Sunday morning. Baby Hope is the protector of the realm this morning! She decided that there was no way that The Boyfriend would come into the house after he had breakfast. He now arrives at 0900 and 1700 for ‘wet’ food. There are two of them. One has white on both sides of its nose – this one – and the one who is quite skitterish has white only on the right side.
Greetings from a sunny and HOT Saturday on the Canadian Prairies.
Every bird spent some time having a bath today! Water is so essential when it is hot even more so than food! And it has to be changed and filled lots of times a day.
Years ago we had a neighbour, Alf. Alf kept a journal throughout his life, no matter where he was, including being in a British submarine during World War II around Sri Lanka. He always included everything about the weather, who he saw, what he did, and the major news events. Alf was amazing. Every morning, he went swimming with the high school team at 0700. He rode his bicycle up and down the lanes near our town, often picking blackberries and bringing us a pail. Many years after he retired, he started studying German and Russian. On New Year’s Eve, he was always at the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. Alf taught us so much during the time I lived near him while reading at the University of Leicester. The fates worked in my favour in 2003. I was able to visit with Alf a few weeks before he died. He began to feel unwell during the morning swimming and died peacefully in the ambulance en route to the hospital. Alf never married. I think his neighbours were his family and he certainly treated us that way. I want to take a page out of Alf’s playbook and start tracking the garden animals in a properly bound journal. I might even force myself to learn how to draw!
Lately, the digital world has been giving me a headache. The sorting of the photographs, information. While I cannot imagine not being able to find information quickly compared to ordering articles and books through inter-library loan, I want to slow down and pick up a journal and see what was happening in the garden last year on this date. Analog. Today, I would write that the European Starlings returned. Did you know their beaks are not correctly shaped for eating most seed? They like unshelled peanuts, meal worms, and soft suet. On Saturday we picked up the Starlings’ favourite suet and today their meal worms should arrive. What perturbs me is the fact that so many people are highly selective in the birds that they want to feed. Yes, Starlings are an ‘invasive’ species. They can’t help that some humans introduced them into North America. And personally I think they are stunningly beautiful and they are not more aggressive in the garden than the Jays or the Sparrows. In fact, the most aggressive animals are the squirrels. There are more entries on a search engine for bird food to prevent Starlings from wanting to eat at your feeder than what they like to eat. Oh, that irks me.
Saturday evening was amazing. It was so warm. The geese were busy feeding at the fields on the way to Oak Hammock Marsh. They had a presentation on the geese that come to the marsh and then we went out to see the murmurations of the Rusty and Brewer’s Blackbirds (the Red-Wing and Yellow-heads left on migration several weeks ago). We get Canada, Cackling, Snow, White-fronted, and Ross’s geese and the morphs. Tonight there were Blue-winged Teal, two Trumpeter Swans, Canada Geese and a speckled breast White-front juvenile. Tens of thousands of geese did not fly in at once like they would have had the weather been colder. They need to eat more than they need to sleep. Most will come to the safety of the marsh at 0100 or 0200 and go out feeding again around mid-morning.
Oak Hammock is a combination of wetlands, the marsh, and the Tall Grass Prairies.
What is unusual at the end of September are the number of mosquitoes!
The Trumpeter Swans at a distance. One overwintered about 2 km north of the wetlands at the site of an Artisan spring.
The colours were so beautiful and the water was as smooth as glass.
It was just the perfect night.
In the UK, those amazing Pink-footed Geese are arriving from Iceland and Greenland.
We need to know as much about Menhaden as we can. They are critical to keeping the ospreys in Chesapeake Bay alive. https://youtu.be/2Tvq8W8QtLM?
After Helene. Gabby and 24E1 continue work on their nest.
Still wet at SW Florida.
It is raining in Ithaca, New York at the nest of Big Red and Arthur.
It is always nice on a Saturday listening to Ferris Akel’s tour. Today, there were some excellent waterfowl, including gorgeous Great White Egrets, Blue Herons, and Gallinue.
And some female Wood Ducks!
It was the start of a beautiful day at Big Bear Valley.
The cameras picked up a person walking their dog close to the nest tree.
A sub-adult Bald Eagle is working on the US Steel nest of Claire and Irvin in Pittsburgh. https://youtu.be/zmF87AzhDPU?
eBird describes the Sooty Falcon thus: “Slim, long-winged, long-tailed falcon that is built for long-distance migration. Adults are all gray, while juveniles have pale, spotted underparts. Breeds on cliffs along the coast or in the desert. During migration and winter, spends most of its time on the wing, and can be seen over any habitat. Quite social, and often seen in loose flocks of dozens or more. Adult is very similar to the dark-morph adult Eleanora’s Falcon, but Sooty is paler gray. Immatures also very similar, but immature Sooty has an unbarred tail without a rufous tip. Much longer wings and tail than Peregrine Falcon. Larger and lankier than other falcons.”
The Peregrine Fund describes the challenges these falcons have: “The Sooty Falcon is categorized as Vulnerable. Some of the threats this lovely falcon faces including habitat destruction, especially in the form of human developments cropping up at important breeding sites, and disturbance. Feral cats also pose a threat to this falcon.”
Those cute little Olympic Park Sea Eaglets had some fish for lunch! Not a bird. Gosh, these two are little darlings. https://youtu.be/JiVqBbKBKX0?
Pip watch for Xavier and Diamond!
Thankfully these two are not going to fledge in the next week!
The first pair of White-tail Eagles are breeding in Northern Ireland in 150 years.
There are no plans for anything to happen to the Achieva Nest. I wrote to the Tampa Bay Raptor Centre and bucket trucks are in high demand right now and the ospreys will need to rebuild their nest on their own.
It is relatively quiet in Bird World right now. Instead of taking a full break, I will be writing a shorter blog until we get the hatches in Australia.
Take care of yourselves. We will see you in six days.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, announcements, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘J’, Oak Hammock Marsh and Ducks Unlimited, The Guardian, The New York Angler, NEFL-AEF, SW Florida Bald Eagle Cam, Cornell Red Tail Hawk Cam, Ferris Akel Tours, FOBBV, PIX Cams, WingsofWhimsy, Duke Farms, eBird, CarnyXWild, OpenVerse, Nesting Bird Life & More, Ildiko Pokk, ETSU-Johnson City, and Raptor Persecution UK.
As is typical, I am writing my post on Saturday. I had hoped for some sun and wind to dry up all the rain, but, the rain is now coming down harder and harder. Three Crows were frantically pecking at the nut cylinder. I noticed that they gave each other space so that they could eat. All was going well until Dyson arrived! The Crows flew off. They returned later for a big bowl of cheesy dogs. I can see Junior at the feeder sorting through the peanuts. Where is Mrs Junior? It is always worrisome when one or the other does not show up at the morning feeder.
Dyson is moulting. She isn’t sick! She is so strong and healthy. It makes us happy to be a part of her life. I wish we could get the trees to grow faster or convince her to please just stay in our garden. No roads!
It has really started pouring. And yeah, Mrs Junior just flew in to get some peanuts!!!!!! Relief.
In Canada, Beaumont continues to deliver large fish to the nest where his two fledglings might like to scrap for the dinner! Both are eating well and Beaumont is making sure each is fed.
Dad and at least one chick are still at the LDF nest in Kuzeme Latvia.
Right now there is harmony and peace at the NE Florida nest of Gabby. She doesn’t seem to care if the male has necrotic feet in places. They are on the branches together, side by side at times, and in the nest making nestorations. If Gabby gets to raise little eaglets in peace this year, we should all jump up and down with joyful tears.
They have been on and off the nest on Saturday. The AEF has ‘temporarily’ designated the male as 24E1 (year, eagle, first visitor).
The eyes of the male visitor remind me so much of those of Samson. I know it isn’t, but for a split second.
The SW Florida streaming cams are up and ready for action starting today or tomorrow.
It was a beautiful day at the nest of Bella at the NCTC. Didn’t see any eagles.
You can help support conservation by buying stamps! Aren’t these beautiful?
These will be available in the new year. There are currently others for sale – some designed by adults and other junior winners. They are lovely.
The little eaglet in Australia is doing so well and this little fluffy bundle of joy has a name – Lukin.
Bradley and Shultzie. Yes! Good thing there are two perches. It’s always good, just like the Blue Jays, to get a total head count before sunset.
Judy Harrington brings us up to date with the Olympic Park Eagles.
The new pair in the USK Valley in Wales left late. They didn’t breed but hopes are high for 2025.
Bird Flu is possibly the reason for the decline in Peregrine Falcon populations in the US. Like everything else, it is still with us – it just isn’t making the news like it did. That is a shame.
Xavier flew out for the morning breakfast hunt. Diamond waits patiently to see what he will return with for her meal.
We blinked and the Olympic Park Eaglets grew and grew. When did this happen? They are more steady on their feet. Their wing feathers are growing in. They look like eagles, not nestlings. SE 34 is learning to self-feed.
Will we see the Royal Cam chick back on cam before fledge? Possibly not.
Pippa’s Mum is the first to return: Royal Cam chick Atawhai (Miss Pippa) and Lillibet’s Mum YRK is the first to return to Taiaroa this year. You will remember her amazing mate, OGK – some of us still tear up at the thought of him. OGK has not been seen since he went missing in 2022.
The Only Bob at Growing Home is so fortunate. It will never ever have to share a fish with a ravenous sibling. Look carefully. Tiny white bobblehead.
The fight for the survival of the osprey (and other wildlife) in the Chesapeake Bay is on and hinges on the curtailing of the industrial fishing of Menhaden.
There is always something to learn about migration: “For migrating birds, fall brings difficulty and danger. To reach warm winter climes, many birds must fly hundreds or thousands of miles, expend immense amounts of energy and successfully dodge storms, skyscrapers and other potential threats.
Still, scientists have long assumed that a basic trade-off made migration worth the gamble: Once birds arrived at their wintering grounds, they wouldn’t need to work so hard to stay warm, saving substantial amounts of energy. “But nobody ever tested this,” said Nils Linek, a behavioral ecologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany.
Now, Dr. Linek and his colleagues have done so. Their findings, based on a partially migratory population of German blackbirds, challenge the conventional wisdom. Even in the depths of winter, blackbirds basking in balmy southern Europe or northern Africa did not spend any less energy than those riding out the cold in Germany, the scientists found.”
Calico’s Tip for the Day. You have heard us mention numerous times the need to halt bird collisions. Residences indeed account for more deaths than skyscrapers. Hard to believe? I know, but it is true if you take all the deaths due to our windows collectively. So what is the problem? People do not know how to stop the birds from hitting their windows. Calico says that you must space the decals on the OUTSIDE of the window at least 5 cm or two inches apart. That’s right. You cannot just put one decal on the outside of your window and hope it will work; you never put it on the inside. The most economical method is window paint. Again, on the outside of the windows. I liked using the white or the yellow. Squiggle everywhere. Let your children or grandchildren help. The window paints come off easily.
Nova Scotia’s official bird (I know that everyone knew that, right?) on an iconic boat, the Bluenose II.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for the notes, posts, videos, articles, images, tweets, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘PB for today and for Saturday’s Tweet from Dr Greene’, Newfoundland Power, LDF, NEFL-AEF, NCTC, USFWS, Port Lincoln Osprey, Judy Harrington and Olympic Park Eagles, Jeff Kear and USK Valley Ospreys, Audubon, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Olympic Park Eagles, The Royal Albatross Centre, Growing Home, Bryan Watts and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Sharon Dunne, Bluenose II, USFWS, Birdlife International, and The New York Times.
