Category Archives: endangered species

Monday in Bird World

29 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

I am finishing this posting late Sunday evening as I must leave the house early Monday morning. So, whatever happens between midnight CDT and Monday morning will be covered on Tuesday. It is also going to be cooler tomorrow. 2 C. We were 24 C last week. I do not know about the birds and animals in the garden, but it has been quite the past few months with the weather fluctuating daily.

Hugo Yugo and Missey want to wish everyone a great start to their week. These two are inseparable, just like Calico and Baby Hope. It is not just Missey that washes Hugo Yugo – that little ginger gives Missey a good going over. It is so precious.

Beautiful chortling from Jackie and Shadow to start your day.

I spent Sunday with my daughter and her three children to celebrate the granddaughter’s birthday. You will recall that this young woman is quite an inspiration to me and others. She has the most empathy and is a social worker helping those who struggle to live independently due to long-term abuse and addiction. She is also Vegan and has been for seven years. Her commitment to the welfare of animals and people warms my heart.

There are some sad and horrifying things happening in Bird World and I would like to dispense with them right away and get on to some of the more positive events that happened in our nests on Sunday.

I have great concerns for the second hatch at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest. ‘R’ did a great job monitoring the nest and confirmed my fears. He writes, “At 0647 a fish was brought in.  It looks like Stella as only one Osprey came into the nest. At 1247 Stella again brought in a fish.  She is gone most of the time so I suspect she is doing the fishing. After this feeding both osplets had decent crops. At 1247 Stella fed part of a fish that was laying in the nest (catfish). At 1447 Talon brings in a fish.  This is the only time he is in the nest for 12H.  This is also the last feeding for the 12H period. Stella spends most of her time off the nest and occasionally brings in nesting material.

The birds must be getting very hungry as #1 (my numbering for the biggest and aggressive osplet) occasionally attacks #2 even when there is no feeding going on.  #2 is getting very little food. Very strange and hard to follow with such a poor arrangement of the camera.”

The image below is well after ‘R’s’ reporting. Sibling 1 has been eating all the fish and has a huge crop and is attacking the middle sibling. The third hatch died of a very vicious siblicide.

Tragedy was brewing Sunday afternoon when both Claire and USS7 got caught in fishing line on the US Steel Bald Eagle nest. In an incredible effort, Claire got that line off herself and her chick. She then gathered it up and flew off the nest! Well done – an experienced Mum working to save her little one.

‘H’ reports that the two eggs laid at the Fenwicke Island Osprey nest in Delaware have been eaten by Crows. Both adults were off the nest!

The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum ospreys are being rained on. The first egg which had been left in the pouring rain is now well hidden under nesting material. The second egg was laid on Sunday and it has been walked on and rained on…It could well be a blessing if it does not hatch.

Good news coming from Decorah North. NC18 no longer has fishing line hanging from its beak. It appears it has been cleared as per Raptor Resource Project.

‘B’ writes: “I couldn’t believe it!  Archie snuck in there at 8:38:45 while Annie was away and began feeding the chicks.  He must have had that TINY bit of prey stashed somewhere, just waiting for his opportunity.  It only lasted a minute, because Annie returned at 8:39:45 and snatched it from him, also having a couple of words with him. Way to go, Archie!”

Cal Falcons caught this magical moment.

Sometimes it is hard to tell how much fish Tuffy gets, but he is being fed well and his feathers are continuing to grow and the nest appears peaceful.

Keo and Keke surprised everyone with their first egg laid late on the 27th or the wee hours of the 28th (?) at the Sandpoint Nest.

On Sunday that egg at Sandpoint had some drizzle on it.

‘PB’ found a nest in Canada in the Niagara on the Lake area. It is the Niagara Bee Group Ospreys and they already have two eggs!

Some rain got on the two eggs Sunday afternoon. It is not clear if they will be viable or not.

This is the link to their streaming cam:

Ollie and his mate have returned to the Greens Ledge Light Preservation Society on Long Island. There is a new camera and the nest has been secured from a storm last year that wiped it out. Ollie returned on the 30th of March and his mate arrived a few days later. They now have one egg according to the wonderful moderator of their FB messaging who answered me promptly.

More and more fish deliveries at Frenchman’s Creek. Reflecting on this nest and the Mum who is obviously ill/injured makes me wonder how these two surviving osplets will behave as adults with their own chicks. For example, at the Hopeless Nest in Newfoundland, the female does not feed the chicks. Both died last year and I believe in all the time only one chick has survived and that was in 2019 (please feel free to correct me). Will these two not feed their chicks? if they are female? Or will their instincts or memories drive them to be good parents?

Dad continues to bring fish – thankfully he eats the head so the chicks can eat the fish easier. He is also still spending time feeding his two big babies. I think they are going to be alright. People should not worry about the fish piling up unless it compromises the nest structure. The carrion eaters will arrive and have it cleaned up in no time!

The weather is improving in Finland and the ospreys are busy mating, fixing nests, or laying eggs. There are two eggs at Satakunnan.

There is a new female this year at Juurusvesi. She is Yellow M76822 and was ringed in 2020 at a nest precisely 100 km away at Viitasaaki.

Did not see an osprey on the nest at Paltamon where there is still snow on the ground, but there was a Peregrine Falcon!

Both have returned to Janakkala – obviously eating well. No egg yet.

The male in Germany is feeding the female who is incubating their eggs a fish meal. How cute.

Louis must have been dealing with intruders. She finally got a fish and it was after 1500 – that is decidedly not the Louis we know.

There is a new couple with three eggs on the Estonian Osprey nest in Tartu County. (It is not believed that this is either the former male Ivo or his mate). This is wonderful news for a country where the osprey population is low. In 2018, 210 pairs.

No one will ever go hungry if Arthur is around. The nest of Big Red and N1 and N2 is now lined with squirrel. Do not despair of you see these two beaking away at one another. It will stop. Their eyes cannot focus properly – just like the falcons. Give them 4 or 5 days. Their heads are not steady and any beak is a potential meal! They will get rough – in this instance, it is play fighting unlike what is happening at University of Florida-Gainesville.

Buky and Bette still have two eggs at their nest in Mlady Buky.

Geemeff brings us up to date on the comings and goings of nest 1 at Loch Arkaig. “An unringed female came to Nest One and got two fish from Garry LV0! She spent a lot of time there, fingers crossed she returns tomorrow. Affric 152 hasn’t been seen since the 24th, and the unidentified pair at Bunarkaig are definitely now incubating eggs so it does look like that is her on that nest. So with luck she’ll stay away and Garry will have the time and space to woo this female and they form a bond. There is still time – just – for eggs this year but just seeing him with a mate would make me very happy.”

Geemeff has it all on video.

And then a second fish. This looks promising. There has not been a family of osplets on this nest since Louis moved to nest 2 with Dorcha after Aila did not return.

Swampy had a meal and slept like an adult perched with a parent on the natal tree.

‘H’ reports that Severna Park finally has its first egg – a fortnight later than last year. 17:26:55.

Deb Stecyk did a really nice tribute to Bella. Poor eagle…what a terrible year she had with her new mate, Scout.

When the young woman posted her linocut of Flaco on FB, I could not resist. It arrived and went off to the framers. I forgot to request non-reflective glass. Said with a loud sigh, as it was difficult to get a half-decent image without reflections for her to use on her Instagram page. I thought it came out rather well – the print with the matting and framing. It’s hard to tell the colours, but the largest matt is a deep grey-blue-black, with the little interior section the colour of a deep rust brick.

Thank you for being with us today. Please take care. We will look forward to seeing you again on Tuesday!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, screen captures, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, B, Geemeff, H, MP, PB, R’, SK Hideaways, Baiba, Fenwicke Island, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Cal Falcons, Moorings Park ospreys, Sandpoint Ospreys, Niagara Bee Group, Greens Ledge Light Preservation Society, Frenchman’s Creek, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Fischadlercam, Geemeff, Eagle Club of Estonia, Cornell RTH, Mlady Buky Stork Cam, Eagle Country, Severna Park, Deb Stecyk, and DirtGirl Designs.

*Disclaimer: I make every effort to identify and thank those who have provided information. If I have made an error or omission, please let me know so I can rectify it. Thank you.*

More Osprey eggs…Sunday in Bird World

28 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

When I set off to check on the Stellar’s Sea Eagle at our local zoo, it was windy, and the temperature in Winnipeg was 5 degrees C. The clouds parted, and the dreary day hinted at in the early hours soon gave way to bright blue skies and sun. It was glorious. I am so grateful to be able to get out and about exploring. It is never taken for granted. Each day is a unique treasure filled with discoveries.

At the far end of the zoo in the Asian area is one very handsome Stellar’s Sea Eagle. I love standing and watching him. Today they were cleaning out a part of his huge enclosure and he was just perched paying no mind. I wonder how long this beautiful creature has lived in a cage?

You might recall that a Stellar’s Sea Eagle landed on the eastern coast of Canada in November 2021. The huge eagle eventually travelled to Maine before returning to Canada. How it got from its regular home in Russia is unknown.

Birders-scramble-for-rare-sighting-of-Stellers-sea-eagle-in-small-N.S.-community-CBC-NewsDownload

Red-tail Hawk

The male Reeve’s Pheasant has the longest feather of any bird globally at 2.4 metres. The layers and layers of curved feathers are quite amazing. I was mesmerised by the limited colour pattern and how using only black, white, and a golden orange-yellow nature created such spectacular plumage to attract a female!

A lone Grey Wolf captured a lot of attention.

I spotted a pair of Eastern Phoebes in the trees. They are classified as ‘flycatchers’ and are one of the first birds to arrive in Manitoba in the spring, normally in March. They depart in September after making their mud nests and raising their young. They incubate four to eight pure white eggs for 16 days. They normally have two broods every breeding season. They are gorgeous little birds with a grey-green-slightly brown head (like a light olive khaki colour) and back with creamy white underparts tinged with a slight yellow-green-grey. Their bill is black and distinctive.

Hugo Yugo is having a bit of a rest before getting into more mischief. She loves to carry objects in her mouth, including the tub stopper, any earrings that get left out, keys, bags of cookies, necklaces, pens and pencils, cables for computers and cameras, and earbuds. Nothing appears to be safe these days. She also likes to hide them.

Gosh, I adore this little ginger. She is such a character – there is never a dull moment and I cannot imagine, for a single second, my life without her.

You will remember agonising over whether Tuffy at Moorings Park would live or die. Today, almost fully feathered (if not completely), Tuffy is a prime example of why you never give up hope for these little ones. I think that it is also a good example of why you do not turn away. We will never appreciate the struggles that the raptors have if we do not hang in there with them through the good, the bad, and the sheer ugly.

Look at Tuffy’s eyes light up when he sees a fish dinner. What a darling.

‘H’ captured that feeding on video for us. Please have a look. You can watch this on YouTube by clicking the YT link at the bottom left.

