Category Archives: Manitoba wildlife

More deaths…Saturday in Bird World

13 July 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

It is 40 C in Winnipeg with the heat index. So humid! We did our morning walk at the nature centre regardless packing a big container of watermelon bites and an insulated jug of water. The rain has caused everything to grow tall and the forest is cool. The breeze off the lake and the shade from the trees actually made the walk very tolerable. The delight was turning the corner and seeing a little duck, listening to the songbirds, and having a parade of over 50 Canada Geese of varying ages. I thought, for a moment, they wanted some watermelon!!!! Apparently, the pigs at the nature centre’s farm love it.

The geese came in groups, some juveniles mixed in with the adults. Everyone moving through the paths to get to the stream behind where I was sitting.

Not babies anymore. They will be ready to migrate when October arrives.

At home, Hugo Yugo decided that the perfect toy was my sun hat. She wold get under it and move towards Calico like she was going to bulldoze her down while she was drinking?

Dyson knows when I come home from the nature centre with new seed cylinders. She must have them on speed dial! I no more than get the new cylinder on the spike and she appears. I am so glad that Dyson is in such good condition. She is elderly by squirrel standards. We adore her and her kits.

Everyone is hot and wanting in the bird bath. I ‘thought’ that the Brown-headed Cowbirds had managed to sneak only one egg into the sparrow nest, but I was mistaken. There were three cowbird babies in the bird bath at the same time this afternoon. Those poor House Sparrows feeding those big things. And they are probably still feeding them.

On the far left is a baby Sparrow. You can see the size difference between the Cowbird. Both are ‘babies’.

Reets asked me if I tried the ice in the bird baths. Yes, I did. It is fantastic. I am thinking about embedding peanuts in one of the forms. Meant to take some photographs and forgot and by the time I remembered everything had been chipped away or melted. The birds did love the ice.

I am just getting news from ‘AM’ that one of the osplets was taken by an owl at nest #3 Finland. Mum tried to fight it off but to no avail.

Menhaden. I want you to dream about that word. It is those little fish that the Ospreys need in the NE United States to stay alive. I am embarrassed that Omega, a Canadian company, is taking millions of tonnes of this fish out of the Chesapeake Bay. The Ospreys are only one part of this. Heidi sent me this post by the son of the owner of Captain Mac’s Fish House. That is Fenwick Island. We are watching their osprey. He is also the manager of the fish house. This was two years ago – even the fish could not survive without Menhaden. Neither can the whales. It is time to stop them. I wonder if anyone is brave enough to do it — or will it take us, demanding a stop because of the destruction of the entire bay? The impact on the ospreys is worse than DDT, and they were almost completely wiped out then.

Note to everyone: Omega sells fish oil for humans. They are taking the krill from the Arctic that the whales and seals need. Do humans need supplements? My doctor says ‘no’.

Today’s message from Brian Collins at the Little Fish-Big Deal FB page. If you live in the US, read the notice by the Audubon Society below and write to your representative to save our ospreys.

These were the Omega ships on Thursday.

The other huge risk this year has been dehydration. Gary that does the FORE videos has put together an hour long informative video about the impact of dehydration in light of the deaths of Luna and Sol. But it is not only eagles that are at risk due to dehydration – it is ospreys and all the other animals!

Blue 8B3, the first hatch at Llyn Clywedog, a male, fledged on Friday the 12th of July. It was a beautiful flight off the nest banking to the right over the forest. Blue 8B3 returned safely to the nest.

The third hatch at the Janakkalan Nest in Finland died on the 7th of July from siblicide/starvation (as far as I know). The surviving two were ringed on Friday the 12th.

Video of the ringing by the 85 year old bander.

Beautiful chicks being fed at Saaksilvie 1 in Finland:

Sunnie Day posted a very interesting rescue of an Osprey. Very interesting, indeed.

Community-Rallies-to-Rescue-Entangled-Osprey-in-Orange-BeachDownload

Doing a bit of a roll call on some of the nests we have been watching:

Niagara Bee: All is well with the trio!

Hellgate Canyon, Iris and Finnegan: Might be a good name because of the heat! Iris is doing everything she can to protect her two precious babies in the searing heat wave.

Charlo Montana: Sad news this morning. Little fell over the edge of the nest and died. Please, please help the ospreys by secring their nests for them if you own a streaming cam! You need to do annual maintenance on the cameras so put up a secure railing, high, around the nest! Others in Wales do this for their birds. Their babies don’t fall overboard! Two babies this week lost because of a lack of a railing.

So sad. You were so healthy with such promise, little one.

Like Finnegan, Charlie is trying to get fish on the nest for Lola and the three osplets. Hot, hot.

McEuan Park, Idaho: Mom is off the nest fishing. Chicks not covered with shade. It is unclear what has happened to Dad, if anything. This nest really needs fish, several deliveries close together so #2 can get enough fish to survive. Two chicks already dead.

Later. Both chicks appear to have crops at McEuan Park.

‘PB’ caught a good ‘ps’ out of Two. It has to be eating. Relief.

Minneapolis Landscape Arboretum: 87-90 degrees F. Rain forecast for tomorrow.

Snow Lane, Newfoundland: Some fish are larger than others. The little one sometimes looks like it could use a little extra fuel. Tiny compared to Big sibling.

Field Farm: All is well with the Fab Four. This nest amazes me along with the few others that have four. Little Mini made it! Can you pick them out?

Outerbanks: ‘H’ reports that the names for the chicks are Bonker and Dodger. Quite fitting! Dodger fledged on Friday!

Sandpoint: Keo is getting some fish to the nest for Keke and River. Hot there as well – the general condition at most of the nests in the Pacific Northwest.

Clark PUD: Dad is getting fish on the nest and the Only Bob is good.

Dunrovin: It’s a cooker. Swoop is working hard for Winnie and remaining chicks.

Moraine Park: Heidi reports that the Only Bob is good.

Cowlitz PUD: Two Surviving chicks are still on the nest after the Bald Eagle took Little on Friday morning the 12th. Dad had delivered a fish and Electra was feeding the two larger siblings. Little was at the top of the nest. The eagle possibly followed Dad to try and get the fish. When it couldn’t, it took Little. An opportunistic moment on the eagle’s part. I was somewhat disheartened that the eagle came through the place where there is no fish grid. Let’s hope it doesn’t return.

Dyfi: Idris and Telyn have three beautiful osplets, Gwenlais, Coron, and Senni. They could fly any day. My money is on the only male, Senni, to go first to get away from his big sisters!