Well, after three irritating days, the end of the ads is nigh. Thank you again to everyone who helped me spot those pop-up ads. WordPress assures me there should not be any, but…
At 1900, 38 Canada Geese flew over the conservatory in a line, not a wedge or V. Normally, geese fly in a V or wedge to conserve energy. When the leader gets tired, s/he falls back, and the next one takes its place. Being the leader is hard work; they are breaking the wind – creating a slipstream – for the other geese so that they can fly without expending so much energy. As they flap their wings, each bird helps to create a ‘lift’ for all the other geese in their formation. Research shows that flying in this type of formation also allows the group to communicate better. Talk about teamwork and cooperation. Humans have something to learn from our honkers.
Those V formations are quite extraordinary. You can’t tell from the ground, but the lead goose is the lowest of the bunch. Each goose behind is slightly higher than the one in front of it, all the way to the last goose, which is flying the highest. They do this because of the aerodynamics of their wings. The only goose that is using all its wing power is the lead goose… the point-man, so to speak. When that goose flaps its wings, it causes a certain turbulence of the air that’s following the wing. The next goose in line benefits from this swirling air, and doesn’t need to apply 100% of its wingpower. The next goose, again benefits from that one, and so on down the line. Flying in formation this way adds 71% more distance that they can fly than when flying alone!
So who gets chosen to be point-man? You’d think the one with the map! Or the leader? Or the new-guy? No. None of these. They actually take turns. When one gets tired, he will drop back so he can rest a bit and benefit from another goose’s turbulence. When migrating in good weather with favorable winds these guys can make up to 1,500 miles in a single day! That’s crazy, man! Hard to imagine, but it’s been done. They are migration masters.
So the flying at night thing … I’ve already touched upon one of the reasons they prefer the night. It has to do with that turbulence I just mentioned. You see, many other large birds (and these are large birds!) use thermals to gain altitude and to soar on. Raptors do this. Hawks, eagles, etc. During the day, the landscape is riddled with all kinds of thermals rising from the ground, all depending on what the surface looks like below; how much heat was absorbed and stored from the sun; if it’s dark or light … or even water. These thermals are great for raptors! Lots of vertical air movement all over. But geese don’t soar, and they don’t have need to fly in circles. They have somewhere to go. And all those daytime thermals are a pain in the butt; they don’t make for smooth sailing. Plus, they interfere with the aforementioned wing turbulence that they use to keep from tiring. At night, several hours after sunset, the Earth cools and those pesky vertical thermals disperse.
So that’s one reason they like the night. Another reason for night flight is to prevent over-heating (makes sense, right?) Nights are cooler, so birds that expend a lot of energy with constant flapping (as opposed to soaring) take advantage of the cool of the night.
A third reason is also something I’ve already mentioned. Hawks! And eagles! And falcons! All those guys are diurnal hunters, meaning they hunt during the day. Which goose in its right mind would want to share the not-so-friendly skies with something called a “raptor”? Now, if you’ve ever seen flocks of geese on the ground and tried to get among them or feed them or something, you may already know how mean and nasty they can get. People have used geese instead of watch-dogs. They are tough! Especially on the ground. But falcons, hawks, and eagles, hitting them from the air often spells doom. In other words, their goose is cooked. During the day, they often rest and feed and rejuvenate in the water where they are safe from raptor attack. As long as they stay in the water.
So given the choice, they take the red-eye.
Why Do Canadian Geese Fly At Night?, Forbes Magazine, 1 March 2018 (updated).
So why were the geese flying in a straight line over my house? I can’t find an answer. Maybe you know. Perhaps they were readying to land at Fort Whyte or at the river a few blocks away???
The other day Calico and Baby Hope watched ‘The Boyfriend’ as he ate at the feeder. I wonder what Calico was thinking. This was her little friend when she lived in the wild. They would come and eat together, but he always let her eat first. They would often rest under the lilac bushes. He will not come into the house; he runs away. I have tried frequently to get him to soften to me. So we make sure his food is out by 0900 and, again, at 1700. He also comes at other times, including in the middle of the night. Another animal, a raccoon, comes at night, eating everything still available and dumping the water from the bird baths. That means we must ‘jump’ in the morning to prepare everything for The Boyfriend’s arrival.
Dr Erick Greene and others around Missoula are keeping a close eye on Iris, Finnegan, Sum-eh, and Antali. It appears that all four are still fishing in the Clarke-Fork River. As far as I am aware, this is the latest that Iris has ever remained in the area. Her usual date for departure is 8 September. She must relish being a mum again to two such fine fledglings and having a mate like Finnegan.
Iris came to the nest at 0838 without fish. I did not see a delivery at the nest by 1100 on Sunday despite Antali’s persistent calling.
This person had a first hand view of Iris and family — have a read!
Iris was at the nest at 0738 Monday morning. She was calling loud and seemed to have a piece of fish in her talons (??). She is looking for Antali and he did not come. She waited three minutes and when Antali did not arrive, she flew off towards the river.
At Charlo, is C16 catching its fish? Our fledgling observes the water below the nest and has returned wet, once, perhaps, with a fish. This is one gorgeous fledgling! That full crop sure makes me think he had an excellent breakfast.
C16 is always watching that water – unless he is sleeping! Can’t see those stunning eyes.
When I checked on the nest of Junebug at Dunrovin Ranch – which was several times including re-wind – I did not see anyone. Did you?
Just look at the fish that Beaumont delivered at the Newfoundland Snow Lane nest. Good gracious. There is enough for both of the fledglings. Will the winner share?
Still eating three hours later!
Niagara Bee Dad still delivering!
River was at the Sandpoint nest, but I saw no fish deliveries from Keke. Perhaps Keke is feeding River off the nest. River has been seen ‘wet’, and he flies back and forth to the river. Is s/he catching their fish dinner?
At the Golden Gate Audubon nest in SF Bay, Tully was last seen on the 14th of September.
Some more great information from the Dyfi Osprey Project in Wales, home to Idris and Telyn.
Hartley and Monty continue to bond – and then bond again – at the San Jose City Hall scrape. Love is in the air. https://youtu.be/pjskOK2DcNc?
Xavier. What can we say? Isn’t he the cutest little Peregrine Falcon? He always wants time to incubate his eggs, but…Diamond often has different ideas. They have been together for nine years. Today, he demanded squatter’s rights on those eggs!!!!!! https://youtu.be/fygxtkCjkwA?
Beautiful Sea Eaglets.
‘A’ remarks: “Both chicks did well out of that breakfast, and afterwards, they settled down together, side by side, to rest their giant crops (especially SE34!) and do a bit of preening. They are very companionable, the best of nest mates, and even when food is around, they have been behaving beautifully. Observing the pecking order seems to ensure peace at meal times – Lady is aware of the need to feed SE33 first if both chicks are at the table, although SE34 is now confident enough to accept food before its sibling has eaten if their relative positions create this situation. They are pretty much equal in size now and SE34 is confident and able to get himself fed. He moves forward if he needs to get closer to mum’s beak and he is not showing any behaviour that suggests that he feels intimidated at meal times. So all is going swimmingly at WBSE. “
And more from the morning of the 16th from ‘A’: “Lady was up early this morning (05:29). She found a substantial piece of feathered prey on the nest, so started feeding the littles, who roused themselves and got to the table despite the fact that it was still dark. Lady started by feeding a bite to SE33, as per pecking order, while SE34 found which direction the table was in (he had his back to it and turned around very clumsily, inconveniencing SE33 in the process). Once both eaglets were settled in their places, breakfast proceeded peacefully, with both nestlings behaving beautifully.
Oh, I adore these two. I love what good nest buddies they have become, sometimes even allopreening and nibbling gently at each other’s facial feathers. They are so cute. I love these few short weeks on the nest, being cared for by doting parents and having little to do other than eat, sleep, grow and play. Their lives will be very hard, and their chances of successfully managing as juvenile sea eagles are not great based on previous years. Although of course they don’t realise it yet, these peaceful days in the nursery, as it were, probably represent some of the happiest of their lives. It is lovely to share them. “
I love storks. Even if you can’t speak German, you can enjoy the amazing images in this documentary. Click on the link above the image or copy and paste into your browser.
There is news from Portugal. I have signed up, but this file is thanks to UK Osprey Information and Jeff Kear, who kindly attached a translated version. Please scroll down and see the map showing where the ospreys have their spring and summer breeding grounds and travel to Portugal for the winter.
Real Saunders Photography has posted some images of M15 and F23. There is action at the SW Florida Bald Eagle nest. The streaming cameras are to be operational on 1 October. https://youtu.be/3wJeooaW6oI?
‘A’ comments on the Royal Cam chick: “At Taiaroa Head, both TF and TFT are still there, though TFT in particular has been moving around a lot, going down the hill and perhaps seeking out a suitable spot from which to fledge. He may just be exploring – he’s always done a lot of that. No parents came in today, as far as I am aware, but of course the chicks will be emptying their stomachs before their big take-off. (That doesn’t make sense to me – surely they would want to keep any remaining nutrients they were given by their parents, as they have never done any fishing of their own and the next meal they get once they do fledge may be some time away – I have no idea how they understand where and how to find their own food, having never been taught how to do so nor even witnessed the adults doing it. So to leave home with an empty stomach seems to me a risky thing to do. I suppose getting and staying airborne is the most important thing, and that, too, they will be doing for the first time. It’s an awful lot of difficult things to be doing for the first time when their survival depends on getting it all right on the first try essentially. The thought of it worries me terribly.”
I caught a feeding. How wonderful!
‘A’ also checks on the falcons incubating on the ledge of 367 Collins Street in the CBD of Melbourne: “At Collins Street, Mum left the eggs just before 11:17 for a morning break, but she is back quickly, at 11:18, and repositions herself on the eggs. Dad flies up to the middle of the ledge, chupping as he arrives, soon after 12:47. He has not brought food, though he may have stashed some for her somewhere nearby. He’s such a cutie and so chatty. F24 chats back as she gets up from the eggs, so hopefully, he is telling her where he has left her breakfast. But no. He dives off the ledge, which she watches with some shock it seems, gazing after him for a while before settling back onto the eggs. I’m still not sure about food deliveries at this scrape, tbough mum does not appear to be starving so there must be some (or, more likely, she is eating off camera from a stash spot where dad is depositing food).
Dad is back at 14:46 to relieve mum, who flies off the ledge. Again though, he brings no food. He doesn’t settle down to incubate, instead flying off the ledge at 14:46:30. The eggs lie uncovered in the mid-afternoon. sunlight.”
Calico’s got two Tips for the Day: Help Stop Bird Strike and if you find a bird that has hit a window, helpful tips on how to help them.
Migration is a time for bird strike, sadly. Calico wants everyone to protect the birds from breaking their necks on windows. The most economical way to do this is by using window paints available where crayons, markers, etc. are sold. We found the white worked the best. Just scribble. After migration season, you can easily clean the window paint with white vinegar. We purchased Feather Friendly dot strips. The company says they last ten years. Calico wonders about that but they have been very effective in preventing any birds hitting our conservatory or the windows in the sitting room.
