Category Archives: Florida Bald Eagles

Friday in Bird World

15 December 2023

Hello Everyone,

Good Morning to all of you. We are just two weeks and a day away from a brand new year – and sometime, between now and then, I hope that we have two healthy hatches at the SW Florida Eagle nest of M15 and F23. They could be the first successful nest of the year with two eaglets.

Before we move on to the other birds and the scant news, I have some more information about Hugo. When you adopt a kitten in Winnipeg, you should be given a file folder of information. That was missing when Hugo was picked up. It came in the post today. So, here are some things that were gleaned.

Hugo was born at the beginning of September. The folder says 5 September, but other information on line said 2 September, and my vet thought that because of her size and teeth development that this had to be the beginning of October. From what I understand, the original family wrote down 5 September as the date the stray cat they took in had her kittens. This original foster family took in a very malnourished stray cat, a Tortie, on the Peguis Reserve north of Winnipeg so that the cat would have a safe place to have her kittens. The family named the cat Grace and she had seven kittens. It is unknown if this was her first litter, but she was very tiny. Hugo had trouble eating. The kittens were surrendered to the adoption agency on the 11th of November. All were very tiny for their age. 

It is not clear what health issues the original situation with the Mum will have on Hugo’s development, overall health, or life expectancy. Right now Hugo is enjoying eating her kitten food, the kitten kibble, and loves the thick kitten milk. She loves to play and is sleeping on one of her favourite teaser toys. She likes being wrapped tight in a blanket and held close. Like all the others, I would not give her up for anything. Today she weighed 1384 grams before her evening meal. On Thursday, she weighed 860 grams so that is a gain of 524 grams or more than a pound. She looks like she might be long. Her eyes are still a little drippy so more Polysporin for Pink Eye. She will have her second round of vaccinations on 28 December and be spayed on the 15th of March -. The vet might be in for a surprise since all the paperwork still indicates that Hugo is a ‘he’ and that ‘he’ will be neutered.

Hope watching Hugo play with the red pom-pom on the tunnel.

It was Hope that first took over Missey’s basket with the little granny square blanket she was given when she was adopted. Now it is Hugo that is moving in on Hope’s territory! I did say that little Hugo is fearless, right?

Missey sits on the back of the sofa or on the wicker and watches them all. More than half the time she is now playing with Hope and Hugo. So nice to see her back to her normal self.

Hugo looking outside to ‘The Boyfriend’ who came for breakfast.

Beautiful Calico. I tear up every time I think about what she went through and how healthy little Hope was. What a miracle.

It was +4 today and what a nice day for a short brisk walk at the nature centre. The squirrels were running everywhere and watching them made me think that they thought spring had arrived. The chickadees were out at the feeders along with a male and female Downy Woodpecker and a White-breasted Nuthatch. The entire place feels empty without the ducks and the geese, though. 

There is good news coming from the Sydney Olympic Forest area for our WBSE family – Mum, Dad, and one fledgling presumed to be SE31.

“December 13: Early morning, both adults were seen at River Roost and SE31 was seen going into the mangroves and heard calling. Then again, at 07:45, SE31 was heard but not seen. Then at last, just after 9am, an adult was seen catching a large fish – grabbing it with one foot – in front of River Roost. SE31 flew out to claim it with loud squeeing, then all three were out of sight in the mangroves. No further observations during the day. 

December 14: Early morning, SE31 was spotted at Mangrove Island – then moving to River roost. This seems to be her home patch now, moving back and forth and sheltering in the mangroves lining the river. It has been a really hot day again. We have no more observations for today – hopefully, our eagles were keeping as cool as they can by the river.”

And the last report from Sydney: ”December 15: Early morning report at 07:30 of SE31 and one adult at the water’s edge at River Roost, then joined by the other adult. Then, at around 09:20, SE31 was seen flying over the wetlands, venturing further and flying right up high, before returning to River Roost – feeling her wings for sure. At around 4pm in the afternoon, SE31 was seen at River Roost, a parent arrived, then shortly after she flew to Mangrove Island. Later, she was seen flying high again, before returning to the River Roost mudflats.”

At Orange, Diamond still is not too pleased that the scrape box was cleaned. Wonder what the rush was? Does anyone know if Marri has returned to the scrape since the cleaning?

At Port Lincoln, it is Gil and Brad on the nest. Both now have names. It has been such a good year at Port Lincoln thanks in full to the foresight and tenacity of Janet, Bazz, and Fran who insisted on an intervention. We can all agree that the research coming off this nest opens up new avenues for thinking when it comes to Ospreys. Give them an international round of applause. For my friend ‘A’, she is overjoyed at the success of this nest. In the past she was hesitant to even go on line to check on the osprey family. Today she wrote, “I just adore this pair SO much. Goliath in particular is wingercising with great concentration. He has been getting air, with some impressive hovering yesterday. I know it’s a wonderful achievement and I should be pleased, and it is and I am, but I will miss these two. I do hope that they do an Ervie and hang around Port Lincoln at least sometimes. I still wonder what on earth caused Zoe to head inland into the desert. It made no sense. But then, much of her behaviour made no sense.”

At the time I am writing, Dad has delivered a partial fish to Mum and the boys. That is fantastic.

They are gorgeous – Gil and Brad.

These are the comparison weights provided by the observation board, Bart M for the PLO chicks:

Giliath (male) –   1445 grams

Bradley (male –  1390 grams

In comparison:

Zoe (female    –   1700 g

Ervie (male)    –   1380 g

Bazza (male)   –  1280 g

Falky (male)    –  1230 g

At Osprey House, George has delivered two fish – one for each fledgling!

‘H’ reports: ”Broken shell overnight first noticed around 0310 (very poor visibility).  Muhlady appeared to move the shell.  When cam view improved, it was evident.  No eaglet seen.  Maybe they will reclutch.  They have been mating.”

The question is this: why are these shells breaking? Is it humidity? were they viable to begin with? 

We should watch for Connie and Clive at Captiva Bald Eagle nest. The wind is picking up. Storms with heavy rain are expected over the weekend on the Barrier Islands in Florida. Let us hope that there is no hatch during this time. Renee posted this information on chat: “PIP WATCH: Starts Saturday Dec. 16, 2023. Due to some delayed incubation, we may not see a PIP until Sunday 17th or Monday 18th.” I would like for this to wait until nice weather not during a thunderstorm.

There are many nests without any eggs yet. Duke Farms is one of those. Dad went missing in the spring, and there is a new male.

The other is NE Florida, ‘The Hamlet’ home to Gabby and V3. These two were busy working on the nest and alerting against intruders.

Indeed, of the streaming cams, there are so many without eggs yet. We might enjoy the spacing this year and get to see those little bobbleheads developing at all stages.

Anna and Louis laid their first egg on the 9th of December. There has not been a second egg. It would have been laid on the 12th. Fingers crossed that this egg is good – especially because of Andria’s death and the loss of the two eggs at KNF-E-1. 

Alex continues to incubate his and Andria’s eggs. The female continues to bury them, and he digs them up. My heart aches for him. At the same time, please do not let these eggs hatch. The only way these eaglets could survive would be if the female visitor fully embraced motherhood. Remember, Harriet and M15’s chicks were at month old when Harriet disappeared last February at the SW Florida Bald Eagle nest.

Suzanne Arnold Horning is always looking out for Big Red and Arthur. This spring, Big Red will be 21 years young.

Plans to genetically engineer the Dodo back to life! Location: Mauritius.

Bird Guides announces, “An audacious plan between geneticists and conservationists to bring back the extinct Dodo has been announced.

Attempts to bring the species back to its former habitat in Mauritius are set to be led by US-based biotechnology and genetic engineering company, Colossal Biosciences, which is pursuing the ‘de-extinction’ of various other species.”

De-extinction-plan-to-bring-dodo-back-BirdGuidesDownload

If you missed the latest Condor Chat with Ventana Wildlife, here you go!

