Two updates that have been sending this out late Wednesday.
We now have our first osprey egg for Mum and Dad at Port Lincoln! Oh, how excited am I. Now before I get too crazy, let us all just hope that the Fish Fairies are preparing to help out. We know that their assistance ensures that all of the osplets survive!
Dad was on hand to lend his support!
Gabby is home at the American Eagle Foundation’s NE Florida Nest!
Wednesday turned out to be just the perfect day. 14 C with a bit of a breeze, cloudy but some sun and clear blue skies. We took Toby for a walk in the crisp air at our local park. I don’t know why I always seem to forget about it – well, the bigger one. We also seem to have the most ‘small’ parks of any area of the city. Toby loved it! Then we took him for his blood work – Toby becomes a eunuch on Tuesday. He came home and was zonked.
Everyone is curled up somewhere today. After the heat and the humidity, I find it energising. The perfect fall day – tea and a fresh apple crisp.
I missed it! Do we think change can come to Virginia? SK Hideaways caught it and sent it to me. Thank you!
I keep trying to imagine a business where you destroy the entire supply chain and still hope to stay in business. How dumb is that!?
Gerald Doutre caught an osprey fishing in Bedford, Nova Scotia! Amazing little video on the Ospreys of Nova Scotia FB page.
Migration data from Hawk Mountain for this week:
History was made at the Dyfi Osprey Project on Wednesday. Brianne is still here. Idris beats Monty’s record and Brianne is the longest staying fledgling ever.
She’s still there while her two brothers are probably in West Africa by now.
Records are getting set to be made at Rutland Water’s Manton Bay nest. Blue 33 and Maya could become the first to arrive and the last to leave. They are still feeding 8. Blue 33’s record stay, according to the chat, was on September 8, 2016. Keep your eyes on that nest!
8 is beating records too. He is 110 days old on Thursday and has surpassed the record of S3, according to Bart M on the chat.
Llyn Brenig had a second clutch and the family is still around!
Harry is ‘still’ feeding Forest at Alyth SS.
Wow. More sightings of Breac. Be sure to read Geemeff’s summary and check out the link. Gosh, I am so happy to hear this. Louis and Dorcha’s lad is doing well.
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Wednesday 3rd September 2025 Today we had the wonderful news of another sighting of Breac 7P7! Juan Luis Menéndez reported Breac was seen yesterday flying over a river in the next valley from where he photographed him on Saturday. He’s honing his skills and loading up on fish before he crosses to Africa and tackles the Sahara desert, unless he chooses to over-winter on the Iberian Peninsula which some Ospreys are doing.
Speaking of fish, Steve Quinn has updated the interesting fish stats such as earliest, latest, fastest, which gives a flavour of how Louis’ season has gone. Conclusion – very well indeed! Link in the bonus section. Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.03.26 (05.26.28); Nest Two 21.06.43 (05.46.00) Today’s videos: none Bonus fun fish facts – thanks Steve:
In New Zealand, the Royal Cam chick is perfecting hovering and when the right wind comes, they will be off and it will not be long. Please skip over and watch this video by Cornell Bird Lab and then head over to the streaming cam to watch the excitement! https://youtu.be/I0W_mw8ENrg?
Here is the link to the Royal Cam streaming cam:
Waiting for breakfast and a break, Mum at 365 Collins Street in Melbourne.
See if you can access this live view with this link!
At the Charles Sturt Falcon Scrape in Orange, Australia, Diamond had a massive crop Thursday morning!
The little sea eaglets at the Olympic ForestEagle Cam are too big to fit under Lady. Aren’t they adorable?
The Ventana Wildlife Society rushed to vaccinate the California Condors so that the small numbers did not succomb to Bird Flu. Can they save the Kakapo from Bird Flu?
It is a strange idea but keeping humans out of a landscape can help wildlife. Do we need to put landmines everywhere? Look what is happening at the DMZ in Korea, a remnant of the 1950s war that marks the boundaries of North and South Korea.
“Standing on top of a small mountain, Kim Seung-ho gazes out over an expanse of paddy fields glowing in their autumn gold, the ripening grains swaying gently in the wind. In the distance, North Koreastretches beyond the horizon.
“It’s so peaceful,” says the director of the DMZ Ecology Research Institute. “Over there, it used to be an artillery range, but since they stopped firing, the nature has become so beautiful.”
The land before him is the demilitarised zone, or DMZ, a strip of land that runs across the Korean peninsula, dividing North and South Korea roughly along the 38th parallel north.”
Smile. Iris was still home on Wednesday at Hellgate Canyon.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care. Have a wonderful weekend. We will see you again on Monday!
I want to thank our notable contributors, ‘Geemeff and SK Hideaways’, the owners of the streaming cams listed in bold, the individuals who take the time to create videos ande post them on YouTube, and the administrators of FB groups such as Jeff Kear at UK Osprey Information, and all others, often too many to name. I am very grateful to you and to the newspapers like The Guardian that still cover environmental issues seriously. My blog would not be what it is without your input into the world of birding.
Thank you so very, very much for your best wishes and queries about Hope. I have waited until we were certain for fear of a relapse, but she is going to be fine. Hope healed herself. She couldn’t lick the wound, so she was forced to lick her paw and wipe the area. However, nature always surprises us, and thankfully, she has healed. It is hoped that she lives a long life with no other incidents; otherwise, the Gabapentin will be pulled out to get her to the vet.
Thank you also for your kindness. I did not mean to make everyone cry! Time does heal – but most of all, we learned that you cannot sit in the past, dig your head in the sand and ignore life. Many couples break up when a child dies. I am not sure why that is the case because we just bonded strongly. But my point was, of course, that you cannot take anything for granted – ever. So make the moments precious. Our raptors lead a complicated life, primarily due to human intervention. As the oceans warm, storms become stronger, development encroaches on their habitats, and we will lose more. So we much treasure them while they are with us, remember them when they are no longer here, and accept their replacements. Life goes on for them.
I am posting today because of what SK Hideaways sent me last evening to share with you:
As we struggle to heal our hearts, here are a few of my favorite videos featuring our darling Xavier and a little collage. So glad to have these to watch over and over again. Hope you enjoy.
Xavier enfluffeling compilation 💖 2022 Sep 24
Xavier enjoys several incubation periods with his eggs. The term “enfluffeling” was coined by scientists associated with the Cal Falcons in Berkeley and refers to the wiggling that falcons do to situate themselves on the eggs when incubating.
Dad Xavier tries to feed chicks; doesn’t go as expected! 2022 Oct 8
Xavier came to the nest with a morsel for the chicks… actually, it was not much more than a leg from leftover prey. He ended up feeding Diamond, who seemed to be in disbelief and who ended up taking the leftover for herself in the end.
Diamond & Xavier fall asleep while bonding 😴💞 2023 Aug 22
One of many times an early bonding session ended in a snooze-fest.
Full chicks humour Xavier by letting him feed them 💖 2023 Nov 9
Mari & Barru were full, but they ate for dear old dad anyway.
Xavier Persistently Nips Diamond’s Tail Feathers 😂Still No Egg Time🥚🥚🥚 2024 Oct 1
As hatch day drew near, Xavier was as keen as ever to incubate his and Diamond’s precious eggs. He exhibits his desire in some of the most endearing and amusing ways. This day, he nibbled Diamond’s tail feathers for quite some time to no avail.
I see there is an issue with one of the entries. Please check out the title on YouTube.
Since reporting on the Collins Street falcons, I have discovered that some people cannot access YouTube to watch the falcons. They now have three eggs, and there could be a fourth. Hard incubation will set in when that last egg has been laid. Only Mum knows! I will include the link to the streaming cam in my blog every time I publish, so readers have access. The owner of the video will not allow me to embed the YouTube station into my blog like some others. I sure hope these links work.
We have talked a lot about Menhaden as it relates to the starvation of Ospreys in the Chesapeake Bay area due to the commercial overfishing and not enough limitations, such as a three mile protection. One of my osprey monitors that lives in the region sent me this last night. They don’t mind that I share – each of us needs to be careful so as to work with those that have similar goals. I remember when Richard Melker told me that in order to protect the raptors we have to sometimes work with hunters. That is when I began to embrace Ducks Unlimited. They are buying up wetlands to protect them for the water birds – can I really criticise the ducks taken for food? No because they are doing so much more in a world that seems bent on destroying habitat.
“Read this and thought about the menhaden. The rockfish need the menhaden fishery as badly as the osprey.
Yet, nowhere in the rockfish debate, raging since the 1980s, is there a whisper about shoreline construction; air or water pollution; using waterways to transport our waste; planetary degradation. Surely no one is going to talk about trawlers and theft of the commons. Instead, the debate about the future of our planet, here in the Chesapeake, is diminished into the smattering remains of charter fishermen pitted against conservationists. The technique makes enemies of natural allies (divide and conquer) and moves attention away from the actual perpetrators. Fisherfolk and environmentalists steal the show every time from the suits. It’s how corporations win every time. “
Lots to think about. The waters are never transparent.
Not everyone is kind to raptors as this falcon from London learned when someone shot it in the leg!
Geemeff sends us her latest offering from Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Tuesday 2nd September 2025
A Tawny Owl paid a pre-dawn visit to Nest One this morning, but we’re all still buzzing with the sighting of Breac in Spain a few days ago. Given that only fourteen of Louis’ chicks have fledged, the sighting of five of them away from the nest is quite amazing odds. Doddie JJ6 in 2020 and again in 2022, which was a bumper year as Rannoch JJ2 and Willow LW5 were also sighted, followed by Ludo LY7 in 2023 and now Breac 7P7 this year. Fingers crossed for more sightings! Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.10.15 (05.46.12); Nest Two 21.08.24 (05.50.26)
Today’s videos:
https://youtu.be/B6p615Uuw-8 N1 Tawny Owl pays a pre-dawn visit 05.30.38 Bonus action – there’s still time to vote for your favourite tree, v
Thanks so much for being with us today. Take care. I will be back on Friday.
I want to thank our notable contributors, ‘Geemeff and SK Hideaways’, the owners of the streaming cams listed, my osprey monitor in the Northeast US, and Raptor Persecution UK for its reporting.
Our family knows this truth all too well. You never know when you say ‘Goodbye, I love you’ if it will be the last. I will never forget the morning that our son walked out the door on his way to his summer job, and his employer phoning me two and a half hours later, wondering where Will was – because he was never late. I am so grateful that our morning was spent having breakfast together in the warm breeze of a Canadian summer. It was calm and it was beautiful. Twenty-six years later, I still miss that amazing kid. We have learned that you must treasure every moment – live life as if it is the last day, always. Never leave with a harsh word, never have to say you are sorry to someone. Surround yourself with love. And that brings us to this post…We generally do not know when the moment will come when we will see a person, a pet, or a treasured ‘bird’. We do not realise it until it is past.
Today as I drove out to Oak Knoll Farm to pick up the week’s produce and eggs, skeins of Canada Geese filled the skies. Others have photographed the Bald Eagles gathering on the river. The great migration has really begun in earnest as our temperatures dropped from 30 C two days ago to 8 C today. Fall is here, not by the calendar but by the movement of the wildlife.
And so, we must treasure all the years we have spent with these amazing birds and hope that those who are departing, or have departed, on their great fall migration will return to us in the spring.
Iris stood and posed on the nest on Tuesday 2 September as if she was ready to depart. Iris has outlived all other female ospreys that I know about and if this is her last visit to the nest and the last time we will see her this year, I hope that her migration is safe, full of huge fish, and that she returns safely to raise yet another nest of checks with New Guy in 2026.
Tiger Mozone told me years ago that it is, in part, good DNA and luck that allows some adults to thrive as long as Iris has. She will be at least 30 when she returns next year, if not 31. She has definitely had luck on her side. We have no idea where she spends her winters, but she would have honed the trip over the years, landing at the same tree and making the same stopovers. We have learned these things from the ringed birds from the UK spotted in The Gambia and Senegal.
We didn’t know when Xavier delivered that yummy parrot to Diamond five days ago, that it would be the last prey delivery. Xavier was a ‘real’ character. He always seemed so small compared to Diamond, and the poor little guy often got scolded for only being able to find a Starling. It will be Xavier’s acute desire to help incubate the eggs, brood the babies, and his sneak attempts to try and feed his children that will remain with me. He was a good provider, and we will not forget him. He takes a little piece of our heart, just like Annie and all her mates, beginning with Grinnell, when they did not return.
Life in the wild goes on. Diamond will hopefully have chicks this year. She is no youngster and has now outlived two mates. Let us hope that this new chap will warm our hearts by his intense caring for her.
At the falcon scrape on the grounds of Charles Sturt University in Orange, Australia, Diamond is bonding with the young male who has been delivering prey to her on the tower. https://youtu.be/uwc9J40eGps?
Cilla has named him Gimbir. Dr Kinross posted this:
From the Box Cam live stream info in Youtube:
GENERAL INFORMATION This site is about a family of peregrine falcons using a nest box since 2008 in a water tower at Charles Sturt Unversity, Orange, Australia. The adult female is Diamond and the new male (just arrived 31/8) is called Gimbir (Wiradjuri for spring or fountain, pronounced more like Kimber, not Jimbeer). The previous male, Xavier, disappeared on 27/8 and is assumed dead, probably from a hunting accident. He had been with Diamond since 2016 and is sorely missed.
