Category Archives: eagles that died

Hatch in Progress at Dyfi…Monday in Bird World

20 May 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

There is a hatch in progress at Dyfi!

Sunday was a glorious day, and instead of sitting in front of my computer in the conservatory with the girls, I took a trip to a small town in southern Manitoba and paid a visit to their greenhouse. They had helped with a fundraiser (plants) for my grandson’s choir tour, and the quality of their flowers and herbs amazed me. So off I went. It was a wonderful half-hour drive with the sides of the road full of Red-wing Blackbirds flitting about the bullrushes and geese in ponds created by the recent heat rains. Everything was green and beautiful, and – it was quiet. If you live in the centre of a big city, the silence of the rural areas does not go unnoticed! This evening, all those herbs – including two Curry plants – will be put in their containers on the two decks with the hope that Dyson & Co will have pity on me and not usurp them while caching their peanuts. I live in hope.

It is interesting. The garden is not mine OR, rather, I have chosen to give it her to the animals which means that I feel that I am intruding when I am outside. I spent only an hour planting and will finish tomorrow. The heavy rains of the last days have meant that many birds might not have eaten well and it seemed cruel to be out there during the evening buffet period. The fledgling Red-wing Blackbirds are flitting about. One is causing concern. It does loops and I fear that it has a wing problem. I am not able to catch it and to be honest, the Wildlife Centre would only put the darling to sleep so I am going to let it live its life around the wood boxes where there is lots of food and see what happens. It has certainly entertained Calico and Baby Hope. The Baltimore Orioles – and this year more females than males – have been eating oranges. Lots of oranges! For some reason they are not at all interested in the grape jelly. Will try again tomorrow. But what an exciting late spring it has been – baby sparrows galore and now these little Red-wing Blackbirds. Their nest is inside a 30 cm high stack of vines that grow on the back woodbox. A perfect place that is well protected from the Crows and Grackles. Their Mummy was very smart!

Sad news is coming out of Glacier Gardens. Freedom was found Dad. He is the mate of Liberty and the Dad of those wonderful chicks Kindness (2021), and Peace and Hope (2023).

‘H’ and I just want to make everyone aware of what we desperately hope will not happen at Lake Murray. The ages and dates for the predation by the GHO in 2023 were: “Big was taken by GHO on 5/15 at age 26 days. Middle was taken by GHO on 5/23 at age 33 days.” Little died from siblicide. Today, the Osplets are 29, 27, and 24 days old. Mum is not sleeping on the nest at night and is away during the day. The GHO is aware of the nest. I hope that the owner has lights and loud music playing regularly now and will not stop thinking the owls have forgotten! Those efforts might help.

Little ate reasonably well on Sunday. I am no longer counting bites unless behaviours or fish deliveries (or both) change on this nest. For now, we have to stay strong and hope the GHO does not take these precious babies.

There are such simple solutions to protect our beautiful birds from harm – by us or other predators. At Lake Murray, for example, the fish grates or lights – GHOs do not like lights – would help. Right now, lights are the only solution. During migration, dimming or turning off lights can save the lives of millions of birds. You just have to flip a switch. Is that so difficult? Geez, it could save hydro costs!!!!!!! Do you remember the Brown Outs of the 1970s? It really is easy. Geemeff found us a good article.

Lights-Out-Turn-off-lights-to-save-birds-lives-newscentermaine.com_Download

The two chicks on the German streaming cam Goitzsche-Wildnis appear to be doing well.

And then the third one hatched on Monday – so a trio!

We have all been worried about CO8 at Captiva. ‘H’ gives us her report for Sunday. “0722 The first meal of the day consisted of a small partial mullet.  CO8 simply decided to sit this one out, and did not approach Edie.

At 0845 Jack delivered a whole sheepshead.  CO8 was beaked, or intimidated several times over the next several minutes.  While Edie ate the fish, C07 simply hovered over CO8 until 0855.  Then CO7 decided to eat.  CO7 ate until 0901 and then moved away.  Edie then started to feed CO8, and ate until 0913, when CO7 returned to the table.  At 0920 CO7 again stopped eating, and CO8 ate for the next 6 minutes.  CO8 was fed for about 18 minutes at this meal.

Feeding #3 was a partial sheepshead at 1003.  CO7 beaked CO8, then CO7 ate until 1011.  CO8 had a short private feeding until 1017, when CO7 returned and they ate side-by-side for one minute until CO8 was beaked.  CO7 ate until 1023, then CO8 returned and ate for 2 more minutes.  CO8 ate for approximately 8 minutes at this feeding.

At 1557 Jack delivered a large live gafftopsail catfish.  CO7 intimidated CO8 and ate first.  By 1602 CO8 had worked his/her way to the other side of Edie, but was beaked by CO7.  At 1617, CO7 was taking a break from eating, and CO8 was fed…but only for 2 minutes, when he was beaked by CO7 who resumed eating.  CO7 ate for at least the next 30 minutes, and CO8 was only able to grab one or two bites.  At 1651 Edie was alarming and flew off with the fish.  She soon returned with the fish still in her talons, and CO8 ate for 1 minute before being intimidated by CO7.  At 1710, CO7 once again retired from the meal, and laid down to take a nap.  CO8 was able to eat for the next 8 minutes, before being pushed from behind by CO7.  CO7 ate until 1725, then CO8 was at the table and waiting, but Edie was distracted, presumably by an intruder.  At 1728 Edie flew off in a hurry.  Edie returned 5 minutes later.  There was just a small amount of the catfish remaining, and CO8 ate for the next 3 minutes.  CO8 was able to eat for a total of approximately 14 minutes, and only had a small crop after a fish that lasted roughly 90 minutes.  Overall however, CO8 did fairly well today, and had a large crop a couple of times today.”