Could you fish in these conditions? Albatross do it every day in the roaring Southern Ocean.

Thank you so very much for being with me today. Take care. See you on Saturday!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ’A, H, J, L’, Sydney Sea Eagle Cam, Karen Long, PLO, Bart M, Heidi Mc, Osprey House, Superbeaks, Window to Wildlife, Ann Penury, Duke, NE Florida-AEF, KNF E-1, KNF E-3, Suzanne Arnold Horning, Bird Guides, Ventana Wildlife Society, and Holly Parsons.

It is Bradley…Thursday in Bird World

14 December 2023

Good Morning!

Oh, a major milestone was achieved on Wednesday. Hugo ate kitten kibble for the first time (that I have observed). It is wonderful. Her eyes are clear thanks to Polysporin Pink Eye, her tummy troubles are gone thanks to FloriFauna, and she is having so much fun. Life is good. All four girls are getting along, playing – even Calico today! Can you feel my happiness?

Eyes are better this morning! And look at how big she is.

For all who wondered, Hugo is such a sweetie. She lets me bathe her, wash her face and feet – she never complains. She loves being dried with a big fluffy towel. I can’t wait to see if she is so good for teeth brushing and nail clipping. Maybe that will rub off on Hope and Calico. Missey is just as complaint, too. Makes life so much easier.

We plan to keep her name as Hugo. She comes to it and as my friend ‘R; reminded me, ‘Many great women artists and writers had to assume male names at one time or another’…so Hugo it is.

After losing Lewis and then all the issues with getting a little boy that turned out to be a little girl, well, there were times I felt pretty doomed. Hugo was so very tiny and just not doing well. It has to be difficult for her cat mother – 7 little kittens living on the streets hoping for some food and a safe place. What a terrible life for these animals – some that were once pets and left behind or that got out and got lost. There are so many kind people trying to help with portable shelters and food for them. That is the bright side but, gosh, if there could only be a concentrated effort to neuter and spay – area by area – and notching the ears as Geemeff says is done in the UK so identification is easy. It would certainly help.

Missey looking out at the birds in the snow.

Bird World is ‘sleepy’. There is such a huge lull with only a few eagle nests incubating eggs while the others continue with their restorations or establishing their relationship with a new mate.

At Port Lincoln, the fish fairy surprised everyone by dropping four fish on the floor of the barge. It worked. Neither Giliath or #2 got overly excited, and the fish made it to the nest…what more could Port Lincoln want? Their experiment demonstrates that supplementing fish for a nest that suffers from historical siblicide can make a difference. The osplets can become so familiar with humans that they might not even bolt off the nest in an early fledge. It is fantastic.

‘H’ remarks, “All the fish were eaten by the ospreys, gulls did not steal any.  Mum picked up the small trevally around 1207 and fed the kids.”

And we have a name for #2. Bradley. What a great name after a youngster who truly knows and loves these osprey.

 

The boys and their beautiful bling if you missed it.

They are just too good together – V3 and Gabby. Fingers crossed. Could V1 be a donor and V3 a father?

I don’t know about you, but I am glad that the female at KNF E-3 has buried the eggs of Andria and Alex. Most agree that they are unviable and maybe it will help Alex move forward. Tonight those eggs are still buried while I was writing but I did see someone come around and aerate the nest. It looked like the female.

It is a couple of weeks for M15 and F23’s hatch watch. How excited are you on a scale from 0 to 10?

Boone and Jolene are doing a lot of restorations at Johnson City.

Still waiting at Superbeaks – but, I think all is lost for Pepe and Muhlady on this first clutch. Will they go for a second since it is so early in the season?

The camera is back up at Two Harbours. Some have seen Chase and Cholyn. I hope to soon.

Jackie and Shadow were home today working on their nest. They are adorable.

Cilla cleaned the nest box. To my knowledge Marri has not returned since. Hoping to see her again soon.

There is love happening at Taiaroa Head. Some who lost their mates have found love again. Which brings to mind Wisdom. Is she still dancing? Did the oldest banded Laysan Albatross in the world get a new mate? will she lay an egg and raise a chick at 72?

The Royal Couple – LGK and LGL (Lime Green Black and then Lime Green Lime).

I am so pleased to be reading about the bird counts around the world and some of the real success stories. You might remember that there is an Army of Women in Assam that is protecting the Adjutant Generals, a carrion-eating bird that is going extinct because there are no places for nests. Here is some good news: “In the Kamrup district of Assam, the number of Greater Adjutant nests has increased from 28 in 2010 to more than 250, making this the World’s largest breeding colony. Moreover, this once persecuted species has become a cultural symbol, and in the process, has also transformed the lives of local women, who now travel to other villages to raise awareness about the storks.’An excerpt from the BirdLife Magazine, March of the Adjutants by Devathi Parashuram, available in January 2024.”

After the tragic beginning to the Bald Eagle breeding season in the US, we need some good news. You can read more about some success stories here in the updated Red List of Birds by BirdLife International:

The-2023-Red-List-update-reveals-hope-for-birds-in-crisis-BirdLife-InternationalDownload

Have you ever watched Penguin Rescue?

Restoring Condors to the wild by the Ventana Wildlife Society.

There are many reasons to keep cats inside. Killing our beautiful feathered friends is one of them – cats are the number 1 killer of birds.

Killer-kitties-cats-are-eating-2000-species-including-hundreds-that-are-at-risk-Cats-The-GuarDownload

Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care of yourself. We hope to have you with us again soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A, H, J, SP’, PLO, NEFL-AEF, KNF-E3, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Johnson City Bald Eagles, Superbeaks, IWS/Explore, FOBBV, SK Hideaways, Sharon Dunne, Lady Hawk, Penguin Rescue, BirdLife International, Ventana Wildlife Society, and The Guardian.

Wednesday in Bird World

13 December 2023

Good Morning Everyone,

The girls are all fine. Hope and Hugo have played and played and that little ginger looks like she is twice as big as she was when she arrived last week. She is getting stronger and more playful every day. Weepy eyes in kittens over 8 weeks old? Polysporin for Pink Eye does the trick. The vet came and gave Hope her booster shots and checked out all the girls. Everyone is so well. Calico is on a ‘diet’ and she doesn’t particularly like it, but I want this wonderful cat who opened up an entirely new world to me to thrive.

There must be a name for Hugo. She is a little tiger and runs like her tail is on fire. She is fearless. Calico might have intimidated Missey (at one time), but never Hugo. I just can’t seem to find a name that fits her because she looks like Hugo to me.

I need to clean her little nose (apologies Hugo – you were so cute in the basket), but she looks so much better today and has now taken Calico’s basket just like Hope took Missey’s. Just look at how clear her eyes are. Oh, and she is so sweet. I will find her after I publish this and get that dirty face clean!

There is still no news of the name for #2 at Port Lincoln. Giliath weighed the most and got the tracker. Dad has brought in a partial fish and that along with some left over fish gave the family a good start to the day.

Mum brought in a whole fish, and Dad brought in a partial on the 13th in Australia. The nest is doing so well. Thanks, Port Lincoln, for daring to be bold! NJ are you listening?

HeidiMc caught the boys and their new bling.

At the nest of Alex and the late-Andria in the Kisatchie National Forest, Alex has tried to incubate his eggs. He has fought off one female who buried the eggs and then he unburied them. Now there are more intruders.

Alex and the female F1 feeling comfortable.

Alex continues to take care of his and Andria’s eggs despite everything.

Andria is on her way to the University of Georgia for her necroscopy.

