Thank you for your good wishes for Hugo Yugo. As I write this, she is pretty sick. She ate a little food on Saturday night and drank water on Sunday morning. She was able to keep it down. I am preparing to feed her with a syringe with ground-up kibble mixed with kitten milk to keep her going until she can see the vet on Wednesday. I will feed her every 1.5 hours. It is now late Sunday evening. Hugo Yugo had another feeding and instead of going straight to hide in my room on my pillow, she plunked herself down on the foot stool to watch her sisters. It feels like an improvement. And yes, we fed her with a syringe until nearly midnight when she ate on her own. Tears.
She is now cuddled with her Missey. This is fantastic.
I am really, really tired of hearing about our wildlife being killed unnecessarily. It has been a week that just keeps on giving!
New research shows that skyscrapers are killing millions of birds annually during migration. It doesn’t have to happen. What is wrong with people?
It just seems there have been so many deaths associated with humans where I live lately. There were the eight bald eagles in the field (COD pending), then the two local foxes whose den was destroyed at the site of new condos – the one being hit by a car on a busy street last night and the other on a busy bridge. My fear is that they were targeted – the driver of the vehicle either baiting them or driving around til they saw them out and speeding up. I am worried about Dyson and her kids who now run across a street that has nothing to slow down the would be Formula 3 drivers since their trees were cut down. We went to get Hugo Yugo more kitten milk and noticed the large tree at the intersection where the Blue Jays nest has a vast orange circle on it this morning, indicating it is now destined to be cut down. When they are finished, we will not have a tree anywhere in sight higher than a meter. Our street was fully canopied two years ago after the leaves came out. It was gorgeous. Looks like the barren moonscape now. The trees the City planted will take 25 years even to become a size for animals to use. The ones being cut down were planted in 1902. If I could scoop up all the garden animals and The Boyfriend and move them, I would leave.
Oh, enough of my rant. The animals are so used to me that I can now sit on the upper deck and photograph them while they forage.
Just look at Dyson. She is not young. She is a real Senior citizen in the squirrel community, but, more important, she is the matriarch.
It is not a great image, but look at that strong back leg of Dyson’s as she gets ready to jump down with her precious peanut.
One of Dyson’s three kits. Isn’t it cute?
And another kit. The three of them were running around the garden with their Mum. They don’t mind me at all. I feel so privileged – and, of course, these are the reasons that I could never leave here – just vacation elsewhere. There is no natural food or not much for them anymore. The Squirrels used to eat the ‘helicopters’ (the seeds) of the Maple Trees but there are no more Maples and no one had the foresight to plant Oak trees!!!!!!!!!!! So no acorns. I did catch Little Red at the very top of the crab apple tree getting the little apples, though. That is not enough to sustain even him, however.
This is how it starts out in the morning. Today, I discovered that the Blue Jays get busy pecking the peanuts and shooting the ones they don’t like off the feeding tray! Dyson & Co thank them for sure. Junior is also stuffing peanuts down its throat like Mr Crow – like a pouch as in pelican. :))
Both Crows visited today.
Oh, the joy they bring! Just look at that face on the Crow above. I cannot imagine anyone harming them.
Isn’t this a gorgeous image? Don Dennis photographed this Bald Eagle couple on Russell Lake, Nova Scotia on Saturday, 9 November 2024. Many more will be coming to our prey-rich Atlantic province for the winter! Don is an excellent photographer. It looks like these two were deep in conversation. I love the evergreens and then that touch of autumn foliage.
At Port Lincoln, breakfast came early. Kasse ate last, but the milestone reached was by Wilko who stood up to eat! He is becoming a ‘big boy’.
Wilko stands up tall part way through the feeding to eat! Way to go, Wilko.
Now it is Kasse’s turn for some fish!
At Collins Street, the parents want the triplets to fledge. They deliver prey and take it away flying by to tease them to use those wings and chase them! It is all coming far too soon for Melbourne and Orange. https://youtu.be/l-xDYFIszYQ?
Diamond and Xavier are not withholding prey!
No news really for the fledgling WBSE. It kind of worries me. The one was in the bushes the other day. Will someone check? I wonder. One had their wing caught eons ago in branches down low and couldn’t get away.
At Hilton Head Bald Eagle nest, we have a takeover (or potential take over bid) by the GHOs. The nest was battered by Hurricane Milton. Wonder where the eagles will nest? https://youtu.be/5WqBTRFWqZ4?
Meanwhile at NE Florida, Gabby and Beau worked tirelessly on Sunday getting that nest ready for those precious eggs (fingers crossed).
It rained in Iowa. I did not see any eagles working on the nest at Decorah North. Rain started later in the afternoon.
Eagles were present at Denton Homes.
Beautiful sunset over the Captiva Bald Eagle nest of Connie and Clive.
I hope they don’t mind. Karl II was the most amazing Black Stork father and he deserves to always be remembered on ‘Father’s Day in Estonia’ and every where around the world where he was loved.
The latest from Sharon Dunne on the Royal Albatross chicks and their flight to the waters off Chile.
Rita the Eagle Monday Facts.
Live in Vancouver? There is a fundraiser for The Nest Companion Bird Car & Rehabilitation Society.
There are still hundreds if not thousands of Canada Geese in Winnipeg who have not migrated. In SW Manitoba, the Sandhill Cranes are still flying south. It is the middle of November!
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, images, posts, videos, and streaming cams: ‘A, Connie and Don Dennis,H, J’, Heidi McGrue, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, SK Hideaways, Judy Harrington, Hilton Head Land Trust, NEFL-AEF, Raptor Resource Project/explore.org, Denton Homes, Window to Wildlife, Heidi McGrue, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Cali Condor, ETSU-Bluff City, ETSU-Johnson City, Raptor Persecution UK, Madli Allsoo, Sharon Dunne, Rita the Eagle, The Nest Companion Bird Care & Rehabilitation Society
It was sunny and windy on Thursday morning. There were about 500-600 Canada Geese on a nearby golf course when I drove past. The water in the ponds providing swimming for some and no doubt safety for others later.
All of the feral cats have been to the feeders this morning: Squishy, a grey tabby with a flipped over ear, the Orange Ginger family pet that is let loose during the day, the grey tabby, and The Boyfriend. The need is growing. Of course, everyone thinks that prices of things will drop, but in my lifetime I have never seen this happen. Pet food appears to be soaring. My heart breaks for the families who have to surrender their pets, but not for those that dump them. They need care and surely there is someone to take them home and love them rather than leaving them to the freezing cold of a Winnipeg winter. On Saturday we will take all the wood out of the wood boxes, load them with straw and put a light bulb in there and close in three and a half sides. It will help some.
There is still concern about Avian Flu and bird feeders. ‘R’ sent us an article from The Washington Post that might answer some of your questions. The author says, “While avian flu is widespread among wild bird species, less than 2 percent of cases have been in songbirds and other typical visitors to bird feeders. Health officials have not recommended taking down bird feeders except for people who keep domestic poultry as part of a backyard flock. (In such cases, the USDA says poultry owners should take down feeders for wild birds or keep them well away from their captive flock, and to make the captive flock’s food and water inaccessible to wild birds.)
People should clean bird feeders and bird baths regularly. Make sure to thoroughly wash your hands after touching the feeders. Avoid direct contact with birds, and do not handle sick or dead birds.”
M15 and F23 working diligently every day on their nest in Fort Myers, Florida.
M15 checks out the nest for suitability for F23 and their eggs.
Chandler flew in to the Port Tobacco Eagle Nest for a few seconds!
Haven’t seen anyone so far on Thursday at Big Bear.
Ron and Rose were at the WRDC nest despite the very windy conditions on Thursday.
Connie and Clive visit the Captiva Eagle nest on the Barrier Islands in Florida on a breezy day. Nice crops! Good to see these two after Milton tore through the island.
Eagles working on the Denton Home nest and sleeping together at the nest. What a wonderful sight.
Wednesday they worked on the West End cam of Thunder and Akecheta, Thursday it was Two Harbours nest of Chase and Cholyn, Thunder’s parents.
They were flapping and waiting for breakfast at 367 Collins Street in Melbourne.
Prey delivery at Collins Street.
‘A’ remarks: “Suddenly, the trio at Collins Street are rapidly approaching fledge. Two of them are now running along the ledge, flapping their wings vigorously, which is nerve-wracking in the extreme. There is almost no fluff left on the older two, except a few dandelions on their heads. The youngest still sports some fluff on its wings, but suddenly, these three are looking very much like juvenile falcons. We will not have them for much longer. I cannot believe how quickly that triple-headed fluffball of an eating machine has become three juveniles who are potentially within days of fledging. Omigod, I am going to miss them SO much. It seems like only yesterday that we saw our first gutter stomp. “
Yira and Gammata share morning prey. Diamond feeds, too.
‘A’ comments: “At Orange, the pair still have quite a bit of down on their heads and wings. They are about a week behind the Collins Street trio, are they not? At least the Orange fledglings do often/usually return to the scrape after fledging (we remember those occasions when the parents literally had to bar the door from their adult offspring, with a not so gentle hint relating to the concept of dispersal). But we do generally get to see a bit more of them once they fledge. At Collins Street, we essentially wait until someone finds one of them injured, dead or starving on the streets of Melbourne’s CBD. We get little or no information on them post-fledge (although the Facebook group may have some BOTG – I’ll be relying on you for info from that source). But watching the Collins Street kids today has left me flabbergasted at how time has flown and the fact these chicks are already about to do the same. I’m sad now. “
Dad is off his perch and Mum is calling for food. There was not much on Thursday and Kasse got nothing. There was some beaking. This provoked the fish fairies into action.
‘A’ reports: “The most important news of the day is that there was a four-fish delivery from our beloved Fish Fairy at Port Lincoln this morning (09:38). A day too late unfortunately to prevent the two incidents of bonking yesterday that for the first time occurred during a feeding and was definitely done in order to prevent Kasse from eating. Not a good thing, and I’m glad the FF stepped in straight away. I would have preferred it to happen two days ago, when I was worrying about the lack of food deliveries and the potential for aggression this presented, but I suppose they were trying to avoid it altogether. And dad had been stepping up his fishing efforts – successfully, up until the last three or four days. So it was probably weather-related. But whatever the reason, the nature and timing of yesterday’s aggression made it essential that the Fish Fairy step in asap. I’m glad they didn’t delay. “
Thank you, Fish Fairies! I will sleep better Thursday night in Canada knowing you are there.
Heidi’s video of the Fish Fairy!!!!!!!! They included this information below the video: “Wilko is 33 days old, and Kasse is 30 days old. There were only two fish delivered to the nest yesterday, and as a result there was significant sibling aggression due to food competition. This morning, the ‘Fish Fairy’ placed four fish on the nest. It was the first time the supplemental fish were necessary this season. Ospreys are endangered in South Australia, and last season they instituted an officially authorized program of supplemental feeding for this nest. The supplemental feeding program is intended to help increase the survival rate of the osprey nestlings. Last year’s Fish Fairy program was a success, and both osplets fledged! For more information on the supplemental feeding program, please see this statement dated 10/27/23: https://portlincoln-osprey.com/portli…
Elizabeth Grey, National Audubon said on Thursday that Audubon vows to: “Strengthening Local and State Initiatives: While federal policy may shift, our commitment to local and state conservation efforts remains steadfast. We will work with communities to build resilience, ensuring that conservation continues regardless of changes at the federal level.” Just as I see my City taking every piece of land and building 3-4 story apartment buildings instead of 35 stories, each of us needs to lend a hand to help wildlife. You can do that in your own garden.
I needed a smile today and seeing Seren 5F at her winter home in The Gambia does it. She is a great mate to Dylan at Llyn Clywedog and a fantastic mother. She wasted a lot of years being courted by Aran but, in the end, he stayed with Mrs G. Great choice! But glad 5F found a great mate, too. Dylan is amazing. This is her biography from Glaslyn Wildlife.
Seren Blue 5F will be thirteen years old during the 2025 breeding season.
“Hatched at the Rutland Site K nest in 2012. Her mother is the satellite tagged female Yellow 30 (hatched at the Rutland Site B nest in 2005) and her father was the translocated Rutland male Red 08 (2001).
In December 2013, Blue 5F was photographed by Chris Wood at Tanji Marsh in Gambia, she was 18 months old at the time and would not yet have made a return journey to the UK. In December 2014 Chris returned to Tanji Marsh and he again found 5F settled for the winter there. She had not been spotted back in the UK during the summer, although it is likely she would have travelled north as a two-year old. On 9th April 2015 Blue 5F was captured on camera again, as she landed on the perch of the Glaslyn nest, this was the first sighting of her in the UK as an adult. She remained in the Glaslyn area during the summer and intruded at the Glaslyn nest on several occasions. By the middle of October we heard the news via Fansu Bojang and Chris Wood that 5F was back in her wintering quarters in Tanji Marsh.
On 29th March 2016 Blue 5F landed on the perch at Glaslyn once again. Two days later she was in a skirmish with her cousin Blue 24 at the Dyfi nest. Glesni, another cousin, who was the resident female at Dyfi, had not yet returned. Before long, 5F was back on a favourite nesting platform in the Glaslyn area. Aran was spotted mating with her on several occasions and for a while she appeared to be incubating eggs. The nest failed however and 5F soon resumed her regular intrusions at the Glaslyn nest.
