7 November 2022
Good Morning Everyone,
Wednesday was a cold to the bone, grey, damp day on the Canadian Prairies. The birds, once again, were feeding frantically. It felt like we could have a snow storm any moment. The skies were the colour of new down on an osprey chick.
It was also release day for the Ventana Wildlife Society. They had six 18-month-old condors that had hatched and been raised at the Los Angeles Zoo to send out into the wild. The timing of the release is parallel to that of chicks born in the wild. They are about a metre tall (36 inches) and weigh 9 kg or 20 lbs. Their wing span is 3 meters or 9.5 – 10 feet. They are giant birds. Before their release, they were tagged, had radio and satellite transmitters put on them, and were vaccinated against HPAI and West Nile Virus.
There was a Zoom presentation with questions, a visit with a group of second graders who asked questions and showed their pictures of condors, and the count down to the release. Interestingly, it was female 1233 that went out first to feed on the carcass left for them (they had not been fed for six days), then males 1232 and 1226 known as Pongo. The three most dominant birds while the flock was in the cage were the last to leave.
Condors are social animals and they survive as a group. There is a hierarchy and the least dominant learn how to cope and get food after the ‘King Pins (a nod to the dominant male released in 1997, now deceased, the mate of Redwood Queen who was the father of Iniko) have fed.
These are some of the screen shots I took during the Zoom presentation. The entire discussion with release will be available on YouTube.
Older birds feeding on the carcasses of lead-free carrion.
Current statistics. Once all chicks fledge and the Rookies are released, there will be 119 California Condors in the wild in Central California. This is amazing. There were none in 1997. Ad notice that in 2024 they had no deaths. Knock on wood this continues til the end of the year.
They did pay tribute to Condor 171 Traveler, the matriarch of the Central California Clan, who was declared dead in October after being missing for an entire year. She was released in 1997 in the first cohort of Condors to be sent out into the wild after DDT and Lead decimated their populations.
She had reproductive issues all her life and finally raised a chick in 2022. Male 1182 is that chick and heir and is doing fine.
In the release pen waiting for the gates to open.
As I said earlier, female 1233 was the first out and she did get a nice little feeding before males 1232 and 1226 flew out to feed.
If you are unaware of the challenges and hard work that the Ventana Wildlife Society undertakes, I encourage you to visit their website and explore the information available. That address is ventanaws.org
There are two organizations that I fully support for their dedication that knows no bounds. That is the Ventana Wildlife Society and the IWS where our dear Dr Sharpe continues to work beyond his desired retirement. Yesterday he was out with a volunteer team doing camera maintenance at the Nest of Thunder and Aketcheta at the West End.
The Bald Eagle numbers in the Channel Islands can be attributed to this amazing man. How many chicks have gone over the edge that you have seen rescued there?
So a big shout out to VWS and the IWS! Thank you for all you do.
For those interested in Ferringuous Hawks, their migration patterns that are determined by prey availability, and the challenges especially climate change, please take the time to view this extremely interesting presentation by HMANA: https://youtu.be/gdYRmoBitNo?
The latest on the Sea Eagles:
‘A’ sends the latest ranger report:
“November 7: A flock of Rainbow Lorikeets visited the nest this morning, with a couple of Scaly-Breasted lorikeets as well. Shortly after 7am, both parents were seen on Mangrove Island – neither juvenile was spotted. At 8:15am, the adults were seen on the island, one with a fish. A juvenile flew closer – the adult was eating and the juvie seemed to be eating a little as well. The other adult moved to River Roost. There was some light rain, then a hot day. At 12:14pm, one adult was at River Roost, with the other on the island. There with no juveniles in view. Later, at 3:40pm, one juvenile was seen on Mangrove Island with an adult – the other adult was still at River Roost, though it flew to the island soon after. There were no further reports of sightings at the end of the day.”
Sounds windy at Port Lincoln. Mum, Wilko, and Kasse are waiting for breakfast.