‘A’ brings us some more news from Cody, “Andria is being transported to the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine for the necropsy and many of the tests we requested. She will arrive on Wednesday at noon. Preliminary results from various tests should start to come back to us by the end of next week. I will share information as I receive it. Thanks for the support.”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The female eagle is back multiple times this morning, and arrives at the nest while Alex is incubating. The video opens with Alex on the eggs when the female vocalises. Alex responds and he flies off the nest. He returns quickly, and they continue to vocalise to one another as she is above him in the upper branches. Alex resumes incubation and the female flies off. Thirty minutes later, Alex gets up and flies off, and when he returns to the nest, the female drops down as well. She is standing right over the eggs. Alex leaves her with the eggs again and flies to the perch and then off. She looks around for him for a few minutes, then she flies off. Alex returns to the nest and incubates for an hour, then F1 returns again. She lands right in front of Alex – he gets up and moves to the side of the nest and then to the perch branch. The female is alone on the nest, and she just digs a little in the nest, then goes to the side edge and looks. She is watchful, occasionally looking at the eggs. She then flies off. Alex returns to the nest five minutes later to incubate. Alex gets up again and flies off, then returns five minutes later and the female is back, flying in to the nest for a third time! Alex gets up to leave the eggs to her and he flies to the branch. She digs in the nest, pulling up nesting and partially covering the eggs again. Alex flies off – she moves a stick and then is looking for him and she flies off too. Alex returns eight minutes later to incubate! Alex is clearly comfortable in leaving the nest and eggs to F1. He may be thinking she will incubate and this gives him a shift change, but he does not go far and remains close to the nest tree the entire morning. The female has not exhibited any signs of harming the eggs – she was curious about them but seems to want to just bury them and have Alex as a new mate. Time will tell, as we have a 2nd visitor arriving later today to the nest (be sure to watch for my next video update).And here is the footage referred to, showing the second intruder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8Cw8KDCdvM&list=TLPQMTMxMjIwMjONfz9RFzYohw&index=2 Alex is very vocal in protecting his eggs against this second female.”

Alex is still on the eggs as of this morning.

If my addition is correct, egg #2 must be 37 days old today at Superbeaks. The average for Bald Eagles is 37.5/38 days. Waiting. There is a rumour that there could be a hatch in progress but I cannot confirm this and have seen nothing official.

M15 continues to be the brilliant provider he always was for Harriet and then the kids.

Some are hopeful for Gabby and V3.

Rosa has a new mate at the Dulles-Greenway Nest where Martin has been missing for some weeks.

Pa and Missey have egg #2 at Berry College.

Bella continues to thwart the advances of the male even when he brings nice food gifts.

‘H’ reminds us that Connie and Clive, the Captiva eagles: “Egg #1 is 31 days +10 hours right now.  Delayed incubation, so probably pip watch in 4 days, “hatch watch 5-6 days.” 

The Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagle Cam is now live streaming.

‘A’ brings us news from Orange: “No sign of falcons at the Orange scrape since Diamond visited around 7pm last night (12 December). So she has visited since Cilla’s cleaning and adding of stones, but there was no-one home last night and unusually we have had no visits by any of our falcon family today. Of course the tower cam has chosen this most inopportune moment to completely give up the ghost. It is under warranty but Cilla is waiting for someone to fix it. So we have no news at all, except to say it is hot and humid again today, so the falcons are no doubt keeping cool somewhere, not sitting out in the sunlight on top of that water tower. So their non-appearance is hardly surprising in that sense. Still, we worry. We always worry about them. “

An Ontario falcon is in Michigan!

At the Royal Albatross colony:

Should HPAI come to the California Condors, the quarantine pens are almost finished! Thanks everyone for being so proactive for these amazing birds.

I have never seen a Scarlet Ibis! I thought this was a beautiful tree. Thanks, Geemeff.

Do you live in the Carolinas? Do you get to see the Rufus Red Knot? How much do you know about these amazing shorebirds? Maybe they travel more than we do!

A-Journey-of-9000-Miles-Starts-with-a-Red-Knots-Single-Wingbeat-Defenders-of-WildlifeDownload

Do you know who Margaret Morse Nice is?

The-Life-Stories-of-Birds-How-Margaret-Morse-Nice-Ended-Ornithologys-Long-List-EraDownload

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A, H, J, PLO, Bart M, Lady Hawk, KNF-E3, Cody Wayne, Superbeaks, Faxinating, Carol S Rifkin, Dulles-Greenway, Berry College Eagles, Marla Harrison, PIX Cams, Linda McIlroy, Holly Parsons, Ventana Wildlife Society, Defenders of Wildlife, Geemeff, and Women in Science.

Two little boys at Port Lincoln…Late Monday in Bird World

11 December 2023

Hello Everyone!

This is the news of the day so I am publishing my blog Monday night instead of Tuesday morning. I will return with my normal morning news on Wednesday.

Before we go to Port Lincoln, I am waiting for the live stream to come up, I can tell you that Hugo has gained a pound and except for some drippy eyes which will be treated with saline solution (thanks Geemeff), she is on the mend. So very happy. Hugo comes to her name but if I had to pick a name for a last kitten, in this instance, it might just be ‘Love’. She has benefited from so much love – at home and from all of you. Her personality is like a Tiger, though. Lots of possibilities! In the end, she may always be Hugo – a reminder of the cosmic joke of trying to add a little boy to this all female mix. I just hope that they are not like female ospreys on a nest!

There is not much that comes close to the banding that it is taking place at Port Lincoln in terms of news. The Calypso Star has just pulled up to the barge. There will be some maintenance on the camera while the chicks are weighed. I understand that permission was not given for Tumby Island’s sat pack to be placed on the second osplet at Port Lincoln so, only one, the heaviest, will get the satellite pack. Everyone is supposing that will be Giliath but we wait to see and then there is the gender reveal (of sorts). Unless it is DNA or behaviour seen, it is never 100%. I understand that the race is very close indeed. I am, however, looking forward to the name. #2 just didn’t work well for this feisty osplet.

Dad spent the banding time on the old barge.

News is coming out of the Seaside chat that the two osplets are deemed to be both males. Remember how civil they have been all year. Think Ervie, Bazza, and Falky. Then think Zoe. Behaviour! I hope to see how correct this is in a few years time. They should hang around Port Lincoln like Ervie and Calypso if they are males. I wonder if Falky was a female – remember how he shot out of Port Lincoln? Just like Zoe.

Giliath got the tracker. No surprise there.

Mum and Dad sure make beautiful babies. Goodness these birds are gorgeous.

The Calypso Star is pulling up. If you ever get a chance to get to Port Lincoln, sign up for one of their charters and have the adventure of your life.

Port Lincoln needs another camera cable so the streaming cam will not be up and running until the late afternoon. Check out the bling when you get a chance! I will include pictures on Wednesday.

Other news is the events at the Kisatchie National Forest KNF E-3 nest that belonged to Alex and his now-deceased mate, Andria. The female has come into the nest and buried the eggs. I understand that Alex has returned and unearthed them. I was hoping that by burying them, Alex could move forward. But, no. She buries them. Alex uncovers and starts incubating. She partially buries them – it is the game of finding the eggs. Alex had a crop drop (I did not see it), meaning he is eating. Yes.

Alex flying off for the quickest break. I hope he is eating.

Alex is back incubating his eggs as the sun sets near Alexandria, Louisiana.

Food gifts are coming in at Southwest Florida.

What is happening at Superbeaks? We should be having a hatch.

Pip watch at Captiva for Connie and Clive!

Cilla cleans the scrape at Orange after Marri returns to it a couple of days ago.

Thank you for being with me. And thanks to ‘A and H’ for keeping me on track, to Port Lincoln, Jewel Lang being mod at Seaside and Bart for conveying news, Lady Hawk, HeidiMc, KNF-E3, Window to Wildlife, Superbeaks, Gris Andriana, and Birdie Cam.

Sadness and Hope…Monday in Bird World

11 December 2023

Good Morning,

I hope that you are all well. I am here a little earlier than I expected because Hugo is doing so well. Our blogs might be a little shorter – one because there is not a lot of news and secondly, Hugo continues to require a huge effort in terms of trying to get her health where it should be. I appreciate your patience and all of your good luck messages – they do mean so much to me!

