It was a gorgeous albeit windy 22 C on the Canadian Prairies for the Labour Day long weekend. The sky is a beautiful blue with a few fluffy clouds. It was a good day for a walk and lunch by the lake at the nature centre. Lots of children trying their luck at getting tadpoles and little frogs jumping all around on the paths. There were several species of ducks, some Canada Geese, various species of woodpeckers, American Goldfinches, squirrels, etc. Missing were the calls of the Red-wing Blackbird which is striking in its absence.
My sanctuary at the nature centre. The wind was rather silent and the songbirds were singing their hearts out.
Well, we had a bit of a scare last evening. The garden door appeared closed when doing the final bits and bobs with the outdoor animals at 1800 but it was windy. A gust caught it and it went open and in seconds four cats on the deck! I know. Holding my breath and hollering, three ran into the house. Only Calico remained. She is actually ‘terrified’ of the outdoors – as a community cat she knows its perils. She hid under the deck for two hours. Finally, the other three were secured in the conservatory and the garden door opened. Calling and Calico ran in! I had read on the step like I did when she lived outside and she would stick her head out. Poor thing. All is well this morning, thank goodness – and a new lock will be fixed to that door after our long weekend.
We have new eggs at Port Lincoln and at Charles Sturt Falcon scrape, home to Xavier and Diamond on Saturday. Congratulations everyone! Surely we will now be in hard incubation mode.
And there are the three beautiful osprey eggs at Port Lincoln:
With the departure of Glenwais at the ripe age of 102 days at Dyfi, it is believed that Idris – not having any takers for his fish now – will begin his own migration either Sunday or today. I will keep you posted. What an amazing dad he is and like all others, we want him to eat well, rest up during the winter, and return to Wales healthy in the spring! Idris was last seen on the 30th of August at 19:53.
The empty nest. Idris has indeed departed for Africa. Idris has been breeding at Dyfi for five years, taking over for the iconic and much-loved Monty, who was here for nearly 12 years.
I wish that every streaming cam, no matter their location, would keep records and post them for the public such as those kept and published by the Dyfi Osprey Project. Their website is wonderful. Here is the information for this year. Imagine finding this at other sites!
More data to help us try and understand the return rate of the juveniles.
All four at home on Saturday at Llyn Brenig in Wales.
It was a fabulous year for Knepp Farm and their translocation project of the White Stork. They introduced injured birds from Poland. We watched them on the streaming cam and now that they are migrating, that will pause according to their FB posting.
I am pretty excited about the wetlands that are being created at Knepp Farm by a pair of beavers. This video shows what they have been doing, but beyond that, remember that wetlands are wonderful places for many species of birds!
At Poole Harbour, Blue 5R2 appears to be the only fledgling left at the nest. Blue 022 is delivering fish. Blue 5H6, the fourth hatch, migrated on the 30th of August. CJ7 and the others left earlier.
Just look at how healthy this chick is – its crop is full and its body has the kind of fat on it needed for migration. Despite having four to feed, Blue 022 and CJ7 did just that and had four really healthy fledglings this year. Bravo.
R52 would have liked another fish but Dad did not oblige at Poole Harbour.
Blue KL5 is still at RSPB Abernathy. Eating fish and getting ready for his long migration.
It looks like everyone has departed from Llyn Clywedog. Blue 5F Seren might already be in her winter spot in The Gambia. She has the same post every year and many travel to see her there. They are an amazing couple always raising big healthy chicks. Stay safe Dylan and Seren!
I missed him but Blue 33 was on the Manton Bay nest Saturday morning at 0611 for four minutes. Maya was seen on the nest on Friday at 1869. Blue 1R0, their only fledgling this year, has left on migration. They will both be leaving soon. Maya might have already departed. We wait to see for sure for a couple of days.
Bart M has done an amazing job giving us a detailed observation board and a list of key events at Manton Bay. Oh, I sure wish more nests would do this! There is a video archive, photographs, a nest history and more for anyone interested. Just go to the streaming cam and click the link to the obs board. For example, you will learn that Maya has been at this nest since 2010. Blue 33 took the nest and Maya in 2014 – he really wanted both of them! And the history of their nest and all the chicks they raised is there.
There is even a fish chart!
Finnegan delivered two fish to Antali on the nest. There might have been others at a different location. I have not seen Iris at the nest on Saturday but she was eating a fish on the Owl Pole on Friday at 1906. She could be fattening up and letting Finnegan take care of Antali and Sum-eh if she is still around.
A juvenile osprey was observed on the Osoyoos nest Saturday afternoon. I could not see what happened prior to that time and I did not see a fish delivery. Someone else might have – please let me know if you did.
At the other Fortis Exshaw nest in Canmore Alberta, both juveniles were seen on the nest wrestling for a fish from Harvie at 1534. It is presumed that Louise has left on her migration. The oldest won the prize with the smaller fledgling having to wait for another delivery. That delivery came sixteen minutes later! According to the chatters, there was a fish delivery at 0703 and 1005 also. Harvie is really working to get these two fit for flying. So it looks to me like two juveniles and Harvey with Louise and one juvenile away. Feel free to correct me!
Juvenile on post at Fortis at 1602 with adult on nest with another partial fish at Fortis. Wow.
Fish deliveries continue to come to the Newfoundland Power nest at Snow Lane. Both juveniles accounted for. Beaumont is delivering lots of fish. I cannot confidently confirm Hope’s presence but I also cannot confirm that she has departed. She did an amazing job feeding her two chicks this year and it was a happy surprise to see these two take their first flights. One of the really wonderful events of the 2024 season that will not be forgotten soon. Previously, the nest failed for four years in a row.
Heidi posted the link for the new 4K camera of Window to Wildlife at Captiva. They are doing tests.
Sharon Pollock catches us up with the Crawley Falcons:
Congratulations to Connie Dennis and Hope for Wildlife on a successful fundraising.
It is one of the reasons our zoo does not have many feathered ambassadors – when Avian Flu H5N1 hit, all of the birds had to be kept indoors for two years.
‘A’ comments on the Royal Cam chick: “at Taiaroa, the chicks are practising whenever there is enough wind, hopping and using their wings to get some air. No real hovering yet but we have had both paddles in the air. I love the way TF has built himself another nest this season. The chicks often build ‘play nests’ but they usually don’t move into them. One of the viewers noted mum sniffing at TF’s play nest yesterday and was wondering whether there was a bolus there. We await a response from the rangers to that question, as there was something white in the nest but it was blurry when you tried to zoom in on it. If it is a bolus, it would be interesting to know its contents, though of course I hope it’s not because that would suggest TF is only a day or so away from fledging. September is the month when we lose them, but not quite yet! It is the first day of spring here in the southern hemisphere, although the weather has been very vernal for weeks now. “
That lucky chick got a feeding, too!
and on the WBSE: “At WBSE, Dad was honking at 05:45, so Lady got up at about 05:50 began feeding leftover fish to SE33. She ignored SE34, who was facing the table side by side with SE33 but further from mum’s beak. After a few minutes, SE34 shuffled closer to mum, and from )5:53, she fed him exclusively, and because it was nearing the end of the fish, he got the larger bites, nearly all of which he managed. He has nearly caught up to his older sibling in size, though SE33 is still larger. Certainly, he got the better of the breakfast feeding today. There has not yet been fresh food delivered to the nest today and the pair are as usual lying in their cuddle puddle, sleeping and growing. Feathers are starting to show along SE34’s wing and both chicks are presumably itchy, as they are doing a lot of preening.
There are baby rails being brought in and positioned, and the eaglets assisted in arranging some of the smaller pieces of nest material. Too cute. There are SO many fresh green leaves on that nest. They have so far been used primarily as a table, as well as to line the nest bowl area. I believe the eucalyptus would be good at minimising bacteria and discouraging insects, as eucalyptus oils have those qualities. The pair are looking active and healthy and are getting along fine today. There was no antagonism at the breakfast table, even when Lady began feeding SE34 only for a good two minutes, his sibling right beside him. There was no intimidation from SE33 and no fear shown by SE34. So that was progress. It still seems like SE34’s head look larger than his sibling’s, probably because he retains a lot of fluff atop his head while SE33’s head appears quite sleek. Otherwise, they are easily distinguished by the feather growth on the wings. The littles are really starting to move around, validating the baby rails decision. At the moment, they have snuggled up on the green leafy dinner table, up the back of the nest. They have moved from further towards the front, where they have been for their life so far. ”
Thank you for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H’, Falcon Cam Project at Charles Sturt University, SK Hideaways, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Dyfi Osprey Project, Brenig Osprey Project, Knepp White Stork Project, Birds of Poole Harbour, RSPB Abernathy, Llyn Clywedog, LRWT Manton Bay, Montana Osprey Project, Fortis-Exshaw Osoyoos and Canmore, Newfoundland Power, Heidi and Window to Wildlife, Sharon Pollock, Connie Dennis and Ospreys of Nova Scotia, RSPCA Stapeley Grange, NZ DOC, and Olympic Sea Eagle Cam.
It is the start of the last week in August and today our temperature dropped to 28 C. It didn’t feel like the end of August of years gone by.
Some mark the end of summer at this time with children heading back to school. Others look to the calendar and notice that the fall equinox is on the 22nd of September, a Sunday beginning at 0743. I have yet to see any trees ‘turning’ where I live, but it often comes slowly, barely perceptible, going from deep emerald green through the greens to yellows and reds. What does this year have in store?
There are still hundreds and hundreds of birds in the garden – wrens, finches, sparrows, Blue Jays, Crows, woodpeckers, and the occasional ‘odd one out’. Dyson is here with her big kits, and all of them are starting to get their cold-weather fur. Dyson looks healthy and gorgeous. I hope to get a photo of her for you in the coming days. Little Red is busy, along with a few other little Reds. The Crows are still here, all from the one family across the lane. Everyone survived! Tonight, they were feasting on pizza. :))))))
Hugo Yugo and Baby Hope wish you a very good last week in August! We are going to have their parties on 2 September, Hugo Yugo’s birthday. We will also celebrate the arrival of Baby Hope a year ago and, of course, Calico. There will be dental treats – oh, don’t tell them they are healthy and keeping those teeth clean and gums nice with every crunch! A few new toys and another cardboard recliner scratcher. They have obliterated the one from Missey’s birthday already!!!!!!!!
If I am looking for Hugo Yugo, she will be in the cat tree – the large one in the conservatory. If she wants to find you, there will be the loudest yawl out of the smallest cat. Hugo Yugo has only one volume – extremely high! Calico never meows. Never. She doesn’t complain if I sleep in. All that is left to the little orange tabby that was supposed to be a male!!!!!!! LOL. I do adore her. Hugo Yugo is undoubtedly a character and lives up to her name. She is going to the vet the first week in September. I am concerned about her teeth, and then, of course, there is always the watery eye. I need help keeping up with the eye patch cleanings. She has gotten to the point that she runs if she sees me coming with the pad jar!
Baby Hope (aka Calico Kitty Kitty) is simply the perfect cat for someone who likes quiet. She never scratches the furniture. She never begs for food. She never gets into trouble knocking things over. She loves sleeping in the basket, looking out, and watching the squirrels, the Blue Jays, and the Crows wrestle for food near the Weeping Caragana. Her eyes don’t drool, and her teeth and gums are perfect. She is very strong and healthy (or that is how things appear).
I am so glad that we fed Calico as much as we did as long as we did once she began coming to the garden in the winter of 2022-23. Surely it helped Baby Hope have strong bones. Hugo Yugo’s mother did not have that advantage and I think he has severely compromised Hugo Yugo’s overall health. She was starving and taken in at the last minute before the seven kittens were born.
If you ever want to do the cat world a favour, adopt a rescue, and don’t buy a purebred. Donate food to a shelter, help raise funds through a yard sale or spread the word if there is one. Right now, in Winnipeg, one kitten adoption group has more than 240 kittens in its care, and we are just coming into the next kitten cycle. Advertisements are everywhere for beautiful senior cats whose owners have died and need a home. There are so many. The Girls have given me more joy and love than I will ever do for them. They are surely a cause for celebration when it comes to lowering stress.
The problem today is that you cannot have pets if you live in a 55+ or assisted living, normally. Many apartments do not allow pets. I looked at a condo overlooking Lake Winnipeg not long ago when caring for my husband, and the garden just seemed too much. The problem – they would only allow me two of the four girls. I couldn’t separate them! And, of course, the other problem was leaving the garden animals. — But, it occurred to me that there is a real problem with people being able to have pets live with them. Don’t these places know that pets can lengthen one’s life and add joy, aiding in pain relief and easing tension?
I want to start our day with something entirely different. It does involve feathers, though. I love getting letters and messages, and this story about MOMA moved me. It comes from a reader who rescues budgies. Many are elderly. MOMA was one of those lucky to find their way to this caring home. She didn’t live long, but she lived well and with love. I thought she deserved her own spot, but more news came pouring in, so here we go, first up – MOMA, the gorgeous blue and white budgie. Just look at her below.
These are the words of a lovely woman, ‘J’, who lives in Europe and rescues budgies. She currently cares for fifteen – the maximum she feels she can feed and provide veterinary care. There are hundreds, if not thousands, out there needing homes, found in deplorable conditions. She is contacted often to see if she can take any more. People need to realise the amount of care that is required, the cost of food, and veterinary costs. Even getting beaks trimmed costs at least 30 Euros. ‘J’ has always told me to tell everyone to please help stop the sale of pets at pet stores and their breeding. There are already too many wanting to find homes – sounds like our cat situation, too. So please keep that in mind.
Thanks ‘J’ for sharing Moma’s story with us. These are ‘J’s words:
Since the beginning after I read your bio I wanted to tell you about Momo. Because it involves pottery. In the year 2000 I did a course in pottery. Just a beginner, so I wasn’t very good, but I enjoyed it very much and made cups so small they’re only good for japanese tea ceremonies or such. One day though, my piece got higher and higher… My teacher came and put her hands over mine to stabilize them, and with her help I made a wonderful piece that I made into an oil therapy lamp. Years later, when the birds moved in, I couldn’t use it anymore, so I just put it on top of a cupboard.
Today, exactly four years ago, Mia and Momo moved in. On the same day, but from two different people. Mia came first and her bringer stayed quite a while, because they’re car broke down. Instead of waiting in the car she of course waited in my kitchen where Mia stood in a small cage. Then Momo was brought, and the moment her bringers left, Momo’s bringer said “WHAT is that?!”. Not very nice, but very understandable, because you had to look twice to say that the little bundle of eh what? was indeed a budgie. Or as I said to my vet: If she had been human I would have said Momo was a bag lady who had been living on the streets for many years. She was very small, and bent. Momo was found outside in such a bad state that her first avian vet was surprised she survived. Gotten to know her I’m not: Momo was a Tough Cookie!! Her age of course was unknown, but everyone agreed she had to be over 10 years of age.
Since she needed some peace and quiet now and then from the rest of the flock (the reason she moved into her own home in the first place) and also needed to be underneath the bird lamp, I put her in the big cage, lamp an all, which normally was left open so Momo could get visitors, but that I could close to give her some rest.
dig
I couldn’t leave her on the hard cold floor, because her feet/legs were badly (don’t know the correct word) “hurt” because she was laying on them all the time. You can see what she thought of my efforts. She kept shredding the kitchen paper and throwing it out.
I finally found a solution she accepted in a piece of synthetic cloth that came with one of my early mistakes (I bought a “hut” because it looked so cute). Well, she mostly accepted it…
dig
Even a bird as small as Momo does NOT fit in this lamp, often her tail stuck out through one of the star holes I made – hilarious. Her poor tail had looked poorly from the start, being in the lamp didn’t help. So I went out and bought five different houses with more room. Momo went into one, looked around, walked out and went back into the lamp and that was it.
Going to the vet was easy: why catch her, when I can just grab the lamp? Can you imagine the face of my vet, opening the box expecting a travel cage and instead looking at an oil therapy lamp??
Unfortunately, Momo didn’t get to stay long with us, she died only 7 months later. But what a 7 months they were. I am in awe of this little bird. She was so courageous, so tough and did things HER way. I was lucky to get to know her, she was one special Lady.
What a lovely story. The little bird had “Cataracts, arthritis, sores on legs, scrambled feet, bent back, and this tiny little bird lived the best life she could live.” A bit of a lesson to us all!
At Port Lincoln, the first egg of the season was laid early Monday morning. Congratulations! Mark your calendars for pip watch: 21-22nd of September.
At the NE Florida Bald Eagle nest, Beau continues to wait for Gabby’s arrival with fish on the nest! Typically, she does not return til September.
The Captiva Eagle cam is not streaming yet, but Clive is home! We have seen Jack earlier at the Osprey nest. Poor guy still has that spike in his leg, but he seems to be flying and feeding well.
My goodness C16 is a gorgeous osprey at Charlo! And look at that stunning background.
It looks like Iris and Antali at the Hellgate Canyon nest so far on Sunday (up to 1354).
Finn delivers a massive fish to Antali that will surely make him sleep well!
There have been juveniles at Blackbush at Old Tracadie Harbour osprey platform. Gosh, I wish chicks were banded in the US – at least the ones on streaming cams – so we could see who is still coming to the nest.
There is at least one juvenile coming to the Field Farm osprey platform for food while the nest cleaners wait to see what is left for them.
Juveniles continue to come to the Oyster Bay nest on Long Island.
No one appears to be home at PSEG’s other osprey platform in Patchogue – that is for the little sparrows who have their nest in the bottom of the osprey’s.
