplets are 22 and 23 days old. Due to aggression from Big, Little has not had very much to eat for a couple of days. David delivered a large headless fish at 0710. Little was beaked right away, and then intermittently as Big was eating. Big moved away from Betty at 0737, and Little was able to eat 13 bites before being beaked. Big resumed eating. At the end of the meal. Little was able to eat an additional 8 bites and the fish tail. Little had no discernable crop. Eight hours passed before the next fish arrived. Betty had taken it upon herself to go fishing. Betty delivered large fish at 1410, 1535, and 1740. Even though the fish were large, Big prevented Little from eating. Big just ate and ate and ate, and intermittently beaked Little. At the 1740 feeding, Little made his way over to the other side of Betty, and she fed him 3 bites of fish before Big leaped across in front of Betty to beak Little. As the evening progressed, Little simply looked emaciated, and weak. Little may not survive the night. David and Betty are both thought to be first-time parents. Because Betty has demonstrated fishing success, ‘Dorothy A’., the Mod on the chat stated: “Well I think it is fair to say that fishing is not the problem here. It is a first time dad not knowing fully how it works!” …. What a shame.
7/17 Forsythe osprey nest: Larry fledged two days ago, and he seems to be having a blast. He’s flying around that marsh like he owns it, lol. Opal and Oscar are providing Larry with plenty of fish to fuel his adventures.
Thanks, Heidi.
‘PB’ sent us a morning look at Port of Ridgefield. They sure don’t want their one and only to fledge. Its crop is so full, it couldn’t get lift off if it tried. LOL.
Hartley and Monty finall get some quiet time!
I know you probably will not believe me, but it is time to begin thinking about ‘those birds down under’ that will soon be laying eggs and raising eyases – like dear Xavier and Diamond. I am always grateful that the Northern Hemisphere falcons have finished their season when the Aussies come into play.
Suzanne Arnold Horning continues to track down Big Red and Arthur’s Ns on the Cornell Campus. Word is they have avoided any and all disasters and are doing very well towards being totally independent of their parents.
Ever see a Laysan Albatross take its first flight? Probably not. Have a look at a video by our friend Hob Osterlund. This flight took place on Kauai, Hawaii.
Kristel had two prey deliveries on the 17th. One was part of a hare delivered by Mum, and the second was a Columbid – Kristel was so hungry. Columbid’s have red feet and are members of the pigeon and dove family. Kristel waseating bones before the prey deliveries. After she had a massive crop.
Thank you so very much for being with us today. Take care! See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, images, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, H, PB’, Baiba, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, McEuen Park, Dunrovin Ranch, Field Farm, Clark PUD, PSEG, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Dyfi Osprey Project, Menhaden- Little Fish, Big Deal FB, Fran Solly, The Guardian, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, SK Hideaways, Nesting Bird Life, Suzanne Arnold Horning, Hob Osterlund, Eagle Club of Estonia, Looduskalender, Osoyoos, Colonial Beach, and Forsythe Ospreys.
Oh, goodness. The operative word in parts of North America is ‘hot’. It is not as hot as it has been in Winnipeg – say last summer when we reached 38 degrees C and that might still happen – but, it is ‘hot’ and humid. The garden feels like you are inside a greenhouse. ‘The Boyfriend’, Calico’s tuxedo cat friend with whom she used to visit the garden last summer, slept in the shade of the lilacs while we were planting. We voted, and he got a big tin of sardines for his supper—poor thing. I wish he would stay in the garden. There is a fantastic place for him to sleep, lots of water, and lots of food. Much to my dismay, he can catch a sparrow if he wants. Oddly, he never bothers the birds at the feeders. It was Calico that did!!!!!!!!
Saturday morning, Baby Hope and Calico rested on the tiles in the conservatory, watching a host of baby birds trying to eat seed and Virginia Creepers. One of those babies was a Brown-headed Cowbird. You might recall I mentioned that the Cowbirds had visited the garden 4-6 weeks ago. Well, they snuck at least one of their eggs into the nest of either a sparrow or a European Starling. Those parents fed that baby Cowbird while its parents were off having a holiday! It is approximately three times the size of the baby sparrows. I do hope to get some good photographs of them.
Playing with the phone!
Everyone is vying for a chance to get some cheesy dogs on Saturday evening. There are 9 Blue Jays and 6 European Starlings, a handful of Grackles and 7 Crows at the buffet. The squirrels are over in the lilacs going after peanuts, and a little woodpecker was here eating suet. Oh, they are all so happy. Their songs are beautiful and loud.
We went for a walk at the nature centre and sat on a bench overlooking one of the ponds in the shade. It was idyllic. The slight breeze was cool.
After, I did something I shouldn’t have. We returned to the greenhouse to search for Allium, more tomatoes, and another Hosta. We came home with those, along with a tray of Persian Peppers (they are super sweet) and eggplants, celery, some colourful Milkweed and daisies, and some Jalapeno pepper plants. Almost the makings for salsa! Does anyone have a favourite homemade salsa recipe they would like to share? The greenhouse is closing tomorrow and they were practically giving the plants away today. As I drove away, I wondered what they do with the plants that are left. I hope they give them to people who might not otherwise have the opportunity to enjoy some fresh flowers or veggies.
We are always looking for real-life examples to demonstrate that human behaviour has a significant impact on our raptor families. Here is Terri from FORE, who tells us how she helped protect one Osprey family that has had problems in the past with fireworks. Please read! And thanks, ‘J’, for sending this to us! Thank you, Terri, for making sure this family was safe. You are our hero.
Every year on the 4th of July, I am always deeply concerned for the Osprey family who just happen to nest directly across the river from the Redding Freedom Festival where the fireworks display occurs. Last year, 2 of the 3 chicks bailed out of the nest sometime on the 4th of July & were never seen again. Somehow, 1 osprey chick did survive the “night of terror” and my friend followed that one for quite a while.
My dear friend and our old mutual friend, “Ospreyman Jim”, R.I.P. have spent many hours watching this beautiful raptor family. Ospreyman Jim named this pair “Ozzie & Harriet” and over the years “Eaglewoman” & “Ospreyman” had a lot of fun joking about who was the better raptor, eagles or ospreys? Sorry Jim, but you know where I stand on that one!
But, honestly I love all raptors including ospreys & all wildlife & I have deep concerns going forward for all of them. I am committed to do whatever I can do to help them & give them a voice, as are all of my Wildlife Warrior friends out there!
So, on this 4th of July, my friend & I worked with our Raptor Rescue Angel Marily Woodhouse from Defiance Canyon Raptor Rescue to come up with a plan to do what we could do to help this beloved Osprey Family.
My friend & I met down at the Osprey Nest Area at 9:30pm, which was a complete Zoo on the 4th of July! This is a very popular spot to watch the Redding firework display since it is literally right across the river from it! We had scoped out a spot ahead of time where, using my binoculars, I could keep an eye on the nest & watch to see if any of the chicks bailed out during the fireworks. Then, we found a trail that we could easily go down to the area under the nest if any of the chicks bailed. We brought all of the supplies we needed to capture them, if we could reach them, and then we planned to meet Marily so she could take them to her Raptor Rehab Center up in Manton. (My only fear was they might end up in the river where I believe last year’s 2 chicks ended up & then we wouldn’t be able to reach them.) But, we figured we needed to take a shot because there was also a chance they could land down below the nest in the blackberry bushes or in a spot where we could reach them.
Thankfully, my friend advised me ahead of time to bring ear plugs & I honestly don’t think I would’ve made it without those! I have extremely sensitive hearing along with being a very sensitive person, so this was not somewhere I really wanted to be! It was truly one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done! And I’ve had to do some really difficult things lately as you all know. Those 20 minutes of horror felt like it went on forever! Watching those poor ospreys up there in the nest trying to comprehend what in the world was happening to them & to their peaceful, quiet habitat was absolutely torturous for me. It sounded like they were being shot at with a shotgun repeatedly for 20 minutes!
Mama Harriet stayed in the nest with the 3 chicks the whole time, but at one point when the fireworks first started, she began flapping her wings & hovered above the nest for a second before she landed back in there with her babes. I was so glad she did!
I thought for sure they were going to all bail out, because if I had been up in that nest I know I would have! There were so many extremely loud concussive blasts this year, and the last few minutes were filled with them! And it is so close to the Osprey Nest which is right across from the Redding Rodeo Grounds.
We were so relieved when it finally ended at 10:20pm and none of the chicks had bailed out!!! I was so glad it was over & I know Harriet & her chicks were, too!
My friend went down the next morning at 6:30am to check on the Osprey family & all 3 chicks were in the nest with their sweet Mama Harriet. He said Harriet stayed in there the whole time he was there & I’m sure it was going to take her a while before she felt safe enough to leave her babies alone after what had happened there the night before! Good ‘ole Ozzie brought in 2 fish for the kiddos while my friend was there, so that was a great sign & they need all of the hydration they can get right now with these ridiculously high temperatures we’ve had! It reached 117 degrees yesterday & expecting 119 degrees today! What wildlife can survive these temperatures?!? These 3 chicks are due to fledge around July 12th so they still have a ways to go so I’d ask that you please keep them in your thoughts this next week & hopefully they will make it!
I know part of why this is so upsetting to me is partly because I’m older & wiser now. I still remember when I was younger I really enjoyed watching firework displays with my family & friends & never even considered how it affected wildlife! But, it’s also because now I am so lucky to spend so much time observing our Redding Eagles & many other Eagles & wildlife on a daily basis. I’ve grown to love them & care for them so deeply as if they are members of my own family. So, watching this osprey family having to endure 20 minutes of pure terror felt so wrong to me? It almost made me physically sick to my stomach. I’m sure It didn’t help that I’m still traumatized from what happened or our Luna & Sol
Aren’t there any protections for these nesting Ospreys? I know they are protected by The Migratory Bird Act & several Federal Laws just like Bald Eagles are? According to those laws, you are not allowed to disturb an active raptor nest? So, I’m not sure how this has been allowed to happen each year? Because I can tell you, it was definitely disturbing to this Osprey Family!
So, I’m not trying to be controversial, but I simply would like to start a conversation about what can be done? Is there anything Fish & Wildlife can do? (I will be speaking to them about this & I will let you know what they say.) Would the City ever consider changing the location? I know this has been happening at this location for many years & I’m sure there are good reasons for it being there. Would the City consider using an alternative to fireworks? As many of you know, we live in a high fire danger area & this really seems to be a potential recipe for disaster? Anything we can do as a City to prevent future wildfires is a positive step in my book! I don’t see things getting better as far as our fire danger goes…
Several other Cities are beginning to use drones instead of fireworks, is that something the City of Redding & the McConnell Foundation who pays for the event would consider doing? Raptors don’t like drones, but as long as they are not flying immediately above the Osprey Nest I think they would tolerate drones since it would be happening at 10pm when it is dark & they are not active or flying around. So, that might be a good alternative to consider?
I honestly don’t want to spoil the fun for anyone! But, if we could put our heads together & try to find something that is still awesome & enjoyable for us humans to watch, but at the same time doesn’t disturb wildlife, that would be a win-win for all of us! Not to mention our own dogs & cats!
Here’s an article with more information about other Cities who are now using Drones instead of Fireworks & it looks really cool! I know change is hard for all of us humans, but maybe it is time for us to start thinking outside the box & try something new?!? We are the ones who are supposed to be taking care of the wildlife on our Planet so this would be a great start!
~Terri
If you are concerned about Blue at the Hancock Boundary Bay nest, things looked alright on Saturday. Blue had an early breakfast. Mum was in the nest during the night. It was a nice chunk of ‘something’, and I bet it is enough to keep Blue alive for another day.
Look at Blue. He looks good – I can’t tell if that is a wing or a huge crop. That shade that David Hancock designed for the eagles is really important. It is nice that someone is thinking about their welfare in times of extreme heat.
The Estonian Golden Eagle nest has lost its second chick. The oldest killed it during the past day. This has been expected since the eldest was not successful when the second chick was quite small. The parents withhold food, waiting and watching. Once the second is killed they bring in food.
The Dorset Hobbys welcomed their first hatch on Saturday! No doubt there could be more by the time you read this post.
At Cal Falcons, Sol wants back in the nest.
Mary Cheadle posted a compilation video from 2018. It was the only other year the Loch Arkaig nest did not fledge chicks. The Pine Martens took the eggs of Louis and Aila.
It was windy in Newfoundland on Saturday. Even so, Beaumont continued to provide nice fish for the family. Hope is doing better than she has in previous years feeding their babies—I just wish she would focus more on making sure that they get lots. That little one is feisty and figured out how to get around the big sib for some nice bites at one meal.
Field Farm is still doing great. The four are magnificent. What a nest! It should put a smile on all our faces when others fail.
Clark PUD is in the centre of the heat in the Pacific NW. Dad brought in a small fish for Mum and Only Bob mid-morning on Saturday. Both ate! ‘PB’ reports a large fish coming in later for the family. Way to go Dad!
The Port of Ridgefield cam keeps going offline. Let me know if you happen to catch in on and see how Only Bob is doing. Thanks!
Need a Jackie and Shadow ‘stick fix’? I sure did!
It sounds like Eclipse is wanting some prey, Annie and Archie. No one is reponding..ah.
Little Bob at Blackbush has been brow beaten during a dreary day on the nest. Sometimes it was difficult to see if it got any fish, but it was clear in this feeding that once Big was satisfied, then Middle, Little could eat. Relief.
Things look alright for Only Bob at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum nest.
Geemeff sends us her Daily Summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Saturday 6th July 2024
Dorcha visited the nest several times today and spent long periods fish-calling, but to no avail. Louis didn’t appear on nest cam although the off-nest reports from LizB showed he was in the area for long periods of time but chose not to respond to Dorcha. He has brought four fish to the nest for her since the chicks were removed on 1st July, perhaps he’ll arrive on the nest with one tomorrow, or possibly give it to her on her favourite perch tree. No activity at Nest One today, no sign of Garry LV0 and the only other nest visitors were a pair of Hoodies pecking around Nest Two without finding any scraps. The weather was much more settled, none of the thunder showers materialised, and tonight’s forecast is partly cloudy with light winds, and some sunshine with a few showers tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.39.42 (03.29.32); Nest Two 23.27.44 (03.33.56)
The trio at Mashpee NWR in Massachusetts are doing so very, very well. Fledges coming!
The heat that is hitting the Pacific Northwest nests will be moving through and ‘PB’ sent me information that shows that the Missoula nest of Iris and Finnegan will have 101 F temperatures in the coming week. This will hit other nests in Montana. Send them good wishes
.The third hatch at the Ferguson Museum Osprey nest has died of starvation. Sadly, we may see quite a few more before next weekend. This season began with great saddness at many of the eagle nests and continues with the ospreys and even the hawks as Angel and Tom did not, as far as we know, have a clutch this season.
Sandpoint had an early fish and a late one. Both small but Mum and Only Bob had some fish. Thanks, Dad.
The nest is in Sandpoint, Idaho. The weather for the coming week at Sandpoint:
This Osprey breeding season the weather is having a huge impact on nest success worldwide. The chart below is from the eggs that we are monitoring. Those numbers will change by the time that all have migrated but weather is significant.
Two beautiful fledglings at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science on their nest wishing for a fish.
Marilyn feeding her two beautiful osplets at Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home. The third hatch died of siblicide/starvation on 31 May.
At the BUNDstiftung Goitzsche-Wildnis, the nest is really full of osplets with flapping wings! They were ringed on the 25th of June and fledgling is expected any moment!
At the Great Bay nest in Greenland, those osplets are big, appear to be healthy and well, they are just beautiful. Mum feeds, some want to feed themselves.
The Only Bob at Marder’s Osprey nest on Long Island is doing nicely. The other two eggs did not hatch. This sweet baby is 28 days old today.
‘H’ sends in her wonderful reports:
7/6 Osoyoos osprey nest: It is quite warm in Osoyoos, and predicted to be even hotter in the next few days. Osoyoos reached 35C/95F at 17:00. There were only three fish brought to the nest today. The first fish at 0841 was tiny and only provided for a 4-minute meal. Little only ate a couple of bites. The next fish at 1017 was large. There was some initial beaking of Little and intimidation of Middle by Big. Middle started to eat at 1023, and by 1028 Big moved away from Soo. At 1030 Little had a 6-minute private feeding. Soon, the siblings were all eating side-by-side. Little also ate solo for another eight minutes at 1049. The meal lasted for 50 minutes, until 1108. The next fish was delivered 9.5 hours later. The kids had spent all day trying to stay in the shade of ‘Mombrella’. At 2041 Olsen delivered a medium sized headless fish. Middle beaked Little, and Big beaked both Middle and Little, so Soo fed Big. Middle was allowed to join in the meal at 2052. Little grabbed a quick bite at 2056, so Big tried to beak Little, but missed and beaked Middle instead. So, both Middle and Little were out of the feeding, and Middle beaked Little. At 2059 Middle was back at the table and Big moved away. Little arrived, but there was hardly any fish left. Little ate a total of 8 bites of fish and the tail at this feeding. The meal lasted 20 minutes. None of this was unexpected. We knew that Olsen was going to have a difficult time finding fish to catch in this heat. And, we knew that the previously peaceful nest might become unsettled. On 7/7, the temperature is predicted to reach 100 F/ 38C, sunny with light winds.