I took a wee break in-between feedings to go for a short walk and to pick up some solid suet cylinders for the birds. the Starlings continue to come in numbers between 25-35 every day. The Sharp-shinned hawk seems to visit at least once a day and the remainder are two lovely little woodpeckers, Little Red, Dyson and her gang, and a rabbit! Oh, it is so grand looking out when it is so dark and cold and seeing a rabbit eating under the feeders. The Boyfriend has been here and he even had some of the girls’ roast chicken dinner. The Crows are in for a treat tomorrow when they will get some chicken and a lot of bones and skin.

This was Sunday afternoon at the nature centre. As you can see, we have a little bit of snow. I love it when it is white and clean.

I have missed all of you, and I am so sorry to have worried those who did not know I had paused my blog for a few days to take extra special care of Hugo. Miss Hugo. She has been fed every 2 hours from early morning to late night with some FloriFauna probiotics added. She eats kitten food and kitten milk, and tonight, roast organic chicken together with her sisters, Missey, Calico, and Hope. It was like living in the UK again – the Sunday roast!

Hugo has been a challenge. She left the foster home, and she was not thriving. Hugo was sick. It was apparent later that night and earlier the following morning. I have some serious concerns about foster kitten care when there are too many fosters to monitor their health routinely and to be able to observe them individually. My fear, of course, was the three healthy sisters. Hugo was swept off to the vet on Thursday morning. She weighed 860 grams, and on examination, the vet said she was 7-8 weeks old (by her teeth). 860 grams is undoubtedly within the weight range, but Hugo was thin. You could feel her bones. I remain astounded – and will probably talk about this forever – at how healthy Hope was living on the street. Yes, the stray cat’s kitten was healthier than this little one!
Of course, I fell in love with the little boy who turned out to be a little girl. She is a gentle soul that purrs loudly and loves to be carried and nestle on your chest. We will get over her health issues. She is gaining weight, and tonight, she ate more roast chicken than her sisters. She is on the mend, and I even found some time to bring myself – and you – up to date on what is happening in Bird World because of her improvement.

Missey is so happy. Since Lewis died, she has so longed to play, and now she has a playmate, little Hugo. They are enjoying a new tunnel. Hugo is fast and not afraid of anything. She sends Calico and Hope running in the other direction when she hisses at them. It is hilarious that Calico is a street cat (or at least she was for several months). Calico and Hope were a twosome, and Missey was left out, and now – well, it is tears of joy when I see these two. Missey is going to pop up in the centre of the tunnel.

Hugo ate all of that roast chicken! We have gained 180 grams! (She was 860 Thursday morning). We crossed the 1000 gram marker.

Calico got to enjoy some catnip. They all need the same or a special treat just for them. No one wants to feel left out.

Missey staring at Calico enjoying that catnip.

Missey and Hope (Hugo is there somewhere) enjoying the new little robot toy. Hope ran around for about 10 minutes chasing the laser dot. Good exercise. Missey liked the feather toy at the end of the fishing pole.

Beautiful Hope.

Hugo seems to be so much better this morning. She went flying through the house – she is very quick! No hint of any illness just wanting someone to give her breakfast and get on with playing! Calico is officially off her calming medication as it caused her to gain weight. There is enough space, toys, cat trees, food, and love to go around along with story and play time. So hopeful that all will be well and Hugo will be a distraction for Calico when she focuses on Missey.

The 2023 breeding season with the Bald Eagles is starting very rocky. We believe that Smitty is lost. He has not been seen at the NCTC nest of Bella since September 21/22. A young male has been around the nest. Martin at Dulles-Greenway has been missing for at least a fortnight. Andria has now died. Her seizures were seen on the streaming cam, and the last one caused her to fall to her death – some 150 feet. Andria’s body was retrieved, and Cody and Steve will reveal the findings of the necroscopy to all of us. It was a tragedy – a real tragedy. Alex saw Andria’s dead body. Still, his hormones drive him to incubate the two eggs that would have hatched next week. They are believed to be unviable. A short time later, Anna laid her first egg at the E1 nest she shares with her mate, Louis, in the Kisatchie Forest. There are now two eggs at the WRDC nest of Ron and Rose. M15 and F23 continue to incubate their eggs, and, sadly, Pepe and Muhlady lost egg #1 – the cause and circumstances are unclear. These two are great parents, so we all hope they have a super healthy eaglet inside egg 2. A real roller coaster of feelings runs through all that news.

Elfruler Elf put together some information for us to help us understand what is happening at the nest with Alex.

Alex continues to incubate his eggs and fight off an intruder. He will eventually give up – oh, goodness, I hope that these eggs do not hatch. He cannot manage alone at this young age. Maybe if they were a month old like E21 and 22 last year for M15.

Hatch watch at Superbeaks.

Ron and Rose enjoying their incubation time. They now have two.

Ron sees his second egg.

Connie and Clive continue to incubate their two eggs and everything appears to be well. We are a week away from hatch watch for thee two at Captiva.

Poor Gabby. V3 is still working on his technique! I am starting to think that we are going to need a miracle here. Anyone make instructional videos for male Bald Eagles????

I continue to worry about the owls at the nest of M15 and F23.

Pa and Missey Berry have an egg! So happy for these two.

In Australia, at Orange, Holly Parsons had always believed that the surviving eyas was Marri not Barru and it turns out that she was right. Marri has perfected her flying so much that she has now been able to land in the scrape box chasing Mum Diamond out!

SK Hideaways caught Marri returning to the scrape – loud and triumphant.

Cilla has her, too!

At Port Lincoln, fish have been brought in by boat and ringing is upon us. Lots of votes are in guessing the gender (just remember that Calypso was declared a female by those measurements and turned out to be a male – LOL, not unlike Hugo who turned out to be one of the small percentages of Gingers.

Six fish came to the nest from the fairy today. These are the most beautiful osplets. May they fly strong and live long.

These two will be ringed but not while the heavy rain is at the barge – and then only when the bander is available. Perhaps the 12th. Thank you to the Fish Fairies and all who supported them. Look at those two healthy osplets who are going to get their rings and their back packs. And thanks again to Bart for making certain that the information on the observation board was thorough and up to date.

‘A’ comments, “Tomorrow (Tuesday 12 December) is banding day at Port Lincoln. They plan to use falcon hoods to keep chick two’s feisty nature under some sort of control (they fear he might take off someone’s arm otherwise – I do adore that osplet) and are going to leave a nice pile of fish for the family afterwards. Mum escorted the fish fairy’s craft to the barge today. Too funny. I still wonder whether the fish fairy will come to be seen as a friend rather than something to fear on that nest. We will see how the family reacts to the fish being left on the barge nearby after the banding. But certainly mum and the osplets know which side their fish is buttered, so to speak. They know and are coming to love the fish fairies. Still, they are wild birds, and it is very obvious. Those piercing eyes are just amazing, aren’t they? And those crests and the necklaces. Amazing-looking birds. “

Check out the observation board to see who thinks what gender these two are. ‘A’ thinks we have two males, “I think we probably have two males on this nest. I am convinced that our younger hatch is a male. Giliath could be female, I suppose, based on size, but is too laid back in my opinion for a female and the size differential seemed to reduce as the osplets grew older, so that now, there is only a very minimal size discrepancy between them. What is your gender guess? I suppose everyone is reluctant to commit after the Calypso debacle.” — Well, unless we witness later behaviour, or DNA, it will never be 100% certain – using measurements only.

I said male-male on the 17th of November. Let’s see if I get egg on my face. I do not believe Giliath is a male although #2 from its aggression could well be the female, if there is one.

The fear of Bird flu and its impact continues to alarm us after devastating losses over the past two years.

