27 June 2024
Good Morning Everyone,
Oh, the solar-powered fountain for the bird bath has arrived. It is not as hot today, only 20 C. I will see if anyone enjoys it. – Well, not so far. I think they are afraid of the shower.
It is nice to wake up and converse with people thousands of miles away about Ospreys and their lack of food. I am specifically speaking of Menhaden in the Northeast US but, of course, warming water and pollution plus overfishing in other areas cause huge problems as well for our beloved fish eating raptors. What the folks at Menhaden – Little Fish, Big Deal and I hope to do is bring enough attention to bear on the issue of Osprey population decimation due to lack of fish that we can cause a ban on commercial fishing and get all of the authorities involved in cleaning up areas and restoring them as clean natural habitats. I am certain that those in the 1970s calling for a DDT ban faced similar challenges and the Osprey, at the time, was the canary in the mine. They certainly are again. It would be fantastic if each of us could add a voice and make a huge difference. We would all sleep better at night.
Our Ospreys in the NE USA depend on the Menhaden. Educate yourself with what is happening. This is one FB group that will. I will also post articles in the coming days.
So today I am reaching out to those watching osprey nests anywhere along the eastern coast of the US or on the Mississippi. If you have seen a nest fail, a nest where there has been a lack of food and chicks die, please send me the name of the nest and the link to the camera or web page, if possible, and anything you can remember. If you know what kind of fish they were primarily eating, even more better. Dale Neal writes to me, “Thank you, if we can show there are issues in other places along the coast, that could be large. I know herring forage fish populations are also an issue in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, not sure how many of the osprey problems further north may be related to that.” Any information will help, no matter how small and even how insignificant you might think it is. Every piece adds up to the big picture of depleted fishing stocks. Thank you so much – from the tip of my tiny little toe.
My first thought is that inland osprey nests are doing better than those along the East Coast and up in Washington and BC. This has to be proven – or disproven. If it is true (except for severe weather issues) then why? Is it a lack of fish? warm waters? over commercial fishing? or all of the above?
Let’s go with the bad news first and that comes from ‘PB’ who has been watching the Cowlitz PUD nest and Steelscape. The third hatch at Cowlitz PUD is starving to death. It has had little food for the past 2 days. It sounds cold. It is no longer trying to eat, even if a big fish is there. Poor thing. Their organs begin to go and something like cancer patients, the desire to eat leaves them. It is terrible. And it is happening repeatedly at nests we cannot see due to a sheer lack of food. I have yet to learn precisely what is happening in this area this year. Still, historically, it has been difficult because of competition with eagles who take the fish from the Osprey, according to Cowlitz PUD staff.
Electra is off the nest and may have gone fishing. Send this nest your positive energy.
In the UK, attention is coming to the plight of the Golden Eagles and the Peregrine Falcons with some good news coverage of the people who protect and help find evidence to convict.
On Tuesday Finn had a tough day fishing. Only two came to the nest – very early morning and late evening. Iris was very anxious when he came in with a whole fish on Wednesday morning and she wanted to feed her babies and not let him take that fish. Finn was hungry, too and you can bet Iris was as well.
Everyone on the nest and kids still eating after 10.
Iris and Finn had a good meal with the kids.
Finn brought in another whopper! Is anyone going to be hungry?
Finnegan’s fish is huge. Iris called and he brought it to the nest. Oldest chick eating first, but we know that this fish is so big that both chicks will be filled to the brim with even some crop drops and Iris will have some nice fish, too. Finn ate the head.
Iris makes certain her smallest chick eats.
‘R’ sent us a great little clip from a local radio show about Iris and Finnegan. Thanks, ‘R’. I was so impressed with Dr Greene’s excitement. By now, Iris must be like his own daughter and he is cheering Finnegan on!!!!
‘A’ comments on Finnegan and his fish: “No-one is going to go hungry on this nest. They ate last night from a fish Finn brought in around 6pm and they ate until they couldn’t eat any more and then Little Bob took a break and Big Bob kept eating, until Little Bob finally snapped out of his food coma and came back for seconds. There were still leftovers, which Finn claimed later.