7/6 Audubon Boathouse osprey nest: Things are going well for these ospreys that live on top of a boat house. Harbor is 22 days old, and Gray is 18 days. Despite being four days apart in age, the siblings seem to be getting along well.
7/6 Forsythe osprey nest: 46-day-old Larry is doing well. Despite the heat, Oscar and Opal have been able to provide fish for their only remaining osplet out of four. Larry was achieving some lift while wingersizing today. All hopes are for Larry to successfully fledge, in order to salvage some joy for this nest that has been incredibly sad this season.
7/6 Captiva osprey nest: Ding did not eat on 7/5, and had made several unsuccessful attempts to catch a fish by diving from the nest platform. This morning, Ding started out her day by resuming her fishing attempts. At 10:26, we saw her dive from the right perch into the water below. She quickly exited the water, circled around and landed back on the nest with a fish! Ding had caught a needlefish. Congratulations, Ding! How wonderful it was that we got to see Ding catch her first fish. We savored every bite of that needlefish right along with Ding. After her meal, Ding resumed her fishing, making multiple attempts. Later in the afternoon, Edie delivered a meaty partial tilapia for Ding. Even though her catch-to-attempts ratio will be very low at first, we are all so relieved to know that Ding may be able to provide for herself, so that she doesn’t have to rely on her parents. We have been told not to expect a report on Darling from CROW until Monday at the earliest.
7/6 Fortis Exshaw osprey nest: Louise, Harvie, and their 21, 23, and 25-day-old youngsters continue to do well. Harvie is a great provider, and there has been no significant aggression among the siblings.
‘A’ reports:
The weather in southeastern Australia is due to start warming up but only to be replaced by a lot of rain. Poor Lady and Dad are incubating in this weather, and obviously, the need to keep the eggs dry is paramount. It is now 9pm and here is today’s ranger report from WBSE:
July 7: Lady incubated all night, and was then relieved by Dad shortly after 7am. All day, she was reluctant to get off the eggs when he returned to the nest, whereas he backs straight off. Both have brought in green leaves several times, though no food. Late in the afternoon, Lady was whining for food when Dad turned up, but no delivery. She spent longer today on the eggs than he did – over 7 hours. As usual, the eggs were uncovered only very briefly. At dark, Dad settled early, as did Lady – though she was hungry. The picture shows Lady, reluctant to move off the eggs.
At Orange, it is also 9pm, Xavier is currently perched on the ledge of the scrape (Diamond is perched on the microwave), which is unusual – They are each using the other’s normal sleeping place tonight for some reason. Dear Xavier. Such an adorable little falcon. He has been mating with Diamond, bringing her food gifts and generally bonding. These two still have a way to go until egg-laying time (as I mentioned, she laid her first egg on 26 August both last year and also the year before).
Finally, at Taiaroa Head, the chicks are becoming friends again after the altercation that resulted from TFT’s attempt to take over TF chick’s nest, an advance that was not well-received. TF has reorganised his garden and resumed his throne after the small disagreement. Both chicks are well, growing fast, and starting to look like albatrosses instead of giant cotton balls. Those wingspans are looking impressive, reminding us that we are approaching the age where they will start to try feeling the sensation of wind beneath their wings. Bittersweet, like all fledges, but in this case, even more so, because it will be so very long (if at all) until we see them land back near their natal nest. It astounds me that after all those tens of thousands of kms and all that time at sea, each of them has somehow imprinted the place from which they fledge, returning there for their first forays into socialising and the task of finding a mate. It is astounding.
Finn brought one of his huge whitefish in about 18:57 but took it away again (luckily everyone already had smallish to medium crops) and didn’t return it until after 19:43, by which stage Finn had a very large crop. Only after he had eaten for nearly an hour did the chicks get fed. This is not a habit I like. Surely, he can wait for the chicks to eat before he has to spend an hour stuffing his face. It is the one thing that really annoys me about him. Why bring it in, give it to Iris, and then wrestle it back from her almost immediately? If there was sibling aggression on this nest, that is exactly the sort of behaviour likely to trigger it.
But fortunately, that is not happening on this nest and the chicks are well fed and well behaved enough for it not to be creating a problem. Hopefully, Finn will learn not to do this, especially when the osplets are young. He is still spending all night, every night, on the perch, guarding his family, and if the intruder landing on the nest the other day is anything to go by, he has a reason to be wary. He is doing a wonderful job, despite my nit-picking at his delivery routine. He is bringing a lot of fish to this nest and he is looking after both Iris and their chicks. You know how impressed I am by him.
‘PB’ reports that fish have come in to Cowlitz and Steelscape ahead of today’s high heat and that all ate including Little at Cowlitz who had about 100 bites. This is wonderful.
And last, a run away yacht crashed into the Port Lincoln Osprey nest barge! Thanks to Bart M and Port Lincoln was notified immediately. So glad no eggs or chicks on that nest.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care of yourself. Remember to drink lots and lots of water and to eat some watermelon – low in calories and it is 91% water! See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, questions, videos, announcements, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, FORE, Eagle Club of Estonia, HWF-BBC Central, SK Hideaways, Mary Cheadle, Newfoundland Power, Field Farm, Clark PUD, Blackbush Ospreys, MN Landscape Arboretum, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Mashpee NWR, The Weather Network, Ferguson Museum, Sandpoint Ospreys, International Osprey Data Project, VIMS, Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home, Goitzsche-Wildnis, Great Bay Ospreys, Marder’s, Osoyoos, Audubon Boat House, Forsythe, Window to Wildlife, Fortis Exshaw, Sea Eagle Cam, Orange Falcons, Royal Albatross Colony, Lady Hawk, Montana Osprey Project, and Port Lincoln.
It is Monday evening. Thank you for your notes. My DIL is safe as is the Island of Grenada. The small island of Carriacou was almost destroyed. It is a beautiful little place reached by boat from Grenada that holiday makers particularly enjoy. I am hoping that no one was killed.
It was rather appropriate that the rain was pouring down all morning in Winnipeg. The sky was a heavy grey and, that is pretty much how I felt. Sad. It wasn’t that I disagreed with the actions that The Woodland Trust and the Roy Dennis Foundation took, I did. It was just the ‘weight of the situation’ that got me down. Everyone hopes that they got it right. We must believe they did. I wish that Louis had rallied; he didn’t. The chicks needed to be saved before one or both starved. It still hits you hard seeing Louis bring in a fish to Dorcha and the chicks and the chicks not being there.
Those that have loved Louis and his mates for all these years will be processing this slow. We might not see Dorcha or Louis at the nest very much, if at all. All we can do is hope that Louis rests, eats and his health or whatever is bothering him dissipates and he becomes his old wonderful self. We wish Dorcha a recovery from caring for her babies. The females lose weight and she always fed her chicks before herself.
All went smoothly at Loch Arkaig and Louis and Dorcha’s two chicks have arrived safely at Inverness.
Geemeff sent her Loch Arkaig summary:
Daily summary Monday 1st July 2024
The 8th season for the Arkaig Ospreys effectively ended today with the removal of the two chicks from the nest to join a translocation programme which will see them go to Spain. Louis brought an early fish this morning which gave the family their final opportunity to be together, and this season’s tally ends at two hundred and fifty five fish. Woodland Trust Scotland spokesman George says: All went well this morning and the chicks are now with the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation. More information on the reasons behind the removal can be read here: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=15225467. LizB provided another one of her valuable off-nest reports to inform us that Louis & Dorcha were perched together while the raptor team were doing their work. The removal of the chicks is such an unprecedented event that it made the STV evening news, and there was much lively debate on the forum. Dorcha returned to the nest several hours after the team left, but only stayed long enough to grab some of the extra fish the team had placed there, and to see off the Hoodies who were also interested in grabbing some free fish. Although Louis returned this evening with a fish for Dorcha, that and subsequent fish will not be included in the count. Steve Q says: there is no value in the data of any fish brought to the nest post removal of the young. Garry LV0 paid a visit to Nest One bringing moss but spent his half hour there just perching quietly. It rained during the morning and cleared up in the afternoon, tonight’s forecast of light cloud and light winds suggests it should remain dry tonight.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 00.15.26 (03.29.30); Nest Two 23.57.38 (04.03.48)
Two questions in the mailbox that you might also be wondering about. Thanks, ‘EJ’. Question 1: “Although I am sorry Louis seems to not be well, I am happy for the chicks going to Spain. How cool is that? So do they put them in a nest there? How do they find their way around? Will they migrate back to Spain or try to go home?”
Answer: ‘Hacking’ is the term often used for translocation. The chicks are fed and collected before they reach the fledging age, typically about six weeks or 42 days. They are placed in crates and carefully taken to a holding area. They will be thoroughly checked over, weighed, and recorded, and they will be fed very well. In the past, these compartments were in Roy Dennis’s garage near Inverness, Scotland. Once they have the total number of chicks – twelve (12)- preparations will be underway for them to be flown to Spain. There, they will be fed, checked over, and they will fledge from the chosen site. They will be satellite tagged and will have Spanish ring numbers but all their forms will say they hatched in Scotland. Ospreys ‘imprint’ on the area where they fledge which is why the timing is crucial. These chicks will imprint on this place in Spain. This ensures that they will return to this location when they are old enough to breed, not their natal nest in Scotland.
EJ’s second question: What happened to the male osprey who had the spine thingie in his leg and his leg was all swollen?
Answer to Question 2: EJ is referring to Jack at Captiva. According to the log kept by Windows to Wildlife, Jack has not been seen on the nest since 11:05 on the 29th of June. Edie has been bringing in fish and intruders have been around attacking the chicks, according to the same log. I have seen no information on the current status of Jack. I would not like to speculate at this time.
To keep my mind off Hurricane Beryl (everything is fine in Grenada, thank goodness), The Girls had their birthday party. Missey is now 2 and Hope is 1. Birthday parties are chaotic events. Their favourite treats are tossed all over the table along with some new toys, brushes, and scratching blocks. They seem to have a good time. Next party is September for Hugo Yugo who will be a year old; Calico will be two in November.
To put a smile on your face. Little Cowlitz 3 had a private feeding, and the result was a huge crop. Sometimes I am afraid to check, but Monday was good. Thanks, ‘PB’.
Only Bob at Clark PUD is feathered and beautiful.
Boulder’s Only Bob is doing great, too.
Bruce and Naha’s two chicks, Tsee and Toketee, are really enjoying some nice fish including a trout on Monday.
It is always feeding time at the nest of Iris and Finnegan. Not only Iris feeds the kids, but dear, darling Finnegan steps in, too. What a guy! He is feeding the oldest while Iris keeps the baby warm and dry in the rain. Talk about cooperation. Reminds me of Blue 022 and CJ7 this year at Poole Harbour. It is wonderful to watch this nest. I just wish I could read Iris’s mind!
A comments on the top image: “The rain set in at Hellgate by 17:20. After the feeding, Finn not only listened to Iris, but came back with another fish around 17:28, which he then fed Big Bob while Iris watched and kept Little Bob warm (his crop ended up larger than his older sibling’s – not unusually). Unfortunately, Iris did not get any of this second headless fish, She is the only one who hasn’t really eaten enough, but she has a larger crop, which was well filled this morning and is still visible. I loved the way Finn fed Big Bob in the pouring rain rather than get Iris up. He is looking after her as well as he possibly can. He is a gem. “
‘A’ writes: “Darling Finn brought in one of his traditional giant fish for Iris and the kids just before 05:52. She is pleased. The kids line up nicely at the table and wait for mum to wrangle the fish. Finn ate a few bites of the head end while waiting for Iris to get up (he was moving the fish around to a position from which he could feed her when she decided she needed to feed the kids).
Interestingly, as it’s raining, Big Bob does his usual bend and flap stretch, flapping the water off his wings, and in the process, bonks Little Bob with one wing. Little Bob totally ignores it. Had he ever been bullied, he would definitely have instantly ‘flinched’ at this.
Mum is taking a bit of time to get the fish to the kids – she too is flapping water off her wings (and she has a lot to get rid of!) and Little sees Dad moving around the nest towards the perch. Keeping his eyes on dad, he turns to face him. What’s he doing? Ah!! Clever dad. Remember that leftover fish I said must still be on the nest somewhere? (I saw it left there last night and did not see Finn leave the perch during the night or Iris having or feeding the chicks a nighttime snack.) Well, clever Finn knows exactly where it is.
Finn heads straight for the place mum left the fish last night (on the edge of the nest, near the perch) and uncovers what reveals itself in daylight to be almost all of a giant fish (just like the one he has just brought in this morning). I am a little concerned Iris didn’t remember it between 5am when she started pestering Finn for food and 05:52 when breakfast arrived. Maybe she’s a sushi girl and only likes her fish fresh. Finn takes his breakfast to the perch.
Little has turned back to the actual feeding adult and both chicks are getting an excellent breakfast. Oh they are just so exquisite, and their size and development gap makes it even more interesting in the sense that it appears there are actually two different species of creature on that nest (neither really bird-like, in all honesty).
By 6am the rain is teeming down again and Little Bob takes shelter beneath Big Bob’s crop!! Mum reaches to feed Big Bob. Little Bob backs up towards the camera and does a large PS. My goodness that is one very very plump osplet. Little decides he’d rather have shelter than food right now and huddles under Big Bob again, this time beneath his left wing. (I’m assuming Big is male, despite his size, based entirely on his behaviour, which just isn’t aggressive enough to be that of a female.) TOO cute.
But even from beneath Big Bob, Little is still fish crying, and eventually has to decide how badly he wants that fish. Yes, badly enough to turn around to face mum and stick his little head out from under Big Bob to ask Iris for a bite. His decision, though, comes just a few seconds too late, as the rain is heavier and soon after 06:01, Iris decides the chicks need to be kept dry more than they need more food at the moment. There is plenty of fish for everyone (Finn is still working on the giant fish on the perch – there is no way he can eat all of it and still be able to polish off the leftovers on the nest). Iris has left at least two-thirds (probably more) of the fish Finn brought in at 05:52.
This is an amazing family and Finn is the best ever mate and parent. He is a natural (or has experience) and he is devoted to his family. He has learned he needs to make more deliveries. He has learned how to feed the osplets with confidence. Some of the other stuff – feeding Iris, sleeping on the perch – is obviously just him. He may have had another mate (and perhaps chicks) or he may just be the paternal type (full of the right hormones, I presume, which is far less romantic). “
Cute little babies at Charlo Montana have fat healthy little bottoms. They are turning into Reptiles.
Alma and Lucia horsing around in San Jose.
Eastern Imperial Eaglets in RU are doing very well. They are getting stronger and standing, walking around, and pecking at their food.
Latvia’s osplets in the Kurzeme area are growing and growing!
Just look at those two Golden Eaglets in Estonia with their juvenile feathers growing. I blinked. They were white with those gorgeous deep chocolate brown feathers and now it is the opposite! Their ‘ps’ all over that branch tell me these two should be healthy despite the second one looking rather thin. Fingers crossed I am not fooling myself. I often wonder how cameras can distort things – eaglets look healthy like Meadow and turn out to be thin and dehydrated and full of mites and parasites.
Lady is in full incubation mode in the Sydney Olympic Forest now that her and Dad have their two eggs. I can’t wait!
The two Decorah North fledglings that lost their nest when it collapsed cannot stay away from that nest tree. ‘Home is where your heart is’ and it is that old broken tree for this family.
One of Thunder and Akecheta’s fledglings returns to the natal nest on Monday.
The Fab Four at Poole Harbour were ringed. The ring numbers are 5RO (1), 5R1 (3), 5R2 (2), and 5H6 (4). Tim Mackrill has advised Poole Harbour that the Roy Dennis Foundation believes these are four well-fed males. That indeed, would account for the civility on this nest!!!!!!!!!! I await for some more clarification as there were earlier reports of a mixed-gender nest.