Wilko and Kasse are a month old and Heidi has them on video. Hasn’t Dad done a marvelous job this season with his fishing? https://youtu.be/0VYcHkyu2Y8?s
A reports: “At Port Lincoln, it was nearly 5pm before any food arrived at the nest, and even then, it was only a small partial fish that provided little sustenance for the osplets. The two shared a feed of just under 20 minutes. The only other fish of the day arrived at 20:09. Again, it was a small partial fish only, and the resulting feeding lasted just over half an hour, during which period Wilko did better than Kasse. It is noteworthy that twice during the feeding, Wilko bonked Kasse. This has not happened during a feeding, until now, so I suspect that unless the Fish Fairy steps in to ensure a good couple of days for both osplets, we could create a problem for Kasse here, now that Wilko has experienced proper hunger and has realised that Kasse is limiting the food available for Wilko.”
At Orange, Diamond looks on as her two chicks try to tackle a Starling breakfast — unpacked!
Diamond will make sure that the youngest gets food to eat.
‘A’ gives us a long commentary on the eating and feeding at Orange today: “Xavier brought in a quail just before 6am and Yira grabbed it from him. He wasn’t arguing. Diamond soon arrived and Garrama rushed to complain to mum. Garrama tried self-feeding from the prey Yira was able to hold down, and soon, Yira ripped a piece off and took it into the far corner. Diamond at this stage arrived to help Garrama, who was left with the prey but couldn’t handle it alone. Diamond fed him – he’s a sweetie and SO much smaller than his gigantic sister.
By 06:02 Yira had finished her piece of prey and returned to steal the remainder from Diamond, who looked a little startled. Garrama was far from pleased. She tried to grab it back but Yira took it back into her corner! Diamond leaves the kids to sort it out, watching from in front of the camera, near the Cilla Stones.She obscures our view of the chicks, who are both self-feeding, Yira holding the food down and both pulling pieces from it. There are many cute noises accompanying this activity.
Around 06:04 Yira gets sick of sharing and brings the food over near the Cilla Stones, which Diamond has rapidly vacated. Garrama follows his sister and again tries self-feeding from the prey as Yira holds it down. It’s a technique that seems to be working well for both of them. Yira could weigh nearly twice what Garrama does. It’s hard to tell with their remaining fluff.
Yira is doing better, though, than Garrama, who gives up his efforts by 06:05. He heads over to see whether there are any dropped pieces where the chicks were eating earlier, but no joy, so he approaches Yira and the prey from the other side. Garrama gets a couple of bites but is largely disappointed, and by 06607 he has again given up.
He watches his sister, stares wistfully at Diamond, who stays on the ledge, watching the kids but makes no move to assist Garrama. He is frustrated and pecks a little at Yira’s wing feathers. By 06:06:30 he is again having a go at pulling some pieces off Yira’s quail (it’s a big piece of prey and Yira is eating A LOT of food). She obscures our view of her little brother, but it seems he too is managing to get some pieces.
At 06:07:48 Garrama picks up a large meaty morsel Yira has dropped. He turns away with it Diamond comes over to him to see whether he needs help eating it but then seems to change her mind, deciding that he should be able to manage it. Good mum. Shortly after 06:10, he is finished and turns back towards Yira, wanting more to eat.
Diamond moves to pick up Garrama’s leftovers and he literally begins screaming in her face. Is he annoyed with her for touching his piece of prey or is he simply demanding that she offer him some food? I suspect the latter, as Garrama starts nipping at Diamond’s toes, hoping to find food there. Diamond has to use her beak more than once to free her talons from Garrama’s grip and beak. He is certain there is food between those toes. There isn’t, and Diamond is very patient with him, all things considered.
Diamond moves towards the ledge and Garrama follows her. His breast feathers are exquisite. Mum has no food and dives out of the box. For a second, I feared he would follow her but he didn’t – just stayed where he was, looking out after her. Yira continues to eat. She has eaten a very large breakfast indeed and at 06:13 shows no sign of slowing down.
There was another food delivery (a juvenile starling) just before 06:56 – I didn’t watch that feeding – and another, grabbed immediately from Xavier by Yira, shortly after 11:01. Xavier briefly considered trying to retrieve it from her but quickly decided against this and left the scrape. Poor little Garrama watched his gluttonous sister, who has already devoured nearly a whole quail this morning but is still the epitome of greed. Around 11:03, Yira pauses in her eating to do some vigorous wingercising, making contact with Garrama, who objects. Yira returns to eating her starling.