Dr Ericke Green continues to post good information about Ospreys which I will share with you in case you are not on FB. This is an exciting year and we will know the name of Iris’s New Guy soon!

I had so many lovely letters today. There is news that I want to share with all of you.

‘AM’ has discovered a new Peregrine Falcon nest. It is Kingston College. She tells me, “The mother was badly injured and euthanized and the father is raising the young alone. Recently, a new female has started coming in.”

Here is the link to their streaming cam:

‘MM’ reassures us that the Dad at the MNSA nest is doing a fantastic job! She comments, “Mom seems to feed the littlest chick first and in the few days I’ve been watching there has been one episode of bonking that I’ve seen and it was between the two oldest chicks and it wasn’t at meal time. “

‘MM’ asked about Mum at MNSA begging Dad to feed her. Many of you might not have seen it before, but there are a number of Ospreys that either like to be fed or do the feeding. Iris has been begging New Guy to feed her while she is incubating just like her Stanley did. Several UK nests have the male feeding the female. I wish I had images. This is the screen capture of Dad feeding Mum at MNSA.

I am always happy to get your letters. Please do not ever think for a moment that I do not like hearing from you!

Annie and Archie have really provided a lot of ‘light’ to everyone’s lives this year. ‘B’ writes: “…just to say how much fun it is watching the Cal Falcons this year, and how impressed I am with both Annie and Archie. Annie is even more impressive every year, and she’s lucky to have Archie, too. I wasn’t expecting the fourth egg to hatch, and I was a bit worried when it did that it would be just too much. But Annie and Archie are just not skipping a beat with four chicks. Archie just keeps the prey coming, and Annie is so skilled at distributing the food to the chicks. And wonderful to see Archie again yesterday joining in to tandem feed the chicks.” 

What a shocking difference in size between Small at Amersfoort and one of the two older siblings.

Big Red loves her Ns. They are getting their juvenile feathers and their interest is shifting beyond the world of the nest on the light tower. We can expect fledging in June.

Rose and Oren’s sweet babies at Syracuse University. This nest is going to get really crowded.

Another location for Red-tail Hawks to raise their young – New York City! Yolton commented in his blog, urbanhawks.com, that the female had been picked up earlier in the week and taken into care. She was released and returned to her nest to the delight of her growing community of human well-wishers.

I am so happy that Bruce Yolton is posting his videos on FB for everyone to see.

Other Red-tails are nesting on Governor’s Island.

All three osplets have fledged and returned to the nest at the Venice Golf and Country Club platform. Adults continue to deliver fish – six or seven today!

Waiting for hatch at Boulder County.

Day old osplet at Great Bay doing well.

It looks like Dad will be fishing for two chicks this year at PSEG Patchogue.

Frederick keeps bringing in the fish to Betsy and the two chicks at Outerbanks.

Hebert and Hermine’s trio at Eschenbach are a little older than the chicks at Goitzsdhe Wildness.

For all Ervie lovers, myself included, he is still hanging around Port Lincoln! With all these boys, Mum and Dad could have grandchildren close by in a year or two.

‘A’ sends us the latest on Mum and Dad, the WBSE at Sydney Olympic Park:

“Speaking of which, I am intrigued by Lady and Dad and wondering whether this is their usual schedule and I just have been unaware of it (not checking the nest basically until eggs are due to be laid or have been laid, I think) or whether they are very early in nest-building and frequent mating behaviour this year. I suppose time will tell. We’ll know by the date the first egg is laid. 

Here are the reports for May 18 and May 19.

May 18: The eagles were by the nest last night and came in early, at 6:22am, with a duet and mating soon after. They brought a couple of sticks in, then were off. At 11:10am, a duet could be heard coming from Mangrove Island, though the eagles were out of sight of our observer. Then one was seen soaring overhead – in the picture. It was a windy day. Unknown where they were for the rest of the day. Then at dark, at 5:30pm, both arrived at the nest and settled nearby. Very few sticks were brought in today – Lady two and Dad one.

May 19: A fine day. Our eagles were awake early, with mating. Then both were in and out during the morning with sticks and leaves – five for Lady and seven for Dad. From about 11am, neither was seen at the river or nearby. Finally, at around 4pm, at least one was seen at Goat Island. Then at dusk, at 5:19pm, Dad showed up at the nest with leaves. He settled nearby. Where is Lady?”

More news about Laddie – and yes, I am thrilled they issued an appeal and were on top of what might have happened to our beloved male at Loch of the Lowes. (As Jeff Kear notes, “If the shot went straight through, it would not show up on an X-Ray”. Laddies body was found eight days after he went missing.

Update on death of Osprey ‘Laddie’ from Loch of the Lowes Reserve in Perthshire

If you are lucky enough to live in London, UK you might wish to take in the new exhibition at the Natural History Museum that focuses on how birds survive – and do not.