This morning, that fish came early and it was huge! Absolutely massive. Finn had removed the head, having gone fishing very early this morning. He’s being a really good dad. These chicks are going to make very little dent in this monstrous fish. It really is the biggest of the season so far I think. Again last night, he spent the whole night on the perch, protecting his family. He has been doing this for several consecutive nights now – perhaps a week.
You could be right that he HAS done this before, but I still think he was very clumsy around the nest early on and has been learning quite a lot during the season. He is a quick learner, and his fathering is continuing to improve. So if he has, he is still very young. I cannot get over how handsome he is. Just a magnificent osprey. “
Oh, you have been waiting and they are back! The Dorset Eurasian Hobbies!!!!!!! They are incubating three eggs. There is a new basket for the birds and a new camera with IR. There is also a chatHere’s the link:
Precious osprey chicks in Latvia. It is estimated that the osprey population in Latvia has doubled since the 1990s with there being approximately 200 nesting couples in the forests. They make their nests on the tops of the tallest trees.
That second hatch at the Golden Eagle nest #2 in Estonia is truly brilliant. It is not having any difficulty self-feeding as compared to the #1 hatch who occasionally has problems. Both are doing well and this nest will really help inform studies on Golden Eagle behaviour. Plenty of food, good parenting – there does not have to be siblicide.
Great Bay Trio look fantastic.
At Field Farm, even Mini Little is getting some nice juvenile feathers.
Four beautiful civilised Bobs at the Poole Harbour nest of CJ7 and Blue 022. If you ever get to Poole Harbour, go for the Osprey cruise. You might get to see one of these amazing ospreys.
‘MM’ writes: ” found a new nest today but I’m sure it’s already on your radar but If not there are two more of the cutest chicks to add to your list. They are so little and absolutely adorable 😍 I only had a chance to watch one feeding today but will keep an eye on them as much as time allows me. From what I learned through a quick Google search the nest is on a horse ranch in Montana. Attacking a pic of the two cuties. Have a great day.” I haven’t had a chance to check on Swoop and Winnie. I am so glad that ‘MM’ did. Aren’t they adorable!?
Loveland Colorado osplets doing really well, too. Gosh they are lovely in those juvenile feathers.
Gorgeous babies at the Mashpee NWR MA osplet platform. There are three of them- oh, they are feathered and appear to be really healthy.
Did anyone follow the Pleasant Hill Osprey Platform in Perrysville, Ohio?
Two beauties at the Blackwater Refuge in Cambridge, MA.
We are sadly up to 86 on the Memorial Wall. The second osplet at Terrapin Cove in New Jersey died from lack of fish on Wednesday. Fell off nest.
The surviving chick at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum looks pretty good.
At the Allin’s Cove East nest, the adults continue to make adjustments to the rails. Will there be a hatch soon? Let’s hope!
LGL returns to feed the Royal Cam chick a squid smoothie.
Columbia science create an artificial tropical rain forest to try and save the Harpy Eagle.
USS Steel Fledgling Lucky is believed to have been spotted after many worried about whether or not he had survived. Such good news.
The trio all lined up at Charlo Montana!
Once in awhile, Hope feeds her first hatch at the Newfoundland Power nest in Snow Lane.
‘H’ reports:
6/26 Audubon Boathouse osprey nest: The chicks are 12 and 8-days-old, and have been named “Harbor” and “Gray.” From AudubonGloria (Mod): “These names come from the two year-round seal species that are found in Maine, which can be frequently spotted right in Muscongus Bay off the Hog Island docks and Boat House.” Young ‘Harbor’ has started to express its dominance over ‘Gray’, with some serious beaking and biting (aww, poor lil’ Gray!). So far, this aggression has not seemed to prevent Gray from eating.
6/26 Forsythe osprey nest: Sometimes one can try to piece together some missing nest history after a live stream has been down for a couple of days. It seems as though fishing in the area has become difficult for Oscar and Opal. There were only four fish delivered to the nest by Oscar today… two were small, one was tiny, and one was a good size fish. I noticed that the dominance by the older sibling has returned after the nest had been peaceful for at least a week. Big was aggressive and was trying to prevent Middle from eating. Middle ate for five minutes at the longest meal, and only had five bites of fish at another meal. Opal left the nest for a couple of extended periods, so she may have tried to fish as well. The osplets are 36 and 35-days-old.