NEWS 2nd September 2025 We don’t know yet whether Gimbir will be accepted as a new mate but there have been at least three bonding session and we know he is a good hunter as brought two large prey to the tower yesterday. I’ve made several videos of him already. He still has to prove that he can provide for a family by giving his catch to Diamond so we shall see.
Tributes to Xavier are filling FB and YouTube. I will have those for Friday. In the UK: Brianne is getting ready to break the Dyfi record for being the longest remaining fledgling. Idris is there with her, delivering fish, and he is set to beat Monty’s time between arrival and departure, which was 166 days in 2013. Idris arrived back at Dyfi on 21 March 2025 (earliest ever for any Dyfi osprey). Harry is delivering fish to Forest at Alyth. The entire family is reportedly still at Llyn Brenig. Heather saw two ospreys at Glaslyn in the distance – too far away to identify. 8 remains at the Rutland Manton Bay Nest with Blue 33 and Maya. At Poole Harbour, Blue 022 is still home but hasn’t been seen at the nest today.
Thank you to the Montana Osprey Project, Charles Stuart Falcon Cam Project, and Orange, Australia Peregrine Falcons FB for the streaming cams, videos, and posts, and Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn for their streaming cam and Emyr Evans for his reminders.
Exciting Update: George Anderson has posted that a confirmed sighting of Breac (Loch Arkaig 2025) on the north coast of Spain on the 30th of August. He was last seen at Loch Arkaig on 15 August. This is incredible news.
The photographer sent the Woodland Trust the images to share including this one of the location – and they note that Breac was flying with another osprey.
I am so thankful for this BlueSky post. White YW is one of my all-time favourite UK male ospreys, and he is often overlooked by the nests at Rutland and in Wales. He deserves a gold medal. This year, he stayed and fed a juvenile that wasn’t even his at Foulshaw Moss in Cumbria!
August is now a page turned in the calendar. Children are getting excited about returning to school to see their friends, and, for us, it really marks the time that most of the ospreys have migrated to their winter homes, with the Bald Eagles thinking about returning to their nests. In fact, M15 and F23 have now returned to SW Florida! Fantastic.
The real active nests are those in Australia. There are chicks in the nest in the Olympic Park, eggs being laid on the ledge at Collins Street in Melbourne’s CBD, eggs expected at the Port Lincoln barge and the other nests around South Australia, and then there is Diamond’s scrape. It may be a failed year if dear Xavier does not return. In New Zealand, the Royal Cam chick is set to fly off on her grand adventure within the next fortnight.
At Port Lincoln, Mum and Dad are cosy, and I get the feeling that eggs are imminent.
The weather in the Canadian prairies is hot and humid. The paint stores are busy as new colours are appearing around my neighbourhood. We even managed to get our front door re-painted. It was ‘too’ blue for me, so now it is ‘nearly’ black, a colour called Railings. It works well. Now to do the window frames.
Brock looked pretty shabby not that long ago. His coat is improving, and the missing fur from his tail is growing back. Toby often scares him, but Brock appears to have learned to let me know that he is here for food, then step back, let me put it out, and come back up to the deck to eat. Tonight he had two huge bowls! Another cat has appeared. She is a lovely grey, almost tortoiseshell, with some nice apricot splotches. She has either had kittens or is going to have kittens – she will not let me get close enough to tell. Toby often sends her running.
Baby Hope. Gosh. I had no idea it was a long weekend. That is what happens when you are retired. It was impossible to get a vet! She continues to allow me to have a ‘guarded look’, but clearly, she would benefit from antibiotics. Anne and I are going to attempt to trick her into a carrier and get her to the clinic on Tuesday. She is eating well and had jumped up to the ledge of the piano window in the living room, where she was last seen washing herself. I am grateful for your good wishes for this darling girl and to ‘MP’ for their expert guidance on what she might benefit from, including a long-term antibiotic injection. — Well, I haven’t slept much because of the injury, which is on her chin, where she can’t wash easily, looked bad on Saturday, and, as a consequence, I didn’t sleep. Come Sunday morning, and I got a great look, and things are very much improved. I will have to trap her, but ‘MP’ has given me some great advice about getting medicine to calm her to help that along if it is needed – a tiny bit of Gabapentin. How kind. At any rate, she seems to be on the mend. Fingers and toes crossed.
The Troublemakers:
Bird World news is going to become ‘thin’ as we wait. I hope to fill some of the void with book news and articles for you to read over the winter in the coming months as we wait for baby eagles to hatch in North America.
Our Canadian osprey fledglings are very smart! One or the other or both from the Russell Lake osprey platform in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, is catching their own fish! Thanks, Connie and Don Dennis.
SK Hideaways new videos!
Flirty Haku Gets Frisky with MV on Night Perch🌠
West End Eagles🦅 Catalina Island, CA (2025 Aug 29)
The budding romance between Haku and MV is fascinating to watch. Here, Haku is in a particular frisky mood when she arrives on the night perch.
Courtesy Institute for Wildlife Studies, explore.org
Dad Juggles Growing Chicks🤹♂️ SE36 Gets Wise for Bites!
Sydney White-Bellied Sea Eagles Lady & Dad (2025 Aug 30)
At 2 weeks old, SE35 and SE36 are getting too big for Dad to brood, but he does his best. SE36 is finding clever ways to get plenty to eat when Lady brings a whopper for breakfast.
Diamond has a Young Suitor ~ He’s Making Himself at Home (1 September 2025)
Diamond’s long-time mate, Xavier has been missing for 5 days. In that short time, a young male falcon (tiercel) has appeared and seems to be courting Diamond. The tiercel visited the nest and took a good look around. Diamond met him there for what appeared to be a short bonding session. We will have to watch and wait to see how the story unfolds.
Courtesy FalconCam Project, Charles Sturt University NSW
Sacha Dench and Conservation Without Borders have uploaded the entire 22-episode series of The Flight of the Osprey to YouTube. There is some really great information and discussion in these. Here is your link:
The Queen of the North American ospreys, Iris, is still at her nest at Hellgate Canyon in Missoula, Montana. She arrived on Friday in need of a fish! Was she looking for the New Male to chase her down? He has been very good at providing meals and helping renovate the nest.
Hard not to check on Iris all day long. She is still home and as beautiful in that golden light as ever.
Iris is still home in Missoula on Monday.
Charlie continues to deliver nice fish to C19 and C20 at Charlo Montana. What an amazing place for ospreys. It is a gorgeous landscape.
At least one fledgling is still in Idaho at the Coeur d’Alene South Osprey platform.
Teifi is still at Glaslyn. Here he is on the old Oak snag. Elen has not been seen since Thursday, 28 August. Teifi was also seen on Monday and so was Aran so both of the males are staying around Aran’s ‘old nest’? Or will Aran return early and try a takeover in 2026??
At Rutland Water, both Blue 33 and Maya and their 110-day-old fledgling 3R8 are still home.
Birds of Poole Harbour: 1H1 from Nest 2 was seen fishing at the Christchurch Harbour on Monday.
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Sunday 31st August 2025 Not much to say – a handful of songbirds and a Great Spotted Woodpecker paid a visit, and amidst concerns about the invasive spruce bark beetle, currently trending in the news, Woodland Trust’s 2025 update to their 2021 State of the UK’s Woods and Trees report is available, link in the bonus section. Within the report there are links for each of the four home nations, it’s a very interesting read. George will post the official season summary on this page when it’s ready, and I’m working on my highlights video and hope to be able to post it here before the comments close. In any event, I’ll shut down the increasingly redundant daily summary in the next few days. Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.07.46 (05.41.14); Nest Two 21.01.03 (05.48.18) Today’s videos:https://youtu.be/eVzQjLMvX0E N2 Songbirds and a Great Spotted Woodpecker visit 09.57.55 Bonus read – Woodland Trust’s 2025 updated
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Friday 29th August 2025
Today started with Nest One receiving a midnight visit from a Tawny Owl, and both nests had daylight visits from songbirds but the most interesting event was Steve Quinn publishing his end of season fish stats. Louis delivered four hundred and thirty seven fish, and Dorcha doubled her previous score with two deliveries, ending the season with four hundred and thirty nine fish brought to the nest. Steve says: “As a community we have now counted/reported 2222 fish over the 5 seasons”.
Every single one of those fish was observed and recorded and scrutinised to make sure it wasn’t an earlier fish returning, and everyone who played a part should congratulate themselves for a remarkable feat of citizen science, with huge thanks to Steve for his very thorough analysis. Link to his report:
Your smile for today: African Crowned Eagles incubate Egyptian goose eggs and they hatch! Liznm captures it on video! https://youtu.be/Jh9X9yV7rpg?
On Monday, one of the goslings jumped to the ground safely and was confirmed to be alive and well by the environmental team at the Zimbali Estate. Liznm has it on video: https://youtu.be/3Iv4wfRnxCw?
The August newsletter from Birdlife International:
On the Cornell Campus, Big Red and Arthur have been seen. O2 appears to be off exploring the area. It is that time when the fledglings leave their parent’s territory to set off on their own. We wish the three of them a good fall and winter and will watch for Arthur and Big Red to bring sticks in for next year.
In Orange, a new male has shown up at the scrape.
Then Holly Parsons noticed a similarity with one of our favourite fledglings from this nest – Izzi. Poor Cilla. She put him back in the scrape twice that season. Izzi was such a character – do you remember his cicada popsicles?
Thanks, Karen Leng.
Richmond and Rosie are still home with 112 day old fledgling Beacon keeping them company at the Golden Gate Audubon osprey ‘light’ nest in San Francisco Bay. https://youtu.be/fcqdZFri2DU?
Our Melbourne commentator ‘A’ writes: “This is such devastating news, and at this stage, there seems little possibility of his return. A hunting accident is being considered the most likely but perhaps we’ll never know for certain. It is a tragedy, but Diamond is not wasting any time in moving on. There is a male juvenile falcon (such a cutie) who has been bonding with her and who seems very at home in the scrape and on the ledge. He has been eating in a leisurely manner on the tower as well, and Diamond has been engaging in bonding behaviour with him (see 06:08:10 this morning and again at 13:02:03 – on both occasions he was in the scrape, e-chupping, and Diamond came in for bonding). So it seems as though she may be getting to like him. His plumage is still not adult, though, so he is still too young I think to be a mate for Diamond. Time will tell.
Meanwhile, I have been so sad about the loss of Xavier, who has been a wonderful mate for Diamond. We all adore Xavier. I really didn’t know how to cope with his disappearance initially. I still don’t. He was the sweetest falcon, and we’ll never forget the way he stepped in and stepped up when Diamond was left to raise eyases alone. He is a huge loss to all of us who watched him and loved him.
There has been talk of a second male hanging around Diamond, so perhaps she has two suitors. Most of the chat seems to think there will not be fertilised eggs this year, but mating has been seen, so Diamond for one is not giving up just yet. To be honest, there is a surreal aspect to even typing this. I tried to do it yesterday but I just couldn’t. I’ve kept on thinking if I don’t acknowledge it, maybe it won’t be true. I know. It’s pathetic. But I keep wondering what it is that is so lethal in that seemingly idyllic environment for falcons. Why do none of the fledglings seem to survive? What kills the males at this scrape? Is there that much competition in this area? “
Want to know more about hummingbirds – and who wouldn’t? Great programme with David Attenborough – so much nicer than the news (which we don’t watch anymore). Forty-five minutes of great images and information: https://youtu.be/Lbmy4TLkVFU?
If you would like to attract hummingbirds to your garden, have a watch! The Nature of Things shows you how to create the perfect environment. https://youtu.be/g02Ss3xgABc?
We are right in the middle of migration season. Many have written to tell me that the Canada Geese have arrived in some southern locations. This is about European geese. If you haven’t seen it, take the time to do so. The images are magnificent and, as always, there are many things to learn. This could be, along with some of the others mentioned above, a good alternative to the news cycle. We found that our minds are no longer spinning since we literally stopped watching or listening to the news! Yes, we buried our heads in the sand, and it is terrific. https://youtu.be/Rxo-IbAF7kQ? Thank you Animal Documentaries.
If you missed the August edition of Condor Chat with the Ventana Wildlife Society, here it is archived on YouTube: https://youtu.be/SrasdEJfexw? This is the 5th anniversary of the Dolan Fire and the rescue of Condor 1031, Iniko.
There is a discussion about Bob Cats killing young condors. The Condor Chat is excellent – you can learn and learn and never know enough about these amazing carrion eaters.
Calico wants everyone to try and aim for zero waste!
Thank you so much for being with us. Please take care. We look forward to having you back with us on Friday.
