18 October 2024
Good Morning Everyone,
Thursday was a slow ‘stay close to the cottage’ kinda’ day. Sometimes we just need to sit and not go too far. It was a beautiful blue sky with sun day and no hint of rain day. The wind was brisk and it was 10 C. The Bald Eagles were nowhere to be seen. The gulls were still feeding and in one field, the closest to where we are staying, a hawk was vigilant in its attempts to get some dinner. Tenacious. Persistent. For at least an hour. We wondered if it was sitting on top of a rabbit hole.
Our batteries should be recharged by tomorrow.
The apples continue to amaze us. We have just finished eating slivers of the Honeycrisp apples we purchased from the little stand in Port Williams the other day. There is no comparison to the apples in the shops. Crunchy. Full of juice. Delicious.
Today, this was a sign at the farmer’s market in Wolfville. In Winnipeg, these apples would be nearly $4.00 per pound. Can you imagine how many pies 25 lb would make – and for only $8.00! Oh, and these are not ones with bruises. They were perfect.
A few of the dykelands from The Lookout on the way to Cape Split. People were lining up to take images of the views. It is simply breathtaking. The water in the distance is the high tide at Wolville.
Cape Split. It is a provincial park that is fantastic for hiking.
Tomorrow, we will be checking out the height of the tide. Remember it is to be unprecedented at 43 feet. On Thursday, at 39-40 feet, the high tide was almost level with the bridge at Port Williams. Everyone is holding their breath in Hall’s Harbour, waiting to see what will happen. I hope to have some images for you. We don’t think about tides on the Canadian Prairies!
Let’s do a very brief check on the Australian nests.
At Port Lincoln, have a look. Our little osplets are both beginning to turn into Reptiles. Wilko is 13 days old, and Kasse is 10 days old. This easily accounts for the commotion caused by the fish coming in late.
Notice, the osplets head under Mum. The soft down is disappearing and giving way to that oily head that will be tinged with gorgeous copper feathers. I am not going to get anxious…the fish fairies are waiting in the wing to help out!
Mum and the kids are waiting for breakfast!
You can really notice the change in Wilko. Notice that head that is getting darker. Kasse also has some black spots!
‘A’ writes: “At Port Lincoln, dad brought in a small fish at 07:50 and both osplets had crops after the meal. Another small fish and another feeding for both at 09:02. Dad is in with yet another fish at 14:22 and this one is large and alive. Again, the osplets get a good feeding before dad is in with the fourth fish of the day at 15:24. There is bonking on this nest but as far as I can tell, it is not impacting the feedings at all. Wilco is periodically enforcing pecking order but Kasse does not appear to be particularly intimidated. We will see how this develops but it is not a significant problem at the moment.”
Bradley and Giliath have their first birthdays this week.
At the Growing Home osplet nest, Bubba is benefitting from being the ‘Only Bob’. Look at those beautiful feathers coming in. These parents have really done well with this little one.
It is really nice to see some more Australian nests coming on line.
Both SE33 and SE34 have branched. They are flapping wings and hopping all over the nest. They helped Lady and Dad defending the nest with an oil last night. https://youtu.be/CsNU5dZb0zs?
‘A’ sends the ranger report: “Today’s ranger report from WBSE:
October 18: An owl again disturbed the family, not long after midnight. SE33 sleeping on the rim was alert early – all joined in a warning and both parents chased the owl. Then a quiet night, with all waking early and greeting the day. Swooper currawong was awake early as well. SE33 is doing some serious flapping/flying across the nest to the perching branch and back. At 9:30 both parents were seen down on the river. Eaglets were waiting until, finally, at 15:13 Lady brought in part of a fish. They fought over it, with SE33 mantling, as the currawong swooped. Finally SE33 ate, with SE34 watching – a small meal. Both eagles were seen down on the river at around 4pm. Dad came in a few minutes after, chased by currawong. The eaglets were keeping their heads down, though SE34 is bolder in protesting at the swoopers. Down on the river, Lady was seen missing a catch twice. They both returned to the nest soon though, Dad with an eel and Lady right behind. SE34 grabbed it and mantled – but took a long time to break into the skin, with swooper disturbance as well. Later SE33 managed to push in and ate some. Tough prey for beginners.”