During the winters of 2016 to 2019, 5F was once again settled in her wintering quarters in Gambia, where Chris Wood photographed her for the fourth and fifth consecutive years. During the winter of 2018 she spent the majority of her time in the Tujereng Beach area of Gambia, although she was spotted at Tanji again in autumn 2019.
On 1st April 2020, 5F appeared on the camera that had been installed by NRW at the Llyn Clywedog Osprey nest in mid-Wales. On 3rd April she also appeared on the Glaslyn nest, before being seen off by Mrs G. The following day she returned to Clywedog and was soon joined by the resident male, Dylan. The original female, Delyth, failed to return and 5F became Dylan’s new mate. Together they raised three male chicks and all three successfully fledged. A very happy outcome – Congratulations 5F!”
There are still Ospreys in the Netherlands that have not migrated – along with several in the UK. Maybe they know something we do not? Is it possible not to migrate in an age of climate change? Last year was the hottest on record for our planet.
A 25 year old German Osprey has been seen in Sardinia. Blue Ring OD. Amazing. Its experience, after surviving those first years after fledgling, have kept this bird alive. Incredible.
The last information I could find on the migration of the Black Storks from Estonia. Apologies for the small size. I cannot enlarge but perhaps you can.
Calico wonders if you would like to make someone feel warm and fuzzy? Lucille Powell has provided the address for the residents of the Riverview Care home next to Iris and Finnegan’s nest. Have a card and a stamp? Want to include a note about yourself and how much you love the ospreys? Or anything else. Here is the information. Think about spreading the love!
I do not know if they are taking any further orders but here is the information about the Iris and Finnegan pins. These are made out of sticks brought to the nest by the ospreys and collected by Dr Greene. They are carefully lathed and assembled by Sharon Leigh and her husband. I have enjoyed mine for years and you can get find new ink cartridges almost anywhere.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care of yourself. We hope to see you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, R’, The Washington Post, Androcat, chickiedee64, NEFL-AEF, Port Tobacco Eagle Cam, FOBBV, WRDC Eagle Cam, Window to Wildlife, Denton Homes Eagle Cam, Trudi Kron and Bald Eagles 101, Deb Stecyk and NCTC Eagle Cam, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Nesting Birdlife and More, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Olympic Park Eagle Cam, Heidi McGrue, Judy Harrington, SK Hideaways, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Valerie Webber and The Clywedog Osprey Group, Yale Climate Connections, Ecology and Evolution and PMC, Jeff Kear and Friends of Loch Arkaig FB, H Lorm and Looduskalender Forum, Montana Ospreys at Hellgate and Lucille Powell, Montana Osprey Cams.
Thank you so much for being with us. It is nearly the end of October! Tomorrow is Halloween. The following day is All Souls Day, and when I lived in England, we were preparing to celebrate Guy Fawke’s Day on the 5th of November. I have lots of beautiful memories of ‘Guys’ in wagons, bonfires, and jacket potatoes in the back garden with friends. It marked fall. The back garden of our house on Gorse Road in Grantham had fruit trees, mostly apples and plums. They were delicious and by the beginning of November all had been picked and eaten or given to friends and neighbours. The ones that had fallen were left for the hedgehogs to eat. Shallow bowls of water were always left on the back step for them, too. When we first moved to the UK, hedgehogs were the stuff of children’s stories. Our son decided to bring one inside the house. Yes, those of you who are British will know what happened next! Fleas flew everywhere. It was a solid cloud. Our dear little friend quickly found its way back to the orchard – and if memory holds, not a single other hedgehog made its way into the house.
The past several years have been really challenging. I never know if I am waking up to a toddler or a teenager. It is difficult navigating through life with a partner whose Lewy Body Dementia is getting worse. I have learned more about dementia in the last couple of years than I ever imagined. Well, to begin with, I never imagined caring for a person with dementia a decade younger than I am, but it happens more often than you might think. There are beautiful moments, and then, in a blink, his world and mine change. I have learned to grasp onto those times and hold them tight. Thank you for bearing with me through these transitions. My reports are not as long and do not include as much academic information – Bird World is relatively quiet right now (thank goodness) and my real focus is always the ospreys. Thankfully, the Northern Hemisphere’s breeding season is not here yet and will not be in full swing until the new year. In the meantime, I am so grateful for the garden animals and The Girls and for the fact that I can go for long extended walks in the parks and forests near to where I live. It all helps keep my mind in balance!
I did have a laugh. One long time reader and friend thought that Missey had done Calico in. No, Calico was not eaten by Missey! Yes, I know Missey looks huge in the images. She is large; she is a Maine Coon, but she is also mostly fur. Missey does look formidable, something out of a medieval forest lurking with magical creatures. Calico is, however, very much alive and well. Both Calico and Missey like to think that they are the boss, but the real boss of the house is Hugo Yugo. She is the tiniest, bossiest little ginger female I have ever met. She will rush to finish her food dish and then leap off the counter and run to push Calico away from her dish so she can eat it. That single fact has helped Calico lose all that weight. Just look at how trim she is. The vet will be pleased when she sees her in November for her annual check up. When we brought Calico in from the cold outdoors, we did not know when she was born. The vet guessed how old she was and based on that we picked November 2 for her birthday. This, of course, means that we will be having another one of those wild parties on Saturday.
Sadly, as The Girls have now all passed the year mark, they do not run and play at night like they used to. I surely miss that!
The real boss of the house! And if you are wondering, Hugo Yugo did run and jump on Calico to get that spot in the purple chair.
I have said it once and I will say it a million times, Baby Hope is nothing short of the sweetest thing around. Look at her staring at Hugo Yugo as HY is getting ready to leap to the top of the cat tree.
Calico and Baby Hope never cause an instant of trouble. It is always Hugo Yugo and Missey. If things are falling down in the middle of the night, you can count on it being those two.
Two Crows were at the big tray feeder. I counted. This one carefully took six peanuts including this one, the seventh, in his beak. Incredible. The Crows are ‘off’ the cheesy dogs. I also find that very interesting. They started wanting only peanuts in early September. We start out with huge piles on the tray feeders – big and small – and scattered on the deck for the squirrels. They will be gone within an hour! I am not kidding you.
Junior and the Mrs were also after those peanuts. Just look at that pile of peanuts on both those feeders. These Corvids are busy! They are in competition with three grey squirrels and two red ones.
Just a quick note. Yesterday I included the day’s sightings at some of the Bald Eagle nests. I did not mean to imply that eagles had not visited ETSU-Johnson City. I had just not seen them yesterday. Boone and Jolene have been regularly visiting the nest and refurbishing it!
Wildlife groups and rehabilitation clinics continue to plead with people not to use the fake spider webs. Here is another one:
What is going on in Bird World? Well, the focus is on the Sea Eaglets at the Olympic Park in Sydney. And the questions that are on everyone’s mind are these: Are the eaglets eating (either being fed or getting their own prey? OR Will they wind up grounded near the Discovery Centre and wind up in care – which if they are not so emaciated, would not be so bad. As far as I can tell the only bad scenario is that these fledglings are not seen fed and are not grounded by the Discovery Centre so they can be rescued. So fingers crossed. I will post all the news that I can find.
“October 29: Eagles were seen on the river around 7:30 –then shortly after on the mangroves – one with a fish. While doing surveys in the wetlands nearby between 7am and 8:30, there was no sign of either eaglet. Around 8:15, an eaglet was seen flying across the Armory grassland, being chased by the usual swoopers. It was seen on top of one of the old Navy-era mounds, then flew off again. One eaglet was reported by a member of the public along one of the pathways, but was gone when we investigated. We think this is SE34 and it is flying strongly and moving about. There were more sightings during the day, and one of the eaglets was seen from the ferry, flying along the river. Early evening, Dad was seen with a bird, taking it to River Roost. Neither eagle returned to the nest today. At dusk, the adults were at River Roost. The picture is from a sighting yesterday.”
‘A’ remarks: “I can hear those damned currawongs from the open WBSE tab, which I check regularly in the hope that one time, I will see an eaglet back on the nest, eating some fish. But all I hear are currawongs. It’s worrying, and oh so sad. I really thought this year might be different, due to the lengthier time the youngsters spent dealing with the swoopers while still having the nest as their ‘safe spot’. But it seems not. And what is really worrying to me is that it seems to be the parents who are letting the eaglets down. I was hoping that, like last season, the parents would help the eaglets by feeding them and showing them where the fish were. Watching their parents hunt would surely have helped immensely. But apparently this is not happening. “
In the Central Business District of Melbourne, there is a peregrine falcon scrape. Everyone held their breath as one of the chicks got a little too close to the ledge. https://youtu.be/0nKnS5II4rU?
They are getting their juvenile feathers as you can see clearly in the images below. They will be walking soon, tall and strong. They are learning to pluck by watching the parents who are bringing the prey to the nest and plucking it before them.
‘A’ remarks: “At Collins Street, the littles are self-feeding, and at least from dad’s point of view, it may well have reached the dump and depart phase. He brought some prey early, about 06:12, but one of the humongous fluffballs grabbed it from him and dad considered, then thought better of trying to retrieve it. The triumphant chick took its prize down into the gutter to eat it in peace, so dad retrieved what looked like a very long leg (or perhaps a piece of wing) from the scrape and began feeding it to one of the others.
The third chick sat motionless, intently watching the scene unfold, from the back corner of the scrape. Eventually, it moved forward and into the feeding line. When dad responded by offering it food, it stole the entire piece and took it back into its corner of the scrape, where it proceeded to self-feed. Dad continued feeding what was left of his leftovers to the remaining chick.
So in the end, everyone ate breakfast, but it was hardly the most organised or coordinated of feedings. Everyone ate in their own place and in their own time. Dad just went with the flow, handling the situation with aplomb. These three are already a massive handful for their parents, especially poor little dad, who is dwarfed by his offspring. This family is just TOO funny. “
These kids at Collins Street are so precocious. They are developing right where they should and one decided to take the prey from Dad and high tail it to the other end of the ledge!
Oops. Dad arrived Wednesday morning on the ledge and those triplets let him know that he can only come with his talons full! https://youtu.be/ej47XnKN9JE?
At Port Lincoln, Wilko eats first but Kasse wants some fish and gets some! He scoots up and Mum notices. ‘A’ comments: “At Port Lincoln, there was a bit of bonking at 06:32, but dad brought in a small whole fish at 06:41 and everyone was happy. Kasse is up off hisd tarsi and onto his feet today. He seems to have a fascination with feet that reminds me of a sweet girl called Lindsay. She too had to be reminded that other people’s toes were not toys. But Kasse is playing with Wilco’s toes and with mum’s. Just adorable. “
Diamond feeds Yira and Garramma their second breakfast. Xavier had a good go for a few minutes!
Black Stork Migration. Here is the Bird Map chart for the 30th of October. Waba still appears to be in the very south of Egypt at his last transmission.
Despite the fact that ospreys are what make me wake up in the morning, I love all birds and there are some that pull at my heart strings more than others. Jackie and Shadow are one of those couples. Jackie was at the nest looking at it and out over the territory while Shadow was finding the best sticks for cot rails. This couple lives in hope – the eternal hope that maybe this year they will be able to raise another eaglet together.
Polar Bears. The Canadian province where I live is often called the world’s Polar Bear capital. At our local zoo, three live in a large open space with pools and dens built a few years ago. In the north, in Churchill, the bears are hungry. If they come into the town three times, they are shot. Not tranquilized, but killed. They are hungry. The sea ice has retreated, and there are fewer seals they rely on for food. It is hot in Churchill and parts of the Arctic. It is unclear when the entire ecosystem that supports them will collapse, but there is evidence to show that it is beginning to happen sooner than expected. So what about captivity, like our zoo? What are the pros? And cons?
This is a good read. It asks a lot of important questions.
What a great post from Connie Dennis in Nova Scotia. How often do we hear people say or read that our dear feathered friends, mammals, and fish do not have feelings? They are sentient beings; their behaviour towards these beautiful creatures will surely change once people recognize this. For a good read on animals and birds as sentient beings look no further than Marc Bekoff, The Emotional Lives of Animals.
The trailer for the documentary on California Condors from the Ventana Wildlife Society: https://youtu.be/dgCVAA-NNig?
Geemeff sends us some really good news. Don’t we wish we could get together and buy the Chesapeake Bay and stop the fishing? They say, “One more parcel of land for nature, one less for the #IdiotsWithGuns who like to kill in the name of so-called ‘sport’.
While that is a good thought-provoking read about polar bears, we are going to close today with a good news story about a juvenile rescue. We need these good stories!
Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care everyone. Stay safe out there.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, images, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, J, SA’ Valerie Wright , Judy Harrington, Kerry Allen, Sydney Sea Eagle Cam, Deborah Victoriana, SK Hideaways, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Falcon Cam Project, NEFL-AEF, Androcat, Charter Group Birdcams, The Guardian, Connie Dennis, Ventana Wildlife Society, Tamarack Wildlife Centre.
15 C with blue skies and sun on Friday but it is nippy Saturday morning reminding everyone that fall is certainly here. We have wind and the dry leaves are dancing off the branches of the trees today. The Starlings arrived early for their suet and the little birds are eating seed and having baths. I am perplexed that we have, or seemingly have only one little Red Squirrel, when in the spring there were at least five. Dyson and the three kits are here as are the Blue Jays and Crows. Mind you, the Crows caw for cheesy dogs but are really wanting peanuts right now!