Vampire-finches-and-deadly-tree-snakes-how-birds-went-worldwide-–-and-their-battles-for-survival-Download

Thank you so much for your letters and for being with us today. Lots of excitement coming up in the next fortnight as we continue with fledges and hatches. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, AM, B, Geemeff, H, MM, MP’, Dyfi Osprey Project, Steven Bowery, Glacier Gardens Nest Cam, Trudi Kron, Lake Murray Ospreys, Animals, Goitzsche-Wildnis, Eschenbach, Window to Wildlife, Montana Osprey Project, Montana Osprey Cams and Dr Green, Kingston Campus STCG, MNSA Ospreys, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, Amersfoort Falcon Scrape, Cornell RTH, Syracuse University Hawk Cam, Bruce Yolton, VGCCO, Boulder County, Great Bay Ospreys, PSEG, OBX Osprey Cam, Eschenbach Ospreys, PLO, Sydney Olympic Cam, Raptor Persecution UK, and The Guardian.

Tuffy smiling at the camera…Monday in Bird World

22 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

It seems that ospreys were busy laying eggs on Sunday. It was like bunnies were delivering them – whether it was the first or the third – to nests around the world. I hardly had time to pull my head out of the data forms to check on other nests! So, today’s posting reads a little bit like a list. And in about 36 days there will be sixty or more osplets hatching around the world. Imagine it…they will join their siblings. Let us hope that all of the nests prosper this year.

I love a good rescue story with a happy ending and the one today comes from a friend ‘S’ who lives in Hawaii. A nestling White Tern had fallen off its branch; they do not build nests. The proper authorities were called, the chick was taken up to a much higher branch and the parent immediately came to it. Saved!

Check out the webbed feet that help them cling to branches where they nest and roost.

Animalia says, “White terns are often seen on their own or in small groups. They are a diurnal species but are more active at dawn and dusk. To eat, it dips its beak to catch prey at the water’s surface or just beneath it. A dive is often preceded by extensive hovering, and the bird may use the wind to sustain its flight. It may catch flying fish from the air, and it is commonly seen foraging near groups of predatory fish and dolphins which drive their prey towards the surface. An individual may carry a few small fish in its bill, taking these to its young with the prey held crosswise. If disturbed by a predator, a White tern will hover, flutter and make buzzing sounds. This bird has a graceful flight. It flies easily low above the waves, without landing. It will touch the surface once it has spotted prey. Its flight is buoyant, involving erratic changes in speed and direction.” They are often called ‘fairy terns’.

‘The Girls’, and I hope you had a beautiful day. It was sunny and warm—16 C—on the Canadian Prairies, but a brisk, cool wind was accompanying it. Ice cream did not taste the same, even with a heavy jumper!

Archie was encouraging the pipping chicks to hatch! What an incredible Dad he is – ‘SP’ has often wondered if he has raised chicks before and lost his mate. We will never know, but I hope that he is with Annie for eons. Cannot wait to see these fuzzy little ones with their pink beaks and legs jumping for food.

Falling in love with Archie. His enthusiasm is contagious.

The four Osaka Peregrine Falcon chicks being fed on the 20th. This is what Archie and Annie will be looking forward to very, very soon!

We have not been able to follow Nancy and Beau at the MN-DNR nest as they moved nest when theirs collapsed last year. Trudi Kron reports that the couple have two eaglets in 2024! Fantastic news.

As you know the posts by Audubon caused a stir in Bird World and everyone wanted to know what had happened to Meadow and when. The Raptor Centre of Tampa Bay posted this on their FB page on Sunday:

It certainly is a worry for those chicks that we love and who might suffer from lack of food and/or abuse by their siblings. Even Hugo Yugo craves anything with Calcium; we often think it is because her mother was starved when carrying those 7 kittens. What will Hugo Yugo’s life be like? Is this why Mini at Patchogue had the injured leg, ‘AE’ ponders. We won’t know, and sadly, we cannot tell, but there is concern for these chicks who suffer and do not get food regularly like the others. As you might recall, Meadow was beaked often and kept from prey at one time. This includes our dear Tuffy, who had a bit of a rotten ride for a while.

Today, Tuffy has been eating well. ‘H’ sent me the first screen capture below showing Tuffy smiling at the camera. How adorable. I hope that Tuffy’s health has not been compromised from lack of food and beaking for those days we worried about this little one.

He is right up at the beak at 1700 and no doubt will be smiling again.

Tuffy having a nice meal before bedtime on Sunday. Great crop, too.

On Sunday, Louis brought Iris a fish gift. — Don’t fall off your chair! Iris has been thwarting his advances. Keep it up – get some more fish, Iris!

‘H’ reports that the second egg was laid at the Seaside Nest in Oregon.

The third egg for Boulder County was laid on the 21st!

There are three eggs at Ferris State University’s Osprey nest. The three egg clutch was completed on the 21st. Their camera is now on Twitch and there is no rewind that I can see, but they do have an up-to-date FB page.

There are three eggs for Herbert and Hermine at the Eschenbach Osprey nest. Sunday began with a snow-covered nest that gradually melted during the day.

The second egg at the Cowlitz PUD osprey nest in Washington arrived on Sunday the 21st.

The three osplets at the University of Florida-Gainesville are entering the Reptilian Phase!

Waiting for the arrival of the first egg for Aran and Elen at Glaslyn.

First egg in the nest at GribSkov on the 21st.

There are now three osprey eggs in the nest in the Ramucka Forest in Poland.