Mass-deaths-of-elephant-seals-recorded-as-bird-flu-sweeps-across-the-Antarctic-Antarctica-The-GuDownload

Please consider taking part in any of the many Christmas Bird counts this year.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care. We hope to see you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A, B, H, J, L, SP’, Elruler Elf, KNF-E3, Superbeaks, WRDC, HeidiMc, Window to Wildlife, Lady Hawk, Lin Lawson, Helen Matcham, Cilla Kinross, SK Hideaways, PLO, Bart, M, The Guardian, and Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey.

Ron and Rose have an egg, a Juvie seen at Orange…Thursday in Bird World

7 December 2023

Good Morning Everyone,

Everyone has their spot! Gosh, golly. I am taking some time while Hugo is snuggled up in the hammock of the new cat tree, sound asleep. He is doing better this morning. He has eaten and has slept cuddled nest to me both nights he has been here. Poor Hugo. You need to grow!

I must admit that he is so tiny I am terrified of ‘breaking’ him. Getting Hugo to eat is a bit of a challenge – I don’t think I have ever had a cat that didn’t want to eat! So – is it his recent vaccinations? The move from the foster family to here? Is he ill? The latter concerns me. Hugo now has an appointment with the vet today at 12:20. He does not appear to have thrived, so, we are going to see if we can change all that! And get advice on how to do it.

The girls have not fully embraced Hugo. Hopefully, they will once he really finds his legs in the family.

Because of Hugo’s need for attention – and, of course, Calico, Hope, and Missey still need to know they are loved – I am going to take a week off from everything, including writing the blog, to give them full and undivided attention. The banding at PLO has been moved to the 11th or the 12th. We should have more eagle eggs and bobble heads at Superbeaks by the 15th when I return and maybe fledges at Port Lincoln! Thank you for your understanding.

Several events in Bird World have us smiling. The first is that Ron and Rita have their first egg of the 2023 breeding season.

‘H’ wrote: “18:18:04  egg #1.  No one really expected this.  She was hanging out at the nest most of the day however.  We never even saw them mate!”

Wonder who will be next?

Rose is much loved. It did not look like an easy labour.

Also in Florida, it looks like V3 is getting the hang of things up at The Hamlet.

We are at pip/hatch watch at Superbeaks!

Eagles were at Redding on Wednesday.

Urban myths about eagles debunked. Do they really fly above storms?

A juvenile has been seen on the tower in Orange!!!!!!!! Incredible after no sighting for a few days. I feel excited about going to change the Memorial Page. Tears.

And more good news from Orange: “

At Orange, Diamond is sleeping off what looks like a large dinner (she has her usual huge crop), on her ledge and facing into the scrape. News of Barru (or is it Marri?) is good, and comes complete with footage from 6 December and 7 December: 

NEWS 7th December 2023 Cilla Kinross Our fledgling is nothing if not an early riser. In this morning’s video, it is chasing Xavier around just after dawn.  https://youtu.be/0FNHaf2m5rs 6th December Sightings of our one remaining juvenile (still unidentified, sorry) brought some relief to the channel followers as he or she had not been seen for a few days (even in the roost trees). This video covers most of the early morning antics, including a clumsy climb up the tower by the fledgeling and Xavier chasing a magpie.  https://youtu.be/Rw4y0YVRTmo“

At Port Lincoln… Dad arrives with a small partial fish for breakfast around 0810.

There was news on 6 December from Sydney. Thanks, ‘A’:

December 6: Early morning and both adults were reported at River Roost around 7am, with SE31 joining them from deeper in the mangroves as the adults greeted the day with a duet. River activity disturbed the youngster and she took flight, circling over the bay, before returning to land near the adults. She then flew back a little to the west, through the mangroves. She continued to fly about strongly until our team saw a parent deliver a fish at 10:10, which SE31 then ate in the mangroves. Later in the afternoon, around 3pm, both adults were seen at Goat Island.

And more good news on the 7th: “

At WBSE, the ranger report is another good one, with our juvenile being spotted with her parents. Also great to see a juvenile osprey, born and raised nearby, flying so well and looking so good. 

December 7: At 07:30 both adults and our juvenile were at River Roost, with SE31 between the parents, whining at times. I missed the report of a visit by two ospreys to the area yesterday afternoon, just before 5pm. Eagle calling and a brief flight and interacting in front of River Roost. No further action was reported today. A very hot day and more hot weather is expected tomorrow. One eagle was seen at Goat Island later in the afternoon. The picture below shows the juvenile osprey, a neighbour from another bay nearby.”

Horrible.

It is hard to imagine. 3 billion birds gone in 50 years.

The short..

Nearly-3-Billion-Birds-Gone-Birds-Cornell-Lab-of-OrnithologyDownload

The long version.

DECLINE-OF-NORTH-AMERICAN-AVIFAUNA-SCIENCE-2019Download

A beautiful article on the unexpected behaviour of an egret in Birdlife International.

Unexpected-behaviour-of-Western-Great-Egret-BirdLife-InternationalDownload

Do you know someone who qualifies and is interested?

Thank you so much for being with me. See you on the 15th! Until then, please take care.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, announcements, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog this morning: ‘A, H, J’, Debra Keely, WRDC, HeidiMc, Carol S Rifkin, Superbeaks, FORE, Dulles-Greenway, Holly Parsons, Cilla Kinross, PLO, Sydney Sea Eagles, Raptor Rescue Society, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Science, and Cris Martin.

Wisdom wins the dance contest…Tuesday in Bird World

5 December 2023

Good Morning Everyone,

We must start with Wisdom, the oldest banded Laysan Albatross in the world. She is dancing again! On the Midway Atoll. Can you imagine? 72 years old and dancing. Tears rolled down my cheeks when I saw the message from Holly Parsons. Wisdom is incredible. Send positive wishes that this very special albatross will breed again this year!

Wisdom lost her long-time mate three fall breeding seasons ago. Hold on to your seats this year! It looks like she might have attracted a young male partner.

Wisdom is on the left with the red band, Z333.

And then for news in Cat World. The hunt for the male kitten has come up trumps. Let me introduce the youngest and last kitten I will ever adopt. Hugo. After Grayish turned out to be a female, I was about to give up and then the head coordinator asked me what I wanted in a kitten. A short time later she phoned and said she had the perfect match. Did I mind a Ginger?

Stories about Hugo and the girls will come on Wednesday morning!

When it comes to Ospreys, no one has all the answers. I am grateful to Bart, who has worked hard for Port Lincoln to get the observation board information up to date, work on fish delivery stats, and monitor the chat. Bart has now included those days with zero fish so that his findings will be accurate. It was a simple oversight, but having those figures in there and those days will change the final statistics while providing an accurate view of what happened. Bart’s efforts and those of the fairies have offered everyone an excellent educational and sharing experience.

I gave Port Lincoln a poke yesterday. They are in a tough situation because what they are doing is unique – supplying supplementary fish to a nest where siblicide is a known reality. Dad has never been a stellar performer. As Bart noted today, he is at best good for four fish, no more. (Most of the nests I have monitored average seven deliveries a day for 2 or 3 osplets.) The reasons for the low number of deliveries can only be speculated. This is not just my thinking. We have seen two instances on camera of what appears to be seizures. But how those impact his brain and his daily living is unknown. Then there is his age. Again, there is only speculation as to whether the sheer physicality of osprey fishing is hampered by age, but it leaves us to wonder. Does he lack motivation because of the fish fairies? Anything is a possibility.
At this juncture, using one nest to test whether ospreys will stop fishing if humans provide fish is insufficient for scientific proof. And with this nest having a high siblicide rate and Dad being a poor performer regardless, that makes it even more problematic. Testing this theory on a known superstar like Blue 33 at Rutland would be better. Yes, he has fish right at the nest site. Absolutely. Would he stop fishing if fish were provided? If he did, that would be very telling. Would he start fishing to keep his chicks alive once the fish fairies stopped? Well, that is the question. At Port Lincoln, they struggle with what to do as the fledge nears. They are attempting to motivate the adults to get out there and bring in the fish because they are concerned that the osplets will bolt off the nest if delivery is so close to ‘fledge’. Another intriguing question is: Are the osplets (and ducts) so used to having humans deliver fish that they would not bolt?

