14 June 2024
Good Morning Everyone,
The rain clouds came Wednesday evening and watered the garden and they are rolled in again from the West Thursday morning. Hugo Yugo is afraid of the thunder and lighting and the minute it starts she scatters to get under the duvet on my bed. Poor thing. Friday is a different matter. There are no clouds in sight. The sky is a pure beautiful blue with the bright emerald green from the trees decorating it. Everything is so lush. I have never seen trees and shrubs grow so much in such a short time. It just shows how much we need the water and how dry our winter had been.
I spent about three hours walking at the zoo on Thursday and about an hour sitting and having tea and watching the polar bears. It was the most glorious day. I am hoping to be a good example to all of you to get out and about, but I have to admit that I was pretty sore and tired after that!
The bears had been fed and were swimming in the icy cold water area before they left to go into their den. They are so gorgeous and are extremely well cared for. (I am still not sure what I think about zoos).
Besides spending time in the research centre learning how climate change is hampering the ability of these iconic bears to get food, I also found out how the staff at the zoo determine if one of them is ill. They put different coloured sprarkle bits in their food. So Bear A might have green, Bear B red, etc. Then they check their poop. Reminded me of the movie, The Last Emperor of China.
Polar bears are most active in the winter and hibernate during the summer. Churchill, Manitoba, is the Polar Bear Capital of the World. I do not know when they gave that small town on Hudson’s Bay the moniker, but today, if you want to see Polar Bears, you must go out in boats at two specific times of the year – spring and fall. The times are getting later and later as the sea ice gets smaller and smaller and further away from land. The bears have great difficulty getting food. They must fatten up in the winter to live on the fat all during hibernation. Sadly, they are hungry because of fewer and fewer seals. Some bears are catching seals in open water, and in the fall, they are desperately hungry. They come into Churchill and feed on garbage, which causes the citizens to get upset and the bears to be shot. Life is becoming desperately hard for them.
Sad news coming in this morning. One of the four fledglings at San Jose, Luna, has been found dead on the ground following a building collision. Thank you ‘SP’ for alerting me.
As I ready for bed, there is serious concern over the Captiva Osprey nest. Connor from Window to Wildlife posted the following letter. This is one of the nests that ‘H’ monitors and she notes that Darling has had nothing to eat (but perhaps a few scraps) in 75 hours. This is because of the weather. We are hoping for a miracle but are realistically expecting Darling to pass away.
‘H’ reports on Captiva which is a nest she monitors: “6/13 Captiva ospreys: The stationary tropical wave weather pattern that extends all across south Florida is expected to continue for the next few days, albeit with conditions predicted to be a little less severe in some places. The two osplets, Ding and Darling, had eaten a meal the evening of 6/10. Then fishing became impossible due to the stormy weather, not just because of the wind and rain, but due to the effect it had on the water surface and water turbidity. The evening of 6/12 Edie brought a partial catfish to the nest which was eaten by Ding. The morning of 6/13, Jack delivered a partial needlefish that was eaten by Ding. In the afternoon, Edie brought a partial catfish, and that was eaten by Ding. And, in the evening, Jack delivered a partial sheepshead that Ding ate. The shortage of food has rekindled Ding’s ultimate dominance over Darling, and Ding wins the battles for the fish. If enough fish is brought to the nest, Darling will win some of those battles, and Ding may also allow Edie to keep a fish to feed Darling.
In my opinion, if Darling passes, it will have nothing to do with Jack’s injury. This is about the weather. It is a prolonged weather event that a young unfed osplet cannot endure. And, I’m sure this scenario is being played out at many osprey nests all across south Florida that have been impacted by this nearly-stationary tropical wave.
This is exactly the same effect that the Nor’easter had in New Jersey last June. Certain adverse weather systems simply hang around too long, causing poor fishing that lasts for too many consecutive days…not just one day, or two days, but three days or more. The end result is the starvation/dehydration deaths of many young ospreys. In some cases, the prolonged stormy weather may cause the deaths of the adult ospreys as well. For example, at the Ocean City, NJ nest, where the parents disappeared after the June 2023 storm, intruders took over the nest, and the osplets died in the nest.
When the weather begins to improve after such a prolonged adverse weather event, and the adult ospreys are able to catch a fish, they must eat at least part of the fish to ensure their own survival, before bringing the remainder of the fish to the nest to feed their young. Then, the dominant osplet in the nest will eat first.
At Captiva, Edie was providing for her two osplets just fine for three days in Jack’s absence, while we were unaware that he had been injured. Then the storm hit, and made fishing impossible for an extended period of time. Now that fishing has started to improve, and both Edie and Jack have been able to bring a few fish to the nest, the eldest osplet, Ding, has first dibs on the food. If Darling dies, it will not be because of Jack’s injury. It will be due to the storm, and because s/he happens to be the youngest osplet in the nest.