I want to thank our notable contributors, ‘A, Geemeff, PB, and SK Hideaways’, the owners of the streaming cams listed in bold, the individuals who take the time to create videos and post them on YouTube, and the administrators of FB groups such as Jeff Kear at UK Osprey Information, and all others, often too many to name. I am very grateful to you and to the newspapers that still cover environmental issues as they relate to our precious feathered friends. My blog would not be what it is without your input into the world of birding.I also want to thank ‘MP’ for the generous sharing of their knowledge of veterinary medicine with me so that I could help Baby Hope.
It feels like summer again, but the tips of the trees tell me that it is decidedly pre-fall on the Canadian prairies. Migration is definitely underway. The ducks had left the pond at Assiniboine Park, while the Canada Geese are fattening up on the golf courses around the City. We continue to enjoy the fantastic weather and spend most of our time outside. The Girls (for the most part) and Toby are doing well, and I can tell you that a new sense of calm has come over the house. My husband is doing very well.
The only hiccup in the ointment is Baby Hope. Nine days ago, something happened. We do not know precisely what happened, so we cannot place blame. Baby Hope is injured. She had been play wrestling with her Mum, Calico. But then there is Toby. It appears that ‘something’ got caught in her fur and tore a slit through the fur about 7 cm or 3 inches long. Two days ago, it had healed, but today it is oozing again. The underlying issue is that Hope is partially feral. She will allow us to sit next to her and give the occasional strokes. I cannot put antibiotic ointment on the wound, but she allowed me to see it this evening. Tomorrow, I will see if any of the mobile vets have experience with ‘these cats’. Wish us luck. Hope never complains. I might never have known she was hurt if I hadn’t paid particular interest in her face that morning. She is eating and has never stopped. She loves flowers and always enjoys the ones I bring from the farm, which are pet-friendly. Send her some love.
And if Hope’s injury was not enough, then there is missing Xavier. My heart has sunk to great depths. It has been a wretched year. You might hear me saying that a lot.
At Orange, Australia, Peregrine Falcon Scrape, there is hope tinged with a hint of potential sadness. My heart sank when I saw this. I adore Xavier. His name means ‘Saviour’, and that is what he did – he saved Diamond’s clutch when her previous mate did not return after eggs were laid. Xavier took care of Diamond and the chicks, and she then bonded with this wonderful lad. Was that nine or ten years ago? This was posted on Thursday, and I know that you will be as concerned as I am for Xavier. Please send your good wishes to him!
In the wild, peregrine falcons typically live an average of four to five years, although they can live much longer, with some documented cases reaching 15 to 20 years or more. High mortality rates, particularly in their first year due to learning to fly and other factors, shorten the average lifespan, but survival improves for adults. The record for a banded peregrine falcon in North America is 19 years and 6 months. This fall, Diamond is at least 12 years old, and Xavier is at least 11 years old. Diamond arrived in Orange in 2015 and Xavier in 2016, and since peregrine falcons typically begin breeding at 2–3 years old, they would have been at least that age when they started their courtship at the Orange falcon scrape.
And then there was the missing MO from Dunrovin Ranch Osprey Nest, who was seen to have a very raspy voice. Sadly, she has been found dead. The other three have been returning to the nest. So sad. It has been a wretched year. Thank you ‘PB’.
‘A’ sends us the Ranger reports for the WBSE:
August 26: An early feed at 6am – both fed with no pecking, but SE35 had more. Then Lady settled again. Soon after another short feed. It was a sunny, warm morning. The nestlings were left uncovered in the morning for over six hours – parents often close by with duets and matings seen. Dad brought in a trevally (fish) after 12, and both ate more. Dad came in to the fishy remains later and fed them as well. Lady came with a really big fish after 3pm, and fed more. Seven good feeds today, and then last thing, Dad fed them a few extra mouthfuls. They were uncovered in the afternoon until Lady came in at last light. She was standing by them – will she cover them now?
August 27: Lady spent the main part of the night just covering the nestlings, rather than complete brooding. It was a milder night, and after an early morning duet, she fed them from the remaining tail end of the fish. Both ate, SE36 second. Later, SE35 was busy grooming its itchy down, with a very full crop. Dad came back with a bream just after 7am, grabbed by Lady and fed to the young. SE36 did very well. She then went to cover the chicks. After some time, Lady was up and eating some herself. She then fed them both well again – three feeds before 9am. Dad came in and ate some fish – the youngsters were full and not interested. Late in the afternoon, Dad bought in another two fish, and during the day there were a total of seven feeds. The day became cooler and Lady spent longer brooding than she did yesterday. At the end of the day, she was over the chicks, settled for the night.
August 28: Last night was colder and Lady slept over the chicks, only partly covering them as they get bigger. She left in the morning just after 6am. Dad brought leaves in early and later a big stick, dropped on the chicks and then moved by Lady. Both were bringing in more leaves – and the wind was becoming stronger. The chicks were huddled together in the nest bowl, uncovered all morning, though both eagles came in a few times – even the parents tossed by the wind. Of course the nest camera moving makes the wind seem stronger. Finally, Lady came to shelter the chicks at 1:14pm – covering them for some 90 minutes. Then she was up again, with the chicks cheeping for food. At 4pm, both parents were in but still no food. At 4:30pm, Lady settled on the youngsters again. Late in the afternoon, the wind eased a little – both parents were there, but still no prey. At dusk, Lady was settled over the hungry chicks, with a cooler night expected again.
‘A’ adds: “I did miss that crop on SE36. It’s a brave little eaglet. Such a cutie. When these two hatched, they were so similar in size it was very hard to tell them apart. Have a look at tiny little SE36 now. It’s half the size of its sibling. I can only hope it’s primarily a gender-based size discrepancy – otherwise, SE36 would have to be the smallest female I’ve seen on this nest. I wonder how many two-egg clutches have a female first hatch and a male second hatch and how many the other way around. Is it just my imagination or is a first male hatch with a second female hatch quite unusual? Perhaps we are very much aware of the large female first hatch dominating a smaller second male hatch because it leads to a lot of the bonking and siblicide problems we see on the nests, so it just seems that there are more of them. I would be very interested to know.
It is SO windy at WBSE – that nest is tossing around and there are lots of fresh leaves on the nest, shaken loose by the winds and brought by the parents. Today, there has been no food whatsoever brought to the nest, so the chicks have not eaten. It is 6.45pm and there won’t be anything brought in tonight. This is not good. I’m not sure why Dad has failed to provide – he is usually able to bring in something regardless of the weather, even managing to fish successfully in the rain. But perhaps the wind made today’s hunting impossible for him. So we can only hope tomorrow is more productive. It is very cold at nights and the chicks will be using a lot of calories keeping themselves warm now they no longer fit properly underneath Lady (she does have an excellent method of covering them though, her wings spread wide, so she is doing her best to keep them cosy).
I hate to imagine losing Lady or Dad. They are there on the Parramatta River all year round, and we love them dearly. But they are elderly – in their 20s, yes? And they are wild birds, living a difficult life. Two fledglings per year, none seemingly able to thrive in the wild, as far as we are aware. I wonder what happens to them once they do disappear from the area. I wish they would track the fledglings from this nest so we had some idea of their ultimate fate. It is so frustrating not to know.
But back to SE36. The daily ranger reports are the best way to tell what is going on – I find it fairly hard to watch at the moment, although both parents are making an effort to make sure SE36 is getting fed. I don’t need the stress, and I hate watching a younger smaller chick being intimidated and scared away from food. It is just more stress than I need right now. But this is the only nest at the moment, so I have little choice, though I am keeping something of a distance from the nest to keep from obsessing. That’s not good for my blood pressure or my mental health. And days like today, with both chicks hungry and no food for either, are too hard to watch.
At Taiaroa Head, the day draws nearer, and SSTrig chick continues to explore the headland and potential take-off points for her maiden voyage. Only a few weeks to go now – she’ll be gone in under a month. It’s so hard to think that after watching them for eight months, we are now going to have to wait several years before perhaps seeing them return to court and then to breed as adult birds. It never ceases to amaze me that they travel thousands of miles and return to within 50 metres of the nest where they hatched. It boggles the mind. And when they leave on that incredible voyage, they have never flown before, never fished before, never navigated before. It’s incredible. And yet these are the longest-living wild birds in the world, with Wisdom still breeding into her seventies. No wonder the albatross is the stuff seafaring legends are made of. No sailor would ever harm an albatross. “
SK Hideaways captures some of the rivalry between the SeaEaglets and news from other nests:
SE36 Bonks SE35🥊Chicks “Brood” Each Other🪆Lady & Dad’s Duets+Matings💞2025 Aug 26
Sydney White-Bellied Sea Eagles Lady & Dad
Lady and Dad started the day with a duet, followed by a peaceful feeding. SE36 worked on asserting itself with a couple pecks to SE35. The peck was returned each time, but the aggression was mild and brief. The finale brought some family time plus two more duets and two matings by Lady and Dad.
Courtesy Sea-EagleCAM@BirdLife Australia Discovery Centre, Sydney Olympic Park
🪽Mum & Dad Welcome Egg #2🥚🥚Dad Cheerleads Effort🎉(2025 Aug 26)
367 Collins St. Falcons
Juvenile Overnights in Roost Tree 🌲 Visits Nest & Does Brief Clean-Up🥢2025 Aug 28
Big Bear Valley, CA, home of Jack & Shadow
What a beautiful and heartwarming surprise! A beautiful juvenile bald eagle spent the night in Jackie and Shadow’s regular roost tree while they were elsewhere. The nest visit took our break away. We cannot know if the visitor is Sunny or Gizmo, but it was a welcome visit nonetheless.
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Thursday 28th August 2025 The usual – no activity on the nests today, but there’s plenty of interesting material to peruse from Woodland Trust, including history of the nests, sightings away from the nest, how to ID males and females, and fascinating facts from behind the scenes. There are clickable links on the Osprey cam page, and here are some of the direct links:
05.23.48); Nest Two 21.15.01 (05.33.41) Today’s videos: none Bonus watch – link to LizB’s YouTube channel for videos of Loch Arkaig, Nest Two in 2021, the Bunarkaig nest and more:
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Wednesday 27th August 2025
Today had the usual lack of action barring a few songbirds visiting, however we have plenty of interesting information from Steve and George to digest. Steve published stats with special reference to age of chicks at migration and the season duration of the adults, and George informed us of a new Nature Scot initiative called Nature30, with Loch Arkaig PIne Forest among the first four organisations, links here:
UK Juveniles have started making their way south to the West coast of Africa (or the Iberian Peninsula). The trio at the Foulshaw Moss Nest of White YW and Blue 35 left on the 13th and 14th of August. White YW remains in the area delivering fish to a fledgling from another nest!
Harry is still delivering fish to Forest at Alyth SS.
On Tuesday the 26th, there were four at Rutland including Mum, Maya!
Blue 3R7 is still at the Rutland Manton Bay nest along with Blue 33 on Thursday, the 28th. She is 110 days old today and is set to break a record for the longest fledgling to remain on the nest. Maya was there on Wednesday, but it appears she might have migrated. It is raining, and Blue 33 is delivering trout.
Brianne is still getting deliveries from Idris at the Dyfi Osprey Platform in Wales.
5R3 remains at Poole Harbour with fish deliveries coming in from Dad, Blue 022.
9K5 remains at the Usk Valley nest in Wales. Dad is busy! Mum has left for migration.
Loch of the Lowes sends their season summary. Will Blue NC0 return early and claim her nest? I am betting on it!
Glaslyn was a failed nest this year with Elen arriving and mating and bonding with Teifi while Aran arrived very late and eggs were destroyed. In the end, Teifi took over the nest. We hope that they both return safely and that Aran does as well and finds another mate and raises a family. Aran is an amazing Dad!
Looks deserted at Dylan and Seren’s nest at the Llyn Clywedog Reservoir in Wales.
Iris was still in Missoula on Wednesday the 27th of August. That nest that she has been working on with the new male will be ready for them in the spring of 2026.
C19 and C20 are still getting fish deliveries from Charlie at Charlo Montana.
In Nova Scotia, the Dads continue to deliver the fish. Nova and Russell, the fledglings of Oscar and Ethel at the Russell Lake Osprey Platform in Dartmouth are no exception!
The Eagles are returning to their nests for bonding before eggs being laid later in the year.
There is some question about the identity of the Bald Eagle that has been at the NE Florida nest of Beau and Gabby. Rain and hail on Thursday at the nest.
If you are a fan of TE3, she remains in the area of the nest at Trempeauleau, Wisconsin according to neighbours.
People continue to fight for the Menhaden! I wonder when the politicians of Virginia will wake up to the fact that having a thriving ecosystem – not a dead one – can only enhance tourism business and the joy and wealth of their State?
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. We look forward to having you with us on Monday!
I want to thank our notable contributors, ‘A, Geemeff, PB, and SK Hideaways’, the owners of the streaming cams listed in bold, the individuals who take the time to create videos ande post them on YouTube, and the administrators of FB groups such as Jeff Kear at UK Osprey Information, and all others, often too many to name. I am very grateful to you and to the newspapers that still cover environmental issues as they relate to our precious feathered friends and to the rehabilitation centres like Ojai Raptor that care enough to try hard to send their patients back into the wild. My blog would not be what it is without your input into the world of birding.