Many do not make it. In 2023, out of 339 eggs ‘H’ and I monitored, fourteen died from siblicide. In comparison, eighteen starved to death due to circumstances not related to siblicide and 36 did not hatch.

Asha and Brodie have their third egg at Loch Garten. Proud Mum shows off those eggs!

Aran and Elen have their third egg at 0807 on the 28th – this morning – at Glaslyn. Aran was on the perch giving support.

Mrs O at Tweed Valley laid her third egg on the 27th.

Johnny and June have their second egg at Fenwick Island in Delaware at 0810 on the 28th.

The Ravens took the eggs of Milda and Hugo ending another sad year for this gorgeous Latvian female White-tail eagle. She is now free to find food and not sit incubating and starving – and allowing her health to deteriorate.

There is an egg in the nest of the Lesser Spotted Eagles, Anna and Andres. I have included the link Sassa Bird provided.

This is one of the most interesting articles about the Lesser Spotted Eagle and should alert any potential viewers to the fact that under normal conditions, if there is a second hatch, it is killed by the first even if there is plenty of food present. (I have posted it previously). It is the definition difference between siblicide – the killing of siblings when there is only food for perhaps one – and enough food but the first hatch, the dominant bird, kills the second for no apparent reason.

1-PDF-On-Cainism-in-the-Lesser-Spotted-Eagle-Aquila-pomarina-and-a-possible-Explanation-for-thDownload

E23 is still home and still learning about those annoying small birds.

Edie feeding the two osplets at Captiva. It will be easier when they are not bobbling!

The male brought in a fresh fish at the Frenchman’s Creek osprey platform. He called the female several times while one of the osplets played tug-o-war with the fish. When the female did not come, he began to feed the chick/s. This is good news! These chicks will, despite everything, probably fledge. Thank goodness.

There are three eggs at the Radford University osprey nest in Bradford, Virginia. Thanks, ‘PB’ for mentioning this nest!

This is the link to their streaming cam:

Still snowing at some of the osprey nests in Finland.

Lots of shift changes at the nest of Big Red and Arthur – with two wiggling chicks underneath!

Meal before bedtime. Arthur has the pantry nicely stocked.

There is quite a wiggly nest full at Cal Falcons and everyone is hungry!

Gosh, we have fallen in love with Archie.

‘A’ writes, “

dinner at Cal Falcons was a lengthy affair, beginning at around 17:58 and still continuing more than 25 minutes later, with mum e-chupping to encourage the chicks to open their beaks just one more time. The two youngest chicks were at the front of the pack for this feeding, and were fed first, which was great, as the youngest is often stuck at the back and can miss out altogether at some feedings. Annie is very diligent about feeding all four, though, most of the time. At this feeding, she brought in a very large piece of prepared prey (she was gone about five minutes, unusually, and of course Archie came in to keep an eye on the eyases while she was gone – he is ADORABLE). 

By 18:23, the younger ones at the front appear to have got a second wind and are again accepting bites of food. Annie is amazing. She has been feeding for 25 minutes, and remember this lot is under a week old. I cannot imagine how much work poor mum is going to be doing feeding these four over the next four weeks or so, until they begin to learn to self-feed. And so far, dad has been fantastic in terms of ensuring a pantry full of delicious well-prepared meat for the family. But of course that load is going to increase dramatically week by week, as these four grow rapidly. So both parents are really going to have their work cut out for them. I do wish them both well in this huge endeavour. Annie is not used to raising four, and we have no idea of Archie’s parental experience, if any. It will be a big task for them both. Annie is still feeding at 18:25. By 18:27, there are finally no more takers and Annie eats a bit herself before taking the carcass (not much edible remains) back to the pantry. We can hearing Archie vocalising in the background – he sounds displeased though I have no idea why (and whether that vocal is indeed one of displeasure, but it is certainly very much like the one Annie uses when she is ‘warning’ that she is not happy with or about something or someone). But surely, after that thorough a feeding, all four eyases will sleep with happy tummies tonight. “

Two little hungry osplets at Captiva.

Nesting material is finally coming in to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum nest. It even looked like Dad was telling Mum to incubate the egg that she kept wanting to cover up – it was the egg left out in the rain and uncovered on Friday.

‘AE’ shares news of Monty and Hartley. “From 6:05pm last night and until 6:38am today Monty was the one doing the overnight incubation duty. Hartley had visited the nest ledge. Monty never got up from the eggs so Hartley took herself over to the sunshade where she spent the entire night!”

Betsy and Frederick have three eggs. There was a wee break in the incubation to fix up some rails. Good idea!

Screen captures of Iris and Louis from Saturday. There was concern over an injury to Louis’s chest. You can see what could b e the injury on the chest close to the left wing. I realise that everyone in the world would like Iris to have a dedicated mate, but I don’t want Louis to be injured and possibly die due to an infection if that is a deep gouge with a piece of wood in it as some believe. Starr is at the baseball park, and if she doesn’t have eggs, she will soon. We know what will happen if Iris lays eggs, and that is fine – she will be free from the duties of raising chicks, which I clearly believe has lengthened her life. She eats well and cares for herself year-round. Most research indicates that female raptors lose at least 30% of their body weight, raising babies.

Swoop and the new female at Dunrovin are working on the nest. Look at that long strip of nesting material! An intruder was about and Swoop was in the nest quickly in protective mode.

There is some concern over the GH owlet at Wolf Bay. It has been slightly lethargic most of the day.

‘AE’ got a great screen capture of JBS20’s feet! She said, “Gotta love those feet! I never appreciated orange bird feet so much until I started watching bird cams. He’s waiting for breakfast to be delivered.”

Prey delivered, JBS20 eventually arrives to eat leftovers.

Swampy appears to be doing just fine since he fell from the nest to the branch and fledged and returned. Everyone keep sending him good wishes.

Have you been watching the FOLFAN eagles? Here is the latest.

All three eaglets at Little Miami Conservancy are doing fantastic. Look at the nice crop on the third hatch.

The two eaglets at the ND-LEEF nest both went to bed with full crops. I did not notice any aggression at the last feeding of the day. They both look like they are doing well.

I have written ‘R’ who is observing the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest of Talon and Stella. It looked to me that the two osplets had only one feeding on Saturday and that it was hot. Mum shaded them, but was on and off the nest. Is the Dad missing? One osplet, the third hatch, has already died of siblicide. At one time, Talon was bringing in plenty of fish. Something is amiss. Will another so-let’s life be in jeopardy? or both?

Bradley still loves eating his Puffer Fish on the natal nest!

The thawing of the permafrost is going to have a significant impact on birds and their migration. Many that travel to the UK for the winter from Scandinavia, Greenland, and Siberia, may stop migrating. What else is happening with the permafrost thaw?

Climate-change-is-impacting-bird-migration-patterns.-Heres-what-we-know-CBC-NewsDownload
The-Changing-Tundra-and-What-It-Means-for-Birds-American-Bird-ConservancyDownload
Arctic-permafrost-now-a-net-source-of-greenhouse-gases-say-scientists-BirdGuidesDownload

Another deliberate killing of a raptor – this time a Red Kite.

Red-kite-shot-dead-near-Swindon-–-Wiltshire-Police-appeal-for-information-–-Raptor-Persecution-UKDownload

Incubation continues at Great Bay Ospreys.

Your smile for the day comes from the Venice Golf and Country Club Osprey platform where the nest is full. Aren’t those three gorgeous in their juvenile plumage? The oldest is almost as big as the female.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care. We want you back with us soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, observations, videos, articles, images, posts, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, AE, Geemeff, H, MP, PB’, CBC News, Moorings Park Ospreys, Heidi McGrue, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Tweed Valley Osprey Project, RSPB Loch Garten, LDF, Sassa Bird, Research Gate (B-U Meyburg), Frenchman’s Creek, Radford University Osprey Cam, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Cornell RTH Cam, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, Window to Wildlife, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, San Jose City Hall Falcon Cam, OBX Osprey Cam, Montana Osprey Project, Dunrovin Ranch, Wolf Bay, JB Sands Wetlands, Eagle Country, American Eagle Foundation, Little Miami Conservancy, ND-LEEF, UFlorida-Gainesville, Port Lincoln Ospreys, American Bird Conservancy, BirdGuides, Raptor Persecution UK, and VGCCO.

Dorcha is injured…Saturday in Bird World

20 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

We woke up to a little more snow Friday morning after the rain and snow mixed on Thursday. It is quite cool at 0 degrees C today compared to other days, and it is quite windy. That snow continued on and off during the day and has now accumulated late Friday night. I feel for the birds who do not know if it is winter or spring. They do better in the snow than in the rain as some of the food does not get sloppy and wet. There were hundreds and hundreds today and south of where I live, people had hundreds of Robins on their lawns pulling up worms!

I should introduce new readers to some of the garden animals so they know who I am constantly mentioning.

Dyson is the matriarch of the Grey Squirrel family. She is named after the inventor of the famous vacuum cleaner because of her skill in ‘sucking up peanuts’ faster than anyone! She is at least five years old; my diary tells me seven. Last year, she had three kits. They still come to the garden. She is much adored and has her own fan club! She is extremely healthy this spring. I love how her little fingers cup the small Black-oil seed and peanuts.

Little Red lived in our garden shed until it had to be torn down for the conservatory two years ago. I tried to build him a new house. Then we purchased a special squirrel house from Finland – Little Red didn’t like it and then Dyson ate the wood around the hole so she could get in and eat the peanuts I had placed in there to lure Little Red. Little Red was always alone. Then Miss Little Red arrived and well, now we have at least four Reds living in and about the garden.

A baby?

There are also Mr and Mrs Blue Jay, who are the parents of Junior, who had his little jays starting two years ago. He does not migrate, and last summer, we had two Blue Jay families living within 10 metres of the garden. The fledglings arrived and ate at the feeders. There are currently six Blue Jays around. I cannot wait for this summer. The garden could be filled with Blue Jays!!!!! Their colours are so magnificent, and the white pattern on the tip of their tails is different for each one – that is how I identify them. Junior’s feathers are a bit of a mess right now. It looks like he has been in a fight, as it seems a bit early for moulting. Indeed some of the feathers appear broken.

Then there is Mr and Mrs Downy, Mr and Mrs Hairy, and Mr Pileated that come throughout the day. I caught Mrs Downy on the suet this afternoon.

The European Starlings are having a feast in the large table feeder. Today they seem to be attracted to the suet while the squirrels – both Dyson and the three kits from last summer – and the two little Reds – forage for peanuts. I have not seen the Blue Jays so far and it is 1322 Friday afternoon.