‘BHA’ reports that the third egg (and hopefully the last) was laid at the Port of Ridgefield on Sunday.

It’s three eggs for Mispillion Harbour on the 22nd!

Second egg for the new couple at Dahlgren.

And then there were three at Alyth for Flo and Harry!

Bety and Buky have been incubating their two eggs in Mlady Buky.

Dunrovin Ranch’s latest newsletter reflects on the absence of Harriet and the great matriarch she was of their osprey nest.

Honoring-Queen-HarrietDownload

The American Eagle Foundation posted some images and information on Mr President and Lotus and their eaglets at their new nest. I know that many of you loved this eagle pair and are so disappointed not to be able to see them raise their chicks.

The GH owlet named Wyatt branched at the nest on Farmer Derek’s land on Sunday.

Down in the Sydney Olympic Forest, Dad and Lady are starting the nest renovations for the 2024 season! Wow. Cal Falcons hasn’t even hatched their eggs yet….did time start moving at warp speed?

The Cream-Coloured Courser is only one bird that is beginning to breed further north than its norm. Climate change is driving more and more birds to cooler areas to make their nests.

“Cream-coloured Courser (Cursorius cursor) Tal Chhapar, Churu, Rajasthan, India February 15th, 2013” by Dibyendu Ash is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Cream-coloured-Courser-found-breeding-further-north-than-ever-before-BirdGuidesDownload

All About Birds shows this normal distribution map.

Key:

Animalia describes them as wading birds that forage for insects. Their numbers are decreasing but so far they are listed as of Least Concern.

“These coursers are found in Canary Islands, Cape Verde, North Africa and Southwest Asia. Their two eggs are laid in a ground scrape. The breeding season extends from February to September, but they may breed also in autumn and winter when local conditions (especially rainfall) are favourable. They are partially migratory, with northern and northwestern birds wintering in India, Arabia and across the southern edge of the Sahara. Some birds also breed in the southern desert regions in northwestern India and Pakistan. They are rare north of the breeding range, but this species has occurred as far away as Finland, Ireland and Great Britain.”

Thank goodness some communities understand. Portsmouth stops seaside condos from being built due to worries over wintering bird habitat! Give them five gold stars.

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There appears to be an egg at the Balgavies Loch nest on the 21st also. So many eggs on the 21st – it is raining them.

Movement has been noticed in one of the eggs at Captiva. ‘H’ reports that egg 3 is 37 days old today.

And, sadly, dear Audacity laid another egg on Sunday and it had a puncture.

Thank you so very much for being with us today. Things are going to get quite exciting the third week in May when these osplets start hatching! Take care all. Happy Earth Day.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, screen captures, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘AE, BHA, H, PB, SS’, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, Osaka Peregrine Falcon Cam, Trudi Kron, Raptor Centre of Tampa Bay, Moorings Park, Montana Osprey Project, Seaside Ospreys, Boulder County, Ferris State University Osprey Cam, Fischadle Eschenbach LiveStream, Cowlitz PUD, University of Florida-Gainesville Osprey Cam, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, GribSkov, Ospreys in Napiwodzko-Ramuka Forest, Port of Ridgefield, Mispillion Harbour Osprey Cam, Alyth Ospreys, Mlady Buky Stork Cam, Dunrovin Ranch Newsletter, American Eagle Foundation Live Nest Cams, Farmer Derek, Eagle Cam, BirdGuides, OpenVerse, Animalia, and All About Birds.

Spring, eggs, and Tuffy starts a fight…Thursday in Bird World

18 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

I want to thank one of our readers from Japan, ‘AM’ who sent the most beautiful images they took of a Sparrow Hawk and a Warbling White-Eye. Notice the magnificent cherry blossoms! It is spring in Japan and I would so love to have been there to see these birds in person. Thank you ‘AM’ for sharing with us! This is a wonderful way to start our day!

If you are not familiar with the Japanese White-eye, please have a read. The Canon Bird Branch Project provides some good information.

Canon-Bird-Branch-Project-Biodiversity-Initiatives-Bird-photo-guide-Japanese-White-eyeDownload

I had a question today that many of you might also be wondering about so I thought I would post it. Thanks, ‘AJ’ for allowing me to. The question: “I had a question about the Meadow situation. From what I saw, it appeared that Meadow did not eat for about 48 hours. She was fed around 10am the morning of her fall and then not rescued until she fell off the branch, two mornings later. I was wondering if there is some law preventing them from intervening unless the eaglet has fallen to the ground?” This is an excellent question and will help us to understand the complexity of the situation that Meadow was in. First, the Migratory Bird Act does now allow for anyone to approach a nest in North America during the breeding season without a permit from USFWS. Rescuers can get a permit if the nest occupants have been injured due to a human action – such as fishing line. We saw this at Dale Hollow and other nests. Other instances include infections that might be of interest to the public. We saw this at SW Florida when the two eaglets E17 and 18 had conjunctivitis. Neither of those cases would apply here because Meadow was blown out of the nest. You might recall the images of Meadow on the branch close enough to the nest for some to believe that Meadow might have been fed by the parents there or that Meadow might have been able to scramble up to the nest. A permit to rescue Meadow at that particular position might not have been given for two reasons: Rescuers arriving via rope or cherry picker might have caused Meadow to fall further causing injury or death OR those same actions might have caused Swampy to bolt and be injured or killed. Great caution has to be exercised in a situation like this. Still a permit has to be obtained and there has to be individuals skilled to make this type of rescue. The trees are quite tall. I do not know the terrain so I cannot comment on what could have been used or if anything could have. Permits take time. Getting a rescue team together takes time as well as the equipment. It is possible that was being undertaken – we might never know. What we do know is that Meadow fell. No permit is required to rescue an eaglet on the ground. That was what was done at that time. This was a very sad situation and there will be continuing debates over what should or could have been done, why postings were worded the way they were, and whether or not the infection weakened Meadow’s system and how its bone broke. A real tragedy for a much-loved eaglet. —– Thank you for this great question.