I am told that Port Lincoln is disinfecting the old barge to ready it to receive fish (Dad used to take the fish there) in case they need to provide fish after banding.

The issue is this. ‘H’ and I have monitored over 300 eggs in 2023 from being laid to fledge or death or not hatching. We know that relatively good condition osplets who had their crop full can live between 58-79 hours without fish. 79 is pushing it. ‘H’ is checking her data because, in the June deaths of Chesapeake Bay, some of those chicks were younger and did not live that many hours. I will include this information once we glean it from the data forms of the International Osprey Data Project.

So let us send Port Lincoln some real positive energy as they work towards getting these two fledged. That is the goal of the project – two fledglings. After fledge, the fairies should be able to toss all the fish they want on that nest, and the kids will need it. Do you remember Ervie and Falky? or the fights between Ervie and Bazza for fish after fledging? This is one of those dust-ups between Ervie and Bazza. It happened almost two years ago…aren’t we just so proud of our Ervie?

‘H’ reports that Dad brought in a half fish at 16:58. #2 grabbed it to self-feed but Mum took over and both ate with crops. Hoping Mum got some, too.

‘H’ and I will be publishing all of the data with complete explanations but these are the findings in the International Osprey Data Project so far. It will not be complete until I add the final details of Port Lincoln this year and the information from Iowa for their 2023 nests in January.

This is the current information for all the nests and the 335 eggs we monitored. Thank you, Claudio, for making our life easy with those forms!

My interest is in siblicide, specifically, the 3rd and 4th hatches that survive siblicide attempts. This has meant monitoring hours between an osplet getting any fish and counting bites of food when they do in comparison to the rest of the clutch. It is agonising research, but the triumphs are enormous. Think of the fourth hatch at Patchogue this year…imagine for a second that tenacious tiny little osplet whose drive to live was tremendous. Some called her Tiny Dancer. She was amazing.

The following information includes nests in North America, the UK, Europe, and Australia. This is the raw data and it is, as far as I know, one of the largest osprey behaviour studies that is ongoing.

We got some great close ups of Giliath and #2 as a few raindrops fell.

Cute little Dad. His crop is certainly not bulging.

Whole family lining up for the fish fairy! Or that is what it looks like. But…

Today is the odd day so no deliveries from the fairies. Will either adult deliver a fish? We wait to find out.

‘A’ sent us reports about the Sea Eaglets. Isn’t it wonderful to know that one is alive and well. Tears of joy:

“December 3: There was a storm last night with hail and heavy rain so the river is very muddy. Both parents were on River Roost around 8am and the juvenile was spotted on a low branch in the sun – all drying out. Later when the young one was seen near the adults, she was whining for food. At 10:30 when adults are on River Roost and she is on the island, she is quiet. In the afternoon around 4:30pm, both parents were on River Roost, with the juvenile out of sight again. A parent flew into the mangroves; the young one was probably there hidden away. Just after 5pm, she was seen low on a branch at River Roost again.

…Audio file December 4: down by the river 07:24 both parents on river roost and duetting. 08:04,  young one calling. Earlier, peewee swooping adults. 08:07 parents calling again, juvenile too. 08:13, the tide has turned. 08:35, a good shake by the juvenile, downy fluff flying, then moved to a different branch. Then a few minutes later, the juvenile flew closer to the adults. When parents duetted, she was listening and looking up. Then again , and juvenile on and off. The parents moved a little closer, but at 9:30 all were still there. Just after 10am an adult left, swooped over the river and caught a fish. Juvie flew down to the ground, and the fish was delivered. She ate on the ground out of sight. Around 11:15, the adult took off, circling overhead. No action then until 12:10, when  the juvie was flushed out by 4 ibis flying in to the mangroves. Then shortly after, it changed branches again, flying a short distance. At 12:30, neither adult was there. No more observations later.”

‘A’ sent the latest news from the Parramatta River in Sydney and the WBSE:

There have been no sightings of any juvenile activity at Orange since the 2nd of December Australian time. ‘H’ tells me that Cilla has checked the trees and there is no sign. This is so very sad. The huge effort put into their eggs, their survival in the scrape, ….heart breaking for Xavier and Diamond.

‘A’ provides the latest news though…perhaps there is a juvenile? There are reports that a juvenile might have been heard. There was no sighting. It was very hot in the area and the birds were staying in the shade of the trees to stay cool.

Gabby and V3 are taking a page out of Jackie and Shadow’s play book – gosh, they messed around with those sticks for such a time!

Everyone is cheering for this couple!

Our beautiful Jackie and Shadow.

Ron and Rose are busy, too.

We are so close at Superbeaks.

Liz Schwartz has posted romance over at the Centreport Eagle nest.

Released condors having a feast.

Overfishing. The decline of worldwide fish stocks. It is time to think about this as we enter the breeding season for many of our feathered friends who depend on the oceans for their food and, thus, their lives. It is estimated that the number of fish in the oceans has declined by 90% since 1900. There are many, many scientific articles about these catastrophic numbers – just a sampling of some of general interest and some more academic.

workshop2_robertsDownload
Fish-and-Overfishing-Our-World-in-DataDownload
How-overfishing-threatens-the-worlds-oceans—and-why-it-could-end-in-catastropheDownload
Human-impacts-on-fisheries-resources-and-abundance-in-the-Danish-Wadden-Sea-c1520-to-the-present-Download
The-effects-of-118-years-of-industrial-fishing-on-UK-bottom-trawl-fisheries-Nature-CommunicationsDownload
The-Issue-of-Overfishing-in-the-United-States-Department-of-EnglishDownload

The latest migration count from Hawk Mountain is in.

Maybe some ideas….I recall once when my children were quite little seeing someone hanging the thin orange slices on their spruce tree outdoors. Here we coat the pinecones with melted suet and roll them in bird seed and hang them throughout the lilacs during the winter.

Thank you for being with me today. It is so nice to have you here with us. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, streaming cams, and articles that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A, H, HP, J, SP’, Holly Parsons, Friends of Midway Atoll, PLO, Bart M, Sydney Sea Eagle FB, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, NEFL-AEF, Ventana Wildlife Society, C Roberts, Our World in Data, National Geographic, BMC, Nature Communications, US Dept of English, Helgoland Marine Research, Centreport and Liz Schwartz, Hawk Mountain, and Wildlife Watch.

Monday in Bird World

4 December 2023

Good Morning Everyone,

Ah, I slept in! A first in such a long time. It was a bit of a worrisome day yesterday watching Port Lincoln and trying to figure out their experiment’s goals. Then there was the problem with Grayish and the lingering question of whether we will add a fourth to the lovely and happy household. How would Grayish change that dynamic or good groove? Since ‘H’ alerted me yesterday, eyes have been on Anna at the Kistachie National Forest nest E1. She appears to be preparing for egg laying. That would be grand.

Well, Sunday turned out to be an interesting day. As you know, we expect to add a little boy temporarily named Grayish to ‘the girls’. The foster mother returned home today and called to make arrangements. Well, it turns out that Greyish’s information was lacking in two critical details. First, Grayish is not a little boy. She is most definitely a girl. Secondly, Grayish has only eaten raw food. I have had cats since I could crawl – actually before and my experience has been that the females are very sweet and allow you to cuddle with them when they want. It is the males that are the most friendly. Lewis loved to cuddle with Missey, but also with me. So I am not certain that I want another female or that having another female would be good for the mix that is current. They are now getting along splendidly. Calico and Hope have claimed the old cat tree in the conservatory and Missey has claimed the new one. The ownership of other items such as baskets and chairs doesn’t seem to be a problem. It switches constantly. Then there is the issue of the raw food which I have discovered the kitten adoption agency does not agree to – so what is going on? There are those that adhere to the notion that it is better because felines in the wild ate animals and the food was raw. It is, however, know to lack certain minerals and vitamins so I would have to research that. — But more so, is the fact that I don’t want to be feeding four cats different food; raw food is so expensive in my city that feeding it to four cats is prohibitive. It would be an issue for Grayish to switch and I don’t wish to compromise her and what she is used to. — So there we are. I continue to wonder if these are not signs that three perfectly happy female cats is enough.