By 07:00 on 6/14, Darling will not have eaten for 84 hours. Pray for enough fish this morning to feed both Ding and Darling.”
6/13, Forsythe osprey nest: After 10 fish were brought to the nest by Oscar on 6/12, this nest took a nose dive…with no apparent explanation. At 0822, Oscar delivered a medium-sized headless fish. Little was not permitted to eat at that meal, and Middle only ate a few bites. After many hours, Opal decided to go fishing herself, and she returned with a large whole fish at 1530. That feeding lasted for 40 minutes, and yet Little only ate 4 bites of fish. He was prevented from eating by both Big and Middle. We saw Oscar on the perch, but perhaps he wasn’t feeling well. Little ate pretty well on 6/12, so he is not in immediate danger of starvation.
6/13 Patuxent: There were six fish brought to the nest by Dad. Little did not manage to eat at the first meal, but had a nice 12 minute private feeding at the second meal. Little was not able to make it to Mom’s beak during the next two meals. Little usually automatically assumes his tuck-and-surrender posture when a fish is delivered to the nest, and he has learned to wait his turn until Big and Middle are full. But, at meal five, he fell asleep while waiting, lol. The meal began at 1600, and by 1616 both Big and Middle had dropped back…queue Little…calling Little…where’s Little?…Oh my goodness, he had fallen asleep! Mom ate some of the fish, and all of a sudden Little woke up at 1621 and said, “Oh, here I come Mommy, save some for me.” But, there were only two bites of fish that Mom had left to feed her youngest. Ahh, but Dad wasn’t finished…he delivered a large headless fish at 1822, and Little had a mostly private feed for 23 minutes and ate 145 bites of fish.
6/14 South Cape May Meadows osprey nest: We knew that the crow most likely destroyed egg #3 on 6/8, and it pecked at another egg. One egg hatched on 6/11 which could have been either the first or second egg. Well…another egg hatched overnight on 6/14! So, the first baby was from egg #1 at 39 days, and the second baby was from egg #2 at 39 days. “Now, you two must get along..Ya hear!” Congratulations to Hera and Zeus!
6/14 Fortis Exshaw osprey nest: The second baby hatched overnight. Congratulations to Louise and Harvie! (I do not have any good photos yet)
6/14 Boathouse osprey nest: Congratulations to Dory and Skiff on their first baby of the season. The lil’ one hatched just after 8 a.m.
Gosh, that is a cute little baby, Heidi! Look at those dark eyes.
Thanks so much, ‘H’. We love your reports!
One of my readers said this morning that ‘the Montana nest might bring us the happiness we need this year’. With all the worry about Jack at Captiva with ‘the something’ sticking out of his leg (looks like part of a fishing spear to me), and all the nests that have four chicks, and now Loch Arkaig with the ferocious C2, well. It is going to be nice to sit and watch Iris live out a wonderful summer. She always had the best nest in the country. She would work on it right after she arrived from migration and then stop and make sure it was in tip top shape when she left. Just look at it. Perfect. This is just the best ‘icing on the cake’ for this female. A devoted male after so many years. When did Stanley die? 2014? If you look at the timeline below, you will see that the fledge in 2018 was just a fluke. It has been ten years since Iris had a clutch of chicks that fledged! So this really is a miracle year.
So far, Finn is delivering on his promise to continue to be a good mate and dad. A huge fish came on the nest for Iris and baby Thursday morning.
The enthusiasm for a big fish for the babe and Iris caused some concern Thursday afternoon. ‘MB’ writes, “Some clumsy/scary looking moments at Iris’ nest 14:50 ish. A large fish arrives complete with head. The two adults both seem keen to wrangle it, more interested in the fish than the chick. The wee chick is trodden on a few times. It goes down and stays still for a while, and I am holding my breath. By 15:00 ish the chick is back up and begging and the fish has been taken over to the perch to be sorted out. Hopefully it will arrive back for a more civilised feeding.”
Goodness me. We do not need a nest accident! Iris and Finnegan with that whole fish and wee babe wanting fish!
Finnegan looks down at the wee babe while Iris feeds. Oh, I wish I could see what he is thinking.
‘A’ adores Finn: “Finn does appear young, but if he has never done this before, he sure is a natural dad. He adores Iris and worships this tiny creature in the nest. He watches it with absolute fascination, and spends quite a bit of time on the perch, guarding his family with obvious pride. Adorable.
You should see the size of the afternoon fish he brought it – it is MASSIVE (timestamp 14:51:15). Iris is happy! She starts to eat, but Finn decides he’s hungry too, so there is a bit of a tug of war over the fish, with the chick rapidly moving out of the way for fear of being squashed by this giant fish. Iris returns to brooding the chick and Finn starts eating the head of the fish. The chick is confused!