Keke is still with us at Sandpoint. She watches as River eats its morning fish.
Only Bob is still home at Boulder and still being fed.
I am seeing no action at the Cowlitz Osprey platform in Washington State. That doesn’t mean the ospreys are not around. I have just not caught them on the nest.
It appears that three ospreys – Louise, Harvie, and a juvenile were at the Fortis-Exshaw nest in Canmore, Alberta on Sunday.
Olsen is delivering fish to the Osoyoos nest. By 1331, he had delivered a goldfish, a twiddler, and another small fish to waiting juveniles. Soo is there too, she took a fish and Olsen worked on the egg cup.
Viki reports that all of the ospreys around Island Creek, except for Mr Bennett, have departed for their migrations. The Bald Eagles are currently returning to the area and that does seem to be the case elsewhere. I will be curious to see if the eagles lay their eggs earlier this year?
At Poole Harbour, one of the chatters (‘HW’) cited the fish deliveries at that nest in southern England: “Fish today – 12:25 (022 -> 5H6), 14:45 (022 -> 5R0), 14:55 (CJ7 -> Unclaimed), 16:00 (022 -> 5R2), 20:07 (CJ7 -> 5H6)”. It would then appear that the female CJ7 is still at the nest helping with deliveries and has not begun her migration.
Three of the four had fish at the nest with the youngest one 5H6 winning two deliveries including a royal battle with the 2007 delivery by CJ7.
Poor Dad. He needs to get out of their quick. Talons are snapping. This is one huge dust up!!!!!!!!!!!
The baby wins the fish.
Key dates for this breeding season and it is 5R1 that we have not seen at the nest on Sunday. CJ7 migrated on 2 September last year after fledglings migrated on the 27th and 29th of August. CJ7 hatched at Rutland in 2015. She is 9 years old. Blue 022 was translocated to Poole Harbour in 2019. He is 5 years old.
Two beautiful juveniles at Hope and Beaumont’s nest in Newfoundland. What a great year they had too!
There is more news coming from Captiva with Window to Wildlife:
Please remind everyone! The stores are now full of Halloween decorations – tell friends, family, and neighbours.
Geemeff’s daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust.
Daily summary Sunday 25th August 2024 Another day with no activity, unless you count the spiders – both nests now have a resident spider who looks spectacular on night cam, appearing huge and spinning a gigantic web. It was as wet and windy as forecast with just the odd moment here and there of sunshine stealing through, no change expected tomorrow. This time last year we saw Ludo LY7 for the last time on nest cam, and off-nest reports from LizB informed us she’d sighted an Osprey with fish in Louis’ perch tree for several hours in the late afternoon which was probably Louis sticking around, but of course, there’s no need for him to do so this year, and he hasn’t been seen since 30th July. I
t would be lovely if Garry LV0, last seen a few days ago on the 22nd, popped in if he’s still around. Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.26.30 (05.26.20); Nest Two 21.24.45 (05.35.29) Today’s videos: none! Bonus reintroduction projects – a David Attenborough video explaining the highly successful Rutland translocation, and a news item about the new Irish Osprey project:https://youtu.be/BR2M1Jgvess https://belfastmedia.com/dulra-let-s-make-the-osprey-a-symbol-of-the-lough https://youtu.be/pRLsj6nkSzM N2 Farewell to Ludo – final visit to the nest in 2023
Watch the Loch Arkaig Osprey livestream 24/7 and join in the conversation here:
I missed ‘A’s post for Sunday at the Olympic Sea Eagle nest. Here it is, “This morning there was a big fish on the nest when Lady decided to have a nibble herself and then, soon after 06:01, start feeding SE33, who seems hungry and is eager to eat. SE34 slumbers on, his back to the table. He wakes up and stretches a little just before 06:02 but immediately pushed the snooze button. Just before 06:11, he wakes up properly and lifts his head to survey the scene. He is still facing the wrong way. He’s in no hurry, lying there just looking around. SUCH a cutie. He is adorable. Soon after 06:16, he finally gets up and turns to face Lady. He is much closer to her than is SE33, and when she offers SE34 his first mouthful of the day, at 06:16:41, he readily takes it. Lady tucks into the fish herself, and while he’s waiting, SE34 edges closer. SE33 is also sitting up at the table, and when Lady finally offers a bite to the eaglets, it is to SE33. Lady returns to eating. The next bite, at 06:18:10, goes to SE33. At 06:18:21, Lady gives a bite to SE34. When he takes it, SE33 immediately beaks him. He lays his head down on the nest, while Lady immediately distracts SE33 with a bite of food. She then feeds SE33 for some time. It is 06:23 before SE34 again lifts his head. But he refuses a bite at 06:23:09 and another 12 seconds later, with SE33 leaning in his direction. Lady feeds SE33. SE34’s head is down on the nest. Lady picks up a dropped piece from next to SE34, who lies still, his head down. SE33 has a huge crop at this stage. There is still plenty of fish, and somehow, SE33 is finding space to eat more of it. 06:25 and Lady is unsure of what to do. She steps back, some fish in her beak, and surveys the eaglets. She eats the bite herself. She walks over to the two, wondering whether to brood them, but with Dad waiting behind the nest on the perch branch, his eyes on the two-thirds of a large fish still on the nest, Lady turns back and grabs the fish, pulling it closer to the eaglets and further from Dad. 06:27 and SE33 surely must be full. It feels so good, it stands tall and flaps its little wings. 06:27:20, Lady reaches out to offer fish to SE34, who refuses it, pulling away and putting his head back down onto the nest. Lady eats it herself, and the next bite. SE34 stretches his little wings, standing up a little and leaning forwards. He looks at Lady, but when she offers him food, he is too scared to take it. Just before 06:28, she again tries to get SE34 to eat but he is again too scared to reach for the bite. He puts his head back down on the nest while Lady offers the bite to SE33.
SE34’s head is up and he is watching Lady as she offers him another bite at 06:28:41 but he pulls away. Lady returns to eating herself, occasionally offering a bite to SE33. Dad has retreated up the branch and has turned his back on the nest, giving up on the idea of removing the fish – at least for now. 06:19:15 and SE34’s head is up. It is 06:28 and mum is still feeding SE33, with SE34 too scared to eat. His head is up and he is watching everything but he stays down. He recoils when Lady offers him a bite. 06:29 and Lady, eating quite a bit herself, is still feeding SE33. 06:29:25 and SE33 finally stands up and waddles away from the table, turning around (carefully, with an enormous crop). At last, at 06:29:39, SE34 accepts a bite of food from Lady without hesitation. He is still nervous when she picks up a dropped piece from near him, which she feeds to SE33, and SE34 pulls away slightly. 06:30 and Lady is cleaning all the dropped pieces from the table and feeding them to SE33. Lady returns to the fish, where she eats several bites herself before offering one to SE34. He is reluctant, and she is very patient and persistent with him, to no avail. At 06:31 she gives up and eats it herself. 06:31:31, it is as if SE34 has suddenly made a decision. He lifts his head and looks at mum. He shuffles forward. SE33 has left the table, but is behind SE34.
However, SE34 is still too nervous to accept the bite he is offered. 06:31:39. At 06:31:47, he finally accepts a small piece. And another 15 seconds later. And a third, larger piece just after 06:32. And another. And another. Lady is eating a lot herself, but every 10 seconds or so, she gives a bite to SE34, who is now taking them all. There is a gap between two of the bites, and when Lady offers the next one, SE34 pulls away sharply, as if startled and fearful. Lady rips the skin off the fish and eats it, leaving the juicy fleshy part of the fish, now easy to get at. SE34 is watching her closely. When she offers him a big bite at 06:33:30, he accepts it readily. Lady has to offer him the next bite three times, however, before he has the courage to grab it. SE33 has sat up now, which has perhaps made him nervous. Still, he is less scared in taking a big bite at 06:34. But in doing so, he becomes aware of the proximity of SE33 and is very nervous about accepting another bite. Probably, SE33’s huge crop brushed him as it turned away, and SE34 takes the next bite. And the next, and the next. SE34 is now eating with more confidence and SE33, full and content, is resting its giant crop, lying behind SE34 and surveying its forest world, having a yawn. Oh, butter wouldn’t melt in that sweet beak. Surely it would never bonk a younger sibling! It’s angelic.
06:35 and finally, SE34 is getting fed some breakfast. SE33 surveys the canopy above, gazing around its nest. It turns to check out the ongoing feeding of SE34 but soon returns to its fascination with its surroundings. 06:36 and SE34 is eating really well. Lady is feeding fast, and giving him big bites, but SE34 is managing them well. He is hungry and eager to eat. Lady occasionally takes a couple of bites herself. 06:37 and SE34 is suddenly in need of a break. He pauses, perhaps dealing with previous bites. He has eaten a large amount of fish in a relatively short period of time, and seems full at 06:37:24, but Lady coaxes him and he takes another bite. And another at 06:37:30. He has his second wind and continues to eat. He is still nervous, though, and when he drops a bite and Lady retrieves it from beneath him, he cringes and refuses the resulting bite. Lady pauses for a short snack, then offers SE34 a bite at 06:38:36. He is ready to take it. Lady continues feeding SE34, now offering him smaller bites. He eats manfully on, 06:40 and Lady is still feeding SE34, who is eating confidently.
This feeding was both reassuring and worrying. SE34 is obviously not confident when eating. Lady is persisting, and there is plenty of fish on the nest, so I remain confident that the outcome will be positive. But the process may be a nervous watch, with SE34 periodically missing out on meals and being fairly randomly bonked by SE33. I think the random nature of the attacks are part of the problem. Sometimes, SE33 is laidback and has no objection to her little brother’s participation in a meal. At other times, she is positively Zoe-like, intolerant of SE34 getting a single bite even when her own crop is absolutely massive. And there is little or no effort from SE34 to ensure he gets himself fed. It is entirely dependent on Lady’s patience and persistence. If she does not ensure that SE34 eats, there is every likelihood that he won’t. This does not bode well for his future survival prospects. If he lacks the drive to ensure its own survival in a relatively friendly nest environment with a helpful and experienced parent, I hate to think of its chances when it comes to seeing off those pesky birds that we know will shadow his every move once he fledges. I hate to say that, but in order to survive, these sea eaglets need some spunk. They need spirit and the drive to survive. I am not seeing that in SE34, which I find disturbing and concerning.
But it’s not meant to be a depressing post – SE34 had a full tummy to start the day, as did SE33, and with plentiful sushi on offer on the nest at most times of the day, let’s hope things continue to work out for SE34. If his size relative to SE33 is anything to go by, he has caught up a little bit in the past week, so the parents must be successfully getting enough food into the little man. I do hope he gains in confidence, which is such an essential quality for a successful future as an eaglet fledging into this forest. He won’t stand a chance against that army of pestering small birds if he can’t stand up for himself against imaginary threats like mum moving too close. Nor has he shown any ingenuity when it comes to getting fed. He has not moved away from SE33 or tried to skirt around it to ensure a better feeding position. He worries me in that respect. But please prove me wrong, SE34. Lady and Dad are certainly doing their best. Even mum is bringing in fish, of which there appears to be no current shortage in their favourite fishing areas.”
Today’s report from A on the sea eaglets and weather: “At 06:42, the eaglets are sitting up at the table side by side, looking adorable, but Lady is only feeding SE33. She sees that SE34 is not confident enough to take a bite. But SE33 soon decided it could no longer fit fish into its giant crop, and turned away from the table 06:42:20. S/he then lay down behind SE34. When he took a bite from mum and was not beaked for it, SE34 was emboldened to take another bite and another. Mum then proceeded to feed SE34 the remainder of the fish. He ignored SE33, who in turn was more interested in playing with nest material than bonking her little brother.
06:42:42 and SE34 is STILL pulling away from Lady offering a bite of fish. SE33 is not interested and SE34 can see that as he looks over his shoulder, but he still cringes away from the next bite offered, just before 06:43 and the next. Mum is patient, offering the bite a third time at 06:43:10 but again it is refused. But six seconds later, SE34 takes the bite and nothing happens. But as Lady offers the next bite, SE33 sits up again and SE34 turns his head away. Lady offers SE33 the bite but s/he isn’t interested and moves away. This gives SE34 the courage to take the bite offered at 06:43:45 and another five seconds later. SE34 turns away from the next bite but Lady is patient, offering it to him again, waiting, offering it again. Finally, it is taken.
Lady keeps offering bites and SE34 cringes away, feeling SE33 moving behind him. Eventually though, he accepts a bite, but cringes away again from the next, even though Lady patiently offers it to him several times. His head is turned away from Lady. After much coaxing, he accepts a bite at 06:45:45 and another ten seconds later. And another two in the ten seconds after that.
From this point, Lady feeds SE34 the rest of the fish. SE34 gets to eat a large amount of very fresh fish and by 06:57, he has a crop that rivals SE33’s. Just LOOK at it at 06:57:15-20!!!! Just look at those bright little eyes and that shiny little black beak. Is that not just absolutely adorable? And that’s a nice way to start the day – both eaglets with giant crops before 7am, and a nice feed for Lady as well. Fabulous.
We are expecting gale force winds over the next 36 hours and I think Orange may be affected. Sydney is on the fringes of the impacted area but should be okay. Melbourne shouldn’t be hit. “
‘A’ reports on the Royal Cam chick: “He is magnificent. It literally brings tears to my eyes, emphasising as it does how very little time we have left with these gorgeous chicks. As I was saying the other day, we are spoiled in the sense that it is a very very long season, with a long incubation period and a long pre-fledging period. But that does have the effect of giving us a very long time to fall deeply in love with these beautiful creatures. Seven or eight months is a very long time to watch them prepare for the flight of their lives. Or, rather, the flight that is their lives. They’ve never even practised fishing and off they go, heading for the coast of Chile, completely alone in the world and without any skills at all. There are no training wheels for albatross chicks.
We will miss you little man. You are gorgeous. Both parents have been in to feed TF in the past few days, so at least we know that they’re okay. It is always a worry for me, waiting for a parent to return and counting the days. “
Scientists are asking us to help them find species of rare birds. Can you help?
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, stories, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today. ‘A, Geemeff, J, VV’, Moma, Melbourne Falcon Cam, Port Lincoln Ospreys, NEFL_AEF, Jenny Peckham, Charlo Montana, Montana Osprey Project, Blackbush at Old Tracedie Harbour, Field Farm, PSEG, Sandpoint, Boulder County, Cowlitz PUD, Fortis-Exshaw (Canmore and Osoyoos), BoPH, Newfoundland Power, Window to Wildlife, and Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Olympic Park Eagles, SK Hideaways, Lady Hawk, and The New York Times.
First up, if you would like the recipe for the Nova Scotia Brown Bread with oatmeal and molasses, send me an email (maryannsteggles@icloud.com), and I will happily send you the recipe that I used. It was delicious, especially after 24 hours! I did not use a bread machine (a few of you asked). Having spent a few decades as a potter, the kneading of bread is enjoyable. The bread slices nicely after it has a chance to sit for several hours (perhaps 6) and even better the next day. It was good with a curried chickpea filling as a sandwich today.
Oh, I thought the baby Cowbird had left the garden…Well, I should say that the House Sparrows raised three cowbirds in their nests in the lilacs and nearby trees. But, there, sitting on a lilac branch, big and bold, was a beautiful little Cowbird. It is making my day. I don’t like what they do to the other little birds – laying their eggs in their nests and having tiny birds feed those big hatchlings, but I like to know that all of them are safe. Despite knowing that the local hawk has to eat, I still have a big ache when I hear he had a Blue Jay for lunch or a little woodpecker.
It remains hot for Winnipeg – not in the 30s anymore, but a hot 27 C. The bird baths are busy and have to be filled constantly.
The peppers are ripening every day, and so are the tomatoes. I wish you were here so I could give you armfuls of herbs! Hugo Yugo and Baby Hope are playing Hungarian Sweet Pepper hockey tonight!
Mr Crow has left me some feathers from his moult. The squirrels are busy eating. In about a month, they will begin hoarding peanuts. Right now, they are eating them at their leisure. My neighbour finished my planter, and I put in three big gobs of grass. It is a little late. We will see if their roots take before winter. If this heat keeps up, we might not have winter until the new year. That said, a goose wedge (or skein) flew overhead around 1800, heading to the river. They will begin flying into the pond at the nature centre in a few weeks from the north (or that has been the historical practice). On the ground, they are called a gaggle.
It could be a better image – heavily cropped and taken with an iPhone through the conservatory windows – of either a Great Crested Flycatcher or an Eastern Kingbird – sitting on the lilac branches this morning. It is so tricky seeing the birds when the foliage is dense.
I wonder what else is lurking in those branches. When I set Merlin to listen, everyone becomes quiet. It is too funny!
I had hoped that we would not see any more osprey deaths this season, but such is not the case. The middle chick at the Osprey Environment Centre in Australia has died. The weather turned cold, rainy, and quite nasty and it was difficult for George to fish. The stronger sibling, the first hatch, did survive. Parents are George and Hope.
The fish deliveries and the anxiousness of Sum-eh and Antali are ramping up the action at Hellgate Canyon.
Just look at Antali’s crop!
There is good news about Yellow USU. Nothing wrong with the wing. It appears that the issue had to do with a bit of a lack of fish. USU is doing well in care and eating buckets of Bream. What a relief for this sole survivor of its nest in Finland.
There is a lot of fish coming to the nest of Eura and Eve (nest # 1). The fledglings have huge crops – there are three of them, two females and a male, but I cannot see the yellow Darvic rings in the images below.