Poole Harbour: A beautiful family portrait – CJ7 and Blue 022 and the Fab Four.

News from Cal Falcons:

Geemeff reports on Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:

Daily summary Friday 12th July 2024

Today’s main story is seeing footage of the Spanish aviary where our two 2024 Arkaig chicks are now living, and the big thrill of having 1JR walk right in front of the camera giving us a good look at him. He looks in great condition and holding his head up, not thin, weak and submissive as he was before removal, and ready to play his part in helping establish a thriving Osprey population in Valencia. Nest One had some little visitors before Garry LV0 arrived bringing nesting materials and doing a bit of housekeeping. Over on Nest Two, Louis did the same, bringing nesting materials and doing a bit of nest-scraping, although Dorcha let him know she would much rather have fish. The weather was settled and should remain so with tonight’s forecast of light cloud and light winds, continuing through tomorrow. 
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.31.09 (03.36.57); Nest Two 23.17.57 (03.38.38)
Today’s videos:
https://youtu.be/Nb4V8EKa_os  WTS tweets and footage of our chick 1JR in the Spanish aviary
https://youtu.be/6qeyNmLWYWc  N1 Little birds visit – Great Tits and juvenile Robins, possibly 06.34.00https://youtu.be/Zv55S0PD-T0  N2 Dorcha arrives fish-calling, Louis arrives but brings no fish 09.02.36

https://youtu.be/WnoPi5nkNGY  N1 Garry LV0 brings nesting materials and keeps a lonely vigil 09.29.21

https://youtu.be/VpDVwAJsY_A  N2 Dorcha does her exercises before leaving 12.16.37

https://youtu.be/2XLYBfvjFLo N2 Louis brings nesting materials and does some housekeeping 16.25.52

Watch the Loch Arkaig Osprey livestream 24/7 and join in the conversation here:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

‘H’ gives us her reports: “7/12 Osoyoos osprey nest:  The live stream was once again offline from 0300 to 0915.  We probably missed Olsen’s first couple of fish deliveries.  At 0918 Olsen dropped off a small whole fish.  Middle beaked Little, and Big beaked both of its sibs.  It was a 6-minute feeding, and Big was the only one that ate.  The next meal was a tiny fish at 0959 that lasted 3-minutes.  Little managed 10 bites of fish before being beaked.  Middle was not able to get to the table.  Olsen brought another ‘tiny’ at 1022.  There was more beaking by Big.  Middle managed to grab 2 bites of fish before being beaked by Big…and Little had nothing to eat during the 3-minute meal.  At 1037 another tiny fish was delivered by Olsen.  Little had squeezed around the right side of Soo and ate approximately 16 bites of fish.  Big was eating at Soo’s left, and Middle could not get into position.  It was another 3-minute feeding.  So far, of the four feedings we viewed this morning, Middle has had 2 bites of fish, and Little has eaten 26 bites.  

It was a warm day with light winds.  Temp at 1500 was 97F/36C.  Olsen did not make another delivery until 1505, and it was a large whole fish.  Middle was the primary aggressor toward Little.  Big and Middle ate, one on each side of Soo.  There was only room for two at the table, and each time Little tried to approach s/he was intimidated.  It was a 12-minute meal and Little did not eat.  The final fish arrived at 2002, and it was a large partial fish.  Once again, Middle beaked Little.  But, Middle stayed back, and Little managed to get a few bites on the other side of Soo, that is until Soo moved the fish.  At 2006 Soo flew off with the fish, but returned 15 seconds later.  At that point, Middle was right up at Soo’s beak and ate a few bites, until it decided it would rather beak Little.  When Middle did that, Big took that spot at the table.  By 2009 Little was eating at Soo’s right side for a couple of minutes, until s/he was beaked by Middle, and then Middle took that spot at Soo’s beak.  It was a 23-minute meal, and Big ate well.  Middle and Little both ate ‘some’, but I could not tell how much.  Middle had a moderate sized crop, and Little’s crop was small.  It will be another hot and sunny day on Saturday, with the high temp predicted to be 99F/37C, and 12 mph winds.

7/12 Colonial Beach osprey nest:  It was a rainy day at the nest.  We were worried about Little, because s/he seemed to be chilled and shivering a lot.  Perhaps Betty could have kept her littles a bit drier.  There were three meals today, and it was concerning that Little did not want to eat at the first two meals.  Finally, at around 1930 David brought a large headless fish, 8 hours since the last fish.  Little was eager to eat…good!  Both kids ended up with good crops.  Little was still shivering though, and it was quite a while before Betty provided them with some warmth from her body.”

A Woodpecker comes to check on the Dorsett Hobbies when Mum is away.

The White Stork Project at Knepp Farm has been deemed a huge success this season.

What is the Golden Eaglet doing with its dead sibling?

Humans and Wildlife. India’s Flamingoes are facing great challenges.

“This migration season has been particularly deadly for migrating flamingos in India, and these collisions are highlighting the ever-increasing tensions between human development and wildlife. “

-https://www.birdlife.org/news/2024/06/21/flamingo-deaths-highlight-development-tensions/

Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care of yourselves. Stay cool! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, letters, posts, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘AM, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, Nesting Bird Life and More, Matt McGuigal, Brian Collins, Audubon, William Dunn, FORE, Gary’s Videos, Llyn Clywedog, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Sunnie Day, OBA, Niagara Bee, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, McEuan Park Osprey Cam, MN-LA, Newfoundland Power, Field Farm, Outerbanks, Sandpoint, Dunrovin Ranch, Heidi McGrue, Cowlitz PUD, Dyfi Osprey Project, SK Hideaways, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, White Stork Project, Nesting Birdlife and More, Birdlife International, SK Hideaways, Osoyoos, and Colonial Beach.

Friday in Bird World

12 July 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Today, I got a notice that another new tree is going in front of my property. What joy! I hope they grow fast. With all the new baby crows and squirrels, we need all the big trees fast.

I want to be overjoyed by this notice – and believe me, I am. But a quick walk down the street shows me that four more of the 1902 trees are set to be cut down due to disease. Each has a bright orange circle. I know they must go, but Dyson and her family need trees. There will be some left. Thank goodness.

Does anyone have any good plans for squirrel houses that work? So far, they have balked at the beautiful house I had sent from Sweden!!!!!!! Little Red finally took to the crates in the wood pile but the Greys need a tree. Maybe a fake tree??

