Category Archives: Dyfi Osprey Project

Ringing, lots of ringing…Wednesday in Bird World

3 July 2024

Good Morning,

It’s the middle of the week. I thought we would have a wonderful Tuesday. It looked like a great day for a long walk at the nature centre and then the rains came – pouring rain you could hardly see 3 metres in front of you. And then finally the grey skies left and the blue skies and fluffy clouds arrived. The birds are singing for joy. The squirrels are running around looking for peanuts and Mr Crow is yelling that his cheesy-dogs are gone. The Starlings ate them! Life is back to normal. ‘The Girls’ survived the July birthday part and the horrific thunder and lighting of Monday night. We are all hoping that the rain will stop and we can have a few days of sunshine and warmth.

It is now July and I am hoping, beyond hope, that fledgling and osplet deaths are over. Many of the osprey chicks are now past the 3 week mark – a few aren’t. I am hopeful that without any major storms all will survive but, we continue to watch a few nests closely such as Captiva, Cowlitz, Forsythe, and Steelscape.

The latest for Steelscape comes in late Tuesday from Pam Breci:

I have still been feeling a bit low after the removal of the chicks at Loch Arkaig, even though I support interventions in such cases of great need. It just makes me sad seeing Louis and Dorcha without their babies. So, I want to start with a story that will amaze you. I added some quotes, but please read the entire article. You will be amazed.

Geemeff sent me the link:

“A pair of White-tailed Eagles on the Isle of Mull have amazed experts by continuing to care for their injured offspring into its second year of life, going so far as to skip breeding this year to focus on tending to the youngster. 

The chick injured its left wing in July last year after its nest fell to the ground during unseasonably wild weather. Despite its sibling surviving unscathed and fledging not long afterwards, the injured youngster’s story has been a little less smooth.

As the parents continued to support the chick its wing continued to heal and it finally took to the skies in the autumn, in rather wobbly fashion, with little hope from locals that it would survive the long, harsh winter ahead.

Here is the full story!

White-tailed Eagles on Isle of Mull continue to care for injured offspring into its second year of life

Ringing took place at Glaslyn late on 2 July 2024. Heather Corfield reports “We have two females and one male. 6M8, 6M7 and 6M9 in age order. The youngest is the male. No surprises there.”

I continue to call for a boycott on eating tuna and salmon and this is one reason not to eat farmed salmon! They have destroyed the stocks of fish in the Chesapeake Bay and are now moving to the coasts. Multitudes are concerned and the regulating authorities are not listening. This is one of the main reasons that osprey chicks are starving – the fish they need is being taken to feed fish! Please tell your friends and find a viable alternative if you eat salmon or tuna.

Bad storms in Croatia are having an impact on our feathered friends. Many storks are being found dead.

‘H’ wondered if I had been checking the ND-LEEF nest lately. I haven’t and I am sorry that I have been occupied by the ospreys. Dad went missing on the 8th of May. The two eaglets were just a month old (like Harriet’s at SWFlorida in 2023). Gigi raised them alone. They fledged on June 26 and June 30. Isn’t that wonderful? Dad would be proud of Gigi and his babies. Phillipe Josse posted this photo of Gigi and her fledglings. Aren’t they lovely?

Iris’s youngest chick has a closed left eye. We are hoping for improvements. The chick is eating and moving well and the eye apperared to open a little Tuesday afternoon. Send good energy.

Meanwhile, Finn is being security guard!

‘A’ comments: “Darling Finn was in early with a nice fresh fish for the osplets’ breakfast. He arrived at 05:49 and Iris got straight into feeding the kids. He stays less than a minute before moving to the perch to dry off. As always, Little Bob is at the front for the feeding and the chicks are perfectly behaved. There is not a hint of aggression between them. This has to be the most laid-back osprey nest I think I’ve ever seen. It’s like watching a pair of RTH chicks or a couple of peregrine eyases. Just lovely. 

By 6am, Finn is getting a little impatient. He returned to the nest about 05:58 and picked at some dropped bites and random pieces, but Iris has not finished stuffing her osplets, with Big Bob still managing to find some space in that massive crop. By 06:02 Finn is stalking the fish but Iris moves away from him, not yet ready to give it up. Big Bob has eaten very well but Iris hasn’t and Little Bob could definitely eat some more. So she continues feeding Little Bob, with Big Bob having finally left the table, full as a tick. Finn already has a very respectable crop. 

At 06:03, with Little Bob turning away, Iris lets Finn take the half fish from her. He begins eating on the nest. Or is he preparing to feed the chicks? Within ten seconds, Iris has retrieved her fish and returns to feeding Little Bob and eating herself. Finn gives up and returns to the perch at 06:03:50. Iris keeps eating. She needs to have her own breakfast. But she still keeps trying to give bites to both osplets, but especially Big Bob, who has come back for seconds (or is it thirds?). Eventually she eats, and eventually, Finn gets his share. “

“When our darling Finn brought the lunchtime fish in at around 11:50, it was another humongous whole very floppy (well, more thrashy) fish, so Iris waited for Finn to disable it before she took it from him. Probably teaching him that large floppy fish and small osplets should not mix. She is a thinking woman’s mum, is Iris. 

Both chicks are hungry but they behave perfectly while they wait for mum to get the fish bites ready. Finn is arranging sticks, periodically bonking Little Bob on the head with his tail. Little Bob gets confused about which direction he should be facing. 

At this point, I’m going to raise something I’ve been worried about from the beginning really. But yesterday I watched something that again worried me a great deal – could you keep a close eye on Little Bob and see whether you think his sight is compromised in some way. Yesterday, he was grabbing at the bites and missing them to the right-hand side each time, as if one of his eyes was not focusing properly. I have noticed this before, but not to that extent. Mind you, it was 10pm and he may not see well in the dark. (We of course have the IR lights.) But I would like your considered opinion on it over the next few days or so, if you have a chance. 

Obviously, he is still managing to stuff his face but it would not be a great way to live as a fledgling, so I am a bit worried, which is why I am finally asking your opinion. (The fact that nobody else has questioned it reassured me until that feeding last night around 10pm when it really was very noticeable. And how does he still end up facing the wrong way at his age? I wonder and I worry. Let’s hope I’m just totally mistaken. 

Anyway, spoiler alert: although it was a wet morning, the chicks dried out in the afternoon and ate well all day. The midday fish was almost the size of Big Bob and, obviously, significantly larger than Little. Iris had some trouble (and had to use her wings) to even move it around the nest, and I cannot imagine her being able to rip it out of the water. That would take a very strong bird, which says something about our hero, Finn. He surely is a diamond and Iris SO deserves him. And wow, is he a looker. Such a handsome osprey. He is glorious. 

At the noon feeding, Little was closest to mum and was fed first. His older sibling simply watched and patiently waited for his turn. Finn obscures our view as the feeding proceeds, but it appears that at noon, ten minutes after the arrival of the fish, Big Bob is still waiting. When Finn finally moves, at 12:04, we can see that Little Bob is still at mum’s beak but Big Bob does have a small crop so may have had some bites. 

Finn decides he will start feeding himself from the tail end of this monstrous fish while Iris continues feeding Little Bob from the head end. I’m hoping Finn will feed Big Bob, who has turned to face dad and is obviously hopeful. Just before 12:07 Finn, who has come around to the head end of the fish, attempts to pull the fish from Iris’s grasp. She pulls back. She continues feeding Little. Big Bob is still hungry, and Iris turns her head to reach him, deciding Little Bob has had enough for now and her other chick needs his turn. So she feeds Big Bob bite after bite. Little turns away from the table. Finn plots his next attack on the fish. 

Around 12:09 Finn gives up and heads for the perch. Mum keeps feeding BIg Bob. Just before 12:10 he begins alerting, looking upwards. That chirp of his is incredibly melodic for an osprey. Quite beautiful. Little, who has face-planted, sat up for a short while, then face-planted again, is not turning back to the table yet – I’m sure he will manage some seconds shortly. Just before 12:12 Iris joins Finn in alerting at something above. Finn is tracking it across the sky. He is concerned. At 12:12 the chicks both pancake. 

At 12:12:28, another osprey attempts to land on the nest! Iris immediately rears up, flapping her wings with menace, and the bird flies off, with Finn in pursuit. Iris soon returns to the fish, but the chicks stay pancaked. Iris returns to eating herself, then feeds Big Bob again when he lifts his head. Little stands up but then decides his eyes are bigger than his stomach (well, not literally, obviously) and lies back down. 

At 12:20 Iris is again looking upwards, and soon resumes alerting. Twenty seconds later, Finn lands back on the nest, much to our relief. This boy is strong and young and determined to protect his family. He is doing a wonderful job at it. Here is a big statement: this is a male with what it takes to become an M15. He is not quite there yet – I cannot see him raising two month-old osplets single-taloned as M15 did with his eaglets. But with another season or two of paternal experience, I can certainly see him becoming a dad of that calibre. I adore Finnegan. I cannot say enough good things about him. “

The nest is a mess but the chicks are fantastic at Niagara Bee.

Things continue to go well at Blackbush for the trio.

Concerns for the two osplets at Newfoundland Snow Lane nest of Beaumonth and Hope as bad weather continues. Prior to the rain a large fish was on the nest and Hope was feeding the chicks.

Big fish and four big osplets at Field Farm.

There are so many big osplets just eating, growing, and waiting for their day to fly. That is Great Bay, too.

The trio at Charlo Montana are changing from cute little bobbleheads and into Reptiles!!!!!!

So, it is too close to call for three of the Poole Harbour four. The little one is believed to be a male but the three older ones are either small females or large well fed males. Can’t sex. I am going to go with four males because of their behaviour – too sweet and nice.

Louis has been consistent in bringing in a morning and evening fish. Dorcha was on the nest around 2000 and Louis came in with her dinner. You could hear him returning her calls.

