DDT and the Channel Islands – Page 2

Big Red and Arthur nest building, 3D legs for geese, Ravens eat Shadow and Jackie’s eggs…Wednesday in Bird World

8 March 2023

Good Morning Everyone,

I hope that your week is going well! We have been sent back into the deep freeze. This morning it was -21 C. It is -12 C now, with the promise of much warmer weather at the weekend. Yippeee. When it is really cold, I keep the door to the conservatory closed. Missy and Lewis do not like it these days! They stand and stare but quickly settle into the other living area with nice windows looking out to the birds. Lewis has taken a keen interest in them as of late. It is nice to see both kittens enjoying the out-of-doors safely indoors!

We are going to start with Jackie and Shadow. It is terrific that Ravens ate the two eggs of our beloved couple. I have never said that before! The Ravens arrived at the Big Bear nest at 15:01. They were cautious, looking out for the eagle pair and then getting busy consuming the eggs. Jackie and Shadow can move forward. I have used, and so have many others, the term ‘second clutch’ about the Big Bear nest, but that is the wrong term. The appropriate wording is ‘replacement clutch’ about when the first clutch of eggs is non-viable or lost to predators. At least when they return to the nest, the eggs will be gone. Jackie and Shadow will have closure. Thanks, ‘B’ for letting me know about this!

Jackie and Shadow are going to be on television. Here is the information if you get CBS.

There are currently 2 eggs at the Two Harbours nest of Chase & Cholyn, 1 egg at Sauces with Jak and Audacity (please keep sending best wishes to them), and three eggs at Bald Canyon. I have had no news or seen anything about the Fraser Point nest of Andor & Cruz (they are showing highlights). For those anxious to discover what is happening with Thunder and Akecheta’s nest, Dr Sharpe is travelling to the area at the weekend and will send out a report confirming if there are eggs.

This has just been posted from the IWS Tuesday late.

Akecheta shows up at the old West End nest site where three eaglets fledged last year. Time is 11:31 on the 7th of March.

He was still there at 12:11 enjoying the sun and the view.

Bald Canyon Eggs. Three always make me nervous. Two eaglets are a handful. It is difficult to image the resources and feedings required for three in comparison.

Cholyn at Two Harbours incubating her two eggs. I believe she is 25 years old this year.

Some of the best news is that Jak and Audacity’s seventh egg is still in tact. Today is day 9.

The Channel Islands Bald Eagles are part of a reintroduction project by the Institute for Wildlife Studies. Most of us know Dr Sharpe and his team from the intervention efforts at three of the nests during the 2022 breeding season: eaglet rescue at West End, eaglet rescue at Two Harbours, and Victor removed to rehab from the Fraser Point nest.

You might not know the history of DDT on the Channel Islands. Here is an introductory excerpt from the IWS website:

Bald eagles were present on the Channel Islands until the mid-1950s or early 1960s, but no successful nesting activity was known. The reasons for the decline and eventual disappearance of bald eagles on the Channel Islands are not completely understood. Possible causes include shooting, egg collecting, nest destruction, poisoning, removal of young from nests, and nest disturbance (Kiff 1980). The most likely cause of population declines, however, was the production and use of the industrial pesticide DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro ethane). Between 1947 and 1961 an estimated 37 to 53 million liters of DDT-contaminated acid sludge, containing 348-696 metric tons of DDT, were disposed of in an ocean dump site 16 km northwest of Catalina Island. In addition, it was estimated that another 1800 metric tons of DDT were discharged from the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant outfall, 3.3 km offshore of Palos Verdes Peninsula (Chartrand et al. 1985). The introduction of DDT into the Santa Monica Basin marine ecosystem was implicated in the decline of two other piscivorous bird populations on the Channel Islands, the brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) and the double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) (Risebrough et al. 1971, Gress et al. 1973). These declines coincided with the decline of bald eagles as a breeding species on the Channel Islands.

I have mentioned it before, but DDT was also sprayed on Big Bear Lake. The toll this believed to be harmless insecticide wrought on all wildlife is unbelievable and ongoing.

Here are the links to all of the Channel Islands cameras including the falcons.

We are three days away from pip watch at the WRDC nest of Ron and Rose in Miami. It is hot at the nest! 86 degrees F. Oh, goodness. We will get to see how eaglets do in the heat. You have observed them when it is cold and snowy.

Pepe and Muhlady have had a wonderful year. Tico and Pearl were on the nest Tuesday at 15:10, having some fish. They are observed flying around the area. Excellent.

On Tuesday, M15 had to contend with an intruder who even entered the nest. Still, he brought in 3 fish, and two prey items – an odd bit of something and a road kill possum. M15 is a constant observer – either in the nest or on the branch – of how the eaglets are doing with their self-feeding. Each of us must be smiling from ear to ear. We all have favourites every year, and 22 has certainly won over the hearts and minds of so many. No longer submissive and cowering but strong and surviving.

Mid-afternoon, Dad brings in a fish and feeds the other eaglet the rest of the road kill.

At 1646, Dad is in the nest cleaning up some of the tidbits that would attract predators and feeding the eaglets their final meal for the day (presumably). E22 is right up there snatching and grabbing that old possum!

Good Night SW Florida. Where is R23-3? Am I missing something?

The two eaglets at Duke Farms each ate well on Tuesday. They are sure growing! Fuzzy little ones with big crops.

In Louisiana, KNF-E1-03, Trey, was almost hit by a falling perch branch!

At the nest of Big Red and Arthur, Arthur flew into the nest early (0626) with more greenery. He checked out the nest bowl and off he went!

Big Red was in later inspecting everything that Arthur did just to make sure it is perfect.

The snow is starting to fall on the nest of our adorable Red-tail Hawks Tuesday evening. It is -1 C with 25 kph winds. Very windy!

The osplets at Mooring Park in Naples, Florida appear to be doing quite well.

Mum Sally needed a quick early morning break.

After the osplets hatch, the Mom stays in the nest most of the time. That said, she does take breaks, and, at this nest, Dad can be seen relieving her so she can have a stretch and a relaxation break. Still, his primary role is food delivery – ‘Daddy Door Dash’ and security. Alan Poole reminds us that the number of fish deliveries doubles and triples in the first 20 days after hatch. This is a rapid growth period.

Ospreys are semi-precocial. This means that they are not as developed as ducks or chickens who, after 24 hours, can walk, are covered with feathers, and feed themselves. Ducks and chickens are precocial. On the other hand, Songbirds are born altricial –naked and require complete care. Osplets are in between. They need their parents to feed them. They cannot regulate their temperature until they are 2 to 3 weeks old.

In terms of growth, osplets should “triple their body weight in the first eight days after hatch and then double that again in the next four days”, according to Poole. By the time they are a month old, they will be 70-80% of their adult size if all has gone well.

The GHOs in Corona, California are growing. That nest is getting tight. All four are doing well. The fourth hatch – about a 1/4 of the size of the oldest – has had some personal feedings.

We all knew it…just from the size, but it has now been confirmed. Sweet Pea or South Plateau Royal Cam chick is a male! A little boy. So nice for a change.

Making News:

We have seen 3-D printers make beaks for eagles and bits and bobs for humans, but, we have been waiting for legs. Now, when will we see these on an eagle? Surely they can use their mind to clinch the toes and talons, right?

Each of us wants to know what happens when one of the birds fledges. This is especially true when they have had a tragedy, such as ND17, when it fell from the collapsing nest. In the UK, at Balgavies Lach, Blue 640, known as The Bairn, did just that – fell out of a collapsing tree, too. That juvenile was spotted in Senegal! It survived its first migration. This is the reason for a huge celebration.

Now this is exciting!

Do you live near enough to the Audubon Centre of Prey in Maitland, Florida, to go for a celebration of baby owls? Oh, it looks like fun! What a great way to get items needed for the rehabilitation of our raptors.

The Cal Falcons t-shirt and hoodie fundraiser has begun for 2023. This design is fantastic, and on Wednesday, 8 March, if Annie is on time, she will lay her 3rd egg around 1600 scrape time.

To look at the options in colour and style, head off to: https://www.customink.com/fundraising/campanile-falcons23 The proceeds go to Cal Falcons not into a generic fundraising at Berkeley.

The Institute of Wildlife Studies (Dr Sharpe) is having their annual fundraiser, also.

Wisdom, the oldest living banded albatross in the world (early 70s) is a grandmother again!

Thank you so very much for being with me today. Keep an eye on Annie and Lou’s scrape and, of course, the WRDC nest of Ron and Rose as pip watch approaches. Take care all. See you soon.

Thank you so much to the following for their notes, posts, tweets, videos, and streaming cams that make up my blog today: ‘B’, ‘H’, FOBBV, Jana Maria Johnson Jamar and FOBBV, IWS, IWS and Explore.org, Jann Gallivan and CIEL, WRDC, Superbeaks, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Duke Farms, Tonya and KNF-E1, Cornell RTH, Moorings Park Ospreys, Corona California Owl Cam, Sharon Dunne and the Royal Cam Albatross Group NZ, David Attenborough Fans, Ospreys, The Telegraph, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, Cal Falsons, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatross and Petrels.

2nd egg for Chase & Cholyn, Tico forced to fledge, and more…Sunday in Bird World

5 March 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

It was a beautiful day on the Canadian prairies on Saturday, and I did not stay as alert to what was happening on the nests as I might usually. Sometimes that is a good thing! It gave me some time to spend with the kittens in the conservatory, which I enjoy doing. Lewis is a particularly hyper kitty. It is no surprise. He chased toys all over an aquarium the first time we saw him. Missy was quiet like she is now. Indeed, she hardly ever meows but has the sweetest purr. She leaves all the haggling for food and treats to Lewis, a task he particularly enjoys. In early November, both kittens could fit with room to spare on the top spot of the cat tree. No more! Lewis even hangs off the edge.

Lewis enjoys being a dare-devil!

He certainly has a great view of the garden!

Missy was too busy watching birds out of the window to worry if Lewis was going to fall down.

They had a lovely day. Missy even got to see Mr Woodpecker!

M15 continues to bring in prey items. E22 got the first on Saturday which appeared to be a squirrel, bunny, or roadkill. After that, E22 continued to mantle and got the fish. E 21 would steal it from between 22’s legs. You must dig those talons in, 22! Both are eating well, and there is no cause for concern unless something catastrophic happens at the nest.

At 12:06, M15 came to the nest and broke a fish into two pieces (or what it looked like) so each eaglet could eat. He fed one, and the other ate. It seriously doesn’t get better than this. He is an incredible dad who has made several deliveries to his 8-week-old eaglets on Saturday. They will be on the nest for 10-11 weeks til they fledge. At that time, M15 will help them get their flight muscles strong and their flying good while providing prey and teaching them to hunt. I know that we did not ever think we would see this day a month ago but wow. Isn’t it grand?

Each has been working on and off again with the head of an Armoured Catfish that came in around 15:20:41.

E22 mantled the fish head, but then E21 took it.

Around 1700, E22 was still chewing on that old catfish head while 21 had found a dried fish tail hidden in the rim of the nest. Then 21 got excited and started jumping and flapping! 22 could care less. He continued eating!

Good Night M15, R23-3, E21 and 22. Sweet Eaglet Dreams.

There have been two deliveries at the SW Florida nest before 1100. They came around 10:00 and another nice fish at 10:43.