Adult cleaning out the nest bowl at nest #4. He was sure working on that nest bowl – you would have thought there was another male’s eggs in there he wanted to get rid of but, it is just preparations for next year.
Two on the nest at Pitkin County fish calling!
Windy and one on the nest at Llyn Brenig. Three fledglings apparently at Clywedog, but I missed them.
All of the youngsters are still at Glaslyn.
Those fish that are coming in are a nice size to fatten these babies up for their long flight.
Kiddos of Idris and Telyn still wanting fish at Dyfi.
Xavier and Diamond are working on eggs for the 2024 season!
Do the Osprey (and other fish and mammals) a favour if you live in the US. Find your Senator on the list and write to them to push an end to the industrial fishing of Menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay and at its mouth – we need more than a 3 mile ban.
Gabby is expected back at the nest in the NE of Florida within the next three weeks! It doesn’t stop many from checking in daily. When will Beau return? Will this be ‘their’ year?
Blue 5F Seren is still home at Llyn Clywedog and those fledglings are getting some whoppers for their dinners.
Mr North and Mrs DNF are getting a new nest after theirs collapsed during torrential weather this season.
Another Montana fledgling with a crop that is about to pop!
Juveniles eating fish at Allin’s Cove East on Long Island.
At Rutland, Maya, Blue 33, and 1R0 were all on the nest Monday morning. I caught 1R0 screaming for fish and Blue 33 obliged with a whopper for their Only Bob.
Geemeff’s daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Monday 19th August 2024
No activity on the nests today bar a fleeting visit by a little Robin. Has Garry LV0 headed south? He only made a brief appearance yesterday, and with the wet and windy weather which is set to continue for days, he may have decided to seek out warmer climes. As always, nothing is certain so it’s wait and watch to see if he turns up again. If you’ve enjoyed watching the Osprey cams this season, the bonus section has the different ways you can support Woodland Trust.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.48.46 (05.20.05); Nest Two 21.37.58 (05.21.11)
Geemeff sent us some more very interesting news items. I am including all the links as I am certain there are several that will be of interest to you if not all!
The day old White-tail Eaglet is doing well according to PLO.
Jolene and Boone are visiting their nest in Johnson City, Tennessee. More and more eagles will be returning in the next month to get reacquainted and freshen up their nests.
Today’s special! A free copy of August Birdwatch Magazine!
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, messages, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, H, PB’, Osprey House Environment Centre, Cornell Bird Lab, Pam Breci, Pyhtaan lintuhoitola, Saaksilvie, Pitkin County Open Spaces and Trails, Llyn Brenig Osprey Cam, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, Cilla Kinross, SK Hideaways, Save our Menhaden, NEFL-AEF, Llyn Clywedog Osprey Cam, Raptor Resource Project, Allin’s Cove East Osprey Cam, LRWT, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, fws.gov, Sky Hi News, Country Times, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Sara A,
Some of our morning updates before we get to what is the real thrust of today’s news: SE33 has hatched at the Olympic Park Sea Eagle nest in Sydney. Congratulations Lady and Dad. What a beautiful strong little eaglet!
‘A’ remarks: “August 7 (Afternoon) After another shift for Lady, Dad was on incubation duties again for nearly an hour, though he left quickly when she returned. She then fed the chick again, with gentle, tiny bites offered, before settling again. She is restless, as you would expect with a chick and a pipping egg. Just before 2pm, Lady ate a little of the stored fish, and although she tried to feed the chick, she gave up because it was facing the wrong way. Shortly afterwards, she tried again and this time, SE33 ate a little. The pip on the second egg is more raised now. At 14:51, Dad brooded again, then went to the pantry but didn’t feed the chick. Lady was back after a 15-minute break. She was on the nest from just after 4pm, after a last short feed for SE33. Dad brought in a late fish at dark, and Lady ate a little before settling. She has spent longer on the nest today, though Dad has had a couple of shifts. He brought prey, and SE33 was fed four times. What will this night bring? Last season, the eggs hatched 32 hours and 46 minutes apart.”
‘H’ reports:
8/6 Osoyoos osprey nest: I had a busy day, so when I got home, I primarily rewound the stream to check for a possible fledge for Chick 2. S/he did not fledge today. And, when Chick 2 did his wingercizing, he was still only achieving what seemed to be a few inches of lift off the nest (cam view can be deceiving). A person very experienced with ospreys stated on a chat a few weeks ago, that ospreys typically need to do wingers and hovers for 10 days to build up their muscles for flight readiness. I’m not an expert, just a nest cam watcher… but, I have seen ospreys suddenly have the ability to perform some nice hovers, and then fledge in a day or two. Side note: Little died from starvation on 7/15, and his body has remained in the nest. This afternoon, a strong gust of wind lifted Little’s body and swept it off the nest. ‘AMW’, a very kind and caring viewer that lives nearby, drove to the nest to recover Little’s remains. She posted in the Facebook group: “Little is now buried in my yard … and I will plant a flowering annual plant in Little’s memory.” Thank you, ‘AMW’, from all of us.
8/6 – 8/7 Colonial Beach osprey nest: Cobey was awake early and at 0630 he picked up the old piece of fish and managed to pull off some pieces of fish-jerky. He worked on it now and again, and by 0800 he was still trying. David did not bring a fish for Cobey until 1348. It was a large whole fish. At the very young age of 43 days, Cobey has become quite the self-feeder by necessity. Cobey had managed to eat the head of that fish before there was an intruder issue. At 1415 David landed in the nest first, and it seemed that David may have been tangling with the intruder nearby. The intruder landed in the nest immediately after David, and stole the fish, despite David being on the nest. Oh no, no, no! Poor lil Cobey’s only meal of the day was gone! David did not bring another fish.
The nest owner, host of the live stream, is a very caring and avid osprey conservationist. She and others monitor many osprey nests in the Colonial Beach area. She stated that they are finding many dead ospreys, on the ground or in nests. It is thought that not only was fishing difficult when it was very hot, but that there may in fact be a shortage of fish for the ospreys to catch. Some ospreys are having to resort to kleptoparasitism to survive, or to feed their young.
Cobey’s mom, Betty, will have been missing for 4 days on the morning of 8/7. The cam owner provided a statement regarding a possible rescue of Cobey. “The VA DWR recommends that nothing be done at this time… we will continually monitor the nest, things may change.” Please note that the cam owner’s hands are tied, and she must follow the advice of the regulating authorities. Some comments on the chat were hurtful to her. Go easy on the chat. The cam owner is hurting as much, if not more, than you are. Colonial Beach weather forecast for 8/7: Cloudy with showers, risk of thunder storms, high temp 81.
8/6 Fortis Exshaw: There was a fledge today. It appeared to be the same chick that was doing the high hovering yesterday. We missed seeing them for about 3 weeks when the cam was dirty, and we still do not have a completely clear view. As a result, we were never able to learn how to differentiate the siblings. We know that the oldest chick in a brood does not always fledge first, but I suppose we will simply assume that’s the one that flew. The eldest chick was named BJ, and BJ initially seemed to only go as far as the camera at 0803, then returned to the nest at 0834. But, BJ made a true fledge at 0927. S/he made a nice landing on the T-perch at 1536, followed by a return to the nest at 1538. Well done, new fledgling!
‘CG’: “Blue branched this morning, and between the time she branched and the time she fledged, she was doing wingers, hopping, getting some good height, and went from the nest to the branch a number of times. She went to the back of the nest and totally surprised everyone at 1557 hours by fledging from the back north corner of the nest by the screen. One minute she was there then she was gone. She is 100 days old today.
They have been looking for her but haven’t been able to locate her on the cams. There is a ground crew out looking for her too.
Congratulations Blue! Way to go!!”
Geemeff’s Summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Tuesday 6th August 2024
No activity at all on Nest Two, today’s action all came from Nest One, where Affric 152 turned up at dawn quickly followed by Garry LV0. However the pair fled the nest when a third Osprey appeared in the distance – Affric’s mate Prince, perhaps. Garry returned a little later with a stick but didn’t stay long. A few hours later birds were seen in the distance on nest cam and a Wood Pigeon overflew the nest. It rained pretty much throughout the day, and more rain forecast for tonight and tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.23.05 (04.07.43); Nest Two 22.22.22 (04.27.15)
Thank you so much for sending in the moments during the 2023-24 season that put a smile on your face. I really appreciate the time and thoughtful regard that you put into your choices and for sending them in. Most people will hesitate. Why do we think our voice doesn’t count? I hope that there are some surprises in here. I received 79 e-mails with the single word Iris along with what is posted below. So if you sent one of those in and I did not include your initials, my apologies. Just know that you counted in making Iris and her year with Finnegan, Sun-eh and Antali the top of the charts by a long mile. Also I didn’t ask for images but have included them if you sent them in!
‘MM’: “After a season filled with heartbreak after heartbreak it has made the happy moments even sweeter! One happy moment that happened early on in the season was when Beau finally figured out how to mate with Gabby and she was able to lay two eggs, unfortunately Beau got the mating mastered but that’s where the happiness ended, hopefully next season he’ll be ready.
Another happy moment was the successful fledge of two healthy osprey chicks from Port Lincoln thanks to the fish fairy and the generosity of so many who donated. The two happiest moments of the season for me are tied for first place. I was beyond thrilled when the season started in SWFL and M15 had taken F23 as his new mate after the loss of our beloved Harriet last session. The season got even happier with the hatch of the incredible E23 💜 And of course the other happy moment at #1 is sweet Iris finally getting sweep off her talons by the handsome Finn and their two amazing chicks 💙 ❤️ Thank you for the opportunity to reflect on the good after dealing with so much bad. Praying next season will be filled with many happy moments .”
‘H’: “As I understand it, you are asking for happy stories. Well, this makes me happy. This may sound strange. But, I am happy for Darling at Captiva. Darling fledged on 6/26 at 63 days of age. His post-fledge life was not easy. There was competition for the nest and food from his sibling, Ding. In addition, both of his parents may possibly have had issues with their health, and they stopped bringing food to the nest. Darling had not eaten for 3 days when he ended up in the water and was rescued and taken to CROW on 7/4. He passed away at CROW that night. We don’t know why things turned out the way they did, and we will never understand it. I wish it had not turned out that way. So, why does this make me happy? It doesn’t. The part that makes me happy is that Darling flew. I think of all the ‘littles’ we have known that died from nest accidents, or weather events, or starvation, or illness, or predation, and they never got a chance to fly. Darling was able to experience the sheer joy and exuberance of flying. And, I am so happy for him.”
‘SP’: Amongst all the turmoil of this year, there were more golden moments and miracles to celebrate. (Photos below in order of the list)
Cal Falcons Annie & her new mate Archie fledged four beautiful falcon chicks in Berkeley. This was the first time since Annie’s been a YouTube star that all 4 of her eggs hatched. We were entertained, enamored and completely enthralled with Aurora, Solstice, Eclipse, and Equinox.
San Jose City Hall couple Hartley & second year dad Monty also fledged four beautiful falcon chicks – all girls. Though we lost one, we enjoyed weeks of the girl power brought by Luna (RIP), Zoe, Lucia, and Alma.
Southwest Florida M15 and his new mate F23 fledged the ever-endearing E23, further mending the holes in our hearts left by the disappearance of Harriet the previous year. F23 proved to be a most nurturing and loving mother, while M15 continued his legacy of being provider extraordinaire. E23 was such a character and embraced being an only child with gusto. He proved to be an excellent flyer and at one point a protector of his natal nest.
Oh, thank you for the opportunity to revisit these wonderful moments!”
Cal Falcons.
San Jose.
SW Florida:
‘B’ writes: Too many sad stories, but always some nice ones, too. I liked how you said you think of all the miracles we have seen, to help offset the sadness of the sad stories. I had meant to write you a couple of weeks ago how I followed a similar strategy to help offset the sadness. I had a lower threshold than you, just thinking of the things that make me smile, rather than holding out for “miracles”. But my number one was the same as yours: the arrival of Finnegan, so that Iris has a real and proper (and wonderful) mate for the first time in years. Enough of that two-timing Louis!
In fact, two more of the top things that made me smile were also from Hellgate: the wonderful job Iris does as a mom when having chicks for the first time in years. Especially protecting those chicks in that awful heat. I swear, if “Mumbrella” were an Olympic event, Iris would be a medal winner. And the other is how peaceful and calm those osplets are when there started with such a huge difference in size. Part has to be what a great provider Finn is, and also how diligent Iris is in making sure each chick is served well. Gosh, the larger of the two would just stand and watch patiently if Little was served first, knowing his/her turn would come.
Also, Tuffy’s story always made me smile (even if hard to watch in earlier days), seeing him do what he needed to do to make it to being a beautiful and healthy fledgling in spite of the “Ruff” treatment from Ruffie.
And I couldn’t help but smile whenever I checked in on the Decorah eaglets after their nest (and branch) fell away, to see them happily perched on branches, as if to say, “we don’t need no stinkin’ nest, so long as we got our branch and our parents!”
In spite of all their hard luck getting a hatch, one can never help but smile to see Jackie and Shadow together. I have to hope for another Spirit next year.
And wonderful to see both Annie and Archie at Cal and Hartley and Monty at San Jose have four healthy hatches make it to fledge, even with the sadness of losing Luna at San Jose and the injury to Nox in Berkeley. I was so worried, especially for San Jose, what with the tough urban environment and seeing Lucia get rescued from the sidewalk and taking the elevator back to the roof twice before successfully fledging.
There’s more, but these are some of the stories that make me smile. (And, oh yes, of course there is Treasure and her siblings, also treasures.)”
CG: “My first thought was Tuffy. I watched this nest with trepidation. Tuffy was the underdog. How many times did we think he wouldn’t make it. He was so endearing, and I loved his sneakiness to try to get food. He never gave up. You always talk about the will to survive, and boy, his little body was bursting with it. The last time I saw him was just before they shut the cam down, and he was proudly standing on his nest.
Iris and Finnegan. I knew nothing about her until you talked about her. Finnegan came along and showed Louis the door. He has been a wonderful mate and provider for Iris and their osplets, and Iris has been a wonderful mum feeding and protecting her little ones the way she does. Just look at how they have turned out under their care. They look so healthy, and Big has been a wonderful big sib being so patient with his little sibling except for the one time little sib got uppity and boldly attacked big sib. That won’t be happening again! This has been a wonderful osprey nest to watch.
I could not fail to mention my peregrines Annie and Archie and Hartley and Monty, each pair with four chicks this year. Hartley and Monty went from newbies with one feisty Soledad last year to FOUR this year. What a jump! They handled it all with finesse. No nonsense Annie always handles her chicks with finesse, and her new mate Archie was a great provider and dad. Peregrines are a wonder and miracle every year. I wish all nests could be as calming as theirs with equal feedings, no shortage of food, no predators, and lots of chick shenanigans. “
‘BHA’: My smile of the year has to be Iris, Finnegan and family. (Along with you and probably everyone else.) What a miracle nest this year!!
Also, the San Jose falcons. The antics and shenanigans of the four girls were priceless! (Of course with a bit of sadness that we lost one of them…)
‘PB’: The bird that made me smile is Smallie. He was such a fighter especially how small he was up against 3 big sisters. I’m still sad about it. O18 became my favorite osprey, she was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Her personality matched her beauty. I miss her too! It’s making me cry thinking of them. But before them was a tie between Tuffy and Tiny D. They will all be in my memory forever.
‘J’ loves the Tortilla Bird. ” The photo of that tiny little babe in the tortilla just melts my heart (the feet! the feet!). That someone thought of wrapping it in a warm tortilla to keep it from getting cold is just brilliant – and hilarious at the same time. “
Geemeff: “But just want to say the names chosen for Iris & Finn’s miracle chicks are lovely and very suitable. In a season of sadness, they and the Poole Harbour Four have been some comfort. Iris’ success after so may years of being bullied by her ex, together with the unexpected success of saving one of Louis & Dorcha’s chicks to the point of successfully fledging, are my favourites of this season.”
‘TU’: My favourite article for a good mood is the one in The Guardian about the bird of New Caledonia. I loved it from the first sight.
‘L’: Iris finding Finnegan or vice versa. A wonderful memorable miracle. This nest brings pure joy! Iris is the best osprey mom I’ve ever had the privilege to watch and Finnegan is a precious gem.
Blue is amazing at the Boundary Nest. I think he’s a miracle for surviving erratic food deliveries.
The rescue of Rutland’s Little Bob. Golden moment.
The Purple Martins in Erie PA. All 5 fledged. Enjoyable to watch.
McEuen Park. One, out of 4, that survived to fledge after losing father.
Eagle Country-Tears for Meadow but Swampy lived and fledged.
Thunder, Akecheta and their 3 beautiful eaglets! Koa, Treasure & Sterling. A delight to watch. A stress free nest.
Cowlitz PUD- happiness, a survivor golden moment.
Osoyoos, losing Little which was sad enough. Thankful two will fledge. Happiness and a miracle in my book.
Little Miami Conservancy-All 3 eaglets fledged! Happiness.
Southwest Florida Eagles-One hatch, smart and accelerated in growth. An amazing first eaglet for M15 & F23.
BONUS!!!! Pure joy.
Challenger surviving his health issues.
Hugo Yugo, Calico, Hope & Missey and all the birds and squirrels that visit your garden.
(I could go on and on. So many more miracles and golden moments….The 2 miracle eaglets that definitely would have made my list were unfortunately killed by father Scout at the NCTC nest.)”