The video of that fish delivery:

The two chicks of Louis and Dorcha are believed to be two males! Here is Geemeff’s report:

Daily summary Tuesday 2nd July 2024

Today was the first day waking up to the reality of an empty nest. However, Woodland Trust Scotland spokesman George tells us the chicks are reported to be doing well after a warm, dry, peaceful night with plenty of fish. They have been initially assessed as two males, although a more thorough assessment will take place in due course when they are ringed and satellite tagged. Questions were raised on the forum as to the feasibility of continuing to feed the chicks on the nest rather than placing them in the translocation programme – WTS gives the reasons why that’s not possible, details here: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=15244841. It might have been thought that activity on the nest would tail off now but Garry LV0 stepped up to provide plenty of interest by intruding not once but several times on Nest Two. He even brought nest furnishings. If he does fancy Dorcha as a potential mate, both Dorcha and Louis have other ideas, and there was much flying on and off, alarm-chipping and hasty exits. Once Garry had left for the night, Louis turned up with a good size late night supper which was eagerly seized by Dorcha. No improvement in the weather, it’s deteriorating if anything, with a forecast of heavy rain and light winds tonight, and rain all day tomorrow.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.44.17 (02.50.32); Nest Two 23.34.00 (03.23.23)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/xLYMFTjW5IQ  N1 Incy Wincy spider’s midnight visit 00.42.41 (quicktime)

https://youtu.be/PcbM4KE7w-I  N2 Hooded Crow intrudes on Dorcha 11.13.28

https://youtu.be/W32p5HJcb5A  N2 Garry LV0 intrudes 13.07.20 (zoom)

https://youtu.be/Q9R-mWtaQiw  N2 Action N2 involving Dorcha, Louis & Garry LV0 13.37.03

https://youtu.be/lgNojG-NglE  N1 & N2 Garry LV0 brings a stick to N2 then takes it to N1 14.59.25

https://youtu.be/qghrnyyuS00  N2 Louis brings Dorcha a late fish supper 20.11.11

Bonus read – visiting Loch Arkaig and the Dark mile that gave Dorcha her name:

https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/speanbridge/locharkaig/index.html
Watch the Loch Arkaig Osprey livestream 24/7 and join in the conversation here:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

This is a video showing where the chicks of Dorcha and Louis will be translocated. Thanks, Mary Cheadle for posting this. We are all curious.

We have had more osplet deaths and the Memorial Page is now up to 90. The only surviving chick on nest 4 at Kielder Forest in the UK became lethargic and was not growing properly and died at 39 days right before ringing. It is believed to have been a lung infection due to all the cold rainy weather.

Nest 7 at Kielder had three healthy chicks that were ringed on Tuesday. Two females and a male. Very interesing names. Have a read:

Nest-7-ringing-Kielder-OspreysDownload

All is well at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Please be careful if you are looking for this nest. There is a lot of archived footage on YT that might cause you to not be seeing the current time/day.

Lots of feedings. Mum is very attentive. Chick is doing well. The colouring is off – everything appears darker than it is. The chick is normal osplet plummage. On my screen, it looks very dark.

Here is the link:

The lens is all fogged up at the nest of Dylan and Seren in Llyn Clywedog. The chicks are feathered and doing great. Fledging shortly.

The little one at Cowlitz does wait for the other two and then, if there is fish, it gets a few bites before it is moved away. There was not a lot of fish coming in on Tuesday. It was 69 F with 10 mph winds.

Here are Heidi’s reports for the day!

7/2 Osoyoos osprey nest:  After the live stream was offline for 2.5 days, it went live at 0938 this morning.  The chicks looked good.  The first delivery we saw was a tiny fish at 1006.  What struck me was that Little immediately shuffled away and tucked as Soo prepared to feed.  That was a new behavior that Little had acquired since the last time we watched.  This indicated that there had been some dominance and aggression at meals.  It was only a four minute feeding, and Little got 3 bites.  The next fish at 1146 was also tiny, for a 5 minute feeding, and after some initial intimidation, Little ate.  At 1212, Olsen delivered a Whopper!  As Soo was dragging the large fish into position, Middle beaked Little into submission, but then Big beaked Middle!  So there it was…yes there has been aggression at meals.  By 1218 Middle was able to start eating beside Big.  By 1222 Little had worked his way around to the other side of Soo and was getting a few bites…but, don’t ya’ know Soo moved the fish, so Little had no protection.  After several more minutes passed, Little was eating right up beside the other two osplets, and all were having a good meal.  At 1242 the cam went down for more than an hour, so we don’t know how long the meal was, or if Olsen removed some leftover fish.  The next (and last) fish of the day was at 1553, a large whole fish, for a meal that lasted 13 minutes.  Everyone ate peacefully.

7/2 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Captain Mac’s Fish House):  Things are going well for Johnny, June, and their 18-day-old youngster.

7/2 Audubon Boathouse osprey nest: The oldest osplet, Harbor, seems to be calming down a bit, and is less aggressive toward Gray.  I was able to observe a few meals and they were peaceful.  Good news.  The nestlings are 18 and 14-days-old.

7/2 Mispillion Harbor osprey nest:  Della, Warren and their two 35 and 36-day-old osplets are doing great.  There is never a shortage of fish from Warren.

7/2 Forsythe osprey nest:  This has been a very sad season for this nest.  Only the oldest osplet (named Larry) remains out of the original four chicks.  It seems that there’s not enough fish in this area.  There were six fish delivered to the nest, including two from Opal.  Larry is 42 days old, and should be able to make it to fledge.

7/2 Patuxent River Park osprey nest:  Everything is going well for this bunch.  There may be a fledge in a day or two…and I am predicting that Middle will be first to take flight.  Middle is a bit smaller than Big, so has less body mass to get into the air.  Middle has been getting some nice lift while flapping/leaping across the nest.  (Ages of the osplets: 56, 55, 52)

7/2 Captiva osprey nest: Darling dominated the nest all day.  Ding was prevented from landing on the nest many times.  Edie delivered the only fish of the day at 1114.  Ding flew in, there was a scramble with Darling over the fish, and it appeared as though Ding left in possession of the fish, or she may have dropped it.  It was obviously not a good day for fishing.  You may recall that Edie took a 6-day break, and returned on 6/29.  In Edie’s absence, Jack worked his tail feathers off fishing for his kids during that period of time.  It seems as though Jack may now be resting and taking a well deserved break.  He was last seen on cam on 6/29.

Oh, those San Jose siblings!!!!!!!!

And more from this adorable family who continue to visit their scrape for us!

Ventana Wildlife continues to vaccinate the California Condor population against HPAI.

Plastics are everywhere. They are not good for our birds – not good in the sea, in nets, in human garbage, mesh bags, etc. As humans we need to try and minimise the number of plastic items that we purchase. I know that it is difficult. I made a vow several years ago to sever ties with plastic – they are everywhere. If you are heading to the lake or the beach, The Guardian ran a good article on how to avoid plastic. Even if you live elsewhere, there are good ideas here for everyone everywhere. We can help our wildlife.

From-swimwear-to-toys-how-to-go-plastic-free-for-a-day-at-the-beach-Plastics-The-GuardianDownload

Want to adopt a very important Kakapo?

I have a number of nests to report in Canada during the coming week. At least one of them has four healthy chicks! Stay tuned.

Thank you for being with us today. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, questions, posts, announcements, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, PB’, Pam Breci, Scottish Field, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Menhaden – Little Fish, Big Deal FB, Menhaden Defenders, Phillipe Josee and the ND-LEEF Eagle Cam, Montana Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Lab, Niagara Bee, Blackbush, Newfoundland Power, Field Farm, Great Bay, Charlo Montana, BoPH, The Woodland Trust, Geemeff, Mary Cheadle, Kielders ospreys, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Llyn Clywedog Ospreys, Cowlitz PUD, Osoyoos, Fenwick Island, Forsythe, Mispillion Harbour, Audubon Boathouse, Patuxent River Park, Window to Wildlife, SK Hideaways, Ventana Wildlife Society, and Kakapo Recovery.

Loch Arkaig’s chicks will go to Spain!…Monday in Bird World

1 July 2024

Good Morning,

It is 2129 in Winnipeg and this is what my family is watching. Hurricane Beryl. My daughter in law is barracaded in a safe room in their house in Grenada ready to ride out the hurricane which is expected to hit the island with no less than 100 mph winds. Sending good wishes to everyone in its path including the beautiful ospreys that I watch at the mangroves, the egret, the herons, and all the little songbirds around the island.

It is the earliest hurricane of this magnitude to hit the islands. The last major one was Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

We are just holding our breath and waiting for the hurricane to pass and to get some word that all is well.

Moving on to our beloved birds.

Louis and Dorcha’s two osplets for 2024 from the Loch Arkaig 2 nest are heading to Spain. Geemeff sends us the latest posting from The Woodland Trust.

Good evening everyone.

Having kept the situation under review again today it has been decided that the chicks will be removed from the nest tomorrow morning and handed on to the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation to be translocated to Spain.

The nest will likely be visited around 10am depending on how the weather turns out. The chicks will be given another good feed on the nest before being taken out of the tree.

I know you will have lots of questions about every last detail of this procedure but I don’t have much of that at the moment.

They will go to a specialised aviary in Inverness where they will be hand fed and looked after over the following days. Beak swabs will be taken to test them for avian flu and some other infections required before they embark overseas. Assuming all is well with that, they will be flown out to Spain on July 10th likely with ten other Scottish chicks.

This programme was already planned and in motion and it has been incredibly fortuitous that the timing fits with the emergence of our crisis on the nest at Arkaig.

We have had a number of tough decisions to take in the last week but actually this last one has been quite easy. There seems to be something wrong with Louis, possibly compounded by poor fishing conditions. The rate at which he has been fishing is just not enough to give the chicks a reasonable chance of survival. Even if they struggled through to the end of the summer it is felt very unlikely they would survive migration, which calls for considerable reserves of energy.

We are fairly certain at least one of the chicks would have died by now had there not been supplementary feeding on Friday and this morning.

When Louis was absent after Wednesday we wanted to at least wait to see if he would return before stepping in. Even though he returned on Saturday, there is something not right with him and we cannot have confidence he will return to form in time to stop the chicks from perishing. Before his disappearance he perched for most of Wednesday after bringing in one fish. Today he perched up for eight hours again after bringing one fish. The family needs more than that if it is to build up enough strength to survive migration.

The window of opportunity to enter the chicks in this translocation is brief and we did not want to be in the position of hanging on longer to see if the situation improved for our family. By removing them we hopefully take the pressure off the adults and allow them to replenish themselves in the coming weeks.

Continuing to feed them ourselves at Loch Arkaig is just not a feasible option. There are risks every time we go in. If the family is not viable on its own efforts its best the chicks get a chance in Spain.

Louis and Dorcha will almost certainly stick around with the nest as the centre of their partnership before migrating a bit earlier than usual so we will hopefully see them for a good while yet.

As I said previously – Scotland currently enjoys a population of beavers, red kites and sea eagles because other countries gifted us some of theirs. It is marvellous that Scotland is giving this gift to Spain and I think we should be proud that the Arkaig pair are going to be part of it. They will be ringed as having fledged in Spain but their highland heritage will be on record. My understanding is they are going to be GPS tagged so we should be able to receive updates about them.

I am sure some people will post for or against what is happening, which is fine, but please don’t get into rows about it. There is absolutely no point. The decision has been made. It was our decision to make and we did so in consultation with osprey experts. I hope that even those who don’t like what is happening will acknowledge that we have given thorough and honest consideration of all the options before coming to this conclusion.

We were driven at all times to do what is best for the ospreys – both our family and the species as a whole. Our two chicks will get a better chance to survive. The species’ range will be increased making it more resilient in the years ahead.

We’ll miss them of course. But then we would have been parting with them in a few weeks time anyway.

