The two doe and fawns did not return to the park. City workers have been digging up the street for the past two days. That said, we believe that the four have safely found their way to the river and, we hope, are back in a larger park area away from traffic.
I could easily be fooled into thinking this is Calico. It is Baby Hope. Every day she looks more and more like her Mum. She will be 17 months old on 2 December.
She was looking out the window at the birds. There is an increasing number of European Starlings with two crows, two Blue Jays, five grey squirrels, two red squirrels, and about 100 sparrows. The winter weather and cold have made everyone hungry.
One of the most remarkable transformations within the house and among The Girls. Baby Hope has taken up with Missey. Hope rubs her head lovingly against Missey’s just like she used to do with Calico. It happened slowly, Calico distancing herself from her daughter. So, as you can imagine, I am delighted. Missey is the perfect Mum – she continues to care for Hugo Yugo and there is no reason to believe that she will not continue to bond with Hope.
The two Crows are now coming every day for peanuts. One is quite large and the other is the smaller from the summer. A bonded pair. The fledglings have not been seen since the end of the summer/beginning of the fall. After they finished the peanuts (shared with the others), they ate a nice big pizza!
It is wonderful to see them come to the garden every morning. It is not that long until spring! Yes, I keep telling myself that very thing as more snow falls.
There is little happening in Bird World. We are waiting for Wilko and Kasse to be ringed, and I would like to have a more positive sighting of Yira. There are many more Bald Eagle nests to lay eggs in the coming weeks.
Gabby and Beau continue to work on their nest. When will we have their first egg.
Cali Condor wonders if the sub-adult visiting Big Bear might be Spirit. How wonderful if it were! https://youtu.be/wehjVdpEF_Q?
At the Coobowie Osprey nest, Libby has fledged. This is the nest in South Australia that initially had four chicks. Libby is the oldest.
Mum, Wilko, and Kasse are waiting for their breakfast.
Yesterday, Kasse, Wilko, Mum and Dad had six supplementary fish.
Today it is so windy that neither Dad or Mum will surely be able to catch fish. Fish Fairy!!!!!!!!! We need you.
I really hope that Wilko doesn’t decide to stand up and start flapping his wings. He could wind up in Melbourne with these high gusts!
Incubation continues for M15 and F23.
We know that M15 is one of the most capable male Bald Eagles around. We watched him raise his two eaglets alone after Harriet disappeared. Now he would like a little more incubation time! https://youtu.be/D5tdZyavHcw?
The Hilton Head Land Trust caught a Bald Eagle on the nest that the GHOs hope will be theirs. https://youtu.be/DqylzZ66z98?
Calico’s Tip of the Day: Mark the date. December 3rd is Giving Tuesday. Many wildlife groups rely on donations and Giving Tuesday is often coupled with a doubling of your donation by other donors. If you can, could you help? With the cost of living escalating, so many cannot so every dollar helps. Small or large, no one cares. It all adds up!
Thank you for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘J’, NEFL-AEF, Cali Condor, Friends of Osprey Sth Aus, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Bart M and PLO Obs Board, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Androcat, Hilton Head Land Trust, SK Hideaways, LDF, Hob Osterlund, Backyard Birds of North America, Gardenista, Eagle Country and nature chatter, Owl Cam
Friday was spent forest bathing and spending time with my closest friend who suddenly lost her husband in the summer. It was a great day to be outside. The temperature was 10 C and there was no wind. Only clear blue sky. Walking in nature and feeding birds can transform you. Please, please, get out in nature especially when you are feeling overwhelmed. It really helps. And be mindful, the full moon is here.
The sun setting.
There are some wonderful videos of Yira’s fledge and some flying around campus. You need to see them! The top one is Yira flying on the campus taken by the Falcon Cam Project:
It was nearing 1530 on Saturday and Wilko had some small fish early but Kasse had nothing. Will the fish fairies arrive?
No fish came but the little twiddler and Kasse had nothing on Saturday. Then the rain came. Not good. Let’s hope that there is a nest of fish when they wake up so that no one gets stressed.
At the same time, there was remaining on the ledge of 367 Collins Street the last hatch waiting to fledge.
The latest from Judy Harrington:
The fledgling, Bubba, at the Growing Home osprey nest near Sydney had a flight and returned to the nest. S/he is a gorgeous healthy osprey.
Sad news coming from ‘EJ’. Maybe everyone should tell this hatchery that its counterparts in the UK either allow people to take photos of the ospreys fishing and make more money (Gwash is a great example) or some allow the birds to eat!
“The fish hatchery is 220 acres with 49 ponds to raise fish for sport fishing. Maybe they should have to watch an osplet starving to death in its nest.”
‘J’ sent us Rita the Eagle’s Fun Fact Friday from Rita’s FB page. Check it out and send Rita a message and tell her how much you miss her!
We have some great news from Hob Osterlund with the Laysan Albatross in Kauai’, Hawaii:
Just a short catch up this morning because I did not include some of the Yira videos last evening. Thank you for being with us! Take care.
Have a great weekend. Thank you for your happy moments. They are coming through slowly in the blog.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘EJ, J, SP’, SK Hideaways, Judy Harrington and the Olympic Park Eagles, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Port Lincoln Ospreys, ktvg.com, Rita the Eagle, Hob Osterlund.
We hope that you are well. The end of summer (or winter, depending on where you live) is soon coming to an end! Already some children are heading back to school. Here it is the day after Labour Day. That really does mark the end of the summer for many.
It continues to be hot, and the garden birds are spending more and more time in the baths. It looks like another host of House Sparrows has appeared in the garden. I even ‘thought’ I saw a couple of new baby red squirrels the other day, but I am not sure. I feel very sorry for them and all of the eagles and ospreys we have been monitoring who are caught in this extended heat wave. Please put out water for all the animals and change it regularly, and if you can afford it, feed them. If billions of people joined together, the lives of our feathered friends would be much improved.
Wednesday is our local Farmer’s Market. It has grown over the years to have some exceptional vendors as our neighbourhood community grows and grows in population, attracting many young professionals who like the vibe. From the original stalls selling produce, organic meats, and local honey, we now have artisan ice creams, flowers, organic breads, the most amazing dumplings, empanadas, and Japanese baking. The temperature was not so hot making it that much more congenial to mingle with friends and neighbours this afternoon.
Oh, I hope they continue to come to the market. Their handmade dumplings are delicious. And look at the price!
A mother and daughter grow fields of flowers right outside the City for the bouquets. They are lovely. Just the right size.
I wanted to show you all of the goodies, but Hugo Yugo got on top of the table before I could blink. She is always the first to be curious, quickly followed by Missey! For some reason, Hugo Yugo was not interested in dumplings. Could it have been that they were tofu and cabbage? I could easily be completely Vegan if it were not for dairy. I am trying, but ice cream and cream for my coffee get me every time.
Yes, there she is! Missey first tried the tofu cabbage dumpling and loved it. Then she moved on to the Ube Melon roll! Both got her thumbs up!
Calico and Hope are curious and sweet, but they prefer watching the animals in the garden instead of human-related ‘things’.
Before we went to the market, we stopped in at the duck pond. What a surprise. The Canada Geese were feeding on the Cricket grounds and, for the most part, the ducks had the pond all to themselves. OK. There were about twenty geese at the pond compared to hundreds feeding on the pitch. Most ducks were the sweetest little Wood Ducks – tiny compared to the Mallards. Some of the images are pretty dark despite lightening them…apologies.
I am ready for some rain. For an afternoon, curling up in a chair and reading a book, the stack on the bedside table grows, and by the time I get myself tucked in, I am too exhausted to read. I am not complaining! How many of us wish there were at least 36 hours in a day?
And to my great joy, ‘The Boyfriend’ showed up during the daylight hours. I catch him on the video cameras coming in the middle of the night, but had not seen him during the day. He looks to be in good form.