Four cats bring me more joy than anyone could ever imagine. Missey arrived with Lewis on 2 November 2022; they were adopted from the Humane Society, which takes in stray cats and kittens. Sadly, we lost Lewis in September 2023. Calico lived in the garden and was dumped as a kitten (or so it seems). I lured her into being friends in the winter of 2023 and then once she had her kittens – only one survived (Baby Hope) – they moved into the house. It was quite the ordeal tracking her and then hoping the kitten would find us (it had left their nest and was eight weeks old). The most recent addition is Hugo Yugo, who is a rescue. Her mother was starved when she was carrying her seven kittens. As a consequence, Hugo Yugo continues to be the size of an 8-10 week old kitten despite the fact that she is now eight and a half months old. She was supposed to be a male but turned out to be a Ginger Female (only 20% of Gingers are female). She is a character. I would not part with any of them. They create a life around me that is like a symphony.

Missey has been talking to the Dark-eyed Juncos through the window and Hugo Yugo along with Calico and Baby Hope went into a food coma and have yet to surface.

Mamma Calico and Baby Hope. They posed. I could not believe it. My heart just stops every time I see them together – and they are like this most of the day unless eating or playing. Inseparable. Calico raised Hope. She would come and eat and run back to take care of her quickly. Hope was the healthiest feral kitten I had ever seen. Calico did a superb job. Cannot imagine them living on the streets.

And for those wondering who I am, well, I am a Retired Professor who has undertaken a long-term study of siblicide on Osprey nests. Last year, I increased the number of eggs observed to 341 with ‘H’. This year, we are aiming for 500. The results will be published when we have good annual comparisons – starting with 2 years and then moving next to 5 years. In 2023, many chicks were lost due to a Nor-eastern in the Chesapeake Bay Area and overfishing of the Menhaden. Perhaps that will not happen this year. I am not desensitised to the tragic events on the nests that have deaths – I take each one pretty hard. It is the joy of seeing the chick we might believed would perish thrive – to wonder at their perseverance, determination, and cleverness. Ultimately, I would like to see if these beaten chicks that do survive the nest to fledge have a higher return rate in the second year. Sadly, due to the fact that so few nests band their osplets, it is impossible to determine.

I want everyone to enjoy nature. To marvel at how beautiful the world is right outside our own windows and to realise how important it is to get out and breathe the air and listen to the birdsong. Life is stressful and it is one proven way to calm ourselves down!

Friday was a day for egg laying…I continue to tell everyone to mark their calendars. That third week in May is going to be a very busy one.

On Friday afternoon, 19 April, Dorcha was injured in an encounter with a large raptor—a golden eagle or a Sea Eagle—at Loch Arkaig. According to Geemeff, Ravens were escorting the large raptor out of the area when Dorcha got involved. Dorcha returned to the nest at 1501 with scratches, blood, and an injured leg.

The injuries to the right leg – it looks like a large puncture to me – can clearly be seen when Dorcha gets up from incubating her egg when Louis brings her a fish.

Poor Dorcha. She was due to lay her third egg and she did at 02:26 Saturday morning, the 20th of April. Hard incubation should begin.

I am expecting the third egg if there is to be one at Loch of the Lowes today, the 20th.

All eyes are on the eggs of Big Red and Arthur on the Cornell Campus anxiously awaiting the sign of the first pip.

Positively nothing at the nest of Angel and Tom. Is Tom missing? ‘A’ seems to think he is.

At Eagle Country, Swampy is going higher on the natal nest tree. S/he will fledge shortly. What a seemingly strong and healthy eaglet.

Tuffy had a Good Friday. Harry delivered a huge Tilapia at 0941 at the Moorings Park nest on Friday. Tuffy was in and out of the feeding, but by 1055 was finished and had a nice crop!

Tuffy has had big crops all Friday. This little one is eating well.

Later than the image above, after another fish. Harry must have an excellent spot to land these whoppers…

A fish arrived at 1423. Tuffy had a nice crop at the end of that meal, too!

Tuffy had a crop when the 1602 fish arrived. He looked but didn’t bother to go over and eat. He was full already.

A little bit of a fish came at 1831..Tuffy even got some!

It ‘feels’ like Tuffy and Ruffie have done nothing but eat all day. Each time I go and check Tuffy is up at the beak. If this little one continues to eat this much fish per day, we will have to change the middle letters of its name from ‘F’ to ‘B’. Sssshhhh. Don’t say it out loud. We don’t want to give the second hatch a complex. All kidding aside, Tuffy did really well on Friday. In fact, both were so full that Sally got to finish off a nice fish as the sun was setting on the nest.

First egg for Cowlitz PUD is 18 April! Love these folks. They put up metal fish grates to protect the osplets from being taken by the Bald Eagles!

Egg #1 or Bruce and Naha at Seaside on the 18th of April, too!

We have an egg at Oyster Bay on Long Island.

‘H’ reports: “Opal did it again…she laid the 4th egg at 17.46.” I caution new observers that this is a tough nest to watch if all eggs hatch and fish deliveries are few. Siblicide warning.

All three chicks at the Venice Golf and Country club platform look fine.

The camera has gone black again at Frenchman’s Creek. Now it is only listed as Private so I presume residents only that wish to sign up. We will sadly never know the fate of the two older osplets. I hope that they continue to self feed and that someone from Frenchman’s Creek will let us know if they fledge.

All three eaglets at Little Miami Conservancy have nice crops on Friday.

Snow on Finland’s Osprey nests.

Egg three at Llyn Clywedog nest of Seren and Dylan arrives on the 19th as well.

‘L’ reports: “New female at Charlo is OJ (Wakati) from 2018 Dunrovin nest. She’s got her leg banded.” This might get interesting. Happy for you Charlie if Charlotte does not show up!

Lucy and Kenny’s three eggs at Lake Murray Ospreys. For new viewers, a GHO took all three chicks off this nest in 2023. Former mate, Ricky died and difficult for Mum to feed, hunt, and offer security.

Iris was at her nest in Missoula, Montana on Friday.

It is hard to believe that these two are Liberty and Guardian’s little eaglets.

Lots of soft bedding for the two tiny eaglets at Fort St Vrain – and a good thing, too, as the snow began to fall Friday evening.

Port Tobacco’s only eaglet appears to be doing just dandy!

Do you have a dream to see the geese that winter in the UK? Before the climate changes so much that they stay in Greenland and Siberia? Here is a file to help you identify them. It is on my bucket list!

Guide-to-Britains-geese-species-how-to-identify-and-where-to-see-Countryfile.com_Download

We know how Ospreys connect people! Here is an article on three special women whose lives are intertwined by these fish eating birds.

The-Osprey-Connection-AudubonDownload

To my knowledge, all nests are doing well. The snow has again started, and I am behind in my data entry. I will check on some of the eagle nests tomorrow, along with what is happening at our hawk and osprey nests. Take care everyone. Thank you for being with us today.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, articles, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, L, PB’, The Woodland Trust, Geemeff, The Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), Cornell RTH Cam, Window to Wildlife, Eagle Country, Moorings Park, Cowlitz PUD, Seaside, PSEG, Forsythe Osprey Cam, VGCCO, Little Miami Conservancy, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Llyn Clywedog and CarnyXWild, Charlo Montana, Lake Murray Ospreys, Montana Osprey Project, FORE, XCel Energy, Port Tobacco Eagle Cam, BBC Countryfile, and Audubon.

*Disclaimer: Every effort is made to acknowledge those that provide information and material for my posting. If I have failed to credit someone, please do let me know so that I can correct this. Thank you,’

Jersey eats more, hatches, arrivals…Thursday in Bird World

28 March 2024

Good Morning!

Hugo Yugo seems to be doing fantastic. She is extremely lovable and continues to sleep on my head or chest at night. All you have to do is whisper her name and she is there.

I just remembered that I needed to add ‘enchanted’ before Missey. ‘J’ thinks Missey belongs in the ‘Magical Kingdom of Landover’ and ‘she should be able to talk’. Now don’t tell anyone, but I think she does! Missey has now taken Baby Hope under her arm and is proving to be a good second Mum to her if I could only train Missey to clean Hugo Yugo’s eyes.

Good news is coming in from the nests, but we must start with a magical image of a rainbow coming over Telyn at the Dyfi Osprey nest she shares with her mate, Idris, in Wales. Totally enchanting! Now come on Idris, come home.

Irish poet WB Years reminds us: “The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”

Seren Blue 5F arrived home from The Gambia this morning. Now we wait for Dylan to get to Llyn Clywedog in Wales! She might be wishing for that West African sun.

Isn’t this one a cutie? Liberty and Guardian’s first hatch at Redding.

I am always happy to have egg on my face. It appears that darling Laddie did survive and has now returned to his nest with Blue NCO to start another season. Let us all send good wishes and hope that he is up to the task at hand and this lovely pair at the Loch of the Lowes do not have any intruders to harm them or cause harm to their babies this year. I can hardly believe it. Fantastic.

Thanks, Geemeff.

Laddie wastes no time getting reacquainted. Is there a competition between him and Blue 33 for first eggs laid?

I have spent a greater proportion of my post for the last couple of days on the situation at Duke Farms. There is a clear reason for this – the detailed study of the eagles’ behaviour when food becomes in short supply and the reaction of the eaglets to one another. We are only seeing the second hatch, Jersey, gain more confidence today. Jersey is self-feeding, and Mum seems to have figured out how to manage the situation in the nest. The situation here is no different than it would be on an osprey nest when the eldest has perceived insufficient food for all and begins attacking its sibling/s. It could wind up being siblicide, but, I am hopeful that unless there is another dramatic reduction in prey, we will have two fledges at the Duke Farms nest in 2024.

On Wednesday at 11:26, Mum finds an old fish tail in the rim of the nest. She feeds Leaper. Jersey is obviously interested but afraid. The little one moves around the rim of the nest to get closer to the feeding area. At the point where Leaper has a full crop, Jersey moves up and begins to self-feed on the fish tail. Leaper goes to sleep. At this point Mum begins to feed Jersey who has a nice crop by 12:03. Mum literally stuffs Jersey with all the remaining fish taking advantage of Leaper being in a food coma. The feeding ends at 1212 when there is no longer any food on the nest.

We now wait to see if more food will come to the nest. The good news is that food did arrive.

‘A’ notes, “Jersey lined up mum and did a large and very healthy-looking PS straight at Mum from a distance of only inches (17:54:33). He hit her squarely on the top of her head (she was working on getting bites off the remaining prey – that giant fish has now become a very long spine. It looks amazing. Jersey has eaten today. This is one extremely good mother. She has worked very hard to keep these two alive. When it rained this afternoon, she was the perfect mumbrella, keeping both her growing eaglets warm and dry, She is devoted and smart. I am starting to become very attached to her. But both chicks will go to bed with full tummies and good crops tonight.”

Dad came in with a headless fish and little Jersey ate and ate….that sweetie pie was so full it turned away from the fresh fish at 17:54. Reports are that the the Raritan River is low and not as muddy as it was. In addition, the State of New Jersey is putting the trout back into the rivers so let us hope that fish will be plentiful on the nest.

Getting a late night snack. Jersey has an enormous crop.

How cute is little Jersey?

Jersey had a good morning on Friday so far.