And as some of you say at the end of every season – “Don’t be sad to see them go. The journey is their purpose.”

Please enjoy the last few hours of them on the livestream.

We will keep you updated on how things go tomorrow.

Beautiful Dorcha and her chicks. George is certainly right. Without the supplementary fish we could have lost one chick and maybe two. The decision they have taken is a good one. We wish Dorcha and Louis all the best – a fast recovery for our great fisher and good health for all. In years to come we will look forward to hearing about these two breeding in Spain!

Thank you Fish Fairies!

This is Geemeff’s summary for The Woodland Trust for Loch Arkaig:

Daily summary Sunday 30th June 2024

Today brought news of a bittersweet ending to the season. The carefully researched and calmly thought out decision has been made by Woodland Trust Scotland to remove the two chicks and put them into the translocation programme in the care of Roy Dennis. They will ultimately help to found a new breeding population of Ospreys in Spain. Today’s videos have a certain poignancy as we know that this is the chicks’ last evening on the nest – they leave Loch Arkaig tomorrow. However with Louis only able to provide half of one fish today, this is the best outcome for our family. Louis will have time to recover, and he and Dorcha can spend the rest of the season pairbonding before leaving, probably a bit early, on migration, and then we expect to see them return next year to start again. The fish tally effectively ends today at two hundred and fifty four, but doubtless statto Steve will continue to record any subsequent fish brought to the nest by either of the adults. The fish brought by the ‘fish fairies’ ie the licensed raptor experts only counts in that it almost certainly saved the lives of the two chicks. No action on Nest One, weather reasonably settled today with the odd moment of sunshine, but tonight’s forecast is for light rain and light winds, and more rain tomorrow. They’re off to sunny Spain, Viva España!

Woodland Trust Scotland’s statement in full:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=15225467

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 00.20.20 (03.19.51); Nest Two 23.23.29 (03.56.16)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/vD6PgwUW6c0 N2 Dominant chick attacks submissive one despite all the fish available 08.16.00

https://youtu.be/i3mLfTb3FCk N2 Intruder or Dorcha grabbing some free fish? Looks like Dorcha 09:16:48  

https://youtu.be/DOl24pZXxzo N2 Louis arrives with his first delivery of the day, headless big trout 09.35.33

https://youtu.be/ShR7Kb12D_c N2 Submissive chick gets a calm exclusive feed 19.25.27

https://youtu.be/W7mIANPajv4 N2 The chicks enjoy their last dinner with Dorcha 20.22

https://youtu.be/6Q7UEkwIG5M N2 Chicks spend a calm final evening together with mum 20.58.35

Bonus read – info on the Spanish translocation project which is the outcome for our chicks:

https://lamarinaalta.com/en/llegan-a-su-nueva-casa-en-la-marjal-pego-oliva-doce-polluelos-de-aguila-pescadora-desde-escocia

This is information on the start of the translocation project from Scotland to Spain last year. Thanks, ‘JK’:

Osprey-Reintroduction-Project-Valencia-Birding-Guided-Bird-Watching-in-SpainDownload

Finnegan just continues to prove that he is one Super Star Dad. He brought in a fish to challenge everyone.

Finn removed the fish, flew about, returned with it to the perch where he ate before turning it back to Iris – who ate and fed the kids – and then Finn had some more. What a lovely way to end the day in Montana. I cannot imagine a more loving – more perfect – year for Iris.

Mummy is melting at Hellgate Canyon (Iris).

Good Night, Iris.

How much fish does an osprey need to eat per day? Have you been wondering this seeing nests thrive and others fail?

“Three separate studies estimated that an adult Osprey needs approximately 400 g (0.88 lb) of fish meat per day to meet its energy needs.”

All-about-Osprey-hunting-and-feedingDownload

The ospreys do come and visit the nest platform at Lake Norman in North Carolina. What a beautiful setting for a nest.

The video of Lady and Dad’s second arriving.

It is difficult to assess how much fish Little Three is getting at Blackbush. Mum often blocks the feeding. The two big ones did get full crops.

The two osplets in the Kurzeme Forest area of Latvia are looking quite good.

Both chicks at Finland’s #1 nest are enjoying some really nice fish dinners on Sunday.

It is a beautiful day on the Muonion nest where the chicks are tiny compared to those at #1.

Three gorgeous babies at Janakkala.

The 26 day report for Rosie and Richmond’s nest in SF.

There are some crab shells on Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home osprey nest. Two surviving osplets are gorgeous, big, fully feathered and will be looking forward to flying soon.

A nest full of beautiful osplets at the Dyfi nest of Idris and Telyn.

What a beautiful view. Kiedler nest #7 and its three chicks. Mum is Blue KX7 and Dad is KM18. They have been bothered by an intruder, a fledgling form Dumfries, over the past couple of days.

Oh, one of the chicks is being a big ‘grumpy’ over on the Glaslyn nest of Aran and Elen. Aran had just delivered a nice fish! Wanting to make sure Little Bob knows who eats first!

Gosh, the trio at Great Bay are looking good, too. So many great nests with three feathered chicks.

‘H’ reports:


6/30 Patuxent River osprey nest:  The three gorgeous teenagers (ages 55, 54, 51 days) are preparing themselves for flight.  All have been practicing some wingers, even Little.  I’ve seen some hop-wingers from the two older chicks, but so far no hovering that I am aware of.  Last night, chick #1 was standing to sleep most of the night for the first time.

6/30 Forsythe osprey nest:  This nest is unsettled, even though the two remaining chicks are 41 and 40 days old.  After Mini and Little died from siblicide/starvation, things started to settle down, and there was peace in the nest for about a week.  Then the live stream went down for a few days.  When it resumed, we noticed that Big was back to being aggressive, and was preventing Middle from eating, indicating that not enough fish had been brought to the nest during the cam downtime.  The aggression is ongoing, and Middle does not get very much to eat.  On 6/29, Middle ate for a total of about 11 minutes during 5 meals.  6/30 was a bad day with stormy weather almost all day long.  There were two fish delivered, one each from Oscar and Opal.  And surprisingly, Opal pulled a tiny fish out of the rail sticks at 1740.  Middle ate approximately 31 bites of fish all day.  Today should be better for fishing… sunny, high 82 F, winds gusting to 16 mph.

6/30 Bridge Club osprey nest:  Almost two weeks ago, chatters of the live stream noticed something was wrong with the middle chick’s left leg.  S/he was not able to use the leg.  The chick propelled itself using its good leg and its wings to ‘walk’ on the nest.  However, its range of movement was only several inches in any direction, and for that reason, some thought it may have been entangled by fishing line.  There was a great deal of talk on the chat regarding the chick’s injury, and some viewers contacted the nest owners and various entities that might be able to perform a rescue.  In response …the chat was shut down.  The osplet was still able to eat as long as Mom fed close by, and she usually did.  Mom also tried to provide shade for the chick.  It was apparent to viewers that the osplet was never going to be able to fledge, and would eventually die in the nest.  Communication was taking place amongst osprey nest-cam-watchers via other chats, that didn’t mind some off-topic conversation, and in Facebook groups.  Over the next several days, a few persistent viewers continued to reach out to find someone to help this poor chick that was suffering.  On 6/30, the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center arranged a rescue of the osplet, and it was removed from the nest early in the morning.  The chick was examined and evaluated.  Here is the statement from a representative from the Rescue Center:

“Thank you for your concern.   An Osprey chick was rescued at the Bridge Golf Course in Bridgehampton, Long Island NY on Jun 30 at 7am this morning.  The chick was then transferred to the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue center where it was determined by x-ray showing an open fracture as well as a bone infection that had made the chick’s left leg unusable.  X-Rays were shared with two local veterinarians who concurred with the diagnosis.  The chick was transported to one of the Vets to be euthanized this afternoon.  Given the nature of Ospreys, who need fresh fish for survival, even if amputation was successful, captivity for this migratory sea bird is truly not an option This is of course not the ending to the story that anyone wanted, but many times in nature a compassionate end of life scenario is what is best for both the bird and the bird family remaining in the nest.”

We all wonder what might have been the ending to this story if the nest owners had been proactive ten days ago, before bone infection set in, instead of ignoring the chatters.  Perhaps the result would have been the same, but it would have ended the suffering of this young osprey a lot sooner.  But, there is also another scenario involved here… Little chick #3 at the Bridge Club nest died of starvation during this period of time, after chick 2’s leg was injured.  If chick 2 had been removed from the nest sooner, it is possible that Little 3 may still be alive.

This reminds me of the sad story of the eaglet, DH18, from the Dale Hollow nest in 2023, where refusal to acknowledge responsibility, indecision, and procrastination, lead to the rescue of DH18 that came too late for him to be saved.

‘A’ reports: “July 1: Now there are two eggs on the nest, full incubation starts. Before the second egg was laid, the first egg was uncovered for a total of 30 hours, with 22 hours total on those four cold nights. As we see most of the time, Lady alone incubated last night, leaving in the morning after a couple of early duets, with Dad coming in for his first shift at 6:37am. Both have shared incubation today, with Dad spending longer for 6:17 and Lady 5:22. The eggs were only uncovered for short periods – a total of 21 minutes. Dad returned late afternoon, though with no prey – nothing was brought in today for Lady, though she was away long enough to catch her own. Lady was on the eggs at dark, with Dad roosting close by.”

A correction. The Crooked Lake Nest is in Columbia, Indiana. I have the correct location in our data forms, but I said Iowa in my blog when noting the predation by the GHO of the three osplets. I’m sorry for any confusion.

A second note. The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum nest. They had many storms as we did in Winnipeg. The cities are 8 hours apart but sometimes experience similar weather if the system is large. Viewers were concerned that the camera might have been ‘shut off’ when the weather was terrible and the chicks died. My observer believed that was what happened. As it turns out, the storm took the camera offline because there were outages in the area at the time. It happens here, too. Just want to make that correction. Everyone in Minnesota does a great job monitoring the nests in the area and we live in hope that the only surviving osplet at MN ARB will fledge this year.

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, posts, images, articles, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, J, H, PB’, National Hurricane Centre, Geemeff, George and The Woodland Trust, Vallencia Birding, Montana Osprey Cams, Avian Report, EarthCam, SK Hideaways, Blackbush, LDF, Finnish Osprey Foundation, SF Bay Ospreys, Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home, Dyfi Osprey Project, Kielder Forest Nest 7, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Great Bay, Patuxent River Park, Forsythe Ospreys, Bridge Golf Club, and Sydney Sea Eagle Cam..

Sunday in Bird World

30 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

In Canada, it is a long weekend. Canada Day is tomorrow. I wonder how many towns and cities will opt to do something for the environment instead of burning hundreds of thousands of dollars in fireworks??? Then on the 4th it is Independence Day in the US and I am certain there are other holidays around the world coming up. Fireworks need to be banned. We can celebrate without them and use the money for good works – and no balloons. Oh, I sound like a tired record and just yesterday I saw balloons all over the trees at a house for a party!