You might have noticed that we are not hearing from Heidi regularly. She is having a much-deserved break after a season of great sadness. The osplets on all the nests she has been monitoring have fledged (or died). Please give her a big round of applause so she can hear it! Thanks, Heidi, for your outstanding contributions and for taking care of all that data for me on those nests. You will never know how much I appreciate it. Thank you is hardly adequate.
I received a letter today from a family on the Potomac River that put up an osprey platform. They attracted a family that fledged two chicks. They wrote to me to enquire about siblicide occurring after fledge. What happened was that the older sibling prevented the younger one from getting any fish, and the younger one died on their lawn. Years ago, when we thought of siblicide and indeed, until a couple of years ago, the older sibling (usually) killed the younger one on the nest before the age of 21 days. With the heat domes and the lack of fish during the 2023 and 2024 seasons, we are seeing more and more competition between the fledglings of a nest and various intruders for local resources such as food.
Siblicide happened at Port Lincoln several years ago, pre-fledged at 65 days. The chick was pushed off the nest into the water and died. So there is a range. As the planet heats up and more fish dive deep or are lost to commercial fishing trawlers (unless that dire practice can be stopped), we will likely see many more deaths on the nests than we have seen this year. I regret painting a gloomy picture, but I would rather be entirely wrong than write as if we live in Disneyland where everything ends beautifully. Oh, how I wish it were so.
The Ospreys are leaving. The Storks are migrating. Shorebirds are flying south from the Arctic to their homes in South America. The move is on. Bald eagles return to check out their nests’ condition and lay claim to them again. The Eastern Ospreys are preparing to lay eggs like the falcons in Australia. We already have baby sea eaglets. For the next few months, the action will be coming to us from Australia, and then the eagles in the US will begin to lay their eggs.
We will start with a good news story about wind turbines sent to us from Geemeff. I was starting to think there was nothing good about the darn things. One of the things I hate about wind turbines is the refusal of so many factories to paint one blade black. What a simple solution someone found Let’s see what is happening here to protect the sea eagles in The Netherlands.
It is fantastic to see the fledglings return to the nest months after their first flight. Today, Alma visited the San Jose City Hall scrape to the delight of all. SK Hideaways caught it.
This is nothing short of animal cruelty. Do people think birds have no feelings? Help spread the word about the use of birds and include balloons when you ask friends to protect wildlife. Thank you.
The dark eye lines on Hope and Beaumont’s osplets are wide and magnificent. Dark beauties they are! There is a rumour that the second chick fledged on Wednesday the 21st. I did not see it and there is nothing on the FB group. Will confirm later.
Dad arrives to much enthusiasm at the Royal Albatross colony to feed the Royal Cam chick.https://youtu.be/3as5kXIFb18?
Geemeff’s daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Wednesday 21st August 2024
Nest One had a few little songbird visitors today despite the wet and windy weather, but otherwise no activity. Garry LV0 was last seen briefly on Sunday 18th and seems to have left the area, so with increasing reports of final sightings from UK Osprey projects, tonight’s bonus is the excellent webinar on Osprey migration by Dr Tim Mackrill.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.35.33 (05.14.32); Nest Two 21.27.36 (05.19.35)
Iris brings fish to the nest. Sometimes there is a fledgling there to nab it! The chicks are looking good and no doubt being fed at the nest and elsewhere as Iris, we hope, is packing in the calories, too, for her long flight.
Beautiful fish arriving on the nest for C16 at the Charlo Montana nest.
Junebug on the perch at Dunrovin waiting for fish.
River has been on and off the nest all day at Sandpoint getting fish! She had a big morning brekkie to help start the day.
One lucky chick at Blackbush has a fish dinner.
I did not see anyone at home at Cowlitz. Maybe I missed our fledgling.
At Saaksilvie #1, ringed and unringed are getting some fish dinners.
Clean up crew at the Seilli nest in Finland.
I saw no activity at nest #4 on Wednesday in Finland.
Both fledglings on the nest in Latvia having some nice fish with Mum.
‘A’ reminds us: “We are on egg watch at Orange. As I mentioned, Diamond laid her first egg on 26 August last season, so we are nearing that time. There is lots of bonding and mating taking place.
22 Aug BONDING 05:50:59, 10.30.59, 14:47:34, 17:30:42 PREY 07.02.32 X takes; 07.04.12 X stashes; 09:15:07 D takes; 13.23.42 D takes
TOWER MATING 07.05.16 LR 17s, 07.06.27 LR 18s, 07.10.49 LR 15s, 07.56.23 LHC 15s, 09:46:48 MW 12s, 13.53.31 MW 10s, 13.54.48 MW 6s
Diamond and Xavier are both looking healthy, unlike the starling Xavier stashed in the front corner of the scrape this morning – Diamond has treated it with the disdain it deserves but it will be recycled in the morning. Nothing is wasted here. There is discussion on the site about the worth of maggots in starlings. Of course we know from bald eagle nests that there’s good protein in maggots. Perfectly edible. “
A big shout out to Mary Cheadle who organises all of the fundraisers for the Lock Arkaig FB group. Thousands of pounds go to The Woodland Trust each year from viewers and fans. Thanks, Mary, for all you do!
There is one more fundraiser. For a donation of 3 GBP or more, you have a chance to win some expensive books on Ospreys, totes, etc. Check out the Friends of Loch Arkaig Ospreys FB if interested. The deadline is 30 August. It is the last fundraiser of the year.
Blue 1RO was 100 days old on Wednesday. Does anyone else think s/he looks exactly like their daddy Blue 33?
It was rainy and looked like a gale was blowing at the Glaslyn nest. The fledglings still think that Aran can pull off a miracle fishing for them! Two came in early in the day but no late fish to keep those crops full during the night.
It was windy with some rain at Dyfi but the wind did not appear to be blowing as strong as it was at Glaslyn. (Maybe just me…)
It was blowing hard at Llyn Brenig – the two fledglings were holding on tight to their nest!
Juveniles at Poole Harbour screaming their heads off for fish at Poole Harbour.
Fledgling still at Mlade Buky. Nice.
New Zealand is rushing to vaccinate its native birds ahead of what they believe will be a huge outbreak of H5N1.
Thank you so much for being with us today. It is always a pleasure!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, letters, videos, images, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff’, dutchnews.nl, SK Hideaways, Birds in Helping Hands, Newfoundland Power, Cowlitz PUD, Cornell Bird Lab, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, Dunrovin Ranch, Sandpoint Ospreys, Blackbush at Old Tracerie, Saaksilvie, LDF, Friends of Loch Arkaig Ospreys, LRWT, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, Llyn Brenig Ospreys, BoPH, Mlade Buky Stork Cam, The Guardian, and Friends of Midway Atoll.
It was another warm not so nice day on the Canadian Prairies. Everything is shades of grey and brown. The snow is all dirty and the sky had no blue in it. Even the kittens just wanted to sleep! I felt the same way. A good book, a cup of ‘real’ hot chocolate (made with the best melted chocolate and hot milk) would have made the day perfect.
Missey was up and about and finally found the felted rock that Hope was playing in yesterday and used it as a pillow!
There were not a lot of birds in the garden. The European Starlings came around noon along with a few sparrows. The squirrels were about eating peanuts and a lone female Downy Woodpecker showed up at the suet.
The Eagle Country nest has bothered me. Perhaps I am a bit more sensitive after losing the baby at JB Sands or nearly losing R6. So of course, just take this as concern.
This is why I am worried about Meadow at Eagle Country. Swampy eats well and attacks Meadow who is calling for food. Abby does not feed Meadow. It is true that Meadow does not require as much food as Swampy. S/he is younger. It is the fear put into the little one not to eat that is the issue. Let’s keep an eye and send positive wishes.
It is not a gentle attack. Swampy twists Meadows neck and makes sure it doesn’t get up.
A wee bit later, Meadow doesn’t even bother to raise its head.
It is impossible to tell – because of that deep cup – whether or not Meadow got any of the subsequent small feedings. Mostly I see only one head. If you have additional information, please send me a comment.
Checking in on Connick. Thanks, ‘H’ for finding us an update.