We hope the last week has been kind to each of you. Thank you so much for your best wishes for my little mini-break! And for sending me news. I love that you keep me informed about your favourite nests! It is the end of August and the UK ospreys are making their way south except for some adults left with starving fledglings demanding fish after fish. The dads and some mums are still delivering. What dedication!
We have watched the weather and worried as many wildlife sanctuaries, such as the one for turtles, got washed into the sea with all of their nests destroyed by Hurricane Erin. I wondered about the ospreys and other wildlife in those areas – and it is just the beginning of the season. We must remind ourselves that worrying does not help anything, but action does. If weather impacts wildlife in your area, find out what you can do to help!
We had our mini-break to Hecla Island. Many of you will recall that this tiny provincial park located on the other side of Grassy Narrows is the one place that calms my mind. I love nothing more than walking along the shore, listening to the waves pound against the rocks, and watching all the waterfowl with the Bald Eagles flying overhead. This short time did not disappoint. The minute we got to the southern shore (the northern part of the island is full of cottages with way too many people), where the original Icelandic settlers fished and built their homes, a Bald Eagle flew overhead. She landed in a tree about 10 metres from where we had parked. There was a single American White Pelican near the fishing dock with numerous ducks bobbing around. The swans were near the causeway, and we immediately spotted the lone Bald Eagle that sits atop the same tree when the water is calm, while the cormorants dry their wings on the old pier. To me, the isolation and lack of people on that southern shore is idyllic.
For years, I have longed for one of the houses to go on sale, and this time, there were three! All looked out over the water, and each had enough land to make certain there were no neighbours overlooking us. Any of the offerings, but I did have my favourite, would make a perfect home for us as well as a writer’s retreat for visitors. Toby and I would not have to go far to listen to the roar of the waves on a stormy day. It is a dream that I have and will struggle with. My heart says ‘go for it’ and my head tells me that it is the most non-sensical thing I could ever imagine doing at this point in my life. There are only about a dozen families that live in the village. Few of the owners of the cottages in the northern area travel to the island during the winter despite the roads being cleared by the province as the few children living there need to go to school. The closest very small town, Riverton, is an hour away. I think you understand the issues. There are no young people. These are brought in for the summer and given accommodation and meals by the various businesses along with other perks – so I will visit and walk along the shore from time to time imaginging. It has taken me awhile to get my support system in place and well, who would look after the garden animals and birds? Mind you, Toby thinks he is the ‘protector of the realm’ and the Blue Jays dive bomb him when he goes out and tries to get them to leave!
The Girls did very well. They are spoiled for love and cuddles when Anne looks after them. Toby is an excellent traveller. He really enjoyed the long walks. There were no wasps, and the sunsets were to die for! We will head back next year – I don’t think we will make it again this year, but one never knows.
We spent Sunday doing a chore that has been the monkey on my shoulder. My bestie gave me a way that she deals with things. Ask yourself: “What do I need now?” At 0400 Sunday morning, when Toby needed to go outside and I sat and all sorts of silly things swirling through my head – I asked myself what it is that I really need now. The answer was: to fix the back gate so Toby could not get out the bottom where Brock had dug through and to secure the entire perimeter of the property along with stacking the truckload of wood for the woodburner, to bag all the cut vines, and put anything else in the pile to be picked up and taken for disposal. Why did I think this was going to be so daunting? Allowing myself to worry about Toby every time he ran through the ‘dark corridor’. He is safe. I have no reason to worry anymore, and everything was cleared up thanks to Don and Toby’s help in less than 4 hours. Crazy! Wonder what it will be tomorrow? It is undoubtedly a good way to zero in on what is an absolute priority for creating peace.
So, let’s get down to what is happening in Bird World. I always look forward to the reports of the Seattle ospreys because it is such a positive nest in the US. Not on a streaming cam but with the amazing images that ‘PS’ takes, who needs a streaming cam!
An update from ‘PS’ on the Seattle Osprey – I continue to visit most every other day, and the story has been fairly consistent: the fledglings are on or very nearby the nest when I arrive, they spend most of the time calling incessantly for food, and Dad continues to do his best to deliver fish after fish to the nest. Many visits will see multiple fish deliveries and scrums as both young try to box each other out from the fish. Today I saw Dad coming in with a fish but he did not come to the nest, instead veering off to some other location, only showing up 20 minutes later with half the salmon – I hope he enjoyed his lunch, hard earned as it is after almost a month of being a single parent! I know the days of the Osprey here are drawing to a close for this season, so I continue to just enjoy their company and marvel at their ongoing journey. Along with Dad, I eagerly await signs of the fledglings fishing on their own! Pictures all updated here: https://www.flickr.com/gp/193514804@N08/BkZ9wUYk4M, and a few attached.
Those Dads must have invisible steel boots or something. The fledglings can be rather fierce when a fish hits the nest!
SK Hideaways sends us her weekend videos! Each contains good news – as they say, ‘It is good news for a change!” That is what we want.
Here are this weekend’s videos. All good news for a change!
SE35 & SE36 Enjoy Sunshine, Full Crops, and Each Other 2025 Aug 23
After a soggy few days, the sun shone and the chicks seemed much more content. This was largely due to an increase in feedings, which were, for the most part, peaceful. Here we see SE35 and SE36 interacting between meals ~ cuddling, showing curiosity, and checking each other out.
SE35 is 8 days old; SE36 is 7 days old
Courtesy Sea-EagleCAM@BirdLife Australia Discovery Centre, Sydney Olympic Park
SNEAK PREVIEW! First Egg of 2025 2025 Aug 24
367 Collins St. Falcons, pair for 2025 not yet confirmed
A pre-screening of the south-facing camera gave us the opportunity to see mum (possibly F24) and her first egg of the 2025 season. Complete coverage will likely be available after she lays her second egg.
Courtesy 367 Collins St. Falcon Cam
Sun Rises on Haku & MV’s Shenanigans
West End Eagles ~ Catalina Island, CA, home of Haku & MV (24 August 2025)
After two days away, Haku returned and she and MV roosted together overnight. Arriving to the nest before dawn, they began their flirtations, beaking and nipping. Sunrise bathed the couple in beautiful orange light as their shenanigans continued. Haku brought 2 sticks before MV, first, and then she departed for their morning activities.
Courtesy Institute for Wildlife Studies | explore.org
Dad Brings Breakfast ~ Mum Wants It In the Dining Room
Dad delivered breakfast and a full-cropped mum flew off to an adjacent ledge, beckoning him to bring the food gift over. After having a think, dad did, indeed, take the gift to the alternate location. He then returned to look after the egg, giving mum a little longer to relax. After she returned, he came back shortly after to give her another break.
He sounds like M24 to me, but awaiting Victor’s confirmation.
Courtesy 367 Collins St. Falcon Cam
It will not be long until Geemeff prepares her last summary of the Loch Arkaig nest as the season is truly winding to a close. Everyone is gone. Louis and Dorcha raised two beautiful and spunky fledglings to the delight of all of us. I worried that Louis would not return from migration as he appeared ill at the end of the 2024 season. Let us all hope that he returns safely in 2026 – along with Dorcha and everyone else in the nests around the loch.
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Sunday 24th August 2025 No action on the nests apart from some passing passerines dropping in to Nest two for a few moments, followed later by a pair of Hoodies. The songbirds might have found the odd insect but there’s nothing for the crows as the last fish was delivered on the 21st and Darah took it away to eat in our final sighting of both him and Louis. So Season Nine is a wrap, and we need to entertain ourselves until next Spring when the Ospreys return and Season Ten begins. Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.45.12 (05.09.21); Nest Two 21.45.03 (05.29.09)
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Friday 22nd August 2025 No Darach and no Louis today, just a handful of little songbirds visited the nests. If Darach has left, we wish him and all migrating Ospreys fair winds and plenty of fish. An Osprey was heard faintly in the distance which sounded like Louis, audio boosted video in the today’s videos section so you can judge for yourself. George will start preparing the official season highlights video soon, you are encouraged to give your favourite clips a like on YouTube, and they might make it into the finished video. The weather was settled today and continues unchanged overnight and tomorrow, with gentle breezes making good weather for flying or practising fishing. Some forum members are saying their goodbyes, but last year Garry LV0 surprised us with an appearance several days after we thought he’d left already. So we may be lucky and have a final visit or two, but as always with the Ospreys, it’s wait and see. Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.40.30 (05.23.49); Nest Two 21.33.26 (05.27.13)
Today’s videos:https://youtu.be/Ooiltm0MHQ4 N2 Osprey calls heard faintly in the distance, no one seen – Louis? 12.34.37 (audio boosted)Bonus retail therapy – if you’re already missing the family, this jigsaw puzzle might help while away time until spring:
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch ArkaigSaturday 23rd August 2025 Nothing to report, no sightings, not even distant Osprey calls as were heard yesterday. The season appears to be over. There is still a faint hope of a quick visit or maybe even a more northerly Osprey popping in on their way south, but it looks like our family have moved on. Final fish totals are 437 for Louis, 2 for Dorcha, and 141 for Garry. George will close this comments page soon, and post the official Woodland Trust season highlights video on this page in place of the livestreams. Sometime next March, George will reopen this page and we’ll all return to watch and wait for Louis & Dorcha, Garry & Aurora, and Affric & Prince to return. During the off-season, there are two main places to congregate – Friends of Loch Arkaig Ospreys on Facebook (membership required) and Adam’s family site on which he kindly makes a dedicated page available for us – Walking With Daddy / Osprey (uses Hyvor, no membership required). The nest cams can be seen throughout the year on YouTube, as long as the solar panels receive sufficient light, they might go off from time to time during prolonged bad weather. To be notified when the comments reopen, become a member, sign up to Woodland Trust notifications, or just keep checking this page in March.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.42.24 (05.08.26) Nest Two 21.34.11 (05.23.50) Today’s videos: none! Bonus action – vote for your favourite contender for Woodland Trust’s Tree of the Year (closes 19 September):
Geemeff’sWoodland Trust daily summary for Loch ArkaigThursday 21st August 2025Darach turned up this morning looking like he was limping again, but just like yesterday, whatever bothered him had cleared up by his next appearance. That was at lunchtime, to collect a large lively trout from Louis. In his eagerness to get the fish, he grabbed Louis’ leg and held on for a while before Louis was able to free himself. Perhaps it’s Louis who ought to be showing up with a limp! That fish took the nest total to four hundred and thirty nine, and at this time of year, begs the question how much longer will these last two remaining family members keep coming to the nest? No other action on Nest Two and none on Nest One apart from brief visits by some little songbirds, but George would like us nest cam watchers to take action and select our favourite video clips for inclusion in the official season highlights video, link to the details in the bonus section. The weather was settled, it’ll be
partly cloudy with light winds and a low of 9°C overnight, changing to sunny intervals and light winds with a high of 17°C tomorrow. Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.54.06 (05.04.11); Nest Two 21.59.45 (05.20.27) Today’s videos:https://youtu.be/GFsZgfcyehI N2 Darach visits the nest but appears to be limping again 07.01.37https://youtu.be/uNZ7ySfg9VM N2 Darach gets a large lively fish from Louis – how many more? 12.34.48 Bonus action – select your favourite Woodland Trust video clips in preparation for the season summary, full details:https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=27522933
Mary Cheadle is the force behind the fundraising for the Loch Arkaig nest and she posted this – it is beautiful and I hope no one minds my sharing it with you!
And fly they did. Don’t we wish we could spread our arms and hover, eventually flying to see our world from their perspective?
As we wind down the osprey season in the northern hemisphere, things are picking up in Australia and ‘A‘ is happy to supply us with their latest commentary on the nests we watch – Port Lincoln Ospreys, Olympic Park White Bellied Sea Eagles, Orange Peregrine Falcons, and the CBD (Central Business District) Falcons in Melbourne.
“August 22: Lady was awake very early and went to the old leatherjacket – urging Dad off. She was very wet, he was noticeably drier. A short feed, only SE35, then back brooding until Dad returned with a big whiting, which she claimed, eating the head. She didn’t feed the chicks then, although they were ready and cheeping. Rain started again. Dad brought a pigeon carcass at 8:19, claimed again by Lady – she fed again, SE35 doing very well, no aggression, but SE36 managed only a bite before the rain started again. Dad gave Lady a break just after 9am, feeding SE35 very well, then SE36 a few bites, before brooding them carefully. He fed them again later in the day, SE35 doing very well and SE36 feeding after as well. He then brooded again with Lady taking a good break. Late in the afternoon, he bought a nice beam. Lady managed a late feeding at the end of the day, with SE36 doing quite well after SE35 had finished. Some sibling rivalry during the day, but SE36 did eat. Dad fed them three times and had a couple of long sessions brooding. Then last thing, he brought another fish and fed Lady as she covered the chicks.
As the report indicates, Dad is doing very well at providing food, especially in all this rain. Lady is amazing as she dutifully broods the chicks through the night, her wings spread wide to give the chicks plenty of room and lots of protection from the elements. She is truly an amazing mum. Dad is relieving her as well as doing his hunting duties, and when he finished the day by feeding her, it was just too adorable. He understands that the babies, still without their thermal down at just a week old, are way too young to cope with being allowed to get soaking wet while Lady takes the time to eat.