The baby Crows have been visiting. I could not grab my camera quick enough to take a photo of them dancing on the glass roof of the conservatory. One was in the birdbath later while three tried to balance themselves on the hydro line coming into the house. The other two were walking around the fence. There are six of them with soft downy heads calling their parents to come and feed them. They are as big as Mr Crow!!!!!!!! The only way that you can tell the difference is that they are thinner and their heads are soft down, not feathery.

Look at the baby Crow’s soft downy head. The water feels good on their hot feet. These are just the cutest crows…

I think it is time for more cheesy dogs!

Let’s start with some good news. Nox. Thanks, ‘B’ for sending me the latest update on Annie and Archie’s fourth hatch. Look at those eyes and tell me this isn’t the cutest little falcon you have ever seen!

At San Jose, Alma has been hunting.

There are nests that I check on but don’t often report on especially when it is osprey season. Here are a couple that I know many of you are interested in!

If you have been wondering about the Centreport Eaglets, they did fledge and they are soaring and locking talons together! Amazing footage by Rob Schwartz.

LGL comes in to feed the Royal Cam chick!

Two little Hobbys. Dad has been hunting and had four bird meals for Mum to feed the little ones before mid-day.

Jackie and Shadow have been visiting the nest. Their chortling is music to my ears. No matter what is thrown at them, they always manage to over come it and bring us smiles.

Seren and Dylan were amongst the lucky nests this year. Indeed, Wales did good in the scheme of things. The weather around Kielder and Border was horrific – we saw it, too, at Loch Arkaig. These three are just beautiful osplets. Don’t you just love the look of the kid staring at the camera?!

Aran and Elen started out with three beautiful chicks and it looks like they will fledge three from Glaslyn in Wales.

Idris and Telyn started out with three and they will fledge three as well at the Dyfi nest in Wales!

Llyn Brenig in Wales started out with three eggs. One DNH and now there are two nice big Bobs ready to fledge.

Alyth SSEN started out with three chicks. One died from a nest accident and the other from weather induced causes. This only surviving Bob looks great. Alyth is in Perth and Kinross, Scotland.

Sadly, Laddie was possibly shot and Blue NC0 waited for her mate. The nest failed this year at Loch of the Lowes. Only time will tell who the nest belongs to next year. Blue NC0 has been with the dark-coloured osprey but there has also been another around. It was very sad as Laddie LM 12 was much loved. Much loved. The dark one has a fish for Blue NC0. Where is she?

Time to bid Tuffy goodbye! Remember his head pattern for years to come.

H wrote: “This was Tuffy’s last day on camera, before the camera was shut down for the season. Tuffy treated viewers to some extended appearances today. We witnessed Tuffy dive into the water to try to catch a fish (3:00). He didn’t appear to come away with a fish on that attempt. But, about an hour later, Tuffy flew to the nest carrying a tilapia (4:35). He was wet, and shaking off water. Tuffy took a long time to eat that tilapia, and we enjoyed watching him eat it. As we watched, memories surfaced of when Tuffy was so little, and he barely had enough to eat due to the dominance of his older sister, Ruffie. “We have been blessed to witness your life thus far, Tuffy… through all your struggles and your victories. You are a survivor. We wish you a long and productive life. We will never forget you.”

At the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Mum is trying to keep her chick cool. It will go up to 90 and then 92 F on Saturday before the heat breaks a bit in Minneapolis.

Dad continues to bring in the fish and Mum continues to feed. The chick looks good.

At 0555, Finnegan arrived on the nest with a very large headless fish. He was still wet. I hope that Iris got a lot of that fish to eat. It is going to be hot today in Missoula. The temperature is 97 F. Remember that is not the heat index which will be higher.

‘PB’ alerted me to a late fish delivery by Finn for Iris and the kids. – a headless whooper!

‘A’ loves Finn – welcome back! We are so glad you are feeling better. “Finn is doing his usual superb job. There was a whole fish (small by his standards but a good medium at any other nest) delivered late in the afternoon, and Iris fed it all to the osplets within 10 minutes or so, creating respectable crops for both osplets (of course, Baby Bob’s was the largest, as always bigger than his head – seriously) but that wasn’t enough for Iris, who immediately began nagging Finn for more fish, although he was still preening and drying himself on the perch from his previous fishing expedition. 

But off he went, dutifully obeying Iris’s instructions, and at he returned with one of his patented baby sharks (Pacific whitefish, I understand), minus head (a whole one was not only too large to get to the nest easily but also nearly brained an osplet last week, so Finn has learnt from that episode) around 20:34. 

It is wonderful to see that Little’s left eye appears to have healed almost totally. I do hope he is not left with any residual corneal damage. I know I’ve been banging on about it but we both know if Baby Bob cannot triangulate, he cannot fish, and if he cannot fish, he cannot survive. So obviously, it has been my number one concern for some time now. There were four or five days there when I was truly distraught with worry for my little man. 

These two are males. They must be. Not a single bonk or beaking. Nothing to suggest any aggression, at meal times or otherwise. They simply have to be brothers. Iris is looking good – she is eating better I think. And Finn is my favourite osprey dad of 2024. I know he has some competition out there, with some of the successful four-osplet clutches this season, but we all know that watching Iris being loved and cared for by a worthy mate who is helping her raise two exquisite osplets is the highlight of the season for many of us. She is blissfully happy and SUCH a good mum. (What a mumbrella she makes, shading them from the heat, sheltering them from the rain and cold – just totally devoted to her babies.) 

I ADORE this family. Could you tell? “

I agree and so does everyone else. Finn is amazing. Here is his big whole fish for the family first thing Friday morning!

It is so hot at Charlo Montana. Lola is doing an amazing job. Charlie is getting fish in – every nest in the heat dome area could use much more fish. The adults as well as the osplets are all suffering. Today is Friday. Let us hope this heat dissipates soon.

I thought we might lose Middle at McEuan Park on Thursday but Mum went out and got a big fish and everyone ate. What a relief. Unless someone tells me otherwise, it appears that the male is now MIA.

The youngest of the two siblings at McEuan Park crop dropped quickly. It is difficult to know how much fish it got. Probably not nearly what it should have as Big is extremely aggessive and hungry. Hoping Mum goes out again and catches a huge one so that all can get their fill before bed time. No rewind, no time stamp, cam freezes. Hard to tell what is really happening.

Another fish came to the nest and the camera froze. I have no idea if number 2 got any fish or not. How frustrating is this.

The fledglings, both Patches and Rainer, do return to the nest at Patchogue. Fingers crossed for both of them. This is Patches with a fish from Dad.

Steelscape had a good delivery! Keep it up, Dad.