Report of an Osprey in South Africa – and Geemeff notes this is just as far as you can go in the country. ”This bird was sighted at Langebaan, which is very near Cape Town, about as far south as you can get in Africa! Not ringed. Female, judging by the necklace, and is that juvenile plumage? Difficult to tell in that light.”
The Langebaan Lagoon is a large salt water lagoon, regarded as a wetland of international importance, protected by the West Coast National Park (formerly called the Langebaan National Park), 100 km north of Cape Town.Langebaan is 16 km long and no wider than 3 km at any point. All that lies between it and the Atlantic Ocean is the Langebaan Peninsula, 15 km long and 2 km wide, peppered by large granite outcrops known as Vlaeberg and Konstabelkop. All of the literature says that it is a birdwatching paradise.
The students at the University of Florida-Gainesville have their osprey cam back up and running after the light stand was changed out last year. There was a big fundraising campaign and it all came together well. We can once again watch Talon and Stella raise their chicks.
Here is the latest news form the website: ”Watch the osprey family raise another family! The nest is located on a light pole behind the SW Rec Center on UF Campus. Thanks to HdonTap for streaming the live feed, UF’s SW Rec center for allowing the camera to go back up, and a host of people from UF’s IT and Facility Services that helped to install the new camera and get things working. It truly took a village to get this up and running (again)! Special shout out to Wally Sanchez from IT that helped to troubleshoot the camera! A generous gift from Wild Goose Farms in Umatilla, FL provided the needed funding for the equipment. We continue to accept gifts of support for ongoing maintenance and management of the camera, and we are grateful for the support from our generous donors!To date, I have seen Talon (the male) and Stella (the female) on the nest as of January 30th. In fact, Stella just arrived January 30th – much to the delight of Talon! Talon (the father) and Stella (the mother) built a new nest in the same location (in 2023) after the bank of lights were switched out for more efficient LEDs. Professor Mark Hostetler, who is an urban wildlife ecologist in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida, has been watching with earnest to see if they would rebuild. He helped direct a few structures on the new lights to entice them to rebuild the nest (nicknamed The Cheap Seats or Home Plate). In 2022, we had over 70,000 viewers from around the world (see https://wec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/ospreycam/). We really got to see the osprey family daily (and nightly) activities. Your contributions were much appreciated.”
It looks like Sunday will be a much nicer day for Jackie and Shadow. You can still hear a lot of wind and branches cracking in the distance.
For the only eaglet at JB Sands Wetlands, life looks good.
So far only two lovely Osprey eggs at Achieva!
No egg at Moorings Park. They have surprised everyone.
Flaco is fine and exploring and moving into the beginning of his second year of freedom in The Big Apple.
Cal and Lusa are enjoying a huge amount of fish on Sunday along with another feathered water bird. Sometimes it is interesting to try and identify the prey if you do not know what it is.
E23 is such a sweetie. Little squees…M15 and F23 could not be prouder.
R6 continues to grow and change plumage with what appears to be no ill effects from ‘the event’.
There was a bit of excitement at the WRDC nest a little later…
It makes me really sad. Gabby and Beau are still incubating the very unviable egg. He is getting lots of practice and if they survive for another year, let us hope that they return and raise some chicks in late 2024.
Pa and Missey are back working on the nest at Berry College. Will there be a chance of a second clutch?
‘H’ found some lovely photos of Annie and her new mate at The Campanile on moon_rabbit_rising. You can see them here:
I find the albatross and the nests that they build to be so fascinating. Are these up high to protect if there is any flooding?
“The Chatham albatross nests only on The Pyramid in the Chatham Islands. Using aerial photography, in 1998, scientists estimated that there were between 3,200 and 4,200 pairs nesting.” Let’s see if we can find out what their numbers are today.
“PROTECTION / THREATS / STATUS: The Chatham Island Albatross suffers harsh weather conditions during the breeding season. Severe storms can kill adults and chicks. Outside this period, storms may destroy the vegetation on the breeding grounds and remove the soil necessary for nest-building. In addition, they have very restricted breeding range. When at sea after the breeding season, they are threatened by longline fisheries off the west coasts of South America, and oil pollution throughout the winter range. Translocation of chicks to a protected area in the SW corner of the Chatham Islands is underway between 2014 and 2016, in order to enlarge the breeding range of this species.
The Chatham Island Albatross is listed as Vulnerable. The global population is estimated at 11,000 mature individuals, equating to about 16,000 individuals in total (counts 2008 – 2011).”
At the Midway Atoll, Wisdom was seen dancing and attempting to find a mate. The USFWS has not seen her since and has determined that she is not breeding this year and has returned to sea. There is news about other Laysan Albatross here along with the story about Wisdom.
The White-tail Eagles are arriving home in Kemeri National Forest in Latvia. Akacis was there on the 30th of January.
In Finland, a gorgeous White-tail eagle visited the Osprey nest at Seal.
Milda has been visiting her nest in Durbe County with a new male (?). I must check and find out what has happened to Voldis!
There is now some exciting news coming in from the ND-LEEF streaming cam in St Patrick’s Park, South Bend, Indiana.
At Port Lincoln, Bradley got the first fish that came in – a gift from Mum at 1303. It took 100 minutes for Bradley to finish that fish!!!!!!!!!!!
Calypso has visited the TulKa nest – let us hope that he gets a new mate for the coming year after losing his mate to electrocution.
The weather remains problematic at the Redding nest of Liberty and Guardian. The water appears to be rising. How will the heavy rain, winds, and flooding impact the nest? (it is believed to be in a dead tree) The water has risen significantly since yesterday. Sending positive wishes to Liberty and Guardian.
Newcastle is installing homes for the Kittiwake on their new Tyne Bridge. Maybe other countries and cities should consider this for all birds that need homes. Think Swift Bricks, too!
What are the pollutants that are currently causing much harm to our birds. A current article in the BTO news gives us some clear insights into the problems.
Thank you so much for being with me today! Take care of yourself. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, photos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ’Geemeff, H, J, J, R’, Eagle Country, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, @derfonteinfenie, Openverse, UF-Gainsville, FOBBV, JB Sands Wetlands, Achieva Credit Union, Moorings Park, Paul Briber, Window to Wildlife, International Crane Foundation, SW Florida Eagle Cam, WRDC, Chao-Hwa Chen, NEFL-AEF, Mary Louise Ripley, Biruta Lapa, Dept of Environmental Protection for PA, PLO, Bart M, moon_rabbit_rising, Kakapo Recovery, Gill Winter, Friends of Midway Atoll, Arlene Beech, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Carol Mandis-Beadle, FORE, BirdGuides International, and BTO.
Gosh, it warmed up here in Manitoba to a balmy -17 during the day. Everyone was smiling. Seriously, it feels so much warmer than yesterday (I am writing this on Tuesday so Monday). It is now -21 C just after midnight.
‘B’ sent me a note wondering about the falcon investigations and trials. I have mentioned the theft of Peregrine Falcon chicks and eggs sold as if they were bred from captive birds in the UK. There are actually several ongoing cases involving different individuals. And, yes, the time incarcerated is so little it is almost a joke, certainly not a deterrent when these birds are fetching such high prices in the Middle East. Maybe some of the other raptor numbers in decline are due to theft? I wonder how many other countries have nests that are targeted? And why aren’t they breeding their birds in the Middle East? That might help put an end to this despicable behaviour.
The girls are fine and so is The Boyfriend. He came up to the deck to eat Tuesday afternoon instead of having ‘delivery’. There were 13 European Starlings in the garden along with the usual group of garden animals. Everyone seems to have survived the very cold temperatures. I am smiling.
Calico continues to do well on her weight loss programme. She would love to have lots of treats, but she is getting used to have 3 or 4 little nibblers. She finally let me clean her right eye today. Now, will she let me cut her nails tomorrow? Oh, I love this cat. OK. I love them all. Surprise.
Missey enjoyed having a nap by herself while Hugo Yugo and Baby Hope tore up the house playing ‘kitty cat hockey’ with a ball of paper.