Friday morning at Duke Farms with ‘A’: “

Mum was absolutely saturated after sheltering her eaglets overnight, and had the biggest flap of her wings to try and get the water off – then repeated the exercise three more times. Poor mum. It was a long, wet night, but Jersey got the best of it in terms of shelter, staying pretty dry for most of the night. 

Jersey has had a lovely morning. He missed out on the first feeding, which mum gave him from the leftover torso (or whatever that was), but there was no bonking whatsoever before or after the first breakfast, just a lot of snuggling and preening, including a little allopreening from Leaper to her little brother. She is very sweet to him when she’s not thrashing him. 

When mum returned to feed a smallish whole fish lying on the side of the nest, Jersey went into submission and Leaper began eating, but was full fairly quickly and turned away. Jersey got to the table relatively quickly and began his snatch and grab style of eating. Mum was so patient, even ensuring that when he dropped a piece and she went to pick it up, she moved slowly and carefully near Jersey so that he didn’t get startled or cringe away from the food. She waited for him to take each bite, offering it as many times as necessary. Jersey downed some large pieces, but one was too big for him, even on the second or third attempt, and turned away, so mum ate that bit herself. Jersey had managed the tail, with attached flesh!! He actually ate so much that he had had enough and ended the feeding as a result. He had a large crop. 

After breakfast number two, mum broods her eaglets again. So cute. They are probably a bit damp still, and it has been raining lightly on and off through the morning. She is such a devoted mum and she is having a terrible hair day. 

Just before 08:46 dad flies in with a large whole fish. Is this the first food delivery from dad in five days? I think it may well be. It’s a lovely big fish and he leaves it on the edge of the nest for mum to manage. The babies are too full to bother, so she gets up and flies off the nest. At 08:53:31 dad is back with a talonful of damp grasses, which he spreads about the place. He then takes hold of the fish, drags it closer to the cuddle puddle of eaglets, and offers a bite to Jersey. Despite being literally entwined in Leaper, Jersey is not too scared to accept the bite!!!

This is massive. Normally, he would not have had the courage and would have cringed away from dad’s beak, probably going into a submissive tuck. But now, he takes the bite without hesitation. He is not interested in the second bite offered so dad starts hoeing into the head of the fish himself. Leaper at this stage decides to stand up and stretch. Jersey stays where he is, not cringing or tucking. Leaper lines up for her second PS of the morning (Jersey too has done a very large and healthy PS earlier this morning). 

Leaper now moves up to the table beside Jersey, who is a little nervous and pulls away just slightly but still remains up at the table, his head up. Leaper does nothing to intimidate or hurt him. Dad continues to eat. Leaper watches. So does Jersey. Eventually dad gives Leaper a bite. Jersey stays where he is. He considers leaning towards dad but thinks better of it. Still he is up at the table, wary but not in submission. Dad continues to feed Leaper. There is NO bonking. There has been none all morning. 

Suddenly, at 08:59:30, Jersey reaches across in front of Leaper to take a bite from dad. Leaper is fine with this and does nothing to stop Jersey eating. Dad is doing pretty well out of this fish head himself, feeding the occasional mouthful to Leaper. Jersey remains beside and slightly in front of Leaper, watching carefully. It is 09:03. Just after 09:04, dad offers a bite to Jersey, who accepts it, without any reaction from Leaper. This is SO good to watch. 

Jersey takes another bite. And another. Dad doles out the tiniest pieces. A very different feeding technique to mum’s (I haven’t watched dad feed these chicks at all in the past week). Both chicks are still full from their earlier breakfast, and turn away from the table to snuggle up together again. 

We will see what the rest of the day brings, but so far, this has been the best morning on this nest in about a week. Little Jersey has eaten very well already, with a very large crop, as has Leaper, and there has been not one incident of aggression from Leaper at all. Nothing. Perhaps the food insecurity has gradually abated and Leaper has calmed down. We will see. CertaInly, it was wonderful to see dad bring in a nice big fish this morning.”

There is word of a possible pip at the Centreport Bald Eagle nest on Long Island, New York.

R6 does not want us to forget how handsome he is! Ron and Rose at the WRDC nest agree along with all his fans.

It will not be long til these beautiful eaglets leave their natal nest area. Clearly M15 and F23 have E23 in training. I had to laugh. I thought Hugo Yugo was very loud when she protests that she is ‘starving to death’ on the kitchen counter. Well, E23 sure is loud! it was a good year for M15. This amazing dad deserved it.

Not only are the Osprey having great challenges due to the overfishing of shallow swimming fish like the Menhaden, but now there are different issues with the salmon industry – and they are, as Geemeff, describes, sounding ominous.

Inslee-signs-Rep.-Wilcoxs-bill-to-study-avian-salmon-predation-Nisqually-Valley-NewsDownload

At the same time, I would draw your attention to these two articles that outline the severe impact that the fish shortage because of commercial fishing is going to have on the Atlantic and Gulf Ospreys in the US.

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I will continue to call for individuals that have the access and authority to set aside a pond for the birds of prey so that they can eat. For all of us to call for a moratorium on commercial fishing of Menhaden and for the curtailing of fishing by long line trawler regardless of where they are fishing in the world. There are not too many Ospreys in the US. What is happening is a steep decline right before our very eyes. The population is anything but stable. ‘H’ and I found this in comparing the data from the US and the UK in the 2023 nests that we observed.

Somewhere there is a Bald Eagle nest struggling, just like we saw when an adult is injured, dead, or missing for a few days. This time it is due to the frolicking killing by a human.

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Checking in on Monty and Hartley and their incubation.

Hartley lays her third egg!

Archie is so cute. These males are so tiny and trying to get four big eggs under them is sometimes a bit of a challenge.

The Black Storks are beginning to arrive in Latvia! Oh, how I wish Karl II was going to be flying into Estonia. What a loss he will be.

Is Mrs O back at Tweed Valley?

Warren and Della are back at Mispillion Harbour working on their nest. Della is notorious for loving ‘yellow’ things – she brings them to make the nest more beautiful! Kinda’ like dear Jack did with his stuffies at Dahlgren.

The trio at Frenchman’s Creek are doing well. The third hatch does have to wait in line, but sometimes manages to get a private feeding.

The triplets at the West End are doing exceptionally well. As I have said, Thunder sat on them when they acted up and they didn’t get to eat then. Food is a great motivator!

Harry came in with a couple of big fish for Sally and the two osplets. Looks like the other egg is not going to hatch – no problem! Two healthy osplets are just fine.

Mark your calendars. We are 3 days and 11 hours from ‘Iris Watch’. For those who do not know who Iris is, she is believed to be the oldest osprey in the world. Her nest is in a parking lot at the Riverview Health Centre at Hellcat Canyon, Missoula, Montana. Her first mate, Stanley, and her were very happy. Her second mate, Louis, has another nest and life has been rough. There have been no chicks for at least five years and many would like to see Iris have another mate. Louis would have to give up the territory and his domination of Iris despite having Star on the nest at the Baseball Park. For me, I hope she has another wonderful summer fishing and catching those big whoppers she is known for. Iris gets her name from the flecks in her right eye.

In San Francisco, Richmond and Rosie will have more rain which is delaying their nest building – and it looks like they have a lot of materials required. Do you remember the year the Crows kept taking all of their sticks when they would bring them in? Oh, goodness. Maybe they will leave the ospreys alone this year!

Many of you have asked about Mr President and Lotus. The AEF has posted the following information today. Unfortunately, it appears that we will not even get updates on their breeding season.

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, Michael Academia, SP’, The Scottish Wildlife Trust, FORE, Geemeff, Duke Farms, Centrepoint Eagles, WRDC, Misqually Valley News, frontiers, AOL, SK Hideaways, Maria Marika, Tweed Valley Osprey Project, Heidi McGrue, Frenchman’s Creek, IWS/Explore, Moorings Park, Montana Osprey Project, SF Ospreys, and the AEF.

Annie lays 2nd egg…Monday in Bird World

18 March 2024

Hello Everyone,

Sunday was quiet. After Saturday that was a good thing. As far as I can tell all of the eagle nests are doing well and there have been no new arrivals at Osprey nests at the time I am writing this, Sunday evening.

It was a good day to spend time with the girls. Calico did not enjoy the dip in temperatures and spent a lot of time in front of the small portable heater in the conservatory. She likes her creature comforts and that little heater is one of them. I figure she deserves it having had to live outside in the winter last year.

Hugo Yugo spent her time in the basket spinning before settling down to sleep behind Calico. She is either on or off – there is no in-between. I wonder what Dr Green will think about her on Wednesday. She is very tiny but getting ‘long’ lime a limousine.

Baby Hope took advantage of everyone’s absence to play the game of finding treats in little green tubes. She is very good at it!

Missey decided to stay out of everyone’s way most of the day!

Oh, I am so glad to have these four! And it was so nice to just stop everything and pay some really good attention to them before osprey season kicks in.

At Cal Falcons, Annie laid her second egg this morning.

Can you please help? Write, research, contact others to help. Once again the developers want to build near Jackie and Shadow’s nest in Big Bear. Please read the following and – because we all love Jackie and Shadow so much and owe them so much (the DDT problems), then we need to fight to protect their pristine home. It is the least that we can do!

The following appeal is from Sandy Steer:
“…Update on Moon Camp…this nearby parcel, proposed for development is so close to Jackie and Shadow, it can be seen from the nest camera. Any development in that area would greatly impact their nesting site and could make them leave the area. FOBBV won an environmental lawsuit in 2022 against the County’s approval of this project. That put the project on hold, but now the County has released a new partial environmental impact report to move toward another approval. We will, of course, be submitting public comments (due 3/18) on this new, but still inadequate study. And when it comes before the County for another approval, we will be asking all of you for letters or calls to assist in stopping it. In the meantime, we are also pursuing getting this 62-acre parcel purchased for conservation, by the Forest Service, or by anyone else willing to conserve it as open space. If you happen to know any superheroes who might like to step up and buy this parcel to save Jackie and Shadow’s habitat plus more than 17 acres of endangered plants on the property, please contact us at fobbvinfo@gmail.com. We’d love to talk with you!”

Everyone continues speculating on what made Diane and Jack’s two eggs and chick disappear. One FB group noted that this happened in 2022 also and there was a second clutch. It was assumed they went down the hole made by the squirrel in the nest. Many would like to see work done on the nest so the couple does not lose more eggs and chicks in the future. Some note how restless Diane was that evening, and it is hoped that security camera footage shed some light on what happened. We know that the nest shook quite a bit at one point. I had one individual contact me, thinking it was possible that a person or persons shook that nest and caused the damage. If that were to be the case – and I am not saying it is – hopefully, their faces will be seen on the security cameras. Regardless of the cause – and I will suggest we will never fully know unless someone excavates that nest – there needs to be substantial work done on the nest itself to fix the hole that everyone knows about and a baffle for any future predators trying to climb up. An IR light would be great.

The big news in Bird World on Sunday was, for me anyway, the first egg of the season for Big Red and Arthur.