We are carefully watching the hurricane in the Caribbean. It will impact the island of Grenada where my DIL and friends are (son in Asia) as well as all the wildlife in the area and other islands. Even on the fringes, they are predicting 100 mph winds.

Thinking of Blue KW0 and our friends in Barbados, too. Stay safe everyone.

In the garden, Dyson was enjoying the need seed cylinder.

Later, one of the many Little Reds came to have some seeds, too.

Everyone has been accounted for in the garden except Hedwig, the rabbit. Mr Crow has been very noisy today. The Starlings have returned, and he isn’t happy. Of course, it doesn’t help that ‘The Boyfriend’ (Calico’s former outside Tuxedo cat friend) likes to eat the cheesy dogs. That seems to set Mr Crow off in the wrong direction. There are many baby sparrows around trying to ruin my herbs and beans!

On Saturday, I posted the update from The Woodland Trust on the Loch Arkaig nest of Dorcha and Louis in western Scotland. We will wait to see what is decided regarding the chicks. No one wants Louis to be injured or ill. At the same time, no one wants the chicks and Dorcha to be hungry and become weak. It is a very delicate situation.

This is the Daily Summary from Geemeff:

Daily summary Saturday 29th June 2024

Midnight, and a tumultuous day ends. What started with the triumphal return of Louis in the morning, seemingly unharmed and bearing a fish, quickly turned to worry as he only brought half a fish and the dominant chick got most of that. The irony was that just as licensed raptor expert Lewis was preparing to climb the nest tree and hand-feed each chick a mackerel as he’d done the previous day, Louis appeared with fish, and inadvertently cost the chicks the chance of a solid meal. It was around 8pm before Louis returned with a second half fish, and the submissive chick was bullied away from the fish and not allowed to eat, forcing it to seach for scraps and eat bits of grass. The fish tally now stands at two hundred and fifty three including Dorcha’s contribution of one fish. There was much discussion on the forum, often at great length, of the best way forward, but behind the scenes, George and Woodland Trust Scotland were consulting the experts and a plan has been drawn up. This includes Lewis feeding the chicks tomorrow and a strong possibility of the chicks joining a translocation programme under the auspices of the UK’s foremost raptor expert, Roy Dennis. Link to George’s comprehensive post outlining the details: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=15217474. In other news, Garry LV0 visited Nest One twice, and was in turn visited by a male Osprey who looked like Prince, the mate of sometime visitor Affric 152. It was wet and windy overnight and rained on and off during the day – tonight’s forecast is for drizzle and light winds, with the prospect of a cloudy but mostly dry day tomorrow.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.55.42 (03.27.10); Nest Two 23.14.07 (03.56.34)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/eNupYkdkQ8w N2 The welcome reappearance of Louis, bringing fish number one 08.26.37 

https://youtu.be/Q6y-LYkhTFo N1 Garry LV0 is intruded on – is it Prince? 09.20.18

https://youtu.be/eANzFRFw8ik N1 Garry LV0 returns with a stick 09.34.07 

https://youtu.be/T1ef16z0eKs N2 Fish number two, but only one chick gets to eat 19.56.39

https://youtu.be/TiKtuGDYD4I N2 Submissive chick desperate for food eats grass 20.21.57

Watch the Loch Arkaig Osprey livestream 24/7 and join in the conversation here:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

UPDATE: The fish fairies came and fed the chicks and left fish. Words is that the chicks also fed themselves and it looks like Dorcha had a good meal, too. Thank you, Woodland Trust.

Louis did come in at breakfast with a half of a trout for his family. Something is obviously wrong. Get well, Louis. You are trying!

I had a question from a reader, ‘RM’: ‘What happened to the little osplet that always got picked on whose name began with a ‘T’? Turns out this is Tuffy! And I was so glad to report that Tuffy fledged and that s/he returns to the nest often for fish! While I was telling them Tuffy was on the natal nest waiting and watching for a delivery. Ruffie and Tuffy are doing so well. Great parents. Good location for fish.

At The Campanile, Aurora and Nox show up to let us see how well they are doing! Just lovely.

Still around San Jose, too. So nice to see the fledglings.

Osprey babies in care…lots of them. If you re in the area and you fish, why not drop some off?

I hope to get out and see these two Skylark and Heidi flying around chasing their parents for fish in August before they leave on migration. The photo is by Don Dennis and Connie Dennis is the admin for the Ospreys of Nova Scotia FB page. These two are real beauties. They are growing nice and strong due to lots of fish availability.

Port Lincoln wants to install more platforms. They have done an amazing job! The community spirit behind this Osprey project is incredible.

Some nests had trouble raising three chicks, some had trouble with two, and a few raised four!

The four at McEuan Park in Idaho are doing well.

The four at Field Farm are super. We sure didn’t know if Mini Little would make it, but the spunk of that kid in the face of those big siblings just makes your heart beat a little faster. You actually have to look really close to figure out which one is Mini Little – bet this feisty bird is a female. That would account for the increasing growth and the tenacity.

When the fourth egg at Poole Harbour hatched, my heart sank. I just didn’t know if CJ7 and Blue 022 could do it, but gosh, golly, they did. Look at those beautiful babies!

The other nest with four, ‘H’ reminds me, was Forsythe and they are now three. One died.

There has been concern over the past week for the leg of the second hatch at the Bridge Golf course osprey nest on Long Island. Heidi gives us the latest:

The Green Ledge Light Preservation Society on Long Island has named this year’s three osplets: Goose, Peach, and Shea!

At Newfoundland Power, Hope eats about 10 bites to every one she feeds her chick but, luckily, Beaumont has brought in some nice fish and the baby is getting fed. Gosh, could we hope for a fledge. Last chick to survive on this nest was in 2019. All others have starved. Hoping other 2 eggs are non-viable.

Ferris Akel caught up with Big Red, Arthur, and N1 and N2 on Saturday.

The Ns together on the adjacent light tower to their nest.

Big Red on Bradfield ready to roost for the night.

Arthur flying to Bradfield.

He arrives.

In Australia, ‘A’ reports on the WBSE: “Lady slept on the nest last night, brooding her egg. She has not left the nest at all today, except for a three-minute period when she backed up for a PS and a stretch. When Dad brought in some bedding at 08:23, she took the opportunity to fly off, perhaps for some breakfast, but not before making it clear to Dad that the egg needed brooding. So he settled down to keep it warm until her return. So far, we don’t have a second egg, but I expect Lady to lay one some time today. I would be really surprised if she only has the one, though she is ageing, so I suppose it is possible that the number of eggs laid could drop from two to one at some point for that reason alone. 

There was no verbal communication between Dad and Lady but she was confident to leave him with the egg, knowing he would incubate it until her return. It was obvious. She would not have left the egg otherwise. So I enjoyed that little moment of non-verbal communication between two birds that know each other so intimately. I love that they are together year-round, not migrating alone like the ospreys (I think that is such strange behaviour) or spending years living a solitary life at sea like the albatrosses. “

‘A’ sends news that we have another egg in Sydney: “We knew the second egg had to arrive today, and tonight it did. The egg was unattended for only 17 minutes in total today, and last night it was incubated overnight, so with 75 hours between the two eggs, we will be hopeful the delayed incubation does its job and gives us two hatches about a day apart. Talons crossed. This pair is so bonded, they don’t even need to communicate verbally any more. It is lovely to watch them working together like the well-oiled team they are. I cannot believe we have two eggs already – it is freezing cold here, mid-winter. Yet this is a normal schedule for these two so I’m sure they know what they’re doing. I just hope there is not too much rain – young chicks certainly do not need to be in damp nests, as we know too well.”

Later…

‘A’ comments on Iris and Finnegan and their chicks: “Finn brought in a lovely fish for an early breakfast at Hellgate this morning – well before 6.30am – and he had not eaten himself. Nor did he fight Iris for the fish. He delivered it immediately for the chicks to be fed and waited on the perch until they’d been fed. Also noteworthy was the fact that Little Bob was first to the beak (as usual), with Big Bob using his height to lean over Little Bob when offered a bite. But Iris fed Little Bob first, then Big Bob. No aggression from Big Bob, who happily waited for its little brother to eat. Little Bob has hit the reptilian phase himself and no longer looks like the cute fluffy chick he was only a couple of days ago. He is getting his oily look, though he’s still not woolly like Big Bob. 

These two are doing wonderfully well, but I am worried at how exhausted Iris is. She lights up when she feeds her babies, though. She is patient and careful and dedicated to them both. I keep feeling more and more that you may well be right, and I hate to think of Iris having to migrate at the end of this season. That thought genuinely terrifies me. She is going to be put under massive physical stress by that, and as the climate changes, there’s no guarantee the area she winters in will have any fish for her, with temperatures soaring above 50C in some of those north African countries. So I am desperately worried for her, though like you, I believe if this season is the last time we see her, we can be happy that she spent this year doing what she obviously loves doing the most. What a mother she is. I’m so grateful to have been able to see her raising chicks. ” “Breakfast at Hellgate today was timely and large, and the kids were fine until early afternoon, but by the time Finn brought in a nice fresh whole fish at 17:50, Iris still had a good crop but the chicks looked a bit hungry. As always, the osplets lined up nicely at the table, and Iris favours Little Bob early in the feeding. Both osplets attempt to eat literally from each other’s beaks but there is no aggression. Each chick is prepared to wait for their turn, and Iris feeds a few bites to one, then a couple to the other. She feeds them and feeds them until their crops are bloated with fish, but I think they still need more frequent feedings. I may have missed some feedings today though – I am going only on the crops, which appeared to be essentially non-existent when the late afternoon tea arrived.

By 18:09 Big Bob is crop-dropping to fit in the bites mum is giving him/her. Little Bob has given up on trying to hold his crop up and is lying down at mum’s feet, watching Big Bob attempting to stuff in even more fish. He looks impressed. By 18:10:30, Iris has swallowed the tail and quite a bit of attached fish. The osplets are full, but Big Bob has a nibble on some leftover fish. Iris is having a lot to say to Finn, who has returned to the nest, but I’m unsure what she is saying. His snake eyes make it clear he is not happy that there are no leftovers for him! He did deliver the fish whole, after all. But Iris and the two chicks demolished it entirely in slightly over 20 minutes. “

H’ reports:

6/29 Captiva osprey nest:  Edie and Darling both returned to the nest today!  Darling had not been in the nest since 6/27 when Ding had been very territorial and aggressive toward Darling and forced him off the nest.  The past two days, we had seen Darling in a few flybys, and we had heard him, so we knew he was okay.  Well…apparently in the 48 hours that Darling was off the nest, he spent some time thinking about his big sister Ding.  I can just see him shaking his head, and shuffling his feet back and forth on a nearby branch, staring at Ding on the nest… and he came to the conclusion that he simply wasn’t going to accept Ding’s bossy ways.  “No siree…that’s my nest too!”  Darling wanted to be back in his nest to try to get some fish from Mom and Dad.  At 0929 Ding was in the nest, Darling landed, a scuffle broke out, and they both went overboard.  At 1105 Jack delivered a partial fish to the Ding at the nest.  

