Hello Everyone,
Sunday was a glorious 11 degrees C on the Canadian Prairies. Where did that beutiful warm wind come from? Please send more! We got the lights on a little Blue Spruce tree in the front garden. It was planted for one of our Tuxedo cats, Melvin. Melvin was named after the Jack Nicholson character in As Good as It Gets. And like that character, Melvin did not like patterns. He would only sleep on a blanket if it was a single colour! He was quite the character, living to be 17 and not being sick until the very end. I adored him. Hopefully the little solar panels will charge soon and we can see how we did stringing the lights in a kind of clear rope.
It is International Polar Bear Week, and what a special time for our friend Geemeff to be visiting the bears in the very north of Manitoba. I hope that she has an incredible time on this dream-come-true holiday! I’m really looking forward to seeing the images and hearing the stories.
I am always grateful for the talents of SK Hideaways and here are the video offerings from the past week for your pleasure.
SK Hideaways Videos for the week of 26 October 2025
Introduction: I first fell in love with raptors in 2019. All the videos I’ve created since that time stem from that love and my desire to learn all I can about these and other raptors. My mission is to inform, educate, and entertain viewers. I have never and will never monetize my videos. They are purely a labor of love that give me great joy to share with anyone kind enough to view them. Much gratitude for Mary Ann Steggles for bringing my videos to you.
SAN JOSE CITY HALL FALCONS: Hartley & Monty’s Brief Tête-à-Tête (2025 Oct 31)
Hartley and Monty stopped by for another off-season bonding, albeit very short this time. Just a couple months till breeding season begins.
Video: https://youtu.be/ZkhPpNbRvdE
Courtesy San Jose City Hall Peregrine Falcon Cam
Nest Cam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBSxPjy5sow
Ledge Cam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pp9TisLmLU
Roof Cam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQLhmV6bP6o
SYDNEY WHITE-BELLIED SEA EAGLES
SE36 says, “This is MY Fish🦈 ALL MINE” 🙃 It Almost Was (2025 Nov 2, 11:06-13:50)
When Lady brought a fish, SE36 pounced on the opportunity to grab it first. He/She protected it, mantling like a pro as SE35 tried every angle to get the steal. When Lady returned, apparently deciding SE36 had had enough, she took the tail, which SE35 quickly grabbed. Seems everyone was content with the outcome. At the end, cam ops gifted us with some stunning close-ups.
Video: https://youtu.be/PTddxLHSK6U
Courtesy Sea-EagleCAM@BirdLife Australia Discovery Centre, Sydney Olympic Park (https://www.sea-eaglecam.org/video.html)
Nest cam also at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcKLMh-MGEE
SE35 & SE36 Go From Chaos to Cuddles in <24 Hours (2025 Oct 31, 12:56-13:22)
After SE35’s chaotic return to the nest the previous day, the two eaglets we saw in the nest this afternoon looked completely different. We think yesterday’s eaglets were imposters.😉 It was a relief to see SE35 and SE36 behaving nicely together again. Wonder what tomorrow will bring.
Video: https://youtu.be/s11k9AHjYkc
Courtesy Sea-EagleCAM@BirdLife Australia Discovery Centre, Sydney Olympic Park
SE35 Retains Control🔫But Lets SE36 Relax and Eat😮💨(2025 Oct 31, 7:02-9:31)
After a mostly calm night, 11-week-old SE35 and SE36 had a much calmer morning. While SE35 quickly grabbed and mantled the first two meal deliveries, both eaglets got good feedings and spent time near each other with no aggression. SE35 may continue to show aggression at mealtime, but the fact that they did not attack SE36 was great progress.
Video: https://youtu.be/AgBDJGam6FQ
Courtesy Sea-EagleCAM@BirdLife Australia Discovery Centre, Sydney Olympic Park
SE35 RETURNS TO NEST ~ Attacks SE36, Forcing Him/Her High Up Branch (2025 Oct 30, 15:49-18:13)
SE35 had been near the nest tree the previous day, where Lady and Dad could keep an eye on them and feed them. SE36 knew their sibling was nearby and watched from the nest. But today at 15:56, SE35 returned to the nest and did not want to share it with SE36. SE35 attacked SE36 multiple times, forcing them up the branch and then to the nest rim. Both Dad and Lady brought food, which SE35 quickly grabbed and mantled. Fortunately, SE36 had eaten earlier in the day. At one point, Lady got between the eaglets to distract SE35 from attacking SE36, like she did when they were wee. It still works. At the video’s close, SE35 is laying in the nest while SE36 remains on the rim and parents are nearby. Hoping for a peaceful night.