Hugo Yugo watching me as I put up paint swatches for the wall behind the cat tree. It is finally time to paint and bring some life to the walls! I just wonder if she will have some other stripes? (I did finally get the little bits off of that eye!). Hugo Yugo still has her round kitten face and she is getting so fuzzy…love the eye line that resembles that of a little osprey.
The top of the cat tree is a 14 x 14 inch square. You can see how tiny this 4.5-month-old kitten is – half the square! Seven inches. Ever so little, but dynamite comes in small packages, and this is one huge character. Hugo Yugo runs her battery down to empty. If there is something to get into, she will find it. The twinkle tree has all its ornaments put on daily so that Hugo Yugo and Baby Hope can tear them off at night. Hugo Yugo seems to have two speeds – zero and 100 kph! Did I say I adore her? She is also the sweetest snuggle bug when her battery is completely flat.
On the other hand, Baby Hope is monster-size for a six-month-old. She has gorgeous almond-shaped, celadon-coloured eyes. She looks so much like Mamma Calico with that teardrop. Baby Hope is the first to come when you call her specific name and the one who always cleans up her food dish. She is a very gentle soul.
There are certain ways that Baby Hope turns her head, and I think, at a glance, that it is Calico. This is one of those.
Congratulations to Pepe and Muhlady on their second egg of the season laid Tuesday afternoon. Hard incubation and good positive wishes for this couple that lost their first clutch.
Ron made sure the nest was stocked for Rita and R6. That little one is a cutie—no word on a pip in the second egg.
With the bad weather, I am very concerned for little C11 at the Captiva Eagle Nest.
‘A’ comments “The only food that was brought in today was the head of a catfish that Connie caught and obviously ate most of herself. She has to eat. The little ones got a few mouthfuls only – perhaps three or four at most for CE11, who did clean up the leftovers and even tried to swallow the bone. (CE10 did finish the ibis bone later in the day.) There has now been virtually no food at all for CE11 for over two days. If he doesn’t eat well tomorrow, he won’t make it. Luckily, the weather is forecast to clear, but it has been a very hard couple of days for the eaglets. CE10 has been no more aggressive than usual, which is a bonus, but if they have a third day like this tomorrow, there will definitely be at least one casualty on this nest, which is horrifying to contemplate. Clive brought nothing in all day, and only one speckled trout the day before (from which CE11 effectively got nothing). So this is a very unexpected situation for Captiva to find itself in… The good news is that both of the PSs I have seen from CE11 today have been healthy. That is something.”
“I’m praying for a large, early fish. Problem is that both parents are hungry too, so like early yesterday morning, when Connie headed off and quickly caught that catfish, only the remnants of its head were brought back to the nest at 08:17. CE11 did get three or four smallish mouthfuls off it – he got himself quickly to the table and it appeared that Connie wants both her babies to live because she was very careful to ensure that he got a little bit of that catfish head. Not much, but she coaxed him to start eating fast, not wait for CE10 to allow it! He also cleaned up a piece that had been left on the nest and even tried to eat a long thin bony bit (he picked any flakes off it first). So a couple of mouthfuls, though as I said, during the day he did do a couple of PSs that looked healthy. He had only two mouthfuls of the partial fish Connie brought in about 4.07pm and apparently spat one of those out. And he got nothing at all from the little piece of fish Clive brought in about 4:13pm. So CE11 has had just enough to survive a little longer. But he must eat and eat properly as early as possible today (17 January). At least both parents ate today and CE10 had enough to eat – just. She is, however, becoming much more aggressive towards CE11, who is in turn becoming increasingly submissive. At the last feeding of the day, around 4.17pm, CE10 got a small but adequate meal, while CE11 was too frightened to even lift his head until the food was pretty much gone. His hunger did drive him to take a few risks today, none of which really paid off for him. I’m very worried, though at least he’s still trying. He is looking a little unsteady though, perhaps suggesting he is getting a little weak and disoriented. Tonight, it is not raining and it is not too cold, so hopefully the little ones will dry out, which should help a bit with energy conservation.”
Ron is at the nest as of Wednesday night. Let us hope that C11 has had enough food and will get more fish tomorrow – oh, please.
Great news. C11 has a huge crop! Life is good.
“Both eaglets have eaten now – you should watch that feeding (from about 08:08). CE11 was so smart. His crop is now actually larger than CE10’s! He has had a big morning – self-feeding, learning to shelter on the far side of Connie, and demonstrating sheer courage in the face of CE10’s aggression. And to cap everything off, he did a PS at around 08:03 that proved he still had something in the reserve tank – he would have made it another day, even had there been nothing to eat today IMHO. I could be wrong, but that’s what his behaviour and his PS suggested to me this morning.”
Small fish delivery by Clive. Every bite keeps C11 going until more food can come on the nest.
More fish came after 0900 and C11 is filling its tank again. C10 has already a huge crop.
There is concern for Ruby and Jack, the Ospreys at Captiva. ’H’ reports, “Ruby was last seen on cam on 1/11. Jack was seen every day until yesterday, and was even bringing fish to the nest, waiting for Ruby. Jack was a no show yesterday. The area has been inundated with really lousy weather for several days. Lori has been at her Captiva home since 12/30. She said that Ospreys in general seem to have vacated the immediate area. Yesterday, the only O seen on cam was an unidentified flyby.”
The weather tapered off at Fort Myers. Little E23 is doing well – has had many full crops. No worries at this nest after the fright over the fish bone the other day.
A dual feeding, something that M15 loves to do! Precious.
R6 is doing fantastic. ’H’ reminds us: ”At Dade: No pip on R7 egg yet…will be 38 days today at 1355.”
At the NEFL nest, both get a fright. Pip watch should not be for another ten days, around the 27th, perhaps – if that egg is viable.ls
The annual review of the year from Centreport, New York has been posted on FB. I cannot post those links on my blog but if you are interested, you can go to the FB page of the Centreport Eagles and find it.
No word of a pip coming from Berry College yet.
‘H’ sends news and a video of the storm and damage at Hog Island.
Good news coming out of Port Lincoln. The chick that was at Whaler’s Way fledged and has returned to the nest. Excellent news. This is that very precious nest on the cliffs.
At the Port Lincoln Barge, there were three fish deliveries by 1315. Gil got the breakfast fish at 0641 while Brad took the 1235 delivery by Dad and the large fish at 1315 delivered by Mum!
Condor in care doing well.
I am loving seeing all the birds from where I grew up. There were so many hawks then. Look at this beautiful image below. You might think it is a Red-tailed Hawk if you did not look at ‘the tail’. Look. It is a ‘Red shouldered’ Hawk and isn’t she a beauty? Wow.
The weather in Oklahoma dipped to 0 degrees F but felt like -17 F with the wind chill on Tuesday.
Big Red and Arthur were out with another hawk on the Cornell Campus on Tuesday. When it is cold the little critters hunker down. Big Red in all her glory. I am putting the photograph Suzanne took of the ‘visitor’ below. It has light eyes and could well be one of the Ms visiting the nest area. Big Red and Arthur did not seem to be concerned.
It’s cold everywhere and people are looking to feed the birds to help them make it through the freezing weather. Here is another recipe, a Vegan one, for bird suet.
Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care of yourself. Stay warm and safe during these periods of extreme cold weather wherever you are. We hope to have you back with us soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, posts, images, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A, B, Geemeff, H, J’, Raptor Persecution UK, Gracie Shepherd, WRDC, Window to Wildlife, SW Florida Eagle Cam, SK Hideaways, WRDC, NEFL-AEF, Berry College Eagle Cam, Friends of Hog Island, PLO, Ventana Wildlife Society, Oklahoma Ornithological Society, Suzanne Arnold Horning, Real Gardens, Saving Marion Island’s Seabirds, USFWS, Audubon Florida, and Bird Guides.