Calico asks that you read this helpful advice:
The Geese that have been breeding in northern Canada and in Winnipeg are starting to migrate. They face many challenges but the other one is BREAD. Do not feed waterfowl bread!!!!!!! It causes ducks to get ‘Angel Wing’ and that also impacts Geese. If you see others feeding ducks and geese bread, be kind, but educate them. There is nothing more fun for children than feeding bread to ducks and geese, but that is not what they should be eating! It will kill them in the end. So, please help my beloved geese. Thanks, ‘PB’ for this article. It is so timrely.
If you have the time, please check out Amy Tan’s talk on line about backyard birds. I have so enjoyed her book and her journey to learning about the feathered friends that visit her garden and her creation of special areas for them.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Have a fantastic week! See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, reports, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, J, PB’, Forbes Magazine, Montana Osprey Cam, Montana Osprey Project, iNaturalistUK, Owl Research Project, Dunrovin Ranch, Newfoundland Power, Pam Breci and The Joy of Ospreys, Golden Gate Audubon SF Ospreys, Dyfi Osprey Project, SK Hideaways, Olympic Sea Eagles, SOS Tesla Maria Marika, Jeff Kear and UK Osprey Information, Real Saunders Photography, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Virginia Wildlife, Kelli Knight LeVan, NZ DOC, and Amy Tan.
Thank you to those who sent me screen captures of the ads they received when they read my blog. Hopefully, everything is fixed so that they do not appear again.
Oh, what a day it was. The goal was to finish a few small and manageable tasks since it was so hot outside. Well, nothing was easy. The lights that Wirecutter had given their top rating (for both inside and outside) would only work with a W two-prong outdoor extension cord. Think you could find one in Winnipeg? No. The desire to have lights around the conservatory did not leave my head or Hugo Yugo’s. She loves fairy lights. Consequently, we came home with three boxes to go around the perimeter. Now, attaching the cords to the conservatory was another matter. It turns out those picture frame thingamabobs that you nail into the wall (the brass ones) will slip over a part of the conservatory. Bingo. We have lights. The next was to pick a paint to colour block a section of the wall behind my desk to match the feathers in the oak frames. Done. There was a light switch that needed a cover plate. Done. This weekend was the time to put out unwanted but good-quality items for others to rummage through on the boulevard. Partly through. We did not get the painting done, but we did pick up a delicious pumpkin pie!!!!!!!! Oh, it helped with all the annoyance from the lights. Missey loves the whipped cream.
I would to start with a very sad story coming out of Baltimore. It has to do with starving fledgling ospreys and the decline of Menhaden. It is impacting these birds to such an extent that they get wiped out in the area completely if the industrial fishing of Menhaden is not stopped. If you have not written to your Senator and your Congressperson, then do so. Even if you live elsewhere. Here is the latest article. Imagine 80 starving osplets at one wildlife rehab center. Imagine.
Many years ago I told the story of how a very large female Sharp-shinned Hawk changed my life. All of a sudden the frantic pace of the work world I lived in didn’t matter. Only her. Today, I read an article in The Guardian of another woman working in a high-powered position whose life was changed by a baby Hare. It is moving and the images are gorgeous. Have a read.
In another article, I felt gutted to learn that any elephant has to be killed because there is no food. Wars, famine, habitat loss, drought caused by climate change – what will be the eventual impact on all our wildlife unless we find ways to protect it?
So, what is happening in Bird World? Very little. All nests in Australia except for the Olympic Park Eagles are incubating eggs. The Royal Cam chick is set to take to the skies and oceans any moment. Will Partney and Marrum be able to save any other eggs from the Ravens? That is anyone’s guess, but I would put my dime on ‘no’. Diamond and Xavier continue to entertain us as does M22 and F23 in Melbourne. Dad is doing a pretty good job delivering fish to Mum at Port Lincoln. I would like to hear more news and see more images of our dear Ervie.
What is happening at Hellgate Canyon? Finnegan is just a master angler. He would win every fishing award for the season. It is hard to check on the Hellgate streaming cam without seeing Antali with either a huge crop or a fish delivery or both. Finnegan is working over time to make sure that his second hatch is well prepared. These kids are not starving like those in the area of Chesapeake Bay! The Ospreys inland have done well this season save for the heat and some bizarre nest accidents.
The latest news first: Iris and Sum-eh are still home with Finnegan and Antali. Thanks, ‘PB’ for that message!
At Charlo, it appears that C16 is trying his own luck at fishing. He is often on the nest or perch shaking off the water. There are fish deliveries, but they are certainly not as frequent as those of Finnegan for Antali.
Both juveniles are still at the Newfoundland Snow Lane nest where it was windy with some rain on Saturday. There are still fish deliveries. It was impossible for me to tell if Hope is still in the area.
River has a bulging crop at Sandpoint.
Junebug is home at Dunrovin.
No one is home at Foulshaw Moss.
There is good news coming from Big Bear. The evacuation order has been lifted. Jackie and Shadow should be safe but the area around their nest is full of heavy smoke at times.
The cams at SW Florida are getting their maintenance, so they are ready for the start of Bald Eagle season on 1 October. https://youtu.be/aeeH7EzNV5E?
I love geese. How many times have you heard that? Sometimes Calico thinks that I like geese more than cats. It seems that I am always reading books about things with feathers and never cats. Maybe she has a point. :)))))) Decorah Goose Cam is playing season highlights!!!!!!!!! Oh, you can see the goslings jump again! https://www.youtube.com/live/4FB6bLI39lo?
The NCTC nest of Bella and Scout is live. Bella and Scout were in the nest earlier in the morning.
Thunder and Akecheta were caught on camera during large parts of Saturday.
Wondering what is happening at NE Florida with Gabby and Beau? Looks like we have to wait until the 18th!
Didn’t see E1-M2 at the Kistachie National Forest nest, but his turtle shells are all there! Wonder if the kiddos will have turtle meals this year instead of fish?
One of the highlights of Ferris Akel’s Saturday Tour was a Gallinago or a Snipe. Just look at the plumage.
Ferris was also at the Open House of the Cornell Raptor Centre. It is not clear if the Red-tail Hawk Ambassador was E3, Big Red’s kiddo.
The Peregrine Falcon was very loud and caused Calico some anxiety.
Open Houses are excellent opportunities to learn about the raptors, their needs, and challenges and to just get up close with them. Check out your local wildlife rehabilitation centre. It is normal for the Open Houses to take place in the fall so, you just might be in luck! If not, save the date for 2025.
The RSPB describes the Gallinago or Wilson’s Snipe, “Snipe are medium sized, skulking wading birds with short legs and long, straight bills. Both sexes are mottled brown above, with paler buff stripes on the back, dark streaks on the chest and pale under parts. They are widespread as a breeding species in the UK, with particularly high densities on northern uplands but lower numbers in southern lowlands (especially south west England). In winter, birds from northern Europe join resident birds. The UK population of Snipe has undergone moderate declines overall in the past twenty-five years, with particularly steep declines in lowland wet grassland, making it an Amber List species.”
All About Birds has some Cool Facts about the Wilson’s Snipe:
Wilson’s Snipe look so stocky thanks in part to the extra-large pectoral (breast) muscles that make up nearly a quarter of the bird’s weight—the highest percent of all shorebirds. Thanks to their massive flight muscles this chunky sandpiper can reach speeds estimated at 60 miles an hour.
Wilson’s Snipe feed by burying their bills deep into soft, wet soil to probe for insect larvae, worms, and other invertebrate prey. The bill’s flexible tip can open to grasp food while the base of the bill stays closed. Snipe can slurp small prey from the mud without having to remove their bill from the soil.
Because a Wilson’s Snipe’s eyes are set far back on its head, it can see almost as well behind as in front and to the sides. This arrangement makes it difficult for a potential predator to sneak up on a feeding snipe—it almost literally has “eyes in the back of its head.”
The word “sniper” originated in the 1770s among British soldiers in India who hunted snipe as game. The birds are still hunted in many countries, including the U.S., though their fast, erratic flight style means they are difficult targets.
Although only the female tends the eggs and nestlings, Wilson’s Snipe parents split up the siblings once they’re ready to fledge. The male takes the two oldest; the female takes the younger two with her. After they leave the nest the mates have no further contact.
Researchers have done wind tunnel tests with Wilson’s Snipe feathers to try and duplicate the “winnowing” sound that’s made as birds fly with their tail feathers fanned. They found that it’s the outermost tail feathers, or rectrices, that generate the sound, which apparently happens at airspeeds of about 25 miles per hour.
The oldest known Wilson’s Snipe was at least 9 years, 3 months old, based on a band recovered from a bird that was shot in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, in 1973.
‘A’ brings us up to date with the Olympic Park eagles: “Dad brought breakfast (feathered) at WBSE at 06:18 this morning. Of course Lady was there immediately to take charge of the food, and the littles roused themselves from their cuddle puddle for the occasion. They both stand up on their feet to stretch, leaning forward and spreading their wings. Such pretty plumage, changing from one day to the next, and from one striking design to another. SE34 has no hesitation about joining SE33 at the table, moving up beside his older sibling. SE33 is not bothered.
Lady begins by feeding SE33, as per pecking order, but initially it is distracted by Dad on the perch branch so Lady has to offer the bite a second time. Meanwhile, SE34 backs up for a PS anyway. I don’t think SE33 accepted the bite because SE34 was no longer beside him (implying that SE33 was intimidated by the proximity of SE34) but simply because his attention had been diverted when Lady first offered it. I certainly don’t believe SE33 has suddenly become nervous of his younger brother.
By 06:20, SE34 is back in his position at the table, beside SE33. and he shuffles even further forward, taking prime position closest to Lady’s beak. He is soon rewarded with a couple of consecutive bites of red meat. Lady then begins feeding the eaglets alternate bites. I do love the way she does this. Occasionally, one nestling or the other will get a couple of consecutive bites, but she maintains an even-handed approach until one eaglet or the other starts to slow in its eating and indicates it is getting overly full. She is a very attentive mum, and I continue to believe that her experience in feeding and managing her chicks is the reason this nest fledges two every season despite being an obligate siblicide species. In the end, I keep coming back to the wisdom and dedication of these parents. They are a closely bonded pair and when it comes to raising their family, they work as a tight-knit team to provide for and protect their eaglets. I believe they are both in their mid-20s, which is not quite elderly but it’s certainly extremely experienced, and that experience really counts when it comes to keeping the eaglets safe and warm and dry, and ensuring that both eaglets get enough food. Lady has always looked out for her younger hatch when it comes to food. Every season, she ensures it gets food, whether she has to give private feedings early in the morning or late at night, or put her own body between the eaglets, or even to feed the younger chick through her legs or under a wing. And of course Dad is particularly hard-working when it comes to ensuring there is nearly always food on the nest. If Dad is not bringing in food. there is a good reason for it. . “
Calico’s Tip for the Day: No one can be accused of causing cats to run through the house like a Formula 1 circuit. They will do it and defy you. But if you have a new puppy, Calico has found a suggestion for you to make certain you have a ‘calm’ dog.