Video: https://youtu.be/V-dynV6Cvuw
Courtesy Sea-EagleCAM@BirdLife Australia Discovery Centre, Sydney Olympic Park
367 COLLINS ST. FALCONS
Morning Means Madness for Chicks ~ When 1 Feather is Everything (2025 Nov 1)
On their morning walk, one chick found a most fascinating feather, which kept it occupied for some time. The other two chicks were spellbound. Then a spider passed by ~ not sure if the chicks saw it, but it was on a mission to reach the top.
Video: https://youtu.be/ob342PPU6DI
Courtesy 367 Collins St. Falcon Cam
South Facing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oibsohQ14cY
North Facing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNKk0ivuWe4
Mum F24, Dad M24, 3 Chicks (2025 Oct 29, 7:27-12:33)
The chicks are now frequently on the move from one side of the ledge to the other, delighting us with their gutter stomps, food fights, and uncontrolled wingercises. They’re 4 weeks old and their next growth phase will pass with lightening speed.
Video: https://youtu.be/hnyjPG5ZksI
Courtesy 367 Collins St. Falcon Cam
TWO HARBORS EAGLES: Cholyn, Building Inspector🔍Chase, Branch Manager🪵Both, Beakersons (2025 Oct 27)
Cholyn and Chase worked on the original nest again today. Cholyn was the eagle-eyed building inspector, Chase the branch manager. Occasionally this meant there were discrepancies about what should go where, resulting in some beaky disagreements. I urge you to watch the whole video, but if you can’t spare the time, do not miss minute 17 and minute 20. Enjoy!
Video: https://youtu.be/1_iKdCJV3tw
Courtesy Institute for Wildlife Studies, explore.org, Two Harbors Eagles Cam Ops
Eagle Cam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5T2eHM8tcI
Overlook Cam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yx7RKxpyzQ
FOBBVCAM BIG BEAR EAGLES: Jackie Returns with Head Smudge ~ Shadow Dons All White (2025 Oct 26)
After a two-week absence from the nest, Jackie and Shadow visited for just over an hour. Jackie arrived with her now signature head smudge, while Shadow’s coif was pure white. They saw that the nest was still a mess and did some half-hearted aerating. But mostly they just enjoyed the view and each other.
Video: https://youtu.be/qhe2pYBre-0
Original live video courtesy of FOBBVCAM | Friends of Big Bear Valley, CA
🔗Nest Cam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4-L2nfGcuE
🔗Wide View Cam (Cam 2): https://youtube.com/live/LCGYWfbyBWc
🔴LIVE Recap & Observations https://bit.ly/3Md8TSz
We are waiting for the eggs to start pipping at the Charles Sturt University falcon scrape in Orange, Australia.
At the Olympic Park in Sydney, life has settled back to what it was before the fledge of 35, more or less. How many of you had your stomach in knots like I did? I hate seeing them fight, even though it is a normal process for living in the wild when they are independent and not around one another.
Prey is being delivered. In the background you can hear those Currawongs. I know I shouldn’t say it but I would like to cook them in a pot and serve them on that nest – the damage they have done over the years to the sea eaglet babies when they fledge!
35’s knowledge of flying in the forest could help the pair navigate to get out of the trees and to get down by the roost of Lady and Dad near the Parramatta River.
I really urge you to check out the Sydney Sea Eagle FB group. Great images are always being posted with updates from Ranger Judy.
They are not babies anymore at 367 Collins Street. All that flapping and running up and down the gutter means that there is little down left on those wings and back.
Helen Matcham got some great captures of the three!
There might not be eggs at Port Lincoln or any little dinosaurs but Ervie is still around~
There is at least one chick in the nest at Price, South Australia. Friends of Osprey Sth Australia must be delighted.
Geemeff sends us the season highlights from Loch Arkaig – all things Louis and Dorcha! https://youtu.be/-kK4vb1OTiw?
The Bald Eagles are getting ready for a great season!
Connie and Clive at the Windows to Wildlife nest at Captiva:
Gracie Shepherd caught Haku and Akecheta at the West End.
Haku is a big girl!
Mr T is bringing fish gifts to Mrs T at the Trempeauleau Bald Eagle nest – now, please Mr T, do this when there are eaglets in the nest – fish double time or whatever it takes if there are two families!!!!! Early Bird caught it on video: https://youtu.be/5Eo1_m00KDs?
Sandhill Migration inspires many here in Canada, where they are plentiful in Saskatchewan and Southwestern Manitoba, and down in the Midwest. Grateful to the photographers like Michael Boeckmann who shares their talents with us.
There is good news coming from Wildlife Haven and Assiniboine Park Zoo here in Winnipeg. Lumi, the rare lynx cub taken into care, got very ill. She is now responding to treatment.