Both eaglets have been spending time on the rim of the nest.

Our great Dad.

Word has come from ‘H’ this morning that Pearl flew to the nest on Saturday and landed on Tico, forcing him to fledge. He has not been seen at the nest since.

Tico was seen across the street with his foot caught in a vine upside down last night. He freed himself. There have been boots on the ground looking for him. They believe he could be in the woods.

If you have been watching the Bald Eagle nest at Camp Margaritaville in Auburndale, Florida, CM2 has passed. This little one was harassed and hurt from the time it hatched for no obvious reasons, as there was plenty of food in the nest. (There is a stocked pond). Whether it died on Friday or Saturday is unknown, but the cause was siblicide. The eaglet suffered greatly. Sometimes we must be grateful that the suffering ends for these precious little ones. Thanks, ‘H’ for alerting me to this tragedy.

Annie arrives to incubate her and Lou’s first egg of the season…talking to it! How precious. Time 08:39:37 4 March.

Cal Falcons tells us when to expect the next egg.

This is a view of Bald Canyon. Thank you, Gracie Shepherd. If you want to see all of the IWS streaming cams from the Channel Islands, go to iws.org and click on the name of the nest in the listings on the left.

Gabby and V3 continue to put a smile on my face. V3 is a good provider and a fantastic security guard. Have you noticed that there are seemingly no more intruders coming to the nest except for the odd fly through juvenile?

V3’s talons have had a rough time lately.

The two eaglets at Duke Farms are growing and eating and are such cute fuzzy little bobbleheads. They look like miniature teddy bears. Did you know that their Dad, A/59 is 23 years old? He is! There is lots of food in this nest!

Jackie and Shadow are spending less time on the eggs. Right now, I wish the Ravens would come and take them so the eagles could move forward. They did visit today. It must be difficult for the eagles to destroy their own eggs.

They might have another clutch, but they might not. If those eggs weren’t in the nest, it would give them some closure. So sad for these two. Amazing parents who gave us Spirit – 1 year and 1 day since her hatch.

At the MN-DNR nest of Nancy and Beau, one egg remains. One broke after Nancy worked hard to protect the two eggs during a strong winter storm. The songbirds are announcing spring is coming. You can hear them in the background of the streaming cam. It is lovely.

Cholyn and Chase are still incubating a single egg at Two Harbours in the Channel Islands. Folks were watching for a second egg and Cholyn did not disappoint. That egg arrived around 18:14:24 Saturday 4 March.

Maria dk caught the moment on video:

Everyone is holding their breath and sending the most positive wishes to Jak and Audacity who are still incubating egg #7 after the eighth egg broke.

‘H’ had me laughing and well, anytime there is siblicide, we look to find the joy in the birds. Dear Angus loves to stand on the back of Florence. Poor thing!

Harry and Sally are doing a fantastic job of being first-time parents. Their osplets both hatched on 3 March. The oldest at 01:29 and the youngest at 20:03. Now, if every female raptor (osprey or eagle) could manage their delayed incubation so that the hatches were this close or closer, the world of raptors would be a much more equitable place.

Seriously, how much more cuteness do we need? Just look at those two lined up so nicely for fish.

We are still some days before pip watch at Achieva in St Petersburg, Florida. The first egg is 25 days old today – so 10-11 days from now, probably making that the 15th of March.

Rosie and Richmond were both on the Whirley Crane today. It seems to take them a few days to get re-acquainted each year but, for us, it is nice to have both of them safe at home.

The Welsh take their ospreys seriously. The final touches to the Dyfi nest of Idris and Telyn were put into place as the team awaits the couple’s arrival from their winter migration. Ospreys were seen over Suffolk today, heading north!

The Patuxent River Park Osprey platform cams are streaming, and the first bird arrived on Saturday. It is happening – everything is starting at once!!!!!!

Small and lost Atlantic Puff is saved from highway collision in New Brunswick, Canada.

Little-Atlantic-puffin-rescued-on-busy-N.B.-roadway-CBC-News Download

Happy Hatch Day! Another Kakapo celebrates. This is so wonderful. 55 hatched in 2022 and they are still alive!

What should and what can we do to stop the destruction of nature on our doorsteps? There is a new word for it, ‘ecocide’.

This wholesale demolition of nature is described as ecocide – a term put forward by the Stop Ecocide Foundation as “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts”. Although no law has yet been passed, we know ecocide when we see it. It is a moral red line that is being crossed.

While this is about a particular acerage being taken over in the UK, the concerns extend to the entire globe.

“The dismantling of nature’s complexity can no longer be seen as acceptable fallout to maintain the way we have become accustomed to living, and to support the “growth” agenda to which we have become addicted. The planet is perilously close to ecosystem collapse. Humanity created the problem. It is our job to fix it – now.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/02/we-must-call-out-the-ecocide-on-our-doorstep?CMP=share_btn_link

Big Red has been at the Fernow Light stand nests. Progress is really being made and we are within 9 days of what could be the first egg laid.

Did you watch Bonnie and Clyde raise Lily and Tiger on the Bald Eagle nest on Farmer Derek’s Property in 2021? Well, their eggs are getting closer to hatching this year. Egg 1 is 33 days old, and egg 2 is 30 days old. The incubation period for GHOs is normally 30-37 days….so guess what? We are there.

Guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Thank you, ‘A’ for the link. Sweet Pea is a proficient gardener. Watch out for the squiggling in the nest and those paddles!

Last but certainly not least is a march and a call to end rodenticide poisons. We must all band together to stop these deadly toxins that kill rodents, our beautiful raptors, and other mammals! Raising awareness helps.

It is so nice to have you with us in Bird World. Please take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, their tweets, their posts, their videos, and their streaming cams that help make up the news in my blog today: ‘A’, ‘H’, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Camp Margaritaville Bald Eagles, Lady Deeagle55 and Superbeaks, Maria dk and IWS and Explore.org, Cal Falcons, Gracie Shepherd and Raptors of the World, NEFL-AEF, Duke Farms, FOBBV, MN-DNR, IWS and Explore.org, Window to Wildlife, Moorings Park Ospreys, Achieva Credit Union, Golden Gate Audubon, Patuxent River Park, CBC.ca, Kakapo Recovery, The Guardian, Cornell RTH Cam, Farmer Derek, Lady Hawk and NZ DOC, Terry Carman Bald Eagle Live Nest Cams and News.

Annie lays her first egg, Second hatch at Moorings. huge storm at Berry College…Saturday in Bird World

4 March 2022

Good Morning Everyone!

Friday was an amazing day on the Canadian Prairies. The temperature ‘soared’ to -1 C. The sun was out, the sky was blue, the snow was melting, and the birds were singing. I had a wonderful walk at the nature centre where I was entertained by frolicking Red Squirrels and Chickadees.

Precious.

Today, I am not going to start with M15 and how wonderful he is. No, it is Flaco, the Eurasian owl that escaped from a small zoo in Central Park and has been living there happily ever after. Everyone loves Flaco and he made The New York Times! Let us all hope that this attention is not detrimental to Flaco’s well being!

Can you imagine that Flaco had no idea what the life of an owl outside an enclosure was? “Never before had the owl seen such wide open spaces. Never before had he been harassed by squirrels, and noisy blue jays and streetwise crows. It was amazing to watch Flaco learn, said Molly Eustis, a stage manager and owl lover, and “think ‘wow this is probably the first time in his life he’s been that high up in a tree!’ and to think how that must feel for him. Or the first time he caught a rat! Or felt the rain falling all around him.” Another observer said, “But then Flaco defied everyone’s expectations. As longtime bird watcher Stella Hamilton pointed out, he was “like a fledgling” mastering the art of surviving, but a fledgling who compressed weeks of learning into a couple days. Despite a lifetime in captivity, the owl had somehow “remained wild inside.”

Why-We-Love-Flaco-the-Escaped-Owl-The-New-York-Times Download

The camera is currently down at the Berry College Eagle nest. The huge storms that tore through the area on Friday ripped enormous trees up by their roots. Thankfully, the eagles and their tree are alright.

In Florida, M15 had delivered four fish to the SW Florida Eagle nest by 1400. The Es were delighted – and yes, E22 did eat almost an entire fish. Neither one went hungry and we should not worry about either of them. They eat or they are fed or both. One of those deliveries was caught on camera. Here comes M15 flying into the nest with a big fish in his talons.

The first fish one arrived around 0700. Shortly after, R23-3 arrived.

She feeds 21 some fish before flying off with that lovely prey.

Sharon Pollock shows us the action:

M15 was not upset. He took it all in stride flying out to get another. He was back in the nest in a few minutes feeding the eaglets. I am so glad that M15 is bringing in lots of fish instead of prey items that have been road kill. Or worse birds that could have Bird Flu. Perhaps he realizes that he could be injured by a collision and then who would care for the Es. Also, fish do not have to be prepared and when Harriet was alive, she was the one that took care of all the plucking and de-furring. Maybe M15 doesn’t like that.

It is 0719. There is this amazing Dad feeding his eaglets breakfast.

Since they have hatched, ‘A’ and I have been discussing gender. Of course, we will never know but, nests with the same gender raptors tend to have less aggression. I would say that 21 is ‘less aggressive’ compared to most older siblings if food is in short supply which it was for only a couple of days. So, in my mind, they are the same – either both males or both females. You might recall the Rutland Osprey nest in 2022 with three large females. It was relatively peaceful. The same for the Port Lincoln Ospreys when there were the three males – Bazza, Falky, and Ervie. So, look at the size of these two next to Dad. Mind you, M15 has lost weight. Females tend to lose 30% of their body weight caring for eaglets…I wonder how much he has lost. Still, look at them compared to him. What do you think?

Have you noticed how energetic the eaglets get (any nest) after a good feeding? E21 really starts flapping its wings.

E22 is eating a nice fish at 1054. The kid has done well at self-feeding and is much more proficient than 21.

M15 feeding the Es at 1343.

M15 delivered another giant fish around 16:16 and fed the Es. Then left some for them to self-feed. All the while, R23-3 was on a branch of the nest tree. She did not bother them. We did get a good look at her foot.

Heidi Mc caught the couple bathing together at the pond today. These two look so happy together. I am glad that M15 has company. They seem to enjoy one another’s company!

Another bath video!

Good Night, M15. You really are the ‘Dad and Mum of the Year’.

Darn that owl! M15 can’t get any rest!!!!!!

The Es are 7.5 – 8 weeks old. The little one at Moorings Park is less than 24 hours old. Heidi Mc prepared a video of its first feeding! Oh, how I wish these osprey parents would kill those fish before bringing them to the nest!

Heidi Mc also caught the hatch. If you missed it, here it is:

The pip in the second egg at Moorings Park is progressing well. This was 1542.

And then there were two at The Moorings. Congratulations Sally and Harry. Well done!

Oh, those two little eaglets at Duke Farms are simply cute. What else can you say about less than 24 hour old eaglets? There is plenty of food. Looks like a rabbit and a huge hunk of fish on that nest. I wonder if they are going to get some of the bad weather that will hit the Ithaca area impacting Big Red and Arthur?

At the Webster Texas Eagle nest, Ringo is really getting some air under those wings! Go Ringo!

Arthur has been working hard during Friday as the winter storm is approaching Ithaca. Big Red flies in to inspect his efforts.