Calico anticipating story time!

Hope is getting ready to jump on Mamma!

Missey looking down deciding if she is going to leap on Hope and start a race.

The most fun for me today in Bird World was watching Shadow and Jackie move a big stick around. These two work together, sometimes disagree, and are always amazing and give us a smile!

The couple became fixated on this one particular branch that was irking them.

There are continued concerns over V3 at the NEFlorida Eagle Nest. Last year ‘A’ wondered about his ability to father and this year that concern is growing amongst watchers as Gabby is clearly entering a fertile phase. Will she not have eaglets again this year? Do we need that threesome with A1? Why not? We wait!

We have our Royal Cam couple at Taiaroa Head! Oh, they are the parents of Taika and Karere, both Royal Cam chicks in past years. This is fantastic and it is so good to see both of them safely back to breed.

There is news coming about Flaco, the Eurasian Owl, that escaped from the Central Park Zoo. He resided in Central Park and has now moved into Manhattan. Why might this be the case? Have a read!

Eurasian-Eagle-Owl-Upper-West-Side-Urban-HawksDownload

There have been no sightings of Diamond and Xavier doing any flight training or prey deliveries. I hope when I wake up and check I can delete that sentence.

Is this one of the fledglings from the Olympic Park nest of Lady and Dad? It doesn’t say, but Rohan Geddes has taken images of one of the eaglets and posted it previously.

Waiting at Port Lincoln.

As I write, it is now more than 50 hours since either of the Osplets or Mum and Dad at Port Lincoln have had any fish – either caught by the adults or provided by the Fish Fairies.

Dad brought in a nice fish. It was headless so he had a meal. Looks like the time was around 15:32. Kids are famished. So is Mum. Way to go, Dad. Mum was good to make sure that both were fed.

Then Mum caught a fish around 16:14 and the Fairy arrived at 16:41. Before Dad’s delivery, I had written a tirade. 50 plus hours is a long time to let osplets wait to eat…there is a point where this becomes very unhealthy as all of you watching osplets die on nests know. So what was the goal of this experiment precisely? To get two osplets to fledge? or to see if adult ospreys would stop fishing if fish was delivered? and then start if it wasn’t? or was it both? Things began to feel very uneasy.

Why are the days without fish not being recorded? That would alter the calculations and be misleading. Days not reported on the Fish Chart that had zero fish:  8/20, 8/13, 9/12, 10/13, and 12/3.

Let us hope that there is more news today in Bird World. Thank you for being with me today. Please take care of yourself. We hope to have you with us again soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, articles, charts, and string cams that helped me to write my blog this morning: ‘H, J’, FOBBV, Royal Cam Albatross, Bruce Yolton and Urban Hawks, Rohan Geddes, and the Port Lincoln Ospreys.

Oh, Gabby, oh…Saturday in Bird World

2 December 2023

Good Morning!

I had a couple of conversations with an individual from the Bay Area in California on Friday. Our weather in Winnipeg is -1, with a low of -7 C. It is warm compared to when I moved to the Canadian Prairies – or that is my memory. Having far too many -30 or -35 C days was not unusual then. To stay warm, we dress for the cold, and our houses usually have double (double glazing) and triple-pane windows (triple glazing) with good insulation. I was asked what is the average temperature in December and I had to go and check. It is -8 for a high and -15 C for a low currently.

Dyson was in the table feeder eating yesterday. Oh, how I love that squirrel. I often miss her. She was really enjoying the solid nut block. And that nice thick fur for winter. Fantastic.

Little Red was back in the lilacs foraging on the ground along with eons of Sparrows. The European Starlings are here and I heard the Pileated Woodpecker but did not see it. What amazes me are the Chickadees that flit back and forth from a spruce tree across the road to the feeders in the coldest of weather. Each girl loves to watch them from the conservatory. Hope also jumps up and down trying to catch the birds on her bird TV programmes. It is so funny. She is a clone of Mamma.

When Calico came into our lives, I dismantled my old office for her. This meant that about three thousand books (yes, academics are book collectors) got put on temporary bookcases. Lately I have been wondering why the glass of the Japanese prints was so dirty and why the frames were always crooked in the morning. Now, I have my answer. Hope likes to walk and leap at them during the late night partying. I will be so glad to have those books back in their right spot.

Hope. Everything starts to happen around 2130 at night!

Missey continues to work on the twinkle tree. It is looking a little bedraggled with the branches pulled this way and that, too.

The girls are great. They have been doing their usual thing – Hope wants to watch the bird videos but sometimes excepts an old BritBox mystery. Calico eats and sleeps waking up around 2130 to wrestle with Hope and run over the house. Missey loves to play with Hope and both have once again, been around the twinkle tree.

I sound like a broken record, but every time I scratch Calico under her chin and she begins to purr or rolls over on her back for more, I melt. Cannot imagine her out in the cold.

Hope is very long. You can just see that little scab that is bothering me at the site of her incision. Talk about being a worried human Mamma!

I caught Missey as she came leaping to the top of a chair to get away form Hope.

The girls do not know it, but we are on the countdown to the little brother’s arrival. Like the eggs at Superbeaks, it is less than a week away. Will his name be Duncan after so many people, including my dad? Or Duncan Lewis, whose empathy saved the chimps? There are many more environmentalists. Or will it wind up being Hugo? All I know is that he must love people and want to snuggle! And not let these three older sisters intimidate him. He should be OK on that front. He was one of 7 kittens, all female, but he was born to a very tiny little kitten named Eva, young like Calico. I wish I could take her, too, but four is the maximum along with the outdoor kitties.

I am happy to say that ‘A’ is back with us. She kept good eyes on the Australian nests for me today while I spoke with folks in California about a podcast interview. I’ll let you know more about that at a later date. It is so nice to have ‘A’ back and to hear that things are going well in Melbourne.

‘A’ brings us really good news from Sydney and the Parramatta River: “December 1: both adults were at River Roost early, on separate branches, grooming then duetting. Juvenile was behind in the mangroves, out of sight but heard. The adults then moved together, duetting, with juvenile still noisy too. Later around 11am, parent delivered a fish at RR, eaten by juvenile. There was some disturbance over the wetlands with helicopter circling for mosquito control. Later in the afternoon around 5pm our juvenile was seen flying around & behind Mangrove Island Wonderful to see her flying so strongly and coping with a few chasers.

As I keep saying, this must be a joy to Lady and Dad as well – the very first time they have had the chance to do this with one of their eaglets. I am incredibly sad, and to be honest a little surprised, that only one of our juveniles appears to have made it, but considering the sad history of this nest, this is truly an achievement to celebrate.”

‘A’ reflects on Port Lincoln – its official report and her thoughts: “Breakfast is currently underway at Port Lincoln (10:30am local time) – the fish fairies arrived early this morning. Fran says mum picks the boat up from a mile away and goes to her ‘fish fairy perch’ and escorts them in. I wonder whether the osplets will be so familiar with the fish fairies that they see them as sources of food and are more likely to approach them than fludge! That would be interesting. But of course they won’t risk that and will cease the fish deliveries after they band the osplets.I remain extremely worried about what happens then. Two fully feathered osplets, not quite ready to fledge, on a nest where the parents bring in perhaps one fish a day, two at most. Imagine the incredible tragedy of losing them at that stage. We have about a week, 10 days at most probably, before we find out. I am apprehensive in the extreme.”

This was a really early delivery. Will we hope that Mum or Dad go out fishing later? Looks as if nothing is left on the nest for a bedtime snack.

Both osplets are working on their self-feeding, two different styles. Giliath stands up and #2 likes to eat duckling style.