The Girls have been checking the cat food drawer. It is getting stocked up for our week away along with the food for the outdoor kitties and other garden animals. It feels a bit like getting ready and having a dormitory of teenagers to feed. It is definitely taking longer to get them organised than it will me.
The trip is going to be a little different. One of my former teaching and research assistants when I was at Acadia University lives in the area and after a couple of decades we are going to have coffee and goodies and catch up. Another potter that I wrote about several years ago, Susan Delatour, lives near Lunenburg and we plan to catch up and see the birds around the island where she has her studio. Hopefully there will still be migrants and some eagles will be on hand. The Maritimes are gorgeous this time of year. People travel from all over to see the changing colour of the leaves in mid-October. I hope to have some nice images for you.
There is not a lot happening in Bird World which is why it is a good time to take a wee break. The little falcons are growing like crazy. The Sea Eaglets need to get on with their branching and it appears that Wilko and Kasse, the osplets at Port Lincoln, are going to be a bit of a handful and a joy to Mum and Dad. Many of the cameras are still down including Captiva Eagle cam and NE Florida where the residents of the area are without power, tens of thousands of them. It could be some time before the cam is running again and we find out what is happening in ‘As the Nest Turns’. Maybe this year it will stop turning and Gabby and Beau will settle and raise some eaglets. I sure hope he is up to the task!
Isn’t this sad. No Menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay. None. Zippo. This is precisely why a moratorium is needed.
Let’s hope Clive kept his tail down in that nest as it is OK!
Ron showed up at the WRDC nest looking like he had had some prey. He is looking good. Now, where is Rose?
This was on the Loch Arkaig FB page. I am posting it here so you can see how remarkable these ospreys are. Look at that distance flown in a short amount of time!
Karl II’s son (2022) Waba making progress to Chad.
I wonder if your local wildlife rehab clinic could use any hollow logs you have in your garden? We keep ours so they disintegrate and we have insects for the spring birds but maybe you don’t do that…
News from Ranger Judy Harrington and the Olympic Sea Eagles.
And more from Olympic Park: A says, “At WBSE, we still have our two eaglets, settled in for the night side by side, duckling style, exactly as they have done for the past week or ten days. Here is today’s ranger report:
October 12: A cooler morning with all awake early and all joining in a chorus. Mating at 7:06 (in front of the children, too, and certainly recreational rather than procreational), then both were off. Good hunting this morning, as both returned with gull nestlings just after 7am. Lady fed both eaglets – a long feed with some self-feeding as well. SE33 managed to swallow the leg scrap at one stage. Later, both eaglets were flapping and jumping in the wind. Around 8:30am, SE33 was up onto the branch – so close to branching? Later, SE34 spent time on the rim as well. Then later, after 2pm, definitely branching – SE33 in the ninth week since hatch, at 67 days . More food arrived when Dad brought a fish piece in at 13:26 and Lady fed both eaglets. She brought in another bird herself at 15:37 – a good prey day again.
These two eaglets are the best of friends and are really enjoying lounging about the house without their parents. It’s a wonder they don’t throw a teen party. But please, stay as long as you like – we are in no hurry to see you go. “
Wilko and Kasse wanting fish. It is now past 1200 and no fish! Mum has sat on them to keep the peace. There were four the day prior. This is not good and underlines the importance of the fish fairies at this nest. It is not clear why there are fish some days and not others. See discussion of osprey fishing later in the post. We know, however, that the survival of the two chicks last year rested entirely on the fairies and the dedication of the Port Lincoln Osprey committee.
A small partial fish came in quite late, around 1243.
Perfectly behaved. Beautiful little osplets. Aren’t they the most adorable things you have ever seen?
‘A’ and her unique remarks: “Dad brought in a big, very much alive perch at 19:09:37 and it was very floppy indeed, knocking both osplets for six. Both quickly regained their footing and were up for a feeding. Wilco got the early bites but mum was very careful to feed both osplets. The fish continued to flop about, escaping mum at about 19:14 and having to be recaptured. This helped Kasse, who had been behind Wilco but now got to the front. From this stage of the feeding, Kasse did slightly better than Wilco, so they ended up eating about the same amount. They are very strong little feeders, both holding their heads up, beaks open, and starting to handle bigger bites now. They love their fish and both quickly develop sizeable crops. This is a very large fish, so there’s plenty for the chicks and mum to eat, dad to remove the fish and have his share, and then return the remainder of the fish for another feeding. Everyone is going to go to bed with full crops at Port Lincoln.
Despite the very long wait for the first fish of the day today, there was no sign of bonking or dominant behaviour from Wilco when the food did arrive. The feeding was peaceful and amicable, with no aggression and no intimidation. Neither osplet appeared nervous of the other and both were keen to eat. This was a great relief to us all, I’m sure, because that really was the worry today with the kids getting pretty hungry before food arrived. Hunger is an experience that is very problematic on an osprey nest, as we know, so I think the osplets handled their first taste of not getting a taste (if you get my drift) in a very mature manner. I was proud of them.
They truly are the cutest little people, with their racing stripe and their cute little round bottoms. It will be nice to watch their individual personalities emerge over the days to come. Certainly, we already know that neither has a vicious streak and both love their mum and love their fish. So far, they love each other too and snuggle a lot. The only foolproof way I have found to distinguish them is the size of their egg teeth. Of course, Wilco’s is the smaller egg tooth. “
It is 11 C when this image of F23 and the triplets was taken. It will get to 19 C today in Melbourne and hotter with the sun bearing down on the ledge at 367 Collins Street.
A reports: “The sun is getting hot at Collins Street and our wonderful mum is shading her chicks, sprawled out in front of her in the shade she is providing. They have plenty of stretching room in the area she has protected with her body and wings. She stands a lot while shading them, and yesterday was working really hard, beak open, panting heavily. But her babies were totally comfortable and completely shaded. She has this down pat. She does the best mumbrella I have ever seen at Collins Street. As long as she is on the nest, we need not have a single worry this season about the chicks being broiled in the Melbourne summer sun. That’s a HUGE relief. We both know how concerned we have been on occasion at this scrape, waiting for that sun to cross the scrape and for some shade to come. Now, we need not worry about it any more, unless of course for some reason the chicks are left alone. She has not made that mistake thus far. “
Notice the eyes of Diamond and Xavier’s chicks, Yira and Garramma. They are no longer slits but are open and the chicks can now see.
‘A’ remarks: “Darling Xavier got the chance to start the breakfast feeding at Orange this morning – 06:50 or thereabouts and the kids were up and consuming food. Too cute. I do love it when Xavier is allowed to parent. He did a feeding yesterday and he is so careful (as I said the other day, honey I choked a chick is not a sentence Xavier ever wants to utter. It’s funny how he keeps checking over his shoulder in case Diamond arrives and he gets into trouble. TOO adorable. This morning, he gave up his position without an argument when Diamond’s hefty frame loomed in the doorway of the scrape.” And later, “At Orange, little Xavier popped in shortly before 11:40 to find the chicks alone, so he quickly settled in for some quality brooding time. (I love the way he tiptoes across the scrape.) Even with only two, he is still so tiny that he broods them standing up. So tiny compared to Diamond. The chicks are hopeful of food and reach up towards dad’s beak and Xavier reaches down and touches one of the chicks with his beak. Sweet.
But Diamond was gone for only a couple of minutes. When she returned to the scrape at 11:42, poor little Xavier knew any argument was pointless, though he put in a token protest before getting up. I do adore the way Diamond peers around Xavier to see the chicks, as if checking that they have not come to some harm since she left them a couple of minutes ago.
Xavier does not leave the scrape – he simply moves to the ledge, where he continues to perch, looking out. Aww. Family time. Too cute. Xavier is such a sweetie, though I do fear that he will choke a chick one day with all the feathers he feeds the babies. He prepares the food so well at times, and then at other times he brings in something with virtually complete plumage and starts feeding it to the chicks. “
At Growing Home, Bubba is doing really well. Just look at the transition now to the juvenile feathers.
At Achieva, Jack looks down at the mess that Milton made of the nest in St Petersburgh that he shares with his mate, Diane.
Beautiful fall day at the nest of Duke and Daisy at Barnegat Light. Bald Eagles have been passing through on their migration and stopping at this site. It is gorgeous.
Gorgeous day on the Cornell campus home to Red-tail Hawk couple, Big Red and Arthur. Sadly, both of their chicks died after fledging. One from a window collision and the other from West Nile Virus.
What do you think the biggest threat is to eagles? We will be looking at this as two bills are set to be passed by the US Congress that will impact the Migratory Bird Act.
“Humans are the biggest threat to bald eagles. Much of the bald eagles’ habitat was lost, many of the birds were shot, and they were exposed to widespread contaminants. Between 1917 and 1952, for example, a bounty was placed on bald eagles in Alaska.”
There has been some questions about how often ospreys are successful in catching fish. That is a very loaded and complicated question. It depends on the time of year and the availability of fish. It depends on the water and wind speed. Ospreys only dive down approximately 1 metre or 3 feet tops. They need clearer shallow water. It depends on the temperature of the water. If the water is very warm, the fish dive down to stay cool. That is one of the issues for Olsen at Osoyoos. If we sit and think of the Chesapeake Bay and the fact that Omega could find no Menhaden, it would mean that the ospreys could fish all day and not catch anything. All About Birds says the success rate is 1 in 4 dives. Again, it is complicated and not that straight forward. Observers in the UK note that it often takes 13 dives for an osprey to get a fish.
Dyfi’s findings on success rate vary greatly from those of others published. The Dyfi Osprey Project put out some facts on Osprey fishing:
Fact 31
Ospreys have two main ways of catching fish:
The wet method: Soaring or hovering above the water’s surface from between 10 – 30m, the osprey will dive head and talon first into the water at great speed after identifying a suitable fish prey. After plunging up to a metre under the water, the osprey will surface, position it’s wings above the waterline and with great strength, become airborne from a half submerged position from a stationary position.
The dry method: Rather than hunting at altitude, an osprey will fly almost parallel to the waterline and pluck any surface feeding fish straight out of the water getting only its legs wet. This method is usually used in warmer countries where the fish live near the water’s surface.
Fact 32
Ospreys will catch anything from tiny minnows weighing only a few grams to fish that weigh up to the size of the osprey itself – up to 2Kg or 4½ pounds. Most however, are around a pound in weight or less.
Fact 33
Because ospreys live on all continents on earth except Antarctica, they have a huge variation of fish species they catch. The old English name for osprey is ‘Mullet Hawk’ which gives us a pretty good idea what their main fish prey species in the UK was (and actually, where they nested) before they were persecuted to extinction by 1916.
Fact 34
Ospreys won’t catch a fish at every attempt. Young fledglings have a very poor success rate, around 5% to start with. However, as they acquire more experience, this success rate shoots up considerably. A recent study (2010) of ospreys fishing on an estuary in the northern Iberian Peninsula showed an average success rate of 69%. Young birds caught fish around two times in every five attempts (40%) whilst more experienced adults caught a fish nine times out of ten attempts (92%)!
Fact 35
In the last few years, ospreys breeding in Scotland have started to catch mackerel where historically they had not. This could either be as a consequence of more ospreys choosing nest sites nearer the sea, or a change in the feeding behaviour of the ospreys. Or both!
Fact 36
Every year at the Dyfi we check carefully the areas underneath the osprey nest and various perches. We find loads of ‘opercula’. The operculum is a hard flap covering and protecting the gills of a fish, it’s made out of fused bones. They look a bit like your Granddad’s big toe nail! This is the only part of the fish that the osprey can’t eat.
Fact 37
Every year, we record what species and size of fish the Dyfi ospreys catch. Roughly speaking, around half are grey mullet, 20% are flounder and 20% are trout. The other 10% consist of other fish like sea bass, garfish and perch.
Fact 38
Nora had a great dislike of flounders (or to be more scientific – had a least preference for flounders). There may be a good reason for this. Of all the fish caught by Monty, flounders not only have the highest water content and the least calories, but they are also very tough and take more calories to eat. Think of all those neck muscles straining to tear bits off. This is very hard to prove scientifically but is based on our (anecdotal) observations. A bit like the celery story – it takes more calories to eat celery and to digest it than there are in it!
Fact 39
Monty has on a couple of occasions caught a ‘twaite shad’ – an extremely rare fish in UK waters belonging to the Herring family. So rare in fact, you need a licence to catch one. Monty, now has all the relevant paperwork in plaice.
Fact 40
Ospreys typically catch fish that weigh between 150–300 g (5 –11 oz) and measure about 25–35 cm (10–14 in) in length, but the weight of fish they catch can range from 50 g (2 oz) to 2 kg (4.5 lb).
Wind tunnels are helping us understand about birds and their migration.
Calico’s Tip for the Day: Do you own a dishwasher? Do you know what Tang is? Well, they have something in common – clean dishes! Calico got some tips from the Maytag factory and she is passing them along to you. First, do not rinse your dishes. Scrape them. Always use the automatic setting on your dishwasher. Once a month put in a packet of those orange drink crystals – Tang. It will clean and freshen your dishwasher!