‘H’ reports:
7/1 Captiva ospreys: Wow, what a day! Darling did not have any food yesterday (except a fish tail). On 6/30 Edie delivered three fish to the nest, but one of the fish went overboard during the melee between the sibs fighting over the fish, and Ding ate the other two fish. This morning, Darling woke up ‘hangry’, and was quite aggressive toward Ding. Darling attacked Ding in the nest and chased her off the nest many times. But, the young fledglings were soon having issues with an intruder, an osprey that was believed to be male. The intruder was buzzing the nest, and flying toward the nest with talons extended. It was also in pursuit of Ding several times when Ding flew from the nest. Almost every time Ding returned to the nest, she was attacked by Darling, and many times Darling pushed her off the nest. Darling also prevented Ding from landing in the nest several times. At 0852 Darling was attempting to force Ding off the nest, and the intruder landed on Darling, and forced Darling off the nest! At 0925 Darling was attacked again by the intruder. Finally, at 1053 Edie showed up with a large fish, and Ding got it. The intruder landed on the right perch and Edie chased it off and flew in pursuit of the intruder. At 1208 Edie delivered a large partial fish and Darling got that one (the viewing crowd went wild!). It was Darling’s first meal in about 42 hours. Chow down, Darling! Edie brought a fish at 1544, and that one also went to Darling. At 1801 Edie delivered a partial fish that went to Ding, so each osplet had two fish for the day. It was quite an educational day for the young ospreys. It was good for Darling to be assertive, and good for Ding to experience the new and improved Darling. And, Ding and Darling had their first significant encounter with an intruder. They will learn from all of these experiences to help prepare them to face the world on their own.
7/1 Fortis Exshaw osprey nest: There have been a couple of rare occasions of Big beaking Little, but not at meals. Everyone gets to eat at the feedings, and Little is often front and center at Mom’s beak. The kids are looking good and getting big.
7/2 Colonial Beach osprey nest: David and Betty are doing a nice job of parenting, and their 7 and 8-day-old nestlings are doing well.
7/2 Osoyoos osprey nest: The live stream has been offline since Saturday afternoon.
Thanks so much, ‘H’.
This is a beautiful view of the Glaslyn Valley in Wales. It is home of Aran and Elen and their chicks are being ringed at the moment.
Beaumont and Hope welcomed the arrival of their second chick, from egg 3 ( egg 2 DNH) on Monday. Beaumont is bringing in lots of fish and Hope is feeding the chicks well. Fingers crossed!
Have you checked on those two beautiful osplets at the Patchogue nest on Long Island lately?
You might want to watch Blue 1RO at Rutland Water. Maya and Blue 33’s Only Bob will be fledging soon! What a gorgeous bird.
The latest edition of Cornell’s Living Birds is out and there is a nice article on how to bring birds to your garden.
Some of you will have read the news that a male Bald Eagle, a few miles out of the territory of M15 and F23, was hit by a vehicle while on the road. It was NOT M15. Please relax if you were worried, but also tell people to slow down. Animals are killed every day by the hundreds because of speeding motorists.
You will have noted through Heidi’s reports that the nest at Forsythe New Jersey of Opal and Oscar never has enough fish. Here is the map of the huge trawlers (I am embarrassed Omega is a Canadian registered company) leaving the waters of Virginia and heading to the NJ area. Want to know why there is not fish for the Ospreys? This is your answer! The ships need to be banned. I understand that this is also the nursery of the East Coast Striped Bass and Rockfish and they are being wiped out.
There are elections coming up in some of these areas. If you live here, talk to the candidates. Try and get this stopped before it is too late.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their questions, comments, notes, announcements, postings, images, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, C, EJ, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, WX Chasing, The Woodland Trust, Geemeff and the Woodland Trust, Mary Cheadle, Cowlitz PUD, Clark PUD, Boulder County, Seaside Ospreys, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, SK Hideaways, Eastern Imperial Eagles RU, LDG, Eagle Club of Estonia, Sydney Sea Eagle Cam, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, IWS/Explore, BoPH, Window to Wildlife, Fortis Exshaw, Colonial Beach, Newfoundland Power, PSEG, LRWT, SWFlorida Eagle Cam, William Dunn -Menhaden- Little Fish, Big Deal FB, and Cornell’s Living Bird.
In Canada, it is a long weekend. Canada Day is tomorrow. I wonder how many towns and cities will opt to do something for the environment instead of burning hundreds of thousands of dollars in fireworks??? Then on the 4th it is Independence Day in the US and I am certain there are other holidays around the world coming up. Fireworks need to be banned. We can celebrate without them and use the money for good works – and no balloons. Oh, I sound like a tired record and just yesterday I saw balloons all over the trees at a house for a party!
We are carefully watching the hurricane in the Caribbean. It will impact the island of Grenada where my DIL and friends are (son in Asia) as well as all the wildlife in the area and other islands. Even on the fringes, they are predicting 100 mph winds.
Thinking of Blue KW0 and our friends in Barbados, too. Stay safe everyone.
In the garden, Dyson was enjoying the need seed cylinder.
Later, one of the many Little Reds came to have some seeds, too.
Everyone has been accounted for in the garden except Hedwig, the rabbit. Mr Crow has been very noisy today. The Starlings have returned, and he isn’t happy. Of course, it doesn’t help that ‘The Boyfriend’ (Calico’s former outside Tuxedo cat friend) likes to eat the cheesy dogs. That seems to set Mr Crow off in the wrong direction. There are many baby sparrows around trying to ruin my herbs and beans!
On Saturday, I posted the update from The Woodland Trust on the Loch Arkaig nest of Dorcha and Louis in western Scotland. We will wait to see what is decided regarding the chicks. No one wants Louis to be injured or ill. At the same time, no one wants the chicks and Dorcha to be hungry and become weak. It is a very delicate situation.
This is the Daily Summary from Geemeff:
Daily summary Saturday 29th June 2024
Midnight, and a tumultuous day ends. What started with the triumphal return of Louis in the morning, seemingly unharmed and bearing a fish, quickly turned to worry as he only brought half a fish and the dominant chick got most of that. The irony was that just as licensed raptor expert Lewis was preparing to climb the nest tree and hand-feed each chick a mackerel as he’d done the previous day, Louis appeared with fish, and inadvertently cost the chicks the chance of a solid meal. It was around 8pm before Louis returned with a second half fish, and the submissive chick was bullied away from the fish and not allowed to eat, forcing it to seach for scraps and eat bits of grass. The fish tally now stands at two hundred and fifty three including Dorcha’s contribution of one fish. There was much discussion on the forum, often at great length, of the best way forward, but behind the scenes, George and Woodland Trust Scotland were consulting the experts and a plan has been drawn up. This includes Lewis feeding the chicks tomorrow and a strong possibility of the chicks joining a translocation programme under the auspices of the UK’s foremost raptor expert, Roy Dennis. Link to George’s comprehensive post outlining the details: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=15217474. In other news, Garry LV0 visited Nest One twice, and was in turn visited by a male Osprey who looked like Prince, the mate of sometime visitor Affric 152. It was wet and windy overnight and rained on and off during the day – tonight’s forecast is for drizzle and light winds, with the prospect of a cloudy but mostly dry day tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.55.42 (03.27.10); Nest Two 23.14.07 (03.56.34)
UPDATE: The fish fairies came and fed the chicks and left fish. Words is that the chicks also fed themselves and it looks like Dorcha had a good meal, too. Thank you, Woodland Trust.
Louis did come in at breakfast with a half of a trout for his family. Something is obviously wrong. Get well, Louis. You are trying!
I had a question from a reader, ‘RM’: ‘What happened to the little osplet that always got picked on whose name began with a ‘T’? Turns out this is Tuffy! And I was so glad to report that Tuffy fledged and that s/he returns to the nest often for fish! While I was telling them Tuffy was on the natal nest waiting and watching for a delivery. Ruffie and Tuffy are doing so well. Great parents. Good location for fish.
At The Campanile, Aurora and Nox show up to let us see how well they are doing! Just lovely.
Still around San Jose, too. So nice to see the fledglings.
Osprey babies in care…lots of them. If you re in the area and you fish, why not drop some off?
I hope to get out and see these two Skylark and Heidi flying around chasing their parents for fish in August before they leave on migration. The photo is by Don Dennis and Connie Dennis is the admin for the Ospreys of Nova Scotia FB page. These two are real beauties. They are growing nice and strong due to lots of fish availability.
Port Lincoln wants to install more platforms. They have done an amazing job! The community spirit behind this Osprey project is incredible.
Some nests had trouble raising three chicks, some had trouble with two, and a few raised four!
The four at McEuan Park in Idaho are doing well.
The four at Field Farm are super. We sure didn’t know if Mini Little would make it, but the spunk of that kid in the face of those big siblings just makes your heart beat a little faster. You actually have to look really close to figure out which one is Mini Little – bet this feisty bird is a female. That would account for the increasing growth and the tenacity.
When the fourth egg at Poole Harbour hatched, my heart sank. I just didn’t know if CJ7 and Blue 022 could do it, but gosh, golly, they did. Look at those beautiful babies!
The other nest with four, ‘H’ reminds me, was Forsythe and they are now three. One died.
There has been concern over the past week for the leg of the second hatch at the Bridge Golf course osprey nest on Long Island. Heidi gives us the latest:
The Green Ledge Light Preservation Society on Long Island has named this year’s three osplets: Goose, Peach, and Shea!
At Newfoundland Power, Hope eats about 10 bites to every one she feeds her chick but, luckily, Beaumont has brought in some nice fish and the baby is getting fed. Gosh, could we hope for a fledge. Last chick to survive on this nest was in 2019. All others have starved. Hoping other 2 eggs are non-viable.
Ferris Akel caught up with Big Red, Arthur, and N1 and N2 on Saturday.
The Ns together on the adjacent light tower to their nest.
Big Red on Bradfield ready to roost for the night.
Arthur flying to Bradfield.
He arrives.
In Australia, ‘A’ reports on the WBSE: “Lady slept on the nest last night, brooding her egg. She has not left the nest at all today, except for a three-minute period when she backed up for a PS and a stretch. When Dad brought in some bedding at 08:23, she took the opportunity to fly off, perhaps for some breakfast, but not before making it clear to Dad that the egg needed brooding. So he settled down to keep it warm until her return. So far, we don’t have a second egg, but I expect Lady to lay one some time today. I would be really surprised if she only has the one, though she is ageing, so I suppose it is possible that the number of eggs laid could drop from two to one at some point for that reason alone.
There was no verbal communication between Dad and Lady but she was confident to leave him with the egg, knowing he would incubate it until her return. It was obvious. She would not have left the egg otherwise. So I enjoyed that little moment of non-verbal communication between two birds that know each other so intimately. I love that they are together year-round, not migrating alone like the ospreys (I think that is such strange behaviour) or spending years living a solitary life at sea like the albatrosses. “
‘A’ sends news that we have another egg in Sydney: “We knew the second egg had to arrive today, and tonight it did. The egg was unattended for only 17 minutes in total today, and last night it was incubated overnight, so with 75 hours between the two eggs, we will be hopeful the delayed incubation does its job and gives us two hatches about a day apart. Talons crossed. This pair is so bonded, they don’t even need to communicate verbally any more. It is lovely to watch them working together like the well-oiled team they are. I cannot believe we have two eggs already – it is freezing cold here, mid-winter. Yet this is a normal schedule for these two so I’m sure they know what they’re doing. I just hope there is not too much rain – young chicks certainly do not need to be in damp nests, as we know too well.”
Later…
‘A’ comments on Iris and Finnegan and their chicks: “Finn brought in a lovely fish for an early breakfast at Hellgate this morning – well before 6.30am – and he had not eaten himself. Nor did he fight Iris for the fish. He delivered it immediately for the chicks to be fed and waited on the perch until they’d been fed. Also noteworthy was the fact that Little Bob was first to the beak (as usual), with Big Bob using his height to lean over Little Bob when offered a bite. But Iris fed Little Bob first, then Big Bob. No aggression from Big Bob, who happily waited for its little brother to eat. Little Bob has hit the reptilian phase himself and no longer looks like the cute fluffy chick he was only a couple of days ago. He is getting his oily look, though he’s still not woolly like Big Bob.
These two are doing wonderfully well, but I am worried at how exhausted Iris is. She lights up when she feeds her babies, though. She is patient and careful and dedicated to them both. I keep feeling more and more that you may well be right, and I hate to think of Iris having to migrate at the end of this season. That thought genuinely terrifies me. She is going to be put under massive physical stress by that, and as the climate changes, there’s no guarantee the area she winters in will have any fish for her, with temperatures soaring above 50C in some of those north African countries. So I am desperately worried for her, though like you, I believe if this season is the last time we see her, we can be happy that she spent this year doing what she obviously loves doing the most. What a mother she is. I’m so grateful to have been able to see her raising chicks. ” “Breakfast at Hellgate today was timely and large, and the kids were fine until early afternoon, but by the time Finn brought in a nice fresh whole fish at 17:50, Iris still had a good crop but the chicks looked a bit hungry. As always, the osplets lined up nicely at the table, and Iris favours Little Bob early in the feeding. Both osplets attempt to eat literally from each other’s beaks but there is no aggression. Each chick is prepared to wait for their turn, and Iris feeds a few bites to one, then a couple to the other. She feeds them and feeds them until their crops are bloated with fish, but I think they still need more frequent feedings. I may have missed some feedings today though – I am going only on the crops, which appeared to be essentially non-existent when the late afternoon tea arrived.
By 18:09 Big Bob is crop-dropping to fit in the bites mum is giving him/her. Little Bob has given up on trying to hold his crop up and is lying down at mum’s feet, watching Big Bob attempting to stuff in even more fish. He looks impressed. By 18:10:30, Iris has swallowed the tail and quite a bit of attached fish. The osplets are full, but Big Bob has a nibble on some leftover fish. Iris is having a lot to say to Finn, who has returned to the nest, but I’m unsure what she is saying. His snake eyes make it clear he is not happy that there are no leftovers for him! He did deliver the fish whole, after all. But Iris and the two chicks demolished it entirely in slightly over 20 minutes. “
H’ reports:
6/29 Captiva osprey nest: Edie and Darling both returned to the nest today! Darling had not been in the nest since 6/27 when Ding had been very territorial and aggressive toward Darling and forced him off the nest. The past two days, we had seen Darling in a few flybys, and we had heard him, so we knew he was okay. Well…apparently in the 48 hours that Darling was off the nest, he spent some time thinking about his big sister Ding. I can just see him shaking his head, and shuffling his feet back and forth on a nearby branch, staring at Ding on the nest… and he came to the conclusion that he simply wasn’t going to accept Ding’s bossy ways. “No siree…that’s my nest too!” Darling wanted to be back in his nest to try to get some fish from Mom and Dad. At 0929 Ding was in the nest, Darling landed, a scuffle broke out, and they both went overboard. At 1105 Jack delivered a partial fish to the Ding at the nest.
Now, about Edie… We had not seen Edie since 6/23. She had delivered fish for two days after her ‘fishing line incident’, so her absence was not thought to have anything to do with that. It was believed that she was exhausted and needed a break to recharge her batteries a bit. But, we didn’t know for sure, and we were worried about her. At 1219 Edie landed in the nest with a partial fish! We were thrilled to see her, but she looked a little thin. Ding grabbed the fish…but Darling flew in and he landed right on Ding’s back. They battled for the fish, Darling grabbed it and mantled, Ding tried to grab it, Darling maintained possession…but eventually Ding won the fish. At 1357 Edie brought a small piece of a catfish, and Darling got that one. The siblings spent the next couple of hours coming and going. At 1523 Darling was in the nest, and Ding flew in and chased Darling off the nest. Edie delivered a whole catfish at 1600 and Ding took possession. Finally, at 1718 Edie delivered a medium sized partial fish, and since Ding was still working on her catfish, there was no competition for this meal. After he finished his fish, Darling ate some of the catfish that Ding had left behind, and he had a nice crop. The two ‘non-besties’ spent the night sleeping in the nest. We hope that Darling gets a really big fish of his own tomorrow.
6/29 Osoyoos osprey nest: The fish deliveries by Olsen got off to a later start than usual. The first fish dropped off by Olsen was a medium sized whole fish at 0808, that Soo fed for 10 minutes. There was another fish at 0952 that provided a meal that lasted 11 minutes. At 1025, Olsen delivered a large whole fish that Soo fed to the chicks for 14 minutes. There were no more fish deliveries through 14:40 that I saw. When I next checked the cam, it turned out that the live stream went down at approximately 1515. The high temperature was 84F/29C, and the winds were 5-8 mph. For 6/30 the temp is predicted to be a little cooler, but with gustier winds.
6/29 Fortis Exshaw osprey nest: Life at Canmore continues to be splendid for this osprey family. Louise sure did pick a fine mate in Harvie! Six good sized fish were brought to the nest, and I think there was a leftover fish, too. Louise fed some long meals to her kiddos. And, speaking of the kiddos…they love each other…well, I mean they get along great!