Garrama sits and looks out of the scrape while his sister feasts on. He flaps across the scrape, does a PS out of the scrape, and returns to looking outside while Yira eats. Poor little Garrama hasn’t had that much food today – neither of the parents seem prepared to face down Yira once she has taken control of a piece of prey! Even Diamond was happy to leave her to it, though she did try to help (Garrama was managing that piece on his own anyway). She is aware that he is not getting enough to eat – she’s just not willing or able (could be either or both) to challenge her massive daughter to take back control of prey. Xavier has zero chance – she is twice his size – and although he did valiantly consider a quick snatch and grab on one occasion, he thought better of the move. So I am a bit worried about whether Garrama is getting enough.
At 11:08:30 he moves in and again tries self-feeding from the food his sister is holding down. He gets perhaps a small bite or two, then gives up. He tries again about a minute later, but only managed to nibble a toe. Soon after 11:10, he again approaches and tries to eat. Still, he is only able to get hold of a foot, and there is not much meat on it. He gives up again. Yira eats on like a machine. She has eaten SO much this morning, while Garrama has managed perhaps a snack at best.
These two are rapidly losing fluff and their juvenile plumage is really starting to show through. They are exquisite, especially Garrama, who is an absolute darling. He is not getting enough to eat under the present arrangements, with the parents having effectively ceased to feed the chicks, leaving them to self-feed. They can both do that, both of course Garrama has no chance of beating his sister in a battle over a piece of prey, and given how greedy she is, there is rarely anything much but feathers left over once she has finished eating. So unless something changes here, I am officially worried about our little male hatch at Orange. He is simply not getting nearly enough to eat. “
The 367 Collins Street triplets were digging through the gutter looking for prey. I had seen no breakfast delivery prior to 0823.
At least once of the chicks has made it to the ledge above the scrape today. A milestone to fledging.
Triplets react to a rain storm! https://youtu.be/QkDeJjYBNhs?
At NE Florida, Gabby and Beau were working hard.
Just look at the wings on this eagle in South Australia! Lukin is 82 days old today. Growing and getting ready to fledge. My goodness. Congratulations to everyone.
Well, what an amazing event. I wish I were in South Australia. What an opportunity! Spread the word.
Eric Kotz produced a history of Tumby Island to demonstrate how really tough it is for the ospreys in South Australia.
When we go out to feed the Chickadees and then have lunch outside the City, we drive past the many sites where industry is digging and digging for the things that make concrete – sand is one of those. But, at the sites now disused, there is water and wildlife. It makes me smile that something nice can come out of something so ugly and dusty. Here is an article about how the largest landfill site is now a home to wildlife. I hope it makes you smile, too.
Smile. The first batch of Iris and Finnegan pens are on their way to your home if you ordered! What a great fundraiser.
I am not too sure it is too late for an order. They seem to be working flat out on the pens.
Smile. A person who cares about wildlife!
Calico’s Tip of the Day: Please be careful!
And, of course, Calico hates these noisy things for more than one reason:
Seren 5F, Dylan’s mate from Llyn Clywedog, was photographed again today in The Gambia on her favourite pole. So happy she is alright. All of these sightings are priceless.
‘J’ sent the latest report from Redding for Liberty and Guardian but the text was too small and I could not enlarge it. Please check the FORE FB page – and watch Liberty and Guardian on camera building their new nest!
Thank you for being with us today. Please take care. Bird World is quiet. It is time to rest up. We are expecting Bald Eagle eggs within a fortnight. Then, the prolonged incubation til the end of December. We will continue to monitor the sea eagles as long as there is news. We will watch the falcons in Melbourne and Orange for Fledge, Buddy to Fledge at Growing Home, and then Wilko and Kasse. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, presentations, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A’, The Ventana Wildlife Society, IWS, HMANA, Sydney Sea Eagles, Rohan Geddes, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Heidi McGrue, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, SK Hideaways, NEFL-AEF, Gardenista, Friends of Osprey Sth Aus, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Eric Kotz, Montana Osprey Cams, The Guardian, Tamarack Wildlife Centre, Leaf of Life.