Thank you for being with us today. Take care everyone. See you tomorrow!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A’, William Dunn, Menhaden-Little Fish, Big Deal FB, Window to Wildlife, WRDC, West Midlands Birding and the Friends of Lock Arkaig FB, Maria Marika, West Wildlife Rehab, Judy Harrington and Sydney Sea Eagles, wskrsnwings, Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Olympic Park Eagles, Growing Home Osprey Cam, Achieva Credit Union, Conserve Wildlife of NJ, Cornell RTH Cam, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Cali Condor, Audubon, USFWS, All About Birds, All About Eagles, Dyfi Osprey Project, The New York Times.
Sunday was a bit nippy. 9 C. The 40 kph winds were whipping the trees about with the leaves falling at an alarming rate. It is now 1100 and everyone is in the garden. Three Crows eating peanuts and suet. Three Blue Jays doing the same. Then there are the 18 or so European Starlings trying to grab some mealworms in between the Jays and the Crows. At least in our garden, they are not bullies. Everyone seems to wait their turn like planes lined up on a runway. Since the spring we have not been able to see the little birds very well as they have been hidden in the lilac bushes with their thick leaves. Soon all of those lilacs will be bare.
The bird feeder workshop was quite fun. The young woman leading the few of us that dared to show we lacked some essential skills was wonderful. She discussed every aspect feeding birds from seeds to feeders and for me, how to breed my own meal worms. Yes, we will call it Hugo Yugo’s Meal Work Farm!!!!! I don’t think Calico would want anything to do with bugs and worms! You need a transparent plastic bin (ugh, plastic), some paper towels, bran, and some starter meal worms. This tub has apparently been going at Oak Hammock Marsh for fifteen years. There are hundreds and hundreds of meal worms. I will keep you posted – I have everything but the breeding stock of worms.
Then we had a tray that showed us what to feed birds, different seeds for different species. Two things she noted should not be fed: bacon grease and peanut butter. Both of them will stick to the feathers of the birds and prevent them from flying. The bacon grease melts at a lower temperature than suet which should only be used in the winter. So don’t be tempted to use it. Popcorn – do not salt or butter – and best not on strings. Just air pop it and put it on your tray feeder! Some seeds can only be purchased at specialty bird shops while others can be bought at your local feed and seed stores. Calico says to always check prices -. We get some seed from a local farmer and others at the feed and seed. Our specialty bird feed store is at least twice as expensive. With the number of birds we feed, we need to find good quality food at reasonable prices.
And like magic…another feeder for the garden!
In the fields adjacent to the marsh, the geese were feeding. There were all four species that come to this area of the Canadian Prairies present – Ross’s Geese, Snow Geese, White-front Geese, and Canada Geese.
Florida hasn’t cleaned up after Hurricane Helene and already Milton is on its way to hit Fort Myers. Again, we can only be thankful that the raptors do not have any eggs or chicks in those nests. This will be the largest evacuation of Florida sine 2017 as Milton prepares for landfall. Milton appears to have the potential to impact all of the nests in Florida from Miami to Jacksonville. Stay safe everyone.
A different view of the Olympic Park Sea Eagles from cam 4. Lady is hunting for lunch! https://youtu.be/UIO6-eJBsGA?
Lady worked hard for prey.
Xavier tried to feed his chicks! Poor Guy. He is such a sweetie. Diamond is one protective falcon female!!!!!!!!!! https://youtu.be/rSGA_ATc7IE?
‘A’ reports that it is time to name the chicks at Orange! “Thought you would want this info in your blog as soon as it dropped. Here is the link for voting. They will choose the top two names from the voting (and the third egg, if it hatches, will get the third most popular name).
So did Mum tell Dad to go and get a fish or put in a phone call to the fish fairies? He flew out right after a little chat. 🙂
OMG. Ervie’s little brother or sister is so cute…and Mum had such a time getting it back under her after its feeding!
Heidi reports: “The second hatch at Port Lincoln occurred prior to 15:19 on 10/7. The second baby was first seen out of the shell for a split second in a very fuzzy cam view at 15:19 (screenshot).”
Lukin is the name of the little White-tail eaglet at Port Lincoln. He is 50 days old today and is standing and walking on the crane nest quite steadily.
Beau was on the LOP and Gabby was there, too. They are in the area of Milton. Send them good wishes – like I know you will to everyone.
It is raining in Fort Myers. The ground is absolutely saturated.
The nest is really a beauty. F23 and M15 have been working particularly hard and those cot rails are getting perfect. I wonder what it will look like after this hurricane? https://youtu.be/mOMRW5Ff8yw?
Brown Pelican caught on the Captiva Osprey cam where it is also raining and winds are gusting. Milton is not set to make landfall til Tuesday.
As most of you are aware, my husband has Lewy Body Dementia. Getting out in nature is essential not only to HIS mental health, but also mine. Taking part in simple activities, like building a bird feeder, is also key to one’s well being. It was not rocket science. Pre-drilled holes, but it helped with confidence. So if you know of someone who needs a boost, see what is happening at your local wildlife centre and take them! Sign up for a morning bird walk, build a bird house, learn to identify raptors. Life is truly beautiful – live it! Our dance card is full – every day there is something even if it is a trip to the local farmer’s market for their final event. The local honey is divine. Fantastic in tea or on toast.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Send warm wishes to everyone in the path of Milton as Florida prepares to get hit again.
Bird World is so exciting with all the new babies. Watch the cams, check them out, rewind to see the wonderful feedings. Watching falcons is so much different than ospreys. Now that we know that the fish fairies will visit Port Lincoln, we can relax. 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, H’, Oak Hammock Marsh, CNN Weather, Olympic Park Eagle Cam 4, SK Hideaways, Falcon Cam Project, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Heidi McGrue, Olympic Park Eagle Cam, NEFL-AEF, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Window to Wildlife, Charter Group of Wildlife Ecology, BirdMap, and The Guardian.
My inbox is full: There is finally a hatch at Port Lincoln and a pip in a second egg. Fish fairies get ready!!!!!!!!!
There is really good news coming out of West Africa. Blue 5F, Seren, the mate of Dylan from Llyn Clywedog in Wales, is right on her favourite stump in Tujering, The Gambia. She has arrived safely. Oh, that just puts a smile on my face and makes me feel warm and fuzzy. What a distance they have to travel and with the Sahara expanding every year, it can be even a more treacherous journey.
Autumn is such a bittersweet time of year. It is my favourite season because of the chill in the air, the crunch and smell of the orange, red, rust, and espresso-coloured leaves under my feet. As a young girl, there was something about walking through the University of Oklahoma campus when there was a home game that was energizing. At the other end, all of the leaves are falling off the trees, the vines on the woodshed are dead, and most of the songbirds are gone. Soon, everything will be only grey and brown. The geese leaving daily remind me that winter will be here sooner than one desires. Even so, the little sparrows are having baths today, while the Starlings hope that I will give in and put out more mealworms. Of course, I did! They are now busy gobbling them up. Yes.
A very unusual thing happened. The Boyfriend showed up at 1500 wanting his evening meal. The birds were eating at all of the spots ferociously. It is not 1515. The winds have picked up. Dark clouds have covered the grey sky and the phone now tells us to expect rain within the hour. Wind gusts are 40-68 km/h. The lilacs are beginning to whip around like mini-tornadoes and the leaves are flying about the yard. It seems that the garden animals are so in touch with the weather. They do not need an iPhone or the telly to tell them what is happening. They know precisely. I am always so amazed at how smart wildlife is and how so many people think they are just ‘bird brained’ and have no feelings. Silly people.
The Farmer’s Almanac: “Did you know that bird behavior can help us predict the weather? Closely observe nature and your feathered friends—you might be surprised by what you learn!
One of these days, take a moment to look up. Watch birds in flight. Birds flying high in the sky usually indicate fair weather. As the adage goes …
Hawks flying high means a clear sky. When they fly low, prepare for a blow.
Geese fly higher in fair weather than in foul.
Air pressure does indeed affect birds. For example, swallows have sensitive ears; when the barometric pressure drops, they fly as close to the ground as possible, where air density is greatest. Low-flying birds are generally a sign of rain, while high-flyers indicate fair weather.”
One of our readers, ‘B’ sent us a great article about the heavy impact that Avian Flu is having on Bald Eagles. The situation is far worse than imagined.
Waba is the 2022 hatch of Karl II and Kaia from the Estonian Black Stork nest in the Karula Forest. For many of us, he is very precious and we hope that he will live long and carry on the legacy of Karl II who was so tragically killed on a power pole in Turkey last year. Waba is now in Romania making his way down to Africa where he will spend the winter.
Two are already in Africa, Timmu and Kergu.
You can monitor their progress by following the bird migration map or checking in on Maria Marika’s very informative and up to date FB page.
Everyone is anxiously awaiting for that crack in the egg at Port Lincoln to give way to a very feisty little osplet! Heidi called it this morning for us.
Mum is snoozing. She needs all the rest she can get before these three eggs hatch. Those chicks will keep her and Dad super busy for the next 100 days.
Omega is fishing on the weekend at the boundary between Virginia and Maryland ensuring that they get every last Menhaden in the Bay.
Raining on Gabby Saturday. She is still alone at the nest. We have no idea what is happening elsewhere to either Beau or 24E1.
Gabby is here and moderators have confirmed that Beau is on the LOP.
Weather and migration.
So cute. The parents at 367 Collins Street are doing an amazing job with those three chicks. Remember that the falcon chicks cannot see for a few days. Their open eye is just a slit. This will change around day 5 to being fully open and round. As they begin to focus, they will be better able to aim and grab that prey!
‘A’ loves F23’s technique: “At Collins Street, mum’s garage door technique is working a treat, with all three well sheltered by her body and wings. Clever mum. You have no idea how relieved it makes me to see that she has a preference for this brooding position. It really is by far the best for sheltering chicks from rain in particular – a larger area stays dry. I have watched it on eagle nests and osprey nests so many times, and this is definitely the most efficient position. So much so that I wonder why all birds don’t use it pretty much all the time.””At Collins Street, mum brought in a large fresh catch around 18:37, which she then prepared and fed to the three littles. At 18:41, dad came trotting down the ledge with a freshly caught bird in his beak. Mum and dad had a good discussion about the prey situation, and dad took his offering to stash somewhere for later. Mum continued with the feeding. Her bird is massive compared to dad’s, and the debris left on the ledge is impressive.
The Collins Street parents are working so well together to raise these three chicks. I am looking forward to this nest. I am confident these two are going to do a great job. And the pigeons have returned to the CBD it seems – I saw several in Fitzroy (a suburb right next to the CBD) today – they looked plump and healthy and a passerby laughed when he heard me encouraging one such plump pigeon to go for a sightseeing flight over the CBD because our baby falcons in Collins Street might need a feed. (Most Melburnians know about our falcons.) “
Breakfast at Orange. Will that third egg hatch?
‘A’ remarks: “Oh my goodness Xavier! He brought in a piece of prey at 09:25 this morning that was SO big, I have no idea how he managed to fly with it. I am notoriously bad at identifying prey but it was gigantic. Maybe a duck? I don’t know so never quote me on prey types. But this was half the size of Xavier! No, as I watch him struggle to take it away to a stash spot, I see that it is in fact MORE than half Xavier’s size. Seriously. Rewind the fotoage at Orange and have a look at this. Xavier really is stepping up his prey deliveries as the number of beaks in that scrape increases. We now have three little bobbleheads and we all know how much falcon chicks like their food. After all, they tell us so, very very loudly.”” Xavier has really stepped up his hunting since the chicks hatched, and today, he brought in an impressive array of sacrificial birds, including a duckling I’m pretty sure (there was a lot of discussion about the possible sources of duckling on the chat, suggesting that my guess re the ID of that gigantic piece of prey Xavier brought to the scrape was in fact correct. Surprise! It really was huge though. I have no idea how he managed to fly with it. Falcons are obiviously significantly stronger than they look.”
A beautiful family portrait at the Olympic Sea Eagle nest.
Jumping and flapping!
‘A’: “October 6: All early awake, with duets and all joining in. Dad brought leaves in a couple of times. The eaglets were waiting all morning until Lady brought a mullet at 12:26 and fed both. Just before 4pm, Dad brought in a small portion of fish and fed both – it didn’t last long, and SE33 grabbed the last scrap from SE34. Late afternoon, SE33 was standing right on the front rim, flapping and moving sticks about. Looking back, we noticed that on Friday, SE33 was seen on the lower part of Perching Branch – venturing out. At dark, both finally settled down.”
Look at all the little kestrel chicks having a feeding! Goodness me they are the cutest. https://youtu.be/AYGXwCBmOU0?
The Achieva nest is a real mess. Maybe a big wind will come and blow the entire lot of it down on the ground.
Florida will be hit again by Milton. It might clean up the Achieva nest, but let us hope that all stay safe.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care everyone. Enjoy the end of your weekend. 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, B, Heidi’, The Farmer’s Almanac, The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, The Washington Post, Maria Marika, Port Lincoln Osprey, William Dunn and Menhaden, Little Fish, Big Deal, NEFL-AEF, Meterologist Chris Vickers, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Nesting Bird Life and More, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Olympic Park Eagles, Charter Group Bird Cams, Achieva Credit Union, and Sunnie Day.
You will now notice links to videos within the blog. Just click on them, and they will take you to YouTube. Geemeff helped me figure out how to save that precious space to include more images without using up all my media allowance! Thanks, Geemeff.