Friday was a day of ‘hoar’ frost in Southern Manitoba. It was foggy and beautiful – and again, sadly warm for this time of year. It is nearing midnight and it is -1 C. It was a nice day for a brisk walk through the park, but it felt cold to the bones because everything was melting and damp. Oh, how I am longing for winter! Or Spring! But not this.
It was an interesting morning with Calico. She perched on the new cat tree and watched ‘The Boyfriend’ eat at the close feeder. It was eerie. I often wonder if he wasn’t a litter mate of hers instead of just being her friend outside when she was living rough. He has come to the garden door when the bowls needed replenishing, but he shows no signs of wanting to be friendly like Calico did so that he might work his way to joining us in the house.
Beautiful Calico.
Baby Hope (yes, she will always be a ‘baby’ just like Hugo) watched him as he went under the back gate.
Missey looks lovely in that soft morning light filtering through the garden door. She loves watches the birds flit in and out of the vines dangling down from the gutter.
Baby Hugo is so much better. The antibiotics have helped. She is no longer sneezing, and her eyes are hardly drooling. We also had a major milestone – she ate her Royal Canin Kitten Kibble. What a relief. So, she is eating well – her kitten tinned food and now the kibble and water. She had some sardines today as well. She is more than 14 weeks old and is considerably small for her age – about the size of an 8-week-old kitten. She is lively- what a character. I keep saying she is fearless, and she is. She is unafraid to lunge at any of her sisters, and she will leap on Calico without thinking. Calico is normally shy, shocked she doesn’t know how to respond. She is always ready for a good game of hide and chase! She is also very curious about food. Tonight, her interest was on a samosa, then a cup of pomegranate tea – and finally, oh boy, she found a small individual butter dish that did not have its top. She is getting very long, and I expect she is now more than three times the size she was when she arrived. We will know how well she is doing on the 4th of January when she goes in for her check. She is too wild to sit on the scales now!!!!!!!!
I am hoping to get a decent photo of her for you! Saturday morning. These are better. I have not cleaned Baby Hugo’s face yet – there is only a little muck from the night. Yippeeeee. Calico wanted her photo taken and everyone is happen. It is 0 degrees C and it is so nice and toasty in the conservatory! They love it out there – watching the entire outdoor world around them.
Hugo having a look at Calico!
Hope looking at Hugo taking her toy.
Missey getting ready to leap to the top of the post before Hugo and Hope come roaring around again.
In Bird World, only a singular event today caught people’s attention. Gabby left the nest, and V3 came and buried the egg deep into the cavity. Gabby returned and tried to make things right to no avail. Of course, the big question on everyone’s mind is why did V3 do this.
When male Ospreys come to the nest and find eggs, believing them not to be their own, they kick them like crazy out of the nest in a rage. So, do Bald Eagles bury their eggs? Was this egg not V3’s? Or is V3 just confused by the egg because he is so young? That is an interesting proposition, but I return to some very young male eagles (younger than V3) who became excellent mates and fathers like Harry at MN-DNR. He was probably between 4 and 5 years old when he fathered his clutch, and he did magnificently. Others did not do so well. ’J’ reminded me that it took Akecheta three seasons to get ‘fatherhood’ right! And then he turned out to be brilliant. So we wait to see what will happen.
‘J’ sent this note from Naturechat: ”Debra NatureChat: It took Akecheta the mate of Thunder on the West End Eagle nest… 1 season of failure because he wouldn’t incubate…Ist season no incubating at all, 2nd season he did incubate up until the day of hatch, and then flew off the nest, and the ravens came and got all 3 eggs. The 3rd season he incubated throughout the time and did a Great job, feeding the hatchlings was all new to him but he got the hang of it. “
Beau and Gabby returned to the nest and were making some restorations and being affection, but not mating. V3 might have been interested, but Gabby wasn’t.
Friday night and Gabby is in the nest – is she in labour with a second egg?
The only bobbleheads to hatch are C10 and C11, Connie and Clive’s kids over at Captiva. They are doing well and despite some bonks, C11 seems to be able to hold its own.
The pantry is full and brimming over. and these are two very strong beautiful eaglets. Such a blessing in a year that has gone sideways for our eagle families. There is some beaking. C11 goes into submission pretty quick sometimes. There is a daily activity log for the nest. Check on the link within the chat for the Google Spreadsheet. Both ate well on Friday.
Was so pleased to see that Alex has moved on from incubation duties at KNF-E3. He is recovering.
Beautiful Jackie looking out over Big Bear Lake.
Hope and Chandler were doing some nest work at Port Tobacco.
Guess what? There is another Beau! At Denton Homes. So – MN-DNR and NEFL-AEF and Denton Homes. Any more that you can think of?
Pepe and Muhlady are thinking about a second clutch!
At Port Lincoln, the lads have been flying around and the parents have been delivering fish to their lads. It was a good day at the barge.
There was a prey transfer at Orange!
Jack and Diane are bringing in bark for their nest on the grounds of the Achieva Credit Union in St Petersburg.
OK Owl People. Hoots was in the new nest Friday morning!
Here is the link to their live camera:
I know some of you missed it. Geemeff sent me the link to the latest video of “at least 73 year old” Wisdom, the oldest banded Laysan Albatross in the world, dancing on Midway Island.
Sunnie Day posted the link to a PBS video on the impact of Lead poisoning.
Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care – there are lots of cases of flu and Covid out there. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ’A, Geemeff, H, J’, NEFL-AEF, Mary B.L. Tung, Window to Wildlife, KNF-E3, FOBBV, Port Tobacco Eagle Cam, Denton Homes, Superbeaks, PLO, Bart M, Falcon Cam Project, Angela Edwards, USFWS Midway Atoll Sunnie Day, and Live Science.
We must start with Wisdom, the oldest banded Laysan Albatross in the world. She is dancing again! On the Midway Atoll. Can you imagine? 72 years old and dancing. Tears rolled down my cheeks when I saw the message from Holly Parsons. Wisdom is incredible. Send positive wishes that this very special albatross will breed again this year!
Wisdom lost her long-time mate three fall breeding seasons ago. Hold on to your seats this year! It looks like she might have attracted a young male partner.
Wisdom is on the left with the red band, Z333.
And then for news in Cat World. The hunt for the male kitten has come up trumps. Let me introduce the youngest and last kitten I will ever adopt. Hugo. After Grayish turned out to be a female, I was about to give up and then the head coordinator asked me what I wanted in a kitten. A short time later she phoned and said she had the perfect match. Did I mind a Ginger?
Stories about Hugo and the girls will come on Wednesday morning!
When it comes to Ospreys, no one has all the answers. I am grateful to Bart, who has worked hard for Port Lincoln to get the observation board information up to date, work on fish delivery stats, and monitor the chat. Bart has now included those days with zero fish so that his findings will be accurate. It was a simple oversight, but having those figures in there and those days will change the final statistics while providing an accurate view of what happened. Bart’s efforts and those of the fairies have offered everyone an excellent educational and sharing experience.
I gave Port Lincoln a poke yesterday. They are in a tough situation because what they are doing is unique – supplying supplementary fish to a nest where siblicide is a known reality. Dad has never been a stellar performer. As Bart noted today, he is at best good for four fish, no more. (Most of the nests I have monitored average seven deliveries a day for 2 or 3 osplets.) The reasons for the low number of deliveries can only be speculated. This is not just my thinking. We have seen two instances on camera of what appears to be seizures. But how those impact his brain and his daily living is unknown. Then there is his age. Again, there is only speculation as to whether the sheer physicality of osprey fishing is hampered by age, but it leaves us to wonder. Does he lack motivation because of the fish fairies? Anything is a possibility. At this juncture, using one nest to test whether ospreys will stop fishing if humans provide fish is insufficient for scientific proof. And with this nest having a high siblicide rate and Dad being a poor performer regardless, that makes it even more problematic. Testing this theory on a known superstar like Blue 33 at Rutland would be better. Yes, he has fish right at the nest site. Absolutely. Would he stop fishing if fish were provided? If he did, that would be very telling. Would he start fishing to keep his chicks alive once the fish fairies stopped? Well, that is the question. At Port Lincoln, they struggle with what to do as the fledge nears. They are attempting to motivate the adults to get out there and bring in the fish because they are concerned that the osplets will bolt off the nest if delivery is so close to ‘fledge’. Another intriguing question is: Are the osplets (and ducts) so used to having humans deliver fish that they would not bolt?