Arthur seemed quite delighted as Big Red flew off and let him take over incubation duties.

SK Hideaways has it on video.

Angel and Tom have an impressive nest. Wonder if we will have their first egg this week? Many think that will be the case!

E23 recovered from the GHO hit, but it was quite scary. I hope that this will be the end of it, but probably not. It is, as so many of you have pointed out, ‘that time of year’ – the annual occurrence when we hold our breath and wish that GHOs and eagles got along.

We are still 7-8 days away from pip watch at Berry College for Pa and Missey’s second clutch.

Swampy and Meadow. Gorgeous. Aren’t they wonderful? They look like they are wearing Morning Suits.

Dixie and Mason have their thermal down. Before we know it, they will look like Swampy and Meadow.

No worries about food at the Johnson City nest. Boone certainly had a great day fishing on Sunday! The kids have eaten so much and their crops are so big – old coma.

The snow is melting at Big Bear. Jackie and Shadow have not give up on the eggs yet.

The kids at Bluff City had squirrel for Sunday’s meals. They both seem to be hanging in there.

The Dukies are fine. Mum just keeps feeding them and feeding them. That is one good way to stop the worry about food.

The camera is back up and running at Redding for Liberty and Guardian.

A beautiful day at Captiva’s Osprey platform. Edie and Jack are incubating three eggs.

At the Captiva Eagle nest, Connie and Clive continue to feed Cal well after his fledge. A nice Sheepskin came in during the afternoon.

They are flying into Winnipeg and they are laying eggs at Decorah – Canada Geese. There are five eggs so far. Dad is up there helping keep guard as one of the Decorah eagles has been landing in the branches of the tree near the top.

The two hatches at Venice Golf and Country Club appear to be doing quite well. Waiting to see if third egg will hatch.

We are waiting for Dylan and Seren 5F to arrive at Llyn Clywedog Reservoir in Wales.

Blue 33 and Maya continue to work on their nest at Rutland. As far as I am aware, at the time of this writing, they are the only couple to have reunited at the UK streaming cam nests.

Next news from ‘H’:

I first saw the female from previous seasons on 3/7, but now have not seen her since 3/13.  I first saw the male from previous seasons on 3/9, and I have seen him at the nest every day except 3/14.  A new female first showed up at the nest on 3/17.  She and Dad were in the nest together quite a bit on 3/17, but each time Dad seemed to be giving her the cold shoulder.

Carthage Mum is now back on the nest after having been MIA for a few days.

I am a great fan of Isabella Tree who is the author of several books on rewinding including Rewinding. Knepp Farm took a leap of faith and decided to change from traditional agricultural practices and begin rewinding and reintroducing species to their property in Sussex. White Storks were one of the goals – to being them back. You can read about the history of the White Stork in the region and how Knepp worked to establish the breeding pairs on their property.

Visiting their property is on my Bucket List.

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Knepp White Stork camera can be found here:

In Belgium, at the nature park there are six occupied stork nests. Can you find them?

Storks have arrived at some of the Germany nests including Lindheim.

Waiting for Bette and Bukacek to arrive in Mlady Buky.

Milda. One year she laid her first egg on my birthday…I am hoping she is early this year. Mr H is adorable. Hoping he is a good father. Their nest in Durbe County is looking fantastic.

For those that have life lists, you will be very impressed by this gentleman who has recorded 10,000 birds.

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That is just a hop, skip, and jump checking on some of the nests. We are now on pip watch for Port Tobacco Bald Eagles. Eggs are 38 and 35 days old as of Sunday the 17th so it looks like egg 1 might not be viable. Meanwhile egg two is hatching Monday morning fast!

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, discussions, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, L, SP’, Cal Falcons, FOBBV, Achieva Credit Union, Cornell RTH Cam, SK Hideaways, Window to Wildlife, Lady Hawk, Berry College Eagle Cam, Eagle Country, Superbeaks, Johnson City-ETSU, FOBBV, Bluff City-ETSU, Duke Farms, FORE, Raptor Research Project/Explore, VGCC, Llyn Clywedog Osprey Cam, LRWT, Dahlgren Ospreys, Carthage Ospreys, Knepp, ZWIN, Lindheim Stork Nest, Mlady Buky, Biruta Lupa, The New York Times, and Port Tobacco Eagle Cam.

E23 fledges…Sunday in Bird World

17 March 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

It was a cloudy, damp -5C day in Winnipeg on Saturday. The sun tried really hard to break open those dark clouds around 1700. The Starlings were pecking at the suet while the squirrels tried to remove all of the peanuts before the Blue Jays showed up for breakfast. Walking was a bit treacherous. The warm weather yesterday melted the snow and the cold overnight temperatures froze the water. It was several loops around the sculpture garden as most of the trails were solid ice.

Both ‘Boyfriends’ came to the feeder today. The spring will see something better than a drawer and a divider but this worked in a pinch to keep the snow of the kibble and their feet a little drier. A new bright red and white carpet is on its way and the deck should be quite cheerful after a good scrub to get rid of the drab winter we have had.

Hugo Yugo has been relaxing on the cat tree. She wishes everyone a very happy and peaceful Sunday. Saturday evening Calico and Baby Hope disappeared to have a good sleep on my bed. Missey and Hugo Yugo took advantage of their absence to have the most marvellous play fight time. It reminded me of Lewis and Missey running and play fighting and diving through the tunnels. Hugo Yugo was worn out at the end of it.

The news in Bird World has been mixed. It feels like a year when we have to celebrate those who make it out of the shell into the world and fledge. The list of failures is long. I remind myself that the raptors would pull up their talons and get on with their lives after dismay, grieving, and, I imagine, reflection. I want to be more like them.

‘The Girls’ and I have several books stacked up to read. We are going to start Wonderland. A Year of Britain’s Wildlife Day by Day by Brett Westwood and Stephen Moss tomorrow. I will keep you informed. We keep peeking at Tim Mackrill’s The Osprey. It looks fantastic. There is some really good scientific information, but there is also some good solid discussion of ospreys from the years of Tim’s experience working with ospreys. For a starter, though, you cannot beat Tim’s book on Ospreys for the RSPB. It is everything you need to know when you start learning about this magnificent species. It appears that Tim has combined his thesis on migration with his years of field work and added to that RSPB volume.

Moving along. I am finding it difficult to check on all my osprey nests and keep up with what is actually happening so please forgive me if I miss something important – and if I did, tell me. My head feels like it is one of those wobbly dogs that people used to sit on the dash of their cars.

E23 flew. S/he has been wanting to. It really was a fludge but E23 recovered so quickly and flew off returning to the nest that we can forgive that moniker. ‘J’ gives the run down: “We have a fledge! 10:51:27 E23 accidentally fledged, went to West pasture, perched in a pine out front, 11:20:19 landed on W pasture front snag, 11:28:48 flew from front W pasture snag to attic. Landed on attic at 11:29. Congratulations E23!”

S/he loses their footing from the branch near the top right and then flies, goes down low, and over to pasture landing on a wire.

Tired.

In the night an owl knocked E23 off the nest tree!

Annie has a long conversation with Archie about his new duties since their first egg arrived!

Looks like Archie listened!

Jack and Diane looking over their nest wondering where their two eggs and their chick are. Everyone else is wondering, too.

Reviews of the footage (the camera has no IR which would have been very helpful) on very slow motion and with only the light from the street, show Diane disturbed a few times after 1000. Those include 23:39:47, 23:46:48, and 00:55:33 -00:56:50. No raccoon could be seen climbing over the edge. I don’t think there are GHOs in the area – nonetheless, no owl could be seen. There are three possibilities: 1. The eggs and chick fell down that hole in the centre of the nest; 2. A predator such as a rat, a squirrel, or a snake made their way to the nest through the drain holes in the bottom; and 3. The squirrel that originally made the hole dug its way through not intending to eat the eggs (as in scenario 2) and the chick and eggs dropped. The pole is rough and could be climbed easily enough. A mouse appeared on the nest of Jak and Audacity today. Any of the large rats in the area could have gotten up that pole. Could they go horizontal and up the drain holes? Well, that is the 64 million dollar question. We might never know.

I suggest that Achieva Credit Union, working with the local wildlife group, put up a predator baffle and cover the drain holes with a stainless or other metal that rats, etc., cannot chew plates with smaller holes—one that would allow water to pass through but not rats or squirrels to enter the nest area. You probably have other better ideas. Perhaps these could be passed on for next year. There is plenty of time to rectify the situation, unfortunately.

Images courtesy of ‘H’.

Daisy arrived home to the Barnegat Light nest in NJ Saturday afternoon. Here is this fantastic Mum landing. You will remember that she went fishing during the storm that took two of her osplets while Duke was missing. She was able to keep herself and the little osprey alive.

Duke arrived on the 28th of March last year.

Edie and Jack have their third egg at the Captiva Osprey platform. Sweet.

The second hatch at the Venice Golf and Country Club came on Saturday morning. As many know, this area has several lakes and ponds (26 of them), and there should be a lot of fish for the family. This has historically been a successful nest.

Lucy and Kenny, the new male mate, have their first egg of the season at Lake Murray on Saturday morning. Time: 1108.

One egg is being incubated at Sarasota Bay. Gosh, it’s noisy there—it sounds like an early St Patrick’s Day party! Ospreys are not bothered.

Ospreys on and off the nest at Patchogue, Long Island. It will be interesting to see what they do to renovate this nest or will they leave some of PSEG’s masterpiece?

Both at Carova Beach on Saturday.

Beautiful day at Old Town Home Ospreys in Maryland.

An Osprey has landed on the Foulshaw Moss nest in Cumbria. Unknown if it is White YW or Blue 35 as the cameras are not running.

Blue NCO still awaits the arrival of Laddie LM12 and today had to protect her fish from a Crow.

Maya and Blue 33 were quite vigilant as they watched for intruders at their Manton Bay nest at Rutland on Saturday.

There are three cute little osplets on the Frenchman’s Creek Osprey nest in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Here is the link to their livestream. Thanks, Ildiko Pokk for posting this nest on FB!

Raining at Collins Marsh Osprey nest. No sight of the adults yet. Last year there was a new couple and they laid three eggs and had two fledge.

No one home – yet – at Salem Electric Ospreys.

Waiting for Whitney and Noble at the Timothy Dygert Osprey Platform on Crooked Lake.

Ospreys at Moraine State Park in Pennsylvania. Last year their three chicks were predated by a GHO. The owl had a vicious attack on the nest and oddly, ate only one of the three osplets. It was quite a traumatic event. I wonder why these platforms don’t learn from Cowlitz and put up guards. It was a simple solution with a metal grid that already exists in many places or that could be welded together easily and put in place.

At the University of Florida-Gainesville, Stella and Talon are incubating three eggs. They were laid on Feb 21, 23, and 27. This means we are looking for a pip watch in 12 days. Just think… so many nests will have a pip watch in twelve days. We are going to be busy!