Friday was another scorcher in Winnipeg. It will be 31 C today but the heat index is reaching to 39 or 40 C. Even the English Gardens were so sultry that it was difficult to enjoy the beautiful foliage.
I continue to smile and tell The Girls how fortunate they are. What we are seeing is a growing number of cats, beautiful ones, coming to the feral feeder. People continue to dump their pets because they cannot afford to feed or care for them. It is so sad when these darling animals bring so much joy to one’s life. There was a steady stream yesterday – ‘The Boyfriend’, a Ginger Male, and a gorgeous long-haired ‘sort of’ Calico (photo below). ‘The Girls’ alert us to their presence. ‘The Boyfriend’ mostly comes during the night – between midnight and 0400. I catch him on the front video camera. But there is also ‘something’ coming and eating all the food and pushing the dishes about and upsetting the birdbaths. I do wonder if it is the fox or a raccoon or, perhaps, a big dog. They must come in through the back because they are not seen on the front camera.
Missey watching from inside where it is cool. They are telling everyone to please put out water because the heat index today was 38 C. The outdoor animals are having a very difficult time.
Remember those storms that hit Missoula with hurricane-force winds? We worried and teared up because of dear Iris and her family. Amy Moore tells us more about the devastation to other osprey families in her article in The Pulp. Thankfully, Iris, Finnegan, Sum-eh, and Antali were not injured.
‘J’ reminds us that Bobby Horvath keeps himself busy saving Ospreys and geese that get hit by golf balls on courses! He picks them up and puts them back together so they can live in the wild. Our fledgling ospreys can get into much mischief thanks to us and our fishing gear. Please tell people to take care of themselves and try to clean up after themselves, or stop fishing.
I have talked to you about the issues related to Osprey starvation and the industrial fishing of Menhaden in Chesapeake Bay. ‘H’ found this article that demonstrates clearly that the fish that our ospreys need to survive in the region can make a come back. New York put in regulations. Have a listen!
Hawk Mountain is located in Pennsylvania and is considered to be the world’s first sanctuary for raptors. It began during a time when people were paid to kill raptors – in 1929, $5 was a lot of money and if you turned in a goshawk that was what you received. A dead goshawk that is. Hawk Mountain was where the shooters lined up on top of the ridges when the birds migrated to kill them. Just think of that – thousands of bodies lying on the ground in the forest. A man by the name of Richard Pough began to take photographs of the autracities and eventually those images caught the attention of Rosalie Edge. Edge went to Hawk Mountain, and she came back in 1934, leasing 1400 acres. She created a safe place for the raptors. The killing ceased. In 1935, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary was opened to the public. Edge eventually purchased the property, creating a non-profit organisation to look after the sanctuary. You can visit there today – you can even go and help do a count!
They have just published its first migration count for this season.
Little Ringed Plovers nest successfully for the first time in Cornwall.
CROW reminds everyone – baby Squirrel season is starting in some parts of North America. What should you do? Read below.
Migration season for Ospreys in the UK is underway (as it is in other parts of the world). I will keep track, once in awhile, of who is home and who is not.
Gorgeous Friday in Missoula and there are some ospreys on that hellgate Canyon nest.
FORE (Friends of Redding Eagles) has given us an update about the necroscopy of Luna and discussions on what to do about the nest tree of Liberty and Guardian. Thanks, ‘J’ for sending this in!
Update on Liberty & Guardian’s Nest & Nest Tree 8/22/24:
We just wanted to give you an update on our progress this Summer! We haven’t been posting much because It’s actually been a very busy Summer! We’ve been working non-stop on finding a way to help Liberty & Guardian any way we can next season. We’ve heard several of you suggest we simply “Cut down the Nest Tree” or “Remove the Nest”. After what happened to our Luna & Sol last season we completely understand how you feel! None of us want to experience something like that ever again! But, there are several Federal Laws protecting Bald & Golden Eagles so we have to abide by those laws at all times.
We’re still waiting on the Final Report on Luna’s Necropsy, but I have been in touch with Krysta Rogers frequently these last few months & she has been very helpful. She has answered several questions we asked her after the preliminary report was released & she reviewed a few videos I sent to her of Luna on the Grassy Island. Krysta said she will share the FINAL REPORT with us as soon as it is ready. We would all like to know what the cause of death was for our Luna & Sol & we really hope the final necropsy report will give us those answers. We have to let you know that there are times when the necropsy results are inconclusive, but we remain hopeful!
We’ve also been in touch with the California State Avian Conservation Coordinator Shannon Skalos regarding what we can & can’t do about Liberty & Guardian’s Nest & Nest Tree. Shannon was very helpful & understanding & she put us in touch with our local Fish & Wildlife Supervisor John Perrine who we’ve been working with to come up with a plan. Since we are not Biologists ourselves, we work under the guidance of our local Fish & Wildlife Biologists. We’ve been discussing what we can do within the constraints of the Federal Laws protecting Bald Eagles & their Nests & Nest Trees.
Back in June, Shannon informed us that we cannot do anything to the Nest or Nest Tree without a Federal “Take Permit”. She said those permits can take quite a while to obtain & she didn’t think we had enough time to go that route(6-12 months). She said US Fish & Wildlife generally tries to “let nature take its course”, but they will always consider things on a case by case basis.
Shannon let us know we would NOT need a permit to do something in any of the nearby trees as long as we don’t touch the Nest Tree. So, we immediately reached out to our dear friend & Eagle Biologist David Hancock from British Columbia who has a lot of experience & success in this area. David has been consulting with us & now we are in the process of making a plan which we will complete in September. We will share more details on our plan as we get closer!
Our Project Manager Joe will be coming to Redding in September to replace parts & overhaul the entire Eaglecam System. So, we still have a lot of work ahead of us! But, we are determined to do whatever we can to help our beloved Redding Eagles Liberty & Guardian! And, we are also determined to do whatever we can to make it a great viewing experience for all of our wonderful followers & incredibly generous Donors who make this all possible!
We could not do this without YOU!
Stay tuned!
~Terri & the FORE Team
Here is some helpful information with us from the US Fish & Wildlife Eagle Management Plan:
“Eagle Nest Protections
Along with protecting eagles, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act also protects eagle nests. Eagle nests are protected at all times, not just when the nests are in use by eagles. This means eagle nests can never be removed, destroyed, moved, tampered with, or obstructed, no matter what time of year it is, without a permit.
An eagle nest is defined as “any assemblage of materials built, maintained, or used by bald eagles or golden eagles for the purpose of reproduction. An eagle nest remains an eagle nest until it becomes so diminished, or the nest substrate upon which it is built fails, that the nest is no longer usable and is not likely to become usable to eagles, as determined by a Federal, Tribal, or State eagle biologist” (50 CFR 22.6).
The following are all considered eagle nests and are protected (unless the nests are determined by a Federal, Tribal, or State eagle biologist to no longer be usable):
Any nest constructed by an eagle, even if the nest is never finished or used.
A nest built by another bird that is subsequently used by an eagle for reproduction.
A nest constructed by an eagle that is subsequently used by another species, such as owls or osprey.
Note that if nest take removes all available nesting substrate from an eagle pair’s territory, this can lead to abandonment and loss of the eagle territory, which constitutes a form of disturbance take.laws”
Is Mum looking a little eggy at Port Lincoln?
Seabirds sang a tribute to the Penguin Icon, Sphen, as they mourn his death.
Our smile for the day comes from ‘SP’. Most of you know the Crawley Falcons that hatch their chicks on the balcony of a high rise in Australia. Apparently neighbours decided peregrine falcons were too noisy and asked that the plant pots where the falcons laid their eggs be removed. Well…Here is the story in pictures from their FB page. Oh, they now have at least two eggs.
Turtles are starting to arrive at the Kistachie National Forest E-1 nest…oh, geez. If this eagle keeps this up, there won’t be a turtle within 5 miles of the park! This male loves his turtles.
Karl II’s son, Waba, is in the Ukraine where he continues to feed as he works his way back to Africa. Fingers crossed that Waba will return to Estonia and take over his natal nest next year! Yes! Waba can continue the great example of his father, Karl II, who sadly was electrocuted on an unprotected pole in Turkey last year.
Geemeff’s daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Friday 23rd August 2024
More rain overnight last night with strong winds, and a misty morning today. No Ospreys appeared on either nest, just a pair of Great Tits on Nest One, but we were treated to footage from Spain of our one surviving chick, 1JW, looking magnificent and defending his fish with a short sharp warning nip to another Osprey who attempted to get some of it. This all bodes well for his upcoming migration journey, and explains his informal nickname of ‘Jaws’. Also sent through by Fundación Migres were photos of Pean JH3, the Loch Arkaig Osprey who fledged from a private nest in 2017 the same year that Aila & Louis fledged their first chick, Lachlan JH4. Pean’s untimely death on a faulty power line in 2018 inspired Itziar Colodro Sainz from the Fundación to campaign successfully for modernisation of the local grid at the translocation area of Marjal Pego-Oliva Nature Reserve, which has subsequently saved many birds. More here: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=15815194 and here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-46952452. The wet weather will continue all week, with the possibility of thundery showers tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.32.40 (05.19.49); Nest Two 21.24.56 (05.26.39)
‘H’ posted on Fenwick Island….little Fen. Dad is smart. Just drop those fish in when flying by. Don’t risk those precious talons with a hungry juvenile.
SE33 was aggressive towards its little sibling today. Despite there being plenty of fish on the nest, it would not allow the baby to eat but a few bites before starting to bonk it. SE33 goes into a food coma and Dad comes along and saves the day giving little 34 a really nice feeding. That baby was full. Love you, Dad!
‘A’ writes more of these current issues with sibling rivalry: “This morning, Lady went out early and brought back a large fresh whole fish. She started feeding SE33 at around 06:49 and continued to do so until just before 06:58, when SE34, who had had his head down on the nest, finally accepted a bite. But even though it had been eating large chunks of fish for nearly ten minutes, SE33 was not happy about SE34’s inclusion in the feeding and immediately beaks him in the back of the head. SE33 grabbed a beakful of head feathers and shook SE34 for some time. A moment or so later, when SE34 dared to move, he was attacked again. Once again, the shaking lasted some time. SE33 has an enormous crop by this stage and has been eating large pieces of fish uninterrupted since 06:50.
The fact that SE34 had stayed down for so long, cringing violently away when Lady leaned near him to pick up a dropped piece of fish (she had dropped it, not SE34), was worrying enough in itself, but when after eating so much fish and SE34 showing deference for so long, SE33 instantly retaliated for the one mouthful SE34 had been given, it really depressed me. I thought we had got beyond this on this nest, but obviously, we haven’t. In fact, over the past week or so, it seems SE33 is getting more aggressive rather than less.
Lady is still looking out for him, and there is still plenty of fish (Dad added a second fish to the breakfast spread this morning – there always seems to be food ready for when Lady wants to feed the eaglets) but it is a worry that he is obviously intimidated by SE33 to the extent that he is sometimes scared to eat. The question is whether he is still getting enough once SE33 has eaten all it can.
By 7am, SE33 is getting more and more reluctant to accept bites. (It had already been rejecting them when SE34 dared to accept his first mouthful but that didn’t stop SE33 from attacking.) But SE34 is still not brave enough to lift his head. At 07:02, SE33 is STILL eating. SE34 dares to move – he is monitoring proceedings. By 07:02:40, SE33 is refusing food and Lady eats the bite herself. At 07:03, SE34 lifts his head cautiously.
There are two fish on the nest – one whole and one that Lady is finishing off. SE33 gets a second wind but this is a good thing, as it stops an attack on SE34 for lifting his head. Lady pauses the feeding. She surveys the eaglets and takes stock of the situation. She waits. SE33 is full, so I think she is waiting for it to turn away or lose interest in attacking SE34. She is certainly planning what to do next.
Just after 07:04, SE33 does in fact turn away. SE34 sits up a little further. His head is up. At 07:04:25, Lady offers a bite to SE34, who takes it without retaliation from SE33. Lady then steps closer to SE33 and persists in offering it a bite for nearly half a minute until eventually it is accepted shortly before 07:05.
Although SE34 has his head up, Lady does not offer him food. She continues feeding SE33, although it is reluctant and slow to accept bites. 07:06:20 and Lady moves some nest material, which strikes SE34 and causes him to turn away, fearing he is being attacked. Lady ends the feeding at this point, returning to brooding the eaglets, even though SE34 has not had any breakfast while SE33 is stuffed to the brim. There is a whole fish still on the nest, plus some leftovers from the other fish, and yet she has abandoned the effort to feed SE34. He is obviously intimidated and scared to eat, but with SE33 so full, it is unusual that Lady did not persist in her efforts to feed SE34. She made very little effort to feed him, and did not offer him bites with the same patience and persistence she used to push more and more food onto SE33. So it was all in all a worrying and disappointing breakfast feed.
I am assuming Lady is going to let SE33 fall into a food coma and then go back to the fish to feed SE34. I certainly hope so. Otherwise, we are going to have problems at this nest. I am encouraged by the fact that the size gap between the two appears to have narrowed over the past four or five days, so talons crossed. “
There is more news from Australia. ‘A’ sends us the news of a rare white Rhino calf born – no feathers, but we will celebrate with them!https://youtu.be/QaPgf26-WYE?