‘BA’: “The first time Lucia accidentally fell from the nest area and had to be rescued. First lots of worry about her, and then the smile moment when she was released on the rooftop. And then the chuckle: later watching SKHideaway’s video of it all. Lucia was just out of the box, looking around wide-eyed at all the contraptions and weird stuff, and SKH’s caption said, “She thinks she’s in Disneyland!” That cracked me up. It was such a tense moment, worrying about how frightened Lucia might be, and somehow we knew then she was going to be okay. (And then a couple of days later when she made it back down to the nest area and was reunited with her sisters – that was also a big smile moment.)”
LL: “Anything to do with Iris and Finn”.
JT: “The hatch of E23.”
PM: “Iris, Iris, Iris…West End nest. Those three eaglets were remarkable.”
‘A’: “Just before 09:32, there is a lot of thunder at Hellgate and Iris immediately flies to the nest. The rain really sets in, and Iris opens her roller doors and does her perfect mumbrella, managing to keep two fully grown osplets perfectly dry in the heavy downpour. What a mum she really is. Sumeh is the sweetest big sister ever, and little bro is adorable and such a feisty wee lad. This nest has been such a joy to watch. I could not have imagined enjoying watching a big sister/little brother osprey nest without a moment of stress or worry, but then along came Finnegan.”
I am with you – Iris has put everything into this season, and it may be costly. But it may also give her a reason to return no matter what it takes, as she now has Finnegan waiting for her. These two have bonded strongly and I am really hopeful that the strength of their relationship will give Iris what she needs to make it home again. She truly has been the most wonderful mother. What a waste – Louis truly is a cad.
BT: “Too numerous. 1. Fish Fairies at Port Lincoln. 2. Finnegan ousting Louis and winning Iris’s heart. 3. Annie and Archie raise four little falcons. Jackie and Shadow because they just make me smile all the time.”
RW: “The Fabulous Four at Poole Harbour ties with Iris and Finn.”
CB: “SE31 fledges and spends time with Lady and Dad on the Paramatta River learning to be an eagle. Iris and Finnegan because I never thought Iris would ever raise chicks again. The eagles at Decorah North because they survived so much and continued to be a family at their nest tree even when it had fallen over.”
CD: “I loved Smallie. The wee little falcon longed to live and it did get to fly.”
DDS:
Iris and Finnegan. Never thought this would happen.
Jackie and Shadow and their sticks and hopefulness.
M15 gets another chance to be a Dad.
They didn’t raise a family but seeing Gabby and Beau together made me smile.
The rehabbers that help.
The small Dutch falcon that died but got to fly.
The people who dared to provide fish to the osprey chicks at the barge in Australia.
Thanks to everyone who participated and to those who didn’t but sat and thought about what made them smile this year!
My list in a bit of a narrative and in no certain order:
The day I learned that Bonus was alive, I cried. Knowing that both Black Storks Waba and Bonus, raised by Karl II, are still flying gives me hope that there are others, too. I continue to be ever grateful for the work of Urmas in Estonia and his team in providing fish for the storks, ringing them, and checking on their well-being. It makes me smile to see the fish baskets that he sets up and fills to keep the storks alive. I wish that more people would engage with wildlife positively and constructively. I am grateful to the Roy Dennis Foundation and the Woodland Trust for removing the two chicks of Louis and Dorcha for translocation. Louis was not himself, and while I had an enormous smile when he reappeared after so many days, he needed to get his strength up, so it still felt like a good win-win. But knowing dear Louis is alive is a huge grin and a happy moment. The fish fairies at Port Lincoln took a stand and saved the osplets of Mum and Dad at the barge and I will forever think that this was a miracle that saved the chicks lives. Didn’t you just grin seeing the hand lay the fish on that nest? Whenever I checked on the nest at Poole Harbour, I smiled at the absolute dedication and great parenting of CJ7 and Blue 022. I remember the year they were courting, and it didn’t seem possible that CJ7 would get a mate, and now, to the astonishment of all, in their third year together, they successfully raised four to fledge. The California falcons will always make me smile: Larry at Alcatraz, Annie and Archie, and Monty and Hartley. Incredible families and, oh, our dear little ones that got themselves into some mischief, including Nox, who is recovering. That photo of him with his wing wrapped was lovely. I was happy when Smallie could come and go in and out of the scrape and got to fly and feel the wind under its wings despite its subsequent death. Big Red always puts a smile on my face as does Arthur when he lines the nest bowl with squirrel fur. They love being parents. And this year, because of the year that it was, I am grateful and smile whenever I see one of the nests have a fledge because they are just that much rarer. So many bird families lost so many of their offspring this year. To the delight and relief of many, Hope and Beaumont look like they will fledge two chicks this year from Snow Lane in Newfoundland – the first for many, many years. The Moorings Park nest just melted my heart when Tuffy overcame the abuse of the older sibling, Ruffie, and survive to become a gorgeous osplet that returned time and again to the nest so we could see that he was alright. What made me mad and also sick at times was the Frenchman’s Creek nest with fish after fish piled up and the poor osplets having to learn to feed themselves to survive – not from starvation but lack of parental attention. They triumphed, and somehow, the nasty fish disappeared. That made me smile big time. There were so many moments. Seeing SE31 flying over the Paramatta River with Lady and Dad, free of the harassment of the Pied Currawong, was simply one of the best moments ever, along with Flaco, the Eurasian Owl, who escaped from the Central Park Zoo and flew freely for a year. Perhaps I have said it more than once, but the resilience of Jackie and Shadow makes me smile every day.
The ultimate smile was Iris and Finnegan, though. I never thought I would see Iris raising chicks. Louis drove me nuts, and to see a young male osprey keep Louis on the other side of the territory made me grin every day, especially when Finn chased Louis off the owl pole. Iris is simply amazing. She is old (I have great empathy for her), raising chicks in that heat, and now Sum-eh has fledged. I also smile whenever I get a note or a letter from you. It makes my day, along with my garden animals, my family, and the girls, that much better. Thank you for being there.
Thank you to everyone who sent in their memories and for the images and videos thank you to ‘A, CG, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, NestFlix Memories, Osoyoos, Fortis-Exshaw, Colonial Beach, Menhaden- Little Fish, Big Deal, HWF-BBCentral, Heidi and Windows to Wildlife, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, SK Hideaways for the images of the falcon families from San Jose, Cal Falcons, and SWFlorida Bald Eagles, Wildwest Rehabilitation Centre, Texas Monthly, SK Hideaways, and The Guardian.
It is getting to the time when you need to be getting your ‘miracles’ of the year in! Deadline: Wednesday, the 7th of August, so Tuesday evening CDT is the deadline—about 2000. Even a single sentence! Let me know what made you happy this year. I won’t spoil it, but there is already a clear winner for the top miracle of the year. Can you guess what that was?
It is cooler on the Canadian Prairies. Imagine extreme heat (32 for us) and then waking up and thinking you need a jumper! That was what it was like Sunday morning. The garden animals are loving it!
I did have a bit of a scare this evening. All the Crows were about and two of them were ragged and had white on their breasts. Took a deep breath. It is Junior and his mate and they are molting. Poor things. Junior stays but she heads south in the fall. I hope one or two of the youngsters will be around with us for fall and winter. They have been busy tonight protecting their territory. Urban crows live in family groups taking over a specific area and making sure that other groups of crows don’t enter! That said, when the GHO arrives, everyone comes to help usher it out of the space.
The blog is a little all over the place today. Osprey nests are winding down with fledglings returning for fish and awaiting the time to depart for migration. People are starting to stop and look at the state of the eagle nests and – we are on pip watch for the Olympic Park White-Bellied Sea Eagles in Sydney!
Update: Confirmed pip for SE33!
The three osprey chicks at the Osprey House Environment Centre are doing very well. Three weeks old!
In Port Lincoln, Mum is resting on the barge nest. Yes, yes, it is all beginning to happen ‘down under’.
Xavier is delivering prey to Diamond in the scrape at Orange, Australia. Now all we need is the Melbourne CBD Falcon cam to come on line. Typically that is after the eggs are laid.
If this is your first time to watch ospreys, you might want to find out about their migration – as most (save for Florida and some Gulf areas, the Caribbean, and Austral-Asia) fly to winter homes.
Many of you will remember the Red-tail Hawk raised by the Eagles on Gabriola Island in British Columbia. You will also recall that the eaglet that shared the nest, Junior, was electrocuted. We all cried. It is too common an occurence. We lost one of two gorgeous osplets raised by Oscar and Ethel at the Russell Lake Osprey nest in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. It was discovered that it was Heidi. She had fledged the day prior. These events are so very sad.
If you recall the discussion with Dr Christian Sasse and Dave Hancock on how to mitigate against electrocution using simple methods and know that YouTube video, let me know. I am looking forward to sharing it with our friends in Nova Scotia. I have written to the HWF but have not heard back from them.
‘H’ reports:
8/4 Osoyoos osprey nest: There were nine fish delivered to the nest, including one from Soo. Olsen had tapped into a good location to catch those small green-colored fish, so his offerings consisted of those fish. Soo brought a large headless fish at 1251 that actually resulted in two separate long feedings. It was interesting to note, with 5 of the 8 fish delivered by Olsen, chick 1 rather easily took the fish from chick 2, after chick 2 had initial possession of it. Chick 2 still displays some residual effects of the psychological conditioning that took place during all those weeks when chick 1 had been very aggressive toward him, and he learned to submit. Chick 2 needs to get over that, and try to hold on to his food! Chick 1 did not eat all of those fish he acquired, and he left a couple of good sized chunks on the nest for chick 2. Everyone had plenty to eat today. Chick 1 took a few flights off the nest throughout the day. And, chick 2 managed to get several inches of lift off the nest during his evening wingercizing! Weather forecast for 8/5: Sunny, high temp 94 F, light winds. There is a chance of strong thunderstorms in the afternoon.
8/4-8/5 Colonial Beach: Betty has not been seen since 0935 on 8/3. Last night, 42-day-old Cobey spent his second night alone on the nest. Cobey did not have anything to eat on Friday. On Saturday, David dropped off a headless fish, Cobey self-fed for the first time, and was able to eat most of that fish. On Sunday, David provided Cobey with a headless fish at 0724. Once again, Cobey did a great job with his self-feeding. His technique is not perfect, but he does amazingly well. He ate the fish off and on for several hours, and picked it clean. At 1828 David brought a live fish to the nest. The fish was not very lively, but it took Cobey a while to figure out how to unzip the fish. Cobey managed to do it, and ate the head! Then he reached in and pulled out a lot of the center of the fish, avoiding the tough skin. This morning 8/5, Cobey has already tackled the leftover piece of fish, and managed to pull off a few bites, but it is dry and tough. Hopefully David will bring Cobey a fresh fish this morning. And, we are praying for Betty to come home. Weather forecast for 8/5: Sunny, high 90, light winds. The forecast for the rest of the week may include periods of very heavy rain and some wind, as the remnants of ‘Debby’ moves up the coast. Cobey will need some protection from all that bad weather, and David doesn’t seem to like that kind of Dad. Please come home, Mom.
I am so looking forward to seeing these beautiful Nova Scotian ospreys in real life. Take off in a week! Will be announcing a wee break in normal posting – I will be sending out special Nova Scotia episodes while I am away so you can learn about one of our beautiful Atlantic provinces. It is famous for birdwatching – I am so excited.
Flipping over to Wales. Dylan has been busy delivering his famous Brown Trout to the Llyn Clywedog nest in Wales that he shares with his mate, Seren. The kids are there wanting fish! And if one is eating the other is fish calling very loudly!
Aran is busy at Glaslyn fishing for his and Elen’s kids, too. Everyone wants and needs to eat before migration.
In the south of England, the kiddos are waiting at Poole Harbour, too – and Blue 022 has four to feed!!!!!!!
At the nest of Iris and Finnegan, Sum-eh is getting restless to fly.
She is getting more height by the hover. Could today be the day she flies?
Our friend ‘A’ comments: “I’m hoping that her bond with Finnegan will bring her home. Certainly, she has something to come home to, which has not been the case before now. I know they’re territorial, and she returns to her nest, but now that nest has someone waiting on the perch, she may have an even stronger urge to be back. If indeed the older chick is female, then it is an incredible testament to the mothering skills of Iris, who has raised these two to be as close as any siblings I’ve seen on a nest. Never a hint of aggression or intimidation. They love to snuggle. Little Bob is usually fed first, but regardless of feeding order, they wait their turn. Sometimes, they compete for bites or even eat from each other’s overflowing beaks but never with violence attached. And if indeed Iris has achieved that outcome with a huge female hatched a week before her younger brother, we are definitely in the presence of a super mum. I love the way she has abandoned the nest to the kids, watching from the perch. She does always look to have a good crop, so at least Finn is keeping the family well fed. Perhaps too well fed. Why would these kids bother to leave home? This generation doesn’t, apparently. I do need to remember their names!!
This morning, big sister did a big and healthy PS, which pleased her so much that she had a hover. She is getting very good at her hovering. Oh Mary Ann she is magnificent. Such a beautiful osplet. She is gorgeous. (Little Bro is not yet interested in leaving his version of terra firma.) Iris immediately rises as if in an invisible lift, and she is out of there. Let hovering practice take place without her!! She can supervise from the perch. There is much fish calling (it’s 06:53). Little Bro is fascinated by his sister’s hovering (or perhaps he is just worried she’s about to land on his head)! But certainly, he is keeping his eyes on her. She is really getting some strength as she flaps. She is holding herself aloft for longer and longer, sometimes landing on an outer kiddie rail (is that technically branching or does she have to reach the perch?) and she is really enjoying the sense of wind beneath her wings. Those talons already look pretty deadly to me! “
At nest #3 in Finland, Tuulos and Taika have a fish and mate in the nest.
They are rebuilding at Decorah North!
Only one left to fledge at Blackbush – the other two that are flying continue to return to the nest for fish. Everyone is so well fed that on Sunday even Mum had some time to have a nice fish meal to herself.
In Newfoundland, Canada, Hope and Beaumont’s oldest is starting to work its wings. The chicks are 42 and 37 days old. We could have fledge in a little over a week for the oldest. Fledge dates average around 55 days. (some say 50-55)
Little Eurasian Hobby doing well eating dragonflies brought to the nest. As a fledgling, it will glide over the water catching dragonflies and other bugs for its meals along with small birds.
Everything you wanted to know about the Eurasian Hobby and more:
Geemeff’s Summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Sunday 4th August 2024
A dreich day with no sign of Louis or Dorcha, it’s starting to feel like they’ve headed south to warmer climes as Dorcha was last seen eight days ago on the 27th, and Louis last seen five days ago on the 30th. Of course, those are the dates they were last seen on nest cam so there’s the possibility they are still in the area. Affric 152 and Garry LV0 are definitely still around and both came to Nest One today. Affric looked hollow-cropped and asked Garry for fish but he didn’t have any for her. It’s her mate Prince who should be providing fish for her back on the Bunarkaig nest where their newly fledged chick is probably still returning to, but like last season, there’s a complex relationship with that pair and Garry LV0 which seems to be ongoing. The forecast for tonight and tomorrow is heavy rain with a gentle breeze, and light rain for the rest of the week too.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.29.01 (04.37.17); Nest Two 22.21.56 (04.44.16)
Worries continue for USU’s wing at nest #1 in Finland against growing concerns that Nuppu (Mum) will depart the area. At the moment fish continues to be brought to the nest for the youngsters.
And back in California, Hartley and Monty are bonding after a great season!
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Thank you to the following who sent in notes, posts, comments, videos, articles, and the streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘A, Connie and Don Dennis, CG, Geemeff, H, J, RP’, Hellgate Osprey X, Becky R, Olympic Park Eagle Cam, Osprey House Environment Centre, PLO, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Avian Report, Purpleshrub.com, Audubon, Ospreys of Nova Scotia FB, Osoyoos, Colonial Beach, Llyn Clywedog, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, BoPH, Montana Osprey Project, Saaksilvie, Raptor Research Project, Blackbush, Newfoundland Power, Wildlife Window, The Peregrine Fund, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, CNN Weather, The Guardian, whec.com, obawebsite.com, diesachen.de, Heidi McGrue, John Williams, and SK Hideaways.
Tomorrow is the first of August! The summer is absolutely flying by. Today’s report from my end – not those great folks that send me news on specific nests they are monitoring – is a bit brief. I spent a lovely afternoon in the park yesterday despite the 31 C heat. There was a lovely breeze and it was simply wonderful to hear the sounds of children’s voices splashing in a pool. A grandfather and his two grandchildren asked to share my picnic table. The children were so cute. One asked if I would like one of their ‘Bear Paws’ – a soft chocolate cookie. Yummy.
The correct cable arrived and now we can have some images of the garden friends from the better camera.
Is this just the most gorgeous Crow? I am finally beginning to be able to tell the new babies – not baby size – by their shape and personalities.
Its sibling was down on the top of the Weeping Caragana.
One of the siblings is very ‘tall and thin’ compared to the others.
They seem to have very different personalities, too. Gosh, they are wonderful. As are the Blue Jays!
There are six baby Blue Jays. Three were on the big tray feeder.
One wasn’t sure it would like beets and rice as much as the Crows!
The other two were on the deck amidst the seeds and sparrows.
There are hundreds of lively sparrows everywhere.
The squirrels habe been busy both Dyson kits and the Reds.
‘J’ wrote to ask me if the Tortilla Bird counts for happy moments. Yes, every bird counts! Every one of them. Put them on your happiness list. They don’t need to be on streaming cams.