I remain worried about SE36 because it really is getting just enough to eat – I have not seen its little crop really full even once so far in its short life, and this concerns me. There is not much margin for error here, and with all the rain, Dad really is doing a magnificent job of keeping plenty of food on the nest. If this changes, SE36 might be in trouble. I’m hoping the weather will clear and that SE36 gets the chance to eat until it is full at every meal. I try to remind myself that some version of this plays out every season and there is no siblicide on Dad and Lady’s nest, but it’s always hard to watch a younger sibling being shut out of feedings.
Meanwhile, we are slowly getting closer to egg watch at Port Lincoln and at Orange (Diamond and Xavier are mating too often at the moment to venture far from the tower, with lots of bonding and many food gifts – today, Diamond rejected two starlings before eventually accepting one).
I have not yet heard any news of the Collins Street scrape. The weekly ABC radio bird program last week discussed garden birds with no mention of the falcons. I try to catch it each week because it always gives us some news of the falcons when there is news to give! So I’m hoping to hear something, though I don’t expect that to happen for at least another four or five weeks, perhaps even longer. “
As many worry about 36, I am brought back five years when dear little 26 hatched, injured its leg and was loved, cared for, and taught much about life by its elder sibling 25. How bittersweet that season was.
Big Red and Arthur’s O2 remains on the Cornell Campus in Ithaca, New York to the delight of each of us. Thanks to Suzanne Arnold Horning for keeping us informed – so grateful.
Ashley Wilson posted a great capture of Newmann and Elaine at Great Spirit Bluff.
New Guy is looking for Iris – Susan D caught him in the glow of the sun at the nest, wondering where his girl is. Let’s keep our eyes on that streaming cam to see if she has left the territory. They have surely built a beautiful nest to return to in early April 2026. If she has departed, send Iris your best positive wishes to return.
At Charlo, Montana, C20 was at the nest and got the fish from Dad, Charlie. There has been no sighting of C19 on Sunday. Lola was last seen on August 20 and it is presumed she has begun her migration.
Brianne gets a fish dinner from Dad Idris at the Dyfi Osprey Platform in Wales.
5R3 gets a fish delivery from Blue 022 at the Birds of Poole Harbour Osprey platform. How grand! This nest fledged four chicks for the second season in a row.
The cleaners might have arrived at the Usk Valley osprey platform in Wales but we still have an osprey on the nest with fish, coming and going. I believe this to be the ringed intruder as I cannot read the Darvic ring that well to see if it is 9K5 (only one egg hatched out of three) and thid baby truly became a celebrity.
The Usk Valley nest is the first to have ospreys fledge in over 250 years in that area. Here is there enjoyable newsletter. Have a read!
At Rutland Water Manton Bay Osprey Nest, Maya is still there helping to bring fish to her four fledglings! Blue 33 is still delivering, too. All is good.
An osprey with a BTO ring but no Darvic has been sighted in the UK, and everyone believes that it is Blue NCO from Loch of the Lowes. If so, she is on her way south for migration, and we wish all the best in finding a new mate and raising a family next year.
I did not see any ospreys at the Coeur de’Alene, Idaho osprey platforms.
Cornell Bird Lab checked in on Iris close up a week ago, as migration approaches. I could stare at her image for hours. What a treasure she is. We were all saddened by Finnegan not returning from his migration, but I am glad that Iris found another male who is also attentive to her needs, who brings her fish and helps her with the nest. https://youtu.be/qPRo82TafGI?
There is some concern for Mo at Dunrovin Ranch. She did manage to eat a fish that Dad, Swoop, brought in. Fingers crossed!
Speaking of migration, I will now be including the count from Hawk Mountain as migration progresses through October. I am also hoping that Heidi will send us her reports as she goes migration counting in the NE USA.
Sandi gives a video overview of the 2025 season at Big Bear with Jackie, Shadow, Sunny, and Gizmo!https://youtu.be/CLEi_1rLlx8?
B’ alerts us to the arrival of a juvenile Bald Eagle at the Ojai Raptor Centre. They write, “I know you are away on break now, but when you return I thought you would be interested in this forwarded story of a bald eagle juvie in rehab at Ojai Raptor Center, the folks who took such good care of Cruz and Andor’s Victor from Fraser Point a few years ago, helping him recover from zinc poisoning and eventually releasing him to the wild. This bird, identified as patient 25-676, was found in the Owens Valley (just east of the Sierra), grounded and struggling. She was captured and taken to a local care facility (Wildcare Eastern Sierra) and then sent to Ojai for more intensive care. They found her possibly suffering from rodenticide poisoning or poisoning from other toxins (lead?). It sure makes me think of all the risks and hazards facing Sunny and Gizmo, Bodie, TE3, Phoenix, and all our other juvie friends as they make their way in their hard first year in the wild.
25-676 seems to be making encouraging progress but has a ways to go before (hopefully) a possible release down the road.”
People write to me for recommendations on where to donate and the Ojai Raptor Centre is certainly one of those.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care and have a wonderful week. We look forward to having you with us again on Friday! And, please, if you know of any raptor news, pass it along to me so I can include it!
I want to thank our notable contributors, ‘A, Geemeff, PB, PS and SK Hideaways’, the owners of the streaming cams listed in bold, the individuals who take the time to create videos ande post them on YouTube, and the administrators of FB groups such as Jeff Kear at UK Osprey Information, and all others, often too many to name. I am very grateful to you and to the newspapers that still cover environmental issues as they relate to our precious feathered friends and to the rehabilitation centres like Ojai Raptor that care enough to try hard to send their patients back into the wild. My blog would not be what it is without your input into the world of birding.
Oh, my goodness. The weather has turned. We have had some nice rain, much needed. Not enough to quell the fires raging in the north of our province, sadly. As we look out to the garden with the golden rays of dusk settling on the tops of the lilac bushes, we can see the leaves beginning to change colour in the large trees about a block away. While I welcome the cooler temperatures which are much nicer for walking and sleeping – and much easier on the wildlife – it only reminds me that in a few months winter will be setting in. I have already said that I am dreading this season this year.
The rhythmn in our lives has changed for the good. I told my husband’s doctor that ‘knock on wood’, life is boring. Boring is good. It is calm, routine, life is anticipated. We had a big hiccup around a trip that turned out to be rather hilarious. We went to Pelican Lake. It was gorgeous. Don associated ‘pelican’ with the pelicans we see at Hecla Island and things began to unravel. Ever since those revelations came ‘out’, something changed. This coming week, in an effort to check on the pelicans and see some amazing Golden Eagles migrating through, this coming week we will be at Hecla Island. That was where Don thought we were going when we went to Pelican Lake – so again, something familiar is best! We will stick with Hecla Island for now!
The Guardian reports that the UK is set to reintroduce Golden Eagles into the landscape:
I want to start off with something that is beyond sad and if you live near Virginia, I want you to reach and help if you can. There are wildlife rehabbers who have rescued starving osplets but cannot get any fish to feed them! Debbie Campbell posted the link in the FB group Menhaden – Little Fish, Big Deal:https://www.facebook.com/groups/765772041406313/permalink/1484585112858332/?mibextid=W9rl1R
I have corresponded with the rehabber, who is not the only one in Virginia struggling to feed these babies. In the comments of several posts, Ben Wurtz, who you will know from the Wildlife Conserve of New Jersey, has said that they are also having difficulty. Maybe Omega Protein – who is taking all of the Menhaden they can find in the region should step up and provide some fish!!!!!!!!
Or maybe someone to organize a ‘fish train’ to Virginia to feed the ospreys in care that might draw national attention to their plight that would embarrass those individuals who could help but aren’t. Oh, how I wish I lived closer and could take this on. Anyone reading this want to help?
Ospreys are being photographed taking needlefish – not a great substitute but when you are starving, you have no choice.
In other areas, the ospreys that are surviving are dying due to human garbage. Unbelievable. In each instance, the deaths of these amazing fish hawks is at the hands of humans.
Are we truly the only animal that destroys its own home? APCA reminds us about the tragedies associated with fishing.
That one didn’t make it but, there is one at Christine’s Critters that will survive fishing line! Thanks, ‘J’. I really need some good news. Please check out the video in the link below.
Christine’s has a young osprey at the moment that was hurt by fishing line.
When the cam went off at the Tremealeau Eagles Live Stream and highlights came back on, I am certain that more than half of you shed a tear. What a year it has been – the most bittersweet I remember. TE3 was certainly one of the highlights. A single mum, Mrs T, raising such a beautiful eaglet to fledge. How many doubted this miracle would happen? I sure did at times!
We will never know the fate of this much-loved fledgling. There is no Darvic Ring. If several things could change on these streaming cams, it would be the will to try and band every raptor – eagles, ospreys, falcons, etc., so that the thousands of watchers (and those studying the birds) could track their migration and their longevity and breeding. We are only lucky that Iris is so distinctive, or we might never know that she is getting close to being 30 years old and still much in love with her new man.
SK Hideaways sends us some great videos!
Southern UK Hobby Falcons ~ banded female, unbanded male
In their short, 30-day life, CT and CV captured our attention and our hearts. The adorable hobby falcons were vibrant, energetic, adorable chicks, whose fans cheered them on to thrive. Tragically, their lives were cut short when a goshawk took them both from their nest.
This tribute attempts to help us remember the good times with CT and CV with scenes from each week of their lives. Fly high and rest in peace (16 July – 15 August 2025).
With gratitude to and courtesy of Dorset Raptor Study Group (https://drsg.co.uk/),
SK Hideaway’s second video showing our beloved Eagle family from the Big Bear Valley:
Big Bear Valley, CA, home of Jackie & Shadow
A juvenile eagle roosted on Twin Pine until a Great Horned Owl struck in the wee hours. It’s possible that it could be Sunny or Gizmo, but a positive ID cannot be made. Jackie and Shadow settled on their roost tree overnight. They gifted us with long and loud chortles and snortles before traversing separately to the lookout snag at dawn. After they departed, cam ops found a beautiful red-tailed hawk first on the cactus snag and then on the headless tree. It was a busy morning in the habitat.
Sunny is 165 days old, Gizmo is 161 days old.
WBSE 35 and 36 have had fish and bird prey in their feedings. We also have a video installment from SK Hideaways about these two adorable fluffly little snow people…seriously, watching these two, even with the expected bonking, makes you smile. So far prey deliveries have been good.
Sydney White-Bellied Sea Eagles, Lady & Dad (17 Aug 2025)
In this video, SE35 is 3 days old, SE36 is 2 days old. Their jobs are to eat, sleep, and try to stay upright at this point. They’re both doing a brilliant job, as are Lady and Dad. In addition to caring for their chicks, the parents are dealing with swooping magpies ~ a common nuisance at this nest.
Beautiful family portrait at the Olympic Park nest.
‘A’ catches up with the Australian nesting season: “These two are just so cute. They are eating strongly and the bonking has begun. Fortunately, they are very close together in size and ability – both can hold their heads up and both are keen to get to the table. Lady is such an experienced parent – she is so skilled at putting small pieces of fish into tiny swaying beaks, although these two are better than most hatchlings at keeping their heads still. Once they can see properly, they will be all over this feeding business.
Dad is a wonderful provider, although his diligence has not really bought him much in the way of chick time or even glimpses of his offspring. Lady is very protective indeed, and so very gentle with those sharp talons around the littles when she is positioning herself and enfluffeling. (I did love your blog mentioning that this is a real word. It’s long been a personal favourite of mine.)
So far, so good. I do worry that there is bonking on day three for SE35, but there is no real size discrepancy and SE36 does not appear intimidated, plus Lady leans across SE35 to feed SE36, who is in the safer position when it’s behind its sibling! They have no strength to hurt each other yet nor the eyesight to aim with any precision, so hopefully, they will be sweet with each other. Neither will go hungry if Lady is brought enough fish to feed them with. She really is so good at feeding newly hatched chicks. Such a vital but difficult task.
We are nearing egg time for the ospreys at Port Lincoln AND the falcons at Orange – it is just 10 days until 27 August, which is the date Diamond laid egg number one last year, and nine days until 26 August, when the first egg was laid at Port Lincoln Ospreys last season.
It’s still about six weeks until we can expect to see the breeding birds beginning to return to Taiaroa Head. Eggs are laid from about mid-November, with a 77-day incubation period and hatches around Australia Day (26 January), which means that courting should be getting underway by early October.
So within a fortnight, we should be watching eggs at two Australian nests as well as the adorable pair of sea eaglets, and waiting for a New Zealand fledge (our precious princess at Taiaroa Head, SSTrig chick). Of course any progress in the 2025 breeding season of the Collins Street falcons will not be revealed to us until a second egg is laid, assuming the falcons return to their scrape on an upper ledge of the Mirvac building in Melbourne’s CBD. “
Rutland is looking at their connection with Poole Harbour.