The cam operator gave us some great close-ups of Big Red at her nest on the Cornell campus in Ithaca, New York. She looks good.

‘A’ has been watching Angel and Tom. “

Angel and Tom were on the nest early (shortly after 7am) and spent over two hours bringing sticks to the nest. At 09:52, Angel flies in clutching a huge branch in her right talons. It’s gigantic and she spends quite some time wrestling with it. The pair continued to come and go until nearly noon – they were both on the nest again at about 11:42 – and there are lots of RTH vocals off camera during the process. 

These two both look so strong and healthy this season. I cannot get over how much Tom has grown. He looks solid and his plumage is gorgeous and sleek. Angel is just magnificent. She looks wonderful, and she and Tom seem very bonded and very confident and relaxed around each other. Let’s hope that continues once we get a hatch. I think Angel will trust Tom this year. He has matured a great deal it seems, but time will tell. They apparently spent the afternoon elsewhere, probably together, and we saw Angel arrive back on the nest around 8.05pm. It was dark and the IR lights had been on for a while when she flew in, so it was a surprise. Both Tom and Angel are doing a lot of cupping, with Angel also lying in the nest bowl for prolonged periods as I mentioned recently. It is SO exciting. I am convinced we will have an egg here any day now – if we don’t have one by the end of the week, I will be very surprised. “

Akecheta is keeping that nest full of fish at the West End and both him and Thunder are providing lots of feedings. All three eaglets look good despite lots of fish juice all over their little heads.

Akecheta makes sure that everyone is fed. Like so many of you, I wonder if he remembers being the third hatch and having two older siblings?

You can see the change in the Dukies. That white down over the thermal that is now coming in.

Chase and Cholyn’s only egg is 24 days old today. Twelve days to go!

Everyone mourned when Jak and Audacity’s only egg broke. There appeared to be nothing inside.

Pip watch beings for Cruz and Andor at Two Harbours on 29 March, 12 days from now. So you can check on both nests that still have eggs on the same day!

Jackie and Shadow are protecting their eggs in another blizzard. What are all the words you could say to define these two? If we could get the energy and materialise an eaglet this might be the nest to receive it.

The John Bunker Sands eaglet is 7 weeks and 2 days old today (forgive my math if I am wrong). What a beauty. Mum has been in the nest. Her limp appears to be improving. So happy. Look like all those juvenile feathers are in!

Swampy and Meadow are terrific. I love the close-ups of Swampy. Finally buddies.

Willow is really having to really stretch that neck to get some prey. Oliver seems to always be in front at Bluff City.

Johnson City kids are now being left alone at night. They are losing that baby down fast and their thermal is coming in. I always feel like this happened overnight. Nice to see them doing so well.

Cam was frozen at Duke Farms. Jersey was getting some nice bites the last time I checked.

This is more than disturbing. Where are the CCTV cameras we so often hear about? Well, they were there, and the shop provided the footage to the police. So, let’s see what happens. ?

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Thank you so much for being with me today. All of the bald eagle nests are doing well – eaglets are growing and parents are very attentive. Next fledge should be R6. Take care all. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, videos, and the streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, B. H. J’, SK Hideaways, Lady Hawk, Achieva Credit Union, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, Window to Wildlife, VGCCO, Lake Murray Ospreys, The Bay Sarasota, PSEG, Carova Beach, Old Town Home Maryland Western Shore, Livia Armstrong, LRWT, Frenchmen’s Creek, Collins Marsh, Salem Electric, Crooked Lake Ospreys, Moraine State Park, UFlorida-Gainsville, Cornell RTH, IWS/Explore, Duke Farms, FOBBV, JB Sands Wetlands, Eagle Country, Bluff City-ETSU, and Johnson City-ETSU, and The Guardian.

It’s raining Ospreys…Achieva chick demise…Saturday in Bird World

16 March 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Before I begin, the little chick at Achieva is no longer with us. It remains unclear as to what happened. No eggs, no chick. Some predator during the night. So sad. jack was so excited about this baby.

Friday was quite the day. Every time I turned around, something new happened with the Ospreys. It was wonderful but, at times, a little overwhelming. Ospreys will populate the news as they arrive and lay eggs, and things will go quiet for a month before everyone begins to hatch. Thank goodness for incubation.

So, we are fully into migration for all the species. As so many have noted, the ‘spring up’ in terms of Daylight Savings Time seems to have caused spring – which was not expected in some places for a few weeks now – to jumpstart. Things to remember about migration: Get your city to turn its lights off. Turn your lights off. Gives the birds a chance. BirdCast says there are 5.5 million birds on the move Friday night. Put up the Feather Friendly stickers on your window. Fill the feeders. Get the water bowls and baths clean. Stock up on seed. Welcome them home! or boost their energy as they fly through. Here are 10 ways in which you can help:

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If you don’t know BirdCast, check it out. You can input your location if you live in the US and see what species are arriving and in what numbers. It is a lot of fun and you will learn something.

‘The Girls’ and ‘The Boyfriend’ are all fine, as are the garden animals. Everyone has been seen, which is such a relief this time of year. The squirrels think another winter blizzard is coming as they haul away peanut after peanut. There are now four Blue Jays, which means two have arrived to join the two who stayed during the winter.

Hugo Yugo will go for her ‘operation’ on Wednesday. Dr Green, the vet who has cared for her all along, will have the honours. The primary issue with all voluntary kitten adoption organisations is that they are overwhelmed and have to rely on the vets having space for their kittens. They never know what is available. Dear darling Hugo Yugo, the tiniest 6-month-old kitten I have ever seen, went into heat last Tuesday. It is unimaginable to me that something so tiny would be ready to breed. Her very loud meow turned into a horrifically loud mating call that brought endless feral males to the deck! Poor thing. So glad she was in the house! So, we decided to try to see if there was any possibility of getting her into our vet before the end of May or September. Luckily, they had a cancellation today. I couldn’t believe our luck. So send her good wishes – she will be sleeping on warm blankets and having good pain meds on the 20th.

I learn something valuable every day. Dr Peter Bloom, who banded Black 61, is also responsible for something extraordinary. Steve Schubert of Morro Audubon says, “Pete Bloom captured and brought in the last remaining wild California Condor on Easter Sunday in 1987, contributing to the captive breeding program . The species was absent from the wild until reintroduction began several years later, in 1992.”

Friday was a bit of a day – . Ospreys were landing in their nests, Ospreys were laying eggs, and a chick was hatching at Venice Golf and Country Club. Thank you so much to ‘H, J, and M’ who helped me stay on top of it all! Very seriously, there is no way that a single individual can monitor 150+ osprey nests, so I appreciate all your sightings! You are amazing.

Lucy laid her first egg at Lake Murray. I so hope the GHOs leave this nest alone this year. She has a new mate having lost Ricky and all three of her chicks in 2023.

It looks like both Mum and Dad have arrived at the Patchogue Osprey platform on Long Island. These two did what most only dreamed of last year—they raised four osplets to fledge!

The first egg has hatched at Venice Golf and Country Club! Congratulations. In 2023, their first egg hatched on the 13th of March – so very close this year.

‘H’ also reminds us, “Olivia arrived at Severna Park on 3/8, Oscar on 3/10. Edie at Captiva laid her second egg on 3/13, expect a possible 3rd egg tomorrow. Opal at Forsythe arrived this morning.”

At Dahlgren, Jack brought in his first ‘stuffie’ of the season on Friday. There might be some difficulty deciphering which female is which, but we will never mistake Jack.

Looks like that stuffed animal is gone.

Ospreys arriving in Europe and getting right to the action.

The first arrival at River Gwash, and the fishing looks good.

At Port Lincoln, Ervie and Giliath are fishing buddies.

In the UK, it looks like Blue 33 and Maya will be the first to lay eggs. Laddie has yet to return to Loch of the Lowes. Blue NCO waits.

That is definitely not an Osprey on Loch Arkaig’s nest 1 that used to belong to Louis and Aila. (Louis and Dorcha are on nest 2).

‘A’ has been watching the West End nest and notes, “I watched a late afternoon feeding from Akecheta where the two older chicks were very well behaved (probably stuffed) and dad concentrated on the youngest for several minutes. It was bonked just once throughout the event. It’s a strong, feisty wee one and it gets itself to the table when it can. I have my fingers crossed for it, but if the food supply remains as good as it usually is with these parents, I am cautiously optimistic. In fact, a lot of our two-eaglet nests with young chicks are doing well, with relatively little bonking, although there is the worry you noted with possible intruders at one nest. Of course, we all know that losing a parent is the worst thing that can befall a nest with young chicks, followed by a food shortage or prolonged rain. So, while we cannot control any of those things, I am still hoping this season has turned a corner.” 

Proud Dad Akecheta with fantastic Mum, Thunder.

Cali Condor caught Thunder giving a private feeding to eaglet 3 at the West End.

‘A’ was watching when Akecheta fed the wee one and says, “Watch Akecheta feeding the baby some lunch from 13:12. The wee one is eating well and getting enough food. It waits its turn – but these parents are diligent enough to ensure that the older two are sufficiently stuffed to let the youngest have its turn at the table. And the size of some of the fish Akecheta in particular is bringing in is awesome! With each day that passes, as the baby of the bunch gets stronger and more agile, I am more hopeful about this nest. The older two have calmed down slightly – Nessie has a long neck!!!!!”

The two eaglets at Bluff City are eating squirrel. Is it just me or is that first hatch twice as big as the second?

Just look at the eaglets at Johnson City. Jolene and Boone have chicks with the ‘fattest little bottoms’ and their thermal down is really coming in….big clown feet. I blinked. Must have.

Dixie and Mason continue to do great at Superbeaks.

Leaper and Jersey had a fabulous feeding. The new male is keeping nice sized fish in the pantry for Mum and the kids. Their crops were popping several times today. No worries at this nest!

Jack arrived at 0921 on Friday with a fish for Diane and the new baby at Achieva.

The last feeding that I saw on Friday was late afternoon. Jack came to the nest empty-taloned but wet later.

The Crows are the only ones at Oyster Bay so far.

Oh, empty platform at Chesapeake Bay. There is confirmation that the ospreys are flooding the area as they arrive from their winter migration.

Let us all hope that it is a much better year for the Osprey couple that find this nest in Cape May Meadows.

There was an osprey on the MNSA platform on Friday.

The Estonian Golden Eagle Helju has laid the first egg of the season!

In Florida, R6 is now learning about having to defend a nest against intruders!

E23 continues his flapping and flying…we are so near fledge.

Sharon Lee captured Gabby and Beau and isn’t it a gorgeous image of the pair at NE Florida?

Jackie and Shadow are so hopeful. More snow. We need to be more like them. I still wish for a fairy to delivery them a baby eaglet.

Big Red and Arthur were working away on their nest at Cornell. I am expecting eggs to be laid here and at the nest of Angel and Tom any day.