The same act applies throughout North America – the main law is the 1994 Migratory Bird Act. At times there have been some changes but anyone approaching a nest with occupants must have a permit.

Migratory-Birds-Regulations-2022Download

It is such a relief to not have to worry about Tuffy. No more going to bed wondering if the little fella has to wait til nearly 1800 to eat or if he will be beaked continually. Now, we can sit back and watch Tuffy grow and that little bottom get even fatter. What a turn around – a wonderful event and, if we had not witnessed the struggle of this second hatch, we would not be finding the joy that we are now that the food competition appears to be over. Sally is a great Mum and all is well. Tuffy ate so much and is now enjoying a good sleep.

Tuffy had nice crops and could be found eating much of the time. Then Tuffy got all fired up and started a fight with Ruffie. ‘H’ is making a video. ‘PB’ posted a screen capture and I am adding a few more. It was a hilarious exchange. Watch Tuffy’s posture. The confidence is growing.

Meals are peaceful.

Big Bad Tuffy telling Ruffy he has had enough.

Here is Heidi’s video clip:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/605504046583864/permalink/1832483540552569

There was a surprise delivery of a fish tail at Moorings Park in the night caught by ‘H’. “4/18, At 0235 Harry made a somewhat clumsy landing on the nest in the dark.  He was holding a small fish tail.  It took the sleepy family a few moments to react.  Sally was like: Harry dear, do you have any idea what time it is? lol.  Lil’ Tuffy started chirping away.  Ruffie was slow to wake up.  Sally began to feed Tuffy some bites of fish at 0238, although Tuffy found it difficult to find Mom’s beak in the dark.  Tuffy had only eaten 3-4 bites of fish by 0239, when Ruffie inserted herself in between Sally and Tuffy, and Tuffy reflexively moved away.  Sally and Ruffie finished the fish tail by 0254.”

Cute little Tuffy. Seeing this baby getting bigger, chubbier’ is so nice.

The three osplets at Venice Golf and Country Club ate well on Wednesday.

Little Miami Conservancy third hatch 7 ate quite well on Wednesday.

There is incredible news coming out of Rutland Water. 1H1, the eldest of a clutch of all females of Blue 33 and Maya at Rutland in 2022 is in Germany! Now, did she meet a wonderful German osprey male during her wintering in West Africa that invited her to join him? Everyone is delighted. That clutch kept Blue 33 so busy – all big healthy females. You might remember it! I am in tears – tears of joy. I watched those three grow up and am so thrilled we know this one has survived. I look forward to seeing her chicks.

Did I ever tell you that Maya and Blue 33 are super Ospreys? No only do they set records for raising healthy chicks, but their return rate is going to shatter some records, also. Good DNA and good luck – that is what my friend Tiger Mozone says is needed. Well, this bird has both.

I posted the following on 2 July 2022 when 1H1 fledged!

A close up of the nest of Richmond and Rosie.

We might never know the fate of the two remaining osplets and the Mum (the Dad appears to be fishing fine) at the Frenchman’s Creek Osprey Platform. After the death by siblicide-starvation of the third hatch and observers questioning the health of the female, the streaming cam has gone black. Actually, it is completely removed from YouTube. Anyone who wrote to Frenchman’s Creek might have received a reply that this is only a technical glitch.

It is like you have never seen it before! Beautiful done footage of the nest of Louis and Dorcha at Loch Arkaig before the birds returned by the Woodland Trust (on X, thanks, Geemeff). Some screen captures:

It is snowing in Missoula, Montana and Iris has been at her nest. Louis came over to pay a visit. Now I know that many are going to be upset with me, but I would like to think that Louis will give Iris some attention, she will lay the eggs and then the Crows will eat them because Louis is busy with Star at the baseball field. Then Iris will go of and have a very leisurely summer catching award-winning size trout and warming herself in the sun. As someone said, maybe we have Louis to thank for Iris’s longevity. She has not had the stress of raising osplets since 2018. I hope she has a lovely serene spring and summer and returns to us again in 2025 to have all of this repeated again.

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Iris shows us just how good she is. She brings one of her whoppers to the owl pole late Wednesday.

It is snowing in Colorado at the Dunrovin Ranch and Swoop is at the nest with his new mate. They probably wished they had waited a few days to return to the north!

Snow at Charlo Montana but it melted later in the day.

First egg at Boulder County Fairgrounds.

No eggs at Crooked Lake, yet.

Jack and Edie exchange incubation duties at Captiva. You can still see the bean shaped egg. We wait to see if any of the other eggs are viable. We are on hatch watch.

After her incredible reporting on the Moorings Park nest, ‘H’ is back monitoring all manner of other Osprey nests and brings us this news to be aware of this morning:

“At Captiva, Edie was listening to the eggs some more yesterday (4/17), but so far no pip seen in the IR lighting tonight.  