Now, about Edie… We had not seen Edie since 6/23.  She had delivered fish for two days after her ‘fishing line incident’, so her absence was not thought to have anything to do with that.  It was believed that she was exhausted and needed a break to recharge her batteries a bit.  But, we didn’t know for sure, and we were worried about her.  At 1219 Edie landed in the nest with a partial fish!  We were thrilled to see her, but she looked a little thin.  Ding grabbed the fish…but Darling flew in and he landed right on Ding’s back.  They battled for the fish, Darling grabbed it and mantled, Ding tried to grab it, Darling maintained possession…but eventually Ding won the fish.  At 1357 Edie brought a small piece of a catfish, and Darling got that one.  The siblings spent the next couple of hours coming and going.  At 1523 Darling was in the nest, and Ding flew in and chased Darling off the nest.  Edie delivered a whole catfish at 1600 and Ding took possession.  Finally, at 1718 Edie delivered a medium sized partial fish, and since Ding was still working on her catfish, there was no competition for this meal.  After he finished his fish, Darling ate some of the catfish that Ding had left behind, and he had a nice crop.  The two ‘non-besties’ spent the night sleeping in the nest.  We hope that Darling gets a really big fish of his own tomorrow.

6/29 Osoyoos osprey nest:  The fish deliveries by Olsen got off to a later start than usual.  The first fish dropped off by Olsen was a medium sized whole fish at 0808, that Soo fed for 10 minutes.  There was another fish at 0952 that provided a meal that lasted 11 minutes.  At 1025, Olsen delivered a large whole fish that Soo fed to the chicks for 14 minutes.  There were no more fish deliveries through 14:40 that I saw.  When I next checked the cam, it turned out that the live stream went down at approximately 1515.  The high temperature was 84F/29C, and the winds were 5-8 mph.  For 6/30 the temp is predicted to be a little cooler, but with gustier winds.

6/29 Fortis Exshaw osprey nest: Life at Canmore continues to be splendid for this osprey family.  Louise sure did pick a fine mate in Harvie!  Six good sized fish were brought to the nest, and I think there was a leftover fish, too. Louise fed some long meals to her kiddos.  And, speaking of the kiddos…they love each other…well, I mean they get along great!

6/29 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Capt Mac’s):  There were only 4 meals for this little 15-day-old osplet.  And, they went from 0625 to 1555 (9.5 hours) without eating.  Three fish came in after that time, and June was able to feed her youngster meals lasting 18, 10, and 7 minutes in length.  The high temp was only 80F, with light winds, so I can’t think of why Johnny may have had difficulty fishing.  Being a Saturday, the waters in that area may have been crowded with recreational boaters and fishers.

6/29 Audubon Boathouse osprey nest:  15-day-old Harbor, and 11-day-old Gray are doing well.  There’s always lots of fish where they live, and they have a wonderful Mommy and Daddy.  But, young Gray is often subjected to what most of the youngest osplets on a nest have to endure…that is dominance and aggression from their older sibling.  Hang in there, Gray!

6/30 Colonial Beach:  It seems that the youngest hatchling has died.  It hatched overnight on 6/28.  Our view is always partially blocked by some sticks, but we last saw movement of the baby on 6/29 at around noon.  Fly high sweet osprey baby.

H’ reports also that it appears that a rescue is under way at Bridge Golf for the second chick with the injured/deformed leg.

‘PB’ reports about the state of the nest at Steelscape in WA on FB:

The Dyfi Osprey Project has posted the weight of their chicks over the years alongside some information I am attaching.

‘J’ writes that Actor Raymond Franco has a thing about Ospreys. You can check out the videos on his FB page.

Late word is coming in that the last osplet at Terrapin Bay could have been predated. Will update tomorrow.

Thanks for being with me today. Please take care. We look forward to seeing you again soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, questions, announcements, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, PB, RM’, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Moorings Park, SK Hideaways, Raptor Centre of Tampa Bay, Ospreys of Nova Scotia and Don Dennis, PLO, McEuan Park, Field Farm, BoPH, Heidi McGrue, Green Ledge Light Preservation Society, Newfoundland Power, Ferris Akel Tours, Sea Eagle Cam, Montana Osprey Project, Window to Wildlife, Osoyoos, Fortis Exshaw, Fenwick Island, Colonial Beach, The Dyfi Osprey Project, Ramon Franco FB, and Pam Breci.

Louis returns to the nest with a fish…Saturday in Bird World

29 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

First. We thought for sure he was no longer with us and well, here is the good news from Geemeff:

“Louis the Loch Arkaig Osprey makes a triumphant return 

08.26.37 The two chicks alone on the nest look up and start squeaking. Then Louis lands, with a fish. Wonderful to see him back looking magnificent with a nicely rounded crop. Where has he been? What happened to him? We’ll probably never know, but right now, this is the most wonderful sight. The two chicks immediately go over and take the fish off him. 08.26.55 Dorcha returns, and immediately looks for the fish 08.27.00 Louis departs – please return soon! Dorcha moves over and takes the fish away from C1 and starts dishing up. Normal service has resumed!”

https://youtu.be/eNupYkdkQ8w

Everyone is overjoyed…my inbox is full.

The Girls are anticipating the big birthday party on the 2nd. They have found a few little boxes but they can’t open them! Calico was hiding – but Hugo Yugo, Missey, and Baby Hope, the birthday girl were out playing.

Goodness, it is almost July. Hard to believe. The ‘bad’ news in Bird World generally tapers off this month and that is a good thing. It was pitching down rain in Winnipeg and much cooler than it has been. It was a good day to go to our biosphere, The Leaf. For some reason, I was fascinated by the flowers. Enjoy. The iPhone didn’t do too bad!

There was a special exhibition of plants used in traditional healing. Camomile, Cedar, Sage, Sweetgrass…

The koi pond through the mist of the water fall.

It was a lovely quiet day.

‘H’ is taking some time. We will look forward to her reports when she returns.

We are still hoping that Louis will return to Loch Arkaig. Plans are being made if this doesn’t happen. This is the latest news from George at The Woodland Trust.

Dorcha comes home to well fed-osplets.

The family cuddles together wondering where Dad is.

In all her sadness, Geemeff is still able to send out her daily report for The Woodland Trust:

Daily summary Friday 28th June 2024

There is no easy way to say this: Louis is still missing, not seen since Wednesday evening. We still hope to see him safe and well, but as the chicks were beginning to suffer from the incessant rain and lack of food despite Dorcha’s heroics with catching an eel yesterday, Woodland Trust took the unprecedented step of approaching NatureScot for permission to intervene. They are the Scottish Government’s lead adviser on wildlife management. In this case, using the evidence of Steve Quinn’s meticulous fish stats showing Louis’ decline and first hand observations of Louis’ unusual behaviour by LizB, permission was granted. Intrepid licensed raptor experts Lewis and Henry braved the climb to the top of the very tall nest tree and hand-fed the chicks with mackerel, leaving some on the nest as well as on a specially built platform below for Dorcha. Not a moment too soon as Lewis observed the second chick was approaching the stage of being too weak to eat. Luckily, after the initial strangeness, both chicks fed well and downed a whole mackerel each. Dorcha returned soon after they left and fed herself and the chicks from the fish left on the nest. Whatever your opinion about intervention, it’s good to see the chicks with full crops again. In other news, Garry LV0 paid a visit to Nest One and returned bringing nesting materials. Tonight’s forecast for the nest area is light rain showers and a gentle breeze, but the sound of the wind and the movement around the nest suggest otherwise. 

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.48.40 (03.30.52); Nest Two 23.19.18 (03.59.43)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/6maD-9zG5xk N1 Garry LV0 visits twice and brings nesting materials 10.06.18 (zoom)

https://youtu.be/9HYxpRU-hjY N2 Dorcha returns when the fish fairies leave after feeding the chicks 15.25.02

https://youtu.be/c2oZrwNXbvI  N2 Dorcha and the two chicks huddle together on a dreich night 23.38.35

Bonus read – Morphometric sex determination of young Ospreys: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233013597_Morphometric_sex_determination_of_young_Ospreys_Pandion_haliaetus_using_discriminant_analysis

Watch the Loch Arkaig Osprey livestream 24/7 and join in the conversation here:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

I wrote to Dr. Greene to find out if Iris’s osplets will be banded. The answer is “no”. The camera and the nest are only for education, not research purposes.

‘A’writes: “Darling Finn slept on the perch all night, as he has taken to doing every night, watching over his family. He is such a sweetie. He left on a fishing trip to get breakfast very early indeed – it was still dark just after 05:30 – but for once, he had left fish on the nest and Iris got up at 05:35 and grabbed a large headless fish to feed the osplets. The pair as always lined up at the table and were beautifully behaved, as mum shared out the food to both. Oh my goodness, Big has had a growth spurt! 

Little is slow to get up but makes his way to the table. Mum welcomes him with half a dozen bites. These two are just so sweet together. I saw one short, minor early episode of very half-hearted beaking and that was it. I still believe it could easily have been as much about curiosity as anything else, as there was no real aggression involved in it. More like checking what this small thing was. I am not entirely convinced it could even be classified as real bonking. Certainly, Little Bob did not interpret it as such, as hsi behaviour subsequently did not alter in any respect whatsoever. So it was not even worthy of being considered an act of establishing ‘pecking order’. Little Bob is harder for Iris to feed – he needs to move forward a step so she doesn’t have to reach as far forward and down to reach his beak. She makes the effort, but it means that when the two are side by side and competing for bites, Little Bob generally loses because of its greater height and reach. It’s surprising that Little doesn’t move forward – he normally does in this situation but sometimes makes mum really stretch. He is first to turn away from the table too, his little crop bulging. 

So far, Iris hadn’t had a single decent bite for her own breakfast – she will always ensure that the babies have had a decent amount to eat before she starts sneaking in the odd bite for herself. This is truly one incredibly devoted mum. I love watching Iris with her chicks. The way she shades them, shelters them from the rain, keeps them warm at night, righted Little Bob when, early on, his little balloon body ended up flailing on its back – these osplets are the centre of her existence and she prioritises their welfare above everything else in her world. Watching her, you feel genuine joy for her. 

Finn is back with a fresh headless fish just before 06:02. Good on your dad. There is still half a fish leftover from last night (and this morning’s first breakfast). He spends a bit of time trying to work out whether to choose the fish he’s just brought in or the half-fish left on the nest. He stands beside Iris for several minutes, reaching out at one stage as if to gently touch her with his beak. He adores her. Eventually, he decides on the fresh fish and flies to the perch with it just before 06:04. Ten minutes or so later, he returns the leftover fish to the nest. Good man! At 06:15 he tries to feed Iris, offering her a bite of fish several times before she accepts a small piece. She then stands up and grabs the leftover fish from the early breakfast (not the one Finn caught this morning) and begins feeding Big Bob while Little Bob backs up for a tiny PS. 