Thank you so much for being with us today. Have a wonderful weekend everybody! See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, videos, articles, images, summaries, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, PB, SP, TU’, The Pulp, Return of the Menhaden, Hawk Mountain, BirdGuides, SK Hideaways, CROW, RSPB Loch Garten, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, Sandpoint, Pitkin County, Saaksilvie, Whistler Osprey Cam, FORE, PLO, The Guardian Crawley Falcons Instagram, Tonya Irwin, Looduskalender, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Heidi McGrue, and Olympic Park Eagles.
Thursday was an ‘odd’ day. We woke up to overnight torrential downpours with pools of water everywhere. The dishes for ‘The Boyfriend’ were scattered everywhere, and one of the birdbaths was turned upside down. Now, as this wind? Or was it the fox? I couldn’t tell. By early morning, it was muggy outside – but it didn’t stop us from heading off to check on birds. There were hundreds of Red-wing Blackbirds in the corn fields. According to Wiley On-Line, “Red-winged Blackbirds are often initially attracted to corn fields to feed on insect pests during the 2–3 week period between silking and kernel development.” I learned something new today.
The minute I stopped, the birds all dove down into the corn. Would they come up and do their fancy flying while I was there? Of course not! LOL
Then a Red-tail Hawk was spotted on a branch above a wheat field. Looks like it is moulting.
The animals at Pineridge Hollow do have a nice life. They are not continually caged up so they can be exploited for our benefit. There is a large field at the back where they can feed and wander except for the chickens that are likely taken into a coop at night.
This must be Rufus!
This is Sugar.
The goats were simply not interested in being friendly today.
The field behind the pen enclosures where the animals can roam.
We were not home for a minute before the Crows came calling. Some were on the wire demanding cheesy dogs while a couple were eating of one of the nut and bug suet cylinders. Gosh, I love these characters!
The lesson for today comes from the garden’s Blue Jays. Here is Junior. Junior is the father of one group of this year’s fledglings. I know him by the pattern of the white on his tail. His other distinction right now is that he looks ‘ill’. Junior is healthy. He is moulting. The process of replacing feathers often happens a few feathers at a time. This allows the birds to fly to feed and protect themselves. They also need those feathers to protect them from the summer heat and torrential rains. That said, some of the Blue Jays will lose all their head feathers and become completely bald. That is what Junior is doing. Because our summer season is so short, most Blue Jays in my neighbourhood opt to lose them all so that the time to have a full crest again is shortened. Some say it takes about a week. You may read that Blue Jays of all ages moult and become bald. I have not found this to be the case. This year’s fledglings have their full crests and that is how I can tell them from the adults quickly.
You can see that Junior’s crest is just beginning to come in.
This is one of this year’s fledglings. I want you to look very closely. This is the little one that I was concerned about. It’s tail is still not straight but its crest is in better condition. It is eating and flying well. I shed tears seeing this one today as I had not seen it. We have several new feral cats and a fox coming to the garden and I was so concerned that one or the other had killed the poor baby. Not so!
This is Mamma. She is moulting, too. She is a little behind Junior. You can even see her ‘ear’ – the dark circle behind the eye.
A perfectly healthy 2024 Blue Jay fledgling who has just enjoyed some peanuts and is pondering what to do next with that tiny seed in its mouth. Behind him, you will see one of the ‘new’ baby Sparrows. They keep upsetting the frame that holds my cherry tomatoes upright.
I love our geese.
News about another female checking out another osprey platform in Poole Harbour. Notice the comment about CJ7 coming in 2017. CJ7 waited and waited for her prince – Blue 022 to arrive. They have raised chicks in 2022, 2023, and again – four this year – 2024.
If you live in Nova Scotia, why not head down to Hope for Wildlife. They are the leading rehabilitator in that province.
Will Port Lincoln’s Mum and Dad be grandparents this year? Calypso has a mate at the Tulka platform!
Iris is tired. She has been busy making sure that her babies, Sum-eh and Antali, are well feed. But has she been practising self-care? I sure hope so. We want to see you back next year, Queen Iris.
Hope calling to Beaumont when she sees him coming in with a fish at the Newfoundland Snow Lane nest.
It is all good.
On the other side of North America, it was quiet at the Cowlitz PUD osprey platform of Electra.
Well, it wasn’t quiet at the Fortis-Exshaw Platform near Canmore, Alberta. Harvie brought a fish to two hungry fledglings on the nest just after 1600. I bet his talons hurt as much as Iris and Finnegan!
What a gorgeous place for an Osprey platform at Charlo! Lola on the perch and C16 on the nest.
Dad is delivering a lot of fish to the Olympic Park Sea Eagle nest. Big Sibling seems to always have a huge crop! They both still resemble little snow people. So cute.
The extent of plastic in the ocean is killing the beautiful petrels and albatross. I know it is hard to avoid plastic, but make a pact with yourself that you will try! And reuse plastic in your home whenever you must buy items enclosed in it!
Only Bob joins all the other fledglings worldwide, screaming for fish to be brought to the nest.
The four are hanging around Field Farm, too, and getting some nice big fish.
Crows and fledglings are at Oyster Bay on Long Island.
It looks like our great Patchogue Long Island Mum is still in town. She was on the nest at least once on Thursday.
Just look at the fish on the nest at Osoyoos! My goodness. What I would have given to have had fledglings so full they couldn’t eat anymore when Little was still with us!!!!!! Maybe a movement will start where people deliver fish to nests when the birds are hungry. Just to carry them through. It takes on average 500 fish for a family with three fledglings according to all the studies done by John Williams for Forestry England up at Clywedog.
I kept getting the ball of death when I tried to rewind at Marders in East Hampton Long Island. The fledgling is on the nest being fed. It is in the blue rectangle.
Geemeff’s Daily Summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Thursday 22nd August 2024 Today brought a lovely surprise – Garry LV0, thought to have left on migration after last being seen on 18th August, turned up at Nest One today. He spent more than fifteen minutes on the nest, preening and looking around, before flying off eastwards. The weather was wet and windy and it’ll be about a week before there’s a chance of sunshine. Woodland Trust have announced their candidates for British Tree of the Year, one of which, the Skipinnish Oak, is a neighbour of Loch Arkaig Pine Forest. More info and link to vote for your favourite here: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=15806183 Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.40.30 (05.15.27); Nest Two 21.37.17 (05.21.30) Today’s videos:
https://youtu.be/H_ddzxroEpkN1 Garry LV0 turns up after a 4-day absence! 13.19.20 Bonus action – after voting for your favourite British tree of the year, please sign the petition to save them and other living legends:
This fool, #IdiotsWithGuns as I call them, is contrite, but the fine and punishment is not nearly enough – he’s broken up a breeding pair, killed one of the adults, and a chick starved to death in the nest while an egg didn’t hatch as no adult around to incubate. Just disgusting. And to make it work, he effectively got just a $350 fine. And the neighbour who chopped down the nest tree forcing the family to move onto the idiot’s land is also culpable.https://cdapress.com/news/2024/aug/22/hayden-man-fined-for-killing-osprey/
Geemeff sends us the Latest video of Loch Arkaig Osprey chick ‘Jaws’ 1JW, plus photos of the late Paen JH3, both in Parque Natural del Marjal de Pego-Oliva Spain from Fundación Migres and tweets from Woodland Trust Scotland:
I am reminded by a message from ‘PB’ about the growing numbers of wildlife in rehabilitation centres. SOAR is only one of thousands of centres.
Our wildlife rehabilitation centres are often so full that they turn away animals. It is so very very sad that these excellent doctors and their clinics do not get an ounce of government support. Everything is done by donation and an army of volunteers. So this brings me to my last point for the day. Help. Do what you can to help the wildlife. You might only be able to put out a life saving bowl of water – do it, please. You have no idea how many lives you could be saving. But you can also do more. Every one of us has more stuff than we can possibly use. The next time you clean out the closet or the garage or the basement, look at what is there. The rehabilitation clinics need stuff. From bleach to tools to food for the animals – garden produce, etc. Good clean towels and sheets, laundry detergent, toys – don’t forget the toys for enrichment. Paper towels…the list is endless including kiddie pools! Look around you. Set you a neighbourhood campaign. Gather up everything you can and if you can’t deliver it, I promise you the wildlife centre will find a devoted volunteer who can. You will have cleared out some space and you will be smiling because this is one way to really help.
Thank you so much for being with us today. We so hope that you are having a good end to the week! Remember to get outside and listen for the birds and look up – you might just see a hawk sitting on a branch in the most unexpected of places.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, articles, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, PB’, Sweetbriar Nature Centre, BoPH, Connie Dennis, Friends of Sth Aus, Cornell Bird Lab, Newfoundland Power, Cowlitz PUD, Fortis-Exshaw, That Kat, Charlo Montana, Olympic Sea Eagle Cam, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, Boulder County, Field Farm, PSEG, Osoyoos, Marder’s, Geemeff and the Woodland Trust, BTO, Liznm, and SOAR.
Some of our morning updates before we get to what is the real thrust of today’s news: SE33 has hatched at the Olympic Park Sea Eagle nest in Sydney. Congratulations Lady and Dad. What a beautiful strong little eaglet!
‘A’ remarks: “August 7 (Afternoon) After another shift for Lady, Dad was on incubation duties again for nearly an hour, though he left quickly when she returned. She then fed the chick again, with gentle, tiny bites offered, before settling again. She is restless, as you would expect with a chick and a pipping egg. Just before 2pm, Lady ate a little of the stored fish, and although she tried to feed the chick, she gave up because it was facing the wrong way. Shortly afterwards, she tried again and this time, SE33 ate a little. The pip on the second egg is more raised now. At 14:51, Dad brooded again, then went to the pantry but didn’t feed the chick. Lady was back after a 15-minute break. She was on the nest from just after 4pm, after a last short feed for SE33. Dad brought in a late fish at dark, and Lady ate a little before settling. She has spent longer on the nest today, though Dad has had a couple of shifts. He brought prey, and SE33 was fed four times. What will this night bring? Last season, the eggs hatched 32 hours and 46 minutes apart.”
‘H’ reports:
8/6 Osoyoos osprey nest: I had a busy day, so when I got home, I primarily rewound the stream to check for a possible fledge for Chick 2. S/he did not fledge today. And, when Chick 2 did his wingercizing, he was still only achieving what seemed to be a few inches of lift off the nest (cam view can be deceiving). A person very experienced with ospreys stated on a chat a few weeks ago, that ospreys typically need to do wingers and hovers for 10 days to build up their muscles for flight readiness. I’m not an expert, just a nest cam watcher… but, I have seen ospreys suddenly have the ability to perform some nice hovers, and then fledge in a day or two. Side note: Little died from starvation on 7/15, and his body has remained in the nest. This afternoon, a strong gust of wind lifted Little’s body and swept it off the nest. ‘AMW’, a very kind and caring viewer that lives nearby, drove to the nest to recover Little’s remains. She posted in the Facebook group: “Little is now buried in my yard … and I will plant a flowering annual plant in Little’s memory.” Thank you, ‘AMW’, from all of us.
8/6 – 8/7 Colonial Beach osprey nest: Cobey was awake early and at 0630 he picked up the old piece of fish and managed to pull off some pieces of fish-jerky. He worked on it now and again, and by 0800 he was still trying. David did not bring a fish for Cobey until 1348. It was a large whole fish. At the very young age of 43 days, Cobey has become quite the self-feeder by necessity. Cobey had managed to eat the head of that fish before there was an intruder issue. At 1415 David landed in the nest first, and it seemed that David may have been tangling with the intruder nearby. The intruder landed in the nest immediately after David, and stole the fish, despite David being on the nest. Oh no, no, no! Poor lil Cobey’s only meal of the day was gone! David did not bring another fish.
The nest owner, host of the live stream, is a very caring and avid osprey conservationist. She and others monitor many osprey nests in the Colonial Beach area. She stated that they are finding many dead ospreys, on the ground or in nests. It is thought that not only was fishing difficult when it was very hot, but that there may in fact be a shortage of fish for the ospreys to catch. Some ospreys are having to resort to kleptoparasitism to survive, or to feed their young.
Cobey’s mom, Betty, will have been missing for 4 days on the morning of 8/7. The cam owner provided a statement regarding a possible rescue of Cobey. “The VA DWR recommends that nothing be done at this time… we will continually monitor the nest, things may change.” Please note that the cam owner’s hands are tied, and she must follow the advice of the regulating authorities. Some comments on the chat were hurtful to her. Go easy on the chat. The cam owner is hurting as much, if not more, than you are. Colonial Beach weather forecast for 8/7: Cloudy with showers, risk of thunder storms, high temp 81.
8/6 Fortis Exshaw: There was a fledge today. It appeared to be the same chick that was doing the high hovering yesterday. We missed seeing them for about 3 weeks when the cam was dirty, and we still do not have a completely clear view. As a result, we were never able to learn how to differentiate the siblings. We know that the oldest chick in a brood does not always fledge first, but I suppose we will simply assume that’s the one that flew. The eldest chick was named BJ, and BJ initially seemed to only go as far as the camera at 0803, then returned to the nest at 0834. But, BJ made a true fledge at 0927. S/he made a nice landing on the T-perch at 1536, followed by a return to the nest at 1538. Well done, new fledgling!
‘CG’: “Blue branched this morning, and between the time she branched and the time she fledged, she was doing wingers, hopping, getting some good height, and went from the nest to the branch a number of times. She went to the back of the nest and totally surprised everyone at 1557 hours by fledging from the back north corner of the nest by the screen. One minute she was there then she was gone. She is 100 days old today.