And the snow is coming down on Arthur and Big Red’s nest right now!

Are you interested in the history of the Osprey nest on the Whirley Crane? of Richmond and Rosie? Tony Blake put together a chronological order of the history and happenings. I am so grateful that SF Bay Ospreys posted it for us. If you are new to watching Ospreys or want a reminder of all the exciting things to come, this is for you. It will, of course, apply to most of the other osprey nests we monitor, too!

Richmond and Rosie began breeding on the Whirley Crane in 2016. At the time they would have been three years old, approximately. This makes them 10 years old this year. Did you know that the average life expectancy of an osprey living in the wild is 8-10 years. That said, many live to be in their late 20s. Let us all vow to watch and love this couple and wish them a long life.

A-Chronological-Osprey-Season-SF-Bay-Ospreys Download

I promised ‘A’ that I would look in on the four owlets of Hooty and Owlvira at the Corona California owl basket (?). The oldest is huge compared to the little one but all are alive and seem to be doing rather well. The space is certainly getting tight!

At The Campanile, Annie and Lou have their first egg of the 2023 season!

Happy hatch day, Tangiwai.

Whenever you look at little Sweet Pea at the Royal Cam Albatross nest in New Zealand or those adorable Moli at Kauai’, I want you to remember that plastic is killing them. Now, it is worse. There is a disease that has been found that is linked to plastic and sea birds. They are calling it ‘Plasticosis’. The author says, “When birds ingest small pieces of plastic, they found, it inflames the digestive tract. Over time, the persistent inflammation causes tissues to become scarred and disfigured, affecting digestion, growth and survival.”

So what can you do about it? Refuse to purchase anything plastic. Make it known to the people who sell you produce that you will not purchase items in mesh plastic bags. It doesn’t matter if they are recycled or not. They do more harm to all of the birds and wildlife, just like monochrome filament line. The beaks and little legs get caught up in those nasty bags. We do not need them. Surely we can take home 4 lemons without having them in a bag! Besides you can never truly see how good the items in the mesh bags are when compared with those sold separately.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/03/plasticosis-new-disease-caused-by-plastics-discovered-in-seabirds?CMP=share_btn_link

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, tweets, videos, and streaming cam that help make up my blog today: The New York Times, Tani Denton B3 Branch Buddies and Berry College Eagles, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Sharon Pollock and SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Heidi Mc and SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Lady Hawk and SW Florida and D Pritchett, Heidi Mc and Moorings Park Osprey, Duke Farms, Paul White and Webster Texas Eagle Cam, Cornell Bird Lab RTH Cam, Tony Black and SF Ospreys, Corona California Owl Cam, Kakapo Recovery, and The Guardian.

Hatch for Moorings Park, 22’s crop, sadness for Sauces…Friday in Bird World

3 March 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

Let’s all just take a deep breath! There is energy in the air this Friday morning. There are reports of two ospreys seen flying into Finland on BirdGuides (yes, this is early) and another heading over Devon. We have the first osprey hatch in Florida of the four nests I follow there, and the recent hatch of both eaglets at Duke Farms. Life is picking up. Oh, and all of the osprey streaming cams are coming on line! Let’s all get our running shoes on!!!!!!!!

Today was a very special day in 2022. It was the day that Spirit hatched at Big Bear! Happy first hatch day Spirit. Oh, what an eaglet she was – and the name selected by local third graders fit her perfectly!

Most of you will have noticed that E22 can surely squee, all the time, eating or not. Well, SK Hideaways caught it today on video for us. E22 is squeeing all the time he is being fed that big fish by Dad. It is just too funny. Have you ever seen an eaglet so vocal? E22 got lots of nice fish – lots!

E22 on the rails Thursday. Notice the crop. 22 had some very nice fish and what looked like a squirrel.

E21 had the squirrel first but after a bit, as is usual now, 22 came along and snatched it and had a good feed.

21 with the squirrel when it was delivered whole by Dad.

22 with the squirrel after he waited and then did the old snatch and grab and run routine he is famous for now.

There was a fish delivery at 13:52:01 – M15 did a gallant job feeding both ofg the Es.

M15 flew in with a late headless fish for the eaglets at 18:43:27. The fish is big enough for both of them! E21 mantles but also reaches over with its beak to remind 22 that it is claiming the fish. I wonder how long 22 will let 21 play about with that fish?

Yes, E21 left a very nice piece of fish. Will 22 go and feed off it?

So who has the fish? It was still on the nest fully visible at 23:05:04 when 22 went over to check on it.

Saving it for later? E22 appears to go to sleep on the leftover piece of fish! Sneaky.

22 did not eat that fish. It was on the nest early and 21 went over and finished it off at 06:26:42.

M15 brought in a fish at 07:18:41 and fed both of the eaglets. At 07:36:16, 22 finished off the tail!

Another fish came in at 10:06. This time it was a drop. As I write this, the two eaglets are still trying to finish out to eat it.

Following my review of Marti Lord’s book on the 2020 season for Harriet and M15, here is a recent video of the happenings of the Owls and the Es on the Pritchett Property from that all important, local perspective.

It was a month on 2 March, Thursday, that Harriet went missing.

Oh, they are the cutest little butterballs at the Duke Farms Bald Eagle nest. Both adults doing a superb job. Lots of fish on the nest for these little ones.

Angus continues to bring the nicest fish to Florence. Still no eggs at Captiva, though.

Speaking of eggs, Audacity had laid her seventh egg and now, hold on, yes, there is an eighth. Honestly, what is the level of calcium in her body now?! This is 8 eggs in 27 days. I received word first thing this morning that one of the two eggs at Sauces has now broken at 22:53 2nd of March. Our hearts break with this wonderful couple. Thanks, ‘B’.

Do you know who this eagle is? and the names of the eaglets? Look closely.

That is Shadow with Cookie and Simba! Yes, he chased off Mr BB and wooed Jackie and he didn’t even have his white head!!!!!!!!!!! The year is 2019.

So sad for Jackie and Shadow this year. They worked so hard and then something went terribly wrong. It was today, last year, that Spirit hatched!

Despite having chosen the Fernow Light Stand for their 2023 nest, Big Red and Arthur seemed to be concerned today about the work going on across Tower Road on the Cornell Campus. Check out how deep the egg cup is! Big Red is making sure it is perfect.

This is the deepest egg cup I have seen at this nest. Will there be another four egg clutch like in 2022?

Gabby and V3 at the nest today. Looks like no eggs for this season – and that is just fine. Let us hope that this lovely couple are still together in November!

A pip was seen on the large end of the egg at Moorings Park at 18:51 Thursday night.

The first hatch at Moorings came at 01:29 on the 3rd of March. Thanks, ‘H’! ‘H’ says the second egg appears to have a pip. Oh, that would be wonderful. Two osplets hatched closely like the eaglets at Duke Farms.

Sunnie Day caught the hatch on video.

The little one at Moorings Park has already had its first fish breakfast. Time 09:48. Did I say that I melt when I see a newly hatched osplet? I love them all but those little eye lines and that stripe and their light grey wooly down…so sweet. Congratulations to Sally and Harry!

Guess who showed up at the West End nest in the Channel Islands today? It was Thunder! We will sure miss seeing what her and Akecheta are up to this season. Maybe Dr Sharpe will have some ideas for a camera if the couple stay at their new nest site.

This screen capture was taken at 13:15 on Thursday 2 March.

Chase and Cholyn take turns incubating at the Two Harbours nest on the Channel Islands.

Nancy and Beau have one intact egg at the MN-DNR nest.

Eggs, eggs everywhere. The first one was laid at Fort St Vrain in Colorado on Thursday! You might recall this nest as the one where the raccoon took one of the eaglets in 2022. So sad.

Two days ago, Valentine was hovering so high on the KNF-E3 nest in the Kisatchie Forest. Today, at 66 days old, Valentine branched. Rhonda A has caught it for us.

Anyone reading my blog loves wildlife, being in nature when they can, and the joy that these amazing birds bring to our lives. If the whole world were like you, this would be a better place for all living beings. Sadly, recent research shows that the climate crisis is causing more conflict between humans and wildlife.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/27/research-reveals-climate-crisis-is-driving-a-rise-in-human-wildlife-conflicts-aoe?CMP=share_btn_link

I personally have huge concerns for our raptors that live in areas where prey might become a big issue. Will the increasing cost to living cause people to hunt what the raptors eat? Stay tuned.

Of course, there are humans that continue to snare song birds. Seriously? Precisely why are the Sardinians doing this to these birds? Well, here is the answer from an anti-poaching website:

Unlike in many other parts of Italy, bird-trapping in Sardinia is mainly a organised business of poacher gangs and not a simple pastime. Caught birds are sold on the black market to private buyers or to butchers and restaurants.

I didn’t think it could get much worse until I read this. Horrible. I wonder how they would feel if the tables were turned?

Birds should be free. Look at these gorgeous Stellar Eagles.

You might recall that I mentioned the loss of one of the Peregrine Falcons at Lincoln Cathedral. This was a place I visited often in the UK and so, it is with some delight that I find a tweet by Wakefield Peregrines that one of their birds is at Lincoln today!

Cal Falcons are looking for memes. Check out the posting below! Annie, I am looking for eggs. Can you and Lou help all of us? We are trying to be patient.

So anxiously awaiting those eggs in that scrape of Annie and Lou’s!

Thank you so much for joining me today. Remember to get outside if you possibly can. Even if it is for ten minutes. While we love our birds on the streaming cams, our eyes need a break. But sitting too long is a problem too. Walk around, stand up every 30 minutes, put your feet up! In other words, please take care of yourself. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, tweets, and streaming cams that help make up my blog today: ‘H’, ‘B’, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, SK Hideaways and D Pritchett, wskrsnwings, SW Florida Cam, Duke Farms, Window to Wildlife, Heidi Mc and Window to Wildlife, Sassa Bird and Bald Eagles in the USA, Jannet Hubbart and FOBBV, Cornell RTH, NEFL-AEF, Moorings Park Ospreys, Sunnie Day and Moorings Park, IWS, MN-DNR, Lisa Yen and Fort St. Vrain Eagle Cam, Rhonda A and KNF-E3, The Guardian, @CABS, Susan Hillman and B3 Branch Buddies, @NeillDonaghy, @wfldPeregrines, and Cal Falcons Cam.

Rosie is Home, Arthur is Busy, Intruder lands on Guardian in Nest, …Thursday in Bird World

2 March 2022

Good Morning Everyone!

The top Osprey story has to be that Rosie has returned to the nest on the Whirley Crane in the Richmond Shipping Yard. Richmond will be delighted! Oh, so happy you are home safe, Rosie.

Just look at those two beautiful eaglets on the SW Florida Nest. They are 7.5 weeks old! It has been a month since their Mum, Harriet, disappeared. M15 has done a fantastic job caring for the couple’s two eaglets, who were a month old. Now they have their juvenile plumage, standing on the rim of the nest, stealing food, and self-feeding. Life doesn’t get much better than this.

On Tuesday, M15 brought a squirrel to the nest. Of course, E22 grabbed a massive piece of it! What a survivor! SK Hideaways caught E22 doing another great eating trick: sit on 21 to get to the beak!