Knowing who is returning and breeding is so important! Cannot be done without those Darvic Rings.
While the owner of this camera had great luck seeing CJ7 with her fish, our dynamic Mum, who has now raised several clutches of four, including another this season, lost her fish en route to feeding those babes. It will not be long til she has departed for her migration, but, being the great female she is, it might mean she remains til September to help Blue 022 get their four on their way in good health.
It isn’t wildlife stealing from wildlife in Canada but the wild fires that rage from one end of my country to the other that are causing serious issues.
A Dyfi Osprey Project fledgling who appears to be drying off after trying his luck at fishing.
Poole Harbour: 5R3 had three fish on Sunday!
Harry was sky dancing and delivering flounder to the nest at Alyth SS hoping that Flora might show up. She has not been seen and it is believed she has left for migration.
All of the Danish ospreys have left for migration.
J Castnyer catches Zeus working on the nest at Goitzsche Wildnis, but it appears that Fjona has started her migration.
At Escherbach, J Castnyer catches Hermine. She writes, “Hermine is still in the nest territory, although she doesn’t show much. Today she came perhaps because she saw that there was no one there and that Herbert had just taken a fish out of the water. She gave us a few minutes, but she left as soon as one of the young ones arrived. The teak for the boys, she must think. She can fish by herself, although it’s beautiful when your partner does it for you.”
Runi, 13L, continues to get some nice fish at the Fru Rauer nest in Norway.
Beau continues to wait for Gabby at the NE Florida Bald Eagle nest (in fact he is more than a week early on his arrival). It wasn’t Gabby but there was a visitor – a Black Vulture!
There are two Turkey Vultures! Wonder what Beau thinks.
Charlo, Montana: Lola and Charlie are still at the nest with C19 and C20 getting fish at the nest.
Dunrovin: The 4th hatch, commonly known as Little Buckaroo, is getting some height and should be fledging soon.
Hellgate Canyon: Iris and the NM continue to visit the nest.
Boulder County: Osprey fledglings continue to get fed well at the nest.
Black Eagles or (Verreaux’s eagles) practice siblicide. This behaviour, where one sibling kills another, is particularly prevalent in nests with multiple chicks and is often driven by competition for limited food resources. This gorgeous youngster is already jumping about the nest and will hover like we see in the osprey nests as there is no place on the side of this cliff for it to branch.
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Sunday 17th August 2025
Louis only brought one fish to the nest today, taking the nest tally to four hundred and thirty, and Darach 7P0 was there to get it. No sign of Breac 7P7, last seen 15th, nor any of the other Arkaig Ospreys, and no visitors to Nest One other than a Great Tit. Darach entertained us with a barrel roll as he left the nest, but his manoeuvre, lovely as it was, was nothing compared to the heroics of Morag Hughes who completed her epic swim down the eleven miles of Loch Arkaig in 10 hours, 6 minutes and 37 seconds. Congratulations Morag! She even got to see an Osprey during her swim, and was seen by the nest cam watchers as she swam through the nest view, albeit as a tiny white dot, you can see it in today’s videos. Link to photos on Woodland Trust’s blue sky social media (you don’t need an account to view them) in the bonus section along with the fundraiser link. So far she’s raised nearly £5,000 for Woodland Trust, and her just giving fundraiser is still open for contributions. The weather cooperated – it was sunny and the loch was calm, and after some overnight mist, tomorrow’s forecast is for more of the same.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.07.34 (04.36.51); Nest Two 22.22.38 (04.57.06)
Bonus read and / or action – photos of Morag on her epic swim, and donation link:
She has done it!Massive thanks and congratulations to Morag Hughes of Fort William who swam 11 miles along the length of #LochArkaig today, raising funds for our restoration of the forest. Morag completed her big swim in 10 hours, 6 minutes and 37 seconds.🧵 1/2
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Saturday 16th August 2025 It was a three fish day and all for Darach 7P0 as there was no sign of younger brother Breac 7P7, last seen leaving the nest at
09.11.28 yesterday. Has he headed south, or is he still in the area, either attempting to fish for himself, or being fed off-nest, or both? As always, the answer is wait and see. Darach didn’t appear very grateful for the fish, he launched a sustained attack on poor old Louis, grabbing him firmly by the leg and then lunging at him with open beak when Louis didn’t leave the nest after delivering the fish. Darach probably didn’t realise that Louis was unable to leave due to being firmly held in his talons. It made for uncomfortable viewing, but experienced adult that he is, Louis just tried to duck away from the worst of the attack and didn’t retaliate. He returned later with two more fish, taking the nest tally to four hundred and twenty nine. Darach was harassed by marauding Hoodies and stood up to one persistent individual, forcing the crow off the nest and away from his fish which he’d left unattended, luckily it was too big for the crow to carry off and Darach was able to rescue it. Garry LV0 brought a stick to Nest One and did a bit of tidying during his brief visit but there was no sign of Affric 152 today. The weather was sunny and the loch was mirror calm today and forecast to remain the same tomorrow, which will aid Morag Hughes in her epic fundraising swim. Link to the details and her just giving page in the bonus section. With luck, we might be able to make out her escort of kayaks as she passes through the nest view. Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.14.47 (04.48.40); Nest Two 22.28.33 (04.52.56)
https://youtu.be/IrYYqCnBBDc N2 Louis brings a third fish and waits patiently for Darach 19.27.46 Bonus action – you can still support Morag who’ll be swimming Loch Arkaig tomorrow to raise funds for Woodland Trust:
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Friday 15th August 2025
Fish deliveries were the main event today – Affric 152 turned up on Nest One and received a nice sized trout from Garry LV0, whose tally, after stagnating since 4th August, finally moves up a notch to one hundred and forty one. Louis delivered three fish today, all mackerel, and the nest tally now stands at four hundred and twenty six including two deliveries by Dorcha, who was last seen a full week ago on 7th August. The three fish were all taken by Darach 7P0 as apart from a brief visit lasting 26 seconds this morning, Breac 7P7 hasn’t been seen on nest cam today. In his eagerness to get the second fish, Darach locked talons with Louis and got pulled off the nest! But returned unharmed a few moments later and claimed the fish before the Hoodies showed up. The weather was settled and sunny today, the overnight forecast is for mist and light winds with a low of 12°C changing to sunny with a high of 24°C tomorrow.Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.13.44 (05.04.19); Nest Two 22.34.20 (05.13.40) Today’s videos:
https://youtu.be/AOvludmDLRM N2 A third mackerel arrives and again it’s Darach who’s there to get it 18.18.10 Bonus action – support Morag Hughes who’ll be swimming Loch Arkaig this weekend to raise funds for Woodland Trust:
Turkey Vulture 24-380 originally came to our hospital on July 7th, 2024 as a fledgling that had either been orphaned or abandoned due to his numerous health issues. Even with the July heat, 380 was hypothermic. His feather condition was poor, with several flight feathers having broken and the rest covered in heavy stress bars that made them weak and prone to breakage. Despite being nearly full grown, 380 was severely emaciated and weighed less than half of what he should.
He had recently gotten into some feed corn and bird seed and stuffed himself full with it despite these items not being something that he could digest and get nutrition from. We used tongs to manually remove as much of the corn and seed from his crop as possible and got to work rehydrating 380 and giving him some easily digestible liquid diet. Emaciated juveniles are usually able to process solid food relatively quickly compared to adults, but when we tried to introduce some, it just sat in 380’s crop and ended up having to be manually removed.
It took 3 weeks of tube feeding liquid diet before we were finally able to transition 380 to solid food. In that time, 380 battled other illnesses including an infection with a protozoan parasite called trichomoniasis (which causes thick lesions in the mouth), intestinal parasites, mild lead toxicity, and a West Nile Virus infection that started causing his feathers to pinch off and fall out.
Between the West Nile Virus and 380’s initially poor quality feathers, he ended up with no intact flight feathers and had to remain with us until it was time to molt. He’s spent the last year with our foster dad, Volo, whose presence has been essential in keeping 380 from imprinting or becoming too comfortable around humans. 380 started his molt in April, but it took 3 months for him to grow a full new set of flight feathers. Thanks to a year of quality nutrition, this round of feathers came in healthy and structurally sound.
380 was released in late July. He wasted no time before spreading his wings to soak up the sun from a high tree branch. When he realized that he was partially shaded, he moved to a higher branch above the canopy to maximize his sun exposure. Turkey Vultures are known for their love of sunning and can be regularly seen exhibiting this pose.”
How many times do you happen to be heading to an appointment early in the morning and you see cars – so many cars – with only one person in them? or homes that could benefit from grants to help insulate them to save energy costs? Our use of fossily fuels and the growing decisions internationally to open coal mines are putting wildlife in further jeopardy.
Spilve and Grislis’s Golden Eaglet, Melders, has fledged but returns to the nest for prey. What a beautiful season it has been.
Speaking of Golden Eagles, they are arriving in the area of Hecla Island. We will be there this week and hope to see some of the migrants! That would be unbelievable.
Hurricanes and tropical storms are beginning to form for the Atlantic season which will run until the end of November. This is Erin.
The eye Saturday afternoon by Storm Chaser. Thankfully, our raptors and other migrating birds can sense the weather and will be able to take shelter. Erin went from a tropical storm to a Category 5 in a mere 24 hours. The storm has now settled down and as of the time of writing, Sunday afternoon, it has been downgraded to a cat 3.
Wind Turbines. There are a number west of where I live in the hills that provide the thermals for the migrating birds coming in the spring and departing in the late summer. They do not have to die. There is a simple solution. If you live in an area considering wind farms, please enter the conversation about how to make them safe for our raptors.
Lots of waterfowl rescues. Wildlife Haven, near to where I live, have just cleaned some Canada Geese that got into a ‘substance’ in the northern part of our City. They will be released just like these mallard ducks at another Canadian rescue.
Please put out water and/or food for the migrating birds, volunteer if you can, donate if you can, but please leave out water!
Thank you for being with us today. The osprey season is winding down. The Bald Eagles will begin to arrive slowly, with eggs expected in the US in November-ish. Focus will switch to the raptors in Australia, and we wish every raptor on their way to their winter home good winds and a bursting crop.
I will not be posting on Friday as we will be on our break at Hecla Island but I will be back on Monday the 25th of August. Please take care. We look forward to having you with us in a week.
Toby hopes that everyone has a great week and something wonderful to chew on like his Blueberry-Yak Milk Bully stick!
I want to thank our notable contributors, ‘A, Geemeff, J, SK Hideaways, PB’, the owners of the streaming cams listed in bold, the individuals who take the time to create videos and the authors of posts such as Jeff Kear at UK Osprey Information, Debbie Campbell at Menhaden-Little Fish, Big Deal and all others, often too many to name. I am very grateful to you and to the newspapers that still cover environmental issues as they relate to our precious feathered friends including The Guardian. My blog would not be what it is without your input into the world of birding.
We spent Saturday in the English Gardens admiring the gorgeous plantings, chatting to other dog lovers, and eating ice cream. Dogs get free ‘pup cups’ complete with a dog biscuit. Toby is already familiar with the routine!
You can see the ‘pup cup’ in the image below. The photos make Toby look ‘tiny’ – the dream of all humans when they get their picture taken! But he is now 16 lbs.
While we were there, we had a chance to talk to a photographer waiting for the elusive hummingbird. Yes, singular. Usually, the gardens would be full of hummingbirds, but he told me that he had talked to photographers in North Dakota, and they have so many hummingbirds they can’t believe it. The theory is that the wildfire smoke kept the hummers moving til they got to clean air.
Bears and other wildlife are still suffering.
Each of you will remember the wildlife and the fires in Australia – people helping with water for the koalas, many of them on fire. It is heartbreaking – well, beyond sad. Only time will tell how many eagles and ospreys will return next year, and whether there will be any trees for them to make nests. I wondered about the ash from the fires falling into the pristine lakes, and this is what I learned: “When ash from wildfires falls into lakes, it can introduce nutrients and toxins, potentially causing temporary algal blooms and impacting water quality. While the effects are often short-term, particularly in well-mixed lakes, they can disrupt the ecosystem and affect aquatic life.”
Migration has started early, with geese congregating on many golf courses and sports fields.
At the park today, there were many more ducks and, in particular, Wood Ducks than I remember from previous years.
The weather is cooler and since the rains the past couple of days, the smoke has not been so bad. Earlier we had extreme warnings about being outside especially if anyone had respiratory issues.
At home, all is well. There are a couple of ‘witching’ times during the day when Toby needs to be calmed – after breakfast and in the late evening before bed. Otherwise, life with cats and a dog is going much better than I expected! Hugo Yugo continues to do better. She has been seen multiple times eating hard food and today ate two small tins of wet food for breakfast. She really wants to play with Toby and I must warn him that ‘the cats plot to get him in trouble’. Toby will go for his first little grooming session on Thursday. His nails really need trimming!
Missey does not quite fit on the small space at the top of this particular cat tree. She looks miserable.
Calico was inspecting the blueberry cookies for dogs thinking they should make some nice things for cats, too.
Toby spots Baby Hope inside the house when he is out.
They keep us busy.