Little Bob appears to have entered his own reptilian stage this morning, his little head starting to look oily. Big Bob is definitely a woolly oily teenager but perfectly laid-back and well behaved. He eats far better now, though still does not comfortably manage large pieces and still has trouble finding the right angle to get food from mum’s beak. He experimented with some self-feeding yesterday. 

Finn watches breakfast feeding number two for a couple of minutes, then takes the leftovers of his morning catch and flies back up to the perch with them. 

I wrote this yesterday – but I will send it anyway. Iris really is looking absolutely exhausted to me. I worry about her. She is putting everything into this season – she adores her babies – but you may well be right. If this is how she spends her last year, she would have wanted it this way. She is such a natural mum. She is in her element. I have come to love her a great deal. 

I continue to believe Finn is literally heaven-sent. Just the sweetest guy. His loyalty has been fantastic. Louis never stood a chance against Finn’s determination to win Iris. I worried so much about him, but just look at the mate he has turned out to be. And what a handsome catch he is! I actually don’t hear them chat together at all – I hear Iris doing a lot of chatting but I never hear him answer. He just listens, learns and obeys. “

Osoyoos: It is 77 degrees F and 4 mph winds.

Olsen brought in a tiny whole fish at 0446. Each chick and Soo had some bites. She fed, stopping on and off, until 0453:10.

At 0800:53, Olsen brought in a very alive nice sized headless fish! Thank you for eating, Olsen. You and Soo have to eat in order to care for the babies.

Everyone got fish. Little walked away and the feeding stopped at 0818:25.

Olsen brought in the third fish of the day at 1131:49. It was a really nice size.

All of the chicks already had big crops when this big fish arrived! I am so glad that today was my day to monitor. It has been terrific. Soo fed the chicks and was still eating off the fish herself at 1158. Tears.

Little turns around and looks like it is trying out for the role of Hulk at 1157. Kids are too full to eat anymore.

At 1610 the chicks still had big crops. Did I miss a fish?

At 1728, Olsen brought in a large headless fish. Everyone has eaten well all day. The cooler temperatures and no wind must be helping. This is tremendous for this nest. Please send positive wishes every day to this family. They certainly deserve it. So was still feeding everyone an hour later and still had fish left. Sweet dreams babies…

I will check later but this nest doesn’t need any more fish today to survive but gosh it would be good for all of them if they ate and ate.

From now on I will add the temperature and wind conditions, where possible, on nests we are closely monitoring.

That tiny third hatch at Blackbush seems to be breaking hearts! It is a cutie. ‘MP’ adores this little one for being “persistently motivated, resilient and goal-driven in the face of challenges and difficulties of the parent’s predicament. Dad is lovingly family-oriented.”

‘PB’ has been monitoring the Cowlitz PUD nest and reports: “Cowlitz, little had around 115 bites. Excellent feeding and you can see a crop! This is a spunky little one that knows how to get to mom and be safe from big ones. When big one approached, little scooted closer to mom for protection and was able to feed again.Add 50 mote bites for Cowlitz little 3=165 total so far. Little found a gap between mom and dad to be fed 50 more bites!

You might remember that Challenger had cataract surgery. ‘J’ writes that it went well and sent us the link. He is now back home!

If you missed the June Condor chat, here it is!

David and Betty welcomed osplet three to the Colonial Beach nest on Friday.

Fledglings continue to return to the Venice Golf Course osprey nest for fish dinner. How lovely.

Family portrait at Oyster Bay. All is well.

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Only Bob is alive and Mum is feeding it – looks OK.

It was really windy and rainy at the nest of Beaumont and Hope in Newfoundland. Hope is feeding the baby better than she has done in past years. 12 C with winds gusting to 40 km/h. Not good for fishing those winds.

Gorgeous day in Colorado. Charlie and Lola are doing really, really well. What a beautiful trio. Did you know that Lola is Charlie’s new mate replacing Charlotte? And she is 14 years old and was banded in Lola, Montana? She must have lost her mate, too. Glad these two found one another – they are a beautiful family.

Two beautiful osplets in Latvia!

A nest full of big beautiful osplets in Poole Harbour.

All is good for the Dyfi kids of Idris and Telyn.

The Dorsett Hobbies have three eggs.

Gorgeous eaglets at the Estonian nest #2. Walking stronger. Eating well. Both of them.

Goshawks abandon their nest after hearing shots.

Goshawk-nest-abandoned-in-Cairngorms-National-Park-after-shotgun-attack-–-Police-Scotland-appeal-forDownload

Well the persecution of raptors continues and now there is a Taskforce. I hope it does something besides having meetings — something good for the raptors.

Police-launch-National-Hen-Harrier-Taskforce-to-tackle-illegal-persecution-on-grouse-moors-–-Raptor-Download

A large number of my readers live in the UK. Here is a great article – for those times you are going out to find wildlife – on where to go, who to spot, etc.

Puffins-catsharks-and-sea-squirts-how-to-spot-wildlife-on-the-British-coast-Environment-The-GuDownload

Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. We look forward to seeing you again soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, J, MP, PB’, George Anderson and The Woodland Trust, Geemeff, Geemeff and the Woodland Trust, Montana Osprey Project, Osoyoos Osprey Cam, Blackbush, Cowlitz PUD, American Eagle Foundation, Ventana Wildlife Society, VGCCO, PSEG, MN Landscape Arboretum, Newfoundland Power, Charlo Montana, LDF, BoPH, Dyfi Osprey Project, Dorsett Hobby, Eagle Club of Estonia, Raptor Persecution UK, and The Guardian.

Wednesday in Bird World

26 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

I hope that the first half of the week has treated you well. Thank you so much for your notes and the news that you sent that arrived in my Inbox this morning (Wednesday). I will put those great items in for tomorrow! So appreciated.

I could not believe the number of Blue Jays in the garden Tuesday afternoon. A pest control person would say we have an ‘infestation’ of Blue Jays – there were 16 in the garden at once. No, not some flying in and out and being counted twice, but sixteen! What an amazing feeling to see so many. Ever since I was luring Calico into the house and met people from another street near where I live, I realised that many people were feeding the birds and the feral cats. It has helped to increase the population numbers.

Below are some lousy images taken through the conservatory windows with the iPhone.

Too many choices!

This one loved digging in the plant pot.

This Blue Jay really wanted a peanut, but one of Dyson’s kits was on the table feeder. This one is also moulting but have a look at those beautiful markings especially around the eye. Looks like it has been practising the latest look with the kohl markers.

The markings around the eye are entirely different on this one. Gosh, I love Blue Jays. These images will go in the file form last summer to see if I can identify any of the birds.

Hope is almost ready for her first birthday and she has the most beautiful eyes. She has only to stare at me and I melt – not beautiful Baby Blues but Baby Greens.

Hugo Yugo has the most beautiful tail. It is as big as she is!

While Omega is taking record catches of Menhaden (its quota), the Ospreys in the Bay area are noted to be having difficulty finding food. This is the saddest thing I can think of. The ASMFC makes the quota and every state is represented. IF we want our ospreys to have food and not have their population completely decimated then the people that make quota decisions need to understand that commercial fishing of Menhaden needs to stop and stop now. The list of those decision-makers is below.

I also learned this: “The Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay are two separate ecosystems.Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) uses ocean only survey data from NOAA on Menhaden to set an Ocean and Bay quota. No wonder the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem is on the verge of collapse – the 112M lb Bay quota is set by throwing darts.” (Brain Collins, Menhaden – Little Fish, Big Deal FB).

Commissioners-Atlantic-States-Marine-Fisheries-CommissionDownload

‘EJ’ sent me some great news about the intentional release of balloons. In Florida, it is now against the law. You can still have balloons, you just cannot intentionally let them fly free. But what about those accidents? Now can we get an all out ban on the use of balloons for anything? Just ban them. People who leave them tied to the gate posts on their drive cause as much trouble as those who release them into the air. They still get into the environment. Just take the big step and ban them.

DeSantis-signs-law-banning-intentional-release-of-balloons-Fox-NewsDownload

A Himalyan Vulture has been photographed in Armenia for the first time.

Western-Palearctics-first-Himalayan-Vulture-photographed-in-Armenia-BirdGuidesDownload

England is getting another protected area in Cumbria. It may be baby steps to some but any success is worth the effort!!!!!

Englands-largest-rainforest-becomes-protected-reserve-BirdGuidesDownload

Waiting for hatch at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.

All is well with CJ7 and Blue 022 at Poole Harbour and their four osplets. One is wanting to nibble and get that fish away from Dad!

The two Golden Eaglets at Estonian nest 2 Kaljukotkas are the sweetest things. Yes, you read that right! Prey was brought in and older sibling left some for the younger. Seriously it doesn’t get much better than that!

Aran and Elen’s trio at Glaslyn are marvellous. I can’t wait til they are ringed. What an idyllic spot to hatch! The sound of cows and sheep, the beautiful green of the Welsh countryside. They will be ringed shortly.

The two surviving chicks at Maryland’s Western Shore nest are really wanting to self feed. Mum still likes to control those fish!

They are very loud – oh, that beautiful sound of an osplet fish crying. And they are the size of their parents.

Nox and Annie – you might want to turn down the volume!

‘PB’ reports that in the late afternoon the third hatch at Steelscape finally had a crop! The little one has had trouble getting any food. We are concerned.

The baby had a tough time at Cowlitz PUD today, too, but ‘PB’ counted 50 nice sized bites of fish at the last feeding. That is not good but might be survivable providing more fish comes in early on Wednesday. A confirmed late evening large fish has arrived. The two older chicks ate their fill. Little three had nothing.

Marders Only Bob is doing very well.

I have to remind myself that those tiny third hatches can survive when I look at Blackbush. I am thinking of Tiny Little Blue 464 at Foulshaw Moss, Tiny Little at Achieva in 2021, Little Mini aka Tiny Dancer at Patchogue…but they have to have spunk and a bit of creativity to get to that fish.

Looking at the two osplets at Bridge Golf Course you might not notice that there is concern for the leg of the second hatch.

Geemeff sends us the Loch Arkaig Daily Summary – thank you, Geemeff!