The two eaglets have been enjoying the Florida sunshine and standing on the rails on Thursday. There were four deliveries on Wednesday: 1308, 1338, 1457, and 1505. They came fast and were not large. E22 often got the fish only to lose it to 21.

M15 came to the nest with a small fish at 13:38:16. E22 pulled off something quickly, 21 got some fish, and Dad quickly left. He was gone in 39 seconds! At 13:38:55.

After, E22 searched for scraps while 21 looked out at the big world beyond.

Lady Hawk caught the deliveries and the action in a video montage.

It is 10:30 in Florida as I finish writing on Thursday. The Es are waiting for breakfast.

As I continue monitoring the SW Florida Eagle nest with M15, I try to catch up on other nests we have been watching. These eaglets are growing, and it will not be long until there are fledges. Right now, the first hatch of Alex and Andria at the KNF-E3 nest in the Kisatchie Forest in Louisiana is hovering! Yes, you read that right. He has wind under those wings. Just look. Incredible. The nest is going to become a trampoline for these two eaglets.

B16, the ‘apple’ of Pa and Missy Berry’s talons and eagle eyes is 39 days old today and is now mantling prey when it comes to the nest!

Both of the recent hatches at Duke Farms appear to be doing well. Dad has been on and off the nest checking, and there was an attempt at tandem feeding today. Well done, Duke Farms!

What an adorable image. Two little fluff balls. Pa and Ma make sure that each gets fed and has a little crop.

There has been more trouble at the nest of Liberty and Guardian in Redding, California. An intruder landed on the nest! Gary explains what is happening but, Guardian prevails saving the nest and the egg.

At the nest of the Sauces Canyon couple, Audacity and Jak, egg #7 is holding. If I were Audacity, I would eat on the nest without trying to move! Everyone send this fantastic couple the most positive wishes you can – imagine, seven eggs hoping that one will not break easily and will hatch!

Cholyn was thrown off the nest at Two Harbours in the Channel Islands on Wednesday. There were concerns for her. She returned to incubate the egg overnight, doing a handover to Chase at 0605 Thursday morning. Cholyn is 24 years old – she went right over the cliff’s edge.

Nancy and Beau at the Minnesota DNR nest have lost an egg. It is believed to have broken when Nancy tried to keep the eggs warm and dry during the recent winter storms. Let’s hope for one healthy hatch!

A squirrel has been in the nest at Decorah North chewing on the egg. There is a question of its viability. Eagle back incubating regardless!

We are looking for a pip at the Moorings Park Osprey platform. Sally was acting rather peculiar…maybe the pip has started! Sally and Harry are not giving a thing away. Cannot tell Thursday morning if there is a pip or not.

Arthur is being just his amazing self and delivering sticks for the nest for Big Red. We could be less than two weeks away from the first egg!

Arthur should be proud. He has diligently transformed a pile of windswept sticks with new ones creating a nest for his queen, Big Red. Let’s hope she approves!!!! Big Red can be specific when it comes to stick placement!

Thanks, Sharon Dunne, for the update on the first Moli of the Laysan Albatross Colony on Kauai’ to hatch this year.

Another Kakapo gets its name!

Scientists were delighted when travelling through Madagascar, a believed to be an extinct songbird, the Dusky Tetraka, was seen! Here is that article from Birdlife International. Can you imagine how excited they were?

Found-Mysterious-songbird-rediscovered-in-Madagascar-after-eluding-scientists-for-24-years-BirdLi Download

You will remember my joy when the EU announced that lead would be banned in all 27 European countries in wetlands as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. Here is more information about this bold move. Can we get this to happen in North America? It would certainly be a beginning but we need to ban lead in all hunting and fishing equipment everywhere!

Press-release-Lead-ammunition-finally-banned-from-wetlands-across-the-EU-BirdLife-International Download

While the Bald Eagles and some ospreys nest in the US, the first osprey to return from winter migration to Africa has flown over Hampshire in the UK. It will not be long until we have our first returnees on the streaming cams. Will it be Blue 33 and Maya at Rutland?

I am getting so excited it is impossible to think!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, it is going to be getting soooooo busy. Word has come of Osprey crossing The Strait of Gibraltar. Oh, cold chills are going up my arms. I do so love these raptors.

There is a new osprey platform going up in Cumbria that is hoping to attract a couple! Good luck everyone.

Last is a book review that I have been reading in the evenings after checking on the SW Florida nest.

Raptor behaviour interests everyone, and I wanted to know more about M15. Marti Lord is one of the local photographers and observers of the SW Florida nest. To say that they love these eagles would be an understatement! Their book, Miracle in the Pines – An Eagles Love Story, is an intimate account of a single year in the life of M15 and Harriet. It is 2020. Lord says, “This book is a mixture of my real-life visits to the Southwest Florida Eagles Nest, home of Harriet and M15, to Photograph and observe them, mixed with watching the live cams every day and documenting the activity on the nest. Then I add my own twist of fiction and storytelling to complete the story.”

The story is about season 8. Harriet and M15 had two eggs in the nest. One failed to hatch. Mr Sassy Pants, or E14, was the name given to the eaglet that hatched and tragically died on the nest at 26 days of rodenticide poisoning. CROW removed the body and the non-viable egg. Lord says, “I watched closely to see if there would be any clues as to what Harriet and M15 would do next.” They did move on, and what unfolds is the story of two eaglets, Miracle and Grace, hatched from a second clutch of eggs.

While the book is composed of chapters following the daily lives of the eagles, what struck me most is how Lord shares another perspective, one that those watching the nest on a streaming cam will never have. The family of eagles is observed in the area around the nest. M15 is particularly present once the eaglets fledge. He helps them by the pond, delivers prey; he flies with them. Those stories make this book a really good read, especially if you want to know more about this family and M15.

In 2020, E9 is still in the area, and M15 goes hunting with him. Not only is the season remarkable for the success of a second clutch, but also because this is the year Miracle stays at the nest with her parents squeeing and chasing Dad for fish until the 15th of November. It is just about time for Harriet to lay her eggs, and everyone is wondering when 15 will leave OR will Harriet and M15, who have been working on an alternative nest, have to move house. This intimate behind-the-scenes account of this extraordinary year was such a joy to read. Lord brings to life all of the birds and mammals that live on or come to the pond at the Pritchett property and their interactions with the eagles. And, yes, the GHOs are there and knocking M15 off the branch, too! My only disappointment was that the images were in black and white, and Lord’s photographs of this nest, often seen on the SW Florida Eagles Facebook, are extraordinary in colour. I presume that this was the publisher and a cost issue. It happens far too often now… but, that does not take away from a really detailed and passionate accountant of a year in the life of this Bald Eagle family. I admired M15 prior to reading the book and am more of an ardent supporter now!

How ironic it just was to check FB and Trish Rawlings had posted a picture of Harriet feeding E15!

Just because. A throw back video to a month ago when Mama Harriet was being fed by M15 who was also feeding the eaglets. Yes, it is OK to tear up.

Love. Annie and Lou style, thanks to SK Hideaways. Eggs? Soon?

There is lots and lots of news and nests to cover now. This is a glimpse into what is happening at some of the nests!

Lewis and Missy wish everyone a good end of the week. Did I say they love their big dog fluffy bed?

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, postings, tweets, videos, and streaming cams which help make up my blog: Lucille Powell and the SF Osprey Cam with Rosie and Richmond, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Tonya Irwin and KNF E3, Berry College Eagles, Gary and FORE, Gracie Shepherd and Raptors of the World, IWS and Explore.org, MN Non-game Wildlife Program, Raptor Resource Project and Explore.org, Moorings Park Naples Florida, Cornell RTH Cam, Sharon Dunne and Royal cam Albatross Group NZ, Kakapo Recovery, Birdlife International, Alan Petrie Ospreys FB, @WildHaweswater, Marti Lord, NEFL and SWFL Eaglecam Watcher’s Club, Lady Hawk and SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, and SK Hideaways and Cal Falcons.

Intruders, Broken Eggs, and D4 survives the death spiral. It is Saturday in Bird World

18 February 2022

Hello Everyone!

Have you been doing the Great Big Bird Count?

The kittens thought they would join in on the fun and immediately spotted a male Downy at the branch suet feeder! This piece of wood with its drilled holes filled with soft suet is the absolutely best thing for attracting woodpeckers and with a saw, a hook to put over a branch, and a piece of wood – and the food – you are ready to go. I did not make this one but…I could if I had the right drill bit (for door hardware? and a chisel?). Many places that sell bird food have them and they definitely work. The woodpecker can also rest its tail along the wood.

This is not one of Dyson’s babies from last summer. Those three have the most amazing and beautiful tails. No, this is Scraggles who has come out to enjoy some peanuts and sunflower seeds. Nice to see you Scraggles.

These solid suet cylinders are great for the European Starlings and the House Sparrows. They are no-melt which does cause problems when it is just too cold here, because they like the mixture to be a little soft. These cylinders and others which are compressed seed are perfect if you are going to be away and still want to feed the birds.

The Starlings seem to have a rotation in terms of feeding…they first wait in the back trees. Then they move to the lilacs and then down to the feeder. When they finish eating they start the pattern all over again – this cooperation allows everyone to have some food. All 28 were here yesterday.

Often the two species share the suet without any problems.

The kittens’ auntie gave them a new toy to enrich their lives. Missy pounced on it first… the best thing is that the ball doesn’t get lost. Can you see how ‘wooly’ Missy is?

Missy and Lewis sleep on a wool blanket with their little blankets on top. These small blanks were given to them when they left the shelter. They love those little blankets. If you can crochet or knit and have leftover yarn, why not see if your local rescue would like some little blankets for when the kittens get adopted. It is such a sweet gesture –at the same time, they really are security blankets. It must be traumatic going from living under a deck with a feral cat as a Mum, then to the shelter, then to foster care, then back to the shelter, then being placed so you can get picked for adoption at sponsoring pet stores…and then to your new home. As a result, the kittens not only cling to one another but they want those blankets.

Both happy and growing and it is a joy to have them.

Friday. M15 in the tree alone looking out over his domain.

Little angels, sleeping…There are so few dandelions left that sometimes it is difficult to tell who is who if you only take a quick glance.

21 is hungry and is going to see if there is anything left in that Armoured Catfish head.

Many saw ‘it’ and wondered if their eyes were deceiving them. Yes, 21 did feed 22!!!!!! A few bites. How sweet. Here it is caught on video.

https://www.youtube.com/live/uOofGBKCXws?feature=share

Our super dad, M15, brought in a huge bunny for the babies at 11:43.

What a dad. E21 ate some bites first and then at 11:47, M15 turns the rabbit and himself so that 22 can eat.

After a few bites, M15 then changes his position and both of the eaglets sit nicely next to one another while dad is plucking off fur bits.

Everyone will eat.

It was a great feeding – and 22 got a huge share of that rabbit. Our little one returned several times to self-feed. He is watching dad and learning to hold the prey down with his talons and pull. Getting there, 22!

One of the visitors was in the other tree around 1330. Thanks, Sassa Bird and Ava Vantero.

At 16:04, M15 flew into the nest with a fish. He proceeds to feed it to the Es as well as the leftover rabbit. The pictures tell the whole story.

E22 gets a really nice crop!