The dog trainer: playing too much with your puppy
The important thing many owners fail to do with their dog is encourage it to calm down. There is so much emphasis on playing and running. People think they have to play with their puppy because it wants to, but this encourages the dog to be constantly active. It then doesn’t settle well and its behaviour can quickly become problematic. Spending time teaching dogs to walk calmly on a lead and rest at home should be a priority. To learn how, go to a class or follow online advice. Ben Marsh of Balanced Dog
Thank you for being with us today. We are always so happy to have you with us. Take care!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, announcements, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘A, PB’, The Baltimore Post, The Guardian, Montana Osprey Cam FB, Montana Osprey Project, Dyfi Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, Dunrovin Ranch, Sandpoint Ospreys, Newfoundland Power, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Debbie Shores, Raptor Resource Project/Explore.org, NCTC Eagle Nest, AEF, KNF-E1, Ferris Akel Tours, The Guardian and the Balanced Dog, Olympic Park Eagles.
It was a gorgeous albeit windy 22 C on the Canadian Prairies for the Labour Day long weekend. The sky is a beautiful blue with a few fluffy clouds. It was a good day for a walk and lunch by the lake at the nature centre. Lots of children trying their luck at getting tadpoles and little frogs jumping all around on the paths. There were several species of ducks, some Canada Geese, various species of woodpeckers, American Goldfinches, squirrels, etc. Missing were the calls of the Red-wing Blackbird which is striking in its absence.
My sanctuary at the nature centre. The wind was rather silent and the songbirds were singing their hearts out.
Well, we had a bit of a scare last evening. The garden door appeared closed when doing the final bits and bobs with the outdoor animals at 1800 but it was windy. A gust caught it and it went open and in seconds four cats on the deck! I know. Holding my breath and hollering, three ran into the house. Only Calico remained. She is actually ‘terrified’ of the outdoors – as a community cat she knows its perils. She hid under the deck for two hours. Finally, the other three were secured in the conservatory and the garden door opened. Calling and Calico ran in! I had read on the step like I did when she lived outside and she would stick her head out. Poor thing. All is well this morning, thank goodness – and a new lock will be fixed to that door after our long weekend.
We have new eggs at Port Lincoln and at Charles Sturt Falcon scrape, home to Xavier and Diamond on Saturday. Congratulations everyone! Surely we will now be in hard incubation mode.
And there are the three beautiful osprey eggs at Port Lincoln:
With the departure of Glenwais at the ripe age of 102 days at Dyfi, it is believed that Idris – not having any takers for his fish now – will begin his own migration either Sunday or today. I will keep you posted. What an amazing dad he is and like all others, we want him to eat well, rest up during the winter, and return to Wales healthy in the spring! Idris was last seen on the 30th of August at 19:53.
The empty nest. Idris has indeed departed for Africa. Idris has been breeding at Dyfi for five years, taking over for the iconic and much-loved Monty, who was here for nearly 12 years.
I wish that every streaming cam, no matter their location, would keep records and post them for the public such as those kept and published by the Dyfi Osprey Project. Their website is wonderful. Here is the information for this year. Imagine finding this at other sites!
More data to help us try and understand the return rate of the juveniles.
All four at home on Saturday at Llyn Brenig in Wales.
It was a fabulous year for Knepp Farm and their translocation project of the White Stork. They introduced injured birds from Poland. We watched them on the streaming cam and now that they are migrating, that will pause according to their FB posting.
I am pretty excited about the wetlands that are being created at Knepp Farm by a pair of beavers. This video shows what they have been doing, but beyond that, remember that wetlands are wonderful places for many species of birds!
At Poole Harbour, Blue 5R2 appears to be the only fledgling left at the nest. Blue 022 is delivering fish. Blue 5H6, the fourth hatch, migrated on the 30th of August. CJ7 and the others left earlier.
Just look at how healthy this chick is – its crop is full and its body has the kind of fat on it needed for migration. Despite having four to feed, Blue 022 and CJ7 did just that and had four really healthy fledglings this year. Bravo.
R52 would have liked another fish but Dad did not oblige at Poole Harbour.
Blue KL5 is still at RSPB Abernathy. Eating fish and getting ready for his long migration.
It looks like everyone has departed from Llyn Clywedog. Blue 5F Seren might already be in her winter spot in The Gambia. She has the same post every year and many travel to see her there. They are an amazing couple always raising big healthy chicks. Stay safe Dylan and Seren!
I missed him but Blue 33 was on the Manton Bay nest Saturday morning at 0611 for four minutes. Maya was seen on the nest on Friday at 1869. Blue 1R0, their only fledgling this year, has left on migration. They will both be leaving soon. Maya might have already departed. We wait to see for sure for a couple of days.
Bart M has done an amazing job giving us a detailed observation board and a list of key events at Manton Bay. Oh, I sure wish more nests would do this! There is a video archive, photographs, a nest history and more for anyone interested. Just go to the streaming cam and click the link to the obs board. For example, you will learn that Maya has been at this nest since 2010. Blue 33 took the nest and Maya in 2014 – he really wanted both of them! And the history of their nest and all the chicks they raised is there.
There is even a fish chart!
Finnegan delivered two fish to Antali on the nest. There might have been others at a different location. I have not seen Iris at the nest on Saturday but she was eating a fish on the Owl Pole on Friday at 1906. She could be fattening up and letting Finnegan take care of Antali and Sum-eh if she is still around.
A juvenile osprey was observed on the Osoyoos nest Saturday afternoon. I could not see what happened prior to that time and I did not see a fish delivery. Someone else might have – please let me know if you did.
At the other Fortis Exshaw nest in Canmore Alberta, both juveniles were seen on the nest wrestling for a fish from Harvie at 1534. It is presumed that Louise has left on her migration. The oldest won the prize with the smaller fledgling having to wait for another delivery. That delivery came sixteen minutes later! According to the chatters, there was a fish delivery at 0703 and 1005 also. Harvie is really working to get these two fit for flying. So it looks to me like two juveniles and Harvey with Louise and one juvenile away. Feel free to correct me!
Juvenile on post at Fortis at 1602 with adult on nest with another partial fish at Fortis. Wow.
Fish deliveries continue to come to the Newfoundland Power nest at Snow Lane. Both juveniles accounted for. Beaumont is delivering lots of fish. I cannot confidently confirm Hope’s presence but I also cannot confirm that she has departed. She did an amazing job feeding her two chicks this year and it was a happy surprise to see these two take their first flights. One of the really wonderful events of the 2024 season that will not be forgotten soon. Previously, the nest failed for four years in a row.
Heidi posted the link for the new 4K camera of Window to Wildlife at Captiva. They are doing tests.
Sharon Pollock catches us up with the Crawley Falcons:
Congratulations to Connie Dennis and Hope for Wildlife on a successful fundraising.
It is one of the reasons our zoo does not have many feathered ambassadors – when Avian Flu H5N1 hit, all of the birds had to be kept indoors for two years.
‘A’ comments on the Royal Cam chick: “at Taiaroa, the chicks are practising whenever there is enough wind, hopping and using their wings to get some air. No real hovering yet but we have had both paddles in the air. I love the way TF has built himself another nest this season. The chicks often build ‘play nests’ but they usually don’t move into them. One of the viewers noted mum sniffing at TF’s play nest yesterday and was wondering whether there was a bolus there. We await a response from the rangers to that question, as there was something white in the nest but it was blurry when you tried to zoom in on it. If it is a bolus, it would be interesting to know its contents, though of course I hope it’s not because that would suggest TF is only a day or so away from fledging. September is the month when we lose them, but not quite yet! It is the first day of spring here in the southern hemisphere, although the weather has been very vernal for weeks now. “
That lucky chick got a feeding, too!
and on the WBSE: “At WBSE, Dad was honking at 05:45, so Lady got up at about 05:50 began feeding leftover fish to SE33. She ignored SE34, who was facing the table side by side with SE33 but further from mum’s beak. After a few minutes, SE34 shuffled closer to mum, and from )5:53, she fed him exclusively, and because it was nearing the end of the fish, he got the larger bites, nearly all of which he managed. He has nearly caught up to his older sibling in size, though SE33 is still larger. Certainly, he got the better of the breakfast feeding today. There has not yet been fresh food delivered to the nest today and the pair are as usual lying in their cuddle puddle, sleeping and growing. Feathers are starting to show along SE34’s wing and both chicks are presumably itchy, as they are doing a lot of preening.
There are baby rails being brought in and positioned, and the eaglets assisted in arranging some of the smaller pieces of nest material. Too cute. There are SO many fresh green leaves on that nest. They have so far been used primarily as a table, as well as to line the nest bowl area. I believe the eucalyptus would be good at minimising bacteria and discouraging insects, as eucalyptus oils have those qualities. The pair are looking active and healthy and are getting along fine today. There was no antagonism at the breakfast table, even when Lady began feeding SE34 only for a good two minutes, his sibling right beside him. There was no intimidation from SE33 and no fear shown by SE34. So that was progress. It still seems like SE34’s head look larger than his sibling’s, probably because he retains a lot of fluff atop his head while SE33’s head appears quite sleek. Otherwise, they are easily distinguished by the feather growth on the wings. The littles are really starting to move around, validating the baby rails decision. At the moment, they have snuggled up on the green leafy dinner table, up the back of the nest. They have moved from further towards the front, where they have been for their life so far. ”
Thank you for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H’, Falcon Cam Project at Charles Sturt University, SK Hideaways, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Dyfi Osprey Project, Brenig Osprey Project, Knepp White Stork Project, Birds of Poole Harbour, RSPB Abernathy, Llyn Clywedog, LRWT Manton Bay, Montana Osprey Project, Fortis-Exshaw Osoyoos and Canmore, Newfoundland Power, Heidi and Window to Wildlife, Sharon Pollock, Connie Dennis and Ospreys of Nova Scotia, RSPCA Stapeley Grange, NZ DOC, and Olympic Sea Eagle Cam.
What a day it was in the garden. A former student -now great friend- is moving and came to spend the afternoon with us. The Crows certainly put on a show, but, at first, we didn’t know what was happening! Then we saw him swoop through and land on the large bird feeder after having spent time on the fence – a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk. He had everyone being cautious including ‘The Boyfriend’. Crows and Jays were alerting loudly. Dyson was flat as a pancake!
According to my neighbour, this hawk comes every day around 1800. Isn’t it lovely?
I hope you enjoyed Geemeff’s story of their adventures at Poole Harbour and the Birds of Poole Harbour tour. How exciting! It is on my bucket list for next year.
On Thursday, the New York Times published an article on changes at the Grand Teton National Park (and other parts of the US). All of this will impact our raptors from dying forests to no water, meaning no fish and fewer and fewer small mammals for the birds to eat. I am becoming more and more concerned as weather-related events are driving the starvation of our ospreys and eaglets.
At Hellgate Canyon, Finnegan feeds his second chick, Antali, at the nest. What a whopper it was, even with the amount that Finnegan took for himself on the owl pole. What a glorious year this has been. Finnegan really gave us a different outcome than we had come to expect when Iris returned from migration. I bet she was blown off her talons, too!!!!!!!
Antali knew Dad had a whopper and really wanted him to hurry up!
Late evening fish delivery to Antali who flies off the perch to get his meal.
Two fish at the Charlo nest at the same time -. Nice.
Will Gwenlais break the record for a fledgling staying on the nest before migration?
Some news about Giliath (Bradley’s brother from the 2023 Port Lincoln nest)!
There is also good news about the sea eaglet! It is still with us and appears healthy. Fantastic news.
And there are the markings for the second egg at the Port Lincoln osprey barge. Lovely.
Congratulations to those who work so hard and care so deeply for the ospreys in South Australia!