Daily summary Tuesday 25th June 2024

A day with few fish but plenty of good manners, and confirmation of two chicks on the Bunarkaig nest (thanks Chaddie), whose parents may or may not be Prince & Affric 152. Louis only delivered three fish today, none of them especially big, so Dorcha gave the two chicks, who queued up politely and took turns, most of the fish and only took a little for herself. Louis’ tally rises to two hundred and forty nine (249), although judging by his bulging crop, he may well have caught more than three today. Dorcha took out her hunger on some sticks and the chicks paid close attention making sure to keep out of her way. Garry LV0 paid several visits to Nest One, bringing nesting materials and doing housekeeping as well as perching quietly and preening. The weather was settled today, and more of the same tonight with a forecast of light clouds, light winds and a low of 12 °C.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 00.18.32 (03.29.13); Nest Two (04.08.47)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/K3WvjHDOV-M N2 Fish number one, not much left for Dorcha 09.29.00

https://youtu.be/Z_3zm3AQWgc N1 Garry LV0 brings bedding but only stays a short time 12.04.22

https://youtu.be/Y2Gv_Oh4iNk N1 Garry returns and does some nest prep 14.45.25 

https://youtu.be/dFLYF7Ayh0E  N2 Fish number two, chicks queue politely 16.44.47

https://youtu.be/ySDyxYVtZpw  N2 Personages with long sticks 17.17.01 (Classic Ospreys – Saint-Saëns)

https://youtu.be/4vw_4rNXK2g N2 Fish number three, small headless trout, Dorcha gets hardly any 20.02.23

Bonus shopping – bag a bargain in Woodland Trust’s sale – every purchase made from WT’s shop funds vital work to plant and protect trees and woods across the UK: https://shop.woodlandtrust.org.uk/summer-sale

Watch the Loch Arkaig Osprey livestream 24/7 and join in the conversation here:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

Oh, look at my guy. Blue 33! He is delivering fish #10 at 20:18 for Maya to feed their Only Bob. Oh, there are nests that could only dream about this number and size of fish. So what is the difference? Rutland has a stocked pond.

Blue 1H0 has the same ‘snake eyes’ as Daddy Blue 33. Just gorgeous.

Oh, Iris. You are looking tired to me. But you are taking such good care of those babies.

On Tuesday, it appeared that Finn had trouble fishing with only this very early morning fish. Will there be another? What is the problem?

Darling Finn brought in the second fish of the day for Iris and their babies. Thanks, ‘PB’. Was he on security duty all day? or was fishing particularly difficult? That was a huge gap in time.

SF Bay Ospreys are giving us a 26 day report – that is the age of the oldest of the two chicks of Rosie and Richmond. It is now half way to fledge. Gosh, time passes so quickly.

Anna and Andrew’s Beautiful Lesser Spotted Eaglet at Zemgale, Latvia, Ieva. Several voles coming in for food. I wonder how many small mammals are available in the forest for food? Have the population of small mammals changed in the area?

Selgas and Svinga have at least one miracle little osplet in that nest in Latvia. I strained my eyes to try and see if there were two of them on Tuesday.

And yes, it was a second little head. Thanks, ‘J’.

In Newfoundland, the first egg has hatched at the nest of Hope and Beaumont in Snow Lane.

It’s raining and it is unclear to me if the baby has been fed.

‘A’ keeps us up to date on what is happening with Dad and Lady in the Sydney Olympic Forest: “Meanwhile, an egg is surely just around the corner at WBSE: June 25: After some time on the nest, standing and keeping us in suspense, Lady went to her sleeping branch and slept quietly for the rest of the night. Both woke early, with several early morning duets and finally mating at 6:25. Both were away just before 7am. Dad returned with a small bream, head eaten, and left it on the nest at 7:13. Both eagles were seen from the river at 7:50, one at River Roost, the other near Ironbark Roost in the forest. Dad returned and took the fish himself just after 9am. He brought a stick in just before 10am, followed by Lady, and left again after a little work. Both returned just before 11am, Dad with another stick. Both left again, no prey. Dad was back again an hour later, followed by Lady – no prey – and off again. Then he brought a leafy twig, again followed by Lady – then she was off again. Dad returned with a big whiting at 16:19, quickly claimed by Lady and taken off to eat at Ironbark Roost. She returned the last scrap to the nest at 16:48. Later, at last light, both were on the nest, then moved to nearby branches for the evening. Will tonight be the night?

Syracuse University confirms that Oren and Ruth’s two Red-tail Hawklets fledged.

‘H’ sends her great reports!

6/25 Colonial Beach Osprey nest: Yay!  Betty and David now have two lil’ babies.  Their second baby hatched at approximately 17:48.  One more egg to go.

6/25 Fortis Exshaw:  Things are going very well for this family…Harvie brings in so much fish, that there is no feeling of food insecurity by the osplets.  Two years ago, Louise and Jasper fledged three chicks.  Last year, Jasper disappeared early in the season, and Louise had a difficult time fishing for her three young kids, while at the same time dealing with some really mean intruders.  Louise had some assistance for a few weeks by another male, Mr. O.  He brought fish and helped with nest security, but I fear that Mr. O may have also been a victim of the intruders.  Only one osplet of three fledged.  That was Banff.  Fingers crossed for Louise and her new family this year.

6/25 Osoyoos osprey nest:  In my mind, fish size is relative to any given nest.  A ‘whopper’ at Osoyoos would be considered a medium sized fish at many other nests.  Olsen mostly brings tiny, small, and medium sized fish to the nest, and rarely is he able to catch a large fish.  There are variables such as: is the fish headless, is the fish thin or thick (fish mass)?  I like to judge by how long it takes Soo to feed her three kids from any given fish.  From my observations: A feeding from a tiny fish only takes Soo 3-4 minutes to feed, 5-7 minutes for a small fish, 8-10 minutes for a medium sized fish, and 11-15 minutes for a large fish.  This is not a perfect system by any means…a tough fish will take longer to feed, and if Soo becomes distracted for a bit, that will prolong a feeding.  There were ‘only’ five feedings for the osplets today, down from their average of 7-9 meals per day.  No aggression was observed during any of the feedings.  The meals lasted (in minutes of duration): 5, 11, 5, 8, and 15 minutes.   The chicks are growing rapidly, and their appetites are increasing.  Due to the size of the fish, Olsen needs to catch a whole lot of fish for this hungry brood in order to prevent any food insecurity.  Fingers crossed.

6/25 Forsythe osprey nest: The live stream had been down for 2.5 days, and upon return of the stream just before noon today, we saw one of the osplets self-feeding.  And, after a while, the other chick stole the fish and also self-fed.  The self-feeding is a new development.  The 35 and 34-day-old osplets are looking good.

6/25 Mispillion Harbor osprey nest:  Della and Warren are doing a great job, and this family is doing well.  The 29 and 28-day-old osplets are simply gorgeous (this is one of my home nests…so I’m a little biased, lol).

In Oklahoma, excessive heat is killing songbirds. Many Robins found dead. Some people are putting frozen gel packs in their water bowls and bird baths to help keep the water cool. Please put out water for all the feathered friends and critters! Shallow dishes with pebbles help. Food if you can, but water is so important. Thank you and thank you to everyone who sent me a note to say they are doing their part with providing water. You are saving lives. Smile. Every little bit helps.

It is about that time. 1 July in Canada and the 4th in the US. And I am sure there are celebrations elsewhere. I continue to imagine celebrations without things that harm the wildlife – like balloons and fireworks. Just think what the money spent on fireworks could do to help non-humans and humans.

Persuade your community that there are alternatives – that might even include a free picnic for everyone. Anything but fireworks and balloons.

Final note: The little one at Cowlitz had no fish from the first feed at Cowlitz PUD and the same at Steelscape. So sad.

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, posts, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: A, EJ, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, Brian Collins, ASMFC, FOX News, BirdGuides, Trent University, BoPH, Eagle Club of Estonia, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home, SK Hideaways, Steelscape Osprey Cam, Cowlitz PUD, Marders, Blackbush, Bridge Golf, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, LRWT, Montana Osprey Project, SF Bay Ospreys, LDF, Newfoundland Power, Sea Eagle Cam, SU Hawk Nest Cam, Colonial Beach, Fortis-Exshaw, Osoyoos, Mispillion Harbour, Forsythe, and Spay-Neuter Coalition of NM,

2 kg female osplet ringed in Wales…Tuesday in Bird World

25 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone!

‘The Girls’ and I are sitting in the conservatory despite the high temperature. It is 29 C. We have gotten hotter in the summers, but everything feels strange – like a big storm coming. The trees are twirling around and the clouds are moving quickly covering up the sun and yet, there is no prediction of anything happening. Cold water has been put out for the birds and more food for the Corvids as they are feeding babies and fledglings are coming to the garden now. I hope to get some good images of them one day.

I am not complaining. I understand from ‘MM’ that it is 96 F with a heat index of 101 in North Carolina. This is why all those osprey babies (and eagles) should hatch in the winter. So much better!

The garden is a shady paradise in the lilacs and the tunnel created with the vines and other trees. There is also shade on the deck in the late afternoon. The birds come out to feed again after having a siesta.

Junior wants a peanut but Dyson is there.

So he decides to have a bath.

It is hot everywhere. Please remember to leave out shallow bowls of water for the animals. You will save their lives. Water is more important than food when the heat is so high. Even pie pans with water – put try and put them in the shade. Thank you.

This just puts a smile on my face. Someone doing something to help birds. Enter mosquitoes to the Hawaiian Islands.

Millions-of-mosquitoes-released-in-Hawaii-to-save-rare-birds-from-extinction-Hawaii-The-GuardianDownload

Idris and Telyn have set a record at the Dyfi nest in Wales. One of the females broke the weight record for a chick ringed in Wales. She came in over 2 kg. Here is the announcement with the names of the osplets!

That is incredible. ‘Daddy Longlegs’ Idris has really been hauling in the fish. Even that male has a nice healthy weight.

‘MM’ sends news that we have the first hatch at Colonial Beach. It is hot there. 31.3 C or 88 F. Chick has already had its first feeding! Well done, Betty and David. See also ‘H’s report below on this nest.

Iris’s oldest chick is rather precocious. It is already nibbling on the fish!

‘A’ comments on something magical: “Finn brought in a leftover chunk of fish at about 18:44 and just stands with it on the nest for about 25 minutes. Finally, he starts nibbling at it and Iris stands up, but Finn just keeps eating himself. Baby Bob spots who has the fish and is promptly over to dad, although both chicks already have good crops. It takes dad a while to stop feeding his face (and giving the odd bite to Iris) and start feeding Little Bob, and then he looks the wrong way when dad offers him fish, but around 19:16 a feeding of sorts begins. Soon, Big Bob sees what is happening and lumbers up behind Little Bob but does not interfere. Dad leans over to feed the older chick and at this point, he gives up on eating and starts feeding the two osplets in turn. It is wonderful to watch. This guy really is a keeper. He has a bit to learn about leaving leftovers on the nest and if he is only going to catch two or three whoppers a day, to bring them back more than once so they represent more than one feeding, but none of that will matter shortly, when they are big enough to handle fewer, larger feeds. 