I am told that Port Lincoln is disinfecting the old barge to ready it to receive fish (Dad used to take the fish there) in case they need to provide fish after banding.
The issue is this. ‘H’ and I have monitored over 300 eggs in 2023 from being laid to fledge or death or not hatching. We know that relatively good condition osplets who had their crop full can live between 58-79 hours without fish. 79 is pushing it. ‘H’ is checking her data because, in the June deaths of Chesapeake Bay, some of those chicks were younger and did not live that many hours. I will include this information once we glean it from the data forms of the International Osprey Data Project.
So let us send Port Lincoln some real positive energy as they work towards getting these two fledged. That is the goal of the project – two fledglings. After fledge, the fairies should be able to toss all the fish they want on that nest, and the kids will need it. Do you remember Ervie and Falky? or the fights between Ervie and Bazza for fish after fledging? This is one of those dust-ups between Ervie and Bazza. It happened almost two years ago…aren’t we just so proud of our Ervie?
‘H’ reports that Dad brought in a half fish at 16:58. #2 grabbed it to self-feed but Mum took over and both ate with crops. Hoping Mum got some, too.
‘H’ and I will be publishing all of the data with complete explanations but these are the findings in the International Osprey Data Project so far. It will not be complete until I add the final details of Port Lincoln this year and the information from Iowa for their 2023 nests in January.
This is the current information for all the nests and the 335 eggs we monitored. Thank you, Claudio, for making our life easy with those forms!
My interest is in siblicide, specifically, the 3rd and 4th hatches that survive siblicide attempts. This has meant monitoring hours between an osplet getting any fish and counting bites of food when they do in comparison to the rest of the clutch. It is agonising research, but the triumphs are enormous. Think of the fourth hatch at Patchogue this year…imagine for a second that tenacious tiny little osplet whose drive to live was tremendous. Some called her Tiny Dancer. She was amazing.
The following information includes nests in North America, the UK, Europe, and Australia. This is the raw data and it is, as far as I know, one of the largest osprey behaviour studies that is ongoing.
We got some great close ups of Giliath and #2 as a few raindrops fell.
Cute little Dad. His crop is certainly not bulging.
Whole family lining up for the fish fairy! Or that is what it looks like. But…
Today is the odd day so no deliveries from the fairies. Will either adult deliver a fish? We wait to find out.
‘A’ sent us reports about the Sea Eaglets. Isn’t it wonderful to know that one is alive and well. Tears of joy:
“December 3: There was a storm last night with hail and heavy rain so the river is very muddy. Both parents were on River Roost around 8am and the juvenile was spotted on a low branch in the sun – all drying out. Later when the young one was seen near the adults, she was whining for food. At 10:30 when adults are on River Roost and she is on the island, she is quiet. In the afternoon around 4:30pm, both parents were on River Roost, with the juvenile out of sight again. A parent flew into the mangroves; the young one was probably there hidden away. Just after 5pm, she was seen low on a branch at River Roost again.
…Audio file December 4: down by the river 07:24 both parents on river roost and duetting. 08:04, young one calling. Earlier, peewee swooping adults. 08:07 parents calling again, juvenile too. 08:13, the tide has turned. 08:35, a good shake by the juvenile, downy fluff flying, then moved to a different branch. Then a few minutes later, the juvenile flew closer to the adults. When parents duetted, she was listening and looking up. Then again , and juvenile on and off. The parents moved a little closer, but at 9:30 all were still there. Just after 10am an adult left, swooped over the river and caught a fish. Juvie flew down to the ground, and the fish was delivered. She ate on the ground out of sight. Around 11:15, the adult took off, circling overhead. No action then until 12:10, when the juvie was flushed out by 4 ibis flying in to the mangroves. Then shortly after, it changed branches again, flying a short distance. At 12:30, neither adult was there. No more observations later.”
‘A’ sent the latest news from the Parramatta River in Sydney and the WBSE:
There have been no sightings of any juvenile activity at Orange since the 2nd of December Australian time. ‘H’ tells me that Cilla has checked the trees and there is no sign. This is so very sad. The huge effort put into their eggs, their survival in the scrape, ….heart breaking for Xavier and Diamond.
‘A’ provides the latest news though…perhaps there is a juvenile? There are reports that a juvenile might have been heard. There was no sighting. It was very hot in the area and the birds were staying in the shade of the trees to stay cool.
Gabby and V3 are taking a page out of Jackie and Shadow’s play book – gosh, they messed around with those sticks for such a time!
Everyone is cheering for this couple!
Our beautiful Jackie and Shadow.
Ron and Rose are busy, too.
We are so close at Superbeaks.
Liz Schwartz has posted romance over at the Centreport Eagle nest.
Released condors having a feast.
Overfishing. The decline of worldwide fish stocks. It is time to think about this as we enter the breeding season for many of our feathered friends who depend on the oceans for their food and, thus, their lives. It is estimated that the number of fish in the oceans has declined by 90% since 1900. There are many, many scientific articles about these catastrophic numbers – just a sampling of some of general interest and some more academic.
The latest migration count from Hawk Mountain is in.
Maybe some ideas….I recall once when my children were quite little seeing someone hanging the thin orange slices on their spruce tree outdoors. Here we coat the pinecones with melted suet and roll them in bird seed and hang them throughout the lilacs during the winter.
Thank you for being with me today. It is so nice to have you here with us. Take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, streaming cams, and articles that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A, H, HP, J, SP’, Holly Parsons, Friends of Midway Atoll, PLO, Bart M, Sydney Sea Eagle FB, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, NEFL-AEF, Ventana Wildlife Society, C Roberts, Our World in Data, National Geographic, BMC, Nature Communications, US Dept of English, Helgoland Marine Research, Centreport and Liz Schwartz, Hawk Mountain, and Wildlife Watch.
Oh, I love hearing from you. I am glad that some of the last blogs have touched your hearts. I have met so many people helping in every way they can, struggling to get by from one day to another. Still, they find simple ways to help that make such a difference. It warms my heart to see such compassion. Some put out water, some collect donations for shelters, some help clean cages…there are, as my friend Sassa Bird says, “more good people in the world than bad”. She is right!
It is raining ice right now as I am writing. Not quite hail, but the girls came out of the conservatory and into the living room, alerting me to the fact that ‘something’ was happening.
The ‘cat’ news is that Hope will be ‘fixed’ by a great organisation called Fixing Feral Felines. They encourage people to take in and provide homes for the feral cats in their neighbourhoods providing spay and neuter services at a fraction of the costs of regular clinics. They are a mobile clinic. Hope needs to wait til she is 6 months old.
I picked up Lucky #13 cat shelter and am now accepting donations of bins and insulation for the individual who makes these. He says they do not look so beautiful, but there is a lot of love in them – and they are lined with styrofoam and have straw bedding. I expect the feral cats will consider them penthouses!!!!!! Especially in our weather. It is really nasty out there. There is a little flap to try and keep the rain and snow from blowing in.
Morning Update: The Boyfriend slept in the shelter last night!!!!! I caught him going inside late last night…pieces of straw coming out this morning. Yes!!!!!! We have lift off. It got warm over night and the snow has now melted.
On the way home from picking up the cat shelter, I saw Canada Geese feeding at a local golf course and others flying in to rest and eat. There was lots of grass and with the temperatures climbing a bit, the water hazards on the course are open.
It has now snowed. A right blizzard was coming down for a bit.
Meanwhile, Hope is living a very privileged life. She will go and tap on the screen when she wants her bird video to play. It sure did not take her long to train me!!!!!!
But seriously, how could you not? Look at that sweet face. She has me wrapped around her little paw. Soon she will know how to operate the remote. She is very smart.