Just when you think the day is going to be quiet, the female visitor with that black rather necrotic talon is on the branch and then she swoops down into the nest at 18:20. M15 puts his head down so she will not hit and injure him. The last thing he wants to do is to get injured so that there is no one to care for the eaglets.

The eaglets are afraid. She kicks 22. Thankfully, no one is injured.

M15 flys down and gets rid of the female from the nest. He is on alert but still feeds the remaining scraps to 21. E22 is asleep using an old Armoured catfish shell as a pillow!

M15 you are the best dad. You are trying so hard…let’s hope you get a break and some peace soon.

Centreport’s D4 did not die in the death spiral attack but, he has been rejected by Mum. He returned to the nest and she has essentially kicked him out.

If you were watching Liberty and Guardian, you will know that they are also displaying some very unusual behaviour at the Redding California nest just like Jackie and Shadow have been at Big Bear. Very Unprecedented. Here is Gary to help us understand what has been happening.

News has come that the first egg of Liberty and Guardian has fallen apart.

But never mind. Liberty laid egg #2 Friday night. Congratulations!

Pip watch is now on for Jackie and Shadow as of the 15th…are the eggs viable? It’s a toss up. I sure hope so! But there is also time for a second clutch if something has happened.

Sadly the 5th egg of Jak and Audacity at Sauces Canyon has also broken. Let us all send positive wishes that Audacity will get a holiday from egg laying – it drains so much calcium out of her body. These two want so much to have eaglets…wouldn’t it be nice if a viable egg with an extremely hard shell could get on their nest!

There is some serious nest work going on at the Pittsburg-Hays Bald Eagle nest and for the right reason. The first egg of the 2023 season for the Pittsburgh-Hayes couple was laid at 17:23 on Friday, February 17. Congratulations!

At another nest in Pennsylvania, the US Steel Nest at the Mon Valley Works -Irvin – the eagles are waiting for eggs.

That same frantic nest work is going on at the Decorah North Bald Eagle nest in Iowa today. Mr North and Mrs DNF could have eggs soon, too.

At the Decorah nest of HM and HD near the trout hatchery, the female has been spending a lot of time in that nest today! Wonder how many nests will have eggs on Monday?

In Minnesota, Nancy is enjoying a nice fish at the end of the day. You can clearly see the first egg for her and her new mate, Beau.

It appears that the Fraser Point Eagles – Andor and Cruz – are also making a new nest in a different location this year on Santa Cruz, Island. It is thought that Thunder and Akecheta are doing the same at the West End.

The light is not so good today at the Captiva Eagle nest today. Connick is doing great and it is these nests that turn around that make us watch. Connick wasn’t being fed properly. Remember? It is actually so easy to forget once Connie got to feeding this precious only eaglet..full to the top! The juvenile feathers are starting to come in along the wing tip for Connick. You can see them in the image below.

B16 continues to be a darling but is not that little round butterball it was a couple of weeks ago…B16 is 28 days old today. 4 weeks. Hard to imagine.

Gabby has been in the nest bowl. Her and V3 have been around the tree an awful lot lately and working on that nest. What’s up Gabby?

Making News:

What is going on with humans? ‘S’ sent this to me…shooting parrots with air guns and stuffing them into garbage bags over a two hour period. I wonder how they would feel if this happened to them?

From the parrot’s beak: 2/19

The banning of lead shot in the EU is being received with great enthusiasm! And well it should be. Now which region will be next to take this step to end the unnecessary deaths of our carrion eaters?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/15/ban-on-hunting-birds-with-lead-shot-in-eu-wetlands-hailed-as-huge-milestone-aoe?CMP=share_btn_link

There is simply so much going on that it is difficult to keep up with the nests…I am still focused on SWFlorida hoping that the days will continue to have good prey items for Dad and the kids. We will not have long to wait to see if Jackie and Shadow’s eggs are viable. And it looks like Centreport Mum might accept D5 since he was the victor of the death spiral. But, we wait.

Thank you so very much for joining me today. Please take care. See you soon!

If you would like to be part of our Bird World family and receive the newsletter in your inbox, please sign up. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams where I took my screen captures: ‘S’, SWFlorida Eagles and D Pritchett, Centrepoint Bald Eagles, Gary and FORE, FORE, FOBBV, Pix Cams, Raptor Research Project and Explore.org, MN-DNR, IWS and Explore.org, Window to Wildlife, Berry College Eagles, NEFL-AEF, From the Parrots, and The Guardian.

Death spiral at Centreport, food fest at SWFlorida…Friday in Bird World

17 February 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

I am writing this late Thursday evening. Tomorrow is one of those days with a thousand little things to do and it is going to start early. It is currently -18 C on the Canadian Prairies and nearing 40 degrees C in Melbourne. I so hope our Australian friends do not go from rains and flooding to fires this year. Keep them all in your thoughts.

February is a month that is full of winter activities in Canada. In Winnipeg, from the 17th – 26th, it is the Festival du Voyaguer. Celebrated in the French area of our City, St Boniface, it is a time to come together doing winter activities, music, arts and culture, games, in celebration of the voyageur, Métis, and Indigenous histories or our province. There is amazing French and Indigenous food, snow shoeing, maple sugar candy…sledding. It is the largest French cultural event in this region of Canada. Lots of fun! I am definitely looking forward to a sleigh ride on either Saturday or Sunday.

First up, I have received word from ‘H’ that the new male D4 whose eggs Mum is likely to lay any time at CentrePort is injured or dead and has not returned to the nest. Would the D% male destroy the eggs of D4? Ospreys sure do and it is quite possible. We wait to see. The new male being called D5 is at the nest. Here is that death spiral – slo-mo and at the end the real time. Took seconds.

Today I made some video clips for us because you really need to just watch how well 22 did (with some intimidation from 21). It was a very special day on this nest.

I had received word that one of the persons that I go to for eagle advice had sound knowledge that there are three female eagles around the SWFlorida nest. After reading and looking and being terribly confused, it appears that there is some clarity as to what happened yesterday even though many will not agree. One of the issues was the camera moving and well, confusion over which female was which. The very hungry female was booted out of the nest and did not return today. The other female who has been on the branch did return last night and stood guard while M15 slept. At least that is my take on all of this based on reports from the ground. — At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. No one was injured. M15 was back to his amazing self on Thursday delivering many meals and everyone had nice crops including Dad – it made me joyful to see his crop so full. He had been neglecting himself to feed the babies it seemed.

And then there is more confusing spreading this morning by another post…I prefer to focus on M15 and the eaglets…but I will put this here as I know almost everyone is interested.

The deliveries could well be good today at SWFlorida. M15 brought in a nice fish at 12:34. It was a whole one and he had some bites…it is not until 3 and a half minutes into the feeding that 22 figures out how to get some of that fish. He did well. Have a look! (22 is very nervous and 21 earlier raised its neck and moved towards 22 – all it took to get the little one to move out of the way of dad’s beak).

M15 brought in the innards of some animal at 13:36. At the time of his arrival, he had a nice crop so Dad had a good meal somewhere.

And so did the Es, both of them. E22 wanted to eat, tried to shy, and then went for it. You will see both 21 and 22 working nice pieces. Excellent.

It did turn out to be a good day and E22 mustered up some courage again and had some food. It doesn’t take much and now 21 has taken to wing flapping, too…but..E22 is getting its mojo back with every bite. He sticks with Dad and winds up with a nice crop! Yes, you can pull out the tissues now. I sure did.

Ah..looking out over the rails with a crop..lovely.

E22 had a nice crop after that feeding…and then at 17:17:16, M15 brought in a whole Armoured Catfish. 22 was right there…and 22 was fed until 17:37 when he couldn’t eat anymore and went over to the rim. E21 wasn’t bothered…full and wanting to sleep. They had lots and lots of food today!

Great job getting the fish flakes out of that!

M15 with his massive crop ready for night duty. He continues to look tired but…he ate well today and he has too…he is hunting for 3! So proud of you dad..with everything going on you did great today. Keep up the good work. Your babies are getting their juvenile feathers..

Sadly, Angus and Mabel continue to have an intruder, the same female intruder? at their nest. Mabel is desperately trying to hang on to Angus and her nest. Heidi Mc caught Angus chasing the intruder off the nest and then, she got her leg caught in nest material. There is a video of this curious interaction below.

Angus appears upset. Is he is trying to help her. The female was unharmed. She flew away and returned to the nest. Mabel has not been seen since morning. Will this female be Angus’s new mate? Did Mabel leave the territory?

This is a video of the skirmishes on the first day. If you are not aware of what is happening.

This is the video of the female hanging off the edge of the nest today. We wait to see…if Mabel doesn’t return and this female is consistently on the nest…well,…what do we think?

Even at 1700 Thursday evening, Angus was still having problems with intruders.

Amidst all the chaos on Wednesday, two nests have eggs that had troubles last year. Bella and Smitty at the NCTC nest and Nancy and her new beau at MN-DNR have their first egg of the 2023 season. In 2022, an injury that kept Bella from the nest for 21 days and an intruding female meant that the loved couple did not have any eggs to hatch. Nancy lost her young mate, Harry, and a shortage of food caused siblicide with only E-1 surviving. It pushed E-2 off the nest! Hoping for much better results this year although things seem pretty tumultuous all over Bird World at the moment.

Paul K caught the arrival of Bella and Smitty’s egg:

The gorgeous Nancy at the MN-DNR nest incubating her first egg of the 2023 season. New mate is Beau.

Nancy and Beau’s first egg is making the news.

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/minnesota/a-sure-sign-that-spring-is-coming-first-egg-visible-in-minnesota-dnrs-eaglecam-nest

Liberty and Guardian seem to be having intruders again today. They have been in and out of the nest and on and off the egg – although they would also be practising delayed incubation. The egg was left for the longest from 09:57-12:54 (so far) on Thursday. A Magpie has been eating scraps off the nest. Oh, for some stability! These two are fantastic parents.

Want to see one of the most precious eagle eggs. It is number 5 for this season and it belongs to Audacity and Jak at Sauces Canyon, Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands. The other four broke easily because of the thin shell due to DDT contamination in the food of the eaglets..the soil, the water, everything at the end being so much more concentrated than at the other end of the islands. Oh, let us all hope for this one egg to make it for this tenacious couple.

Gorgeous Jackie on those two precious eggs Thursday night. Pip watch started yesterday. We have seen eggs survive 5 hours at a stretch in frigid temperatures. The nests also hold the heat. But whether or not these two eggs of Jackie and Shadow are viable is, of course, not known until it is too late for them to be hatching. The couple have been seen mating and it is possible they think there is something wrong — but we wait. Miracles happen. If not this clutch, there is time for another.

At the PA Farm Country Bald Eagle, we now have four eggs. This beautiful couple – Lisa and Oliver – had four eggs hatch last year…sadly that little cutie pie fourth hatch died of hypothermia when it could not get under Mum on a very frigid night.

Nests really have been neglected by me with all the troubles at the SWFlorida nest..hope for stability! Thursday was an especially good day for everyone – M15, 21 and 22.

Connick is growing like a bad weed but, on Thursday, he decided that in addition to fish, he would try eating a plastic washer that came to the nest. This should show up in a pellet.

Diamond is home and Elain has it on video for us. Sorry folks – lots of videos today. Sometimes it is good to see – especially if it is 22 doing the old snatch and grab!