Beautiful E3 as an ambassador at the Cornell Bird Lab. Much loved and very well cared for, even if they cannot fly free. Looking at Big Red’s baby!
Jane Goodall is an inspiration to so many of us us. What can we do to live up to her example? https://youtu.be/trv_8XQKTWQ?
One of those whom Goodall inspired is Beth Pratt, who has been studying the animals in Yosemite National Park in the US. A lovely article in The Guardian where Beth says, “We think we as humans are so exceptional, but come up here and even the smallest of critters will put you in your place very quickly”. The article continues…”The world Pratt captures is fierce and fragile: Butterflies, weighing no more than a feather, fly over 12,000ft (3,650-meter) peaks. Freshwater crustaceans called fairy shrimp spring to life in small, temporary ponds left after the mountain snow melts, their eggs able to last up to a century in suspended animation, waiting for the right conditions. Pratt even saw a marmot chase off a coyote.
But it also highlights how exceedingly vulnerable these animals have become. The climate crisis and the encroaching development into once-wild places have added challenges even for the most hardy.
“People don’t understand that wildlife operate on the barest of margins,” Pratt said, pausing to ferry a caterpillar off the trail and onto the underbrush in the direction it was heading. “Something like trampling their nest or leaving trash out can result in dead animals or a loss of habitat or scaring an animal who doesn’t have a lot of energy reserves to begin with.”
The book will be released in Canada in 5 days and I have placed an order eager to support the work of these talented and determined environmentalists. Calico and I will have her Golden Paw Award in about a month!
A lovely children’s book about an osprey nest is going to be released soon and the funds will go to help ospreys in South Australia.
Migration updates from Hawk Mountain for the week of 25 October:
I had hoped to complete my entires in the data forms on osprey mortality by the 31st. What I am posting today is a partial entry. I had both my flu and Covid jabs on the same day and they quite knocked me out. I was so very sick that it was one of those weeks when I just wanted to roll over and never wake up. I am grateful to Anne who came and took care of the household while I recovered. But, here is what we have so far. What you are not seeing are the tens of thousands – if not hundreds of thousands – of failed eggs or chicks that died from lack of food nearing fledge – in the region in and around the Chesapeake Bay. The sheer magnitude of the deaths and the nests and the lack of specific dates meant that it was impossible for either Heidi or I to deal with those entries. We were able to post those coming from VikiV in Maryland where the adults laid their eggs in May only to abandon them a fortnight later. At least the chicks did not die on the nest from starvation like they did last year. That is what I am thankful for. There is also some confusion in my mind over the number of nests in Nova Scotia and that has to be explored before the entries are put into the boxes. There are 18 nests in Italy to be added along with some from Denmark and Norway. So keep that in mind. Blow this up on your screen to see but here is the summary. The chart below represents all the nests around the world, with 292 eggs out of 103 nests. 82.88% of those hatched while 26.03% died.
If we look at just North America, there are 185 eggs. 81% hatched. 29.3% of those died. Highest cause of mortality was DNH followed by siblicide.
I have not completed all of the entries for the UK, but the chart contains 79 eggs. Of those 88% hatched while 22.8% o those died. The highest cause of mortality was DNH in the UK.
I hope to have this completed with comparisons going back four years for you before the end of the year.
There is at least one osprey still in the UK that has not migrated but who continues to fish.
Rare bird sighting in New York on CBS News: https://youtu.be/8zlTogAFA4I?
Everyone going nuts for the rate Spotted Cuckoo that should be in Europe.
Calico wonders what you are doing with those leftover pumpkins. In the UK, the Leicester and Rutland Wildlife Trust suggests hollowing them out and turning them into bird feeders. The reason? Hedgehogs love them, but will get very ill if they eat them. Where I live, in fact, right in my neighbourhood, we save them and put them in the park for the deer to eat. I will be asking my neighbours to leave their unwanted pumpkins on my doorstep to take to the park nearby.
Rutland Water’s Photo of the Month:
I want to conclude with some very good news coming out of Scotland. The loopholes that allow for the killing of the raptors at the grouse moor estates is being closed. Thanks, RP UK.
Thank you so very, very much for being with us today. It is my great joy to be amongst such a supportive group of individuals who treasure the raptors and the environment and who want to do whatever they can to protect our planet for them. Please take care of yourself. I will be back with you again on Monday the 10th of November!
Thank you so much to SK Hideaways for their great videos, which support and educate, rather than thrill. None of this would be possible without the owners of the streaming cams that allow us to observe the daily lives of these magnificent creatures. Thank you also to those who administer and post on the numerous Facebook groups, so that we can stay aware of the latest happenings on the nests. I am immensely grateful to all of you. My blog would not be what it is without your contributions.