Steve and Callie are both back at Hog’s Island.  They may not actually use the Hog Island on-cam nest, but it will be a pleasant surprise if they do.  Last season they simply protected the nest, and may have used another nest on the Island.  

Oscar and Olivia at Severna Park have been bringing a lot of soft grasses to line the center of the nest, as well as a few clothing items, lol.  Perhaps eggs soon.

Today is day 35 for egg #1 at Lake Murray, I don’t know if Lucy delayed incubation.”

Trudi Kron caught JBS20 returning to the nest in Texas in video:

JBS20 continues to return to the nest for prey. You want to see this: the chick fledges and returns to the nest. They might not do it immediately, but you want to see them return and follow their parents to the nest. Fantastic. Thank you ‘AE’.

The trio at Centreport seem to be doing well as per the post and image by Robert Schwartz. So happy!

Nothing sweeter than watching Liberty and Guardian with their eaglets.

Their dream of a family this year might have shattered, but Jackie and Shadow are as strong a bonded pair as ever. They dreamed, they hoped, they persevered. Now they are moving on. Good lessons for all of us.

Ask me how much I admire Isabella Tree and the rewinding of Knepp Farm and the return of the White Storks – you will get an earful and more.

Buky and Beth are incubating their eggs. The first one was laid on 7 April. Oh, we have 33-34 days on average to hatch so mark your calendars for 10-11 of May. Gosh, we are going to have some osplets hatching then, too!

There is a Black Stork at Nest 3 in Estonia. Is there a mate? And who is this stork? The nest in Estonia was found and a camera installed in 2022. According to Looduskalender :

“Nest site is situated in Pärnu county, near wind farm development area. That was the reason to track Kergu, male stork who nested here last year, as well as reason to install webcam. There are proposed some mitigation measures, like preparing better feeding conditions in other sectors of home range. Hopefully results of those measures will be visible also through webcam in time. The measures are at the moment in planning stage, yet. So if somebody has ideas for mitigation measures in that situation, those would be valuable to analyse in current situation.

Kergu has rings (incl. left leg 7047) since childhood, he has been ringed in 2011 as one of three chicks in nest situated about 10 km of current Kergu nest. Three chicks fledged in Kergu nest in 2022 and they were in good condition during ringing. Female in this nest we did not know, most probably she was without of rings. In 2023, here we did not see female in nest. Kergu refreshed nest properly, few times neighbour male Nurme visited the nest as well as not ringed immature individuals. But in general Kergu was in nest alone, listening neighbour bird species, like woodland owls, passerines, etc.”

A close up confirms that this is indeed the male Kergu 7047 at the nest.

In Latvia, we have, according to Sassa Bird, the hope for the couple Ogris and Urga at this nest of the former Jan and Janikka. Black Storks are so very rare in Latvia and Estonia and the loss of Karl II (and perhaps Kaia and the others, also) makes any presence of the Black Stork such a special rarity. I see below the nest a full stream which could provide frogs and little fishes for a family here. It would be wonderful if this happens. (Note: Please correct me if any of this information is wrong).

Want to know how to identify White-tail eagles in the UK?

White-tailed-eagle-guide-how-to-identify-and-where-to-see-in-the-UK-Countryfile.com_Download

Missing little falcons? The four are getting fed at Osaka!

Hawk Mountain’s first migration chart. They note, “The damp start to April has made for challenging migration, and counting, conditions. Low cloud ceilings and persistent rain kept our spring trainees off the rocks for the first three days of the season! In between showers and fog, the trainees have counted 302 raptors through April 15th. Highlights from the 14 species of raptors seen from the lookout include a sub-adult golden eagle observed April 11th and migratory bald eagles and ospreys dodging the local bald eagle pair. The first broadwing of the season passed the lookout on April 5, and numbers have been gradually increasing with 54 broadwings observed on April 15 giving the current high-count placeholder at 74 migrants. During the solar eclipse, clouds marred the 95% coverage, but the lookout continued to count sharp-shinned hawks migrating throughout the window.”

If you missed it, this man has spent decades recording the sounds and he knows the birds are disappearing.

‘These-birds-are-telling-us-something-serious-is-happening-the-songbirds-disappearing-from-BritainDownload

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

Thank you to the following or their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘AE, AJ, AM, Geemeff, H, MB, MM, PB, SB, SK, TK’, AM, Canon Bird Branch Project, Government of Canada, Moorings Park Ospreys, Pam Breci, Heidi Mc, VGCCO, Little Miami Conservancy, LRWT, The Woodland Trust, SF Bay osprey, Montana Osprey Project, Bird Watchers General Store, Dunrovin Ranch, Owl Research Project/Explore, Boulder County, Timothy Dygert Live Stream, Window to Wildlife, Hog Island Ospreys, Severna Park, Trudi Kron, Rob Schwartz, SK Hideaways, Knepp White Stork Cam, Mlade Buky, Looduskalender, Eagle Club of Estonia, LDF, BBC Countryfile, Osaka Peregrine Falcons, Hawk Mountain, and The Guardian.