6/29 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Capt Mac’s): There were only 4 meals for this little 15-day-old osplet. And, they went from 0625 to 1555 (9.5 hours) without eating. Three fish came in after that time, and June was able to feed her youngster meals lasting 18, 10, and 7 minutes in length. The high temp was only 80F, with light winds, so I can’t think of why Johnny may have had difficulty fishing. Being a Saturday, the waters in that area may have been crowded with recreational boaters and fishers.
6/29 Audubon Boathouse osprey nest: 15-day-old Harbor, and 11-day-old Gray are doing well. There’s always lots of fish where they live, and they have a wonderful Mommy and Daddy. But, young Gray is often subjected to what most of the youngest osplets on a nest have to endure…that is dominance and aggression from their older sibling. Hang in there, Gray!
6/30 Colonial Beach: It seems that the youngest hatchling has died. It hatched overnight on 6/28. Our view is always partially blocked by some sticks, but we last saw movement of the baby on 6/29 at around noon. Fly high sweet osprey baby.
H’ reports also that it appears that a rescue is under way at Bridge Golf for the second chick with the injured/deformed leg.
‘PB’ reports about the state of the nest at Steelscape in WA on FB:
The Dyfi Osprey Project has posted the weight of their chicks over the years alongside some information I am attaching.
‘J’ writes that Actor Raymond Franco has a thing about Ospreys. You can check out the videos on his FB page.
Late word is coming in that the last osplet at Terrapin Bay could have been predated. Will update tomorrow.
Thanks for being with me today. Please take care. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, questions, announcements, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, PB, RM’, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Moorings Park, SK Hideaways, Raptor Centre of Tampa Bay, Ospreys of Nova Scotia and Don Dennis, PLO, McEuan Park, Field Farm, BoPH, Heidi McGrue, Green Ledge Light Preservation Society, Newfoundland Power, Ferris Akel Tours, Sea Eagle Cam, Montana Osprey Project, Window to Wildlife, Osoyoos, Fortis Exshaw, Fenwick Island, Colonial Beach, The Dyfi Osprey Project, Ramon Franco FB, and Pam Breci.
Thursday was not a good day. Indeed, it has been tearful and solemn. Our beloved Louis at Loch Arkaig has not been seen on camera since 1151 local time on Wednesday. Intense storms with gale-force winds in the area almost blew the two osplets off the nest. Dorcha is trying to keep them safe, and she did fly off and returned with an eel so they would have something to eat. Geemeff writes, “Only one fish yesterday, and just the tail end of that. No fish today, so Dorcha went off and came back with an eel. Concern is growing for Louis.”
Many of you will have watched Loch Arkaig nest 1 during the pandemic where Louis and Aila raised three amazing osplets, JJ5, JJ6, and JJ7. Sadly Aila did not return and he bonded with Dorcha. Louis moved them from the Loch Arkaig nest 1 to the current nest where, sadly, the weather is worse. Louis has always been an amazing provider. My heart is breaking. It feels like someone hit me really hard in my abdomen. This just can’t be happening.
As Thursday passes, concerns continue to grow as Louis has not been seen all day after being perched in his favourite tree late on Wednesday by Liz Bracken who can view the area with her scope.
Dorcha is feeding the chicks but eating very little herself. She needs to eat, too. Oh, please come home safe, Louis.
Dorcha is desperately trying to protect her two chicks during the storm.
Geemeff’s report for Loch Arkaig:
Daily summary Thursday 27th June 2024
Midnight finally arrives to end a dreich day filled with worry over Louis – where is he? The usually reliable super-fisherbird hasn’t been seen for over 24 hours, and concern is growing. He only brought a partial fish to the nest yesterday and Dorcha and the chicks are hungry. So taking matters into her own talons, Dorcha went off and returned with an eel which she proceeded to feed to the very eager chicks, once again, she didn’t get much herself. Dorcha’s fish (yes, eels are fish) takes the tally to two hundred and fifty one. Despite the official forecast the weather has been atrocious and at one point, both chicks were nearly blown off the nest in a violent gust of wind. What’s described as a ‘moderate breeze’ and heavy rain soaking the nest and its occupants is set to continue until tomorrow afternoon when there is a prospect of some sunshine. As the chicks’ plumage isn’t fully waterproof as yet, Dorcha still needs to act as mumbrella to shelter them, which she can’t do if she’s off fishing. With luck, Louis will turn up tomorrow. No action on Nest One.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.38.27 (03.25.18); Nest Two 23.00.49 (03.57.48)
After taking advice we have decided to place some fish on the nest today if Louis or Dorcha do not bring anything in meantime. This could be within the next hour or two subject to legal clearance. The camera may be switched off for this to happen. Given the weekend is approaching, a licence is also being sought to remove the chicks from the nest so we have that option over the weekend if we need it. The advice we have received is that if Louis has not returned by the end of the weekend, then he likely will not be returning. That being the case it is unlikely Dorcha would be able to successfully raise the two chicks to the end of the season and migration. Even given her best efforts to protect them and fish, they would likely not make it. Enquiries have revealed that among the options there is potential for the chicks to go into an existing translocation programme for the benefit of the species. We won’t commit to that until we are sure Louis and Dorcha don’t have a good chance of continuing undisturbed to raise their family. The tricky thing is not intervening too soon when Louis might turn up at any moment, and not leaving it too late until the chicks won’t be in good enough condition to survive translocation. The advice we have is that it is too soon to write Louis off yet, but if he continues to be absent until late into the weekend then we should look at removing the chicks then. The licence to do that is being sought today, even if it is not needed in the end. In order to increase the chance of a successful outcome for the chicks should they be removed in a few days time, they are going to be fed today to tide them over for now. They may also be fed tomorrow. To provision the nest Lewis will climb the tree and leave fish. You will appreciate we have a lot to sort out and I may not be able to answer the many questions I am sure you will have. So please bear with us.
If you are interested in Ospreys in Canada, I have just joined the very informative Ospreys of Nova Scotia FB group run by Connie Dennis, who monitors the nest of Ethel and Oscar at Russell Lake in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Connie told me that the birds in Nova Scotia have “lots of fish”. My goodness, that makes me want to dance!
Ethel feeding Skyor and Heidi at the Russell Lake osprey nest in Nova Scotia. Photo credit: Connie Dennis.
There are no streaming cams but if you want to see some pretty well-fed babies head over to that group!
The trio at Charlo Montana – Charlie and Lola’s kids – are doing well. It has been raining but fish has come in and they seem fine.
I wish every nest had a Finnegan and, like all of you, I continue to be overjoyed that Iris has such an incredibly amazing wonderful magnificent mate!
‘A’ comments: “at Hellgate, Finn removed the fish from the nest around 07:15 and it was so heavy, he could hardly drag it off the nest, let alone lift it! I wondered why he didn’t just eat on the nest and feared he would drop it. And it appears that’s what must have happened, because although he had a good crop when he next returned, it was nowhere near the size it would have been if he’d eaten even a third of that fish. So obviously, he has dropped it, which is unfortunate, as it would have fed the entire family at least four big meals today. When Finn does come back at around 08:35, it is not with the remainder of the fish but with a huge branch. He then manoeuvres it into position and moves another large branch further around the nest. It appears he has noticed, as I have over the past 36 hours or so, that Big Bob is beginning to become very adventurous and is exploring the surface of the nest and heading out towards the rails on his own, sometimes even ending up out there at 3am and having to be brought back into the warmth of Iris’s underfluffies. Big Bob really does look to be right in the middle of his reptilian phase (I have to believe now that he is also a male, given how incredibly laid-back he is and how he tolerates Baby Bob in front of him for feedings, waiting to reach over to get a bite once Iris has stopped giving Little Bob consecutive bites, often for some time. Yesterday evening, she was feeding Little Bob for so long that I became worried Big Bob would lose patience, leaning over Little for a bite and continually missing out. Surely, he would become frustrated by this sooner or later. But no. Mum just kept feeding Little Bob until, essentially, he was too full to compete and sat down. The rain has now really set in (it’s nearly 9.30am and the camera keeps freezing) and although poor Iris is saturated, she still manages to keep both osplets absolutely dry. She is truly amazing – and the best mumbrella ever in both rain and sunshine. This is the most magical nest. First, of course, we have the gift from the gods that is Finnegan. Then, we have two viable eggs, both Finn’s, laid a full week apart, which both hatched. As if that were not enough, despite the serious concerns raised by the massive time and size discrepancy between the two hatches, we discover we have a second chick, nowhere near as well developed at hatch than was its much larger older sibling, that somehow still manages to get itself fed without any fear of getting to mum’s beak (once he could see it). And now, to cap it all off, we have a much older, larger sibling deep in the reptilian phase who still has not raised a talon or a beak in anger towards his younger sibling. So I can only think we have two brothers here. Surely even parents as devoted as Iris and Finn have demonstrated themselves to be could not have controlled the sibling aggression to this degree with a female first hatch and a male second hatch. It has been one miracle after another. Still, as we have seen, Iris is an amazingly experienced, patient and dedicated mum. She never ceases to impress me. And as for Finn, what a man. He has his quirks, but Iris really has found a keeper in this handsome, devoted young mate. You go girl! What a cougar she is. Oh don’t you just ADORE the way he feeds her? ” She continues, “I do wish Finn would stop removing the leftovers from the nest. He eats a huge meal from them, then doesn’t feel hungry and obviously doesn’t realise that the chicks cannot eat enough to get them through the long gaps between fish deliveries that are the result of this behaviour. It would be far better if Finn caught much smaller fish, but these gigantic fish that seem to be the only thing on offer at this location will be great in a few weeks’ time but at this stage is proving annoying. Still, Iris is ensuring that the babies are fed into a food coma every time she has the opportunity to do so, even if it means sacrificing the time to eat properly herself on occasion. Finn has fought her for the fish more than once while she is feeding the osplets, and she has had to insist that he leave it alone until she’s finished. (It’s as if he wants to show the fish off, then take it away and eat the head before returning it. But of course this excites the chicks, who then wonder what has happened to the fish, so Iris argues loudly about it and usually wins – at least temporarily.) It is this particular quirk of his that does lead me to believe this is his first time. He should know by now that babies need small, frequent feedings not two or at most three massive feedings a day. “
At Field Farm, all four osplets are feathered and accounted for! ‘A’ writes, “Mini was self-feeding at Field Farm yesterday. What a cutie he is. All four are looking wonderfully well. “
CJ7 and Blue 022’s chicks should be getting ringed soon. They, too, are doing quite well. Dedicated parents, good fish supplies. It all makes a difference.
Steelscape appears to be doing alright.
Salt Point is good.
At the Newfoundland Power nest, Hope continues to feed her chick.
At Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Mum is feeding the only surviving baby, too. Some relief. I hope these two mothers continue.
The weekly highlights in video for Richmond and Rosie in SF:
A message from Kelly Sorenson of the Ventana Wildlife Society:
My link to Thursday’s Condor Chat did not work. I asked ‘B’ to let me know if they found out anything about Aurora’s death. Here is what he reports, “There is no definitive answer on the cause of death for Aurora, but the possibility VWS considers to be most likely seems to be possible lead poisoning from contaminated prey that was fed to the chick. This is mainly because they report that they are seeing high lead concentrations in many of the birds that they have trapped. They were not able to recover Aurora’s body for analysis because the nest tree was so compromised by the Dolan fire that it would be too risky for a climber to retrieve the body. VWS says that Zenith, the father, consumed the remains, so if there is indeed lead poisoning there would be concern for Zenith’s health, and they will watch for that.
Neither mother Redwood Queen nor Zenith are currently vaccinated for avian flu. The fact that both Redwood Queen and Zenith seem to be healthy makes them think that avian flu is less likely to be the cause of Aurora’s death, but they will be watching Redwood Queen and Zenith for signs of illness, and both parents are now “at the top of the list” for trapping to be vaccinated. 28 out of 100 of the free-flying condors in the flock are currently vaccinated. 8 more have now received the first of two doses of vaccine in June and remain in isolation pens awaiting the second dose. (Only adults that are not nesting and juveniles can be vaccinated, so it has not been possible until now to vaccinate Redwood Queen or Zenith this year, since they were nesting until now,) Two more condors that were trapped recently were found to have high lead concentrations and have been taken to the Oakland Zoo for chelation treatment before they can be vaccinated.
One other potential cause for Aurora’s death that cannot ruled out is that s/he may have been attacked by a predator (even possibly by another condor) at night when Aurora was not visible on camera.”
Heidi will, no doubt, include this in her report. This attack reminds me of Ervie and his siblings after they fledged – out and out monstrous effort to keep the other away from the nest and food. Let us hope that neither is injured.
Heat. Dehydration. Lack of food.
‘J and PB’ called my attention to the report from FORE on Luna:
“6/27/24 Update on Luna’s Necropsy & the effects of extreme heat on eaglets & other nesting birds. I contacted our Raptor Rescue Angel Marily Woodhouse from Defiance Canyon to get an update on Luna’s remains & she shared this important information with me…
“I emailed with the Lab, and she said on the 21st that she would be getting the body in the next few weeks, when someone from the Redding office is going to Rancho Cordova. Luna’s body is being kept frozen at the CA Dept of Fish & Wildlife Office until transport. Dehydration is an effect, but the initial cause is high heat and/or becoming too weakened to eat for that and additional reasons. All young birds grow incredibly fast, but eagles go from less than a quarter lb. to 8-10 lbs. in 10 weeks, which is a high level of physical stress. It’s difficult to keep up, even in optimal conditions. Extreme conditions exacerbate the stress. When I looked at the temperatures for the 10 days from June 5th to June 14th when Sol died, the average high this year was 101; in 2023 the average high for the same 10 days was only 88. An article in the Guardian today talks about the heat issues, focusing on people, who have more ability to escape than an un-flighted bird:
“One degree celsius of warming may sound relatively small but it can translate into quite substantial impacts as it’s an average and the extremes of that average can cause much higher likelihoods of deaths from heatwaves, as well as agricultural impacts and wildfires,” she said.
Here is the article in The Guardian, FORE is referring to. We need to realise that heat and lack of food is going to kill so many, many more and that where possible we should provide supplementary fish:
In case you do not open files, here is the map. You will see that many of the problematic nests are within the upper heat reaches of 3 C.
It is the hard reality of our heating world and how terrible the impact is going to be on our beloved friends.
Oh, how lovely to see them. Larry and mate visit their Alcatraz scrape!
Look at that crop on Tuffy! Just saying…when food is plentiful.
Ferris Akel caught up with the Ns and with Big Red and Arthur on the Cornell Campus Thursday evening.
Big Red is moulting. She will be ‘Blondie’ soon.
One of the Ns.
Big Red and Arthur on Bradfield at the end of a busy day.
David Gessner’s book on Flaco, the Eurasian Owl, that escaped from the Central Park Zoo, who died nearly a year after gaining his freedom, will be released in 2025.
‘H’ reports: 6/28 Colonial Beach had their third hatch overnight.
6/27 Osoyoos osprey nest: The live stream resumed at 0930. It is not uncommon for Olsen to deliver three fish by that time of the morning, and when the cam went live, we could see a partial fish in the nest. Soo fed meals from that piece of fish at 1007 and 1044, finally finishing the fish at 1057. There were two more fish delivered that I saw. A large whole fish was delivered at 1513, that Soo fed for 11 minutes, and finally a bedtime snack fish at 1829. Things are looking good for this bunch.
6/27 Forsythe osprey nest: Due to Bigs dominance, Middle had not had very much to eat for a couple of days. There were four fish delivered to the nest, including one from Opal. The first fish of the day, at 0856, was a very large fish from Oscar, that Opal fed for 55 minutes. Big was determined not to allow Middle to eat. Despite the long meal, Middle was only able to eat 20 bites of fish! Almost seven hours passed before Opal delivered the next fish at 1550. It was a good size fish that she fed for 18 minutes. Early on, Middle managed to position himself on the opposite side of Opal from Big, and Opal fed both of the siblings. Sometimes, the moms will inexplicably move the fish, and blow the cover of the underdog osplet being fed to one side. I was worried that Opal might do that…but she didn’t. Middle ate for 18 minutes. Middle was not able to get to Opal’s beak at the third meal consisting of a tiny fish. At 1753 Oscar brought a fish that Opal fed for 13 minutes, and Middle was able to be fed on the opposite side from Big for 10 minutes. One day at a time.
6/27 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Capt Mac’s Fish House): There were six meals averaging about 12-15 minutes in duration. This lil’ 13-day-old baby is growing, getting plump, and looking good.