Yesterday, a question from another reader : “So where is the food? Why aren’t the parents delivering food like we have seen on other nests? I wish that the there was a forum that would discuss this.” should have appeared at the top of CG’s report on Blue at HWF-BBCentral as a lead into their story. It remains unclear to me how this worked its way into that report! ‘CG’ certainly knows there is a forum. Apologies all around for any confusion or angst.
Here is CG’s report for Blue for 30 July (Thanks, CG):
Blue started the day by being a wet bird. Rain had been forecast for today.
She started out by working on some old food and came back to it about 4 hours later. She spent her day doing eaglet things like wingercising a number of times, stretching, preening, standing around, and poking around.
Blue looking pretty sleek here. It was around 1200 hours and she was surveying the scene and preening on and off.
Looks like getting some height here with her wingercising.
Food delivery by parent around 1630 hours. Blue, by the way, is good at mantling.
Half an hour later, another food delivery. One of the larger deliveries. She left only a small piece.
At about 2000 hours, she was lying on the nest. I left her looking out over the countryside at 2117 hours.
Weather forecast for Delta for the rest of the week. I have come to appreciate cams that show the weather in a corner.
Geemeff brings us some really good news from Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust (Thanks, Geemeff):
Daily summary Tuesday 30th July 2024
The highlight of today was the welcome return of Louis, last seen on the 25th. He spent over two hours on Nest Two, perching on Dorcha’s perch then flying down to do some nest cupping, before departing. Nest Two had another visitor – Affric 152 made a surprise visit, just a brief touchdown really before flying off again. No sign of Dorcha, last seen on the 27th, or Garry LV0, last seen yesterday. No visitors to Nest One although a Wood Pigeon did a fast flypast caught on nest cam. Itziar Colodro from Fundación Migres gave us an update on 1JW and safety measures in the translocation area, see bonus section. The weather was settled, tonight’s forecast is a pleasant partly cloudy with a gentle breeze and a low of 9°c, and tomorrow promises to be dry and sunny with a high of 19°c.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.54.55 (04.12.32); Nest Two 22.52.04 (04.27.02)
Bonus info on safety measures for Ospreys in the Spanish translocation area, and update on 1JW (thanks Itzy):
Update on 1JW:
I have received lovely updates from Itziar Colodro about our surviving chick 1JW. She works for the Fundación Migres but has a much earlier connection to Loch Arkaig – a chick from a nest on private land, ringed JH3 in 2017 and named Pean (‘cousin’ if you like to our first Arkaig chick from new pair Aila & Louis, ringed JH4 and named Lachlan), didn’t migrate very far and took up residence in her area in Spain. There were a lot of photographers in that area and he became quite famous until sadly he was electrocuted on a faulty power line in 2018. Itzy was instrumental in getting the utility companies to act to ensure the safety of the birds.
After Itzy posted on Adam’s site Walking With Daddy / Osprey, I mentioned her work with the utility companies after the loss of JH3, and got this response:
Your words have really moved me🥹, because I have not forgotten JH3 either, that wonderful animal did not deserve that ending. Thanks to him, hundreds of electrical towers were corrected and are now safe for all birds of prey. In fact, we have built a nest for Ospreys since the entire power line was gone. Now it’s a very good and safe place for Ospreys.
Updating: 1JW is adapting great to the environment. It is an honor to be able to take care of him (and his brother 1JR). Loch Arkaig has meant a lot to me for many years you know. I hope I will soon visit that area, where I feel united with all my heart since many year ago. Thanks to you and your support and effort for the conservation of this wonderful species🦅🫂
‘H’ brings us up to date on a few of the nests she is monitoring (Thanks, H):
7/31 Fortis Exshaw osprey nest: The camera view became partially obscured about two weeks ago from PS (forceful elimination) from the chicks, and our view has been almost totally obscured for the last week. The camera is positioned low, and it has a history of being hit with PS. Last year we got lucky, and Banff’s and JJ’s aim was off, and they couldn’t manage to hit the camera! The chicks are 49, 47, and 45 days old. Occasionally a chatter will remark that they think they see some wingers being performed, or we can listen for screaming and watch for moving shadows indicating that a fish may have arrived at the nest. Prior to the camera becoming soiled, we knew that family life was going very well. There were plenty of fish being brought to the nest, mainly from Harvie, but some from Louise as well. There had not been a lot of sibling rivalry and aggression, and the chicks all looked very healthy. A chatter that lives nearby has visited the nest a couple of times, and reports seeing the heads of two chicks each time she has visited. Should we be worried that only two have been seen? Or is it just the limited view when our BOG has been there? The BOG spotter has not been able to get a good elevated view of the nest due to restricted areas nearby. There have been reports that river and lake levels are low in Alberta, due to a significantly reduced snowpack last winter, and because of the heat and drought this summer. Is it possible that Harvie and Louise have not been able to catch enough fish to support three growing chicks? We simply do not know. The chicks are approaching an age where they will be ready to fledge soon. Pray for rain to help relieve the drought and clean the camera !!!
7/30 Captiva osprey nest: Even though live streaming from the camera has ended for the season, the Mods and others continue to have viewing access. Yesterday Ann P. reported seeing Jack at the nest. He still has the ‘spike’ going through the skin of his left leg, but he is alive and looks well. Jack was a phenomenal mate and dad this season. We are thrilled to see him. Photo courtesy Ann P. NOTE – FOR SOME REASON THE IMAGE WILL NOT ‘STAY’ ON THIS PROGRAMME. IT KEEPS DISAPPEARING.
7/30 Patuxent River Park osprey nest: Mom stopped at the nest for just a few seconds. We had not seen her since 7/18, the day before the cam went down for 5 days.
7/30 Osoyoos osprey nest: We had a short viewing day, as the cam went offline at 1215. Olsen brought the first fish at 0536, and he just so happened to drop it right at Middle’s feet. Middle strongly mantled over his/her prize and probably could not believe his good fortune. Big did not make a strong bid to take the fish from Middle. Middle ate for 20 minutes before s/he relinquished the fish to Big. Dad dropped off another fish at 0557. Big abandoned the fish she was eating to join in on the feeding from Soo. Both siblings were fed during that 10-minute meal, and then Big resumed eating her earlier fish.
‘PB’ brings us up to date on what is going on at The Port of Ridgefield (Thanks, PB).
‘PB’ also caught two of the fledglings on the Steelscape nest that has been so harassed. Hoping to see the fledgling with the injuries.
‘PB’s other report is that the McEuen female was feeding her hick with a male at the nest. The male has been missing for over a month and during that time three of the four chicks died from starvation. Is this the mate of the female or another male? It is unclear.
Good news coming out of Steelscape.
I remain so excited for the two osplets growing up in Latvia. They are not quite ready to fledge, but the two osplets on the Latvian nest in the Kurzema Forest are doing splendidly. It is believed there are approximately 200 osprey couples breeding in the forests of this beautiful country.
Gorgeous fledgling at the Mlade Buky nest of Bety and Bukacek.
Snow Lane, Newfoundland. Hope and Beaumont. Incredible season with this family. I never thought it would happen – checking on Hope and finding her often feed her chicks. Amazing, in fact.
It is raining at Hellgate Canyon. Iris and her two osplets look beautiful even soaking wet. Iris and her family are not out of the woods from the heat. It is going to return but they have ‘made it’ through several weeks of scorching weather and a huge storm and they have survived. It is at the top of my happiness list for sure. The image below is, to me, simply a miracle. I never thought I would live to see Iris raise a family again. But it happened. Miracles do happen.
Finnegan is working hard for his family!
That is a gorgeous osplet at Charlo, too. What is their weather going to be like? Ah, the same as Iris! A bit cooler and then gradually getting hotter.
It has been raining on the only chick at Dunrovin Ranch, too.
At Collins Marsh in Wisconsin, there are three well-fed, healthy, fully feathered osplets wanting to fly and they are going to do it any day now!
Family portrait at Minnesota’s Landscape Arboretum. That chick is like the ones at Collins Marsh – ready and wanting to fly.
A fledgling with a fish meal and a Hooded Crow hoping for some leftovers at the German nest, BUND Goitzsche-Wildnis.
Marder’s Osprey Platform on Long Island has a chick that wants to fledge, too. It likes to still be fed, too.
At Manton Bay, Blue 33 has been bringing fish to the nest and sometimes Maya is there or flies in to grab them. Sometimes the fledgling is there. Nice to know that all three are still in the area.
It was a sad year for the Loch of the Lowes nest in Scotland. To be sure, though, we were blessed and so was Blue NCO, that the eggs did not hatch before Laddlie LM12 was killed. She has been at the nest with the dark osprey male. We will have to wait and see what transpires next March – but it looks like Blue NCO has, for now, held on to her beautiful nest.
Waiting for fish at Llyn Brenig!
Idris has been working over time at the Dyfi Osprey Platform feeding his chicks. He brought four fish to the nest in less than an hour.
You might be used to the Bald Eagles cutting back on prey but the osprey parents will keep this food coming so that the chicks can bulk up for migration. They are not yet fishing. Indeed, many will only catch their first fish while they are travelling south to their winter grounds. The parents, mostly the male, will work hard to get them in top shape for this journey. Then the male will remain for a few days to get strong, too (sometimes not – they leave right about the time of the kids) while Mum left earlier.
Well, if this doesn’t make your heart race!!!!!!!! We should never count the ospreys ‘out’. We might not ‘see’ them but this doesn’t mean they have met their demise. This is a great story.
‘J’ sent me the following image of the Centreport Eagles. It comes from the Bald Eagles 101 FB page she notes (Thanks, J).
It looks like theya re trying to take every last fish that an osprey could eat in Chesapeake Bay. This makes me so angry. If you take Omega supplements, or eat farmed/battery chickens or farmed salmon – that is where these fish so vital to our ospreys – are going!
It is your last day to vote on the names for Iris and Finnegan’s kids. Go to the Montana Osprey Cams FB and click on the image. Please vote.
And ‘J’ sends us the latest update on NOX:
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their observations, posts, videos, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘CG, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, CG and HWF-BBCentral cam and Forum, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, H and Fortis Exshaw, Patuxent River Park, and Osoyoos Osprey Cam, Pam Breci and Port of Ridgefield, Steelscape, and McEuen Park, LDF, Mlade Buky Stork Cam, Newfoundland Power, Montana Osprey Project, Montana Osprey Cams, Charlo Montana, Dunrovin Ranch, Collins Marsh, MA-LN, Goitzsche-Wildnis, Marder’s, LRWTm The Scottish Wildlife Trust and LOTL, Llyn Brenig, Dyfi Osprey Project, Faye Hill, and J and Centrepoint Eagles,Menhaden – Little Fish, Big Deal, and The California Raptor Centre.
Morning Update from Geemeff regarding Louis and Dorcha’s chicks:
“The two Arkaig osprey chicks have arrived in Spain as part of a translocation organised by the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation. They were on board a flight which departed London Heathrow this morning, after testing negative for various infections and passing a vet inspection. The two males weighed 1.1kg each when handed over to the translocation team last Monday. They have been eating well since and are now both 1.5kg.”
Those poor things were so hungry. Thankfully they will survive and hopefully thrive. Thanks, Geemeff.
We also have a morning fledge at Outerbanks (Carova Beach). Chick 1 took its first flight and was seen on top of a roof later. Thanks, Heidi.
First, I know that we are missing ‘A’s’ wonderful narratives. She is ‘under the weather’. Please send her good wishes for a speedy recovery!
My goodness. It is almost the middle of July! The summer – typically for Canada, is half over. Today was hot. 29 C. I have a good friend who lives in British Columbia in the area of the Osoyoos nest. They will hit 36 C – temperature, but not the actual heat index, as our friend, Reets, pointed out – for an entire week. Several years ago, the little Cooper’s Hawks in that area jumped off the nests to their death to avoid being cooked on the top of the nest. Empathetic People and rehabbers then began to climb the nests to rescue them and take them into care. Many of us cried. So many were lost, but so many were saved. I wish beyond any hope that I might imagine a time when everyone would do that for the nests that are in trouble, even if it is feeding fish to get them through a storm or rough patch. I often think of Daisy and Duke at Barnegat Light and wonder if they might ahve considered having chicks this year if that level of kindness had been show to them last year during the June Nor’easter.
My blog might be short today. I took the afternoon off and spent it sitting on a bench in the shade of a small park near my home. After all the deaths and all the big ships out catching all the fish our ospreys need to live on, I just needed some quiet. It was a blessing. There was a little red squirrel scurrying about and an interesting woman who stopped to chat with me for a few minutes.
At home, Mr Crow continues to bring the babies, all six of them, for food. He will walk around the top of the fence railing to check and see if the dishes are full. Then he will caw to all the others. Then there is a ‘murder’ of Crows at the buffet. We have new neighbours. Our old ones loved the birds along with their little girl. I am hopeful that the new couple will be just as delighted with all the animals scurrying around the birds flying in and out.
They stand with their beaks open wanting Mum and Dad to feed them. I can hear the conversation now, ‘See that lady inside that room, she feeds you now!’ I don’t mind. I love our little paradise in the middle of a city.
The infant Cowbird bring raised by the sparrows has been at the bird bath much of today.
There is the difference in size between the baby Cowbird and the adult sparrows.
Dyson’s mate was out eating peanuts today and not too happy to have me working on the little path in the garden. They certainly let it be known that it is their territory!
It is a work in progress. Much more wedding has to be done behind the perennial flowers and I have had to order more top soil to be delivered. I had hoped to have it all finished by the end of the weekend but that top soil delivery has held me back.
News from Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey for Connick, Clive and Connie’s eaglet of 2023 who fell from the nest due to a feather issue. Connick has also donated blood to a Red-tail Hawk at the Center. Way to go Connick!
We are still watching those nests in the Pacific Northwest. I am just going to keep listing them until we get a break in the weather.
Cowlitz: ‘PB’ reports that Cowlitz has had fish and that little got some good bites. She follows up, “Cowlitz dad brought fish around 5pm nest time! Little impressed me by getting up front by mom, getting attacked by #1 but this time he didn’t stay down.He kept getting back up to grab more bites!”
‘PB’ continues to report: “Cowlitz dad fish 7:08pm…little was just attacked hard so not sure if he will get any. Little still down and #1 attacked it again when down after the feeding. Poor little is ok up and near mom. If only he would have moved on right of mom he would have safe and had food. 2 older ones have full crops.”
Steelscape: ‘PB’ also reports that Dad is getting fish on the nest.
Sandpoint: Cam is back on line. According to the chat, plenty of fish have come on the nest and I saw three. Keo is doing well. Keke and River was so full that he got a good piece of fish. We have to remember that the adults have to eat in order to be healthy to provide for their chicks. I am hoping that Iris and Finnegan will begin to eat more.
Clark PUD: It is hot on top of that nest. Dad brought in at least 2 fish, perhaps more. The camera angle makes it impossible to tell. Mum and Only Bob look alright.
Port Ridgefield: 99 F. Cam is still down. People in the area have seen Dad fishing. We will be looking for a fledge and just might miss it.
McEuan Park: Still two chicks alive out of a four chick clutch. Will try and catch a fish delivery. No rewind so this is problematic. Chicks are hot. One on the far rim of the nest. Worrisome. Have not seen a fish delivery yet but it doesn’t mean there hasn’t been one. Mum off the nest. Maybe she went fishing?
Their weather forecast. It was 99 F today.
Charlo Montana: One fish early and another mid-afternoon. It is hot, hot and Like Iris, Lola, is trying to keep her three chicks shaded while she gets super hot protecting them.
Hellgate Canyon: It wasn’t a whopper but the first fish came in early at 0817. I am sure that Iris was thrilled.
Montana temperatures. Remember this is not a heat index and it is not the more hotter temperature on the nests.
By 0930, Iris is being a Mumbrella to keep the chicks cool. It is 88 F.
The little one still has a very slight issue with its left eye.
Finnegan is back with another fish at 1109.
Iris is an amazing Mumbrella.
Third fish at 1550. Impossible to tell the size.
Late evening and ‘PB’ writes: “Finn just brought huge fish and everyone is hungry! He is amazing! Hellgate babies crops are flat so needed this. Finn tried to steal fish and Iris said NO. Finn is stealing pieces dropped by his kids. Finn brought this huge fish in whole, he could have easily took it to the owl pole to ear first, but he took it to his family. He is hungry trying to self feed off fish.”
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum: Fish at 0611, 0947, 1252, 1555 nice headless large fish, rains arrived in late afternoon. 74 F with 5 mph winds.
Marder’s: Only Bob is looking good.
Snow Lane, Newfoundland: Beaumont has been delivering some exceptionally nice fish and Hope has been feeding the two chicks and as one long time observor noted, she is even being a Mumbrella this year. Hope has never, that I am aware of, shaded her chicks. I find this behaviour interesting along with the feedings. Is this the original Hope?
Blackbush: ‘PB’ reports that Little had a really great breakfast. Good news.
Pitkin County: Dad has been busy hauling in some large fish for the family!
Sunnie Day reports that the chicks on the Iowa-DNR are getting those all important primaries and just doing so well. Four gorgeous osplets strengthening their bodies for flight.
CJ7 and Blue 022 continue to shine. These two raised four beautiful really healthy osplets! Now for the goshawk to just keep its bloody distance. Blue 022 deliveried many nice fish today at the following times: 0743, 1156, 1239, 1519, 1824, 1947.