Annie almost had me thinking she was laying her first egg on Friday. Archie was in the scrape calling her when she wasn’t there. Gosh, isn’t he cute? And look at those deep chrome-yellow legs. This guy is healthy!

Annie.

Archie.

Monty and Hartley were both at the San Jose City Hall scrape on Friday.

It’s not siblicide in Ospreys. Geemeff sends us an article out of Science that discusses the Eurasian Hoopoe and siblicide.

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YOU can make a difference. Do not give up…the Nightingales won because people stood up for their habitat!

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That’s a crazy round-up of some of the nests that everyone is following. Don’t be shy! Send me any osprey news that you see – landing on a nest, laying an egg, hatching. Everything is appreciated and welcome. Take care all. Thank you for being with me today. Send good energy to the Achieva nest – there is lots of food competition there for Jack!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, M, SS’, National Wildlife Federation, Spectrum News, BirdCast, Lake Murray Ospreys, PSEG, Isak, Forsythe Osprey Cam, Dahlgren Osprey Cam, Jane Dell, River Gwash Ospreys, PLO, Mary Kerr, Geemeff, IWS/Explore.org, Cali Condor, Bluff City-ETSU, Johnson City-ETSU, Superbeaks. Duke Farms, Achieva Credit Union, Chesapeake Conservancy/Explore.org, SCMM, MNSA, Eagle Club of Estonia, WRDC, SK Hideaways, Sharon Lee, FOBBV, Cornell RTH Cam, Cal Falcons, San Jose City Hall Falcon Cam, Science, and BirdGuides.

Three for Thunder and Akecheta…Tuesday in Bird World

12 March 2024

Hello Everyone,

Oh, my goodness. Monday was one glorious day. Blue skies. +10 temperatures. Happy people everywhere. What more could you ask for? Well, feeding deer and Black-capped Chickadees by hand while, overhead, a skein of 17 Canada Geese were arriving.

Several decades ago, I would be waiting for this arrival in mid-April. Saw one goose in a puddle by a major highway and more deer. Today’s outing certainly boosted the spirits – or as some say here – ‘it sure got the sap running’.

I had to back up as this one kept coming right towards me…I did have a deer once eat part of a wool jacket. It was one of the deer in the park at Nara, Japan, that loved cookies. Many vendors in front of the Todaiji Temple sell the deer’s favourite snacks. They are entirely protected and can even go inside the shops!

Before we go further into Bird World, there is a pip on Monday afternoon in Thunder and Akecheta’s third egg. This little bobble will join two very feisty siblings who know the ropes in that small nest. Wow. Things could get very interesting.

At 0410, Thunder gets rid of the shell from the third hatch! The first two continue to ‘play fight’ while they are trying to be fed. Oh, bless this new one.

As far as I know, there is no pip or hatch at either Two Harbours, Big Bear, or Sauces. I am having, what most people call, a bit of hope-frustration. Not for me, but for these lovely eagle families.

A pile, literally a stack, of new bird books arrived today. One of them is Tim Mackrill’s The Osprey. I will keep you posted as I compare this book with the one he wrote for the RSPB and his PhD thesis at the University of Leicester. Tim is one of the world’s experts on Ospreys. His name is associated with so many reintroductions and it seems that despite having a life, he is always there to help when someone needs it if it involves our beloved fish hawks.

The book that I am most looking forward to reading is one on its way. It is My Summer with Ospreys. A Therapists Journey into Hope, Community, and Healing our Planet.

The one that I am reading is Simon Curtain’s, If you build it, he will come. I lived in the market town of Grantham in Lincolnshire. My two haunts were Belvoir Castle and closer to home, Belton House. The book is the story of the reintroduction of Osprey into the UK after their demise. It specifically tells the tale of 4K, the male Osprey that settled on one of two platforms built at Belvoir raising two chicks in 2022. It is a love story to that singular bird that was the focus of Sacha Dench’s Flight of the Osprey. 4K did not return to breed in 2023. He sadly died on his way home in February 2023 somewhere near Dobire, Guinea.

It is a page-turner when you get to the part where Curtin wonders, after so many years, if 4K will have a mate, lay eggs, and have chicks! His excitement was infectious and Calico and I were up way past our bedtime reading his diary.

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Most everyone who reads my blog knows that I believe nature has the power of healing. I spent at least four days a week outside for numerous hours. I do not wear headphones as I smell the fresh air and walk through familiar paths in the forest. Even though I do this repeatedly, each day is different. There are times that I long to live the life I did when I was twenty, on a small treed average, miles from anyone. Chickens, sheep, Roosevelt the Pig, horses, cows, cats, rabbits, and Guinea Fowl. Sometimes urban spaces ‘get to me’. But living sustainably was a lot of hard work – rewarding but hard, from morning to night. So now the forested areas around the City are my refuge.

Which brings me back to this book. I will keep you posted when it arrives.

Things are really starting to pick up with the Ospreys with reports coming in from near and far.

We discovered that the osprey photographed in San Diego did not originate in Montana. There is a mystery about this bird: the band and the lack of a federal band. The band reads Blue 61. But there is another white line. I am contacting everyone I know who bands Ospreys and has records of them. The news from the federal banding programme takes time. If you know anyone that bands ospreys, ask them if they recognise this band. Notice the line that goes all the way around. It is unique:

That egg at Captiva. It made its way back to the centre of the nest. Jack has delivered a nice fish to Edie and takes a breath. Everything seems fine for now. Lesson learned. Too much bark and objects in a nest can be dangerous for eggs! I am sure glad these two do not like stuffed toys.

‘H’ reports that Jack injured his foot early this morning but he has delivered a fish and seems to be much improved.

At Dahlgren, Jack and Harriet have been reunited.

No matter what happens…we love them.

A lovely video of Jackie and Shadow with those diamonds raining down on Jackie – oh, the bond these two have. I so wished this year had been theirs.

At Berry College, Missey and Pa Berry’s second clutch of eggs was laid on February 17th and 20th. Today, the oldest egg is 24 days. We have 12 days til pip/hatch watch.

My goodness. Francis must be a fast feeder. I blink and she is finished. It looked like the little one did get some nice bites on Monday, regardless, at Bluff City.

There were issues with prey deliveries at both nests – Bluff City and Johnson City on Monday. Franklin brought a garter snake to the nest in Bluff and it was nearly 1700 when Boone brought in a fish.

Kids at Johnson City were a little antsy. They are little to be waiting so long for food to arrive. It was after 1700. They did get a fish dinner.

Check out E23. Goes from the nest to the branch to hovering high in the wind.

Cal is doing some serious hovering, too!

It is hard to see Dixie and Mason the Superbeaks nest. They blend right in with the Spanish Moss. Three weeks old today – Dixie is.

Ron and Rose’s R6 celebrates his 8 week birthday. Check out Heidi Mc’s video for the celebration at this title on YouTube: 3/10/24 Dade County Eagles: Happy 8-Week Birthday, R6 !!

R6 is standing strong on the rails. Wonder when he will get interested in the branches?

Both eaglets at Duke Farms are doing well. Each fed nicely on Monday and the pantry was full.

Swampy and Meadow got a delivery of a huge fish. Both eating well and getting those juvenile feathers with no problems at this time.

Meadow is self-feeding!

I sure miss Diamond and Xavier. Here is the latest news:

Here is that video:

Kielder is preparing for the upcoming season as their ospreys fly home from West Africa and the Iberian Peninsula.

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Are we getting ready for eggs for Rasene and Akacis at their nest in the Kemeri National Park in Latvia? Lots of time spent in that nest on Monday!

The latest from Janet Shaw at Chichester Peregrine Falcons.

Tom and Angel continue to work on their beautiful nest. Pine boughs and pine cones are adding a special touch – and we know that the pine helps to keep insects away!

Black Storks are arriving back in Poland!

No sign of any hatch action at the Achieva Osprey cam. The precise date that the third egg was laid is not known. It is seen on the morning of the 8th of February. If that is the correct date of it being laid, then it is only 34 days old today. Give it a few more days to hatch.

Could Rutland be home to more than Ospreys – like bears and wolves? They are hoping for this type of transformation!

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Thank you for being with us today. Please take care. We look forward to having you with us again soon!

Thank you to the following for their comments, posts, photographs, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J’, IWS/Explore, The Guardian, Pamela Lowell, F Borja, Window to Wildlife, Dahlgren Osprey Platform, FOBBV, SK Hideaways, Berry College Eagle Cam, Bluff City-ETSU, Johnson City-ETSU, WsperWings, Sylvia, Superbeaks, WRDC, Duke Farms, Eagle Country, Holly Parsons, Kielder Ospreys, LDF, Janet Shaw, Arlene Beech, Achieva Credit Union, and BirdGuides.

Hatch at Bluff City…Thursday in Bird World

7 March 2024

Good Morning,

It is 1747 on the Canadian Prairies and we have been in the midst of a blizzard for five hours now. We got all of the donations to the kitten charity and rushed home. Thank you so much for your wishes on bountiful donations. People are generous and it is a good time since many are doing some spring cleaning. I feel so sorry for those people who cannot keep their pets because they cannot afford to feed them.

The wind was really gusting. The snow had piled in where ‘The Boyfriend’ and other feral find their food. There were no birds in the garden and the squirrels had completely disappeared to their dreys or tree homes.

The girls were all asleep. As for me, I was glad to get off the City streets as they got slicker and the wind picked up to the point that in places you could not see. As Dorothy says, ‘There is no place like home!’ When I did look at the kitties, I was drawn to Calico who, this time last year, would have endured several big storms. I am so glad this gentle soul (she is except for the ongoing snit with Missey) is inside this year, safe and warm.

There is no news coming out of Big Bear Valley about a pip that I have seen. Indeed, despite the good response to the auction, I have been rather muted and sad today. It is unrealistic, but I wish an ‘Eagle Egg Fairy’ existed. Or someone who had an orphan eagle that needed two great parents. If they could drop that little one into the Big Bear nest, Jackie and Shadow would be elated. That eaglet, like Calico, would have won the ‘so-called lottery’ – a home with loving parents and food. On the other hand, I would love it if that third egg would hatch for Jackie and Shadow. I feel like I am losing hope. The impact of DDT has been horrific on wildlife decades later.

The camera isn’t even going in close. Feeling gutted for them. Egg 1 is 42 days old and I presume it to be non-viable. Egg 2 is 39 days old. Has it begun pipping? No visible pips seen. Egg 3 is 36 days old. Please send positive wishes for that egg to be viable for these two so hopeful eagles.

Jak and Audacity’s single egg clutch looks good. But will that egg be fertile? Oh, please.

Still waiting at Achieva, also.

No eggs, but Milda and her new mate are working on their nest in Latvia. I am expecting eggs right before the end of March.

Red Wing captures all the drama at the Spirit Bluff Peregrine Falcon scrape – who will Newman choose?

It is always a relief when a mate returns from migration. It is always a heart ache when they do not.