Some news of interest to our Albatross fans…

Other news from our Albatross, Wisdom is a grandmother (image below with her distinctive band). Wisdom is the oldest Laysan Albatross in the world at 70+ years. She is still raising chicks.

Every species of bird gives us new and interesting opportunities to learn. I know that many head over to the Albatross and the Royal Cam family when they need to sit and feel warm and fuzzy. There is absolutely nothing so moving as seeing those albatross parents look down at their chick – the love just radiates out everywhere. I would also recommend to you having a change of pace and instead of just watching the Bald Eagles and Ospreys with all their drama (OK…Annie at Cal Falcons has had a revolving door of tragedy lately), try the hawks. There was something so magical about Big Red and Arthur having four eggs last year and raising four eyases to fledge…and little L4 clamouring over its big sibs to get right under Mum’s beak for food. There wasn’t any fear in that one…and she still resides on the territory of her parents hunting successfully and looking so much like her mother that you would think they were twins. While some things are the same, certain behaviours are different. Watch and compare with some of the other species…see what you learn!

Everyone was devastated when Sue and Otto died of Avian Flu earlier this year. They were the long-term Red-tail Hawk residents at Syracuse University. Their son, Jesse, has taken over Dad’s territory with his new mate Sarah. We wish them a long and healthy life!

There is a new Red-tail Hawk couple on steaming cam and this time the female is unusual. She is leucistic, the partial or total loss of pigmentation. Angel is 7 years old and her new mate, unnamed male, replacing her previous mate, Mohawk, is 3 years old. Their nest is in an undisclosed location for their safety in Tennessee. Right now they are nest building. There are very few Red-tail Hawk streaming cams in the world. The most well know is Big Red at the Cornell Campus and her mate, Arthur. This is another wonderful opportunity to see these amazing hawks raise their eyases…so different than eagles and ospreys. I find them comforting compared to the drama at some of the other raptor nests.

Here is the link to Angel’s cam:

https://www.youtube.com/live/WQ0mCowoEUI?feature=share

And, of course, absolutely, there is Big Red and her family on the Cornell Campus. Their streaming cam is up and running just in time!

https://www.youtube.com/live/ouQL2Gg-rXI?feature=share

And last…one nest where the eagles still stay on alert, where the female calls the male and he comes flying in, where both are healthy with Chrome-Yellow Beaks and talons…it is, of course, Gabby and V3. She calls, he comes. Adorable. They have been at the nest tree a lot today. I continue to ask: Do they know something that we do not?

Look at the colour of the talons…and check out the feet.

Gabby is stunning…I have wished that we could get her with M15.

V3 still has some old injuries on his talons healing (at the back). Always check out the colour of those beaks and talons. Gabby is incredibly healthy…just bright chrome-yellow.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Please check out the hawks and send all your positive wishes to all of the nests. Anything can happen and when it does it can cause so much turmoil and even death. The raptors need all the love we can send them. And take care of yourselves. I look forward to seeing you soon!

Oh, and I almost forgot. Two things. The Great Backyard Bird Count is underway. Please join in. Here is the information:

The final vote and names to be voted on will be announced tomorrow at Cal Falcons.

Thank you to the following for their notes, their posts, their videos, announcements that make up my blog today: ‘H’, ‘A’, Bald Eagles of Centreport, Stephanie L Hope and SWFlorida Eagles and D Pritchett, SWFL Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Window to Wildlife, Heidi Mc and Window to Wildlife, Paul K and NCTC Bald Eagle Cam, MN-DNR, Duluth News Tribune, FORE, IWS and Explore.org, FOBBV, Elain and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, Friends of Midway Atoll, Red-tailed Hawk Tales, Sherri Van Syckel and Bald Eagles Live Nest Cam News, Cornell Lab, and Cal Falcons.

If you would like to subscribe to the Bird World blog, here is your chance to be part of this amazing international community. You can unsubscribe anytime!

Owl Strike at SWFlorida, Earthquakes, Fireworks, DDT…2023 is getting off to a terrible start for Bird World

14 February 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

It is apparently Valentine’s Day – so give some love to someone, to the raptors, to your birds, or to your local wildlife rehabilitation centre. I began to wonder what a windfall it would be if everyone who was going to buy flowers or chocolates would, instead, donate those funds to clinics and shelters instead. Imagine. Millions and millions of people around the world giving their local or favourite rehab centre a $30-50 bill instead. It could make all the difference in the world. If you already have that chocolate or flowers, then think about this the next time there is a holiday and you reach for the roses.

If the 2022 breeding season for raptors on streaming cams was a difficult one then, 2023 has started out feeling like we are witnessing a nightmare. So it is not surprising that many of you are writing to tell me that you are thinking of taking a mental break. It is a good thing to do. Sometimes you just need to step away for a day or two, get outside and go for a walk, breathe in the fresh air and listen for your local birds and their songs. It really is up lifting. And believe me, I have to take these breaks, too, and build up my mental reserves for when those third hatch little male ospreys are getting beaten up by their big sister. Personally I have gotten to the point that I would love to see one healthy chick on every nest. No more than one. Just one. One is enough.

Ironically, one of the nests that is bringing me a lot of pleasure lately is the nest of Gabby and V3. They are a magnificent couple and let us all hope they have a long and productive future together. It is nice to see life settle even if V3 needs to deliver a lot of prey and drop it from the sky on the nest so his talons don’t get hooked! They have been working on the nest and I noticed a spring of evergreen which perked my attention this morning. Maybe it just smells like fish and the flies are about. Surely Gabby isn’t thinking about eggs?

Reminds me so many times of seeing Gabby and Samson stand like this. They are a power couple. V3 came, went, returned and set the rest of them packing. He will be good for Gabby.

The situation at SWFlorida is in a state of flux. It was terrifying right after Harriet and we all feared that E22 would be dead from siblicide. Then the fish starting coming on the nest and life was good. Then there were the intruders – the individual with the flash and the female eagle. To what extent they and others have placed this nest back in the state where E22 is constantly afraid to eat but, needs to, is unknown. Monday morning M15 brought in a ‘Jumping live mini fish’ and E21 got all of it.

Then there was a nice sized fish but, as is becoming common again, E21 scared off 22 until there was not much left. 22 got one good bite of that big fish. Now..remember, if M15 can get another big fish on that nest before 21 gets hungry, 22 has a chance and so does Dad. I also need to say that M15 moved the fish so he could feed 22 but 21 came over the back side. Not good.

The only bite that 22 got. Look at 21’s beak.

The third fish came in at 14:39. Well, M15 is the best dad when he is left alone. He flew in with a big fish – was it one of those silvery Ladyfish – and he is feeding it slow. Obviously M15 knows that 22 needs to eat. Feeling optimistic. That fish came in at 14:39 and please note that M15 has eaten the head. Way to go Dad. You need your strength to take good care of the babies. Is the VF upstairs wanting that fish?

Some wonder if there is enough food. The pond is stocked or that is what I was told. And it was restocked about 9 days ago – or so I was told. M is a good fisher but he has distracters – human and eagle and that female and others might be trying to take his fish or do…

Clearly, 21 is shutting out 22. Will he get any of this enormous fish? Let’s hope so.

22 you need to move around the rim of the nest…and get some fish!

It would appear that M15 is going to wait for 22 to move around. He has not fed 21 anymore and is sitting on the fish. I am so impressed with this super Dad.

Dad left. 22 trying to self feed.

Hunger and surviving. It looks like 22 is holding the fish down and pulling up getting some bites. I hope he eats that entire last of the fish! If M15 flew down now (he is on the branch but the VF is on another one it seems), 21 is asleep finally and he could possibly feed 22 the rest of that fish, too.

A video of the beginning of the self-feeding. Before this, 22 picked up scraps from all over the nest. He is a survivor BUT he needs to eat and let us hope he gets enough. It is a lot of work to get the skin off those fish and 22 spends much time trying before he gets to the ‘open’ end. There he figures out to stick his beak in and pull out the flesh (second video).

E22 finished. I do not think there is a crop there. Hard to tell but he did have something to eat. Every bite is important. 22 has decided to sleep on the fish! Too funny.

M15 flew back down but 21 was there and got the fish feeding. What can I say? 22 needs a good feed. We wait. M15 did eat as we saw from the fish brought in and this is good…now 22 we need you to step up tomorrow and get some fish – and Dad….stand right between those two if you have to – between them as in physical separation.

Good Night M15. Thank you for the fish today!!!!!!!! Sweet Eagle Dreams Everyone.

M15 you look super tired. We worry about you. Make sure you eat…

And sleep. It looks like you are so tired and you have left the female at the end of the branch. And she was by the pond today? Someone took photographs and is she part of a pair with the other eagle down getting drinks at the pond? Again, like Gabby’s nest we will have to wait and let this play out with the hope that M15 can get some fish for him and the babies tomorrow in peace.

Oops. GHO knocks intruder off and M15 gets into nest with 21 and 22.

Bandicam shows it also. The intruder came back to the nest branch and M15 chased her off.

Human negligence – and our long standing desire to control nature for our own ends – has caused Jak and Audacity to lose all four of their eggs this season. It is not a new story but it ties in with the human interference in SWFlorida and the damage it can cause – 2 separate incidents now on Saturday night with two people with flashlights. Police out to both incidents. It was the latter one that drove M15 off for 3 hours, not the person with the camera (according to the FB announcement). Our interference in the natural world by using toxic chemicals to kill insects causes irreparable harm. The Sauces couple have had some success. Have a look at their history on Santa Cruz Island and remember, this is in the northern area, which has more contamination from DDT (DDE) than other areas of the islands.

Sauces-Nest-History-—-Institute-for-Wildlife-Studies Download

Then there are the fireworks that caused Diamond such distress that it was simply difficult to watch. They sounded like they were right under the tower. If you missed it, here is that video again. It is worth a second look just to remember what fireworks do to wildlife…unlike pets, they cannot come and be safe beside us in our homes when these unnecessary events happen. It is time to outlaw the use of fireworks as a means of celebrating along with the colouring and release of birds or balloons! I do love parties but not if there are things happening that don’t need to that will potentially damage our feathered friends.

There is a call to action to help stop what happened to the falcon family. Please send an e-mail, help Diamond and her family. You can cut and paste a letter but make sure you change who it is addressed to!

Cilla Kinross has commented that the authorities cannot tell the car it is too blurred and are thinking this is a misdemeanour. We hope that, instead, they will take this seriously. Endangering wildlife. Any act – flashlights, flash cameras, anything – we know this – endangers their lives. So Holly is suggesting that we continue to write letters. Maybe there is an animal cruelty organisation in Orange that might like to take this on.

I received the following response from MP for Orange, Mr Philip Donato:

To date, only Xavier and Indigo have returned to the scrape. Diamond has not.

‘J’ alerted to me of something that could, indeed, be causing Jackie and Shadow to get up and off those eggs – the seismic disturbances at Big Bear Lake. One was the largest magnitude felt so far this year. Humans could feel that one but it appears the eagles were disturbed by the other 23 that happened yesterday. Thanks, ‘J’ for bringing this to my attention!

Jackie are on and off the eggs again today. This is three days in a row. We keep the faith and hope that all is well. As I mentioned in my blog yesterday, Milda had a terrible couple of years but, her eggs were left for 5 hours and no harm (it was bitterly cold). The two eaglets hatched only to die later of starvation. The story is accurate but I said Milda was Estonian – she is a Latvian WTE.