6/27 Captiva Ospreys: It has been an unusual, but successful season for Jack and Edie, and their two offspring. Most of us always root for the underdog, youngest osplet. Darling was younger by only 36 hours. But, the siblings may as well have been three days apart in their ages, based on the degree of dominance from the older sibling, Ding. Darling fought for his meals on an almost daily basis, including surviving a 3.5 day period of starvation. Darling is a survivor.
Darling fledged on 6/26. On 6/27 Darling flew back to the nest for the first time, and made a good landing. Unfortunately, the fledgling Ding no longer wants to share the nest with him. Ding acted very aggressively toward Darling for nearly half an hour, eventually forcing him off the nest.
Ding’s instinct is simply one of survival. Ding is not being ‘mean’. She is a strong osprey, and that is a good thing to be. Ding is territorial, and now only sees Darling as competition for food that a parent may bring to the nest. Jack has been delivering five fish a day to the nest for Ding and Darling. Today, Jack brought three fish to Ding at the nest. Perhaps Jack took two fish to Darling on a branch. That would be more fish than Darling would get after food fights with Ding on the nest.
We were very glad to see Darling this morning. We may or may not see Darling again on camera. This is not an unprecedented turn of events at some raptor nests after fledging. Jack will continue to bring fish to Darling away from the nest, Darling will learn how to fish, and he will continue to be a survivor.
Many thanks to the wise and capable Mods of the Captiva live stream, for assisting us with our thought processes on these events.
‘PB’ reports that Baby Cowlitz had 75 bites of fish Friday morning and is a survivor! How wonderful. It will live another day. Wish for fish! And gentle siblings.
Thank you so very much for being with me today. This was a hop skip and jump through some nests with some information on what is impacting our most loved birds. Take care of yourself. See you soon!
Thank you to the following who sent me comments, notes, for their posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today. I could not do it without you! ‘A, B, CD, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, The Woodland Trust, Geemeff, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Connie Dennis, Ospreys of Nova Scotia, Cowlitz PUD, Charlo Montana, Montana Osprey Project, Field Farm, BoPH, Steelscape Ospreys, Salt Point, Newfoundland Power Snow Lane Osprey Cam, MN Landscape Arboretum, Ventana Wildlife Society, Heidi McGrue, FORE, The Guardian, SK Hideaways, Moorings Park, Ferris Akel Tours, David Gessner FB, Colonial Beach, Osoyoos, Fenwick Island, Forsythe Ospreys, Window to Wildlife, and Cowlitz PUD.
I had a wonderful visit with my son. It was topped off with a great family lunch in my daughter’s garden on Friday before saying goodbye. So, this posting might be a little thin with my contributions. This post is going to be a little sobering because we, meaning all those studying osprey populations, are seeing how the 2024 season is unfolding. It is not pretty. Every single chick that survives and fledges should be wrapped in gold.
This has simply been a challenging year. One of the hardest things is watching little ones so eager for fish, their parents not finding enough to feed them, and then dying in the nest. Osoyoos is causing my stomach not to feel very well. Olsen tries. He can’t help it if there is nothing for his family. He brings home what he can find. It reminds me of stories from my mother of the shelves during The Depression.
We must begin immediately – well, we should have last year when the Nor’eastern wiped out almost every chick in every nest in the NE US. There is something happening in the lake at Osoyoos. So what is it? Lack of fish? heat? Why can’t someone stock it with fish? I will happily start a GoFundMe for Soo and Olsen (yes, his name is Olsen) to get fingerlings to go in there in the fall. I would do the same if someone would put fish in that nest. Where are the fish fairies in Osoyoos? Maybe we need to tell the authorities about Port Lincoln!!!!!!!!!!!! It is going to be too late if we fail to act for a couple more years. The laws need changing! NOW.
Look at the size of the fish that Louis brought to Loch Arkaig. Now I want you to imagine that this fish landed on the Osoyoos nest. It would feed all the family for two or three days – that is the difference in nutrition that is coming to the nests!
I also have concerns for Little Bob at Cowlitz today. It was always in the wrong place when a feeding was taking place. Too close to the beak, so not in eyeshot of Mum, or just shut out. Perhaps you saw something different. I am hoping for an early evening full crop. It needs it.
I am so very grateful for those who are watching and reporting on nests. Once I finish entering data into the forms, which will be this weekend now that my social life is quiet, we will be monitoring nearly 400 eggs. My fear is that the failure rate this year will hit over 30%. Survival in 2023 was 76%, or a failure rate of 24%. It is growing every year. 2022 was 18%.
The Memorial Wall is now at 82 and climbing. June is always a hard month. It just keeps giving out heart ache after heart ache. We lost so many Osprey hatchlings and so many near-or-fledged eagles, hawks, and falcons. Things will begin to quiet down but, oh, it has been a challenging and tearful year from the onset in the fall.
One of my citizen scientist observers monitors nests right up in the area that is being hit the hardest, the NE USA. For the safety of the Ospreys I am not giving detailed locations. ‘VV’ sends in her report. It is eye opening:
Here’s the brief update going into the upcoming extra hot temperatures:
Nest 4 – two hatches – 6/9 & 1
Nest 5 – hatch(es?) – 6/10 – can only today verify a head btwn twigs
Nest 10 – two (pretty sure) – @ least 1st hatched by 6/6 – have seen 2 bobs since
Nest 11 – two (pretty sure) – @ least 1st hatched by 6/3 – have seen 2 bobs since
Nest 12 – hatch(es) – cannot see enough of this nest to always be able to see when both adults are in; have seen feeding behavior into nest. These could have hatched even earlier than 6/3, this pair only March return.
This looks to be the total hatches in the 19 nests I have been tracking. I only feel certain that 3 nests (of the 14 w/o hatches) did lay eggs.
Nest 2 (1st uneasy year w/ new female; egg(s?) laid; M stopped incubation, then F, then geese stomped
Nest 3 probably laid a clutch between 5/12-18, rolled out of nest..
Nest 9 (experienced pair) laid eggs no earlier than 5/4; many intruders; possible failed hatch around 6/10; by 6/12 incubation sporadic; by 6/18-19 both away from nest for hours
Irregularly observed Nests 17, 18, & 19, (SMECO nests like 9, 10, 11, & 12); seems all pairs returned; N17 observed switching egg incubation duties. Nothing suggesting clutch on others; not obs indication of hatchlings on 17, 18, or 19.
Nest 4 is the only one of the hatch nests I can monitor effectively at this stage – Big Mama brilliantly feeding both Big and Little, neither of whom have I seen today which is worrying me a bit. But I think the actual issue is a feud between M&F over her returning to fishing duties. He’s always been broody.
. Nest 5 I can finally confirm one hatching through movement between sticks. There could be two. Mrs. Perfect keeps a very, very deep nest, which is not a SMECO nest, in fact does not look deep at all. But the nest cup is deep and she keeps her chicks in it.
As I fret over Big Big and Little Big – I hope the osprey week looks up around the cams too. Our rains had been heavy but never to the scale other places are getting. And now there’s not a drop anywhere. Fishing had appeared very good – except for the windy days of course. But slowing down now. I imagine as the water warms up.
It doesn’t seem that Big Daddy is alone, a few of the males in the no-hatch nests are encouraging the females to fish for themselves.
I have been predicting a huge decline in osprey numbers for the past two years, signalling a further long-term decline. It is happening before our eyes. The numbers are now below what they were than when DDT was killing the Apex Raptors. That is a little hard to swallow but, yes. And it is again, our fault.
It is now time to face this reality and do something about it. It was Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and a few others observing Ospreys on Long Island that first sounded the alarm of the declines due to DDT. Now, we have a collective voice and the numbers of ospreys is less than when the environmental issues of DDT practically wiped all of them out. We need to stop the Menhaden commercial fishing – period. End it. We need to stock ponds and we need to provide supplementary fish to nests that are struggling. We owe it to them for destroying their habitat. This might help until they can begin to adapt with the growing temperatures and storms by moving out of their normal habitats.
Now Menhaden are washing up dead on the coast. What is causing it?
‘H’ sent me the latest offering from the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ and they even say it is an ‘unusual’ year.
Most of you had your heart in your throat Friday as Iris’s second chick went upside down twice. The first time Iris righted the little one but the second time, we held our breath. It got over.
I do not know about anyone else, but I would love to hear your thoughts. IMHO Iris is so happy being a Mum again. She is fortunate to have a great mate. Finnegan is right up there for me with Blue 33, Blue 022, Idris, Dylan, Aran, Louis. If this is Iris’s last year, I am glad she got to feel loved and to have the joy of raising chicks again. That is why this nest is so precious. Everyone wants those babies to thrive and fledge. I hope Dr Greene rings them!
Finnegan loves being with Iris when she feeds their two babies.
Cornell did a video of the kids before the feeding.
‘A’ recalls, “When Finn brought the fish back (10:55) mum fed both chicks to the tops of their crops. Baby Bob is so small. The size gap between them seems to have increased significantly since the second hatch but that’s probably just proportional. He has the cutest little round bottom. And mum fed both of them as much as they could eat before she even started to take bites herself. She also keeps a close eye on Big Bob during feedings, so that if she is giving Baby Bob several bites in a row, she knows just when Big Bob is reaching the limits of her patience and might be about to feel resentful. She checks to see that Big Bob is happy before downing a bite herself. It is almost as if she is supervising. But since that one occasion I documented a few days ago, I have seen nothing resembling aggression. No bonking. No attempt at intimidation. Nothing to try and stop the wee one from eating or from getting to the table. And Baby Bob is totally confident to sit up beside his sibling and open his tiny beak. He is still not that great with direction or with his balance. He fell over a few times during the feeding and turned the wrong way a couple of times too.
Big Bob is getting woolly – she is a strong chick. I am actually wondering whether they may be both males. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? They do both seem very laid back. And even on that one occasion, as I mentioned it could easily have been more based in curiosity than in malice. What is this thing in the nest, I wonder? It seemed to lack any viciousness even at the time. Finn was obviously hungry this morning and had not eaten the head – in fact, he hadn’t touched a scale on it. I’m not sure whether he was showing it off to Iris or whether he thought he should eat first on the nest. But he was very aggressive in his attempts to pull it away from Iris – using his wings for additional leverage and really pulling hard, while Iris not only managed to retain the fish but continued feeding as she fought for it!! What a mum. It was as if she knew he would win eventually but she was going to get some bites into those babies before he did. And she managed that. Both chicks got at least a decent snack before dad removed the fish. When he brought it back, he had eaten at least half of it. I suspect he was eating the entire 55 minutes he was gone with it. Still a young male at heart. At least he brought Iris and the kids half a fish, at nearly 11am. He doesn’t understand that the kids need something early, even if it’s leftovers. But Iris did manage to at least ensure they got some sustenance and some liquid before he finally flew off with it. Iris got up several times during the 55 minutes to loudly let him know she thought he had eaten plenty and where was that fish! She is a powerfully devoted mother, as shown by her determination to ensure both her chicks were well-fed before she even thought about a bite for herself. Yes, she has the luxury of an adult-sized crop but even so, it was endearing to watch as she didn’t even have a nibble until she had taken care of the littles. “
The second hatch at Hellgate has been having trouble staying upright. Three times on its back on Friday. Is it the crowded egg cup, twigs, something wrong with the chick? Let’s hope it stays more upright. It would be the best to have two fledges for Iris and Finnegan.
‘H’ reports:
6/22 Captiva ospreys: The eldest of the two siblings, Ding, fledged this morning at 60 days of age. Congratulations to Ding, and the proud parents Jack, and Edie.
6/21 Dahlgren osprey nest: Some sad news to report… The little osprey baby that was rescued six days ago after it was stuck in a hole in the nest…has died. The 18-day-old osplet died in the morning, after having been lethargic for several hours. The cause of death is unknown.
6/21 Patuxent osprey nest: Things are still going well at this nest, and the 45, 44, and 41-day-old osplets are growing up…even Little! Eight fish were delivered by Dad, and although there is still some occasional intimidation by Big toward Little, it is rare these days. Crops were stuffed!
6/21 Captiva ospreys: It was a slower fishing day, and there were only three fish brought to the nest, and Jack delivered two of them. But, the major news of the day: We witnessed Edie dive for a fish and get caught in fishing line. Then, she was dragged through the water behind a boat. We worried all afternoon, and feared the worst. Then, seven hours later Edie landed in the nest with a fish! There was no sign of the fishing line.
6/21 Fortis Exshaw osprey nest: All is well for this family. The 9, 7. and 5-day-old osplets are well fed, and so far there is minimal sibling rivalry.
Geemeff’s daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Friday 21st June 2024
Today started with atrocious weather not matching the overnight forecast. The ‘light winds’ ended up blowing poor Dorcha completely over, showing off her underfluffies and giving her a bit of bother righting herself again, while the ‘light rain’ soaked the chicks too big to fit completely underneath her now. But things looked up when Louis arrived with a tiny breakfast and proceeded to feed one chick while Dorcha fed the other from last night’s remnant, giving a cosy scene of domestic harmony. After Louis had had a quick go at removing the remains of chick3, Dorcha succeeded, flying off with the sad bundle and disposing of it in the forest. Bye bye little bob3 – gone but not forgotten. Louis brought four fish to the nest, taking his tally to two hundred and thirty one. The Hooded Crows were interested in the nest but Dorcha scared them off with her special crow voice. No need to scare off the little Robin who visited Nest One today as there were no other vistors. Tonight’s forecast is light rain and a gentle breeze – let’s hope it turns out that way as the family could use an undisturbed night tonight with the prospect of disturbance by the Red Arrows doing a flypast tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.47.27 (03.12.07); Nest Two 23.10.54 (03.55.16)
Big Red’s N visits the natal nest looking over to the Rice Building where Big Red and Arthur often drop off prey items for their fledglings.
Want a smile? Well, go to the West End Bald Eagle nest of Akecheta and Thunder, and look at those magnificent fledglings. One of them has an enormous crop. I wish I could tell you which one.
Two of them together.
Both eaglets, Manini and Reign, are over on the Fraser Point nest of Andor and Mama Cruz waiting for dinner.
Mr and Mrs North and the two fledglings are all fine. What a wonderful family. Doing so well after the collapse of their nest.
Gorgeous babies at Radord University.
Four osplets at Field Farm are fine.
The Fab Four at Poole Harbour are fantastic, too. These nests are making me smile – big smiles.
Thank you so much for being with us this morning. Congratulations to Captiva! What an amazing year they have had – full of challenges like a roller coaster but they will have two babies fly. Bravo! Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, photographs, videos, posts, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, PB, VV’, Osoyoos, The Woodland Trust, Geemeff, Cowlitz PUD, Debbie Campbell, Marina Pierce, Conserve Wildlife Blog, Diana Lambertson, Montana Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Lab, Window to Wildlife, Mary Wenz, Patuxent River Park, Fortis Exshaw, Cornell RTH, IWS/Explore, Raptor Research Project/Explore, Radford University, Field Farm, BoPH, SK Hideaways, and Kakapo Recovery.
Thursday. Hot. Windy. 25 C. It is hard to believe that it was raining so much a few days ago. Everything has dried up. Meanwhile, ‘A’ writes from Melbourne where it is the middle of the night and it is 2 C. What a difference! I did make it to the nature centre for the 4.8 k walk. It was a lot of fun today. There was a pack of about five little boy, oh, they were probably 8, doing a scavenger hunt. So we’re standing by the hide, on the path, next to a bench and they are wondering if we have seen anything ‘manmade’. Oh, and they also needed a sign. Oh, help me, I almost rolled on that manmade path laughing my head off. They actually didn’t understand the word. I wondered why it said ‘man’. So we pointed to the hide then to the path then to the bench and told them where the sign was and off they went. ‘I found it, I found it’ – could be hurt ringing through the Aspen trees.
It is the end of the school year in Manitoba. The zoos, museums, nature centres are all full of school children that are so anxious for a summer break that they can’t sit still in their seats. They have taken their exams and are just counting the days til summer break.
It is the summer solstice today – which is actually the 20th of June when I am writing this and you will be reading it tomorrow. So summer is officially here and it is coming in with a blast. We will have temperatures of 28 degrees this week. I am contemplating a fountain for the birds. Meanwhile, Calico is blissful as she stretches out in front of Mr Dysons cooling fan. She thanks him daily!
The great folks at Border Ospreys hoped beyond hope that Augusta and Samson’s eggs would survive the weather and the lack of incubation at times and well, sadly, they didn’t. The nest failed this year. The eggs did not hatch.
After such sadness, the three little osplets at Charlo Montana are just the cutest things. I mean these three are seriously cute. If you are not watching this nest, you should be! Link is provided below.
Iris and Finn are incredible parents! They talk to one another. Finn works hard getting those fish on that nest. Just look at those two bundles of happiness for Iris.