6/26 Osoyoos osprey nest: They had a very good day. There were only six fish brought to the nest before the live stream went down in the evening. But, one fish was large and another fish was officially considered an Osoyoos Whopper! The kids were all bug-eyed…they had never seen such a large fish. Nicely done, Olsen! Since there were no fish with tough skin, you can judge the mass of the fish by the duration of the meal times. The first five meals took Soo 8, 10, 12, 8, and 22 minutes to feed (there were no minnows today). And, at 1715 Soo fed 1/2 of the whopper for 28 minutes! That’s fantastic for this nest.
6/26 Patuxent River Park osprey nest: It was banding day for the osplets…they all got their silver Federal bands. They were banded in the morning, and there were no complimentary fish left on the nest by the banding crew. So, their feedings got off to a late start, and perhaps due to the stress of banding, Big resumed her aggressive ways toward Little. Nevertheless, they all ate very well today.
6/26 Captiva Osprey nest: Some viewers are a little disappointed at this stage in the osplets life, because the oldest, Ding, acquires (sometimes after fierce battles) most of the fish brought to the nest. This is fairly typical however, and Darling is not starving. Darling did eat 1/2 catfish in the morning, and a small part of a catfish later in the day. Jack is doing a fantastic job, and brought five fish for his youngsters today. We also witnessed what appeared to be Ding making her first dive today!
But, the really BIG NEWS: DARLING FLEDGED at 63 days of age! Well, it wasn’t exactly planned…the siblings had been in a prolonged epic battle for the last fish of the day. Then, trying a different tactic, Darling was playing it cool, trying to act all nonchalant, and sort of casually walked around Ding (but Ding was on to him, lol). When Darling went for the grab, Ding made a big wing slap at Darling, and in order to avoid the strike, Darling propelled himself off the nest. It was actually a nice take off, and he immediately flew! Darling flew two circuits around the nest area. Darling did not return to the nest in the evening.
Sydney Sea Eagles, Lady laid her first egg. ‘J’ adds: “27th June, 2024 – 17:28 Lady finally laid her first egg of 2024! Dad joined Lady in the nest bowl, till he realised he wasn’t going to be able to help. Lady then got down to business and a few minutes later, one big push and SE33 arrived.”
https://www.facebook.com/Sea.EagleCAM
Thank you, Heidi. My goodness that is good news at Osoyoos! Congratulations Darling and well, the season has begun down under!
Geemeff brings us her report for all the activities at Loch Arkaig:
Daily summary Wednesday 26th June 2024
Well, there’s not a lot to say – Louis seems to be having a rest as he only delivered one fish to the nest, and that was merely the remains of his large meal, and then spent the rest of the day perched nearby. Dorcha fed it to the chicks and got very little herself. She kept calling over to Louis without response – will he spring into action and go catch a fish before the day ends? His all-time late delivery record, set just a few days ago on the 23rd, is 23.45.37 so there was still time but no fish appeared. That one fish takes his tally to two hundred and fifty. No action on Nest One today, there was a bit of light rain overnight, and more expected tonight with a forecast of light rain showers and a gentle breeze.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 00.09.10 (02.06.06); Nest Two 23.34.54 (03.49.01)
Today’s videos:
https://youtu.be/AITavG2FXxw Fish number one, small trout remnant, Dorcha gets very little 11.51.50
Bonus read – BTO history of ringing (you might be surprised at how long it’s been carried out):
https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/bird-ringing-scheme/about-ringing/history-ringing
Watch the Loch Arkaig Osprey livestream 24/7 and join in the conversation here:
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, MM, PB, R’, Dale Neal, Raptor Persecution UK, MontanaOsprey Project, npr.org, Dorset Hobby Camera, LDF, Eagle Club of Estonia, Great Bay, Field Farm, BoPH, Dunrovin Ranch, Pam Breci, HDonTap, Ildiko A Pork, MN Landscape Arboretum, Allin’s Cove East, Cornell Bird Lab, pays.org, Gracie Shepherd, Charlo Montana, Newfoundland Power (Snow Lane), Audubon Boat House, Forsythe Ospreys, Osoyoos Osprey Cam, Patuxent River Park, Window to Wildlife, Sea Eagle Cam, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust.