Looking good at Black Bush:

Continued concern for Little at Cowlitz PUD:

Geemeff sends us her summary for the day’s activities at Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust:

Daily summary Thursday 11th July 2024

The big news of the day is the safe arrival of our chicks at their new home in Valencia and they are now sporting their new yellow Darvic rings. The submissive chick is 1JR and the dominant one is 1JW, and they looked cosy together in their nest in the photo posted by Woodland Trust Scotland on their social media channels, link in the bonus section. Their parents spent time together today on the nest before an unseen intruder caused them to flee, Louis did a little nest-scraping and a fair bit of coy-mantling but still didn’t bring any fish for Dorcha, although we don’t know what fish exchanges might be taking place off-nest. Garry LV0 visited Nest One bringing nesting materials and doing a bit of housekeeping, but there was no sign of the Dark Female. it would be good to see him with a mate, perhaps they are connecting off-nest. The weather was settled today, the sun broke through a few times, and the forecast for tonight is partly cloudy with light winds.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.32.11 (03.36.07); Nest Two 23.26.04 (03.40.16)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/CscB0UbvO3c N2 News update – chicks safe in Spain and have been ringed 09.00

https://youtu.be/hT20jh6SGBU N2 Dorcha & Louis together on the nest but no fish 09.56.50

https://youtu.be/RQNxDQEbg5s N1 Garry LV0 visits but no sign of the Dark Female 13.08.50

https://youtu.be/VS4q1tY2vks  N2  Dorcha & Louis spend time together until scared off by an intruder 18.08.40

Bonus photo – our chicks in their new Spanish nest:

Bonus song – The Osprey Song – performed by the Juniors at Hurst Lodge School:

Watch the Loch Arkaig Osprey livestream 24/7 and join in the conversation here:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

‘H’ reports for the day:

7/11 Osoyoos osprey nest:  The live stream was offline until just before noon.  Olsen has a habit of fishing early in the day, so hopefully he had delivered a few fish for the family earlier.  The first fish we saw delivered was at 1736.  I never got a good look at the fish, but Soo fed the osplets for 7 minutes.  Little quickly found a spot on the other side of Mom and seemed to be eating.  At 1739 Little was beaked by Big, but being on the rim, Little had nowhere to go.  I could not tell at that point if Little was getting bites of fish, or was in submission.  Big beaked Little again at 1740, then Middle beaked Big, and Big beaked Middle!  A short time after the meal ended, we saw that Little had a small crop.  The next (and last) fish of the day arrived at 2004, and was a large partial fish.  Nice going, Olsen!  Once again, Little set up on the other side of Mom from Big and Middle.  We could not see how much Little was eating, but everyone ate, and there was no aggression.  It was a 16-minute feeding.  After the meal, Little had a small crop, and also had a good PS at 2119.  The high temperature on 7/12 is predicted to be 96F/36C, and it will be sunny, with winds gusting to 13 mph.

7/11 Colonial Beach:  David brought fish to the nest for Betty and the kids six times, and a couple of those were huge!  The osplets are 16 and 17-days-old.  There is some occasional beaking between meals, but the meals are peaceful.  Yay!

7/11 Fenwick Island:  I only saw two fish brought to the nest today for June and young ‘Fen’.  Johnny usually averages 5-6 fish per day.  The temp was in the low 80’s, and the wind was gusting to 17 mph.  Fishing should not have been very difficult, but I’m not an osprey, so what do I know, lol. 

7/11 Audubon Boathouse osprey nest:  It was a rather uneventful day for this osprey family…other than the youngest osplet, Gray, falling over and being stuck on his/her back for several long minutes!  Finally, Dory arrived at the nest and pulled on some nesting, and then Gray was able to right itself.  What a good Mom.  Whew!

7/11 Kent Island (Chesapeake):  Dear Audrey is still incubating her two non-viable eggs.  

7/11 Captiva osprey nest.  The chat has been shut off for the season, but the livestream will continue for a while.  Jack had an injury to his leg, and we have not seen him for a while.  Edie may have an issue with her health, and she stopped bringing fish regularly to Darling and Ding.  Ding has dispersed. She had learned to catch her own fish, and has likely moved to find a better fishing spot.  Darling died at CROW on 7/5.  I have a huge hole in my heart.  And it hurts.

When you see all those gulls rushing for the chips at the beach? Well, they would rather have fish new study finds.

Herring-gull-chicks-would-rather-have-fish-than-your-chips-finds-study-Birds-The-GuardianDownload

Ventana Wildlife continues to vaccinate the California Condors for HPAI.

‘PB’ reports that Steelscape has had a fish this morning. Cowlitz PUD had no late night fish and nothing has arrived Friday morning so far. Send them good wishes.

Connie Dennis reports that the osprey nests in Nova Scotia are doing very well compared to others in the US and the UK. She is the founder of a group working to get Nova Scotia Power to put up poles, and she organises the monitoring of the province’s nests with information on their FB page, Ospreys of Nova Scotia. She has written a book for children on Ospreys with photographs by her husband, Don, that I will review in the coming days.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, messages, videos, images, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, B, Geemeff, H, PB’, California Raptor Centre, SK Hideaways, Rob Schwartz, Lady Hawk, Dorsett Hobbys, Llyn Clywedog, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, Llyn Brenig, Alyth, LOTL, Heidi McGrue, MN LA, Montana Osprey Project, McEuan Park, PSEG, Pam Breci, Cowlitz PUD, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Charlo Montana, The Guardian, Ventana Wildlife Society, Osoyoos, Fenwick Island, Colonial Beach, Window to Wildlife, Kent Island, Audubon Boathouse, and Connie Dennis Ospreys of Nova Scotia.

Golden Eaglet kills Sibling, Darling catches a fish, Blue survives another day…Sunday in Bird World

7 July 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Oh, goodness. The operative word in parts of North America is ‘hot’. It is not as hot as it has been in Winnipeg – say last summer when we reached 38 degrees C and that might still happen – but, it is ‘hot’ and humid. The garden feels like you are inside a greenhouse. ‘The Boyfriend’, Calico’s tuxedo cat friend with whom she used to visit the garden last summer, slept in the shade of the lilacs while we were planting. We voted, and he got a big tin of sardines for his supper—poor thing. I wish he would stay in the garden. There is a fantastic place for him to sleep, lots of water, and lots of food. Much to my dismay, he can catch a sparrow if he wants. Oddly, he never bothers the birds at the feeders. It was Calico that did!!!!!!!!