Last year, donations helped with platforms and the purchase of fish for the fish fairies—just look at Bradley and Giliath and smile. Those fairies saved their lives. Membership is only $20, which has big dividends for the ospreys. It doesn’t go to administration fees!!!!!!
The new couple at 367 Collins Street are adorable.
Some videos of the birding tour at Poole Harbour from Geemeff:
Peregrine chases Black-Tailed Godwits seen from Birds of Poole Harbour Osprey cruise 28 Aug 2024: https://youtu.be/fa-q7SiBiys
Osprey in 40x super slo-mo seen from Birds of Poole Harbour Osprey cruise 28 Aug 2024:
Geemeff’s daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Thursday 29th August 2024
Tonight’s summary is fast becoming the norm – nothing to report except rain, wind, and no avian activity. Forum friends are drifting off and promising to return in spring, and season highlights videos are nearing completion. It’s been a rollercoaster of a season, but one chick did fledge successfully in Spain, and we hope for another update on his progress soon.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.21.06 (05.34.42); Nest Two 21.10.24 (05.35.23)
Today’s videos: none!
Bonus update on the Irish Osprey translocation programme:
Fledglings fighting for fish in Omaha. Still at home.
Both juveniles at the Osoyoos Osprey platform. Nice crop on one. It looked like a couple of small fish delivered on Thursday.
At Minnesota Landscape, an adult visitor has been coming on and off to the nest on Thursday and was also seen there on Wednesday. No sign of the juvenile or Dad. The visitor has no federal band (Dad does).
Ospreys coming and going at Field Farm. Decidedly hard to identify.
It is almost time to say goodbye to the Royal Cam chick who will spend from 5-6 years on the water looking for food before ever setting their webbed feet on land again! Hard to imagine, isn’t it?
Beautiful sea eaglets. Both had a crop after the morning breakfast.
‘A’ remarks: “Little SE34 had to wait until nearly 01:28 for breakfast, although SE33 ate a little a lot earlier. At the second feeding, SE33 ate first, then turned away, full. SE34 got fed from about 13:28 until SE33 rejoined the feeding about 13:38. There was am incident of bonking before SE33 turned away but SE34 didn’t stay down for long. He was shuffling closer and closer to mum during her feeding of SE33 and for the first time, he was brave and determined about getting himself fed. I was overjoyed to see this, because it has, as you know, been seriously worrying me that his drive to live does not seem strong enough. But today, it was. He was hungry and he was brave. When his sister rejoined the feeding and Lady turned back to feed SE33, SE34 leaned in and stole the bite from in front of his sister’s nose. It was very reassuring to watch.
I am hoping that this will represent something of a turning point for this nest. Once the attitude changes, the behaviour normally follows. So perhaps SE34 is going to be a bit more proactive about his own existence, which would be a huge relief.
The two are looking adorable. Their head shape and faces are so different from one another. Little SE34 is the prettier of the two, with more delicate features and cranial bone structure. “
This week’s migration statistics from Hawk Mountain, PA, USA:
Handsome Beau waits for Gabby to return. Her return dates have been 1 September, 8 September, and several times on the 12th. I am hoping for the 1st!
One of our Big Bear eagles with a large crop!
‘J’ notes the following eagles present in the last few days at their nest: At Duke Farms both of the adults were seen on the nest. Boone and Jolene were at Johnson City while Scott and Bella were at the NCTC nest. Beau returned to NEFL and we await the arrival of Gabby. Both adults at Trempealeau with two adults at Kistachie nest E-1.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, summaries, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, J’, The New York Times, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, Jeff Kear and the Dyfi Osprey Project, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Fran Solly and Friends of Ospreys Sth Aus, 367 Collins Street Falcons, The Guardian, Geemeff, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, SK Hideaways, Pam Breci, Field Farm, Androcat, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, NZ DOC, Olympic Park Eagles, Hawk Mountain, NEFL-AEF, FOBBV,
Update: Diamond laid her second egg at 23:57 on the 29th. Thanks, ‘H’ for the news!
Oh, it started off much cooler Wednesday, but by 1500 was 25 C. Hugo Yugo was busy looking out the window at all the birds while all the others were having siestas.
This is Hugo Yugo’s favourite pose. She is often caught watching the telly leaning over the arm of the sofa.
She can be an angel.
The look of Calico when she is enjoying a good scratch!
Baby Hope (aka Calico Kitty Kitty) is just about as big as her mother. She is going to be 14 months old on 2 September.
My day is very hectic and it is possible that this could be the shortest posting ever! Things remain quiet with nothing untoward happening at any of the nests other than fledglings frantically fighting for fish and getting their talons caught or eagles returning to nests that require improvements. We have the second egg at Collins Street. These two are both apparently new falcon parents to this ledge. It goes to show you just how difficult life is within the world of tall buildings compared to Diamond and Xavier. The history of that couple at Orange is as follows and comes from the information below the streaming cam: “Diamond took over from the older Swift in 2015 and Xavier replaced Bula in 2016 (who in turn replaced our first male, Beau, in 2015). Xavier arrived just as the eggs were hatching and saved the season by providing for Diamond and her three chicks. Assuming that they were at least two years old when they arrived, Diamond is at least eleven years old and Xavier nine (in 2024).”
Most cite the average age of a peregrine falcon being between 12-15 years with the average maximum life span being 16-20 years. Research has shown that older female falcons lay fewer eggs and they are less fertile. According to Birds of North America‘s peregrine falcon article: “Female age has a significant effect on all measures of reproductive success: clutch size, fertility, hatchability, brood size, nestling survivability, and number of fledglings. In all but nestling survival, the data best fit a quadradic model, reflecting an initial increase in performance followed by decrease with age.”
The Raptor Resource Project has a good article on life expectancy of falcons:
Charles Sturt University and Dr Cilla Kinross have a page of questions and answers and they include this information: “Sadly, the mortality rate for juveniles in their first year is as high as 60% with accidents while learning flying skills a major contributor. Survival improves with each year of life thereafter, with a general six-year life expectancy for peregrines in the wild. There are exceptions of course, with Diamond and Xavier being prime examples, and wild falcons can live up to 19 years. Fertility in a female peregrine will decline with age. In effect, fewer eggs will be laid with some being infertile and others not hatching resulting in fewer fledglings.”
So we wait to see. Diamond might be considered a senior citizen in the falcon world. Will this couple have more eggs? will any of them hatch? We will have to wait and see.
Geemeff has taken a break to see ospreys and she says that the ospreys are catching fish and the white-tail eagles are coming out of the sky to steal then and then they are getting mobbed. Everyone wants free food. Don’t think for a second that life is easy for our feathered friends. it is anything but.
The Crows are clamouring for the cheesy dogs while the squirrels, Little Red and Dyson, work hard for their peanuts. It is a grey overcast day. The temperature was cool this morning, and they might feel, as I do, that fall is in the air. There is a notable change, just in a couple of days, with the colours of the leaves in the trees. A chartreuse, an ochre, and a russet weren’t there at the weekend.
Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn released a video showing Aran delivering a whopper of a fish to the nest. Two fledglings, 6M8 and 6M9, there anxious. One grabs the fish and the other gets towed away by Dad! The comment was on how strong Aran was to lift that chick and carry it. No osprey was injured. I wanted you to see where the nest on the top of the tree is and imagine that the camera is refreshed annually along with the cot rails, if needed.
It looks to me like it was Antali and Iris on the Hellgate Canyon nest and then a rare appearance from Sum-eh (I could be wrong). If so, all four family members are still in the area and have not begun migration.
Feel free to correct me – looks like Sum-eh’s head markings.
At Port Lincoln, Mum is right on time and has laid egg #2 early Thursday morning. She holds her position and doesn’t give anything away letting the egg cool and harden before beginning incubation again.
Our new Mum at Collins Street. Gosh, let’s hope this family has good luck on this ledge. Life is difficult enough. They have a good spot save for the scalding heat that will come down on them. Hopefully Mum will move the chicks to the north end where it has shade.
There has been bonding and mating at Orange. Xavier would like another egg hedging his bets on not all eggs hatching.
SE33 asleep and SE34 watching for an adult to arrive with food at the Sydney Olympic Forest. SE34 did not have a lot of food yesterday so it was a great relief that it began the 29th with a nice big crop! The little one is still very skitterish around 33.
‘A’ gives us her narrative of events for the Olympic Park Eagles: “Although Lady and Dad were up and awake, dueting, at 6am, the littles were still waiting for breakfast at WBSE at 8am, and by 08:11 they were starting to bicker. SE33 stood up and leaned forward to stretch her wings. This impinged on SE34’s personal space so he bonked his older sister who immediately retaliated. Both then get stuck into some preening, as it is obvious they are itchy (just look at those feathers growing along the bottom edge of SE33’s wings, and a second line appearing higher up her wings, near her shoulders. Even SE34 is starting to preen relentlessly. Of course being this itchy always seems to make the eaglets a little antsy.
Yes, the bonk from SE34 was foolish behaviour and got what it deserved, but the key thing here for me was that SE34 had the confidence to attack his older sister in the first place. He was not scared for long, though, going straight back to his preening without ducking and tucking. He just pulled away and then went about his business. That was a plus for me, as I have been wanting to see signs of a bit more of a feisty attitude from SE34. Perhaps this is the start of it.
Both parents arrive around 08:42, one with a fish, pestered by a couple of smaller birds, who appeared to be dive bombing and otherwise harassing Lady and Dad. But Both parents are distracted and alerting, sometimes lunging towards the intruder birds. Eventually, with Dad on the perch branch fending off the smaller birds, Lady began feeding breakfast to the littles at 08:46. There is a black band around Lady’s round leg that I have not noticed before. What is it? Where did it come from and when? SE34 is offered the first four bites of the feeding and takes them without any signs of intimidation. He is slightly closer to mum than is SE33. But the fifth bite is a bridge too far, and at 08:47:24 SE33 stands up. SE34 cringes away from his sibling and ducks his head/. Lady decides this would be a strategic moment to offer fish to SE33. Good call, mum. SE34 refuses the next bite, so mum feeds it to SE33. The same thing happens with the next bite. As Lady continues to feed SE33, SE34 is shuffling closer to mum, peeking at her as he does so. Lady keeps feeding SE33. At 08:49 SE34 lifts his head a little but is still too scared to eat. There is plenty of fish, so hopefully SE34 will get his turn to eat.
Around 08:50 he dares to lift his head a little. He is watching mum closely but not asking for food. Lady is leaning across SE34 to feed SE33. This continued contact of SE33 from behind keeps SE34 on edge and very nervous to eat. At 08:50:50, he raises his head just a little too far, causing SE34 to beak him in the back of the head. He turns away and puts his head down on the nest again. Lady continues feeding SE33. He is not down for long though, and soon, SE34 is again watching Lady. Soon after 08:53, head still tucked, SE34 turns his back on the table. He has not had any breakfast so far. As Lady feeds SE33, SE34 is very carefully and slowly turning back around, until he is again facing the table.