Finn has been an amazing first-time dad, guarding his family and the territory with great dedication and bringing in enough fish to feed the family (albeit his delivery schedule needs a little adjustment – see above). He has fed Iris on several occasions when she is tired or when it is wet, and now, he is feeding the osplets as well. This is one fantastic dad in the making. And Iris has chosen well. “

‘B’ writes that we have fledges! “Fledges at both Fraser Point and Bald Canyon this morning — the second FP chick (usually referred to as Reign) at 8:32:09 and Selene at BC at 10:07:54.  Reign was back on an adjacent branch at 10:38:06 and on the nest proper within a minute…So all the Channel Islands eaglets that are on nest cams have now fledged.” Congratulations everyone. A wonderful year!

‘B’ also sent us a link to an article in The Washington Post. Do you think the Bald Eagle is the official bird of the United States? Have a read!

Opinion | You probably think this is our national bird. Think again.

‘TU’ has sent us some news. A pair of Egyptian Geese took over a stork nest. Their chicks took the leap this morning. Video below.

In Montreal, Peregrine Falcon chick Polo fledges! Beautiful flight. Oh, how I hate those windows.

Let’s catch up with the news from ‘H’:

6/24 Colonial Beach Virginia osprey nest:  Congratulations to Betty and David on the hatch of their first baby!

6/24 Barnegat Light osprey nest:  Even though Daisy and Duke did not have any eggs this season, they continue to hang out together in the bay area.  We are delighted when they grace us with their presence on camera.  Theirs is a love story.

6/24 The Osoyoos osprey nest had another nice day. They had nine feedings, and all three of the osplets had good crops.  Meal times remained peaceful, but I did catch a pretty good beaking battle in between meals, and that kerfuffle was started by Little!

6/24  Fenwick Island osprey nest (Capt Mac’s fish House):  Okay now…I am starting to be impressed.  June is keeping her leftover fish, saving it for more feedings, and she is feeding longer.  Just look at the crop on that lil’ 10-day-old osplet.  Now, that’s what I’m talking about!

6/24 Patuxent River Park osprey nest:  It was a veritable fish-feast-day.  There were a total of six long meals throughout the day .  Something really cool happened in the afternoon… At 1410 Mom brought a large fish to the nest (first fish for her this season), and two minutes later Dad landed in the nest with a large fish.  A dual feeding took place, with Dad primarily feeding the two older siblings for 1/2 hour before he left with half his fish.  And, Mom primarily fed Little.  She continued to feed everyone from her fish after Dad left, and her fish lasted an hour.  

6/24 Captiva ospreys:  The day started off with a surprise for Ding and Darling when they had a visitor in the middle of the night…a young heron landed in the nest for a short period of time.  The kids maintained their cool, but we’ve never seen their eyes so big!  Jack brought three fish to the nest today, and Darling had his very own hardhead catfish.  He was able to unzip it, and ate the whole fish.  Edie was last seen on cam on 6/23, but there have been sightings of an adult osprey landing in a nearby tree, and some believe that they have heard Edie.  It is believed that Edie is taking a short break, and that her absence from the nest has nothing to do with the fishing line incident of 6/21.  After the fishing line incident, Edie delivered fish to the nest on 6/21, 6/22, and 6/23, and she seemed just fine.

Thanks so much, ‘H’. That Fenwick Island baby is too cute – and oh, so full! Love it.

That little osplet in Kurzeme Latvia is also so cute. OK. They are all cute little dinosaurs.

Four hot ospreys at Field Farm. Little Mini is getting its feathers.

Birds of Poole Harbour Fab Four are deliriously wonderful. CJ7 and Blue 022. I can’t tell you how much I adore them.

And then there is Louis at Loch Arkaig that brought in a fish at midnight to Dorcha. Yes, midnight. Do ospreys hunt in the dark? how light was it in Scotland at midnight? Oh, I just wish I could send one of those fish over to Osoyoos.

Geemeff’s Daily Summary for Loch Arkaig: Monday 24th June 2024

The day started out a bit soggy but soon improved, and Louis had a bit of a lie-in after yesterday’s midnight fish, not turning up until lunchtime with today’s first fish. He followed it up with three more, taking his tally to two hundred and forty six. Dorcha had fun with a stick but was left hungry as the growing chicks devoured most of the fish, however the arrival of a large 11pm fish supper meant she didn’t end the day hungry. The nest seems to be getting a little crowded now that the chicks are mobile and stretching out their suddenly long wings, perhaps that’s why one chick took a pop at the other and a short sharp fight broke out. There was much discussion on the forum about which chick is which as it’s getting very difficult to tell them apart. Garry LV0 turned up on Nest One again today, bringing nesting materials and doing a bit of nest scraping. Is this a frustration eyrie? Whatever his motives, it’s good to see him. Tonight’s forecast is light rain and light winds, luckily although the chicks are too big to fit under Dorcha, their preen glands are coming through and they’re starting to get some waterproofing. 

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 00.15.51 (02.48.23); Nest Two (03.32.32)

Watch the livestream 24/7 and join in the conversation here:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/Alfrd7novqE  N1 Garry LV0 arrives early and does some nest prep 06:15:01 

https://youtu.be/fs7pwvQ359g N2 Fish number one, small whole trout, chicks queue politely 12.45.07

https://youtu.be/iQA9jIPeDsE N2 Fight! Is the nest getting too crowed? Chicks have a pop 13.01

https://youtu.be/opTBHM-Q3jk N2 Dorcha brings a stick and hangs it round Chick1’s neck 14.28.44

https://youtu.be/ryxHF_M71io N2 Fish number two, big whole trout, Dorcha gets hardly any of it 15.30.25

https://youtu.be/45KVDHPY0x40 N2 Fish number three, headless small trout, soon finished, Dorcha’s still hungry 17.08.47 

https://youtu.be/Ijm7ts7aZGk N2 Fish number four, whole trout, Dorcha tucks in immediately 23.05.25

Bonus read – Flights, Camera, Action! Postcode Lottery discuss their sponsorship of the nest cam:

https://www.postcodelottery.co.uk/postcode-hub/news/flights-camera-action

Blackbush. Sometimes dual feedings. Sometimes Dad feeding Mum who feeds babies. Send this nest hope. We have seen these little ones before survive. Tiny Dancer. Tiny Little. Blue 464. It depends on the amount of prey and the willingness of the parents to work hard to keep all of them alive – just like CJ7 and Blue 022 are doing.

Beautiful fledglings back on the VIMS nest.

Once in awhile you will catch a fledgling on the Frenchman’s Creek nest. These kids are gorgeous. Look at that clean nest!

Looks like Tuffy had a couple of nice fish today on the Moorings Park nest. These kids of Harry and Sally are gorgeous.

It was 26 C in Osoyoos today. Tomorrow will be 27 – and believe me, it is hotter on the top of an osprey nest than it is at ground level. Then there is to be rain. Oh, please give these babies some fish – some big fish because Soo and Olsen have to eat, too!

My goodness. The plumage on that baby at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is dark. Very pretty little osplet. The image shows Mum feeding the little one from the whole fish that Dad brought in around 1400. There had at least been one earlier fish. It is hot on that nest!

Oh, look at those fat little bottoms at Charlo Montana!

Winnie and Swoop have their second baby at Dunrovin on the 24th.

It is hot in Colorado. Pitkin County Mum is the perfect mumbrella keeping her babies cool. She fluffs her own feathers to keep herself cool as well.

I sure would like to see more fish in the heat at Cowlitz PUD but there are still three osplets that appear to be alright.

Beautiful baby at Clark PUD.

Boulder County Mum keeping their Only Bob cool and fed!

No love lost when it comes to food amounts San Jose fledglings!

Many of us are hoping to find out what happened to Redwood Queen and Zenith’s chick in the Big Sur Redwood Forest. We are joining the Ventana Wildlife Society’s Condor Chat which is on the last Thursday of the month. Very informative.

Got to the Ventana Wildlife Society website to sign up. The Condor chats are also archived and you can view them on YouTube.

Educate yourself about California Condors and the acute challenges they face. The Ventana Wildlife Society led the way in giving their flock vaccines for HPAI. Now they are helping others.

We have another Condor baby. Fingers crossed.

Decorah North continues to thrive despite the nest collapse.

Gorgeous Black Storks in Portugal.

Beautiful Mum at Port Lincoln Barge on the nest and eating a fish she caught and brought back quickly.

‘PB’ has been keeping an eye on Cowlitz PUD and Steelscape. She writes, “I just checked both Cowlitz and Steelcase since they are both in the same area. Fish seems to be coming in slow and far apart, keeping #1 grouchy and getting most of the food. Steelcase is worrisome to me for #3. It’s is constantly bullied by #1 when food arrives. Even bullies away #2. #3 Steelcase could use more fish. #3 managed to bravely grab a few big pieces of the tail section on ladt fish but is hungry. Cowlitz little baby ate a good breakfast but not much after that. Last fish there was 4 hours ago. Still light out so hoping for a late fish but both places need larger fish to feed 3 mouths.”

Smile. Canada Geese enjoying the grass by an airport in Alabama. Thanks, ‘L’. It seems so odd seeing them with palm trees! Oh, I love the Canada Geese – and guess what? They are not the national bird of Canada. The Gray Jay is. Go figure.

And another smile. Ospreys rescued and in care. Thanks, ‘J’.

Menhaden are the primary fish of the Ospreys in the NE USA. If you want to know how bad the commercial fishing industry is impacting these life-giving little fish, you only have to go to the FB page – Menhaden – Little Fish, Big Deal. here is a post from this morning. This is seriously concerning and the commercial fishing needs to stop before the Osprey are completely wiped out. Of course Dophins and Whales eat Menhaden, too, and they are practically disappeared from the area.

Our friend Hob in Kauai sends us news of the first moli fledge for 2024. how wonderful!

Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care. If it is super hot where you live, drink lots of fluids. Consider putting water out for the animals even if you can’t see them – we have visitors during the night that eat and drink. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, letters, comments, questions, videos, images, posts, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, B, Geemeff, H, J, L, MM, MP, PB, TU’, The Guardian, Dyfi Osprey Project, Colonial Beach Ospreys, Montana Osprey Project, Montana Osprey Cams, Pam Breci, The Washington Post, Fenwick Island, Patuxent River Park, Osoyoos, Wildlife Conserve of NJ (Barnegat Light), Window to Wildlife, HorstsHorst, Montreal Falcon Cam, LDF, BoPH, Geemeff, Blackbush, VIMS, Frenchman’s Creek, Moorings Park Ospreys, Osoyoos Ospreys, MN Landscape Arboretum, Charlo Montana, Ashley Wilson, Pitkin County Open Spaces and Trails, Clark PUD, Boulder County, SK Hideaways, Ventana Wildlife Society, Lady Hawk, Tajo International, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Polk County Animal Control, Menhaden-Little Fish, Big Deal FB, and Hob Osterlund.