Sunday waw three hours of sheer bliss at King’s Park. We walked and picnicked with Toby. The charcoal clouds left and the sun came out and it was simply glorious.
Part of our rigid routine is that Saturdays and Sundays are ‘family’ days. On the other days, we have Anne, Jaine, or appointments with doctors, haircuts, etc. So the weekend is reserved for ‘fun’, enjoying being together and walking outside. Our big disappointment is that there are not a lot of geese about – we will continue searching for them!
Time to get checking on those ospreys, and I want to start with one of our favourite fledglings from 2021 in South Australia, who is now old enough to be frantically looking for a mate – Ervie!!!!!!! Searching far and wide, Port Lincoln Osprey FB says, “Barge 2021 – Ervie is on the go again – still in search of the elusive partner. He has been for a visit to Taylor Island, and we know there are Osprey down there.”
Dyfi Osprey Project: Idris is very busy getting those fish to the nest for the fledglings.
Birds of Poole Harbour: Both CJ7 and Blue 022 are delivering fish to their four fledglings. One, 5R5, hasn’t been quite as lucky on getting fish at the nest. Fingers crossed their luck picks up!
Glaslyn: Teifi continues to deliver fish to Elen and to seal their bond for the 2026 season.
Balgavies Loch:
‘PS’ give us the news from the Seattle Osprey platform:
“Visited the last few days – Saturday I saw 3 fish deliveries from dad in 40 minutes or so! Two Starry Flounder and one Coho Salmon. With the fledglings around but not always on the nest dad’s arrival often led to a bit of a scrum – though on this particular day the loser didn’t have to feel that bad as fish after fish kept showing up. One of the Flounder I saw dad circle, dive, and catch, at a distance, and then bring it straight back to the nest. It was so close he didn’t even turn the fish and just flew it back facing the wrong way. Today I arrived at the tail end of a feed, with one of the fledglings finishing up what looked to be a Salmon of some sort.
I haven’t seen mom since Aug-1; do you think she could have started her migration already, 7-10 days after the first fledge? Or maybe I’m just unlucky and keep missing her.
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Sunday 10th August 2025 Today was about fish, plenty of them – Louis brought five fish, and not only did Darach 7P0 get four of them, but he also flew with fish for the first time. It was unintentional, as he slipped over the edge of the nest while pushing his brother Breac 7P7 away from his fish, but nevertheless, he took off flying clutching his fish, and returned a little later with it still firmly held in his talons. That’s a big milestone achieved as the ability to fly with fish is an essential skill for Ospreys, sometimes called fish hawks. After being the dominant chick for so long, Breac was forced to defer to Darach who grabbed fish first, then lunged at him and pushed him off the nest on several occasions, making it clear he would not be giving up his fish. Breac also lost fish to invading Hoodies, but luckily it was only a few scraps. Louis’ fish tally rises to four hundred and five (407 nest total) while the total for Garry LV0 who hasn’t been seen since the 7th remains unchanged on one hundred and forty. Dorcha also hasn’t been seen since the 7th and the last sighting of Affric 152 was on the 8th, we wait to see if any of them will still make an appearance on nest cam. The weather was reasonably settled today but the forecast for the next 24 hours is light rain and light winds with an overnight low of 14
°C and a high tomorrow of 18°C. Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One
22.08.04 (04.32.48); Nest Two 21.57.01 (04.42.08) Today’s videos:
https://youtu.be/8OlfdpONB9w N2 Breac suffers an invasion of Hoodies who steal scraps from him 20.37.17Bonus opportunity to support intrepid Morag who’s going to swim Loch Arkaig to raise funds for Woodland Trust:
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Saturday 9th August 2025 Louis delivered his 400th fish for the season (402 nest total with Dorcha’s two) when he brought fish number three today, and it went to Breac 7P7. Breac did very well today, after finishing off the substantial remains of last night’s mackerel, he also got two fresh fish from Louis. Darach 7P0 was ferocious in his determination to get a fish and actually pushed Breac off the nest causing him to fly away. The strategy worked again when he got the next fish despite Breac being on the nest, once Darach had the fish secured and Louis had gone, he flew at Breac and forced him off the nest again, making it clear he would not be bullied to give up his fish. This is necessary as he has yet to acquire the skill of flying with fish and must therefore eat on the nest. There was no activity on Nest One, not even a songbird visited – Affric was last seen yesterday, and both Garry and Dorcha were last seen on the 7th. Have they gone south? It’s probably much too early to tell. After rain and wind and some sunny intervals today, the forecast for the next 24 hours is cloudy with light wind, an overnight low of 11°C and a high of 17°C tomorrow. Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.17.38 (04.24.47); Nest Two 22.16.54 (04.55.56) Today’s videos:https://youtu.be/fTaTXlZRdfM N2 Breac arrives and finishes off last night’s mackerel 05.24.47https://youtu.be/AzHy7AQUYVc N2 Darach arrives late and it’s Breac who gets fish one 09.48.05
Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch ArkaigFriday 8th August 2025
Today’s fish were pretty evenly shared out between the two chicks – Breac 7P7 got the substantial remains of last night’s second fish, a flatfish, for breakfast this morning, beating the Hoodies to a free meal, then got one of Louis’ three fresh deliveries today while Darach 7P0 got the other two. The nest total now stands at three hundred and ninety nine, including the two delivered by Dorcha. She wasn’t seen on camera today, neither were Garry LV0 or Affric 152, in fact the only activity on Nest One was the brief visit of a juvenile Great Tit. Garry’s tally remains at one hundred and forty. Steve Quinn published his fish stats for Week 18 today, an interesting read as always, link’s in the bonus section. Steve told us about his recent visit to Avalon Marshes and meeting with photographer Andrew Kirby who was the first to photograph 2020 chick Doddie JJ6 who’d stopped off there practising his fishing skills on his first migration journey. Doddie caused much excitement by becomlng the first Loch Arkaig Osprey to be sighted away from the nest area, link to Andrew’s fabulous photos of Doddie in the bonus section. Today’s weather was windy and sometimes wet, and tonight’s forecast is for heavy rain and what’s referred to as a moderate breeze but when seen on nest cam looks much more powerful, with a low of 12°C, changing to thundery showers with a high of 15°C tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.22.04 (04.46.07); Nest Two 22.13.40 (04.52.07)
It makes me wonder if we will discover from the necrscopy of Big Red and Arthur’s first hatch, O1, if she died of Avian Flu.
At Knepp Farm (you have no idea how much respect I have for their rewilding project), the sound of the Nightingale has not only returned but is becoming more abundant.
In the US, the two oldest of the four osplets of Winnie and Swoop have fledged at Dunrovin Ranch in Montana.
Green Ledge Light Preservation Society: The three osplets of Ollie and Olivia have fledged!
Coeur de’Alene, Idaho: The three surviving osplets have fledged and ‘PB’ reports that each has taken a different osprey platform at the park where they are fish calling. I caught up with two of the trio.
Hellgate Canyon: New Male has been consistently bringing our dear Iris fresh fish to help her prepare for her migration.
Charlo Montana: Charlie has been busy bringing in some fish.
At the Fru Rauer nest in Norway, beautiful flounder are being delivered to the nest. Here is the video: https://youtu.be/F6wBsAZ6YaE?
Zeus delivering a fish – the family trio are now rarely seen at the nest, with speculation that they are spending more time at the nearby lake.
‘A’ is keeping an eye on the Australian nests for us. So nice to hear from them! “As we reach day 37 for the first egg, the pair at WBSE have been dutifully incubating their clutch, through a lot of rain and cold nights. Lady has as always taken every night shift and on some days has sat on the eggs for eight hours or more as well. Dad relieves her often, if she’ll leave, but sometimes, she sits tight and refuses to budge.Apart from the frequent rain and the consistently cold nights, the pattern has been for not much food to be brought to the nest. Lady has done much of the hunting for herself, though Dad does bring in the odd bream tail or half-eaten fish and often arrives with a full crop himself. I do worry about whether he will step up deliveries once the eggs hatch – things will be difficult if he doesn’t. This pair appears strongly bonded, though, with duets every morning and Dad staying close to the nest each night, and they’re very experienced parents, so I’m probably just worrying about nothing. It’s just all the rain…
There have been a number of sightings of one parent or the other being bothered/swooped/chased by ravens or lapwings or currawongs so that aspect of life in Olympic Forest, sadly, has not changed. The constant rain is a concern – the eggs have for the most part been kept warm and dry but there have been a few occasions when Dad has left the nest before Lady’s return from a break, leaving the eggs uncovered in the rain for ten minutes or so. Hopefully, there won’t have been any damage to the lives inside but only time will tell.
Diamond and Xavier are doing well. Not egg time quite yet but both are looking healthy and are bonding as always. Xavier is STILL bringing Diamond starlings (and, worse yet, recycled starlings she has already rejected). It seems he has to relearn this lesson every single season. On the other hand, there seems to be a relatively plentiful supply of starlings and this can be useful when it’s time to feed some hungry eyases.
At Port Lincoln, it’s R-rated. This pair seems to be mating constantly, with occasional dinner breaks and fly arounds. Eggs are definitely on the minds of these ospreys, and when they’re not mating (or eating), they’re bringing in nesting material. I do hope we have two eggs and not three. I’m never super happy when a third egg hatches on an osprey nest, although I know you are (for research purposes of course). I suppose at this nest, which is blessed to be overseen by a Fish Fairy, the research is partially compromised, in the sense that the lessons learned on the nest are different ones, at least to some extent. I hadn’t thought much about that, but obviously you would have, given the nature of your research.
Nothing at Collins Street yet, and we don’t really expect there to be for at least another fortnight. I do wish we caught a little more of the early part of the season at Collins Street instead of having to wait until the second egg is laid (they usually don’t even switch the cameras on after the first egg, let alone before it, though they must have a fair idea of when the egg-laying window is likely to open. Frustrating.”
Thank you so much for being with us today. We hope you have a great week and we look forward to having you with us again on Friday.
I want to thank our notable contributors, ‘A, Geemeff, PB, PS’, the owners of the streaming cams listed in bold, the individuals who take the time to create videos, including SK Hideaways, Joan Castnyer, Cornell Bird Lab, and the administrators of FB groups such as Jeff Kear at UK Osprey Information, and all others, often too many to name. I am very grateful to you and to the newspapers that still cover environmental issues as they relate to our precious feathered friends. My blog would not be what it is without your input into the world of birding.
Thank you so much for being with us today! We hope that the week has been kind to you.
I am going to start with another heartbreaking moment – Heidi’s report for today. This beautiful baby, with only one week to fledge, has died. The commercial overfishing of Menhaden in this region has shaped this entire season. Buckets of tears are being shed, and everyone feels helpless. Do we have to wait for the Governor of Virginia to be replaced? Cannot the other States in the surrounding area do something to stop this genocide?
Please send your positive wishes that the two remaining chicks get enough food to fledge and migrate out of the Chesapeake. Maybe these ospreys will find another home – a place that will protect them and appreciate and love them.
“Kent Island, Chesapeake: Sadly, there weren’t enough fish being brought to the nest by Tom and Audrey, and Little Boy 3 lost his struggle to survive at 47.5 days of age. He was so endearing, and we all loved him. Fly high with a forever-full crop sweetie. We all are hoping that he will still be given a name.”
Thankfully, Heidi has some good news!
‘Lil’ Peabody’s wings took him far beyond where these two will fly. He joins thousands of others who have perished this year. This is the latest from Ben Wurtz. Please read it. Take it all in. I know you love these magnificent gentle fish eaters like I do – get angry. Cry. Maybe throw something and then start lobbying on behalf of the ospreys and all the other wildlife whose populations are being decimated by commercial fishing!
The summer is flying by. The female ospreys are preparing to leave, or some have left on their long migration. The juveniles are flapping, eating, and gathering their own steam to leave the natal territory on their first great adventure. The dads wait for all to go so they can have some fish to themselves and get some strength to fly to their winter homes.
Look at this beauty! Gosh, I love those ‘snake’ eyes. Reminds me of Blue 33. This Norwegian beauty has a long way to go to get to warmer weather! Runi fledged on the 26th of July.
Froy brought a crab to the nest! That was on the 26th, the day that Runi fledged. Have you seen an osplet bring a crab to the nest?
An osprey in the area of the Southern Shores Beach in North Carolina has been photographed flying with a Sailfish in its talons. Will they begin looking for other species in the Chesapeake Bay area OR are all the fish gone? Some know? Write me!
What has Milda been up to since fledging those two beautiful White-tail Eaglets in Latvia? Liz nm has some video for us. https://youtu.be/-Y9kFNKanU8?
T3 spent the night and most of the day at the nest. What a beauty. SK Hideaways caught it on video https://youtu.be/Y9RMrpKyTA8?
‘PS’ sends us the good news out of Seattle, Washington.
“Hi Mary Ann,
Visited yesterday – both young there, with mom making a brief appearance. One of the young took two practice flights while I was there – lifting off from the nest and into the skies for some surprisingly graceful loops around the area before landing (also gracefully – fast learner!) back at the nest. Sibling looked eager – hopping around and flapping her/his wings and I hoped I might see confirmation of both fledging but it was not to be – perhaps today!