Saturday morning, Baby Hope and Calico rested on the tiles in the conservatory, watching a host of baby birds trying to eat seed and Virginia Creepers. One of those babies was a Brown-headed Cowbird. You might recall I mentioned that the Cowbirds had visited the garden 4-6 weeks ago. Well, they snuck at least one of their eggs into the nest of either a sparrow or a European Starling. Those parents fed that baby Cowbird while its parents were off having a holiday! It is approximately three times the size of the baby sparrows. I do hope to get some good photographs of them.

Playing with the phone!

Everyone is vying for a chance to get some cheesy dogs on Saturday evening. There are 9 Blue Jays and 6 European Starlings, a handful of Grackles and 7 Crows at the buffet. The squirrels are over in the lilacs going after peanuts, and a little woodpecker was here eating suet. Oh, they are all so happy. Their songs are beautiful and loud.

We went for a walk at the nature centre and sat on a bench overlooking one of the ponds in the shade. It was idyllic. The slight breeze was cool.

After, I did something I shouldn’t have. We returned to the greenhouse to search for Allium, more tomatoes, and another Hosta. We came home with those, along with a tray of Persian Peppers (they are super sweet) and eggplants, celery, some colourful Milkweed and daisies, and some Jalapeno pepper plants. Almost the makings for salsa! Does anyone have a favourite homemade salsa recipe they would like to share? The greenhouse is closing tomorrow and they were practically giving the plants away today. As I drove away, I wondered what they do with the plants that are left. I hope they give them to people who might not otherwise have the opportunity to enjoy some fresh flowers or veggies.

We are always looking for real-life examples to demonstrate that human behaviour has a significant impact on our raptor families. Here is Terri from FORE, who tells us how she helped protect one Osprey family that has had problems in the past with fireworks. Please read! And thanks, ‘J’, for sending this to us! Thank you, Terri, for making sure this family was safe. You are our hero.

Friends of the Redding Eagles-FORE

Every year on the 4th of July, I am always deeply concerned for the Osprey family who just happen to nest directly across the river from the Redding Freedom Festival where the fireworks display occurs. Last year, 2 of the 3 chicks bailed out of the nest sometime on the 4th of July & were never seen again. 🙁 Somehow, 1 osprey chick did survive the “night of terror” and my friend followed that one for quite a while.

My dear friend and our old mutual friend, “Ospreyman Jim”, R.I.P. have spent many hours watching this beautiful raptor family. Ospreyman Jim named this pair “Ozzie & Harriet” and over the years “Eaglewoman” & “Ospreyman” had a lot of fun joking about who was the better raptor, eagles or ospreys? Sorry Jim, but you know where I stand on that one!🤣

But, honestly I love all raptors including ospreys & all wildlife & I have deep concerns going forward for all of them. I am committed to do whatever I can do to help them & give them a voice, as are all of my Wildlife Warrior friends out there!

So, on this 4th of July, my friend & I worked with our Raptor Rescue Angel Marily Woodhouse from Defiance Canyon Raptor Rescue to come up with a plan to do what we could do to help this beloved Osprey Family.

My friend & I met down at the Osprey Nest Area at 9:30pm, which was a complete Zoo on the 4th of July! This is a very popular spot to watch the Redding firework display since it is literally right across the river from it! We had scoped out a spot ahead of time where, using my binoculars, I could keep an eye on the nest & watch to see if any of the chicks bailed out during the fireworks. Then, we found a trail that we could easily go down to the area under the nest if any of the chicks bailed. We brought all of the supplies we needed to capture them, if we could reach them, and then we planned to meet Marily so she could take them to her Raptor Rehab Center up in Manton. (My only fear was they might end up in the river where I believe last year’s 2 chicks ended up & then we wouldn’t be able to reach them.) But, we figured we needed to take a shot because there was also a chance they could land down below the nest in the blackberry bushes or in a spot where we could reach them.

Thankfully, my friend advised me ahead of time to bring ear plugs & I honestly don’t think I would’ve made it without those! I have extremely sensitive hearing along with being a very sensitive person, so this was not somewhere I really wanted to be! It was truly one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done! And I’ve had to do some really difficult things lately as you all know. 😢Those 20 minutes of horror felt like it went on forever! Watching those poor ospreys up there in the nest trying to comprehend what in the world was happening to them & to their peaceful, quiet habitat was absolutely torturous for me. 🙁 It sounded like they were being shot at with a shotgun repeatedly for 20 minutes! 

Mama Harriet stayed in the nest with the 3 chicks the whole time, but at one point when the fireworks first started, she began flapping her wings & hovered above the nest for a second before she landed back in there with her babes. I was so glad she did!

I thought for sure they were going to all bail out, because if I had been up in that nest I know I would have! There were so many extremely loud concussive blasts this year, and the last few minutes were filled with them! And it is so close to the Osprey Nest which is right across from the Redding Rodeo Grounds. 

We were so relieved when it finally ended at 10:20pm and none of the chicks had bailed out!!! I was so glad it was over & I know Harriet & her chicks were, too! 

My friend went down the next morning at 6:30am to check on the Osprey family & all 3 chicks were in the nest with their sweet Mama Harriet. He said Harriet stayed in there the whole time he was there & I’m sure it was going to take her a while before she felt safe enough to leave her babies alone after what had happened there the night before! Good ‘ole Ozzie brought in 2 fish for the kiddos while my friend was there, so that was a great sign & they need all of the hydration they can get right now with these ridiculously high temperatures we’ve had! It reached 117 degrees yesterday & expecting 119 degrees today! What wildlife can survive these temperatures?!? These 3 chicks are due to fledge around July 12th so they still have a ways to go so I’d ask that you please keep them in your thoughts this next week & hopefully they will make it!

I know part of why this is so upsetting to me is partly because I’m older & wiser now. I still remember when I was younger I really enjoyed watching firework displays with my family & friends & never even considered how it affected wildlife! But, it’s also because now I am so lucky to spend so much time observing our Redding Eagles & many other Eagles & wildlife on a daily basis. I’ve grown to love them & care for them so deeply as if they are members of my own family. So, watching this osprey family having to endure 20 minutes of pure terror felt so wrong to me? It almost made me physically sick to my stomach. 😢I’m sure It didn’t help that I’m still traumatized from what happened or our Luna & Sol 😢

Aren’t there any protections for these nesting Ospreys? I know they are protected by The Migratory Bird Act & several Federal Laws just like Bald Eagles are? According to those laws, you are not allowed to disturb an active raptor nest? So, I’m not sure how this has been allowed to happen each year? Because I can tell you, it was definitely disturbing to this Osprey Family!