At first glance, Mum seems to be doing alright by the only surviving chick at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. BUT the chick has to constantly find Mum, then get right up to the beak, and hope to get more than a couple of bites of many large fish that come. I do love how Dad supervises. And he should. This is her second year, Dad is much older. He wants his chicks to live!
Sadly I disagree with the individual that writes the Twin Cities Metro Osprey FB. This Mum is not great. The chick is hanging on. The weather is going to get hot and intense. We will be very fortunate if it fledges – and I do hope it does.
The nest does look marginally better. Maybe the local community could help this family and make some wired twig rails like they have at Glaslyn and get them some nice nesting material for next year. I would imagine a ‘Landscape Arboretum’ could come up with something wonderful that would feel like a down duvet and chicks would fall down holes or get their legs twisted in the twigs. Just a thought.
The other problematic female is Hope at the ‘Hopeless’ nest in Newfoundland. She is incubating eggs. Beau is there with her.
At Cowlitz PUD, it is a different story.
Little Mini at Field Farm is still hanging in there. It sometimes has a difficult time getting right to be the beak but Mum just keeps feeding.
The parents with four chicks have to work so much harder and the Mums have to feed chicks almost the entire day to make sure they are growing and healthy. Blue 022 and CJ7 are doing just that.
Mum and Dad are equally busy at McEuan Park in Idaho.
Smile. Summer is here! Jackie and Shadow are full of hope for the next season. They are fixing up their nest. I continue to hope that their great spirit rubs off on us, each one of us.
We are all attached to the place that we consider to be our ‘home’. It is the same for the Decorah North eaglets whose nest tree failed. They are having the time of their life eating prey by the banks of the river, having baths in the water, and hopping around and roosting on their nest tree. That is what they were doing on Thursday before the heavy rain began.
The two chicks at Llyn Brenig are doing fabulous.
Family photo at Patchogue. Two gorgeous fathered osplets!
‘MP’ writes of Patchogue: “I went to take a look at the PSEG nest and dad was bringing in a fish. What a whooper it is and without a head too. Look at the girls/boys with mom alerting as if to say alright father!”
That is a great image. This is the dad with the nest of four osplets in 2023, one of them Little Mini aka Tiny Dancer. That minuscule osplet survived because of these great parents. It was an incredible year, 2023, on this nest. And now it is great to see these two lovely big fully feathered birds.
Three gorgeous osplets at the Oyster Bay nest.
Those three chicks of Idris and Telyn at Dyfi in Wales are looking so good.
Geemeff sends us the daily log from Loch Arkaig 2 and The Woodland Trust.
Daily summary Thursday 20th June 2024
Everything including the weather was settled today – the two chicks shared food amicably, Louis brought four fish, taking his tally to two hundred and twenty seven, and Dorcha took a few short breaks away from the nest. Nest One had two little songbird visitors, but no sign of Garry LV0 or any other Ospreys. The sad bundle of feathers that was Chick 3 is still visible but rapidly shrinking in the warm weather, and is starting to disappear into the nest. Tonight’s forecast is light winds and light rain, which has already started as night cam cam on, and on the day of the summer solstice the day cams were on for about twenty hours.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.44.24 (03.17.03); Nest Two 23.04.41 (03.41.28)
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Today I was reading about the 52C temperatures in the Middle East and wondering what the impact will be on raptors in the area. I recall being in Delhi, eons ago, and it was 46 C. It did not take long to understand the reasons the old Raj government went to Simla in the summer. My heart goes out to any and all of you that are enduring these horrific temperatures. And to our wildlife.
My garden is a cool paradise in a city that is concrete. I quietly plucked the dead blossoms off the climbing roses while bees went about gathering nectar from the opened roses. There are now more than 30 trees on my 100 x 50′ property and that does not include the 8 metres of tall thick lilac bushes or the dozen trees at the back. It is shady. The birds are all in the branches being quiet. Not using their energy. The vines also offer a cool spot – or a safe place where the raptor cannot see them. Water is out for the feral cats along with wet and dry food. The bird baths were cleaned and filled. More shrubs and a large oak will be planted in the fall. I will not live to see that Oak but I hope that squirrels in the future will benefit from its presence. I know that the little contribution that I make to our planet is nothing but a drop in the bucket but I would still like to dream that if half the people on our planet changed their behaviour (please read the article above), collectively we might instigate some huge changes. I know you care. You wouldn’t be reading my post if you didn’t.
Leaving a bowl of water outside for birds can save lives! Mr Crow is cawing and saying cheesy dogs, too!!!!!!!!
Now that the Ns at Cornell have fledged, Ferris Akel has some early evening tours. He caught up with both of our fledglings Thursday evening.
There is concern for the chicks at the Bridge Golf course. It is extremely hot. C2 appears to have a problem with one of its legs. I understand that a rescue team is ready to check the situation but they require permission from the landowners. My concern is also with food despite the fact that C3 is getting some fish. Sadly, it appears that C3 might have died during the night.
On the other hand, unless there are predators, the Only Bob at the Port of Ridgefield is looking good.
Now – those great reports from ‘H’:
6/20, Audubon Boathouse osprey nest: Around 7 a.m., Skiff dumped a large amount of seaweed in the middle of the nest, on top of the babies and the egg. Dory wrangled with the mass of seaweed for a long time to get the babies out from under, but she never got the egg out. Just prior to that, we thought we saw a possible pip in the egg, which was at day 36. The egg remained under the seaweed and was most likely stepped on many times throughout the day. In the evening, the egg was partly uncovered, and we had a view of the egg. The shell was completely crushed, but there was movement seen from inside the shell. The baby was trying to push its way out. Unfortunately, this baby may die in the shell. 6/21 morning update: The egg is once again buried, and cannot be seen. Dory and Skiff’s two lil’ babies are 7 and 3 days of age.
6/21 Colonial Beach osprey nest: David and Betty have been incubating three eggs. Today is day 35 for egg #1, and they are on pip watch.
6/20 Mispillion Harbor osprey nest: Almost two years ago at the Boathouse nest, we witnessed a herring gull attack the fledgling, Sloop, on the nest three separate times to steal Sloop’s fish. Today, at the Mispillion Harbor nest, Della was feeding supper to her two youngsters when she was suddenly attacked by a herring gull who was interested in stealing the fish. There was a brief, but intense battle, and the gull eventually flew away. Fortunately, none of the ospreys were hurt. The fish went overboard. It makes one wonder what happens at the river or bay after Warren catches a fish. How many of his catches are stolen from him? Warren and Della will need to do some nest repairs, starting with replacing the rail sticks that were lost, as their curious osplets have recently begun migrating about the nest.
6/20 Captiva ospreys: There were five fish brought to the nest. Jack delivered the first, and Edie delivered the next four. There were feedings and self-feedings. Jack also briefly stopped at the nest in the evening, just to check on his family. Ding may fledge at any time. S/he was doing high hovers many times, including hovering off the perch and landing back on the perch. Oh my!
6/20 Forsythe osprey nest: Things have been going quite well at this nest for several days. Oscar has been delivering enough fish so that there is hardly any aggression between the 29 and 30-day-old siblings.
Thank you for being with us today. Please take care. We hope to see you again soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, images, articles, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘A, Geemeff, J, H, MP, PB’, Border Ospreys, Rosie Shields, Charlo Montana, Montana Osprey Project, Explore.org, MN Landscape Arboretum, Newfoundland Power, Cowlitz PUD, Field Farm, BoPH, McEuan Park, FOBBV, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Llyn Brenig, PSEG, Dyfi Osprey Project, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, Birdlife International, The Guardian, Ferris Akel Tours, Bridge Golf Course, Audubon Boathouse, Mispillion Harbour, Forsythe, Window to Wildlife, Colonial Beach, and Port of Ridgefield.
Wednesday was a tough day. Little Smallie was the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’. Bless his heart. I wonder what his chances would have been if he had been taken into rehab after being found in the moat? ‘J’ said this reminded her ‘of Rubus all over again’ and I consistently say if you can pick up a raptor and hold it, they are sick!!!!!!! Unless you are ringing them. So, that should be something known by everyone —- if you can pick up a falcon or an eaglet or an osplet and they don’t tear your arm off, they are unwell and should go to rehab. Period. No questions asked. Just do it.
‘B’ sent me a great quote and agreed I could share it with all of you. This came after hearing about the passing of Luna after Sol: “About the only halfway positive thing I can say is that it is a reminder to us all how fragile life is out there in the wild. And to all wildlife, not just our bird friends. It’s not a reminder that I enjoy hearing, but it is one we need to appreciate. We humans live very sheltered lives. All the more reason why it is so unfair that we humans add so many risks to the health and survival of wildlife.”
Thankfully we have some good news.
There is some really good news coming from our friend ‘R’ who has kept an eye on the University of Florida-Gainesville osprey nest of Stella and her former partner, Talon. We can certainly use some news to raise our spirits! ‘R’ went for a good look around the nest of Stella and her beautiful daughter and discovered that “Stella is bringing in some huge fish and immediately flies off. Big sits there and carries on for a while and then finally decides Stella isn’t going to feed her and she devours the fish.” ‘R’ wonders if Stella is fishing in a different lake than Talon or is questioning if the local water source has been stocked. He will check and find out for us. Then he went to check the nest and discovered “There is another nest nearby and Big and “someone” in the other nest take turns vocalizing back and forth. I doubt it is Stella.” Then ‘R’ gives us some really good news! “I found another nest not far from the two I knew about. It was fairly good size and sitting in it was a nice large osprey! That makes 3 nests in the vicinity and probably a few others. The new nest can’t be very old as it is in the new light poles!” ‘R’ will take some photos for us on their next visit. An acquaintance also went for a drive near Bowling Green, Florida and in a two mile stretch all the poles had osprey nests! Wow. Can you imagine? The thinking is that the ospreys relocated after Hurricane Ian.
What a beautiful sight! Iris and Finnegan and their two osplets at Hellgate Canyon in Montana.
OK. I am obsessed with Iris and Finnegan. This nest gives me hope.
‘A’ writes: “Finn is doing such a good job. I’m not sure about breakfast this morning – Finn brought a nice fish in at 09:50, which is late for him but I don’t think there had been an earlier feeding because both chicks were hungry as Iris waited for Finn to arrive. She was very vocal about calling for breakfast too.
He is such a darling. Both the chicks are super active and really good at holding up their heads. Little Bob is half the size of his sibling but is holding his own. Iris spends the first couple of minutes feeding Big Bob, although Little is hungry and pushes his way forward to a position beside and slightly in front. Mum is taking any aggression out of Big Bob, I think, and she slips Little a small bite but then returns to feeding Big Bob. Finn has left the nest, and the fish was a decent size and whole, so there is plenty for mum and the kids.
Once Big Bob has a respectable crop, Iris turns to Little Bob and concentrates on getting food into his beak. He is eager and grabbing for the food, falling flat on his face a few times and failing to hold his head still in the excitement. But mum is patient with him and gets the food to his mouth. She is such a good mum. It seemed to me that she had three days of exhaustion following each hatch, after which she perked up and seems to show great effort and care in feeding both her chicks. Finn is making sure she gets fed, even if he has to do it himself, and he is looking after her wonderfully well. He spends a lot of time on the nest or on the perch, just staying close. I have not once heard him vocalise. Not once. He listens. He acts. He shuts up. What a man! “
This morning Alison notes, “At Hellgate, the kids were hungry, and Iris nagged Finn much of the afternoon for fish. Finally, he brought in a nice fish late in the day (about 20:45) and the chicks played nice, sitting up side by side at the table. As always, mum satiated Big Bob’s hunger and then turned to Little Bob. I saw no bonking at any point today, which was a huge relief, and Big Bob made no attempt to stop Little Bob from eating or from participating in the feeding line. These two are active and are doing well. They both seemed to be born very well developed, as if they had spent an extra day or two in the egg. They were large in size and seemed precocious in both physical development and behaviour. This is a huge bonus, as they began life with a bit of an advantage. Finn is doing a wonderful job. He is a devoted dad. He does need to learn to fish more often and/or leave leftovers on the nest while these two are still so young, but he is obedient to Iris’s demands, and eventually goes out to fish even in a downpour if she nags him enough. He’s going to become a great dad as the seasons progress – I can see him getting into feeding the chicks (he has already had a couple of goes at this, with varying success) and he just adores Iris. “
It is a hot day in Ithaca, New York. One of the Ns is resting in the shade of the natal nest.
Suzanne Arnold Horning caught up with Big Red and Arthur’s family.
Thankful for the two gorgeous osplets at Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home.
Wet osplets at the Goitzshe-Wildnis nest in Germany are waiting for a fish delivery.
The three at Charlo Montana look like they are doing well.
Mum and Dad feeding one another at Blackbush at Old Tracadie Harbour – then they feed the kids. This behaviour of the male feeding the female who, in turn, feeds the chicks, appears to be more common than once believed.
‘H’ will have a better report for us (at the end) but the trio at Osoyoos are getting their crops full with a nice sized fish. Relief.
Nox visits Mum! Oh, no. Eclipse comes!
San Jose Girls seem to be doing very, very well.
In Montreal, Polo and Hugo (yes, another Hugo) playing around.
Suffering from falcon withdrawal? Try the Weston Power Plant scrape in Wisconsin. One chick, one unviable egg it seems.
Wings of Whimsy tribute to Sol and Luna.
Three beautiful babies for Aran and Elen are growing strong and watching the cattle and the rest of the Welsh countryside near Glaslyn.
Three fat chicks at Dyfi waiting to be named. Idris and Telyn have done a superb job, as usual.
Geemeff gives us the Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust summary:
Daily summary Wednesday 19th June 2024
What a difference a day makes! Not only did fabulous fisherbird Louis swoop in with four fish in 26 minutes then follow it up with another three, breaking various records along the way, but there was absolutely no aggro from either of the two chicks today. The reptilian phase appears to be over, and while there will still be the odd fight, especially when they start accepting the fish deliveries themselves, the instinctive aggression of the rapid growth stage seems to have ended. The bundle of feathers that was tragic little chick3 is still visible but is melding with the nest floor and if not removed by Dorcha soon, is likely to just disappear and become part of the nest. Louis’ magnificent seven took his tally to two hundred and twenty three, a remarkable achievement although the wait to see if he breaks his nine-fish record goes on. Nest One had another visit from Garry LV0 who was seen flying to perch on Pole Tree before popping in for a brief visit. The weather was as settled as the chicks’ dispositions, but tonight’s forecast is a damp night with light rain and light winds, with the prospect of a drier day tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.59.35 (03.07.48);
Nest Two 23.23.40 (03.45.50)
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The legendary queen of the mountain gave us an unforgettable moment on this day in 2020: Aila has a brain fade and decides to move an awkwardly shaped stick from one side of the nest to the other, apparently oblivious to the presence of her chicks. They duck this way and that trying to keep out of her destructive path, and when Aila finally leaves the nest, one of them delivers a parting shot with perfect emphasis.
The female at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum was much more attentive to her only surviving chick on Wednesday. The little one had several feedings, each with a resultant crop.
No hatch yet for Beau and Hope at Newfoundland Power’s Snow Lane nest. This is another problematic female who prefers to eat the fish and not feed her chicks. I do wonder if she is modelling her behaviour after the nest where she hatched?
A family portrait (of sorts) at Field Farm. You can still tell Little Mini as it has only a few feathers unlike the three older siblings. Nest is doing well. Bravo!
Blue 022 delivers a fish and CJ7 immediately begins feeding their quartet.
‘PB’ reports that Little Bob at Cowlitz had a good day! Fantastic. This nest had been concerning me.
There are two beautiful Golden Eaglets on Estonian nest 2 at Kaljukothkas. This nest is getting enough food that the obligate siblicide did not occur. This is a good thing. One of those beautiful miracles of a year filled with much sorrow.
Bety and Bukacek had one storklet this year. It is alive and healthy. Another life to be thankful for.
Let’s end on another smile. World Bird Sanctuary, home to Murphy the Bald Eagle who incubated a rock and got to raise an eaglet, has a great story for us. Thanks, ‘J’.
Last year, one Bald Eagle couple’s nesting season ended in tragedy when a tornado destroyed their nest, killing one of their chicks and sending the other to our hospital. That chick was 23-126, and we all fell in love as we watched him grow and be fostered by Murphy. This year, we are delighted to report that 126’s parents have rebuilt! Their new nest is only about 100 yards away from their old one and they have 3 healthy eaglets! We’d like to thank 126’s finders for passing on the good news and Frank Melliere Photography for taking and allowing us to share this photo of the 3 eaglets.
Oh and one last smile – I feel like we need lots of them. Ruffie and Tuffy are still knock out gorgeous fledglings, coming to the nest for fish. This is Wednesday. Both look to have nice crops.