We have not seen this level of interaction between the eaglets and the swooping smaller birds in previous seasons. Will it have any effect on their ability to handle these birds post-fledge or will it make no difference at all? I have to believe it improves their chances, surely.
Breakfast came early to the triplets at 367 Collins Street! One of the trio has been consistently going into the gutter. That female is amazing. She doesn’t hold any punches and gets that chick back up with the others. She knows, like anyone living in Melbourne does, that they need to stay cool and to do that she has to be able to shade them at that end. She can’t have them exposed to the full sun.
Mum pulls her baby out of the gutter for the second time! https://youtu.be/BgKPc46O4x8?
‘A’ remarks: “At Collins Street, they were left alone for a lot of the afternoon. It was a very wet day and mumbrella was in operation for much of it, sheltering the trio as best she could. Little dad also took a couple of shifts, doing his very best to ensure that the littles stayed as dry as possible, although it was impossible to stop them getting somewhat damp. Mum herself was absolutely soaked for much of the time. She is amazingly stoic, in pouring rain or in the heat of the summer sun.
The rain was absolutely torrential at various stages, such as from about 14:00, while at other times the day was just grey and overcast with persistent rain. The first feeding I saw for the day was at 12:43. when little dad flew up to the ledge beside the scrape with a piece of headless prepared prey.
Mum quickly took charge of the food and fed the trio, who all ate well. The younger two were at the front and got the first of the food but the oldest soon joined the feeding line. Everyone had a crop by the end. They are so civilised at meal times. Yes, they compete for bites but there is absolutely zero aggression. Feedings are a noisy affair at any falcon scrape and this one is no exception. The almighty racket these three make is a happy din and one I have come to love. The soundtrack of a Melbourne spring.
The next feeding occurred when the rain eased, at around 14:45, when mum arrived with a prepared piece of prey. She may have caught this but it looks more like something she has retrieved from a pantry. Either way, it becomes the second meal of the day for the three littles, who tuck into their yummy ex-pigeon (I think) with gusto and some excitement. Mum obscures our view of the meal, so the precise division of the food is a mystery to us all, though the post-meal crops attest to the fact that all the chicks again ate well.
These three are very good at stretching and grabbing and competing for their food. It is a competitive affair but without malice. The younger chicks are often (usually) at the front of the bunch, and are not shut out of the feedings at all. This female is good at ensuring all mouths are fed and she is patient enough to keep feeding the chicks until she cannot find anyone interested in eating more. “
At Orange, nothing short of adorable as breakfast came in stages.
Both were easily in a food coma.
Yira takes their first steps! https://youtu.be/y9eBVFYZCbE?
‘A’ writes: “At Orange, there is nothing to worry about. There is plenty of prey and the littles are getting along famously. Diamond and Xavier are doing their usual wonderful parenting job. This scrape really is a joy to watch as long as Diamond is not raising more than two chicks. I would not like to watch her raising three. When the rain got really heavy, Diamond moved in off the ledge and onto her Cilla Stones, which is her usual spot when she is scared of the thunder. Those stones are her security blanket. It’s too cute. I do hope Xavier is hunkered down somewhere dry. It would be so nice if he joined the rest of the family in the scrape when the weather is so bad.
Here is today’s prey summary from Orange. Everything brought to the scrape today was a starling, with the exception of the feed at 15:46, which we think was a rosella. 18 Oct PREY 07:25:11 feed; 07:40:57 feed; 08.57.54 feed; 09.39.31 feed; 11.25.17 feed; 15:19:27 X feeds; 15:46:00 feed; 18:23:04 feed; 18:59:03 feed. Nine feedings! Seriously! “
Thank you so much for being with me today for this short catch up. Take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: To ‘A’ who filled in the blanks for all of us – a big thank you, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Growing Home Ospreys, Olympic Park Eagle Cam, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Liznm, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Falcon Cam Project.