Ervie has found a very special place to go fishing…he has progressed from those early puff fish to abalone! Do you wonder if either of the osplets from this season will fish for puffers? And don’t you just miss seeing Ervie on that nest. If I close my eyes, I can still see him flying in with a puffer stuck to his talons – a talon missing – and him munching away. What a wonderful osprey he is!

At Orange, ‘A’ remarks: “The sole surviving juvenile at Orange is doing well this morning. It has been spotted chasing its parents and on the tower roof. Cilla has taken a video – I will send it as soon as it is uploaded to the info section below the live stream. The weather has cleared up in Orange today and it looks like a lovely day. “

The biggest news with the Bald Eagles is what is going on at NorthEast Florida. V3 was a little late to come to the nest. In flew, A1 and him and Gabby got a little friendly. Will this turn out to be a threesome like the Trio on the Minneapolis Flyway? Does Gabby mate with A1 and has his eaglets raised by V3? Is Gabby not fertile yet? Will V3 get the boot? It really is ‘As the Nest Turns’ and I thought things had quieted down this year.

Wow. What an expression. It reminds me of individuals who ride bucking horses in the American and Canadian rodeos. You can tell A1 from V3 if you can get a chance to look at their talons. A1 has quite a number of black lesions just like one of the females after M15 last year.

V3 flies in a few minutes later to his branch and Gabby doesn’t say a word. “Oh, it has been a very quiet morning, dear.”

Bella and the new young male are still together.

Finally some Osprey action at Captiva!

A juvenile at the Osprey House nest enjoying its fish.

Missed the California Condor Rookie Release? Here you go!

News coming from Kahui and Hob Osterlund and the Laysan Albatross. Thanks, Holly!

When I continue to talk about how much politics is mixed up with the health of raptors in the grouse moor estates, here is a good read for those who do not understand why this issue is not going away. Why it is important to get a sound law and why it is important to make sure that unbiased individuals enforce it. Unbelievable.

A-Scottish-grouse-moor-owning-baron-an-illegally-pole-trapped-peregrine-and-a-Ministerial-post-in-DDownload

Last, please do not purchase any bird seed this season in the mesh holders. You can help stop their use by refusing to purchasing and telling the shop owners to stop buying them for sale. You can also tell them why. Our nature centre had these monstrous things last year! At the same time, it is just as dangerous to purchase fruit and veg in these bags. They go to the landfill and it is there that all manner of birds get tangled in them. You must cut them up finely.

Thank you so much for being with me this morning as we wait…to see what will happen at the NEFlorida, for the eggs to hatch at Superbeaks and then elsewhere. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog this morning: ‘A’, Sydney Sea Eagles, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Cilla Kinross, NEFL-AEF Deb Stecyk, HeidiMc Osprey House, Holly Parsons, Ventana Wildlife, Raptor Persecution UK, and Robin Sitka.

Friday in Bird World

1 December 2023

Good Morning Everyone,

It is going to be another -1 day tomorrow. It is not 00:39 and is only -5C. Wow. We have had some lovely weather albeit damp to the bone. That I do not like. It reminds me of my first December living in the UK. Frozen. Wet.

The girls were not impressed with the electrician working on the thermostat for the floor heating in the conservatory. It meant that they could not be in their favourite room for part of the day. Wish I could have understood the ‘cat’ talk! They all found places to sleep to wait it out.

Precious Hope aka ‘Bushy Tail’. Oh, I thought something had happened to her incision. It looked like dried blood. Geemeff calmed me down by mentioning a ‘scab’. Hope is ravenous and back to herself in terms of eating and playing. She has been batting at my hands this evening wanting more treats. She has now learned to eat fast so that Mamma will not come and eat her food and goodies. What a girl. Oh, do I adore her. Feeling blessed every day having them in my life. It is now 15 days after her surgery.

Mamma on her favourite hard chair – she beat Missey to get to it. Missey found a really secret spot and I could not find her for a photo.

‘The Boyfriend’ came around for some dinner. The deck is getting a good cleaning this weekend, and he will have a permanent feeding station with a nice roof – big enough that he can go in and out and his food will stay dry.

There is not much going on in Bird World. When those eaglets start hatching, things will pick up, but that is a few weeks away. (I am looking forward to Osprey season, which is even further away….grrrrr). Until then, my blog will likely be shorter than normal. I will try to hit on the new events or changes with comments on the Australian nests until we have some eagle hatches. Superbeaks is a week away.

At the NTCT nest of Bella, the new young male and her have bonded and are working on the nest. Smitty has not been seen since 21 September. That is now two months and a week. Bella has moved on.

What will happen at the NE Florida Bald Eagle nest of Gabby and V3 is entirely unclear. There were no eggs last year and this was believed to be because of the turmoil surrounding the territorial dispute and which male would take Samson’s place. So far, we have not seen V3 and Gabby bond on camera, but this does not mean they haven’t. I do find it a bit unusual, however.

Don’t begin to think of eaglets at SW Florida til after the 24th/25th of December. We are a ways away. Superbeaks is first with Muhlady and Pepe, then we have Alex and Andria at KNF-E3, and Connie and Clive at Captiva.

As far as I know, no new eggs have been laid at the other Bald Eagle nests. Please feel free to send me any news!

At Port Lincoln, Mum had the Trevally out and fed the chicks and herself early in the morning. Then, as I understand it, Dad came and took the fish and appeared to have lost it. It was a huge, beautiful fish. It would have kept them going for the morning and spread out the feedings. Remember that ringing is less than a week away – December 8. #2 will get its name, and we will hear the measurements. Remember. Measurements are not a firm determinant of gender. Calypso was deemed to be a female. Calypso turns out to be a female!

Gosh, these two are gorgeous. Imagine. We are nearing fledge.

The fish fairy arrived at 16:30. Everyone was hungry! (What impact, if any, does having only one meal a day or two have on feather development etc? Will there be stress lines? There has been no indication of the birds being stressed and their plumage looks good but, we often think of osplets having 5 or 6 meals a day -).

There are still fish left for later. This is fantastic.

Look at those wings.

This video of the juvenile from two days ago. ‘H’ found Cilla’s response, “FalconCam: Regarding the identification of the peregrine fledgling that landed on the tower roof next to the lightning rod on 11/30, Cilla stated:  “I’m not convinced either way. We are hoping it will come to the box where it is easy to measure it.”  She added:  “It is a very frequent occurrence that fledglings don’t make it past the first few weeks while learning to fly.  They are prone to crashes into telegraph wires, windows, buildings, treetops, etc”

A mystery at The Campanile is solved – our two favourite falcons on the UC-Berkeley Campus, Annie and Lou.

There is good news coming from various countries and agencies about the moves to protect wildlife and try and stop human destruction in all its forms.

Flamingos are receiving protection, “On their long-striving strolls through the wide wetlands of the Doñana, the flamingos can hopefully take their bath in peace again. The Spanish and Andalucian governments finally came to terms and signed a joint agreement to abolish destructive agriculture methods, as well as to invest 1.4 billion Euros to support sustainable farming in the region of Doñana.”

The-rebirth-of-the-Donana-BirdLife-InternationalDownload

The Grouse Moor licensing bill in Scotland has passed its first reading.

Grouse-moor-licensing-bill-passes-Stage-1-–-Raptor-Persecution-UKDownload

Gannets ‘ foraging patterns indicate changes due to climate. What other birds might use adaptive techniques?

Finding-food-deciphering-the-foraging-‘fingerprints-of-Gannets-BTO-British-Trust-for-OrnitholoDownload

Wow. Just had to post this. An osprey light!!!! Goodness. Someone was talented.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘H’, Superbeaks, NCTC, Deb Stecyk, NEFL-AEF, SWFlorida Eagle Cam, PLO, Liznm, SK Hideaways, Birdlife International, Raptor Persecution UK, BTO, and Marisa Macfarlane.