There was, of course, earthquake activity on Saturday and I am trying to see what is happening today in the area.

There have been larger quakes in the past. I hope this calms down and the eaglets hatch and life is good for Jackie and Shadow.

5.1-Earthquake-Jolts-Big-Bear-Lake-Area-Los-Angeles-Times Download

It is, of course, only speculation that the earthquakes might have caused the eagles to be up and down and on and off the eggs. The timing of the low level quakes – which the eagles would have felt – suggests that with the start of the behaviour on Saturday. We can only wait and see what is happening. Is it possible that Jackie and Shadow can no longer hear the eaglet/s? We might never know. And even my questions are just speculation. Please read them as such. One or more eggs could hatch on time. The only silver lining for this couple who have been so super diligent – which is why their behaviour now is worrisome – is that they can have a second clutch. There is plenty of time. They were mating today. It is only a note to this but, have you noticed that raptors confirm their pair bond when something has happened…the death of a fledgling in the field, etc? But we must wait and see. Personally I would love nothing more than a Valentine’s pip. We need some good news.

Shootings. Really? I live in a place where gun crime is almost non-existent compared to what it is south of our border with the US. Here is one person who is going to pay the price for shooting a Bald Eagle in the US. Let us hope the word gets out. He thought it was a hawk. Sorry, hawks are protected, too.

If-you-harm-a-bald-eagle-be-prepared-to-pay-a-steep-price-cleveland.com_Download

There are Bald Eagle nests that are doing very well this year. The single eaglets at the Captiva nest of Connie and Clive, sweet little Connick survived the first few days without much fish, to thrive.

B16 is the apple of Pa Berry and Missy’s life – adorable cuddle bun that one is.

Her name is Trey at the KNF-E1 nest of Louis and Anna and she – they will not take DNA but this is a huge eaglet and could well be a female compared to the two earlier males, Kistachie and Kincaid. Three healthy beautiful eagles. Valentine and Nugget are getting on with their lives at the KNF-E3 nest of Alex and Andria. These two have benefited from fish tests! What can we say about Superbeaks? Huge eaglets Pearl and Tico will fledge but the fact that the nest railings are falling due to wing flapping scares me.

So there is some good news amongst the not so good…and I have not touched on all the nests. It seems to be balancing out.

This is a reminder: Tomorrow is the official day to suggest names for the Cal Falcons ‘New Guy’. Go to the Cal Falcons FB or Twitter page and put in your name and why…be convincing. Must be associated with Cal-B. There have been several responses to the use of the word ‘comfortable’ as in Annie looks ‘comfortable’ with the New Guy. Some say ‘much more than comfortable.’

The challenges that our raptors have now and will have in the coming decade and then the next one are going to be huge. It is up to everyone collectively and governments and companies to stop with the status quo, get some good minds working, and take a stand and don’t back down. Create a better world for all living things. All living things.

Coming Up this week: Why you do not want to buy birds at pet stores. The new hawk streaming cams. Where do birds go to die. I was going to write about one of these today but, events over took that. It will be towards the end of the week. Stay turned.

Take care everyone. My whole family, the garden critters and Missy and Lewis thank you for the love that you have for our feathered friends. Happy Valentine’s Day! Please keep our three nests in your most positive thoughts and send them well wishes – M15, 21 and 22 at SWFlorida, Jackie and Shadow and whatever is going on at BBV, and Zoe. See you soon!

If you would like to join our family of lovers of all things with feathers but mostly those big Apex predators, please sign up for our daily newsletter. You can unsubscribe any time.

Thank you to the following for their notes, their posts, their videos, and streaming cams where I took my screen captures that make up this blog today: ‘J’, NEFL-AEF, SWFlorida and D Pritchett, Lady Hawk and SWFL and D Pritchett, Bandicam and SWFlo and D Pritchett, IWS, Heidi Mc and Falcon Cam, Holly Parsons and Orange, Australia Peregrine Falcons FB, Volcano Discovery, Los Angeles Times, FOBBV, Cleveland.com, Window to Wildlife, Berry College Eagles, Superbeaks, and Cal Falcons.

Fireworks frighten the wits out of Diamond…Monday in Bird world

13 February 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

The weather on the Canadian Prairies continues to be mild. The snow is slowly melting and the ice that sometimes forms at the edge of our roof where the heat escapes is disappearing, if it was there in the first place. The birds continue to sing a slightly different tune like they did yesterday and if I had not seen the forecast for colder weather to hit, one might believe that spring was around the corner. And of course, it is! Right?

As far as kittens go, they are now six months old. The tufts on Missy’s ears can be seen if you squint. She is now 8 lbs and 6 oz. and her tail looks more and more like that of a raccoon daily. Hence, the name Maine Coon. I don’t know if you can tell but her hair is thick and wooly, various layers to help these cats keep warm in the cold. Hopefully she will never experience it! I don’t know how she came to be alone, only days old, under a truck and taken to the Humane Society and then…adopted by us. Well, we are so happy she is part of the family!

Nests are very busy. The Ospreys that have eggs are incubating them. Still eagles laying eggs…Tico and Pearl growing…intruders that are protecting nests. It has been a busy few days. Watching the NCTC nest of Bella and Smitty and hoping for egg 1 of the 2023 season…it will be her first egg in two years. Injury and female intruder complicated matters so that there was no clutch at this nest last year.

First up. Loud bangs and lights – fireworks set off in the night – terrified Diamond at the Orange scrape on the Charles Sturt University campus in Australia. Cilla Kinross is investigating and has called security. Have a look at Heidi Mc’s video from all of the cams. And remember this whenever you hear anyone thinking of celebrations with fireworks. They need to be outlawed.

Oh, I hope that Indigo and Xavier are alright. Thanks HMc!

Making News:

A Red Kite fell out of the sky…discovered to have several shotgun pellets in its body at rehab. Here is the story.

More at Raptor Persecution UK:

Shot red kite found injured in Greenwich Park, London

Most of us know this but, sometimes we need a little reminder and a nudge – the restorative power of nature! A walk in a forest, a stroll around the block, a trip to a park…sitting and listening to the sounds of birds. It is magic.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/12/prescribing-nature-the-restorative-power-of-a-simple-dose-of-outdoors?CMP=share_btn_link

At the Nests:

Sadly, Jak and Audacity have lost their 4th egg to breakage. The root cause is the lingering DDT (DDE) in the region, the food, the fish – the Channel Islands. Some areas were exposed to more than others. This couple has not had a good history – so sad for the – but the outlook is not good as this has obviously impacted Audacity’s ability to form hard shells. Here is a report discussing the dumping of the DDT in the Channel Islands that helps us understand that dumping these horrific toxins in the sea was more extensive than was thought.

History-of-DDT-ocean-dumping-off-LA-coast-even-worse-than-expected-EPA-finds Download

At the nest of Shadow and Jackie, Shadow spent the majority of the day incubating the eggs. He came in with a fish for Jackie and there was some concern about the eggs being left on and off during the day several times including 0919, 1029, 1151, 1439, 1541, etc. Some people thought that Jackie was missing but she isn’t. Is she getting some much needed time off the nest before she is brooding eaglets? With pip watch on a couple of days away, I wonder if this marvellous couple can hear their eaglets.

There was some question about how long eggs can be left and still have the eaglets be viable. If you recall, Milda left her eggs unattended in cold weather in Latvia for approximately 5 hours. No one thought the eggs would be viable but, yes, the two eaglets hatched sadly to later succumb to starvation. (It was a bad year for Milda the White-tailed Eagle as she had lost her mate right after laying her eggs). The on and off for these two for the past couple of days should not be a problem if we consider the situation at the Drube WTE nest of Milda.

Jackie mantling her fish at 12:55.

Rolling those two precious eggs at 15:15.

One of the times the eggs were left the longest, 1541-1749.

Official pip watch as stated by FOBBV is 15 February. Here is the daily recap with all the comings and goings as kept by FOBBV:

Connick is growing and growing and is one of the sweetest little eaglets. Nice fish coming on the nest and even a family meal together with Mum Connie and Dad Clive.

If you have been falling all the happenings at the SWFlorida Eagle nest, you will know by now that the Frequent Female Visitor has been protecting the territory and chasing away other intruders. Several have remarked that this behaviour reminds them of M15 when he arrived as the Frequent Male Visitor. M15 wound up helping Harriet look after E6.

The highlights of Sunday at the SWFlorida nest are – E22 did a fantastic mantling job on a nice piece of fish that he snatched and grabbed from the first delivery at 10:04. It is the first time that E22 has been seen mantling.

Due to the lack of deliveries the past couple of days, 21 is feeling a bit peckish and decided to beak 22 just to remind the younger sibling who eats first. Well, M15 fed both eaglets, 21 first, manoeuvring that fish so that 22 got a feeding, too. It was a good sized fish. Both ate and both had crops of various sizes. Well done, Dad.

E22 is being submissive while 21 eats first.

This is E22 at 1040. It looks like a pretty good crop to me.

The presence of the Frequent Female Visitor is disturbing M15’s ability to hunt. At 14:44 I noted that no other prey items had been delivered.

At 1532 M15 is on the nest and pulls half a fish from the nesting material. It is not entirely clear how much fish each eaglet received. I continue to remind myself that Dad needs to eat..if the eaglets are hungry then imagine that Dad is too.

22 held back and was rather submissive. In the end, it had some fish. Both ate today. Not as much as those days when 5 or 6 deliveries were coming in but they both ate. This is important. 21 will stay peckish and peck if it senses that food is scarce. It is a survival mechanism. All of us know this and we also will recall that this nest is quite calm when adequate prey is coming in. Send positive wishes. With everything going on, M15 needs all our love!

E22 found some fish scraps and is enjoying them.

The eaglets are hungry. Dad is hungry. Let us hope that more fish come to the nest or a nice big rabbit today…All intruders need to disappear!

Martin and Rosa at the Dulles Greenway nest in Virginia have their third egg. It was laid today. Congratulations to this extremely popular eagle couple.

Just a reminder! One more day and suggestions open for Annie’s ‘New Guy’ at Cal Falcons. Needs to be related to Cal-Berkeley and should be male – since we obviously know the gender! Search for Cal Falcons on FB or Twitter.

As we near Valentine’s Day, we can start looking for the arrival of Rosie at the Osprey nest in SF Bay. And speaking of Ospreys, ‘A’ wonders when the ospreys will start arriving in the UK. Well, ‘A’, Blue 33 and Maya are often the first to arrive at Rutland Water around 26 March. 6 weeks or so away. The time will pass quickly! I see no news on Zoe’s transmission. Get into cell range, Zoe! Please.

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, announcements, and streaming cams that make up my blog: Heidi Mc and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, South Essex Wildlife Hospital, Raptor Persecution UK, The Guardian, Phys.Org, FOBBV, Window to Wildlife, SWFlorida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Sassa Bird and Dulles-Greenaway Eagles, and Cal Falcons.

Jackie screams at Ravens, Saving Albatross…Friday in Bird World

10 February 2022

Good Morning Everyone!