It is surprisingly heartwarming and inspiring to see these birds, who you have watched since birth, take to the skies as such graceful raptors. Impossible to not have your own heart soar with them when they slip so gently into the air! Full set: https://www.flickr.com/gp/193514804@N08/p4Q1Lzea6p. “
Please check out these beautifully photographed ospreys on the flickr account above. These are some of the finest images of ospreys in a nest I have seen for a long time. Look at those fledglings go! Thank you, ‘PS’.
In the UK, there are four new outbreaks of Avian Flu.
Leicester and Rutland Wildlife Trust give us their season summary as we await the departure of Maya, the four fledglings, and then the last to depart, Blue 33.
Geemef’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Thursday 31st July 2025 It was a slow day today, just three fish from Louis which the chicks didn’t fight over. Breac got the first, Darach the second, and when Breac got the third one, Darach still had plenty of his fish left so they ate on the nest together in reasonable harmony, just a few protesting squeaks at the other’s proximity. Dorcha was around but didn’t compete for any of the fish as the boys made it plain her presence was not required. She’s either fishing for herself or being fed off-nest, or possibly a bit of both. Her tally remains at two while Louis’ now stands at three hundred and seventy three, and the nest total at three hundred and seventy five. Will we see it rise to four hundred this season? Probably, if the chicks stay around for a few more weeks. Steve Q will be able to calculate the odds, possibly with the Week 18 fish stats. Link to Week 17’s stats, published today, in the bonus section. In other news, Garry visited Nest One bringing nesting materials and doing a little tidying, no fish were delivered but that’s not surprising as Aurora hasn’t been seen since Monday and may well be on her way south therefore his tally will probably remain at one hundred and thirty six for the season. A few crows visited Nest Two but there’s not much chance of leftover fish with the two hungry chicks still around. There was some rain overnight but dry during the day – tonight’s forecast is partly cloudy with light winds and a low of 11°C, rising to a high of 18°C tomorrow.Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One (04.28.04); Nest Two (04.33.52)
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Wednesday 30th July 2025 More fish and more fighting – both Darach 7P0 and Breac 7P7 are now in hyperphagia preparing for their first migration journey and are compelled to consume as much as possible. Louis delivered five fish to the nest today, and although Dorcha seemed to get three of them and take them away to eat in peace, she did return them to share with her offspring. Not that they were always grateful, on one occasion Darach lunged at both adults to protect his fish but as experienced parents they merely stepped back and allowed him to take the fish. Louis’ tally now stands at three hundred and seventy, with the nest total of three hundred and seventy two including Dorcha’s offering. Nest One had a few little songbird visitors and Garry LV0 visited too but didn’t bring any fish so his tally remains at one hundred and thirty six. There was no sign of Aurora 536, she was last seen on Sunday 27th – has she left on migration already? If so, we wish her fair winds and plenty of fish, and hope to see her back next Spring. The promised rain materialised along with a few sunny spells, and more rain is expected overnight with a low of 11
°C, changing to light cloud with a gentle breeze and a high of 18°C tomorrow, Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.47.27 (04.19.28); Nest Two 22.35.55 (04.22.01) Today’s videos:
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Tuesday 29th July 2025 Plenty of fish turned up today, all for the ravenous chicks and their long suffering mother on Nest Two. Louis delivered six fish taking his tally to three hundred and sixty five, with the total for the nest at three hundred and sixty seven. It was Darach’s turn to get the lion’s share but Brec and Dorcha also fed well, and despite Louis’ hard work he is also looking in good shape with a nicely rounded crop indicating he is also eating plenty. An unseen intruder bothered Dorcha, was it Garry before he made an appearance on Nest One? He brought a big clump of moss but no fish, so his tally remains at one hundred and thirty six. N
o sign of Aurora today, but there were two quick visits from a Robin and another from a Buzzard, who looked comfortable on the centre perch. After a little overnight rain, the weather was settled today, however drizzle is forecast for tonight with a low of 14°C, and light rain tomorrow morning and late afternoon with sunny spells in between and a high of 19°C. Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.58.35 (03.41.53); Nest Two
I know you probably haven’t thought about it, but summer is speeding up. It is the first day of August, and soon we will have osprey eggs in South Australia! Gosh, I wish Ervie would get a mate! Do we need Roy Dennis to translocate some females to Aussie Land? Bradley was stopping on Tumby Island. Where are Partney and Marrum? Check out the Port Lincoln Osprey FB page for all the latest news.
Some of you will remember my praise for the visiting Vet at our wildlife rehabilitation clinic, Wildlife Haven. Dr Tess was determined that wild animals could live in the wild even with physical challenges such as three legs. She ‘invented’ a mechanism to save a turtle whose shell was soft – 200 days later that turtle has been released to the wild! Thank you Dr Tess for your love and belief in things wild.
After 200 days in care, several wire tightenings, a few bumps along the way but mainly many successes, patient 24-1880 more comonly refered to as the “Shell-evator” was released back to the wild!
We are so grateful for the support from our community, who rallied behind this patient and ensured she received the best care possible. The work we do would not be possible without you.
Thank you!
It feels terrific to see this turtle make it to the wild. We met the turtle, talked with Dr Tess, and admired her dedication and determination. Hopefully, some of our donations helped this happen.
Coeur de’Alene Osprey Platform: The three surviving chicks appear to be doing rather well at this Idaho nest.
Juurusvesi -There is a lot of fish in Finland! I didn’t count. It seemed that one came in right after another. Video capture by Kala Saaski. https://www.youtube.com/live/27ZzX88ZtIo?s
Final fledges at Kielder Forest. Here is the roundup!
It is getting serious at the West End nest. MV brings Haku a nice fish gift – and she accepts. SK Hideaways has it on video: https://youtu.be/UlU5rCg6ygc?
And while we are all thinking about what to do til the fall arrives, I would like to point out that in about 5-6 weeks, Gabby should be back at the NE Florida nest! Oh, let’s hope that Beau is there, too.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care. We will see you again on Monday!
Baby Hope wishes you a joyrful weekend.
I want to thank our notable contributors, ‘Geemeff, J, Heidi, PS, PB’, the owners of the streaming cams listed in bold, the individuals who take the time to create videos, including SK Hideaways, and the authors of posts such as Jeff Kear at UK Osprey Information, and all others, often too many to name. I am very grateful to you and to the newspapers that still cover environmental issues as they relate to our precious feathered friends and to the people at the Conserve Wildlife of New Jersey and Ben for this monitoring and reporting of the issues impacting the osprey in that region. My blog would not be what it is without your input into the world of birding.
I can tell you that Pelican Lake is beautiful and that it is actually home to so many American White Pelicans. I can also tell you that Lewy Body Dementia is a challenging disease for both the person who bears the burden of it and for those trying to enrich their lives. We were at Pelican Lake precisely two hours before Don ‘lost me’. I will not bore you with the details of someone spiralling downwards, but suffice it to say I was happy to be able to administer his medication, repack the car (thank goodness we hadn’t really unpacked), and get him and Toby in the car and back home. No more holidays. I was beginning to wonder if the days of travelling were over several months ago. We will take our trips within the confines of the city, so that if something goes sideways, home is close at hand. I already have a list of parks that we haven’t yet visited – just imagine all the things we might have been missing!
Toby and I spent Thursday doing some projects. He now has a fully enclosed back garden where he can roam freely. We also played with a new camera. ‘AK’ knew that I was fed up with carrying heavy, long lenses and big medium-format cameras. That is the reason you have seen so few images of birds this year. The weight is phenomenal. The total weight of what I used was more than 12 lbs. So ‘AK’ recommended that I check out the P1000 with its fixed 3000mm zoom lens. I was only able to get the P1100, and at three pounds with a 3000 mm zoom and a ‘bird’ setting, Toby and I had a lot of fun testing it out on the birds at the feeder. The images are not great. This is my first hour using this camera, but I can tell you it feels like a winner in terms of what I need for my life at this moment. It sure was fun, even with squiggly Toby on my lap.
Notice the texture. This camera is not supposed to do well in low light – well, that squirrel is deep in the lilacs and it was dark with light just filtering in from the West!
And for anyone wondering, this is not just any squirrel. This is Dyson. Look at her large arms and long fingers. She is our matriarch.
Junior is moulting, so no crest. Those feathers, the layers and layers, are quite amazing. (I am roughly 16 metres from the bird feeder).`
Tiny little female house sparrow.`
Three baby crows with their velvet heads.
My sidekick, Toby. He is enjoying the freedom of the garden but also likes to lounge in the chair and always comes when I call. Kitties aren’t allowed outside in Winnipeg.
My first hydrangea bush! I have a friend who mailed me dried hydrangea blooms one year. They made it all the way from British Columbia! Now I have my own.
Please do not believe everything you read on a chat. In fact, it is almost the last place to find accurate information sometimes. The PSEG Oyster Bay osplet with the injured leg did NOT fledge, it was rescued and taken into rehab.
Here is Heidi’s Osprey report for the US:
Raptor Persecution UK confirms that there are some 143 Hen Harriers illegally killed or missing since 2018.
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Thursday 24th July 2025 Today was all about fish – arriving, departing, returning, reappearing and causing confusion among the nest cam watchers until sharp eyes sorted out the details. Dorcha did not supply any new fish, all six deliveries to Nest Two were made by Louis, and his tally now rises to three hundred and forty four.
Dorcha found and ate the fish lost last night in the nest furnishings and today’s fresh fish were shared out between her and the two chicks, with Breac 7P7 getting the lion’s share. Darach 7P0 made sure he hung onto his share causing Breac to fall over the edge and hang upside down in an OMG moment. However Breac managed to untangle himself and fly away, returning unharmed to a chorus of relief on the forum, and later he achieved the milestone of flying with fish for the first time, another event noted by sharp eyed watchers. Steve Q crunched the numbers and posted last week’s fish stats, link in the bonus section, and although the fish counters noted Garry LV0’s one delivery to Aurora 536 today, taking his tally to one hundred and thirty five, it’s hoped that we will need Steve to include Nest One fish stats in future reports if Garry and Aurora produce the longed for chicks on that nest next year. The weather was settled but is expected to turn damp overnight and through tomorrow with light rain and light winds, a low of 13°C tonight and a high of 18°C tomorrow.Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.15.40 (03.51.48); Nest Two 23.00.46 (04.15.30) Today’s videos:
https://youtu.be/Jeo0-VlMQGg N2 Dorcha holds onto fish number six but feeds Breac 22.06.48 Bonus shopping opportunity – Woodland Trust shop summer sale now on:
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Wednesday 23rd July 2025 Another slow day with not much action apart from the chicks Darach 7P0 and Breac 7P7 trying to get as much fish as possible when Louis made deliveries to the nest, and fighting anyone who got in their way. Louis brought four fish to the nest today, one of which Breac managed to lose in the muddle of sticks on the right hand side, with luck it will be found and consumed tomorrow. Louis’ tally now stands at three hundred and thirty eight, while Garry LV0’s rises to one hundred and thirty four following his single delivery to Aurora 536. The weather was settled today and set to continue with a forecast of light clouds and light winds overnight and tomorrow, with a temperature spread of 13 – 21°C, and the prospect of sunny intervals tomorrow afternoon. Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.49.56 (04.09.34); Nest Two 23.04.31 (04.20.45) Today’s videos:
Come and join the friendly community at Woodland Trust’s Osprey forum, it’s fun, free and everyone’s welcome:
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Tuesday 22nd July 2025 It was a slow fish day today, Aurora 536 was disappointed when Garry arrived bearing nesting materials but no fish, so his tally remains at one hundred and thirty three, and Louis delivered three fish, raising his tally to three hundred and thirty four. Breac 7P7 is extremely dominant and got the first two fish, his older brother Darach 7P0 had to wait until he’d had enough before getting his own chance to eat. Louis brought the final fish after dark, giving Dorcha the opportunity to eat in peace before she returned the fish to the nest and handed it over to one of the chicks – Breac, of course. Nest cam watchers would like Darach to become more competitive. It rained through the night but the weather was reasonably settled during the day, however it’ll be damp again tonight as the overnight forecast is for drizzle and light winds with a low of 13
°C, improving tomorrow with light cloud, light winds and a few sunny spells with a high of 19°C. Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.08.25 (04.09.55); Nest Two 22.59.28 (04.24.20) Today’s videos:
Ferris Akel found the Os today and the other evening, and Cornell released a video of Big Red feeding her babies a week ago. https://youtu.be/k-dHLxtlrOI?
Thank you for being with us today. Please take care. We will see you again on Monday!
I want to thank our notable contributors, ‘AK, Geemeff, Heidi’, the owners of the streaming cams listed in bold, the individuals who take the time to create videos, including SK Hideaways, and the authors of posts such as Jeff Kear at UK Osprey Information, and all others, often too many to name. I am very grateful to you and to the newspapers that still cover environmental issues as they relate to our precious feathered friends. My blog would not be what it is without your input into the world of birding.