Missey and Hope are getting along famously.
Calico prefers to watch Hope and Missey, sleep on the couch, and snack on kibble. Bird videos are not her thing! She knows about the ‘real’ birds unlike these two. I do remember seeing her leap on the big table feeder once trying to catch a bird when she was living rough despite the fact that she had plenty of food (even when she was living outside). Now she has no interest…loves creature comforts.
Now about that potential little brother. I do go and look and had the cat carrier with me. The kittens had ‘crusty’ eyes. Now that sounds like I am being very picky but I do not want the girls to get any kind of infection so…I have decided to wait and to see if a little kitten will show up at the feral feeding station now or in the spring. When it does, it will join us! Or as Geemeff assures me – the right kitten will come along at the right time.
The Starlings were in the garden today- before the new snow arrived. Look closely at their beautiful colours. It is as if someone has embroidered velvet strips on velvet with little jewels added. The soft grey-brown wings are edged with gold. Nature is truly beautiful. The white specks indicate that they are in their non-breeding plumage.
I bought a different ‘premium bird seed’ from the farmer, which got the Starlings to the table feeder. Excellent. Many do not like feeding them or the Sparrows…I adore them all. There is a huge decline in the number of House Sparrows and Starlings. In certain regions, they are both endangered and on the brink of extinction. I am so lucky to have them here with me.
Mum, Giliath, and #2 are hopeful that Dad got a breakfast order and will return with it.
Sweet babies and Mamma waiting for some fish.
Dad brought in a small partial fish at 10:25 which Mum, Giliath, and #2 finished. They had a good breakfast.
First Light: 05:51, Sun Up: 06:18, Sun Down: 20:02, Last Light : 20:29 Age (chicks): Giliath : 22 days, #2 : 20 days Fish count: Mum: 0, Dad: 2 Fish times: 10:25, 14:27Feed times:
10:25
Dad in with a small, partial fish!
Dad (XS,Part)
10:25 1
Both chicks get a little breakfast. Mum finishes it.
14:27
Dad delivers a whole fish!
Dad (L,Whole)
14:27 2
Mum partially blocks the view. Giliath’s on the left and chick #2’s on the right/behind Mum. Both chicks get their fill. Mum finished that fish up!
It is anyone’s guess who is going to fledge first at Orange. Barru is certainly keen and is flapping just as much as Marri and there are a lot more downy bits missing today. Remember we are within a week of fledge.
At the Bald Eagle nests:
Pepe brings Muhlady a fish tail for breakfast.
Mum at Duke Farms is working on the nest with the new male. Dad has been missing since spring. Wishing this new couple the very best!
It is not clear what is happening at the NCTC nest of Bella and Smitty but Bella is now warming up to the new male. Her fertile period is approaching.
At the NE Florida nest of Gabby and V3, work continues on the nest.
Cam is back up at Pittsburgh-Hayes where there will be a new male this season. Isn’t that fall colour beautiful? I am so missing that!
Fish gift at Pittsburgh-Hayes.
706 people are watching Jackie and Shadow at their nest early Wednesday morning. Let us all send this much-loved couple the warmest and most positive wishes. They so want another baby! Let’s hope we have one this year.
In the middle of the night, we have an eagle at Redding!
There is a lot of mismatched news coming out of Bird World and it is all good. There is something for everyone!
All eyes on Taiaroa Head to see which of the Royal Albatross will return safely! So happy to see OGK’s brother!
More of the eagle nests with owl issues.
You will remember that Bobby Horvath was with Pale Male when he passed and he was willing to go and help Mini at Patchogue if needed. He is always saving a raptor somewhere – very devoted.
Fantastic news coming out of Scotland!
This place looks magically wild -. Thank goodness they continue to exist down in the what? Roaring 40s? Places sea birds love.
Oh, they are so beautiful. Will be posting regular updates for the Moli throughout the breeding season.
The Captiva Osprey Cam is live! Wonder who our resident pair will be this year? Will they ward off intruders, lay eggs, and raise chicks?
Sunnie Day posted the link to this report on FB. It gives us a grim account of the decline in Osprey populations following Hurricane Ian.
It is Kakapo Adoption Time!!!!!! Everything goes to help care for these flightless parrots.
‘H’ gave me a wonderful smile this morning. I want to share it with you! We both really like Gessner’s Soaring with Fidel and ‘H’ reminds me that a seasoned birding is expelling GISS to Gessner: “GISS is an acronym for ‘general impression shape and size.’ That’s how you identify stuff after you get good. It’s not any one thing. You just kind of get a feel…maybe the tail is a little shorter, but all kinds of other things are coming into play too. It’s just your general impression initially. From far away, you don’t have time to look for small details.”
Just love it…I find much of the time I have to get the images home and enlarge them to find out precisely what I was seeing.
Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care of yourself. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, pictures, videos, articles, announcements, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, Sassa Bird’, PLO, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Superbeaks, Duke Farms, NEFL-AEF, PIX Cams, FOBBV, Cathy Cohen, Sharon Dunne, Jann Gallivan, Bobby Horvath, Erica Gaize, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatross and Petrels, Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, Window to Wildlife, Sunnie Day, the Osprey Observer, and Kakapo Recovery.
My intention was to have this information blog for Thursday the 20th of July but, there is so much other news that I feared its importance would be overlooked by osprey news.
In its July-September 2023 journal, BirdLife International raises issues related to the Albatross. One in particular – long line tuna trawlers.
I want you to look at this image of Manaaki, the Royal Cam Chick at Taiaroa Head, New Zealand and parent, GLY, who has come in for a much anticipated feeding.
Do you watch this cam? Do you know the perils that face these sea-foraging birds? Do you want to change human behaviour to help them?
These are the facts according to a new study that looks at the risk longline fisheries pose to these beautiful sensitive and gentle albatross.
Long Line fishing trawlers set out a main line that can extend to 100 km or 62 miles. Now just stop and take in that length.
Each line has thousands of hooks that are baited and deadly. The bait is a meal for albatross. The jiggling of the lines in the water mimic the way that fish swim.
The albatross that snatch the bait are snagged and dragged under the water as the hooks sink. It is estimated that 160,000 birds die this way every year. They are often decapitated in the process.
Every day there are 5000 fishing vessels on the high seas. Of these 1000 are looking for tuna and they set these very long lines with a total of billions of hooks per year. Again try to wrap your head around that.
Fishing activity by the Osprey takes place at dawn and dusk when the long line tuna trawlers are setting their lines.
Only 3% of the lines are set at night when it is not harmful to the albatross who are not looking for food.
Albatross can determine if there is food at a distance of 30km.
The issue is that there is an easy fix and it costs the fishing trawlers nothing – set their lines at night instead of at dusk or in the morning. Other appropriate measures include attaching sparkly lines, often free by many agencies, or using protective hook covers.
But by far and away, the solution is to load the fishing lines at night.
So what can you do to help persuade these fishing companies that they need to change their practices? Stop eating tinned tuna! Write the company an e-mail. You can check on the label of the tins in your local grocery. Find out how sustainable they claim to be – and are they? Remember, only 3% are actually following best practices as they relate to the Albatross.
So…we are now trying to avoid plastic when we can, and we are now going to put that tin of tuna back on the shelf! So when you look at that Royal Cam chick – that cute sweet little fluff ball – you are doing the right thing. Thank you!
BirdLife International, July-Sept 2023, 18.
An example of what a trawler might look like. Many are much larger.
The top Osprey story has to be that Rosie has returned to the nest on the Whirley Crane in the Richmond Shipping Yard. Richmond will be delighted! Oh, so happy you are home safe, Rosie.
Just look at those two beautiful eaglets on the SW Florida Nest. They are 7.5 weeks old! It has been a month since their Mum, Harriet, disappeared. M15 has done a fantastic job caring for the couple’s two eaglets, who were a month old. Now they have their juvenile plumage, standing on the rim of the nest, stealing food, and self-feeding. Life doesn’t get much better than this.