So, I’m not trying to be controversial, but I simply would like to start a conversation about what can be done? Is there anything Fish & Wildlife can do? (I will be speaking to them about this & I will let you know what they say.) Would the City ever consider changing the location? I know this has been happening at this location for many years & I’m sure there are good reasons for it being there. Would the City consider using an alternative to fireworks? As many of you know, we live in a high fire danger area & this really seems to be a potential recipe for disaster? Anything we can do as a City to prevent future wildfires is a positive step in my book! I don’t see things getting better as far as our fire danger goes…

Several other Cities are beginning to use drones instead of fireworks, is that something the City of Redding & the McConnell Foundation who pays for the event would consider doing? Raptors don’t like drones, but as long as they are not flying immediately above the Osprey Nest I think they would tolerate drones since it would be happening at 10pm when it is dark & they are not active or flying around. So, that might be a good alternative to consider?

I honestly don’t want to spoil the fun for anyone! But, if we could put our heads together & try to find something that is still awesome & enjoyable for us humans to watch, but at the same time doesn’t disturb wildlife, that would be a win-win for all of us! Not to mention our own dogs & cats!

Here’s an article with more information about other Cities who are now using Drones instead of Fireworks & it looks really cool! I know change is hard for all of us humans, but maybe it is time for us to start thinking outside the box & try something new?!? We are the ones who are supposed to be taking care of the wildlife on our Planet so this would be a great start!

~Terri

If you are concerned about Blue at the Hancock Boundary Bay nest, things looked alright on Saturday. Blue had an early breakfast. Mum was in the nest during the night. It was a nice chunk of ‘something’, and I bet it is enough to keep Blue alive for another day.

Look at Blue. He looks good – I can’t tell if that is a wing or a huge crop. That shade that David Hancock designed for the eagles is really important. It is nice that someone is thinking about their welfare in times of extreme heat.

The Estonian Golden Eagle nest has lost its second chick. The oldest killed it during the past day. This has been expected since the eldest was not successful when the second chick was quite small. The parents withhold food, waiting and watching. Once the second is killed they bring in food.

The Dorset Hobbys welcomed their first hatch on Saturday! No doubt there could be more by the time you read this post.

At Cal Falcons, Sol wants back in the nest.

Mary Cheadle posted a compilation video from 2018. It was the only other year the Loch Arkaig nest did not fledge chicks. The Pine Martens took the eggs of Louis and Aila.

It was windy in Newfoundland on Saturday. Even so, Beaumont continued to provide nice fish for the family. Hope is doing better than she has in previous years feeding their babies—I just wish she would focus more on making sure that they get lots. That little one is feisty and figured out how to get around the big sib for some nice bites at one meal.

Field Farm is still doing great. The four are magnificent. What a nest! It should put a smile on all our faces when others fail.

Clark PUD is in the centre of the heat in the Pacific NW. Dad brought in a small fish for Mum and Only Bob mid-morning on Saturday. Both ate! ‘PB’ reports a large fish coming in later for the family. Way to go Dad!

The Port of Ridgefield cam keeps going offline. Let me know if you happen to catch in on and see how Only Bob is doing. Thanks!

Need a Jackie and Shadow ‘stick fix’? I sure did!

It sounds like Eclipse is wanting some prey, Annie and Archie. No one is reponding..ah.

Little Bob at Blackbush has been brow beaten during a dreary day on the nest. Sometimes it was difficult to see if it got any fish, but it was clear in this feeding that once Big was satisfied, then Middle, Little could eat. Relief.

Things look alright for Only Bob at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum nest.

Geemeff sends us her Daily Summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:

Daily summary Saturday 6th July 2024

Dorcha visited the nest several times today and spent long periods fish-calling, but to no avail. Louis didn’t appear on nest cam although the off-nest reports from LizB showed he was in the area for long periods of time but chose not to respond to Dorcha. He has brought four fish to the nest for her since the chicks were removed on 1st July, perhaps he’ll arrive on the nest with one tomorrow, or possibly give it to her on her favourite perch tree. No activity at Nest One today, no sign of Garry LV0 and the only other nest visitors were a pair of Hoodies pecking around Nest Two without finding any scraps. The weather was much more settled, none of the thunder showers materialised, and tonight’s forecast is partly cloudy with light winds, and some sunshine with a few showers tomorrow. 

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.39.42 (03.29.32); Nest Two 23.27.44 (03.33.56)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/3dWj2hvSzvE N2 Dorcha arrives early, fish-calling, but gets no response 06.03.41

https://youtu.be/jE9WeBXZE4g N2 Dorcha returns at midday but still no Louis 13.22.34

https://youtu.be/fKAlAJUJQ0Y N2 Dyson & Henry Hoodie arrive but there aren’t any scraps for them 20.31.31

https://youtu.be/yCVDmwY87Ic N2 Dorcha pays a late evening visit and calls to no avail 22.14.25

Watch the Loch Arkaig Osprey livestream 24/7 and join in the conversation here:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

The trio at Mashpee NWR in Massachusetts are doing so very, very well. Fledges coming!

The heat that is hitting the Pacific Northwest nests will be moving through and ‘PB’ sent me information that shows that the Missoula nest of Iris and Finnegan will have 101 F temperatures in the coming week. This will hit other nests in Montana. Send them good wishes

.The third hatch at the Ferguson Museum Osprey nest has died of starvation. Sadly, we may see quite a few more before next weekend. This season began with great saddness at many of the eagle nests and continues with the ospreys and even the hawks as Angel and Tom did not, as far as we know, have a clutch this season.

Sandpoint had an early fish and a late one. Both small but Mum and Only Bob had some fish. Thanks, Dad.

The nest is in Sandpoint, Idaho. The weather for the coming week at Sandpoint:

This Osprey breeding season the weather is having a huge impact on nest success worldwide. The chart below is from the eggs that we are monitoring. Those numbers will change by the time that all have migrated but weather is significant.

Two beautiful fledglings at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science on their nest wishing for a fish.

Marilyn feeding her two beautiful osplets at Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home. The third hatch died of siblicide/starvation on 31 May.

At the BUNDstiftung Goitzsche-Wildnis, the nest is really full of osplets with flapping wings! They were ringed on the 25th of June and fledgling is expected any moment!

At the Great Bay nest in Greenland, those osplets are big, appear to be healthy and well, they are just beautiful. Mum feeds, some want to feed themselves.

The Only Bob at Marder’s Osprey nest on Long Island is doing nicely. The other two eggs did not hatch. This sweet baby is 28 days old today.