‘H’ reports:
6/19, Osoyoos osprey nest: Oh my, they had a great day. Ollie brought eleven fish to the nest, wow! The meal times remain peaceful between the siblings, and everyone ate their fill, including Soo. There were some ‘minnows’, some medium sized fish, and one ‘whale’. At 2105, Ollie brought in a very large whole fish. I overheard one of the kids ask: “Mommy is that a whale?” Soo: “Yes Dear, Daddy caught a whale for you.” Soo only fed the whale to her kids for a few minutes, then walked away from the fish, so Ollie removed it. He returned the partial fish to the nest at 2137, but Soo did not feed at that time.
6/19 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Captain Mac’s Fish House): June and Johnny’s 5-day-old chick seems to be doing well, and June is providing shade from the sun. There were seven meals provided to the lil’ one, which was an improvement. Very warm temperatures are predicted in the upcoming days, so keep those fish coming in, Johnny!
6/19, Fortis Exshaw osprey nest: Louise and Harvie are great parents, and are taking good care of their three chicks. Bonking has started…the eldest has been bonking both of its siblings. Ages: 7, 5, 3 days.
6/19 Dahlgren osprey nest: ‘Hope’, the 17-day-old only chick of Helen and Doug, is doing quite well.
6/19 Patuxent osprey nest: There were only three meals for the osplets, but the first two fish were very large and provided for long meals. Each chick ate multiple times. It appears that Little’s feathers are finally starting to grow better, but s/he remains far behind the older sibs. Big has been doing some impressive wingers!
6/19 Captiva osprey nest: Edie and Jack delivered five fish to the nest. Jack’s injury seems to be healing, and he is functioning normally, but the ‘spike’ is still embedded under his skin. Darling performed a nice mini-hover for the first time, and Ding continued to perform hovers out of our view. One of these times, Ding’s hover may just turn into a flight!
Geemeff sent us the ringing video of Blue 33 and Maya’s chick at Rutland:
I am getting word from ‘J’ that a Peregrine Falcon female with chicks in the scrape appears to have died from something poisonous in EDE. Will confirm with more news tomorrow.
There is more news from FORE today and I have abbreviated this. Please go to their FB page for the entire post.
“As we mentioned, we were able to retrieve Luna’s body since she passed away on the ground & not up in the Nest. But, we still don’t know yet if they can perform a necropsy or not? In this Redding heat decomposition sets in quickly. And, if they can do a necropsy, we may not get the results of those tests for several months. So, this is going to take some time. Try to breathe & heal while we wait for those answers…Rest assured our Liberty & Guardian are doing fine, so please don’t worry yourself sick about them right now. We will continue following them & sharing their journey until they leave the area, as we always do. We don’t know when that will be this year since their work is now done… We will not know the cause of death without the necropsy results, but we are looking closely at several indicators pointing to severe dehydration brought on by a variety of mitigating factors. Some of the factors that we are looking into include; extreme sustained heat including several consecutive days of 100+ degree temperatures in a row in June, no canopy or shade above the Nest due to a completely dead nest tree, and numerous fluctuations in nearby river levels beginning in late Feb/early March which may have affected the eagle’s typically bountiful rainbow trout supply in April & May 2024. We did not see nearly the number of trout, which has a lot of hydration for the eaglets, coming into the nest during those crucial months as we typically have at this nest. “
Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care! We hope to see you soon.
Thank you to the following for the comments, observations, notes, posts, videos, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, B, Geemeff, H, J, PB, R’, Montana Osprey Project, Montana Osprey Cam, Cornell RTH Cam, Suzanne Arnold Horning, Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home, Fischadlerwebcam, Charlo Montana, Blackish at Old Tracadie Harbour, Osoyoos Ospreys, SK Hideaways, de’Montreal Falcons, Weston Power Plant Peregrine Falcon Cam, Wings of Whimsy, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Twin Cities Metro Osprey Watch, Newfoundland Power, Field Farm, BoPH, Pam Breci, Eagle Club of Estonia, Mlade Buky, Osoyoos, Fenwick Island, Dahlgren Ospreys, Patuxent River Park, Fortis Exshaw, Window to Wildlife, World Bird Sanctuary, LRWT, and FORE.
To all those wonderful men – human and not – for taking care of living breathing things, protecting them, feeding them, loving them – Happy Father’s Day. And to one special Osprey this morning who is injured with a spike in his leg – Jack at Captiva. You are amazing. Despite all, you are still helping feed your family this morning!
There is a lot going on in Bird World. Rescues, uprightings, sibling rivalry, hatches, GHO attacks, and death. You name it, it seems to be happening. The very beautiful and good is tinged with the sorrow and sadness. We just have to breathe and as someone said today, ‘life is very fragile, embrace someone and hold them tight, you don’t know what is coming next’. What a year it has been and we are only half way through. As one reader said to me, “The Memorial Page has exploded”. It has and I am still catching up! It is always sad to lose one of the birds and, please, take the time to check out the Memorial Page. If I am missing one of our feathered friends, please write and tell me so I can add them. I am still working on the European Storks that died so tragically from the horrific weather. And, another thing, the second hatch at Hellgate has not happened. I was sent incorrect information and the more I looked for a second head, I could not find it.
In all of this, Saturday was a gorgeous, hot windy day and we spent it at the duck pond watching the little ducklings and goslings, of all ages, flitter around the pond enjoying the shade and the cool water despite the build up of algae. People were happy being outside. There was a wedding reception in the garden area, and the ice cream man with his bell could be heard at a distance. Even deer were coming out to eat grass in the shade. Now the skies are pearl grey to dark charcoal and you can just feel a storm building up. Despite saying we would have no rain, we are now in an area of Extreme Weather with high winds, hail, and rain predicted. If this continues, we will need machetes for the garden instead of clippers and mower.
There were lots of ducks and geese on the islands in the pond which is shaded. The wind was keeping everyone cool despite the 27 C temperatures. Some of the geese had been in the water with their goslings. Some went in and out, in and out. Others foraged for little pebbles to aid their digestion. The goslings range in size from those that are about half as large as their parents to tiny wee ones that looked like they hatched only a couple of days ago. All of the adult geese are moulting. They will exchange all of their feathers. They will not be able to fly and leave the area until their full moult is complete. I don’t think anyone minds. Each trip I gather a handful of feathers for ‘The Girls’. They go crazy for them. Besides boxes and bags (without handles), these feathers are their next favourite toy. Their most favourite are the tunnels that they race in and out of late in the evening or early in the morning.
Baby Hope will be one year old on 2 July. As so many of you know, just thinking about her brings tears to my eyes. After Calico ‘decided’ that she was coming in the house on 28 August 2023, we thought we would never be able to find her only surviving kitten. (We could tell there was only one by the single teat being suckled). It appears that Calico might have lost ‘Hope’ and that was why she was ready to leave her life on the streets and come inside where she had lots of food, a safe place to sleep, comfy beds and toys and, of course, lots of love and stories. Five days later we looked out at the feral feeding station and there was a mini Calico. We knew it was her kitten. In three hours, Hope was inside suckling on Mum and life was good. We are trying to figure out precisely just what kind of party to have for her!
Hugo Yugo says that she thinks we need grilled cheese sandwiches along with ice cream for the party! What do you think?
Hugo Yugo is still tiny, a little peanut, but she remains the boss of all the others. Despite eating her food and theirs, she has hardly grown. She is a bundle of energy that never stops. She still sleeps draped around my neck at night. And she still begs for her pieces of cheese around 2100. I have been able to wean her off the kitten milk at the vet’s request. She is dynamite!
As I go to press, I am getting sad news. It appears that a GHO attack has taken all of the osplets from the Crooked Lake nest in Iowa. ‘H’ says, “This is without a doubt the most bold owl attack I have ever seen. Just unbelievable. The owl stayed in the nest and killed all three osplets right in the nest in front of Mom, then flew off with one of them.’
Geemeff is also writing that C2 at Loch Arkaig is now dead or death is imminent. This is so sad and is due directly to siblicide by the ever aggressive C1. First time ever to happen at Loch Arkaig.
We will begin with news from ‘H’.
6/15 Forsythe osprey nest: There were eight fish delivered to the nest by Oscar, and a few of them were fairly big. How many times have we seen situations where the fish production at a nest increases after the starvation deaths of one or two of the osplets? I know I’ve seen it happen a few times, and it just leaves me shaking my head. After the siblicide/starvation deaths of Mini and Little, there is still some aggression from Big toward Middle. But, Middle is managing to find ways to eat. S/he most often squeezes around to the other side of Opal from Big, where there is just a small space between Opal and the outer rim of the nest. Middle ate at least 345 bites of fish in eight meals. I hope Oscar continues to have fishing success.
6/15 Dahlgren osprey nest: The baby named ‘Hope’ was stuck in a deep hole in the nest for about 1.5 days. Dahlgren Osprey Cam arranged for a rescue by Tidewater Wildlife Rescue. TWR performed the rescue this afternoon, and repaired the hole in the nest. Little Hope is doing well, and we are so grateful. Keep the fish coming in, Doug!
6/15 South Cape May Meadows osprey nest: The two little bobs are doing very well. Zeus has really stepped up, and he is providing lots of fish for his family. We are so pleased!
6/16 Chesapeake, Kent Island osprey nest: We wait to see if the first egg of the second clutch for Audrey and Tom will hatch. The egg is 39 days old, but it was pecked by a crow on 5/16. I hope there will be at least one
6/16 Boathouse osprey nest: The little osplet of Dory and Skiff is doing great. Their second egg is 35 days old today.
6/15, Patuxent osprey nest: Dad continues to deliver tons of fish, and many of the fish are huge. He brought fish to the nest six times today, but we could tell that a few of them were the large leftovers he had previously removed from the nest. All of the chicks were stuffed many times over. There was very little aggression today, and Little was even seen eating at the ‘big kids table’!
6/15 Captiva ospreys: There were 7 fish brought to the nest, four by Edie, and three by Jack. There was a lot of eating going on…feedings and self-feedings. Ding and Darling ate their fill. And, at 53 days of age, Ding was hovering! We are still worried about Jack. He still has that foreign body ‘spike’ sticking through his leg. But, he is able to fish and help take care of his family. Bless his heart.
I want to thank Heidi – again and again. I could not keep up with the nests without her. So everyone, give her a loud shout out, please!
Those watching the Dahlgren nest and getting ever more anxious that the wee babe named Hope was stuck in a hole can now relax. It has been rescued and all the time it was there, dear Mum kept feeding it. Thank goodness. This is one of those really feel good moments that we need when tragedy seems to be lurking at many of our nests. Thank you to everyone who alerted the owners and to the rescue team that saved the wee one. Bless their hearts they filled in and repaired this nest with sticks, mud, and grasses/moss. Well done!
Tragedy may have been averted at the Wells Fargo Iowa DNR Osprey Platform. The little one with a full crop got on its back and could not right itself. It took the entire day. Will it be alright? We have to wait and see.
My favourite capture of Iris and Finnegan. I hope she lives many more years to enjoy this wonderful relationship.
Zoe fledges and Lucia returns flying strong several times.
Middle flew back to the osprey platform to be with Mum at Lake Murray after avoiding the GHO by flying. Magnificent. Fingers crossed everyone. This is such good news. Seriously this is incredible news. So happy happy.
Polo 7422 published a video of the hit by the GHO on Hope. (Have you noticed so many named Hope or Hugo??)
Going to check on some of the Finnish nests today! I had a lovely note from ‘SP’ today. I have been covering some of them as best I can but I also learned that some of my confusion with the numbering and names is because there are two separate organisations. That is why I cannot find 10 nests on this one site! ‘SP’ elaborates, “The link I gave in my previous male, Sääksikamerat (kaikki näkymät) | Sääksilive (saaksilive.fi), with 5 nests, and 2 views of the active nests (I follow mainly these):
Here nests 1, 3 and 4 are occupied.
Number 4 has last year’s couple, 3 chicks, eating a lot, and the making heavy exercises (fighting) from the very beginning (genes from the female). A video in the web by a non-native follower: Brutal fight between two eaglets #ospreycam #ospreys #siblingfight #shorts (youtube.com) Hope the fishing weather will be good in July … (Last year the yongest chick got fiercely killed by the sibling.)
Number 1 has an older, experienced couple, with so far 1 chick and 2 eggs left.
Number 3, with a first time mum (bride from last year) and last year’s male, has 1 chick, one to pop up soon (hole in the egg already). First chick died.
(Last year the female disappeared and the 3 chicks died.
Number 5: the last year’s couple arrived, but somehow they ”changed their mind” abt nesting. The two eggs, not taken care about, were taken by a raven. Very ”nicely”, indeed, both times:
This nest, number 5 was interesting last year: After the own 2 chicks had left, a foreign chick, from Sweden, landed on the nest, and stayed very long, for weeks, and got fed by the male.”
Number 1 – adults doing incubation. Waiting for pip/hatch watch.
Number 2 is a failed nest. No activity.
Number 3 has a beautiful osplet. Dad brings a huge fish!
Number 4 has three healthy osplets.
Number LS/5 is a failed nest. No activity.
From separate organisations:
Seilin in the West of Finland. Couple incubating eggs.
Janakkala in the North has three osplets.
Muonion, in the far north, is incubating eggs.
At Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Dad delivered no less than five fish, several large. There is also rain and Mum is keeping those babies warm and dry. Everyone ate.
‘L’ writes: “Dad stood near mom while she fed the babies at Minnesota. I think he is trying to teach her. She literally went over the head of the oldest one to feed the third one. ” It seems that the latter part of the day was not so good at this nest. We live and hope.
Olsen is doing the best that he can at the Osoyoos Osprey Platform. Most of the fish brought in were so small but he landed a whopper later in the afternoon and everyone did eat well.
It has been a miserable day across much of Wales. Telyn and Idris worked to feed their three chicks and to keep them dry even though they are getting their juvenile plumage and can thermoregulate.
Blue 022 is working hard to get lots of good fish to CJ7 so that their four Bobs will all be full and happy.
I know how sad everyone has been after the loss of Sol, so close to fledge, at the Redding nest of Liberty and Guardian. Everyone at FORE is simply heart broken, too.
Luna is alive and well and for this we must be very glad.
All three eggs have now hatched at Niagara Bee. They are all looking good.
I will now be carrying the daily summary by Geemeff that she publishes for the Woodland Trust. It is the happenings on the Loch Arkaig nest of Dorcha and Louis. Lots of good information and links to videos! Thank you, Geemeff, for allowing me to publish this information.
“Daily summary Saturday 15th June 2024
No action on Nest One, and very little on Nest Two. Louis only brought one fish mid-morning, and wasn’t seen again until suppertime when he caused consternation by arriving empty-taloned. Dorcha couldn’t believe it and gave him a right earful while he cleaned bits of fish off his beak. He’d obviously eaten recently and had a nicely rounded crop which added fuel to Dorcha’s ire. Earlier Dorcha had caused a bit of consternation herself when she arrived with an awkwardly shaped stick and proceeded to drag it through the huddle of chicks, although she quickly redeemed herself by being an excellent mumbrella and keeping her three big chicks warm and dry during a torrential downpour. As usual, chick2 got all the fish and beaked the other two to keep them away from the food, therefore it will be good if Louis arrives early tomorrow morning with a fish big enough that C1 & C3 get a share too. Statto Steve Q provided us with a thorough analysis of the fish stats to date – despite the odd blip, Louis’ current total of two hundred and two fish is pretty much comparable with previous years. The weather was very unsettled today with a misty start turning into a rainy day and more of the same forecast for tonight.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.36.53 (02.58.59); Nest Two 23.10.58 (03.27.50)
Looks like we have one hatch at the Green Ledge Light Preservation Society nest on Long Island.
There was a lot of discussion over which eaglet it was that fell from the Fraser Point nest of Andor and Cruz. It appears it was Manini and not Reign as I reported earlier. Congratulations on fledging!!!!! BVS Girl has that first flight on video.
The two Golden eaglets in Estonia nest 2 are plump and healthy. They are flapping their wings and walking.
This is the second hatch spreading its wings. Look at that fat bottom and those big strong legs. I am so happy for this nest. I hope the good fortune continues.
Fish dinner arriving at Cowlitz PUD and we have three hungry osplets.
I cannot tell you how much fish Little Mini got at Field Farm on Saturday. It is often difficult to tell, but the wee one is growing and had a sort of half crop in the morning.
Checking in on the San Jose Falcons.
For images of the Cal falcon fledglings, please go to the Instagram account of moon_rabbit_rising!
Suzanne Arnold Horning posted some lovely images of Big Red and Arthur’s Ns. They have fledged and were found in spots near to Fernow and Tower Road. Both fledglings are doing well.
Tweed Valley Osprey Project gives us an excellent view of Mrs O feeding her three osplets.