Lady pauses the feeding, with the fish rapidly disappearing, and SE34 continues to creep closer to her. 9am and SE33 eats and eats and eats. SE34 waits. By 08:46 SE34 is eatihng, his confidence growing with each bite he takes for which he is not punished by SE33; Lady returned about 40 minutes later and again fed SE34, so that eventually, both eaglets had good crops and had eaten well. “
Keep the Menhaden on your radar and the Canadian corporation Omega right beside them. If you live in the States, write to your Senator and the Senators from Virginia and get them to end the industrial fishing of Menhaden and create a clear three-mile distance from the mouth of the Bay! By doing so, you will help save the lives of the Ospreys who call Chesapeake Bay their home.
Suzanne Arnold Horning (and Woody) continue to find Big Red and Arthur at the Cornell Campus even though students are arriving back for classes.
LGK shows up to feed the Royal cam chick! It will not be long until their little one takes to the seas, returning in five or six years. It is so amazing. https://youtu.be/c8DPhmweuQI?si=ZYARzkZ6ipw4MyzX
Hope and her two beautiful fledglings on the Snow Lane nest.
Charlie and Lola at the nest and C16 holding on. There is snow in parts of Montana. Hopefully it will not land on any of the osprey nests!
At Minnesota Landscape Arboretum nest, Dad is home and so is the juvenile. I have not see the female. Perhaps she is on migration?
At Boulder, it appears that Dad and the fledgling are still coming to the nest. No sign of the female.
A news alert from the Ventana Wildlife Society.
Geemeff sends us the daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Wednesday 28th August 2024 Wet but not too windy, a few dry spells allowing the nests to show off their beautiful scenery. No activity other than Penelope spider on Nest One. WTS George reminds us that Woodland Trust receives wonderful support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery, including at Loch Arkaig and it will be much appreciated if social media users like, share and comment on a little film showing ‘some of the ways we are working together to create a better future’: https://x.com/WTScotsocial/status/1828704104136249416https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=493071810106235&ref=sharing Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One ( 05.31.07); Nest Two (05.43.01) Today’s videos:https://youtu.be/9raQZmSsDdE N1 By day and by night: Penelope the magic weaver
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please 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: ‘A, Geemeff, H’, The Raptor Resource Project, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Montana Osprey Project, Nesting Bird Life and More, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Charles Sturt University Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Collins Street Falcons, 367 Collins Street Falcon Watchers, Olympic Park Eagles, Brian Collins – Menhaden- Little Fish, Big Deal FB, Suzanne Arnold Horning, Cornell Bird Lab, Newfoundland Power, Charlo Montana, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Ospreys, Boulder County, Ventana Wildlife Society, and Geemeff and the Woodland Trust.
You will now notice links to videos within the blog. Just click on them, and they will take you to YouTube. Geemeff helped me figure out how to save that precious space to include more images without using up all my media allowance! Thanks, Geemeff.
Friday was another scorcher in Winnipeg. It will be 31 C today but the heat index is reaching to 39 or 40 C. Even the English Gardens were so sultry that it was difficult to enjoy the beautiful foliage.
I continue to smile and tell The Girls how fortunate they are. What we are seeing is a growing number of cats, beautiful ones, coming to the feral feeder. People continue to dump their pets because they cannot afford to feed or care for them. It is so sad when these darling animals bring so much joy to one’s life. There was a steady stream yesterday – ‘The Boyfriend’, a Ginger Male, and a gorgeous long-haired ‘sort of’ Calico (photo below). ‘The Girls’ alert us to their presence. ‘The Boyfriend’ mostly comes during the night – between midnight and 0400. I catch him on the front video camera. But there is also ‘something’ coming and eating all the food and pushing the dishes about and upsetting the birdbaths. I do wonder if it is the fox or a raccoon or, perhaps, a big dog. They must come in through the back because they are not seen on the front camera.
Missey watching from inside where it is cool. They are telling everyone to please put out water because the heat index today was 38 C. The outdoor animals are having a very difficult time.
Remember those storms that hit Missoula with hurricane-force winds? We worried and teared up because of dear Iris and her family. Amy Moore tells us more about the devastation to other osprey families in her article in The Pulp. Thankfully, Iris, Finnegan, Sum-eh, and Antali were not injured.
‘J’ reminds us that Bobby Horvath keeps himself busy saving Ospreys and geese that get hit by golf balls on courses! He picks them up and puts them back together so they can live in the wild. Our fledgling ospreys can get into much mischief thanks to us and our fishing gear. Please tell people to take care of themselves and try to clean up after themselves, or stop fishing.
I have talked to you about the issues related to Osprey starvation and the industrial fishing of Menhaden in Chesapeake Bay. ‘H’ found this article that demonstrates clearly that the fish that our ospreys need to survive in the region can make a come back. New York put in regulations. Have a listen!
Hawk Mountain is located in Pennsylvania and is considered to be the world’s first sanctuary for raptors. It began during a time when people were paid to kill raptors – in 1929, $5 was a lot of money and if you turned in a goshawk that was what you received. A dead goshawk that is. Hawk Mountain was where the shooters lined up on top of the ridges when the birds migrated to kill them. Just think of that – thousands of bodies lying on the ground in the forest. A man by the name of Richard Pough began to take photographs of the autracities and eventually those images caught the attention of Rosalie Edge. Edge went to Hawk Mountain, and she came back in 1934, leasing 1400 acres. She created a safe place for the raptors. The killing ceased. In 1935, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary was opened to the public. Edge eventually purchased the property, creating a non-profit organisation to look after the sanctuary. You can visit there today – you can even go and help do a count!
They have just published its first migration count for this season.
Little Ringed Plovers nest successfully for the first time in Cornwall.
CROW reminds everyone – baby Squirrel season is starting in some parts of North America. What should you do? Read below.
Migration season for Ospreys in the UK is underway (as it is in other parts of the world). I will keep track, once in awhile, of who is home and who is not.
Gorgeous Friday in Missoula and there are some ospreys on that hellgate Canyon nest.
FORE (Friends of Redding Eagles) has given us an update about the necroscopy of Luna and discussions on what to do about the nest tree of Liberty and Guardian. Thanks, ‘J’ for sending this in!
Update on Liberty & Guardian’s Nest & Nest Tree 8/22/24:
We just wanted to give you an update on our progress this Summer! We haven’t been posting much because It’s actually been a very busy Summer! We’ve been working non-stop on finding a way to help Liberty & Guardian any way we can next season. We’ve heard several of you suggest we simply “Cut down the Nest Tree” or “Remove the Nest”. After what happened to our Luna & Sol last season we completely understand how you feel! None of us want to experience something like that ever again! But, there are several Federal Laws protecting Bald & Golden Eagles so we have to abide by those laws at all times.
We’re still waiting on the Final Report on Luna’s Necropsy, but I have been in touch with Krysta Rogers frequently these last few months & she has been very helpful. She has answered several questions we asked her after the preliminary report was released & she reviewed a few videos I sent to her of Luna on the Grassy Island. Krysta said she will share the FINAL REPORT with us as soon as it is ready. We would all like to know what the cause of death was for our Luna & Sol & we really hope the final necropsy report will give us those answers. We have to let you know that there are times when the necropsy results are inconclusive, but we remain hopeful!
We’ve also been in touch with the California State Avian Conservation Coordinator Shannon Skalos regarding what we can & can’t do about Liberty & Guardian’s Nest & Nest Tree. Shannon was very helpful & understanding & she put us in touch with our local Fish & Wildlife Supervisor John Perrine who we’ve been working with to come up with a plan. Since we are not Biologists ourselves, we work under the guidance of our local Fish & Wildlife Biologists. We’ve been discussing what we can do within the constraints of the Federal Laws protecting Bald Eagles & their Nests & Nest Trees.
Back in June, Shannon informed us that we cannot do anything to the Nest or Nest Tree without a Federal “Take Permit”. She said those permits can take quite a while to obtain & she didn’t think we had enough time to go that route(6-12 months). She said US Fish & Wildlife generally tries to “let nature take its course”, but they will always consider things on a case by case basis.
Shannon let us know we would NOT need a permit to do something in any of the nearby trees as long as we don’t touch the Nest Tree. So, we immediately reached out to our dear friend & Eagle Biologist David Hancock from British Columbia who has a lot of experience & success in this area. David has been consulting with us & now we are in the process of making a plan which we will complete in September. We will share more details on our plan as we get closer!
Our Project Manager Joe will be coming to Redding in September to replace parts & overhaul the entire Eaglecam System. So, we still have a lot of work ahead of us! But, we are determined to do whatever we can to help our beloved Redding Eagles Liberty & Guardian! And, we are also determined to do whatever we can to make it a great viewing experience for all of our wonderful followers & incredibly generous Donors who make this all possible!
We could not do this without YOU!
Stay tuned!
~Terri & the FORE Team
Here is some helpful information with us from the US Fish & Wildlife Eagle Management Plan:
“Eagle Nest Protections
Along with protecting eagles, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act also protects eagle nests. Eagle nests are protected at all times, not just when the nests are in use by eagles. This means eagle nests can never be removed, destroyed, moved, tampered with, or obstructed, no matter what time of year it is, without a permit.
An eagle nest is defined as “any assemblage of materials built, maintained, or used by bald eagles or golden eagles for the purpose of reproduction. An eagle nest remains an eagle nest until it becomes so diminished, or the nest substrate upon which it is built fails, that the nest is no longer usable and is not likely to become usable to eagles, as determined by a Federal, Tribal, or State eagle biologist” (50 CFR 22.6).
The following are all considered eagle nests and are protected (unless the nests are determined by a Federal, Tribal, or State eagle biologist to no longer be usable):
Any nest constructed by an eagle, even if the nest is never finished or used.
A nest built by another bird that is subsequently used by an eagle for reproduction.
A nest constructed by an eagle that is subsequently used by another species, such as owls or osprey.
Note that if nest take removes all available nesting substrate from an eagle pair’s territory, this can lead to abandonment and loss of the eagle territory, which constitutes a form of disturbance take.laws”
Is Mum looking a little eggy at Port Lincoln?
Seabirds sang a tribute to the Penguin Icon, Sphen, as they mourn his death.
Our smile for the day comes from ‘SP’. Most of you know the Crawley Falcons that hatch their chicks on the balcony of a high rise in Australia. Apparently neighbours decided peregrine falcons were too noisy and asked that the plant pots where the falcons laid their eggs be removed. Well…Here is the story in pictures from their FB page. Oh, they now have at least two eggs.
Turtles are starting to arrive at the Kistachie National Forest E-1 nest…oh, geez. If this eagle keeps this up, there won’t be a turtle within 5 miles of the park! This male loves his turtles.
Karl II’s son, Waba, is in the Ukraine where he continues to feed as he works his way back to Africa. Fingers crossed that Waba will return to Estonia and take over his natal nest next year! Yes! Waba can continue the great example of his father, Karl II, who sadly was electrocuted on an unprotected pole in Turkey last year.
Geemeff’s daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Friday 23rd August 2024
More rain overnight last night with strong winds, and a misty morning today. No Ospreys appeared on either nest, just a pair of Great Tits on Nest One, but we were treated to footage from Spain of our one surviving chick, 1JW, looking magnificent and defending his fish with a short sharp warning nip to another Osprey who attempted to get some of it. This all bodes well for his upcoming migration journey, and explains his informal nickname of ‘Jaws’. Also sent through by Fundación Migres were photos of Pean JH3, the Loch Arkaig Osprey who fledged from a private nest in 2017 the same year that Aila & Louis fledged their first chick, Lachlan JH4. Pean’s untimely death on a faulty power line in 2018 inspired Itziar Colodro Sainz from the Fundación to campaign successfully for modernisation of the local grid at the translocation area of Marjal Pego-Oliva Nature Reserve, which has subsequently saved many birds. More here: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=15815194 and here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-46952452. The wet weather will continue all week, with the possibility of thundery showers tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.32.40 (05.19.49); Nest Two 21.24.56 (05.26.39)
‘H’ posted on Fenwick Island….little Fen. Dad is smart. Just drop those fish in when flying by. Don’t risk those precious talons with a hungry juvenile.