On Tuesday, M15 brought a squirrel to the nest. Of course, E22 grabbed a massive piece of it! What a survivor! SK Hideaways caught E22 doing another great eating trick: sit on 21 to get to the beak!
The two eaglets have been enjoying the Florida sunshine and standing on the rails on Thursday. There were four deliveries on Wednesday: 1308, 1338, 1457, and 1505. They came fast and were not large. E22 often got the fish only to lose it to 21.
M15 came to the nest with a small fish at 13:38:16. E22 pulled off something quickly, 21 got some fish, and Dad quickly left. He was gone in 39 seconds! At 13:38:55.
After, E22 searched for scraps while 21 looked out at the big world beyond.
Lady Hawk caught the deliveries and the action in a video montage.
It is 10:30 in Florida as I finish writing on Thursday. The Es are waiting for breakfast.
As I continue monitoring the SW Florida Eagle nest with M15, I try to catch up on other nests we have been watching. These eaglets are growing, and it will not be long until there are fledges. Right now, the first hatch of Alex and Andria at the KNF-E3 nest in the Kisatchie Forest in Louisiana is hovering! Yes, you read that right. He has wind under those wings. Just look. Incredible. The nest is going to become a trampoline for these two eaglets.
B16, the ‘apple’ of Pa and Missy Berry’s talons and eagle eyes is 39 days old today and is now mantling prey when it comes to the nest!
Both of the recent hatches at Duke Farms appear to be doing well. Dad has been on and off the nest checking, and there was an attempt at tandem feeding today. Well done, Duke Farms!
What an adorable image. Two little fluff balls. Pa and Ma make sure that each gets fed and has a little crop.
There has been more trouble at the nest of Liberty and Guardian in Redding, California. An intruder landed on the nest! Gary explains what is happening but, Guardian prevails saving the nest and the egg.
At the nest of the Sauces Canyon couple, Audacity and Jak, egg #7 is holding. If I were Audacity, I would eat on the nest without trying to move! Everyone send this fantastic couple the most positive wishes you can – imagine, seven eggs hoping that one will not break easily and will hatch!
Cholyn was thrown off the nest at Two Harbours in the Channel Islands on Wednesday. There were concerns for her. She returned to incubate the egg overnight, doing a handover to Chase at 0605 Thursday morning. Cholyn is 24 years old – she went right over the cliff’s edge.
Nancy and Beau at the Minnesota DNR nest have lost an egg. It is believed to have broken when Nancy tried to keep the eggs warm and dry during the recent winter storms. Let’s hope for one healthy hatch!
A squirrel has been in the nest at Decorah North chewing on the egg. There is a question of its viability. Eagle back incubating regardless!
We are looking for a pip at the Moorings Park Osprey platform. Sally was acting rather peculiar…maybe the pip has started! Sally and Harry are not giving a thing away. Cannot tell Thursday morning if there is a pip or not.
Arthur is being just his amazing self and delivering sticks for the nest for Big Red. We could be less than two weeks away from the first egg!
Arthur should be proud. He has diligently transformed a pile of windswept sticks with new ones creating a nest for his queen, Big Red. Let’s hope she approves!!!! Big Red can be specific when it comes to stick placement!
Thanks, Sharon Dunne, for the update on the first Moli of the Laysan Albatross Colony on Kauai’ to hatch this year.
Another Kakapo gets its name!
Scientists were delighted when travelling through Madagascar, a believed to be an extinct songbird, the Dusky Tetraka, was seen! Here is that article from Birdlife International. Can you imagine how excited they were?
You will remember my joy when the EU announced that lead would be banned in all 27 European countries in wetlands as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. Here is more information about this bold move. Can we get this to happen in North America? It would certainly be a beginning but we need to ban lead in all hunting and fishing equipment everywhere!
While the Bald Eagles and some ospreys nest in the US, the first osprey to return from winter migration to Africa has flown over Hampshire in the UK. It will not be long until we have our first returnees on the streaming cams. Will it be Blue 33 and Maya at Rutland?
I am getting so excited it is impossible to think!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, it is going to be getting soooooo busy. Word has come of Osprey crossing The Strait of Gibraltar. Oh, cold chills are going up my arms. I do so love these raptors.
There is a new osprey platform going up in Cumbria that is hoping to attract a couple! Good luck everyone.
Last is a book review that I have been reading in the evenings after checking on the SW Florida nest.
Raptor behaviour interests everyone, and I wanted to know more about M15. Marti Lord is one of the local photographers and observers of the SW Florida nest. To say that they love these eagles would be an understatement! Their book, Miracle in the Pines – An Eagles Love Story, is an intimate account of a single year in the life of M15 and Harriet. It is 2020. Lord says, “This book is a mixture of my real-life visits to the Southwest Florida Eagles Nest, home of Harriet and M15, to Photograph and observe them, mixed with watching the live cams every day and documenting the activity on the nest. Then I add my own twist of fiction and storytelling to complete the story.”
The story is about season 8. Harriet and M15 had two eggs in the nest. One failed to hatch. Mr Sassy Pants, or E14, was the name given to the eaglet that hatched and tragically died on the nest at 26 days of rodenticide poisoning. CROW removed the body and the non-viable egg. Lord says, “I watched closely to see if there would be any clues as to what Harriet and M15 would do next.” They did move on, and what unfolds is the story of two eaglets, Miracle and Grace, hatched from a second clutch of eggs.
While the book is composed of chapters following the daily lives of the eagles, what struck me most is how Lord shares another perspective, one that those watching the nest on a streaming cam will never have. The family of eagles is observed in the area around the nest. M15 is particularly present once the eaglets fledge. He helps them by the pond, delivers prey; he flies with them. Those stories make this book a really good read, especially if you want to know more about this family and M15.
In 2020, E9 is still in the area, and M15 goes hunting with him. Not only is the season remarkable for the success of a second clutch, but also because this is the year Miracle stays at the nest with her parents squeeing and chasing Dad for fish until the 15th of November. It is just about time for Harriet to lay her eggs, and everyone is wondering when 15 will leave OR will Harriet and M15, who have been working on an alternative nest, have to move house. This intimate behind-the-scenes account of this extraordinary year was such a joy to read. Lord brings to life all of the birds and mammals that live on or come to the pond at the Pritchett property and their interactions with the eagles. And, yes, the GHOs are there and knocking M15 off the branch, too! My only disappointment was that the images were in black and white, and Lord’s photographs of this nest, often seen on the SW Florida Eagles Facebook, are extraordinary in colour. I presume that this was the publisher and a cost issue. It happens far too often now… but, that does not take away from a really detailed and passionate accountant of a year in the life of this Bald Eagle family. I admired M15 prior to reading the book and am more of an ardent supporter now!
How ironic it just was to check FB and Trish Rawlings had posted a picture of Harriet feeding E15!
Just because. A throw back video to a month ago when Mama Harriet was being fed by M15 who was also feeding the eaglets. Yes, it is OK to tear up.
Love. Annie and Lou style, thanks to SK Hideaways. Eggs? Soon?
There is lots and lots of news and nests to cover now. This is a glimpse into what is happening at some of the nests!
Lewis and Missy wish everyone a good end of the week. Did I say they love their big dog fluffy bed?
Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, postings, tweets, videos, and streaming cams which help make up my blog: Lucille Powell and the SF Osprey Cam with Rosie and Richmond, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Tonya Irwin and KNF E3, Berry College Eagles, Gary and FORE, Gracie Shepherd and Raptors of the World, IWS and Explore.org, MN Non-game Wildlife Program, Raptor Resource Project and Explore.org, Moorings Park Naples Florida, Cornell RTH Cam, Sharon Dunne and Royal cam Albatross Group NZ, Kakapo Recovery, Birdlife International, Alan Petrie Ospreys FB, @WildHaweswater, Marti Lord, NEFL and SWFL Eaglecam Watcher’s Club, Lady Hawk and SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, and SK Hideaways and Cal Falcons.