It is hard to turn on the SWFlorida streaming cam and not see M15 there with a big fish feeding the Es. So far on Thursday there were 4 feedings and M15 has already fed both eaglets breakfast Friday morning. When 22 slid right in by 21, I almost fell out of my desk chair. The environment on this nest has changed so much since our worries of a week ago. The food security that M15 has established is really working wonders, bringing a normalcy back to this beautiful eagle nest. When do you remember 21 giving 22 a thorough going over? Many thought 22 might not live – including me. Well, I am sure happy to have to eat those words! Life is good. In fact, even the GHOs are cooperating. Their owlets, there are two of them, will fledge and be away from the natal nest before the Es even branch! That in itself is a miracle and will stop a lot of potential problems. M15 and the eaglets are very blessed.

Those four feedings were 09:18:14, 10:10:28, 14:43:40 (a massive catfish), and 15:58:25 with another big fish. Here are a few images from those feedings.

09:18:20. 21 is going to eat first. Notice those beautiful feathers coming in on the back of 21. The eagles are losing their fluffy white natal down, they have grown their thermal down, and now the feathers that will mark them as juveniles are growing in. The eaglets are healthy, they are developing as they should, and I noticed that 22 is even standing on its feet.

09:19. E21 is really enjoying this nice breakfast.

09:34. E22 did not mess out. Look, E22 has a really nice crop.

M15 hangs in there, surveys what is happening and manages by moving the prey and himself to make sure both of his children get fed. Lovely. It is almost impossible to hold back the tears of joy just looking at how well this family is doing. I think it gives us hope for other nests that find themselves missing an adult at a crucial time.

10:10. 22 is there for some bites. You can really tell the two apart now. Glance at the image above. It is like someone took a crochet hook and tied in some feathers to the down and made a gorgeous cape for 21 with some black fringe at the terminal end of the tail. Beautiful.

14:44. Huge catfish lands on the nest. This is really a nice one and it is going to feed everyone. I know that some of you are now beginning to worry that M15 is taking such good care of the eaglets that he is neglecting himself. Let us hope not. He has to take care so that he can be all things to these two babies. There is still a long way to go before they fly the coop er’ tree.

This is the image that really brought tears to my eyes today. It is 14:52. Both of the eaglets have crops, they are side by side, they are facing dad. 22 looks as if he is smiling. There is no tension or fear in this image. Instead, it is two eaglets and their dad in the sunshine enjoying a catfish meal together.

When I captured this screen image, it was almost one week since Harriet went missing. M15 is doing her proud. Notice also how heavy 21’s wings are now. They are drooping just like they are supposed to. Also notice the size of the feet.

No animosity between the eaglets although 22 remains careful and quick to duck if he thinks 21 might beak. Actually smart. It will help him later when he is around lots of birds that want to take his food.

22 really does like to peck at the nest overs. A survivor.

15:10 and the rest of that catfish belongs to 22 and Dad.

You are amazing M15!

As the eaglets try and sleep, rain is beginning to fall on them. I wonder if M15 will go down to the nest? No, he did not. He is doing sentry duty on the branch. Let us hope that the GHOs are so busy feeding themselves and the two owlets at night that they do not have any time to go fly into M15.

The Friday morning first feeding was around 0800. 21 ate and then 22. A distraction for Dad in-between. Both eaglets are quite fine. My friend ‘A’ wrote that it was the first time she didn’t check on the SWFlorida Nest first. Gosh, that is the most wonderful thing to say.

21 at 0805.

22 eating at 0826.

You can Make a Difference:

Do you eat tuna? swordfish? Do you know someone who does? Do you know how it is caught? is it by pole? or is it by long-line trawler? The problem right now is one of trust. What certification can we trust? Here is an article from the BBC. There are many more, some supported by the long line fishing industry to make you think that line fishing is sustainable. It is not. There are ways that long line trawlers can make fishing safe. Some groups and countries will even provide free sparkly lines or the boat crews can bait the lines at night or put them over the side BUT are those ships churning fish into the bellies of boats 24/7 really doing the right thing for the environment? for the birds? I have stopped eating fish altogether – it is one way to be sure. 90% of the ocean’s fish, since the end of the nineteenth century, are gone. Feeding humans is causing the birds that rely on the fish from the sea to starve. Do you really need that can of tuna?

Can-eating-fish-ever-be-sustainable-BBC-Future Download

There is a battle going on right now to save the Albatross – all of them but, especially the Antipodean Albatross. Since 2005, their population number has decreased by 60%. In 20 years, if we do not dramatically change the way tuna and swordfish are caught, these gentle sentinels will be extinct. Someone I know -and I am sure you have seen her name if you are part of the Orange Peregrine Falcon FB group- Holly Parsons, reached out to me. She is on a campaign to stop people from eating tuna and swordfish and to do something about the deaths that are occurring due to long line fishing. This is, of course, something very dear to my heart and to another friend, ‘R’.

A beautiful video – so well made – and short. Please watch and then share it! The more people that understand the issues and step forward to end long line fishing trawlers, the better the world will be. Thank you! Thanks Holly for reaching out.

In the News:

Falco, the Eurasian Owl that escaped when vandals cut its cage at the New York City Zoo, has been delighting viewers around Central Park. But can the owl survive in the wild? Many are afraid that it cannot.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/09/flaco-owl-central-park-zoo-new-york-bergdorfs?CMP=share_btn_link

Two female bald Eagles fighting in Nova Scotia, Canada get so enraged with one another over a territory or prey defence – and so tangled – that both ended up in rehab. Great little video (note: there is a cruise ad at the beginning – just bear with it to get to the story).

https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2623341&jwsource=cl

https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/talon-locked-bald-eagles-treated-at-nova-scotia-s-hope-for-wildlife-1.6261910?utm_campaign=trueAnthem: New Content (Feed)

What an idea. Train a team of Spaniels to sniff out and kill rodents to save the lives of birds – it is a Welsh trial but, I am wondering if a team of these dogs would not work to aid those islands with Albatross that are getting bitten and killed by rats??? What do you think?

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/feb/08/meet-jinx-the-dog-on-a-mission-to-protect-welsh-bird-colonies-from-rats?CMP=share_btn_link

Germany is taking the injury and/or killing of raptors seriously. Let’s see this happen with those that keep getting their sentencing postponed in the UK. It is time to stand up for wildlife and the environment – no matter where we live. The raptors cannot go to court and speak for themselves, neither can the Buzzards, the White-tail Eagles, the Storks – all of them. They need our help since we are, in fact, the ones that took away their pristine environment, turned them into hats and fancy dress, and put their eggs in cases while poisoning the water and land where they get their food.

‘H’ and I have been making lists of what kills ospreys for almost a year now, going back and forth. Conservation without Borders posted a list of 37 items that need tackling to make the world safe. Have a read – lots we haven’t even considered! What can each of us do to help?

Do not dye birds for fun! It kills them. I want to ask: what idiot would think this is a good idea? Once again, you can help. If you hear of anyone – or any civic project – that is going to release artificially coloured birds – you try and stop them. Reason with them, phone the news stations, whatever it takes to peacefully stop a potential death sentence.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/07/new-york-pink-pigeon-flamingo-gender-reveal-party?CMP=share_btn_link

Big Red and Arthur’s fourth hatch in 2022, L4, is still on the Cornell campus. There is also what seems to be a light coloured Red-tailed male around. Here is Cornell’s tweet:

OK. They are not raptors – not by a long shot but, I do dearly love these flightless parrots of New Zealand – the Kakapo. The Recovery project is continuing with naming the 55 that survived to be a year old from the 2022 hatch! What an incredible number of survivors. Aren’t they adorable?

In the Nests:

The ‘New Guy’ at Cal Falcons and Annie have been eating and mating on the ledge. Sharon Pollock captured the action for us. Will we have some eggs in that scrape at The Campanile soon?

There is an injury to the talon of HD at Decorah. How will he fare?

We saw Diamond soaking wet and in much need of a trip to the salon yesterday. I didn’t have images of Indigo. Elain has caught that wee fledgling! So happy Indigo made it to the scrape.

Angus brought a live Sheepshead fish to Mabel at the Captiva Nest – and she dropped it when flying off. So sad for her. The video capture by HeidiMc is quick. Don’t look away!

Connick, the only eaglet of Clive and Connie, seems to eat and be in a perpetual food coma. He is growing and growing. Really strong thick legs and such beautiful thermal down. Cute little tail that he seems to like to wiggle. Just look at Connick’s mohawk…too funny. He still has his light grey mouth…watch as it will turn to yellow.

Connick, that crop is so big. Can you even lift yourself up?

As we get closer and closer to pip watch for Jackie and Shadow, the Ravens are being relentless in their harassment, flying all about the tree. Thursday morning Jackie went flat to protect the eggs. Then she began doing several alarm vocalisations. We are 5 days away from pip watch. Jackie and Shadow are being extremely vigilant. After the eaglet/s hatch, they will need to continue this high level of security. The eaglets will not be safe from predation until they are about a month old.

I have not checked on all the nests today. Jak and Audacity at Sauces Canyon do have a third egg. Typically the shell of the third can be thinner than the others. Let us all collectively hope that this one egg might make it to hatch!

I did check on the Black Storks, Waba and Udu. Waba is the 2022 hatch of Karl and Kaia and Udu is a 2021 hatch from the Karula National Forest nest in Estonia. Waba continues to fish in the Sudan.

Udu is in Turkey but not around the earthquake area.

There has not been tracking information for Kaia since she landed in Chad, from Karl when he would be flying to his wintering home form the Nile, or from Bonus who was last heard from when he was in the Western Desert. We hope that when spring migration begins, their transmitters will start to send signals. Zoe has not sent a transmission for 36 hours. Friends of Osprey are not worried as she is in the area where there was no cell coverage before. Send everyone your positive and good energy. ‘H’ just wrote to me and said that Zoe has now missed another tracking notice. Please send good wishes that she is simply out of range.

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, their posts, their tweets, videos, and their streaming cams that make up my screen captures and blog: ‘A’, ‘H’, Holly Parsons, Southwest Florida Bald Eagles and D Pritchett, CTV News Atlantic, The Guardian, CABS, The BBC, Live Ocean, Conservation without Borders, @Cornell Hawks, Kakapo Recovery, Sharon Pollock and Cal Falcons, Raptor Resource Project, Elain and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Window to Wildlife, Heidi Mc and Window to Wildlife, FOBBV, and Looduskalender English Forum.

Category Archives: DDT and the Channel Islands

Big Red and Arthur nest building, 3D legs for geese, Ravens eat Shadow and Jackie’s eggs…Wednesday in Bird World

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2nd egg for Chase & Cholyn, Tico forced to fledge, and more…Sunday in Bird World

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Annie lays her first egg, Second hatch at Moorings. huge storm at Berry College…Saturday in Bird World

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Hatch for Moorings Park, 22’s crop, sadness for Sauces…Friday in Bird World

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Rosie is Home, Arthur is Busy, Intruder lands on Guardian in Nest, …Thursday in Bird World

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Intruders, Broken Eggs, and D4 survives the death spiral. It is Saturday in Bird World

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Death spiral at Centreport, food fest at SWFlorida…Friday in Bird World

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Owl Strike at SWFlorida, Earthquakes, Fireworks, DDT…2023 is getting off to a terrible start for Bird World

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Fireworks frighten the wits out of Diamond…Monday in Bird world

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Jackie screams at Ravens, Saving Albatross…Friday in Bird World

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