SE33 was aggressive towards its little sibling today. Despite there being plenty of fish on the nest, it would not allow the baby to eat but a few bites before starting to bonk it. SE33 goes into a food coma and Dad comes along and saves the day giving little 34 a really nice feeding. That baby was full. Love you, Dad!
‘A’ writes more of these current issues with sibling rivalry: “This morning, Lady went out early and brought back a large fresh whole fish. She started feeding SE33 at around 06:49 and continued to do so until just before 06:58, when SE34, who had had his head down on the nest, finally accepted a bite. But even though it had been eating large chunks of fish for nearly ten minutes, SE33 was not happy about SE34’s inclusion in the feeding and immediately beaks him in the back of the head. SE33 grabbed a beakful of head feathers and shook SE34 for some time. A moment or so later, when SE34 dared to move, he was attacked again. Once again, the shaking lasted some time. SE33 has an enormous crop by this stage and has been eating large pieces of fish uninterrupted since 06:50.
The fact that SE34 had stayed down for so long, cringing violently away when Lady leaned near him to pick up a dropped piece of fish (she had dropped it, not SE34), was worrying enough in itself, but when after eating so much fish and SE34 showing deference for so long, SE33 instantly retaliated for the one mouthful SE34 had been given, it really depressed me. I thought we had got beyond this on this nest, but obviously, we haven’t. In fact, over the past week or so, it seems SE33 is getting more aggressive rather than less.
Lady is still looking out for him, and there is still plenty of fish (Dad added a second fish to the breakfast spread this morning – there always seems to be food ready for when Lady wants to feed the eaglets) but it is a worry that he is obviously intimidated by SE33 to the extent that he is sometimes scared to eat. The question is whether he is still getting enough once SE33 has eaten all it can.
By 7am, SE33 is getting more and more reluctant to accept bites. (It had already been rejecting them when SE34 dared to accept his first mouthful but that didn’t stop SE33 from attacking.) But SE34 is still not brave enough to lift his head. At 07:02, SE33 is STILL eating. SE34 dares to move – he is monitoring proceedings. By 07:02:40, SE33 is refusing food and Lady eats the bite herself. At 07:03, SE34 lifts his head cautiously.
There are two fish on the nest – one whole and one that Lady is finishing off. SE33 gets a second wind but this is a good thing, as it stops an attack on SE34 for lifting his head. Lady pauses the feeding. She surveys the eaglets and takes stock of the situation. She waits. SE33 is full, so I think she is waiting for it to turn away or lose interest in attacking SE34. She is certainly planning what to do next.
Just after 07:04, SE33 does in fact turn away. SE34 sits up a little further. His head is up. At 07:04:25, Lady offers a bite to SE34, who takes it without retaliation from SE33. Lady then steps closer to SE33 and persists in offering it a bite for nearly half a minute until eventually it is accepted shortly before 07:05.
Although SE34 has his head up, Lady does not offer him food. She continues feeding SE33, although it is reluctant and slow to accept bites. 07:06:20 and Lady moves some nest material, which strikes SE34 and causes him to turn away, fearing he is being attacked. Lady ends the feeding at this point, returning to brooding the eaglets, even though SE34 has not had any breakfast while SE33 is stuffed to the brim. There is a whole fish still on the nest, plus some leftovers from the other fish, and yet she has abandoned the effort to feed SE34. He is obviously intimidated and scared to eat, but with SE33 so full, it is unusual that Lady did not persist in her efforts to feed SE34. She made very little effort to feed him, and did not offer him bites with the same patience and persistence she used to push more and more food onto SE33. So it was all in all a worrying and disappointing breakfast feed.
I am assuming Lady is going to let SE33 fall into a food coma and then go back to the fish to feed SE34. I certainly hope so. Otherwise, we are going to have problems at this nest. I am encouraged by the fact that the size gap between the two appears to have narrowed over the past four or five days, so talons crossed. “
There is more news from Australia. ‘A’ sends us the news of a rare white Rhino calf born – no feathers, but we will celebrate with them!https://youtu.be/QaPgf26-WYE?
Thank you so much for being with us today. Have a wonderful weekend everybody! See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, videos, articles, images, summaries, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, PB, SP, TU’, The Pulp, Return of the Menhaden, Hawk Mountain, BirdGuides, SK Hideaways, CROW, RSPB Loch Garten, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, Sandpoint, Pitkin County, Saaksilvie, Whistler Osprey Cam, FORE, PLO, The Guardian Crawley Falcons Instagram, Tonya Irwin, Looduskalender, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Heidi McGrue, and Olympic Park Eagles.
Thursday was an ‘odd’ day. We woke up to overnight torrential downpours with pools of water everywhere. The dishes for ‘The Boyfriend’ were scattered everywhere, and one of the birdbaths was turned upside down. Now, as this wind? Or was it the fox? I couldn’t tell. By early morning, it was muggy outside – but it didn’t stop us from heading off to check on birds. There were hundreds of Red-wing Blackbirds in the corn fields. According to Wiley On-Line, “Red-winged Blackbirds are often initially attracted to corn fields to feed on insect pests during the 2–3 week period between silking and kernel development.” I learned something new today.
The minute I stopped, the birds all dove down into the corn. Would they come up and do their fancy flying while I was there? Of course not! LOL
Then a Red-tail Hawk was spotted on a branch above a wheat field. Looks like it is moulting.
The animals at Pineridge Hollow do have a nice life. They are not continually caged up so they can be exploited for our benefit. There is a large field at the back where they can feed and wander except for the chickens that are likely taken into a coop at night.
This must be Rufus!
This is Sugar.
The goats were simply not interested in being friendly today.
The field behind the pen enclosures where the animals can roam.
We were not home for a minute before the Crows came calling. Some were on the wire demanding cheesy dogs while a couple were eating of one of the nut and bug suet cylinders. Gosh, I love these characters!
The lesson for today comes from the garden’s Blue Jays. Here is Junior. Junior is the father of one group of this year’s fledglings. I know him by the pattern of the white on his tail. His other distinction right now is that he looks ‘ill’. Junior is healthy. He is moulting. The process of replacing feathers often happens a few feathers at a time. This allows the birds to fly to feed and protect themselves. They also need those feathers to protect them from the summer heat and torrential rains. That said, some of the Blue Jays will lose all their head feathers and become completely bald. That is what Junior is doing. Because our summer season is so short, most Blue Jays in my neighbourhood opt to lose them all so that the time to have a full crest again is shortened. Some say it takes about a week. You may read that Blue Jays of all ages moult and become bald. I have not found this to be the case. This year’s fledglings have their full crests and that is how I can tell them from the adults quickly.
You can see that Junior’s crest is just beginning to come in.
This is one of this year’s fledglings. I want you to look very closely. This is the little one that I was concerned about. It’s tail is still not straight but its crest is in better condition. It is eating and flying well. I shed tears seeing this one today as I had not seen it. We have several new feral cats and a fox coming to the garden and I was so concerned that one or the other had killed the poor baby. Not so!
This is Mamma. She is moulting, too. She is a little behind Junior. You can even see her ‘ear’ – the dark circle behind the eye.
A perfectly healthy 2024 Blue Jay fledgling who has just enjoyed some peanuts and is pondering what to do next with that tiny seed in its mouth. Behind him, you will see one of the ‘new’ baby Sparrows. They keep upsetting the frame that holds my cherry tomatoes upright.
I love our geese.
News about another female checking out another osprey platform in Poole Harbour. Notice the comment about CJ7 coming in 2017. CJ7 waited and waited for her prince – Blue 022 to arrive. They have raised chicks in 2022, 2023, and again – four this year – 2024.
If you live in Nova Scotia, why not head down to Hope for Wildlife. They are the leading rehabilitator in that province.
Will Port Lincoln’s Mum and Dad be grandparents this year? Calypso has a mate at the Tulka platform!
Iris is tired. She has been busy making sure that her babies, Sum-eh and Antali, are well feed. But has she been practising self-care? I sure hope so. We want to see you back next year, Queen Iris.
Hope calling to Beaumont when she sees him coming in with a fish at the Newfoundland Snow Lane nest.
It is all good.
On the other side of North America, it was quiet at the Cowlitz PUD osprey platform of Electra.
Well, it wasn’t quiet at the Fortis-Exshaw Platform near Canmore, Alberta. Harvie brought a fish to two hungry fledglings on the nest just after 1600. I bet his talons hurt as much as Iris and Finnegan!
What a gorgeous place for an Osprey platform at Charlo! Lola on the perch and C16 on the nest.
Dad is delivering a lot of fish to the Olympic Park Sea Eagle nest. Big Sibling seems to always have a huge crop! They both still resemble little snow people. So cute.
The extent of plastic in the ocean is killing the beautiful petrels and albatross. I know it is hard to avoid plastic, but make a pact with yourself that you will try! And reuse plastic in your home whenever you must buy items enclosed in it!
Only Bob joins all the other fledglings worldwide, screaming for fish to be brought to the nest.
The four are hanging around Field Farm, too, and getting some nice big fish.
Crows and fledglings are at Oyster Bay on Long Island.
It looks like our great Patchogue Long Island Mum is still in town. She was on the nest at least once on Thursday.
Just look at the fish on the nest at Osoyoos! My goodness. What I would have given to have had fledglings so full they couldn’t eat anymore when Little was still with us!!!!!! Maybe a movement will start where people deliver fish to nests when the birds are hungry. Just to carry them through. It takes on average 500 fish for a family with three fledglings according to all the studies done by John Williams for Forestry England up at Clywedog.
I kept getting the ball of death when I tried to rewind at Marders in East Hampton Long Island. The fledgling is on the nest being fed. It is in the blue rectangle.
Geemeff’s Daily Summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Thursday 22nd August 2024 Today brought a lovely surprise – Garry LV0, thought to have left on migration after last being seen on 18th August, turned up at Nest One today. He spent more than fifteen minutes on the nest, preening and looking around, before flying off eastwards. The weather was wet and windy and it’ll be about a week before there’s a chance of sunshine. Woodland Trust have announced their candidates for British Tree of the Year, one of which, the Skipinnish Oak, is a neighbour of Loch Arkaig Pine Forest. More info and link to vote for your favourite here: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=15806183 Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.40.30 (05.15.27); Nest Two 21.37.17 (05.21.30) Today’s videos:
https://youtu.be/H_ddzxroEpkN1 Garry LV0 turns up after a 4-day absence! 13.19.20 Bonus action – after voting for your favourite British tree of the year, please sign the petition to save them and other living legends:
This fool, #IdiotsWithGuns as I call them, is contrite, but the fine and punishment is not nearly enough – he’s broken up a breeding pair, killed one of the adults, and a chick starved to death in the nest while an egg didn’t hatch as no adult around to incubate. Just disgusting. And to make it work, he effectively got just a $350 fine. And the neighbour who chopped down the nest tree forcing the family to move onto the idiot’s land is also culpable.https://cdapress.com/news/2024/aug/22/hayden-man-fined-for-killing-osprey/
Geemeff sends us the Latest video of Loch Arkaig Osprey chick ‘Jaws’ 1JW, plus photos of the late Paen JH3, both in Parque Natural del Marjal de Pego-Oliva Spain from Fundación Migres and tweets from Woodland Trust Scotland:
I am reminded by a message from ‘PB’ about the growing numbers of wildlife in rehabilitation centres. SOAR is only one of thousands of centres.