They have been looking for her but haven’t been able to locate her on the cams. There is a ground crew out looking for her too.
Congratulations Blue! Way to go!!”
Geemeff’s Summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Tuesday 6th August 2024
No activity at all on Nest Two, today’s action all came from Nest One, where Affric 152 turned up at dawn quickly followed by Garry LV0. However the pair fled the nest when a third Osprey appeared in the distance – Affric’s mate Prince, perhaps. Garry returned a little later with a stick but didn’t stay long. A few hours later birds were seen in the distance on nest cam and a Wood Pigeon overflew the nest. It rained pretty much throughout the day, and more rain forecast for tonight and tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.23.05 (04.07.43); Nest Two 22.22.22 (04.27.15)
Thank you so much for sending in the moments during the 2023-24 season that put a smile on your face. I really appreciate the time and thoughtful regard that you put into your choices and for sending them in. Most people will hesitate. Why do we think our voice doesn’t count? I hope that there are some surprises in here. I received 79 e-mails with the single word Iris along with what is posted below. So if you sent one of those in and I did not include your initials, my apologies. Just know that you counted in making Iris and her year with Finnegan, Sun-eh and Antali the top of the charts by a long mile. Also I didn’t ask for images but have included them if you sent them in!
‘MM’: “After a season filled with heartbreak after heartbreak it has made the happy moments even sweeter! One happy moment that happened early on in the season was when Beau finally figured out how to mate with Gabby and she was able to lay two eggs, unfortunately Beau got the mating mastered but that’s where the happiness ended, hopefully next season he’ll be ready.
Another happy moment was the successful fledge of two healthy osprey chicks from Port Lincoln thanks to the fish fairy and the generosity of so many who donated. The two happiest moments of the season for me are tied for first place. I was beyond thrilled when the season started in SWFL and M15 had taken F23 as his new mate after the loss of our beloved Harriet last session. The season got even happier with the hatch of the incredible E23 💜 And of course the other happy moment at #1 is sweet Iris finally getting sweep off her talons by the handsome Finn and their two amazing chicks 💙 ❤️ Thank you for the opportunity to reflect on the good after dealing with so much bad. Praying next season will be filled with many happy moments .”
‘H’: “As I understand it, you are asking for happy stories. Well, this makes me happy. This may sound strange. But, I am happy for Darling at Captiva. Darling fledged on 6/26 at 63 days of age. His post-fledge life was not easy. There was competition for the nest and food from his sibling, Ding. In addition, both of his parents may possibly have had issues with their health, and they stopped bringing food to the nest. Darling had not eaten for 3 days when he ended up in the water and was rescued and taken to CROW on 7/4. He passed away at CROW that night. We don’t know why things turned out the way they did, and we will never understand it. I wish it had not turned out that way. So, why does this make me happy? It doesn’t. The part that makes me happy is that Darling flew. I think of all the ‘littles’ we have known that died from nest accidents, or weather events, or starvation, or illness, or predation, and they never got a chance to fly. Darling was able to experience the sheer joy and exuberance of flying. And, I am so happy for him.”
‘SP’: Amongst all the turmoil of this year, there were more golden moments and miracles to celebrate. (Photos below in order of the list)
Cal Falcons Annie & her new mate Archie fledged four beautiful falcon chicks in Berkeley. This was the first time since Annie’s been a YouTube star that all 4 of her eggs hatched. We were entertained, enamored and completely enthralled with Aurora, Solstice, Eclipse, and Equinox.
San Jose City Hall couple Hartley & second year dad Monty also fledged four beautiful falcon chicks – all girls. Though we lost one, we enjoyed weeks of the girl power brought by Luna (RIP), Zoe, Lucia, and Alma.
Southwest Florida M15 and his new mate F23 fledged the ever-endearing E23, further mending the holes in our hearts left by the disappearance of Harriet the previous year. F23 proved to be a most nurturing and loving mother, while M15 continued his legacy of being provider extraordinaire. E23 was such a character and embraced being an only child with gusto. He proved to be an excellent flyer and at one point a protector of his natal nest.
Oh, thank you for the opportunity to revisit these wonderful moments!”
Cal Falcons.
San Jose.
SW Florida:
‘B’ writes: Too many sad stories, but always some nice ones, too. I liked how you said you think of all the miracles we have seen, to help offset the sadness of the sad stories. I had meant to write you a couple of weeks ago how I followed a similar strategy to help offset the sadness. I had a lower threshold than you, just thinking of the things that make me smile, rather than holding out for “miracles”. But my number one was the same as yours: the arrival of Finnegan, so that Iris has a real and proper (and wonderful) mate for the first time in years. Enough of that two-timing Louis!
In fact, two more of the top things that made me smile were also from Hellgate: the wonderful job Iris does as a mom when having chicks for the first time in years. Especially protecting those chicks in that awful heat. I swear, if “Mumbrella” were an Olympic event, Iris would be a medal winner. And the other is how peaceful and calm those osplets are when there started with such a huge difference in size. Part has to be what a great provider Finn is, and also how diligent Iris is in making sure each chick is served well. Gosh, the larger of the two would just stand and watch patiently if Little was served first, knowing his/her turn would come.
Also, Tuffy’s story always made me smile (even if hard to watch in earlier days), seeing him do what he needed to do to make it to being a beautiful and healthy fledgling in spite of the “Ruff” treatment from Ruffie.
And I couldn’t help but smile whenever I checked in on the Decorah eaglets after their nest (and branch) fell away, to see them happily perched on branches, as if to say, “we don’t need no stinkin’ nest, so long as we got our branch and our parents!”
In spite of all their hard luck getting a hatch, one can never help but smile to see Jackie and Shadow together. I have to hope for another Spirit next year.
And wonderful to see both Annie and Archie at Cal and Hartley and Monty at San Jose have four healthy hatches make it to fledge, even with the sadness of losing Luna at San Jose and the injury to Nox in Berkeley. I was so worried, especially for San Jose, what with the tough urban environment and seeing Lucia get rescued from the sidewalk and taking the elevator back to the roof twice before successfully fledging.
There’s more, but these are some of the stories that make me smile. (And, oh yes, of course there is Treasure and her siblings, also treasures.)”
CG: “My first thought was Tuffy. I watched this nest with trepidation. Tuffy was the underdog. How many times did we think he wouldn’t make it. He was so endearing, and I loved his sneakiness to try to get food. He never gave up. You always talk about the will to survive, and boy, his little body was bursting with it. The last time I saw him was just before they shut the cam down, and he was proudly standing on his nest.
Iris and Finnegan. I knew nothing about her until you talked about her. Finnegan came along and showed Louis the door. He has been a wonderful mate and provider for Iris and their osplets, and Iris has been a wonderful mum feeding and protecting her little ones the way she does. Just look at how they have turned out under their care. They look so healthy, and Big has been a wonderful big sib being so patient with his little sibling except for the one time little sib got uppity and boldly attacked big sib. That won’t be happening again! This has been a wonderful osprey nest to watch.
I could not fail to mention my peregrines Annie and Archie and Hartley and Monty, each pair with four chicks this year. Hartley and Monty went from newbies with one feisty Soledad last year to FOUR this year. What a jump! They handled it all with finesse. No nonsense Annie always handles her chicks with finesse, and her new mate Archie was a great provider and dad. Peregrines are a wonder and miracle every year. I wish all nests could be as calming as theirs with equal feedings, no shortage of food, no predators, and lots of chick shenanigans. “
‘BHA’: My smile of the year has to be Iris, Finnegan and family. (Along with you and probably everyone else.) What a miracle nest this year!!
Also, the San Jose falcons. The antics and shenanigans of the four girls were priceless! (Of course with a bit of sadness that we lost one of them…)
‘PB’: The bird that made me smile is Smallie. He was such a fighter especially how small he was up against 3 big sisters. I’m still sad about it. O18 became my favorite osprey, she was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Her personality matched her beauty. I miss her too! It’s making me cry thinking of them. But before them was a tie between Tuffy and Tiny D. They will all be in my memory forever.
‘J’ loves the Tortilla Bird. ” The photo of that tiny little babe in the tortilla just melts my heart (the feet! the feet!). That someone thought of wrapping it in a warm tortilla to keep it from getting cold is just brilliant – and hilarious at the same time. “
Geemeff: “But just want to say the names chosen for Iris & Finn’s miracle chicks are lovely and very suitable. In a season of sadness, they and the Poole Harbour Four have been some comfort. Iris’ success after so may years of being bullied by her ex, together with the unexpected success of saving one of Louis & Dorcha’s chicks to the point of successfully fledging, are my favourites of this season.”
‘TU’: My favourite article for a good mood is the one in The Guardian about the bird of New Caledonia. I loved it from the first sight.
‘L’: Iris finding Finnegan or vice versa. A wonderful memorable miracle. This nest brings pure joy! Iris is the best osprey mom I’ve ever had the privilege to watch and Finnegan is a precious gem.
Blue is amazing at the Boundary Nest. I think he’s a miracle for surviving erratic food deliveries.
The rescue of Rutland’s Little Bob. Golden moment.
The Purple Martins in Erie PA. All 5 fledged. Enjoyable to watch.
McEuen Park. One, out of 4, that survived to fledge after losing father.
Eagle Country-Tears for Meadow but Swampy lived and fledged.
Thunder, Akecheta and their 3 beautiful eaglets! Koa, Treasure & Sterling. A delight to watch. A stress free nest.
Cowlitz PUD- happiness, a survivor golden moment.
Osoyoos, losing Little which was sad enough. Thankful two will fledge. Happiness and a miracle in my book.
Little Miami Conservancy-All 3 eaglets fledged! Happiness.
Southwest Florida Eagles-One hatch, smart and accelerated in growth. An amazing first eaglet for M15 & F23.
BONUS!!!! Pure joy.
Challenger surviving his health issues.
Hugo Yugo, Calico, Hope & Missey and all the birds and squirrels that visit your garden.
(I could go on and on. So many more miracles and golden moments….The 2 miracle eaglets that definitely would have made my list were unfortunately killed by father Scout at the NCTC nest.)”
‘BA’: “The first time Lucia accidentally fell from the nest area and had to be rescued. First lots of worry about her, and then the smile moment when she was released on the rooftop. And then the chuckle: later watching SKHideaway’s video of it all. Lucia was just out of the box, looking around wide-eyed at all the contraptions and weird stuff, and SKH’s caption said, “She thinks she’s in Disneyland!” That cracked me up. It was such a tense moment, worrying about how frightened Lucia might be, and somehow we knew then she was going to be okay. (And then a couple of days later when she made it back down to the nest area and was reunited with her sisters – that was also a big smile moment.)”
LL: “Anything to do with Iris and Finn”.
JT: “The hatch of E23.”
PM: “Iris, Iris, Iris…West End nest. Those three eaglets were remarkable.”
‘A’: “Just before 09:32, there is a lot of thunder at Hellgate and Iris immediately flies to the nest. The rain really sets in, and Iris opens her roller doors and does her perfect mumbrella, managing to keep two fully grown osplets perfectly dry in the heavy downpour. What a mum she really is. Sumeh is the sweetest big sister ever, and little bro is adorable and such a feisty wee lad. This nest has been such a joy to watch. I could not have imagined enjoying watching a big sister/little brother osprey nest without a moment of stress or worry, but then along came Finnegan.”
I am with you – Iris has put everything into this season, and it may be costly. But it may also give her a reason to return no matter what it takes, as she now has Finnegan waiting for her. These two have bonded strongly and I am really hopeful that the strength of their relationship will give Iris what she needs to make it home again. She truly has been the most wonderful mother. What a waste – Louis truly is a cad.
BT: “Too numerous. 1. Fish Fairies at Port Lincoln. 2. Finnegan ousting Louis and winning Iris’s heart. 3. Annie and Archie raise four little falcons. Jackie and Shadow because they just make me smile all the time.”
RW: “The Fabulous Four at Poole Harbour ties with Iris and Finn.”
CB: “SE31 fledges and spends time with Lady and Dad on the Paramatta River learning to be an eagle. Iris and Finnegan because I never thought Iris would ever raise chicks again. The eagles at Decorah North because they survived so much and continued to be a family at their nest tree even when it had fallen over.”
CD: “I loved Smallie. The wee little falcon longed to live and it did get to fly.”
DDS:
Iris and Finnegan. Never thought this would happen.
Jackie and Shadow and their sticks and hopefulness.
M15 gets another chance to be a Dad.
They didn’t raise a family but seeing Gabby and Beau together made me smile.
The rehabbers that help.
The small Dutch falcon that died but got to fly.
The people who dared to provide fish to the osprey chicks at the barge in Australia.
Thanks to everyone who participated and to those who didn’t but sat and thought about what made them smile this year!