Leaps of Faith…Tuesday in Bird World

16 April 2022

Good Morning,

It rained. The skies opened up late Tuesday night. I stood outside and listened to the drops falling; the wet earth’s smell was amazing. It is supposed to rain periodically on and off until Thursday, when things will change to a mix of rain and snow. We are finally getting the moisture that the prairies need, and it is wonderful. The grass will turn green immediately! The geese will have something to eat besides the dead blades they have been living on for weeks. The Robins will be busy pulling the worms out of the soil tomorrow. I wonder if the Starlings will join them? Or the Brown Thrashers? It will be interesting to see how ‘The Girls’ react when I open the windows a bit so they can get a sniff.

Today’s news is mixed. ‘H’ and I are celebrating the triumphs of Tuffy at Moorings Park and new Osprey eggs while another Osprey nest is struggling to survive, and our dear Meadow has died. I do not want to get desensitised to the struggles and the deaths, and I do not want you to either. Last year, significant declines in osprey fledges were observed, especially in the NE USA. This year, we see low numbers of eaglets fledging on the streaming cams. This impact will not be noticed for a couple of years, but it could be substantial in terms of the declining population numbers of these raptors. At the same time, we must celebrate those that survive. Remember those that we have lost or the ones struggling. Find the joy because it is there. On the day that Meadow died, Swampy branched. S/he looks very healthy. Others laid eggs, and Tuffy continued to eat without much interference.

What can I say? Devastating news coming out of Audubon. Meadow was euthanised. The stated reason was fractures to the wing as in the announcement below and poor condition. On the 8th of April, Audubon put out a post stating that they had not found any breaks or fractures. Everyone is quite sad about this and felt encouraged that Meadow would recover. I wonder if he damaged his wings while flapping about in care?

‘H’ did the first-morning feeding and turned the rest of the day over to me to monitor. I hope to do half as good a job as she does! Tuffy had an extraordinary day on Monday. This nest has turned around because of the regular deliveries of large fish and the willingness of Sally to feed her chicks continually throughout the day.

Tuffy had a very good Monday morning. The smallest chick at Moorings Park dominated the first feeding. At 10:20 a large whole fish was delivered by Harry. Tuffy still had a crop from the earlier feeding. Sally begins eating the head of the fish while Ruffy moves into position. Tuffy stays away. Tuffy is intimidated by both Ruffy’s presence and position but is not beaked. Ruffy dominates the entire first part of the feeding. Tuffy tries to get into a position to be fed but cannot. Sally is obviously hungry and fighting with the head of the fish. At 1045 Tuffy does an excellent PS. The little one begins to move. Tuffy gets bite 2 at 1046. Sally tries to give bites to Tuffy but Ruffy moves to get in the way. Tuffy cannot position itself. At 1048 there is still fish and Tuffy begins its private feeding while Ruffy is in food coma under Sally’s tail in the shade. Our little Tuffy managed to get 227 bites of fish at this second feeding. Well, done, Tuffy, for waiting your time. It was a large fish – plenty for all three!

The third fish of the day was a headless large fish delivered at 1252. Harry stayed on the nest for a few minutes. Today Ruffie is 25 days old and Tuffy is 22 days old. They are exiting the Reptilian phase and that could easily account for the more peaceful nest. At 1253 Ruffie had an excellent PS. Tuffy stays back from the feeding at the beginning. He has a large crop. Ruffie goes to eat. Indeed, Tuffy does not appear interested! At 1259 Tuffy begins to move. Ruffie notices and moves her head but does not beak. Tuffy moves closer to Mum at the back of the tail. Tuffy is positioning himself. At 1301, Tuffie has a second excellent PS for the morning. Ruffie moves away and Tuffie is in position to have its first bite at 1303. There is a nice portion of tail remaining. By 1305 Tuffy had 32 bites of fish. Mum is feeding fast. By 1310 Tuffy has had 78 big bites of fish and has turned away. Ruffie moves up to eat again. Eats its fill and Sally gets to enjoy that nice fish tail. Both of the osplets have eaten very well by 1320 on Monday with no physical aggression from Ruffie to Tuffy. Oh, Tuffie gets more. At 1328, he got 14 more bites so a total of 92 good bites of fish for the third feeding of the day. Well done, Tuffy! Those excellent ‘ps’ demonstrate this chick is not dehydrated and is doing well. This nest is changing for the better.

The fourth fish was a slightly headless sheepshead – gosh, which are tough fish for these mums to feed. That fish arrived at 1520. Both Ruffie and Tuffy have big crops. Ruffie is not interested. Tuffy gets right up to the table to eat. Sally cannot feed the fish quickly, and Tuffy is often impatient and picks up pieces of dropped fish from the moss to eat while he waits. Tuffy was fed until 1539, when he had eaten approximately 1/3 of the fish and was quite full, moving away so that Ruffie could have some fish. No aggression was shown during the feeding. Sally was still getting the meat off that fish at 1640! Tuffy never returned to the table.

The fifth fish arrives in 1811 and is a large half-fish. Tuffy is right up there. Ruffy moves to the table, but Tuffy keeps eating. Then, at 1814, Ruffy takes exception hovering over Tuffy to force him into submission. Rufy gets fed, but Tuffy is back up at the table eating from 1829 to 1839. At 1842, Tuffy did an enormous PS right over the edge of the nest! The fish is done around 1843. I did not count bites. It was obvious that all was well despite the single incidence of domination. The two have eaten very well today.

The sixth fish arrived at 1939. It was a partial large Sheepshead. Both osplets were up at the beak. Ruffy ate until Tuffy began at 1946. Tuffy was fed until 1953 when Sally quit feeding. There is lots of fish on the nest. Both osplets had full crops at bedtime.