Geemeff’s report from Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Tuesday 9th July 2024
There was much confusing action today, at times difficult to unpick. The day started at midnight as so much light was provided by noctilucent clouds that the nest cams didn’t switch over and remained on day mode. Dorcha arrived early on Nest Two, Louis was seen much later but only flew over her to land in the Scots Pine instead of joining her on the nest. Then Affric 152 paid two quick visits to Nest One after not being seen there since May. Later LizB checked the Bunarkaig nest, thought to be the home of Affric & Prince, and confirmed one adult had a blue Darvic and the other was unringed – which matches with Affric & Prince. Sadly only one small head was seen bobbing around, so it looks as if the second chick hasn’t survived, with luck raptor expert Lewis Pate will be able to give more information when he does his ringing rounds. Back at Nest Two, Louis joined Dorcha on the nest to deal with a persistent intruder Osprey, the dark female who had intruded on the 7th. There was much alarm chipping, mantling and flying about, until the intruder left the area, only to turn up on Nest One, fish-calling, and who responded? Garry LV0! First he brought her a fish, which was eagerly accepted, and then he tried a clumsy mating attempt, which was less eagerly received, before both of them flew off the nest together. An intriguing situation – will Garry be successful this time? Fingers crossed for him. Weather was reasonably settled with some rain, and a colourful sunset ended the day, more rain expected overnight and tomorrow. No further updates yet on our chicks who are warm, dry, well fed and well looked after by the translocation project team.
Night cam switches on (no night / day cam switchover last night): Nest One 23.27.16; Nest Two 23.27.59
Today’s videos:
https://youtu.be/H3_8HTR1TVA Noctilucent clouds around Nest Two (Classic Ospreys: Pachelbel ) 01.30 – 02.45 (quicktime)
Ah, look at the little Dorset Hobbys! The oldest horked the leg!!!!
And the breakfast feeding on the 9th for both of the little eyases.
So many deaths and traumatised animals, domestic pets included, over fireworks that I was dismayed to see a huge display over the Green Ledge Lighthouse on Long Island where there is a nest of three osplets.
Fledglings on the nest at VIMS.
The three at Collins Marsh appear, through this hazy camera, to be doing well. Some bright coloured fish coming on the nest!
Great Bay chicks are flying.
Richmond and Rosie’s babies can be seen flapping.
‘H’ reports:
7/9 Osoyoos osprey nest: Late yesterday Olsen arrived at the nest holding something in his talons, but we couldn’t see what he had. The family did not act like he had food. But this morning, there it was right in the middle of the nest… a nice sized partial fish. At 0442 Soo arrived at the nest and immediately picked up the fish and fed her youngsters. Little found a spot on the other side of Soo from the siblings, and soon Big beaked Middle. Little and Big were fed, and Middle stayed back. Middle could have beaked Little to claim that spot at Soo’s beak, but for some reason s/he didn’t. Little ate at least 67 bites of fish. Middle only ate a few bites. Also yesterday, Soo had made a couple of brief attempts to feed from a large partial fish that Olsen had delivered at 2015. This morning at 0457 she picked up that fish (still lying on the rails) and once again started to feed. But, after a minute or so, she stopped. At 0706, Soo grasped that fish in her talons and flew off the nest with it to get rid of it. Even though Olsen had eaten half of that fish, Soo had simply found it objectionable.
Olsen’s first delivery today was at 0951.. a large partial fish. Little moved away from the fish, Big beaked Middle, and eventually Big beaked Little. Big was fed, and periodically Big turned to beak or intimidate her siblings just to make sure they understood her opinion on the matter. Little and Middle bravely reached in and grabbed fish bites now and then, and were punished by Big for doing it. By 1022 Middle was eating consistently, and at 1028 Big retired from the meal. Up to that point, Little had eaten about 20 bites, and s/he now moved up to Mom for a good feeding. Little ate until 1036, at which time s/he was beaked by Big, but the meal was over anyway. That was a 45-minute feeding, and Little ate approximately 87 bites of fish.
At 1205 Olsen dropped off a medium sized whole fish. There was no beaking! The siblings all ate side by side, but our view was partially blocked, and it wasn’t possible to see how much Little ate. The feeding lasted for 15 minutes.
My weather source indicated the Osoyoos temperature at 1450 was 104F/40C. Despite the heat, Olsen delivered a small whole fish at 1441. Again, our view of the feeding was mostly blocked, but it appeared as though the chicks were all lined up near Soo, and there was no apparent aggression. The meal lasted for 7-minutes.
My goodness, Dear Olsen was working so hard in the extreme heat… he brought another fish at 1453. It was a medium sized headless fish, so at least Olsen was eating to take care of himself. This was a 14-minute meal, and there was some aggression. Big intermittently beaked Little, but Little still managed to eat 36 bites of fish at this meal, and had a nice crop after the back-to-back meals. I did not see any further fish deliveries today. The predicted high temperature for 7/10 is 104F/40C, and it will be sunny with light winds.
7/9 Patuxent River Park: Middle had fledged on 7/8, and today at 1115 Big fledged at 63 days of age. Congratulations, Big! She had been ready to fly for a few days, and had been seriously thinking about it all morning. We had thought that she was going to take off a few times. So, why did Big fly at 1115? Well, let me think about that… It was because someone had approached the nest in a boat. We could hear them, and Mom, Little and Big could also see them. The human that was at the nest caused Big to take off at that moment! You see… for a couple of days there had been a small smudge on the camera, and the Park staff thought they would just paddle on over and clean it for the viewers. How nice of them. They apparently had no clue as to the status of the pre-fledgling birds in the nest. At 59 days of age, Little is behind his big sisters in his flight readiness, and he needs a few more days of feather growth and practice before he will be ready to fly. It is very fortunate that Little did not jump from the nest when the human reached up and wiped off the camera lens! Big has not returned to the nest as yet, but perhaps she’ll fly in for ‘breakfish’.
7/9 Colonial Beach osprey nest: This area has been extremely warm, with temps in the mid 90’s. It may be even hotter up on the nest. The 14 and 15-day-old chicks are often seen ‘panting’ and in some slight distress. Betty tries to shield them from the hot sun. David is doing his best to provide some nice hydrating fish, and I saw six fish brought to the nest. Chick #1 didn’t want to eat at the 1045 meal, and that was very worrisome. But s/he seemed to recover, and ate well at the next three meals.
7/10 Audubon Boathouse osprey nest: Things are going very well for Dory, Skiff, 26-day-old Harbor, and 22-day-old Gray.
7/10 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Captain Mac’s Fish House): This nest is doing well. For the most part, they have benefited from the Atlantic Ocean breezes, and have been spared some of the extreme heat lately. Johnny and June are doing a nice job caring for their 26-day-old osplet. For my own use, I have named the little kiddo ‘Fen’. ‘Fen’ is a gender neutral name of English origin, and it means ‘marshland’.
Be grateful for every chick that lives. It was a record loss in 2024 for Kielder. – 12 chicks died. ‘PB’ is reporting this morning that fish are coming into Cowlitz, but Little has not had anything to eat. Everyone is hot and hungry. Please send good wishes to these nests.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care of yourself. Go out for a walk, sit in the sunshine for a couple of minutes (don’t get too hot), listen to the birds, and breathe. It has been a rough week. Celebrate the survivors! And be back with us soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, observations, images, posts, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, H, J, PB’, Carova Beach, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, Cowlitz PUD, Steelscape, Sandpoint Ospreys, Clark PUD, Port of Ridgefield, McEuan Park, The Weather Network, Charlo Montana, Montana Osprey Project, MN LA, Marder’s Ospreys, Newfoundland Power, Pam Breci, Pitkin County, Snnie Day, BoPH, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Dorsett Hobbys, Greens Ledge Light Preservation Society, VIMS, Collins Marsh, Great Bay, SF Golden Gate Audubon, The Chronicle, Osoyoos, Patuxent River Park, Fenwick Island, Audubon Boat House, and Colonial Beach.
‘The Girls’ bring me so much comfort when the days are sad and long. I cannot imagine a world without them or Mr Crow screaming at me or the little squirrels running around the deck and the feeders. They help to bring a sense of calm when things just seem chaotic and well, bloody terrible.
Mr Crow knows precisely where to position himself above the conservatory to see if I am home! Then he begins cawing like I am pulling his tail feathers out for cheesy dogs. I know know that he also knows my car and starts calling the minute I get home if his dish is empty.
Look at Calico’s ears and expression. She is on the foot stool. She knows that Baby Hope is going to pounce any moment! Can anyone find Hugo Yugo?
A year ago, Calico’s kittens were one week old. She was scurrying back and forth from eating at our house to caring from them about a block away under a person’s deck. Only one survived, Baby Hope. I have no idea how many were born as it was impossible to get under the deck. We had to wait til they were older. It was a challenge to socialise Baby Hope but she is now the sweetest thing.
Calico watching the baby birds outside.
The Girls want to send each of you a flower. Our Hibiscus plant is bursting with gorgeous pink.
I am going to start with something to put a smile on our faces – a gregarious third hatch that survived with two brothers, Bazza and Falkey, on the Port Lincoln Nest – because, as chicks, they cooperated. As fledglings, never when it came to fish, but while they were on the nest they were sweet and considerate. It is Ervie. Dear Ervie.
There has been no sighting of Bazza since he left the nest (red band), and Falky was seen some 350 miles north (yellow) which always made me think Falky might have been a female. Other than the one sighting there has never been another word about Falky. We have, however, gotten great joy out of Ervie fishing with Dad at Delamere, sitting on top of the pine tree, and flying back and forth to various other areas around the Port Lincoln barge including his own nest. Thank you for staying so we could see you, Ervie – or being within sight of a photographer! You are adored.
And another happy moment. It is so wonderful to hear that Nox is doing well. Isn’t he cute?
There has been tremendous sadness within the Osprey populations this season, in the same way, that the Eagles had a very bad year. On Monday, I received word of Darling dying, and then one of my researchers, ‘VV’, who monitors 17 nests in Maryland, reported that the season was over. Every chick had died, or the nest had failed. The losses are attributed to a lack of essential fish and very hot weather. And predation or intrusion in one. We are also wondering about other underlying causes. Of those nests, the geese broke the eggs in one; in another, the eggs rolled out. Neither couple laid a second clutch. Only five nests had chicks this year, within those, nine known osplets have perished. The other nests failed completely.
Many of us are just worn out and wish the end of Osprey season would come so that we could control our emotions. I thought last year was bad in the NE United States but I fear that this year will be far worse along with other nests in the NW.
One has to imagine that so many nests are unmonitored and the losses are there, we just do not see them. The area that suffered the Nor’easter last June is set to have as many deaths this year from the extreme heat and lack of food for the Ospreys. I will include all reports from the area as they come in – probably nearer to the end of August.
Hearing this news just makes it more important that the Menhaden that the Ospreys (amongst others) depend on for the primary food source is protected not depleted by the Canadian company, Omega! Or any other company from any other country. The fishing of Menhaden must stop. How we gather ourselves together to start a movement like Rachel Carson did for DDT I am not sure – it is all politics – but we need a united voice, every little group and each person – to try and provoke change.
They have basically cleared out the lower Chesapeake where so many nests are. So when I report on these little fish and the movement of the ships we need to realise that our ospreys need only approximately 500 fish for a family of three chicks and two adults (figured out by John Williams at the llyn Clywedog nest doing counts of Dylan’s deliveries). These ships take 112M tonnes.
The deaths that you will read about below are attributed to a lack of fish which is hydration for the chicks and then the heat kills the babies off. Think about it. Write to all your representatives…it is an election year in the US.
William Dunn posted the net set. Here it is enlarged – near Tangier Island.
The states that have coastal waters where the Menhaden are being decimated and the wildlife, not just ospreys, dying because of it should get together. New Jersey you should be joining Virginia and so should you Delaware, it seems. And Maryland! Make some noise. Get a different angle on this and embarrass these companies and those people funding and supporting them.
Beaumont brought in a huge fish. Hope ate. I watched. She did not feed the little ones lined up wanting some breakfast.
Sweet little babies with a piece of fish in the nest needing shade and food.
The kids were fed at around 1220.
The chicks at Llyn Brenig in Wales have been ringed, one male and one female.
Chicks ringed at Foulshaw Moss, too, if you missed it.
More great news. As you know, I am a great fan of Isabella Tree and the Rewilding Project at Knepp Farm. She has been the inspiration behind our ‘wild’ urban garden that is full of hundreds of birds, some rabbits, Red and Grey squirrels, along with a few feral cats and a raccoon. Knepp Farm had tremendous success reintroducing White Storks to the south of England after a 600 year absence.
There has been tremendous sadness within the Osprey populations this season, in the same way, that the Eagles had a very bad year. On Monday, I received word of Darling dying, and then one of my researchers, ‘VV’, who monitors 17 nests in Maryland, reported that the season was over. Every chick had died, or the nest had failed. The losses are attributed to a lack of essential fish and very hot weather. And predation or intrusion in one. We are also wondering about other underlying causes. Of those nests, the geese broke the eggs in one; in another, the eggs rolled out. Neither couple laid a second clutch. Only five nests had chicks this year, within those, nine known osplets have perished. The other nests failed completely.
I am going to literally run through some of the nests that we are primarily concerned about because of the heat today or past performance. Heidi will report on Osoyoos.
Port Ridgefield: ‘BHA’ reports that the Only Bob and adults were alright Monday morning. The cam has been off for the most part so there is no record of fish deliveries or images.
Cowlitz: ‘PB’ has reported to me for the entire day and Dad is keeping up with the fishing despite the extreme heat. Little has had some good feeds and a big crop. Despite the 98 degree temperatures, Dad has been bringing fish to the nest and Little has had a nice crop.
‘PB’ reports that a nice fish came on the nest early Tuesday morning and Little had about 60 bites. Thanks so much ‘PB’. This is a nest that is of real concern in this heat.
Clark PUD: Dad has brought in at least 3 fish during the day. Could not determine size. Only Bob was fed and also did some self-feeding and wingersizing.
Steelscape: Dad was busy bringing in fish while the temperatures were in the high 60s. Those times were 0622, 0843, and 1022. The 0843 was a nice sized fish. The Osplets appear to be alright. Mum was rather frantic looking for dad in the hot winds to deliver fish. After it hit 90, no fish came to the nest. ‘PB’ reports a fish at 1711. All three fighting for bites and Mum, too.
McEuan Park: We have lost another of the original four osplets due to heat and lack of food. Only two oldest left now. Please send positive energy to all of these nests.
Seaside: Bruce has been bringing in nice fish. The kids had a trout and another big flat fish, both in the afternoon. I didn’t check the morning. The nest looks good. It is 93 F at Seaside and Sand Point.
Sand Point: Offline.
Minnesota Landscape Arobretum: Dad is such a good provider. Mum loves her fish but she also fed her only Bob and they did fine on Monday. It was 79 F with 6 mph winds. Oh, many nests would love that! Rains came in the afternoon.
Charlo Montana: Lola is an excellent mother and Charlie has done well to get fish on the nest. Big Bob has been intimidating Little Bob at times but the baby managed to get a crop a couple of times. It is 93 degrees with a heat advisory that extends to Friday. Lola has worked hard to keep her babies shaded.
Loveland:
Colonial Beach: Betty and David doing a good job keeping those two osplets hydrated and full!
Hellgate Canyon: Iris worked overtime to keep her two babies cool on a hot day. Finn brought in fish – not as many during the high temperatures, but nice big fish. The nest is under a heat advisory with temperatures rising to 101 F. Send Iris all your love.
‘H’ report:
7/8 Osoyoos osprey nest: There were six fish brought to the nest. The first fish at 0441 was tiny and it was only a 3-minute meal, Little was fed, but I could not see how much. At 0502 Olsen delivered another whole tiny fish that allowed for a 4-minute feeding, and Little ate 11 bites of fish. 0717 was another 4-minute fish meal, and while Little was not beaked, there was simply no room at the table. The fourth fish at 0750 was larger, and Soo fed Big and Middle for 10 minutes. Little was beaked by both siblings a few times, and did not eat. More than 11 hours passed before Olsen delivered the fifth fish at 1922. It had been a very hot and sunny day with the osplets just trying to stay in Mom’s shade. The temperature at 1500 was 101F/38C. The fish at 1922 was a small headless fish that Soo fed for 7 minutes. Little was prevented from eating.
What happened next still boggles my mind, and I am still shaking my head. Olsen delivered the sixth fish at 2015. It was headless, but it was the largest fish of the day. Soo started feeding, and Little was beaked. At 2020 there may have been an intruder issue and Soo left. She returned at 2021, but did not resume the feeding. At 2023 Soo left the nest again. She returned at 2026 and resumed the feeding. At 2027 Little appeared to be getting some bites of fish on the opposite side of Soo, but I could not tell how much. Soo stopped feeding at 2028 and flew off again. Little and a sibling were trying to nibble on the fish. Soo returned to the nest at 2037 with a lovely bunch of green and orange leaves. How nice. Little had a pretty good PS at 2038. There was still quite a large piece of fish remaining at the 12-o’clock position on the sticks. Soo resumed feeding at 2040, Little was beaked. Soo stopped feeding Big and Middle at 2043, and she left the nest at 2047. As darkness started to fall, there was still lots of fish remaining. Little again tried to self-feed on the fish, but was incapable of doing so. Soo and Olsen both arrived at the nest at 2131, and Olsen had something in his talons, but I could not really see what it was. No one acted like Dad had just delivered a meal, so he must have brought some nesting material. A big piece of fish is exactly what was needed for Little to have a chance to eat. But, it just didn’t work out. Still shaking my head. High temperature predicted on 7/9 for Osoyoos is 104F/40C. It will be sunny with light winds.