My list in a bit of a narrative and in no certain order:
The day I learned that Bonus was alive, I cried. Knowing that both Black Storks Waba and Bonus, raised by Karl II, are still flying gives me hope that there are others, too. I continue to be ever grateful for the work of Urmas in Estonia and his team in providing fish for the storks, ringing them, and checking on their well-being. It makes me smile to see the fish baskets that he sets up and fills to keep the storks alive. I wish that more people would engage with wildlife positively and constructively. I am grateful to the Roy Dennis Foundation and the Woodland Trust for removing the two chicks of Louis and Dorcha for translocation. Louis was not himself, and while I had an enormous smile when he reappeared after so many days, he needed to get his strength up, so it still felt like a good win-win. But knowing dear Louis is alive is a huge grin and a happy moment. The fish fairies at Port Lincoln took a stand and saved the osplets of Mum and Dad at the barge and I will forever think that this was a miracle that saved the chicks lives. Didn’t you just grin seeing the hand lay the fish on that nest? Whenever I checked on the nest at Poole Harbour, I smiled at the absolute dedication and great parenting of CJ7 and Blue 022. I remember the year they were courting, and it didn’t seem possible that CJ7 would get a mate, and now, to the astonishment of all, in their third year together, they successfully raised four to fledge. The California falcons will always make me smile: Larry at Alcatraz, Annie and Archie, and Monty and Hartley. Incredible families and, oh, our dear little ones that got themselves into some mischief, including Nox, who is recovering. That photo of him with his wing wrapped was lovely. I was happy when Smallie could come and go in and out of the scrape and got to fly and feel the wind under its wings despite its subsequent death. Big Red always puts a smile on my face as does Arthur when he lines the nest bowl with squirrel fur. They love being parents. And this year, because of the year that it was, I am grateful and smile whenever I see one of the nests have a fledge because they are just that much rarer. So many bird families lost so many of their offspring this year. To the delight and relief of many, Hope and Beaumont look like they will fledge two chicks this year from Snow Lane in Newfoundland – the first for many, many years. The Moorings Park nest just melted my heart when Tuffy overcame the abuse of the older sibling, Ruffie, and survive to become a gorgeous osplet that returned time and again to the nest so we could see that he was alright. What made me mad and also sick at times was the Frenchman’s Creek nest with fish after fish piled up and the poor osplets having to learn to feed themselves to survive – not from starvation but lack of parental attention. They triumphed, and somehow, the nasty fish disappeared. That made me smile big time. There were so many moments. Seeing SE31 flying over the Paramatta River with Lady and Dad, free of the harassment of the Pied Currawong, was simply one of the best moments ever, along with Flaco, the Eurasian Owl, who escaped from the Central Park Zoo and flew freely for a year. Perhaps I have said it more than once, but the resilience of Jackie and Shadow makes me smile every day.
The ultimate smile was Iris and Finnegan, though. I never thought I would see Iris raising chicks. Louis drove me nuts, and to see a young male osprey keep Louis on the other side of the territory made me grin every day, especially when Finn chased Louis off the owl pole. Iris is simply amazing. She is old (I have great empathy for her), raising chicks in that heat, and now Sum-eh has fledged. I also smile whenever I get a note or a letter from you. It makes my day, along with my garden animals, my family, and the girls, that much better. Thank you for being there.
Thank you to everyone who sent in their memories and for the images and videos thank you to ‘A, CG, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, NestFlix Memories, Osoyoos, Fortis-Exshaw, Colonial Beach, Menhaden- Little Fish, Big Deal, HWF-BBCentral, Heidi and Windows to Wildlife, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, SK Hideaways for the images of the falcon families from San Jose, Cal Falcons, and SWFlorida Bald Eagles, Wildwest Rehabilitation Centre, Texas Monthly, SK Hideaways, and The Guardian.
Morning Update: ‘PB’ report that two adult ospreys attacked the two fledglings this morning at Steelscape.
It looks like one fledgling is back at the nest now. Let us hope that both are alright.
Saturday was a 30-degree C – humid – day on the Canadian Prairies. The garden animals were active early and arrived again once the sun moved further to the West. The heat is meeting up with a cold front and we are in for another evening of severe thunderstorms. Hugo Yugo gets so scared and wants to cuddle in tight while Calico runs and hides under the sofa. It makes me only imagine what a fifteen or half-hour of fireworks does to them.
The Girls and I started reading a new book tonight. They might not understand what is going on but Calico knows she likes to sleep on the foot stool in front of the Dyson fan. The book is, The Heat Will Kill You First. Life and Death on a Scorched Planet’. I am hoping to understand more about what is happening and how it is impacting our raptors. Some of it we are witnessing before our eyes – in Montana and British Columbia.
Geemeff just sent me an article on the changing weather in the UK.
The weather, for now, is giving the Montana nests a break, but it will get hotter again. Fishing was good in Montana once the heat dissipated, with whoppers coming on all three nests – Hellgate, Charlo, and Dunrovin. It is all good.
Elsewhere, the chicks are fledgling. The ospreys will begin to make their move to migration, with many of the females leaving early and the males staying behind, as is tradition, feeding the chicks til they fledge. Everyone should be gone in less than six weeks. That time is going to pass quickly. It will not be long until we have a hatch at the nest of Lady and Dad in the Sydney Olympic Forest. Then there will be eggs and hatches at Orange and the CBD in Melbourne, and, of course, all the fun at the Port Lincoln barge.
As we enter the end of the breeding season for our raptors, storks, and sea birds, I would love to hear from you. We know that it has been a ‘tough’ year but there is that old saying about there always being a silver lining. Send me a note and tell me what were the golden moments, the miracles, that brought a smile to you this year. I hope to do part of a posting on these- so don’t be shy!!!!!!!! You can write in the comments or send me an e-mail: maryannsteggles@icloud.com Thank you.
Llyn Brenig has its first fledge. Bethan (Blue 8B9) fledged on Saturday, the 27th of July. The male, Emrys, will be following his sister soon! Bethan returned to the nest after a two-minute foray. There she is, feeding on a nice fish while Emrys waits for his turn.
Della and Warren’s two chicks fledged on Saturday. Both returned to the nest safely.
Everyone has fledged at Glaslyn and the chicks are enjoying the valley and chasing Aran and Elen around after a fish dinner. Or waiting on the nest fish calling and hoping for a delivery.
Meanwhile the trio at Blackbush are waiting to fly.
At the Russell Lake nest of Oscar and Ethel, the eldest, Skylor, fledged on Saturday. It won’t be long til Heidi takes to the skies, too. (Video capture from footage by Don Dennis)
Skylor is the first known fledgling out of the Nova Scotia nests. Did I tell you they have done really well this season.
There is always something to be happy about. We lost Karl II and Kaia and our hearts broke for these beautiful Black Storks from Estonia. But now, our dear Urmas, has located a female feeding at the fish baskets and he has tagged her and put a transmitter on her and everyone hopes that she will return to the area to be the mate of Kergu. Her name is Kerli and her ring number is : 719R.
Urmas set up fish baskets to save the lives of the storklets. He has been doing this for years when the streams had few frogs or little fish. He loves these beautiful birds. He also helped with the removal and adoption of Jan and Jannika’s storklets. You will remember Bonus who was given to Karl II and Kaia to be raised after being in the medical centre. Urmas is an individual with a heart that grows bigger and bigger.
Boulder Colorado’s Only Bob fledged around 1338 Saturday the 27th.
The fledgling returned to the nest just as it should. Great take off and landing.
At Hellgate Canyon, Iris and Finn’s oldest is really beginning to flap its wings dreaming of flying like Mum and Dad.
Finn brought in a really nice headless fish at 1837.
There was a nice fish on the Charlo Montana nest as well.
‘PB’ caught Mum feeding the Only Bob at McEuen Park! Excellent luck with a camera with no rewind.
Winnie was trying to keep Only Bob at Dunrovin cool. Hard to fit under Mum now!
All three of the chicks at Mrs O’s nest in Tweed Valley have fledged.
Fledglings at Fort Calhoun are doing fantastic.
Even the Dorsett Hobby is getting into the act with its wingers!
Geemeff’s Daily Summary of Loch Arkaig activites and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Saturday 27th July 2024 All the action took place on Nest One today, apart from a sweetly singing Wren and some juvenile Tree Pipits exploring Nest Two. Garry LV0 paid three visits, the first time bringing a stick and doing a bit of nest work, the second time Dorcha arrived soon after he did and then both took off in a hurry when a third Osprey, possibly Affric 152, flew overhead with a brief flash of blue Darvic ring. A little later Dorcha returned for a very brief visit, and Garry returned mid afternoon for his third visit which lasted all of ten seconds. No sign of Louis today. LizB provided another update on the Bunarkaig nest, link below, the chick was on the nest so either hasn’t fledged yet or had returned for food. The weather was a little unsettled, and at one time it was raining on Nest Two but not on Nest One, showing the difference made by the few kilometres separating the two nests. Tonight’s forecast is light clouds and light winds, with the prospect of a dry sunny day tomorrow. Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.20.14 (03.33.35); Nest Two 23.23.32 (04.01.46) Today’s videos: https://youtu.be/5cs0x94tC-A N2 A sweet little singer and a variety of little birds visit 07.34.53 https://youtu.be/OuuyJzYB3ZM N1 Garry LV0 brings a stick and does some nest prep 10.09.53 https://youtu.be/K3oYtZEf5MA N1 Dorcha visits Garry LV0 but another Osprey makes them flee 10.42.47 https://youtu.be/6FoEZpmrZks N1 Dorcha pays another visit 11.19.25 (zoom) https://youtu.be/iXEdt1LR4_s N1 Garry LV0 returns for a very brief visit 15.59.11
Trudi Kron is keeping an eye on Blue at Boundary Bay.
‘CG’ also sends us some historic information on the Boundary Bay nest and updates on Blue:
Photos by AP Horvasse
The nest was installed in September 2022. AP Hovasse made a brief video of the installation with David Hancock explaining a bit about the process and about why the area is important for eagles. The link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShGYxfOBd08
Now I ask you, what osprey would not like this nest? I wonder with the sunshade and supports how well they would work to deter flying predators. Nests are never going to be 100 percent predator proof; just try to make it more difficult and more work to take the chicks.
7/27: Blue was awake early calling to no avail. She spent the day wingercising, hopping, laying down, and vocalizing. Mere showed up around 1100 hours with empty talons. Finally, a small meal was brought by a parent at around 1700 hours. Another showed up around 1800 hours. Then another at around 1830 hours! A fourth delivery showed up around 1900 hours. Blue started eating No. 4 then decided to leave it. Thinking ahead to breakfast? I believe it was Mere who brought all the food. Blue finished off the night standing, head tucked in, sleeping.
All we can do is take one day at a time and send positive thoughts Blue’s way.”
News coming from the West End nest!
Fledge at Alyth SSEN on the 27th! Congratulations Harry and Flora.
‘H’ sends her report:
7/27 Mispillion Harbor osprey nest: Hooray! Both juveniles fledged this morning at 61 and 60 days of age. They were both looking like they were going to take off at any moment, and we didn’t know which one would be first. Chick 2 seemed to have a leg-up in experience, because s/he had made it up to the nest perch yesterday. Chick #1 fledged first at 0639, about four minutes before chick 2 decided to fly. How exciting! Chick 2 made a quick loop around the area and returned to the nest in less than a minute. Chick 1 followed Mom in, and landed back in the nest after three hours. Both of the fledglings made perfect first-time landings. Congratulations to Della and Warren for the fantastic job they did this season raising these two delightful young ospreys.
7/27 Forsythe osprey nest: The live stream had been down for 48 hours, but we were pleased to see Opal deliver a large whole fish to Larry for supper.
7/27 Osoyoos osprey nest: It was a pretty good day for this family. Olsen delivered 5 fish to the nest. The first meal commenced at 0924 and there was no aggression from Big. Soo seemed to preferentially feed Big. Moms know…get the aggressive one filled up early! Middle has also learned not to push Big’s buttons, so s/he was not very assertive during the feeding. Middle only ate approximately 20 bites of fish during the entire 17-minute meal. The next fish at 1034 provided for a 14-minute meal, and Middle had an 11-minute private feeding. There ya’ go! The 1441 fish was small, and Middle was intimidated a bit by Big. Middle ate 5 bites of fish during the 5-minute meal. The fish at 1524 was another small fish, and Middle ate 20 bites. The last fish of the day was delivered by Olsen at 1758. It was large, and Soo fed for 21 minutes…the longest meal of the day. Middle was at the chow line first, and had a private feed lasting 6 minutes before Big arrived. After that, the siblings ate side-by-side, and seemed to be fed rather equally. The osplets are 49 and 50 days old, and they have both been doing a little ‘wingercising’. Weather forecast for 7/28: Sunny, high temp 91F/33C, winds 13 mph.
Thanks so much, ‘Heidi’.
The best news is coming out of the Dyfi Osprey Project this morning with the sighting of Teifi. Teifi is a 2020 hatch – the first year that Idris and Telyn were bonded mates after the death of Monty. I am just jumping up and down with joy. We look for these returnees and hope they make it. Teifi is now four and is obviously returning to find his own nest. Wonder where he has been?
How does the composition of farmland and its diversity or not impact birds?
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care of yourself. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘CG, Geemeff, H, PB, TU’, Steelscape, The Golden Thread, The Weather Network, Llyn Brenig Osprey Cam, Brenig Osprey Project, Heidi McGrue, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Blackbush, Connie and Don Dennis, Looduskalender, Boulder County, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, Dunrovin Ranch, Pam Breci, Tweed Valley Osprey Project, SK Hideaways, Trudi Kron, HWF-Boundary Bay, Scyllabub, Lady Hawk, BirdGuides, Osoyoos, Forsythe, Dyfi Osprey Project, and Mispillion Harbour.