Thank you so much for being with me. Watch for that hatch of Iris and Finnegan from Sunday-Tuesday according to Dr Greene. Take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, observations, videos, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A’, Geemeff, H, L, MM, PB, SP’, Timothy Dygert Live Stream, The Woodland Trust, Forsythe Ospresy, Dalgren Ospreys, SCMM Kent Island, Boathouse Ospreys, Patuxent River Park, Window to Wildlife, Heidi McGrue, Sunnie Day, Montana Osprey Project, SK Hideaways, Lake Murray Ospreys, Polo 7422, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Nesting Bird Life and More, MN Landscape Arboretum, Osoyoos Osprey Cam, Dyfi Osprey Project, BoPH, FORE, Niagara Bee, Feemeff, Green Ledge Light Preservation Society, BVSGirl, Eagle Club of Estonia, Cowlitz PUD, moon_rabbit_rising, Suzanne Arnold Horning, and Tweed Valley Ospreys.
Friday was a really beautiful day. The sky was a clear blue and there was no rain and little wind. The temperature was 24 C. It was a good day to check out the goslings and ducklings at the park later – I went around 1700 and they were coming out of their shady island nests to swim. Even with the sprinkler system, the rain and the heat are causing some algae/pond plant problems.
It was really hard to see the tiny ducklings.
Oh, I adore the little female Wood Ducks.
This Mallard had two surviving ducklings. Many had 12 or 13 and it was hard to tell as the Canada Geese do their ‘daycare thing’ so you might see several geese caring for nearly forty youngsters while the other parents forage.
Five beautiful and tiny little wood ducks.
My garden is lush. The water has caused everything to thrive in a year when I worried as the winter had been so dry. Some of you will recall that there was a peony plant and a climbing rose that were planted on my property in 1902 when the old two-story house was built by Italian rail workers. Both are still alive. The peony is full of buds that will bloom soon and the rose is simply bursting with buds. I coddle it as if it were the most precious thing and I often wonder who lived here and who the woman was who planted the roses and the peonies.
The roses now cover an area of approximately 3 metres by 5 metres. The area is absolutely thick with branches laden with these amazing buds. What a treat! I am already dreaming of what it will be like to sit next to the flowers and sip my tea when they bloom – imagine the scent!!!!!!!
I feel that I am such a bearer of bad news these days. There are so many issues that face our raptors and many of those are playing out around the world. You might recall that there was heavy rain and flooding around the nest of Liberty and Guardian. It was noted that the tree was dead. Today, Sol is dehydrated, and death could be imminent. FORE has tried to get a tree climber but the tree is in too bad of a shape for them to climb. Liberty tried to feed her eaglet but Sol was not interested.
Over the years the citizen scientists, like yourself, observing the nests of all avian species have noted issues with nests. If it isn’t happening (and certainly some places are diligent at inspections), nests should be inspected annually prior to breading season. Dead trees, sadly, should be taken down so that we do not find ourselves in the situation with Liberty and Guardian’s Sol. This might also help with nest collapses when the nests are simply too large and heavy rain would cause them to crash potentially killing eaglets.
Sadly Sol passed away Friday morning. He was 77 days old. Right ready to fledge.
For those concerned for Luna, boots on the ground found her and she is alive and well. What a relief!
At the Fraser Point Nest of Andor and Cruz, Reign has fell off a nest that is collapsing. She was found safe under the nest!
The full report of Ospreys on the Iberian Peninsula for 2023-24 is now available.
Two juveniles on Tor – those West End fledglings are strong. Thunder and Akecheta got them a lot of high quality food. We see it in their spunk and in their flying. But, oh, to have such open spaces without buildings. They are blessed.
All three West End Eaglets – Koa, Treasure, and Sterling were caught on video soaring together. How lovely.
Idris and Telyn did a great dual feeding for the osplets at the Dyfi nest in Wales. They are looking for names. Need to be unused river and mountain names in Wales. Check it out! Dyfi Osprey Project.
Those Montreal falcons really want to fly! If you are missing the Cal Falcons and San Jose ones, then take a look at these three.
Things have still to settled down at Loch Arkaig. C2 still dominates all the feedings.
Blue 022 gets the fish to the nest for CJ7 to feed the Fab Four.
New dad, Finnegan, is actively involved in every aspect of the family including security, delivering food, feeding Iris, and feeding the chick plus being support. What a guy. So thankful you came along, Finnegan. This is an amazing story unfolding on the nest Iris now shares with you.
Good night, Iris.
‘A’ alerts us to the second hatch. Iris didn’t get much sleep!
“Darling Finn was in with a late fish last night (14 June) at 18:53:45. It’s a nice size and appears whole. When Iris stands up to claim it, we can see the second tiny head in the nest. It is still very tired from the hatch, and only wakes up because Big Bob disturbed it by standing up, getting ready to be fed. Big Bob is gigantic already, so this second hatch is going to need to be a strong-minded chick. Iris begins eating while Finn checks out his offspring.
Finn stands and watches Iris feeding Big Bob, who is a great little eater. After a couple of minutes, he flies to the perch while Iris continues feeding. By 19:09 Big Bob’s face is covered in fish and he is falling into a food coma. Mum settles down to brood the pair. Finn flies down the nest, then at 19:16 heads off. Dad is back with a stick at 19:30:24 and leaves again immediately.
Shortly after 19:29, Iris stands and begins alerting. She looks upwards, continuing to alert loudly. Intruder? She calms down relatively quickly but continues to glance upwards and to her left (towards the camera). It is at this point that Finn arrives (from the opposite direction) with the stick, which he nearly brains the chicks with. After he leaves, Iris remains standing and occasionally glances at the same spot again.
Eventually, after a good rouse and another glance around, Iris goes to settle on the chicks but changes her mind and stays standing, looking around. Around 19:33:40 she has a good flap of her wings. Impressive.At 19:34 she carefully returns to brooding the chicks. At 20:06:30 Finn is back on the perch. He flies off again at 20:12:20.
This morning, Finn arrives on the nest just before 05:18, while it is still dark, to say good morning. He stands beside her. She is her usual very chatty self. He is silent. Having said only yesterday I’d never seen Iris sleeping tucked, she did so quite a bit last night (especially as morning approached). Shortly after 05:25, Finn set off to get breakfast. He returns soon after 06:30 but without a fish. Iris does not sound pleased by this development.
He does a little busy work on the nest, but when Iris stands up at 06:3424, he immediately flies off. Iris stretches her wings and then flies off the nest herself at 06:34:40. She is back at 06:35:13, so obviously just did a circuit of the car park. Dad is back just before 06:38, again with empty talons. Iris leaves again. Finn is standing on his left leg a lot, which I presume is just resting but I am hoping he has not suffered any injury to the leg. I don’t think so. He wonders whether/how to brood the chicks and looks around for Iris.
Eventually, shortly after 06:41 Finn settles down to brood the osplets. It appears Iris has taken breakfast into her own talons. Iris is back at 06:56:17. She has no fish. Finn gets up carefully and flies to the perch, allowing Iris to brood the osplets. Iris gets up, moves a large piece of bark, and settles down again. Why? Strange. After a good preen, Finn leaves again around 07:09, hopefully on a fishing expedition. Iris looks to have a good crop still but the chicks need feeding, especially the younger one.
It is now 07:25 and Finn is not yet back. I do hope this new baby is not too tiny and that it is able to get fed. I also hope that it is a female and the first hatch a male, but I doubt that. This first hatch is precocious, physically and behaviourally. It is strong and a very good eater. I am fearful for the younger osplet, but then always was with the lengthy gap (a full week) between the laying of those two eggs. We will wait and hope.”
An absorbing article about Iris and Finnegan with interviews with Dr Greene and his helper Sharon Leigh-Miles.
‘A’ has finally fallen in love with Ospreys! She writes, “Iris carefully supervised Finn’s first attempt at feeding their chick yesterday morning (14 June) at around 08:55. Initially, he wasn’t very good at it, finding it hard to reach down far enough to put the food into the chick’s beak, but after two or three efforts, he successfully gave the chick a bite. And another. He was good at getting the pieces small enough but leaning down to get the food into the chick’s beak took him a little more practice. But he is learning. Iris standing behind him, watching closely but not interfering, was so sweet. She is happy to teach him how to be a good dad – I’m surprised she is not more protective of the wee one, but she obviously trusts this guy and he has already proven himself to her in many ways. Certainly, he has demonstrated an amazing level of devotion to his family. Let’s hope he remembers that his primary role is away from the nest – fishing for the family and keeping intruders away from the territory. Family time is a bonus. But I do adore how proud he is of Iris and their chick. I wonder how he will manage provisioning for two osplets, Iris and himself.
By 08:57 Iris was a little concerned that far more fish was going into Finn’s mouth than into the chick’s beak and decided to intervene. When Finn tries to feed the chick a piece that is too large, Iris takes it from his beak and bends down to feed it carefully to the wee one. Finn continues to eat the fish, while Iris feeds the chick saliva several times. He keeps eating. She moves closer, obviously wanting more of this fish to be fed to the chick. (It is large and pretty much whole, so Finn is entitled to eat the head at least. Iris however is concerned only about feeding the chick.) When he turns to feed a piece to the osplet, she takes it from him again and feeds it to the chick. This is repeated several times, with Iris taking food from Finn to feed to the chick. This is SO sweet. They are not so much tandem feeding as team feeding. Iris is clearly teaching Finn about being a great dad.
Finn now concentrates again on eating for himself, so Iris settles down to brood the chick, though it remains visible at her breast. She reaches out to nibble at the fish Finn is holding down, as he continues to eat beside the nest bowl. He feeds Iris a couple of bites, then continues eating. She continues nibbling at the fish too. When Finn flies to the perch shortly after, he leaves the fish beside Iris. He returns to the nest at 09:33:35 with eyes firmly on the leftover fish. Iris has a lot to say. He nibbles on the fish a little, but soon leaves without removing the remaining fish.
He is soon back again (10:05), possibly with a stick, although Iris standing up obscures our view. She is very chatty. He is tall, dark and handsome, a man of few words. She settles back down to brood and he simply stands behind her on the nest, protectively. After a couple of minutes, he circles Iris and she stands up to show him his baby (and the hatching second egg, presumably). He looks down into the nest, obviously fascinated as always. She continues to chirp. Having closely examined his progeny, Finn flies to the perch. Iris continues chatting. By 10:19, she is settling down to brood again. Finn remains on the perch. There is still half a large fish (probably a fair bit more) remaining on the nest. “
We still have three chicks at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum! Mum provided good shade for much of the day and the three had some good fish.
Wow, that third hatch at Charlo Montana sure came quickly. Charlie looks on at this three kids and his new mate.
Little Mini had a bit of a crop earlier in the day from this feeding but was shut out later – something that bothered me a bit. It was rather submissive during a late feeding allowing the older Little Bob to lean over it and eat. I am hoping Little Mini was just full.
Only Bob at Sandpoint is a fat bottomed little cutie.
‘MM’ watched the Osoyoos nest for us on Friday and she reports: “It was offline again until about 9:30 this morning so not sure if there were any feedings before then but I have counted 6 so far today with the 6th one still taking place. For the most part they have been very small especially the first three or four. I’m almost certain at the first feeding(9:56 am) mom ate it all while the chicks bonked one another. The fish lasted all of 5 minutes, was so small you could barely see it. At 10:56 and 11:34 am dad delivered small fish again with each chick getting a few bites and mom also definitely wasn’t enough to fill their crops. At 1:26 and 2:51 pm he brought fish that were a little bit bigger but not by much. Again they each got enough to keep hunger at bay but still not seeing bulging crops like at other nests. Number 6 was delivered at 4:12 pm and was still ongoing when I started this email. It was definitely bigger than the others. As the chicks get older hopefully the fish will get bigger because there’s no way those tiny fish will fill up 3 growing chicks and mom has quite the appetite as well 😄 I noticed they are pretty well behaved whilst eating but not so much while there’s no food on the nest.”
The 6th fish of the day and the biggest. Thanks, ‘MM’
Two gorgeous feathered babes on the Patchogue nest!
The little one enjoying some fish on the Cowlitz PUD nest.
It is difficult to see if all the chicks are alright on the Oyster Bay nest because of the greenery.
Two surviving osplets at Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home are fantastic.
Smallie spent the night in the scrape. He is looking very well.
Prey continues to be provided for the Ns at the Cornell nest of Big Red and Arthur. Both fledglings appear to be flying strong.
‘H’ reports:
Dahlgren osprey nest: Early on 6/14, viewers noticed that the 12-day-old chick was in a deep hole in the nesting, and sitting on a bottom wood slat of the platform nest. The baby is surrounded by some articles of clothing, perhaps gloves (?), and can’t hardly move. So far, Helen has been able to feed her baby in that position. Viewers tried for hours to raise awareness with the nest owners. Finally this morning on Facebook is the response: Brigitte Schwurack Top contributor Thank you for your message, the owners of the camera are informed.
6/14, The weather started to clear, and it turned out to be a great day! Due to poor fishing, the youngest osplet, Darling, had not eaten for over 3.5 days. At 0917 Edie delivered a whole catfish, and Ding ate. Darling was not able to eat any of that fish. At 1015 Edie brought another whole catfish and fed Ding. While that was taking place, Jack arrived with a partial fish. Ding grabbed Jack’s fish, and Darling was quick to grab Edie’s catfish, and ate his first bites of food for over 87 hours. At 1024 Edie took the fish from Darling and began to feed him. Darling ate for about 40 minutes. At 1259 Edie landed with a partial ladyfish, Darling grabbed and mantled, but Ding took it away. Ding ate until 1334, then walked away. There was still a lot of fish left, and Darling self-fed on the ladyfish. At 1337 Edie brought a whole ladyfish, Darling abandoned the other one, and Edie fed some of the new fish to Ding, but most to Darling. At 1428 Edie fed the remainder of the first ladyfish, mostly to Darling, and some to Ding. Finally, at 1956 Edie delivered a partial catfish. She fed Ding, and then Ding did some self-feeding. Everyone’s prayers had been answered for tons of fish. Darling had a large crop for most of the day. We are so very thankful that the weather cleared and Edie and Jack were able to catch fish, and that our dear Darling is still with us!
6/14 Forsythe osprey nest: There are not enough fish being brought to this nest. It has already undergone brood reduction once. Mini4 died of siblicide/starvation on 6/11. There were four fish brought to the nest on 6/14, and none were very large. Big and Middle were both responsible for preventing Little from eating for the second straight day. Little passed away overnight…COD siblicide/starvation. Big also controls when Middle is allowed to eat, and Middle ate a total of 156 bites of fish the entire day. This may end up being a one-chick nest, where once there were four of the cutest little osplets you had ever seen.
6/14 Fenwick Island osprey nest – Captain Mac’s Fish house: Congratulations to Johnny and June on the hatch of their first baby at approximately 19:45.
6/14, Patuxent osprey nest: There were six fish brought to the nest by Dad, and a couple were whoppers! Everyone had a great day, and Little had several good private feedings. Remarkably, at meal #5, Little was eating right beside Big…as if they had been best buddies their entire lives!
It was almost daylight, and I thought the osplet had survived another night without being hit by the GHO. At 0538 C1 was standing up in the nest when she was struck hard by the GHO. The GHO was not able to take her. C1 managed to grab the rail sticks with her talons, but had been thrown off balance, and she eventually fell off the nest. That nest is very high, and we hoped that she was able to flap and float down to the ground. Well, she did better than that…. The nest owner saw C1 flying across the lake!
‘J’ sent us an update on Connick, Connie and Clive’s eaglet from 2023.
‘J’ also sent us an update on Chance:
‘RP’ sent us a smile:
Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care! See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, observations, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, EJ, H, J, MM, PB, RP’, FORE, Vicki Jacques, BVS Girl, Aguila Pesiadora, The Raptor Resource Project, BocianiMyBolewice, IWS/Explore, Dyfi Osprey Project, Friends of Loch Arkaig, Montreal Falcon Cam, Geemeff, BoPH, Montana News, Charlo Montana Osprey Cam (Owl Osprey Project), MN Landscape Arboretum, Field Farm, Sandpoint Ospreys, Osoyoos Osprey Cam, PSEG, Cowlitz PUD, Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home, Amersfoort Peregrine Falcon Cam, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, Lake Murray Ospreys, Forsythe, Patuxent River Park, Dahlgren, Fenwick Island, and CBS Sunday Morning.
Somehow, 1 osprey chick did survive the “night of terror” and my friend followed that one for quite a while.
Those 20 minutes of horror felt like it went on forever! Watching those poor ospreys up there in the nest trying to comprehend what in the world was happening to them & to their peaceful, quiet habitat was absolutely torturous for me. 