7/8 Patuxent River nest: The big news of the day… Chick #2 ‘Middle’, became the first osplet at this nest to fledge, at 0824. She made a nice landing back on the nest at 1043. Congratulations Middle.
7/8 Captiva: Ding ate her two small needlefish on 7/7, and she made several additional attempts to catch a fish that day. This morning, at 0957, Ding dove into the water below the nest, and she did not return all day. Perhaps she is exploring, and seeking a better spot to fish. Ding knows that she is on her own now. You can do this, Ding. You are a strong and capable young osprey. You will find your fish.
Geemeff’s Summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Monday 8th July 2024
Another day with no fish, and no sighting of Louis on the nest, although he was heard nearby, and seen occasionally by LizB. Dorcha spent a great deal of the day on the nest, fish-calling loudly and getting no response. An intruder was seen circling around in the foreground while Dorcha mantled and alarm-called on the nest – Louis was heard alarm-chipping but wasn’t seen flying after the intruder. Something is still not right with him. Dorcha paid a visit at sunset looking very damp as if she’d been fishing, but stayed on her perch and it was difficult to see if she’d been successful. She returned unexpectedly even later, and this time she was fish calling but got no response and soon quietened down. She flew off after 11.30pm. No activity on Nest One other than a quick visit by some songbirds. Weather was mostly dry today with a few light rain showers, tonight’s forecast is a clear sky and light winds, with light rain and a gentle breeze tomorrow day time changing to a weather warning for heavy rain in the evening.
00.45 Neither cam has switched over yet. (day cam): Nest One (02.52.46); Nest Two (03.20.53)
Betsy and Frederick’s osplets are looking really, really good at the Outerbanks Nest.
Missing Thunder and Akecheta’s eaglets. Oh, they look good. What a wonderful place to be an eagle – even with the DDT. You can get a glimpse here in Lady Hawk’s video:
Archie is getting some rest! Way to go Archie. You were amazing.
Second hatch at Dorset Hobby Nest!
Thank you so much for being with us. Please stay cool, please take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their reports, notes, announcements, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘BHA, Geemeff, H, J, PB, VV’, Port Lincoln, California Raptor Centre, William Dunn, Newfoundland Power, Brenig Osprey Project, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, White Stork Project, Cowlitz PUD, Clark PUD, Steelscape, McEuan Park, Seaside Osprey Cam, MN Landscape Arboretum, Charlo Montana, Pam Breci, Colonial Beach, Hellgate Canyon, Osoyoos, Patuxent River Park, Window to Wildlife, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, OBX Osprey Cam, Lady Hawk, SK Hideaways, and Dorset Hobby Cam.
Oh, Sunday was a joyful and a tearful day. My superb neighbours have moved. To their little daughter, I was the ‘Tomato Fairie’. She loved the little grape tomatoes and paper baskets of them appearing regularly on her front porch. I shall miss them terribly. Friends visited, and later, we took the grandson, who works too hard and who we don’t see so often, for dinner and then picked up his sister to go for ice cream. We found a new little ice cream shop – they are popping up everywhere. It was delicious. Then we went for a walk to check out the river, which has flooded the walks and bike paths down to The Forks. We spotted a family of ducks who seemed fine.
It was a good day to be outside and to be with friends and family. The killing of the second Golden Eaglet by the first, followed by the little Dunrovin chick falling off the nest to its death, and the discovery that all three Redding osplets were dead in the nest —–well, it was a difficult day. These deaths should always remind us to hold those alive close and to celebrate those who survived this year. So many didn’t. As one of my friends told me today, please don’t wait for the politicians and policymakers to do anything to improve the lives of our wildlife and environment. If we each do something good positive, however small, our planet will be a better place.
My posting may meander a little today. Several people are monitoring nests, especially for fish drops in this heat so there might be some later inclusions.
Was it true or is it just a rumour? I am still trying to figure this out. It was reported that the second hatch, Raider, at the Patchogue nest on Long Island fledged at 0511 with a successful return to the nest. Patches was flapping and Raider joined in hopping and flapping and away it went!
Not true.
Raider fludged later. See post below by Heidi.
Check out the look on Raidier’s face as he slides down the perch. Patches is paying no mind. That fish is good!
Also from Patchogue, ‘MP’ says “Chickie takes dad’s toe almost off thinking it’s a fish. Fish under green line.”
We have been worried about Blue at the Hancock Boundary Bay Nest. Deb Stecyk gives us an uplifting video showing Blue’s crop and a good ps. Relief.
At the Snow Lane nest in Newfoundland, Beaumont often brings fish to the nest and then flies to the camera pole to have a wee bit of a dinner for his efforts and returns the fish to the nest for Hope to feed their two chicks. She is doing much better than in previous years. Feeling hopeful.
Plenty of food continues to arrive on the Golden Eagle nest #2 after the eldest killed the youngest on the 7th of July. At one time, I hoped there was a shortage of prey. I even rationalised this to myself but, then, when the prey came on the nest, item after item, after the eldest had killed the youngest, it just confirmed that it was a strategy to get the one to kill the other. That second hatch survived the first attempt at killing it. Why not feed them both so close to fledge and see which one survives in the wild? Well, we will never know.
Great Bay nest is doing well. Osplets are really perfecting their self-feeding. I cannot confirm how much fish came on this nest on Sunday.
The males in areas where the extreme is going to be a factor appear to be going out fishing early and later in the day with success. Today’s high at Charlo, Montana will be 97 with 4 mph winds. It is forecast to be 99 on Wednesday. Let’s hope that the fishing continues to be good despite the heat.
This is Charlo Montana very early Sunday morning.
Finnegan also brought in an early fish at 0556.
In past summers, Iris would be in the shade catching her own fish. She is now trying to keep her two chicks cool while they wait for Finnegan to bring in another fish.
If Finnegan thought he was going to have some fish, Iris might have had another thought for him. She stuffed those two osplets to their little tiny talons and then back to the top of their heads. She knows it is hot. She knows they need hydration. Finnegan is making sure his family does not go without.
Just look at that crop!!!!!
The little one raises its neck and stands up and looks at the older sibling. It was hilarious.
Date Night on the Perch with Iris and Finnegan! (Thanks PB for alerting me to where they were!)
I did not see an early fish on the nest at Dunrovin but I might have missed it. The pair are enjoying a late breakfast or early lunch around 1130 on Sunday. This nest might miss much of the heat that other areas are getting. And then…the most horrific sadness hits the nest. The young one fell off the nest over the railing. Such a loss. A beautiful healthy osplet on a nest with food. Soar high, little one.
Note to self: I love how some nests are annual inspected and repaired by the owners of the property and the streaming cam. Glaslyn (if I remember correctly) checks the woven railing and rewires it if required when they do their annual renovations. Many nests could use nesting material, too. Thinking of MN LA. What if we helped the Ospreys this way? Could save a life or two.
Melbourne police rescue an osprey! Thanks, Geemeff. We need a good news story.
Steelscape is one of the nests in the high heat area.
‘PB’ watches Cowlitz PUD and despite the heat it was a good day.
There is no end to sad news and I thought June was the worst month. The Osprey family whose chicks survived the fireworks in Redding have died.
Fireworks are not the only stressors. Humans around nests trying to take photographs, dogs, motorised vehicles, etc. have been known to cause great stress. I am sure there is a list as long as my arm.
Geemeff’s Daily Summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Sunday 7th July 2024 There was an intruder but no fish today – Louis teased Dorcha again by appearing several times without fish and staying nearby within sight so she kept calling to no avail. The nest was overflown by an intruder who returned and landed on the nest next to Louis and was seen to be a dark female with striking markings, possibly the same one who intruded in 2021, see bonus video. Dorcha arrived and chased her off, all the way past Nest One where Dorcha dropped in briefly for her first ever visit to that nest. Weather was settled today, tonight’s forecast is partly cloudy and light winds, but rain is due again tomorrow. Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.51.05 (03.18.25); Nest Two 23.54.50 (03.27.43)Today’s videos: https://youtu.be/FrXbbUeLP1k N2 Louis arrives without fish – Dorcha yells at him 13.01.45 https://youtu.be/2OI2t67rNhU N2 Intruder overflies Dorcha on the nest 13.35.35 https://youtu.be/rzFuxemIvPE N2 Unringed intruder female lands next to Louis 13.55.40 https://youtu.be/LwP5OtDRWKY N1 Dorcha’s first ever visit to Nest One! 15.06.42 https://youtu.be/AX4rxHJaSWoN2 Louis arrives and coy mantles but no fish for Dorcha 15:21:08
Bonus video – compare and contrast today’s dark intruder with the very dark one seen once only on 27 May 2021, is it the same bird?:
Watch the Loch Arkaig Osprey livestream 24/7 and join in the conversation here:
Tuffy landed on the nest with a nice-sized fish he had caught. What a joy to see him. The camera will be turned off today. It could be already by the time you read this. At one point, we did not think Tuffy would survive Ruffie. Well, he did. Please notice the distinctive head marking. You will always know that it is Tuffy. There is a dark patch at the back of the head, too. Their heads and underwing markings never change in an osprey. So even without rings on their legs, if you know these, you can tell which osprey is which.
Tuffy is one of the good survival stories of the 2024 breeding season and we will always remember him (or her). What a great nest. Camera will be turned back on when Sally and Harry return to the nest.
See Heidi’s report below.
For the Decorah North eagle family, there is no place like home even if it is a dead tree without a nest. They are all fine. What a joy it is to see them, too.
Fish are coming in at Boulder. It is 46 F and 1 mph winds. The high this week will be 80 at the nest.
It is a lot hotter at the Seaside nest of Bruce and Naha. Bruce flew in with a really big Red-tail for Naha and the kids at 1649. This will keep them nicely. Temperature is expected to be 90 degrees F with 14 mph winds on Monday.
‘PB’ reports that a nice late fish came into Steelscape. They are in the hot zone, too.
Cowlitz has fish, too. The Dads on that Columbia River are really working hard to get fish to their nests in this heat.
‘H’ reports:
7/7 Osoyoos osprey nest: It was a sunny day, and the temperature reached 100 F/38 C yesterday afternoon. Olsen brought eight fish to the nest, but most of them were quite small. When the ‘kids’ were little, that would have been ample, but now it may be only half (or less) of what they need. Five of the fish were delivered before 0900, while the sixth fish was delivered at 1657. Meal duration times were: 5, 7, 4, 3, 18, 5, 8, 5 minutes. Our views of the feedings were partially blocked at times, making it difficult to determine how much Little was eating. There was no aggression at the first three meals, and Little seemed to eat some fish at each of those meals. Big beaked Little at the third meal, which consisted of a tiny fish, and Little ate one bite of fish. The fifth fish, at 0849, was the largest. Little was beaked, but managed to start receiving some bites on the other side of Soo at 0855 for a couple of minutes. I could not tell how much Little was able to eat. When we say the osplets are ‘at the table’ or ‘at the chow line’, we are referring to them being in a position to receive bites of fish offered by the parent. When the ‘kids’ were little, the ‘table’ was small. They could all fit side-by-side compactly in a small area, easily within reach of Soo’s beak. But, at the current size of the chicks, the ‘table’ is wide. There was no aggression at the sixth feeding, at 1657. Little was skittish, and waited a couple of minutes before approaching. When Little was ‘at the table’, s/he was positioned closer to Soo’s tail. It was only a 5-minute feeding, and I did not see Soo reach back and offer a bite to Little. There was an 8-minute feeding at 2058, and once again, Little hesitated to approach. But when s/he did get to the table at 2103, he ate two bites, then was beaked. The last meal of the day was at 2122, and lasted five minutes. Little was beaked, and was not able to eat. Little’s crop was noticeably hollow. Unfortunately, Little did not eat much today, which is all the more serious due to the extreme heat which can hasten dehydration. Little’s last good meal was around 11:00 on 7/6. Middle was not prevented from eating today. It’s going to be another hot sunny day on 7/8, with the high temperature predicted to hit at least 102F/39C. Winds will be 14-22 mph. Wouldn’t it be nice if Olsen could find a big whopper of a fish? Surely, Little would then get a good meal. Good luck out there Olsen…we know that you are doing your best.
7/7 Patuxent River Park: The osplets are 57, 60, and 61 days old. A few days ago, Big and Middle were making some progress with wingersizing and managing some brief hovers. But, over the last couple of days, their activity has been reduced, possibly due to the extreme heat and calm winds. The temperatures have been in the upper 90’s.
7/7 Captiva osprey nest: Ding is 75 days old, and fledged 15 days ago. On 7/6, Ding caught her first fish, and it was a needlefish. This morning, on just her third fishing attempt of the day, Ding caught another needlefish! After she finished her breakfast, she resumed diving for fish. On her sixth fishing attempt of the day, Ding caught another needlefish, just 32 minutes after her last successful catch. You go girl! Ding may be known by some viewers as the ‘Needlefish Kid’. Ding made numerous attempts at fishing over the next six hours. Edie was not seen on 7/7. Ding is expending a lot of energy with her fishing. It would be wonderful if Edie would drop off a fish for Ding in the morning.
7/7 Moorings Park osprey nest: Monday morning at 0900 the camera will be turned off for the season. Tuffy treated viewers to some extended appearances today. At 11:29 we witnessed Tuffy dive into the water to try to catch a fish. He didn’t appear to come away with a fish on that attempt. About an hour later, Tuffy flew to the nest carrying a tilapia. Tuffy was wet, and shaking off water. He took a long time to eat that tilapia. How wonderful that we got to witness those events on the last day of the live stream. We have been blessed to witness your life thus far, Tuffy… through all your struggles and your victories. You are a survivor. We wish you a long and prosperous life.
Studies identifying the extent of the bycatch problem and our beloved birds like those cute little Royal Cam chicks. We do not want them, their parents, or any of the colony ending up like the ones below. Those trawlers gather the fish to provide feed for salmon and chickens. Want to save our seabirds? Stop eating farmed fish and industrially grown chickens.
New study shows the real scale of seabird bycatch in European waters.-https://www.birdlife.org/news/2024/07/03/bycatch-tragedy-we-are-losing-200000-seabirds-annually/
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, H, MP, PB, TU’, PSEG, Heidi McGrue, Deb Stecyk, Newfoundland Power, Eagle Club of Estonia, Great Bay Ospreys, Charlo Montana Osprey Cam, Montana Osprey Project, Dunrovin Ranch, Space Coast Daily, Pam Breci, FORE, Geemeff and the Woodland Trust, Moorings Park, Raptor Resource Project/Explore.org, Boulder County, Seaside Ospreys, Steelscape, Cowlitz PUD, Birdlife International, Osoyoos, Patuxent River Park, and Window to Wildlife.
Oh, goodness. The operative word in parts of North America is ‘hot’. It is not as hot as it has been in Winnipeg – say last summer when we reached 38 degrees C and that might still happen – but, it is ‘hot’ and humid. The garden feels like you are inside a greenhouse. ‘The Boyfriend’, Calico’s tuxedo cat friend with whom she used to visit the garden last summer, slept in the shade of the lilacs while we were planting. We voted, and he got a big tin of sardines for his supper—poor thing. I wish he would stay in the garden. There is a fantastic place for him to sleep, lots of water, and lots of food. Much to my dismay, he can catch a sparrow if he wants. Oddly, he never bothers the birds at the feeders. It was Calico that did!!!!!!!!
Saturday morning, Baby Hope and Calico rested on the tiles in the conservatory, watching a host of baby birds trying to eat seed and Virginia Creepers. One of those babies was a Brown-headed Cowbird. You might recall I mentioned that the Cowbirds had visited the garden 4-6 weeks ago. Well, they snuck at least one of their eggs into the nest of either a sparrow or a European Starling. Those parents fed that baby Cowbird while its parents were off having a holiday! It is approximately three times the size of the baby sparrows. I do hope to get some good photographs of them.
Playing with the phone!
Everyone is vying for a chance to get some cheesy dogs on Saturday evening. There are 9 Blue Jays and 6 European Starlings, a handful of Grackles and 7 Crows at the buffet. The squirrels are over in the lilacs going after peanuts, and a little woodpecker was here eating suet. Oh, they are all so happy. Their songs are beautiful and loud.
We went for a walk at the nature centre and sat on a bench overlooking one of the ponds in the shade. It was idyllic. The slight breeze was cool.
After, I did something I shouldn’t have. We returned to the greenhouse to search for Allium, more tomatoes, and another Hosta. We came home with those, along with a tray of Persian Peppers (they are super sweet) and eggplants, celery, some colourful Milkweed and daisies, and some Jalapeno pepper plants. Almost the makings for salsa! Does anyone have a favourite homemade salsa recipe they would like to share? The greenhouse is closing tomorrow and they were practically giving the plants away today. As I drove away, I wondered what they do with the plants that are left. I hope they give them to people who might not otherwise have the opportunity to enjoy some fresh flowers or veggies.
We are always looking for real-life examples to demonstrate that human behaviour has a significant impact on our raptor families. Here is Terri from FORE, who tells us how she helped protect one Osprey family that has had problems in the past with fireworks. Please read! And thanks, ‘J’, for sending this to us! Thank you, Terri, for making sure this family was safe. You are our hero.
Every year on the 4th of July, I am always deeply concerned for the Osprey family who just happen to nest directly across the river from the Redding Freedom Festival where the fireworks display occurs. Last year, 2 of the 3 chicks bailed out of the nest sometime on the 4th of July & were never seen again. Somehow, 1 osprey chick did survive the “night of terror” and my friend followed that one for quite a while.