Finn takes the fish to the nest perch and continues eating. And eating. And eating. By 15:32 Iris is getting impatient, and Finn brings the fish back to the nest. He stands beside Iris, looking very proud, until 15:40, when he grabs the fish and brings it around to Iris’s head. She is periodically vocalising at Finn but not getting up for the fish!
Finn continues eating the fish head, occasionally offering a bite to Iris, who ignores it. Just before 15:43, he feeds a bite to Iris, which she accepts. She finally stands up, and slowly moves around to the fish. It is 15:44 and the chick is hungry. Finn stays on the nest, and the chick is not sure which parent to turn to for food. Iris is eating. Finn is watching his chick from the other side of the nest cup. Finally, around 15:45 Iris starts feeding Bob. The chick is good at this part! It is a voracious little feeder and can hold its head up, and steady, very easily indeed. It is strong and it is healthy. Such a blessing. Iris is giving her baby the smallest pieces – just right for a newborn osplet. She is such an experienced mum – calm and diligent. In fact, this chick seems to have inherited some pretty good genes all around.
Oh I love this little family. Finn is proving to be a perfect dad, He could not be prouder of his osplet and he adores Iris. I know how many people are just over the moon for Iris. Every girl deserves a Finn in her life! I adore the way he feeds her on the nest. SO sweet. I have never seen a feeding like yesterday’s – yes, a few bites, but not a full eight-minute feeding that involved at least 50 bites of fish. That really was something very special indeed. I love this guy. Not just delivering fish but breakfast in bed for the new mum. He’ll be bringing flowers next! “
A pip in the second egg of Iris and Finnegan has been confirmed Thursday evening. Tears. Get the tissue boxes out!!!!!! The champagne is already gone.
The three babies at Charlo Montana are soooooo tiny.
C2 finally let up and everyone, including Dorcha, got some fish out of the sixth delivery of the day. Did I say that C2 is a big female and behaves like Zoe, the osprey, at Port Lincoln of 2022?
All of the osplets at Field Farm are accounted for!
A flurry of a tandem feeding at Poole Harbour with CJ7 and Blue 022 trying to keep the four osplets alive and healthy. They are doing an incredible job.
Blue 022 is great at feeding. Both adults were rushing to get the four fed as heavy rain was coming into the area.
One surviving Osplet, one deceased by a nest accident, and it looks like a DNH egg at Sandpoint.
Those three are tough little osplets at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. They are still alive!
It is extremely difficult to see how many or how little fish are coming to the Osoyoos nest with its three osplets. Soo and Olsen have had a tough time of it in recent years. The area has been hit with heat bombs and the local lake and river that supply the fish appears not to have enough fish – or it is so warm that they are diving deep – that Olsen cannot catch them.
I noted three feedings on Thursday. At 1034, 1536, and 1656. This is not enough to sustain this family.
If you have the time, the Osoyoos cam is up and running. Any help in establishing how many fish come on this nest would be ever so helpful. Thank you.
It’s hot at the Cowlitz PUD nest. Three osplets. We need lots of fish to come on this nest!
Perhaps it is my imagination but it seems like the fish deliveries at some of the nests with small babies – that need to be fed a little but many times over – are slow.
Waiting for pip/hatch watch at Captain Mac’s Fish House Osprey platform.
Maya keeping her Only Bob dry from the rain at Rutland. What a great Mum she is. So sad she was sick at the beginning of the season. The ringing of the chick is scheduled for June 21.
At the Golden Eagle nest #2, Mum has brought prey in a couple of times on Thursday. Both chicks ate.
Edith P caught the feeding on video.
Golden Eaglet in Bucovina România doing well.
Some images from the nest of Big Red and Arthur and the new fledglings, the Ns.
The two hawklets at Syracuse have both branched and the nest is bare. I am thinking they both might have fledged.
‘H’ is watching for a pip Thursday evening for Dory and Skiff. Will see what she reports in the morning.
Hatch at nest #3 in Finland. (One egg had nest accident and one other egg left to hatch)
One osplet so far at nest #1 in Finland.
Some of you will have read the book Beauty and the Beak. I am sorry to inform you that Beauty has passed away.
Thank you so much for being with us today. There is joy tinged with great sadness. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, posts, images, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, PB, SP, T’, Connor and Window to Wildlife, Patuxent River Park, Forsythe Ospreys, SCMM, All About Birds, Montana Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Lab, Charlo Montana Ospreys, Geemeff, BoPH, Sandpoint Ospreys, MN Landscape Arboretum, Osoyoos, Cowlitz PUD, Pitkin County Open Spaces and Trails, Captain Mac’s Fish House, LRWT, Eagle Club of Estonia, Edith P, Wild Bucovina Association, Cornell RTH, Heidi McGrue, Nesting Bird Life and More, Finnish Osprey Foundation, and Birds of Prey Northwest.