Sally decided to have a late night snack without the kids!

Tuffy’s ‘ps’. This excellent poop shot going well over the edge of the nest is a testament to Tuffy’s good eating and health over the past day. ‘H’ and I are going to stop counting bites as long as things remain stable on the nest. Tuffy is going to survive this. Both osplets are getting their feathers and I will probably say it several times – they are growing out of the Reptilian Phase and we would expect the aggression to be ceasing as long as Harry continues to provide this level of fish and their regularity.

*Caution*. I continue to worry about the Mum at Frenchman’s Creek. There are still fish piled on the nest. She fed one chick and stopped. The big one is trying to self-feed. This Mum is not lazy, she is ill. I believe it is possible that she has Trichomonosis. It causes severe damage to the tissues of the mouth, throat, crop and esophagus and affected birds may drool saliva, regurgitate food, have difficulty in swallowing food and water, demonstrate laboured breathing and/or have a swollen neck or throat. Several ospreys have died because of this including the Mum at Janakkala Osprey nest in Finland. The Dad piled fish on the nest and the two osplets tried to self-feed. One survived if my memory serves me correctly. The fourth eyas at the CBD in Melbourne died from this disease.

The older osplet is attacking the smaller one. Sheer frustration. Nest full of fish and chicks starving. Mum ill. Very sad.

Older osplets desperately trying to feed themselves in a nest full of fish. Little one has been beaked – leaning over top of nest. Has not eaten for a couple of days and will likely die shortly unless a miracle happens.

Mum is feeding the two older chicks this morning. The third chick is close to dying and by the time you read this will probably have passed.

The ospreys are into hard incubation at Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home with three eggs in the nest.

Only 5 goslings survived the leap of faith at the Decorah Goose Nest on Monday morning between 0802-0804. Believe it or not, another goose rushed to the nest and began laying eggs at 1030! It is quite a year. The Goose eggs are expected to hatch on Nest 2 in about a week.

Here is the live cam from Nest 1.

More Osprey eggs laid in the UK On Monday.

CJ7 and Blue 022 laid their first egg at Poole Harbour at 1540 on Monday. Congratulations!

Harry and Flora laid their first egg at Alyth at 1101.

Idris and Telyn have their second egg of the season at Dyfi at 0801 precisely 72 hours after their first egg was laid.

Audacity and Jak had another egg laid today at Sauces Canyon. The time was 14:55. You can see the flattened thin-shelled egg below in the image. So sad for them.

A little branching but both feet were off the nest bowl for Swampy at Eagle country at 1524 on Monday.

Both eaglets at Duke Farms are little boys. I don’t think this is a big surprise. Their aggression was only limited to a bit of time when prey was scarce.

Wichita and Cheyenne are doing fine at the Kansas City Bald Eagle nest.

It was difficult to tell how much prey the third hatch at Little Miami Conservancy received today. This nest could warrant a *caution* in watching for now.

Johnson City eaglets are big and doing great.

It looks hot on that Osprey platform at the University of Florida at Gainesville. Stella and Talon still have three osplets! What a nice sight to see as I have missed checking on them for a couple of days. The difference between the first and third hatch had me worried, but so far, so good.

Big Red and Arthur’s eggs were laid from the 17-26 of March. The average period for Red-tail Hawks to hatch is normally between 28-35 days, according to most of the guides. Last year, Big Red’s first egg hatched on the 37th day. I have tried to avoid the nervous energy of an expectant auntie….but we are entering the time when we can all get excited.

First Bald Eagle Hatch at White Rock in British Columbia, Canada announced today by Hancock Wildlife that oversees the nest.

The fourth and I believe final egg at the Peregrine Falcon nest in Japan has hatched. Just look at the size difference. It will be a joy to watch that little one catch up.

A glimpse of a day with Hartley and Monty in San Jose.

Smile. Bradley returns with another Puffer! Oh, he reminds me of Ervie.

And another reason to smile. Murphy who incubated a rock and got an eaglet to raise last year will get another chance this year. How wonderful. It is a win-win!

Concerns for White-tailed eagle Milda this year as her mate Hugo has not been seen for four days. She has protected the nest of eggs from intruders but needs desperately to eat. This so reminds me of the year Ramis was killed. Milda, go eat!

For all the lovers of our gal Iris at Hellgate Canyon, a young male visited her nest yesterday and tried mating with our gal. Keep your eye on that nest!

UK Migration in Review for last week:

Review-of-the-Week-8-14-April-2024-BirdGuidesDownload

That’s it for today. I spent my day watching Tuffy which was a sheer delight after the news of Meadow. Please take care. Thank you for being with us.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘H, PB’, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, Moorings Park Ospreys, Frenchman’s Creek Ospreys, Raptor Resource Project/Explore Decorah Goose Cam, Poole Harbour Osprey Project, SSEN Alyth Osprey Cam, Dyfi Osprey Project, IWS/Explore, Eagle Country, Duke Farms, Farmer Derek Kansas City Bald Eagle nest, Johnson City-ETSU, UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey Cam, Cornell Red-tail Hawk Cam, Hancock Wildlife Foundation, the Japanese Peregrine Falcon Cam in Osaka, SK Hideaways, Port Lincoln Ospreys, World Bird Sanctuary, Raine and LDF, and BirdGuides.