My dear friend and our old mutual friend, “Ospreyman Jim”, R.I.P. have spent many hours watching this beautiful raptor family. Ospreyman Jim named this pair “Ozzie & Harriet” and over the years “Eaglewoman” & “Ospreyman” had a lot of fun joking about who was the better raptor, eagles or ospreys? Sorry Jim, but you know where I stand on that one!
But, honestly I love all raptors including ospreys & all wildlife & I have deep concerns going forward for all of them. I am committed to do whatever I can do to help them & give them a voice, as are all of my Wildlife Warrior friends out there!
So, on this 4th of July, my friend & I worked with our Raptor Rescue Angel Marily Woodhouse from Defiance Canyon Raptor Rescue to come up with a plan to do what we could do to help this beloved Osprey Family.
My friend & I met down at the Osprey Nest Area at 9:30pm, which was a complete Zoo on the 4th of July! This is a very popular spot to watch the Redding firework display since it is literally right across the river from it! We had scoped out a spot ahead of time where, using my binoculars, I could keep an eye on the nest & watch to see if any of the chicks bailed out during the fireworks. Then, we found a trail that we could easily go down to the area under the nest if any of the chicks bailed. We brought all of the supplies we needed to capture them, if we could reach them, and then we planned to meet Marily so she could take them to her Raptor Rehab Center up in Manton. (My only fear was they might end up in the river where I believe last year’s 2 chicks ended up & then we wouldn’t be able to reach them.) But, we figured we needed to take a shot because there was also a chance they could land down below the nest in the blackberry bushes or in a spot where we could reach them.
Thankfully, my friend advised me ahead of time to bring ear plugs & I honestly don’t think I would’ve made it without those! I have extremely sensitive hearing along with being a very sensitive person, so this was not somewhere I really wanted to be! It was truly one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done! And I’ve had to do some really difficult things lately as you all know. Those 20 minutes of horror felt like it went on forever! Watching those poor ospreys up there in the nest trying to comprehend what in the world was happening to them & to their peaceful, quiet habitat was absolutely torturous for me. It sounded like they were being shot at with a shotgun repeatedly for 20 minutes!
Mama Harriet stayed in the nest with the 3 chicks the whole time, but at one point when the fireworks first started, she began flapping her wings & hovered above the nest for a second before she landed back in there with her babes. I was so glad she did!
I thought for sure they were going to all bail out, because if I had been up in that nest I know I would have! There were so many extremely loud concussive blasts this year, and the last few minutes were filled with them! And it is so close to the Osprey Nest which is right across from the Redding Rodeo Grounds.
We were so relieved when it finally ended at 10:20pm and none of the chicks had bailed out!!! I was so glad it was over & I know Harriet & her chicks were, too!
My friend went down the next morning at 6:30am to check on the Osprey family & all 3 chicks were in the nest with their sweet Mama Harriet. He said Harriet stayed in there the whole time he was there & I’m sure it was going to take her a while before she felt safe enough to leave her babies alone after what had happened there the night before! Good ‘ole Ozzie brought in 2 fish for the kiddos while my friend was there, so that was a great sign & they need all of the hydration they can get right now with these ridiculously high temperatures we’ve had! It reached 117 degrees yesterday & expecting 119 degrees today! What wildlife can survive these temperatures?!? These 3 chicks are due to fledge around July 12th so they still have a ways to go so I’d ask that you please keep them in your thoughts this next week & hopefully they will make it!
I know part of why this is so upsetting to me is partly because I’m older & wiser now. I still remember when I was younger I really enjoyed watching firework displays with my family & friends & never even considered how it affected wildlife! But, it’s also because now I am so lucky to spend so much time observing our Redding Eagles & many other Eagles & wildlife on a daily basis. I’ve grown to love them & care for them so deeply as if they are members of my own family. So, watching this osprey family having to endure 20 minutes of pure terror felt so wrong to me? It almost made me physically sick to my stomach. I’m sure It didn’t help that I’m still traumatized from what happened or our Luna & Sol
Aren’t there any protections for these nesting Ospreys? I know they are protected by The Migratory Bird Act & several Federal Laws just like Bald Eagles are? According to those laws, you are not allowed to disturb an active raptor nest? So, I’m not sure how this has been allowed to happen each year? Because I can tell you, it was definitely disturbing to this Osprey Family!
So, I’m not trying to be controversial, but I simply would like to start a conversation about what can be done? Is there anything Fish & Wildlife can do? (I will be speaking to them about this & I will let you know what they say.) Would the City ever consider changing the location? I know this has been happening at this location for many years & I’m sure there are good reasons for it being there. Would the City consider using an alternative to fireworks? As many of you know, we live in a high fire danger area & this really seems to be a potential recipe for disaster? Anything we can do as a City to prevent future wildfires is a positive step in my book! I don’t see things getting better as far as our fire danger goes…
Several other Cities are beginning to use drones instead of fireworks, is that something the City of Redding & the McConnell Foundation who pays for the event would consider doing? Raptors don’t like drones, but as long as they are not flying immediately above the Osprey Nest I think they would tolerate drones since it would be happening at 10pm when it is dark & they are not active or flying around. So, that might be a good alternative to consider?
I honestly don’t want to spoil the fun for anyone! But, if we could put our heads together & try to find something that is still awesome & enjoyable for us humans to watch, but at the same time doesn’t disturb wildlife, that would be a win-win for all of us! Not to mention our own dogs & cats!
Here’s an article with more information about other Cities who are now using Drones instead of Fireworks & it looks really cool! I know change is hard for all of us humans, but maybe it is time for us to start thinking outside the box & try something new?!? We are the ones who are supposed to be taking care of the wildlife on our Planet so this would be a great start!
~Terri
If you are concerned about Blue at the Hancock Boundary Bay nest, things looked alright on Saturday. Blue had an early breakfast. Mum was in the nest during the night. It was a nice chunk of ‘something’, and I bet it is enough to keep Blue alive for another day.
Look at Blue. He looks good – I can’t tell if that is a wing or a huge crop. That shade that David Hancock designed for the eagles is really important. It is nice that someone is thinking about their welfare in times of extreme heat.
The Estonian Golden Eagle nest has lost its second chick. The oldest killed it during the past day. This has been expected since the eldest was not successful when the second chick was quite small. The parents withhold food, waiting and watching. Once the second is killed they bring in food.
The Dorset Hobbys welcomed their first hatch on Saturday! No doubt there could be more by the time you read this post.
At Cal Falcons, Sol wants back in the nest.
Mary Cheadle posted a compilation video from 2018. It was the only other year the Loch Arkaig nest did not fledge chicks. The Pine Martens took the eggs of Louis and Aila.
It was windy in Newfoundland on Saturday. Even so, Beaumont continued to provide nice fish for the family. Hope is doing better than she has in previous years feeding their babies—I just wish she would focus more on making sure that they get lots. That little one is feisty and figured out how to get around the big sib for some nice bites at one meal.
Field Farm is still doing great. The four are magnificent. What a nest! It should put a smile on all our faces when others fail.
Clark PUD is in the centre of the heat in the Pacific NW. Dad brought in a small fish for Mum and Only Bob mid-morning on Saturday. Both ate! ‘PB’ reports a large fish coming in later for the family. Way to go Dad!
The Port of Ridgefield cam keeps going offline. Let me know if you happen to catch in on and see how Only Bob is doing. Thanks!
Need a Jackie and Shadow ‘stick fix’? I sure did!
It sounds like Eclipse is wanting some prey, Annie and Archie. No one is reponding..ah.
Little Bob at Blackbush has been brow beaten during a dreary day on the nest. Sometimes it was difficult to see if it got any fish, but it was clear in this feeding that once Big was satisfied, then Middle, Little could eat. Relief.
Things look alright for Only Bob at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum nest.
Geemeff sends us her Daily Summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Saturday 6th July 2024
Dorcha visited the nest several times today and spent long periods fish-calling, but to no avail. Louis didn’t appear on nest cam although the off-nest reports from LizB showed he was in the area for long periods of time but chose not to respond to Dorcha. He has brought four fish to the nest for her since the chicks were removed on 1st July, perhaps he’ll arrive on the nest with one tomorrow, or possibly give it to her on her favourite perch tree. No activity at Nest One today, no sign of Garry LV0 and the only other nest visitors were a pair of Hoodies pecking around Nest Two without finding any scraps. The weather was much more settled, none of the thunder showers materialised, and tonight’s forecast is partly cloudy with light winds, and some sunshine with a few showers tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.39.42 (03.29.32); Nest Two 23.27.44 (03.33.56)
The trio at Mashpee NWR in Massachusetts are doing so very, very well. Fledges coming!
The heat that is hitting the Pacific Northwest nests will be moving through and ‘PB’ sent me information that shows that the Missoula nest of Iris and Finnegan will have 101 F temperatures in the coming week. This will hit other nests in Montana. Send them good wishes
.The third hatch at the Ferguson Museum Osprey nest has died of starvation. Sadly, we may see quite a few more before next weekend. This season began with great saddness at many of the eagle nests and continues with the ospreys and even the hawks as Angel and Tom did not, as far as we know, have a clutch this season.
Sandpoint had an early fish and a late one. Both small but Mum and Only Bob had some fish. Thanks, Dad.
The nest is in Sandpoint, Idaho. The weather for the coming week at Sandpoint:
This Osprey breeding season the weather is having a huge impact on nest success worldwide. The chart below is from the eggs that we are monitoring. Those numbers will change by the time that all have migrated but weather is significant.
Two beautiful fledglings at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science on their nest wishing for a fish.
Marilyn feeding her two beautiful osplets at Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home. The third hatch died of siblicide/starvation on 31 May.
At the BUNDstiftung Goitzsche-Wildnis, the nest is really full of osplets with flapping wings! They were ringed on the 25th of June and fledgling is expected any moment!
At the Great Bay nest in Greenland, those osplets are big, appear to be healthy and well, they are just beautiful. Mum feeds, some want to feed themselves.
The Only Bob at Marder’s Osprey nest on Long Island is doing nicely. The other two eggs did not hatch. This sweet baby is 28 days old today.
‘H’ sends in her wonderful reports:
7/6 Osoyoos osprey nest: It is quite warm in Osoyoos, and predicted to be even hotter in the next few days. Osoyoos reached 35C/95F at 17:00. There were only three fish brought to the nest today. The first fish at 0841 was tiny and only provided for a 4-minute meal. Little only ate a couple of bites. The next fish at 1017 was large. There was some initial beaking of Little and intimidation of Middle by Big. Middle started to eat at 1023, and by 1028 Big moved away from Soo. At 1030 Little had a 6-minute private feeding. Soon, the siblings were all eating side-by-side. Little also ate solo for another eight minutes at 1049. The meal lasted for 50 minutes, until 1108. The next fish was delivered 9.5 hours later. The kids had spent all day trying to stay in the shade of ‘Mombrella’. At 2041 Olsen delivered a medium sized headless fish. Middle beaked Little, and Big beaked both Middle and Little, so Soo fed Big. Middle was allowed to join in the meal at 2052. Little grabbed a quick bite at 2056, so Big tried to beak Little, but missed and beaked Middle instead. So, both Middle and Little were out of the feeding, and Middle beaked Little. At 2059 Middle was back at the table and Big moved away. Little arrived, but there was hardly any fish left. Little ate a total of 8 bites of fish and the tail at this feeding. The meal lasted 20 minutes. None of this was unexpected. We knew that Olsen was going to have a difficult time finding fish to catch in this heat. And, we knew that the previously peaceful nest might become unsettled. On 7/7, the temperature is predicted to reach 100 F/ 38C, sunny with light winds.
7/6 Audubon Boathouse osprey nest: Things are going well for these ospreys that live on top of a boat house. Harbor is 22 days old, and Gray is 18 days. Despite being four days apart in age, the siblings seem to be getting along well.
7/6 Forsythe osprey nest: 46-day-old Larry is doing well. Despite the heat, Oscar and Opal have been able to provide fish for their only remaining osplet out of four. Larry was achieving some lift while wingersizing today. All hopes are for Larry to successfully fledge, in order to salvage some joy for this nest that has been incredibly sad this season.
7/6 Captiva osprey nest: Ding did not eat on 7/5, and had made several unsuccessful attempts to catch a fish by diving from the nest platform. This morning, Ding started out her day by resuming her fishing attempts. At 10:26, we saw her dive from the right perch into the water below. She quickly exited the water, circled around and landed back on the nest with a fish! Ding had caught a needlefish. Congratulations, Ding! How wonderful it was that we got to see Ding catch her first fish. We savored every bite of that needlefish right along with Ding. After her meal, Ding resumed her fishing, making multiple attempts. Later in the afternoon, Edie delivered a meaty partial tilapia for Ding. Even though her catch-to-attempts ratio will be very low at first, we are all so relieved to know that Ding may be able to provide for herself, so that she doesn’t have to rely on her parents. We have been told not to expect a report on Darling from CROW until Monday at the earliest.
7/6 Fortis Exshaw osprey nest: Louise, Harvie, and their 21, 23, and 25-day-old youngsters continue to do well. Harvie is a great provider, and there has been no significant aggression among the siblings.
‘A’ reports:
The weather in southeastern Australia is due to start warming up but only to be replaced by a lot of rain. Poor Lady and Dad are incubating in this weather, and obviously, the need to keep the eggs dry is paramount. It is now 9pm and here is today’s ranger report from WBSE:
July 7: Lady incubated all night, and was then relieved by Dad shortly after 7am. All day, she was reluctant to get off the eggs when he returned to the nest, whereas he backs straight off. Both have brought in green leaves several times, though no food. Late in the afternoon, Lady was whining for food when Dad turned up, but no delivery. She spent longer today on the eggs than he did – over 7 hours. As usual, the eggs were uncovered only very briefly. At dark, Dad settled early, as did Lady – though she was hungry. The picture shows Lady, reluctant to move off the eggs.
At Orange, it is also 9pm, Xavier is currently perched on the ledge of the scrape (Diamond is perched on the microwave), which is unusual – They are each using the other’s normal sleeping place tonight for some reason. Dear Xavier. Such an adorable little falcon. He has been mating with Diamond, bringing her food gifts and generally bonding. These two still have a way to go until egg-laying time (as I mentioned, she laid her first egg on 26 August both last year and also the year before).
Finally, at Taiaroa Head, the chicks are becoming friends again after the altercation that resulted from TFT’s attempt to take over TF chick’s nest, an advance that was not well-received. TF has reorganised his garden and resumed his throne after the small disagreement. Both chicks are well, growing fast, and starting to look like albatrosses instead of giant cotton balls. Those wingspans are looking impressive, reminding us that we are approaching the age where they will start to try feeling the sensation of wind beneath their wings. Bittersweet, like all fledges, but in this case, even more so, because it will be so very long (if at all) until we see them land back near their natal nest. It astounds me that after all those tens of thousands of kms and all that time at sea, each of them has somehow imprinted the place from which they fledge, returning there for their first forays into socialising and the task of finding a mate. It is astounding.
Finn brought one of his huge whitefish in about 18:57 but took it away again (luckily everyone already had smallish to medium crops) and didn’t return it until after 19:43, by which stage Finn had a very large crop. Only after he had eaten for nearly an hour did the chicks get fed. This is not a habit I like. Surely, he can wait for the chicks to eat before he has to spend an hour stuffing his face. It is the one thing that really annoys me about him. Why bring it in, give it to Iris, and then wrestle it back from her almost immediately? If there was sibling aggression on this nest, that is exactly the sort of behaviour likely to trigger it.
But fortunately, that is not happening on this nest and the chicks are well fed and well behaved enough for it not to be creating a problem. Hopefully, Finn will learn not to do this, especially when the osplets are young. He is still spending all night, every night, on the perch, guarding his family, and if the intruder landing on the nest the other day is anything to go by, he has a reason to be wary. He is doing a wonderful job, despite my nit-picking at his delivery routine. He is bringing a lot of fish to this nest and he is looking after both Iris and their chicks. You know how impressed I am by him.
‘PB’ reports that fish have come in to Cowlitz and Steelscape ahead of today’s high heat and that all ate including Little at Cowlitz who had about 100 bites. This is wonderful.
And last, a run away yacht crashed into the Port Lincoln Osprey nest barge! Thanks to Bart M and Port Lincoln was notified immediately. So glad no eggs or chicks on that nest.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care of yourself. Remember to drink lots and lots of water and to eat some watermelon – low in calories and it is 91% water! See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, questions, videos, announcements, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, FORE, Eagle Club of Estonia, HWF-BBC Central, SK Hideaways, Mary Cheadle, Newfoundland Power, Field Farm, Clark PUD, Blackbush Ospreys, MN Landscape Arboretum, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Mashpee NWR, The Weather Network, Ferguson Museum, Sandpoint Ospreys, International Osprey Data Project, VIMS, Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home, Goitzsche-Wildnis, Great Bay Ospreys, Marder’s, Osoyoos, Audubon Boat House, Forsythe, Window to Wildlife, Fortis Exshaw, Sea Eagle Cam, Orange Falcons, Royal Albatross Colony, Lady Hawk, Montana Osprey Project, and Port Lincoln.
Somehow, 1 osprey chick did survive the “night of terror” and my friend followed that one for quite a while.
Those 20 minutes of horror felt like it went on forever! Watching those poor ospreys up there in the nest trying to comprehend what in the world was happening to them & to their peaceful, quiet habitat was absolutely torturous for me. 