Rosie has been home for a few days and Richmond is bringing in the fish gifts.

Annie and Archie are fine. Starling is on the menu.

We are on a countdown for the UK returnees as well as those in Europe – all of the migrating birds, including the storks and ospreys.

Observers of the JB Sands Wetlands Bald Eagle nest report that Mum’s leg appears to be slowly healing. She is not missing. She was on top of the tower and flew down and took a fish from Dad and even fed the eaglet. Dad fed the eaglet as well. It was quite the scene with the live fish. thank you ‘MP’ for this encouraging report! That eaglet is big and is really feeling its wings, too!

Rainy at Duke Farms. Mum fed the eaglets, but less close in feedings than you might have seen at some of the other eagle nests with little ones. It seems to have gotten wetter throughout the day.

The Duckies seem fine.

My dear friend, the late Phyllis Robbins, who loved the Sea Eagles in Sydney also loved Eagle Country. I have to say that at the beginning of this season I really worried for Meadow. Well, just look at Swampy and Meadow today. Abby and Blaze are incredible parents. Despite their age and size, those two eaglets are being constantly fed. They are so well provided for that this eagle nest has quickly become one of my favourites, too.

As the rain came, Swampy and Meadow got a little wet. No problem. They have their thick thermal down and their juvenile feathers are coming in. The little ones like those at Duke Farms must stay dry.

The little ones of Jolene and Boone at Johnson City-ETSU did get wet on Wednesday. I really hope that they do not get a chill. They have to eat and it is difficult for the adults to feed them without them getting some rain.

Close by at the other ETSU Bald Eagle nest at Bluff City, Franklin and Frances have a pip, and it is raining.

And they have a hatch! It is BC24.

At Ron and Rose’s WRDC nest, R6 attempted to eat some fish that Rose had left on the nest. He did manage to get some of it. Unlike Cal, R6 seems to be behind in his self-feeding.

At the ND-LEEF nest in South Bend, Indiana, Dad’s new mate has been named Gigi.

While all the attention was the on the death of Flaco, another owl, this time an Eastern Screech Owl, died. The little one had been an ambassador for 15 years at the Raptor Centre in St. Paul, Minnesota. Unlike Flaco, who could fly and hunt, Warner suffered from lack of vision caused by an early head trauma. She spent 15 years educating people about owls.

This is news from the 5th of March. Sorry for the delay in birthday greetings to two very special Kakapo.

Nothing needs to be said anymore about the trauma and death caused by fishing line. We need to clean up our act if we fish.

I never saw one when I was growing up in Oklahoma, but these lucky birders were so fortunate to see this leucitic Red-tail Hawk there! She is even whiter than Angel.

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Over 400,000 songbirds were trapped in Cyprus so people could eat a delicacy. This really makes me ill. Can it be stopped? And in what other countries is this happening?

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There are many birds that actually winter in the UK. They are now preparing to migrate back to their spring and summer breeding grounds in the far north. Let us all hope that they are not trapped somewhere, but make it home safely.

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Your feel good moment. An osprey in care for 10 days for a soft tissue injury is freed! Remember – some people said ospreys do not do well in care. Others said not to supplement their feeding and look what happened positively at Port Lincoln! So smile…they do well in care most of the time like any animal.

Thank you so much for being with me today as we sit on our hands waiting for several pips or hatches. It’s not easy, especially when they are Jackie, Shadow, Jak, and Audacity.

Thank you to the following for their notes, observations, screen captures, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘J, MP’, FOBBV, IWS/Explore.org, Achieva Credit Union, Heidi McGrue, Latvian Fund for Nature, Raptor Resource Project/Explore.org, SK Hideaways, Lucille Powell, JB Sands Wetlands, Duke Farms, Eagle Country, Johnson City-ETSU, Bluff City-ETSU, WRDC, ND-LEEF, The Raptor Centre, Kakapo Recovery, Lin Lawson, The Red-tailed Hawk Project, The Guardian, and Wild Florida Rescue.

Shadow rolling the eggs …Monday in Bird World

4 March 2022

Hi there,

First, no hints this morning from Jackie. We wait. There is a second egg at Fort St Vrain in Colorado and the NCTC nest of Scout and Bella.

The storm hit north of Winnipeg where a former student of mine described the winds so high that the ‘birds were being thrown out of the trees’. There was some rain that turned to ice. The snow arrived later than predicted. It is now nearing midnight and the beautiful clean white adorning the branches of the spruce trees makes it look like we are preparing for Christmas, not spring. Oh, it was so dirty and grey. Tomorrow will be so gorgeous!

Today I saw Dyson. She was eating at the small feeder. It was so good to see her. One of the kits from last summer and Little Red were here along with dozens of sparrows all eating as fast as they could. The animals are, more often than not, a good predictor of the weather – better than the human or computer forecasters. I did not see the Blue Jay/s or the Starlings or any of the other birds, but rest assured they slipped in for food while I wasn’t looking. Every feeder was empty as the sun began to set with the snow gently falling all over the garden.

‘The Girls’ didn’t care. They explored all of the pet items put out before a decision was made on what would be donated to raise funds to help feed the rescue Mamma cats and their soon to be kittens.

It turns out that the tent beds that Lewis and Missey used can be useful if you want to play hide and seek Hugo Yuko and Baby Hope style.

These two convinced me to keep the little tent bed! They played for over an hour. It was so much fun to watch them trying to figure out which way to go to out wit the other.

Will there be room for both of them?

Sometimes it is so nice when they are asleep.

I have finally figured out why I am so tired. It is Hugo Yugo. She has to sleep under my chin at night or on my head. She must have woken me 6 or 7 times during the night trying to get herself ‘fixed’. I am not complaining — just in need of a good sound sleep tonight.

Hope prefers to sleep on the wicker if she is by herself.

Osprey fever is hitting new heights with the spotting of birds flying over the Straits of Gibraltar and now a confirmed sighting at Leighton Moss!

Lancashire. Leighton Moss Nature Reserve…look north of Liverpool. Oh, aren’t you getting goose bumps?

A sighting in Scotland!

Jak and Audacity’s egg is still holding. Here is the lovely couple from the Sauces Canyon nest Sunday morning.

More sightings of ringed birds in Senegal. If you listened to Tim Mackrill’s presentation about his new book, The Osprey, you will have learned that the tagged UK ospreys taught researchers so much. After their first trip to West African or the Iberian Peninsula for the winter, they ‘learn’ from their trips. They will land at almost the exact, if not the exact, tree or post. We know that Seren has a favourite spot and now, Dismount Blue 215 has also been spotted in their location in the Saloum Delta. Very predictable. They learn where to forage and as they age they will fly longer but slightly safer routes away form the coast depending on the weather.

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We have falcon eggs! There are two of them at the Peregrine Falcon scrape in Leimpde the Netherlands.

In California, Annie and Archie are working on that scrape!

Jackie just takes it all in stride. The weather does seem to be getting a bit better Sunday morning in Big Bear Valley.

The switch.

Are we looking at every spot? Seriously, it looks like a pip to me. I am happy to have egg on my face. Maybe there are even two pips.

Mum incubating one egg at Pittsburgh-Hayes this year with her new mate. He brings her a really nice meal! Let’s hope he is good at incubating, brooding, and providing for his new family when that egg hatches.

No one is precisely sure what is going on at Dulles-Greenway. Lewis appears to have returned to the nest, but no one is sure if Rosa is with him or another female. Too much drama this year. Turn down the volume Bald Eagles!

Both of the eaglets at Duke Farms are getting fed. Mum is incredible. The little one did not get as much as the oldest, but that is normal. They both seem strong and the second hatch seems much more feisty than the first who had that horrific ordeal with the shell while hatching.

Every time I look, from before dawn to dark, Jolene is feeding the two eaglets at the Johnson City ETSU nest. They are darlings.

Abby and Boone seem to be doing what all the others are – constantly feeding! Swampy and Meadow are so big compared to the little eaglets at ETSU or Duke Farms. Just think – in a couple of weeks those little bobbleheads will look like the eaglets at Eagle Country. Then in another few weeks they will be using the nest as a trampoline just like Cal at Captiva.

This video by Lady Hawk is now three days old. Cal is really, really getting the wind under those wings and fledge is at hand. Where did the time go?

For Pepe and Muhlady, their eaglets have clown feet, long legs and are getting all of their thermal down with some pin feathers, too.

E23 is not far behind Cal! S/he loves looking out over the territory from that branch and still likes to be fed. Such a good year for this new family on the Pritchett Property.

The eaglet at JB Sands Wetlands has a cute little mohawk now. sometimes when I check on the nest I cannot see it – and then panic sets in and there, right in front of me, is the eaglet. Has this happened to you?

RSPB Scotland needs our help. Please tell them no to putting telecommunications towers on these beautiful natural sites where the Golden Eagles live along with other wildlife. It would be so nice to leave some part of the world pure and free of a human footprint.

And, please, while we are at it encourage people out in nature to take off the headphones and ‘listen’ to nature not to a podcast or music. Please.

For those who enjoy the Alabama ospreys at Orange Beach, a Great Horned Owl appears to have taken over the nest.

Murphy made the cover of National Geographic Kid’s Magazine!

Bird Flu is wreaking havoc. It is an international problem that continues to devastate waterfowl and other birds. Alderney has lost 30% of its Gannets. We might expect similar numbers from other places…so the idea that the waterfowl population in certain areas is growing needs to be examined in light of HPAI.

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A recent article in The Smithsonian Magazine wants you to leave that pedicured lawn back in the 20th century where it belongs and embrace ‘the natural’. It is a win-win for everyone. Forget about your neighbours, do what is right for the planet! Be an inspirational leader to those who doubt you. Talk about the benefits. Think of all those toxins not going into the soil to kill the insects that the birds eat that make them sick and kill their nestlings as well as them. Not only do you save the soil from all those toxins, you create a biodiverse garden that will being much joy to you.

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I want to close with an article on Flaco and Flaco’s siblings that were also in captivity. It is very sad but also quite enlightening and is a must read. Written by Nancy Geary and it takes about ten very worthwhile minutes to open your eyes to the plight of these beautiful owls.

If you like the image of Flaco, the artist has said that she will make prints for sale on her Etsy shop. I will keep you informed in case you are interested when they appear.

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Thanks so much for being with me as we wait for any word on what still appears to be a small crack/hole in one of Jackie’s eggs. Is it a pip? Or am I just driving myself crazy? Take care all!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, H, J’, Jeff Kear, Google Maps, RSPB Alan Petrie, IWS/Explore.org, Kielder Ospreys, Liempde Falcons, FOBBV, SK Hideaways, PIX Cams, Duke Farms, John City – ETSU, Eagle Country, Window to Wildlife, Superbeaks, SW Florida Eagle Cam, JB Sands Wetlands, RSPB Scotland, Orange Beach Osprey Cam, World Bird Sanctuary, BirdGuides, The Smithsonian Magazine, and Suburban Birds.