Our wildlife rehabilitation centres are often so full that they turn away animals. It is so very very sad that these excellent doctors and their clinics do not get an ounce of government support. Everything is done by donation and an army of volunteers. So this brings me to my last point for the day. Help. Do what you can to help the wildlife. You might only be able to put out a life saving bowl of water – do it, please. You have no idea how many lives you could be saving. But you can also do more. Every one of us has more stuff than we can possibly use. The next time you clean out the closet or the garage or the basement, look at what is there. The rehabilitation clinics need stuff. From bleach to tools to food for the animals – garden produce, etc. Good clean towels and sheets, laundry detergent, toys – don’t forget the toys for enrichment. Paper towels…the list is endless including kiddie pools! Look around you. Set you a neighbourhood campaign. Gather up everything you can and if you can’t deliver it, I promise you the wildlife centre will find a devoted volunteer who can. You will have cleared out some space and you will be smiling because this is one way to really help.
Thank you so much for being with us today. We so hope that you are having a good end to the week! Remember to get outside and listen for the birds and look up – you might just see a hawk sitting on a branch in the most unexpected of places.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, articles, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, PB’, Sweetbriar Nature Centre, BoPH, Connie Dennis, Friends of Sth Aus, Cornell Bird Lab, Newfoundland Power, Cowlitz PUD, Fortis-Exshaw, That Kat, Charlo Montana, Olympic Sea Eagle Cam, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, Boulder County, Field Farm, PSEG, Osoyoos, Marder’s, Geemeff and the Woodland Trust, BTO, Liznm, and SOAR.
We hope that you are well. The end of summer (or winter, depending on where you live) is soon coming to an end! Already some children are heading back to school. Here it is the day after Labour Day. That really does mark the end of the summer for many.
It continues to be hot, and the garden birds are spending more and more time in the baths. It looks like another host of House Sparrows has appeared in the garden. I even ‘thought’ I saw a couple of new baby red squirrels the other day, but I am not sure. I feel very sorry for them and all of the eagles and ospreys we have been monitoring who are caught in this extended heat wave. Please put out water for all the animals and change it regularly, and if you can afford it, feed them. If billions of people joined together, the lives of our feathered friends would be much improved.
Wednesday is our local Farmer’s Market. It has grown over the years to have some exceptional vendors as our neighbourhood community grows and grows in population, attracting many young professionals who like the vibe. From the original stalls selling produce, organic meats, and local honey, we now have artisan ice creams, flowers, organic breads, the most amazing dumplings, empanadas, and Japanese baking. The temperature was not so hot making it that much more congenial to mingle with friends and neighbours this afternoon.
Oh, I hope they continue to come to the market. Their handmade dumplings are delicious. And look at the price!
A mother and daughter grow fields of flowers right outside the City for the bouquets. They are lovely. Just the right size.
I wanted to show you all of the goodies, but Hugo Yugo got on top of the table before I could blink. She is always the first to be curious, quickly followed by Missey! For some reason, Hugo Yugo was not interested in dumplings. Could it have been that they were tofu and cabbage? I could easily be completely Vegan if it were not for dairy. I am trying, but ice cream and cream for my coffee get me every time.
Yes, there she is! Missey first tried the tofu cabbage dumpling and loved it. Then she moved on to the Ube Melon roll! Both got her thumbs up!
Calico and Hope are curious and sweet, but they prefer watching the animals in the garden instead of human-related ‘things’.
Before we went to the market, we stopped in at the duck pond. What a surprise. The Canada Geese were feeding on the Cricket grounds and, for the most part, the ducks had the pond all to themselves. OK. There were about twenty geese at the pond compared to hundreds feeding on the pitch. Most ducks were the sweetest little Wood Ducks – tiny compared to the Mallards. Some of the images are pretty dark despite lightening them…apologies.
I am ready for some rain. For an afternoon, curling up in a chair and reading a book, the stack on the bedside table grows, and by the time I get myself tucked in, I am too exhausted to read. I am not complaining! How many of us wish there were at least 36 hours in a day?
And to my great joy, ‘The Boyfriend’ showed up during the daylight hours. I catch him on the video cameras coming in the middle of the night, but had not seen him during the day. He looks to be in good form.
You might have noticed that we are not hearing from Heidi regularly. She is having a much-deserved break after a season of great sadness. The osplets on all the nests she has been monitoring have fledged (or died). Please give her a big round of applause so she can hear it! Thanks, Heidi, for your outstanding contributions and for taking care of all that data for me on those nests. You will never know how much I appreciate it. Thank you is hardly adequate.
I received a letter today from a family on the Potomac River that put up an osprey platform. They attracted a family that fledged two chicks. They wrote to me to enquire about siblicide occurring after fledge. What happened was that the older sibling prevented the younger one from getting any fish, and the younger one died on their lawn. Years ago, when we thought of siblicide and indeed, until a couple of years ago, the older sibling (usually) killed the younger one on the nest before the age of 21 days. With the heat domes and the lack of fish during the 2023 and 2024 seasons, we are seeing more and more competition between the fledglings of a nest and various intruders for local resources such as food.
Siblicide happened at Port Lincoln several years ago, pre-fledged at 65 days. The chick was pushed off the nest into the water and died. So there is a range. As the planet heats up and more fish dive deep or are lost to commercial fishing trawlers (unless that dire practice can be stopped), we will likely see many more deaths on the nests than we have seen this year. I regret painting a gloomy picture, but I would rather be entirely wrong than write as if we live in Disneyland where everything ends beautifully. Oh, how I wish it were so.
The Ospreys are leaving. The Storks are migrating. Shorebirds are flying south from the Arctic to their homes in South America. The move is on. Bald eagles return to check out their nests’ condition and lay claim to them again. The Eastern Ospreys are preparing to lay eggs like the falcons in Australia. We already have baby sea eaglets. For the next few months, the action will be coming to us from Australia, and then the eagles in the US will begin to lay their eggs.
We will start with a good news story about wind turbines sent to us from Geemeff. I was starting to think there was nothing good about the darn things. One of the things I hate about wind turbines is the refusal of so many factories to paint one blade black. What a simple solution someone found Let’s see what is happening here to protect the sea eagles in The Netherlands.
It is fantastic to see the fledglings return to the nest months after their first flight. Today, Alma visited the San Jose City Hall scrape to the delight of all. SK Hideaways caught it.
This is nothing short of animal cruelty. Do people think birds have no feelings? Help spread the word about the use of birds and include balloons when you ask friends to protect wildlife. Thank you.
The dark eye lines on Hope and Beaumont’s osplets are wide and magnificent. Dark beauties they are! There is a rumour that the second chick fledged on Wednesday the 21st. I did not see it and there is nothing on the FB group. Will confirm later.
Dad arrives to much enthusiasm at the Royal Albatross colony to feed the Royal Cam chick.https://youtu.be/3as5kXIFb18?
Geemeff’s daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Wednesday 21st August 2024
Nest One had a few little songbird visitors today despite the wet and windy weather, but otherwise no activity. Garry LV0 was last seen briefly on Sunday 18th and seems to have left the area, so with increasing reports of final sightings from UK Osprey projects, tonight’s bonus is the excellent webinar on Osprey migration by Dr Tim Mackrill.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.35.33 (05.14.32); Nest Two 21.27.36 (05.19.35)
Iris brings fish to the nest. Sometimes there is a fledgling there to nab it! The chicks are looking good and no doubt being fed at the nest and elsewhere as Iris, we hope, is packing in the calories, too, for her long flight.
Beautiful fish arriving on the nest for C16 at the Charlo Montana nest.
Junebug on the perch at Dunrovin waiting for fish.
River has been on and off the nest all day at Sandpoint getting fish! She had a big morning brekkie to help start the day.
One lucky chick at Blackbush has a fish dinner.
I did not see anyone at home at Cowlitz. Maybe I missed our fledgling.
At Saaksilvie #1, ringed and unringed are getting some fish dinners.
Clean up crew at the Seilli nest in Finland.
I saw no activity at nest #4 on Wednesday in Finland.
Both fledglings on the nest in Latvia having some nice fish with Mum.
‘A’ reminds us: “We are on egg watch at Orange. As I mentioned, Diamond laid her first egg on 26 August last season, so we are nearing that time. There is lots of bonding and mating taking place.
22 Aug BONDING 05:50:59, 10.30.59, 14:47:34, 17:30:42 PREY 07.02.32 X takes; 07.04.12 X stashes; 09:15:07 D takes; 13.23.42 D takes
TOWER MATING 07.05.16 LR 17s, 07.06.27 LR 18s, 07.10.49 LR 15s, 07.56.23 LHC 15s, 09:46:48 MW 12s, 13.53.31 MW 10s, 13.54.48 MW 6s
Diamond and Xavier are both looking healthy, unlike the starling Xavier stashed in the front corner of the scrape this morning – Diamond has treated it with the disdain it deserves but it will be recycled in the morning. Nothing is wasted here. There is discussion on the site about the worth of maggots in starlings. Of course we know from bald eagle nests that there’s good protein in maggots. Perfectly edible. “
A big shout out to Mary Cheadle who organises all of the fundraisers for the Lock Arkaig FB group. Thousands of pounds go to The Woodland Trust each year from viewers and fans. Thanks, Mary, for all you do!
There is one more fundraiser. For a donation of 3 GBP or more, you have a chance to win some expensive books on Ospreys, totes, etc. Check out the Friends of Loch Arkaig Ospreys FB if interested. The deadline is 30 August. It is the last fundraiser of the year.
Blue 1RO was 100 days old on Wednesday. Does anyone else think s/he looks exactly like their daddy Blue 33?
It was rainy and looked like a gale was blowing at the Glaslyn nest. The fledglings still think that Aran can pull off a miracle fishing for them! Two came in early in the day but no late fish to keep those crops full during the night.
It was windy with some rain at Dyfi but the wind did not appear to be blowing as strong as it was at Glaslyn. (Maybe just me…)
It was blowing hard at Llyn Brenig – the two fledglings were holding on tight to their nest!
Juveniles at Poole Harbour screaming their heads off for fish at Poole Harbour.
Fledgling still at Mlade Buky. Nice.
New Zealand is rushing to vaccinate its native birds ahead of what they believe will be a huge outbreak of H5N1.
Thank you so much for being with us today. It is always a pleasure!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, letters, videos, images, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff’, dutchnews.nl, SK Hideaways, Birds in Helping Hands, Newfoundland Power, Cowlitz PUD, Cornell Bird Lab, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, Dunrovin Ranch, Sandpoint Ospreys, Blackbush at Old Tracerie, Saaksilvie, LDF, Friends of Loch Arkaig Ospreys, LRWT, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, Llyn Brenig Ospreys, BoPH, Mlade Buky Stork Cam, The Guardian, and Friends of Midway Atoll.