‘H’ sends in her wonderful reports:

7/6 Osoyoos osprey nest:  It is quite warm in Osoyoos, and predicted to be even hotter in the next few days.  Osoyoos reached 35C/95F at 17:00.  There were only three fish brought to the nest today.  The first fish at 0841 was tiny and only provided for a 4-minute meal.  Little only ate a couple of bites.  The next fish at 1017 was large.  There was some initial beaking of Little and intimidation of Middle by Big.  Middle started to eat at 1023, and by 1028 Big moved away from Soo.  At 1030 Little had a 6-minute private feeding.  Soon, the siblings were all eating side-by-side.  Little also ate solo for another eight minutes at 1049.  The meal lasted for 50 minutes, until 1108.  The next fish was delivered 9.5 hours later.  The kids had spent all day trying to stay in the shade of ‘Mombrella’.  At 2041 Olsen delivered a medium sized headless fish.  Middle beaked Little, and Big beaked both Middle and Little, so Soo fed Big.  Middle was allowed to join in the meal at 2052.  Little grabbed a quick bite at 2056, so Big tried to beak Little, but missed and beaked Middle instead.  So, both Middle and Little were out of the feeding, and Middle beaked Little.  At 2059 Middle was back at the table and Big moved away.  Little arrived, but there was hardly any fish left.  Little ate a total of 8 bites of fish and the tail at this feeding.  The meal lasted 20 minutes.  None of this was unexpected.  We knew that Olsen was going to have a difficult time finding fish to catch in this heat.  And, we knew that the previously peaceful nest might become unsettled.  On 7/7, the temperature is predicted to reach 100 F/ 38C, sunny with light winds.

7/6 Audubon Boathouse osprey nest: Things are going well for these ospreys that live on top of a boat house.  Harbor is 22 days old, and Gray is 18 days.  Despite being four days apart in age, the siblings seem to be getting along well.  

7/6 Forsythe osprey nest:  46-day-old Larry is doing well.  Despite the heat, Oscar and Opal have been able to provide fish for their only remaining osplet out of four.  Larry was achieving some lift while wingersizing today.  All hopes are for Larry to successfully fledge, in order to salvage some joy for this nest that has been incredibly sad this season.

7/6 Captiva osprey nest:  Ding did not eat on 7/5, and had made several unsuccessful attempts to catch a fish by diving from the nest platform.  This morning, Ding started out her day by resuming her fishing attempts.  At 10:26, we saw her dive from the right perch into the water below.  She quickly exited the water, circled around and landed back on the nest with a fish!  Ding had caught a needlefish.  Congratulations, Ding!  How wonderful it was that we got to see Ding catch her first fish.  We savored every bite of that needlefish right along with Ding.  After her meal, Ding resumed her fishing, making multiple attempts.  Later in the afternoon, Edie delivered a meaty partial tilapia for Ding.  Even though her catch-to-attempts ratio will be very low at first, we are all so relieved to know that Ding may be able to provide for herself, so that she doesn’t have to rely on her parents.  We have been told not to expect a report on Darling from CROW until Monday at the earliest.

7/6 Fortis Exshaw osprey nest:  Louise, Harvie, and their 21, 23, and 25-day-old youngsters continue to do well.  Harvie is a great provider, and there has been no significant aggression among the siblings.

‘A’ reports:

The weather in southeastern Australia is due to start warming up but only to be replaced by a lot of rain. Poor Lady and Dad are incubating in this weather, and obviously, the need to keep the eggs dry is paramount. It is now 9pm and here is today’s ranger report from WBSE:

July 7: Lady incubated all night, and was then relieved by Dad shortly after 7am. All day, she was reluctant to get off the eggs when he returned to the nest, whereas he backs straight off. Both have brought in green leaves several times, though no food. Late in the afternoon, Lady was whining for food when Dad turned up, but no delivery. She spent longer today on the eggs than he did – over 7 hours. As usual, the eggs were uncovered only very briefly. At dark, Dad settled early, as did Lady – though she was hungry. The picture shows Lady, reluctant to move off the eggs.

At Orange, it is also 9pm, Xavier is currently perched on the ledge of the scrape (Diamond is perched on the microwave), which is unusual – They are each using the other’s normal sleeping place tonight for some reason. Dear Xavier. Such an adorable little falcon. He has been mating with Diamond, bringing her food gifts and generally bonding. These two still have a way to go until egg-laying time (as I mentioned, she laid her first egg on 26 August both last year and also the year before). 

Finally, at Taiaroa Head, the chicks are becoming friends again after the altercation that resulted from TFT’s attempt to take over TF chick’s nest, an advance that was not well-received. TF has reorganised his garden and resumed his throne after the small disagreement. Both chicks are well, growing fast, and starting to look like albatrosses instead of giant cotton balls. Those wingspans are looking impressive, reminding us that we are approaching the age where they will start to try feeling the sensation of wind beneath their wings. Bittersweet, like all fledges, but in this case, even more so, because it will be so very long (if at all) until we see them land back near their natal nest. It astounds me that after all those tens of thousands of kms and all that time at sea, each of them has somehow imprinted the place from which they fledge, returning there for their first forays into socialising and the task of finding a mate. It is astounding. 

Finn brought one of his huge whitefish in about 18:57 but took it away again (luckily everyone already had smallish to medium crops) and didn’t return it until after 19:43, by which stage Finn had a very large crop. Only after he had eaten for nearly an hour did the chicks get fed. This is not a habit I like. Surely, he can wait for the chicks to eat before he has to spend an hour stuffing his face. It is the one thing that really annoys me about him. Why bring it in, give it to Iris, and then wrestle it back from her almost immediately? If there was sibling aggression on this nest, that is exactly the sort of behaviour likely to trigger it. 

But fortunately, that is not happening on this nest and the chicks are well fed and well behaved enough for it not to be creating a problem. Hopefully, Finn will learn not to do this, especially when the osplets are young. He is still spending all night, every night, on the perch, guarding his family, and if the intruder landing on the nest the other day is anything to go by, he has a reason to be wary. He is doing a wonderful job, despite my nit-picking at his delivery routine. He is bringing a lot of fish to this nest and he is looking after both Iris and their chicks. You know how impressed I am by him. 

‘PB’ reports that fish have come in to Cowlitz and Steelscape ahead of today’s high heat and that all ate including Little at Cowlitz who had about 100 bites. This is wonderful.

And last, a run away yacht crashed into the Port Lincoln Osprey nest barge! Thanks to Bart M and Port Lincoln was notified immediately. So glad no eggs or chicks on that nest.

Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care of yourself. Remember to drink lots and lots of water and to eat some watermelon – low in calories and it is 91% water! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, questions, videos, announcements, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, FORE, Eagle Club of Estonia, HWF-BBC Central, SK Hideaways, Mary Cheadle, Newfoundland Power, Field Farm, Clark PUD, Blackbush Ospreys, MN Landscape Arboretum, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Mashpee NWR, The Weather Network, Ferguson Museum, Sandpoint Ospreys, International Osprey Data Project, VIMS, Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home, Goitzsche-Wildnis, Great Bay Ospreys, Marder’s, Osoyoos, Audubon Boat House, Forsythe, Window to Wildlife, Fortis Exshaw, Sea Eagle Cam, Orange Falcons, Royal Albatross Colony, Lady Hawk, Montana Osprey Project, and Port Lincoln.

Saturday in Bird World

6 July 2024

Good Morning,

As I write, it is 25 degrees C in Winnipeg, and it is mid-morning. The birds in the garden are taking advantage of the water, having had their seeds, peanuts, and cheese dogs put in dishes very, very early. I am hoping that the shaded tunnel areas we have created will help keep the birds and small mammals cool. I cannot imagine what it is like in the Pacific Northwest where temperatures will be as high or higher than 100 F.

Yesterday, with that horrid medication, I had a bit of a brain freeze. Smedley was at the Audubon Centre with Bailey – a long-term resident. Don’t tell me that ospreys don’t do well in care! Ridiculous. Sorry, I am on a rant. There is so much disinformation on the chats associated with the streaming cams. That, along with people who cross over into hyper-hyper-hyperbole, causes much damage and frustration in our understanding of avian behaviour.

The sunhine of the day was the first sunflower, a gift of the birds and animals. Every year they miss some seeds and the gift is a garden full of sunflowers blooming from now until the fall.

Everyone wants water or peanuts – or cheesy dogs. Notice this one is missing its crest. The adults are moulting. The new babies have their crest!

Mr Crow is watching me and wanting more dogs before the Starlings come and take them. He can see me. He knows I am sitting here taking his photo – and then he waits and the cheesy dogs appear! On Friday night we had eight crows visit for food.

Hugo Yugo says she prefers flowers.

Thankfully, the Hibiscus is in a place where The Girls cannot get to. Poison for cats, but oh, so beautiful.

It is a work in progress. The path to the feeder is now planted with bee and butterfly friendly perennials and a huge hosta! Can’t wait to see what it looks like at the end of the summer. Mulch will be going in this weekend!

It’s hot. And it will get hotter. Here is a message about the impact on songbirds. I will have a fan out tomorrow and we continue to top up the water!

I really want to give a shout-out to one of our readers, ‘EJ’. We can make a difference, and ‘EJ’ made a bold business move to save the raptors. She told me – “I used to be a co-owner of an agricultural sales business. I did not know about the harm rodenticides did to raptors until I read about it in your blog. At that point, we stopped selling rodenticides and explained to the farmers why. I don’t know if they stopped using them or not, but I wasn’t going to be responsible for the deaths of any raptors, like little Flaco.” Wow. Thank you, EJ. If everyone would do this, the world would be a better place.

We have a fledge at the Patchogue nest on Long Island. Patches made flying look easy and her return to the nest could not have been any better. Congratulations!

It is 80 degrees F with 2 mph winds and a 63% chance of rain. Babies you need to stay on the nest and not try any bold moves when the raindrops fall. Wet feathers don’t do well with a first or second or third flight. You need practice for that.

I love the look on the siblings face as Patches flies! They are going to want to join in the fun. Keep watching. Both chicks are more than ready to fly.

Fledgling rewarded with a nice big fish!

Patchogue adults sure make beautiful healthy osplets.

Patches took off again at 12:47. Oh, the other one is itching to fly. Wouldn’t be surprised if they go today, too.

Good news coming about Louis and Dorcha’s chicks in the Spanish Translocation Project:

I have been monitoring the Snow Lane nest of Hope and Beaumont and here is some interesting observations posted by Ian Winter who lives in the area on the FB page. Hope is also fishing and feeding her two babies.

I did not take screen captures of Hope’s head in last years and would be the last person to say that I could recognise her but, the behaviour of the female on this nest is very unlike the Hope that has been with Beaumont for past years where chicks have starved. So, please, I am not starting a rumour of a new female; just wondering what’s up. But happy no matter what the answer is! The chicks look good. Let’s hope the weather stays great for fishing.

There is also great news coming through Lucille Powell’s post about the second hatch chick at Hellgate Canyon and its eye.

Tuffy on the nest at Moorings Park before the heavy raindrops begin. Cam will stay on until Monday the 8th of July.

The four osplets at Field Farm are difficult to tell apart now. Little Mini grew and is probably a female – all that feist and sass that kept it alive – with those big siblings could only be a girl. They are now working on those wings and dreaming of flying like Patches.

Rain has come to Poole Harbour and the Fab Four of CJ7 and Blue 022. Oh, dripping wet osplets. Ever wonder what a really wet fish laden osprey nest actually smells like?

The rain and gale gusts have stopped at the Dyfi nest of Idris and Telyn in Wales.

It’s nice at Glaslyn, too. That nest is getting quite full with those big chicks!

All is calm at Clywedog.

Dad has delivered a tiny little teaser and a Starry Flounder (I think) to the Clark PUD nest on Friday before noon. Will watch for other deliveries. It is going to be hot there…Clark PUD could get to 98 degrees F. The heat warnings continue through Monday in the area of Clark PUD, Cowlitz PUD, Osoyoos, and other nests along the Pacific Northwest.

This is the fish that I think is the Starry Flounder.

There is good news coming from Kielder Forest after so many disappointments this breeding season.

‘MM’ reminds me today that Keilder Forest Nest 7 has a streaming cam. It was offline when I checked but here is the link.

https://www.youtube.com/live/-1xNy-elK0Q?si=ESBdYq6o0Iy5Hx1N

The second nest at Llyn Clywedog Reservoir in an area maintained by Forestry England has just ringed two chicks – the first for the adults at this new nest! One girl weighed 1680 grams, and a boy weighed 1410. Congratulations! (They are not on streaming cam only the original Clywedog nest of Dylan and Seren is live streaming).

Dad is bringing in some nice fish at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. 74 degrees F. 10 mph winds.

Chicks at the Iowa DNR nest in Des Moines are doing fantastic. Lots of fish! How wonderful.

Cute little babies of Swoop and Winnie are enjoying their fish meal in Colorado. Looks like we have Reptiles. For those learning about Ospreys, the soft natal down gives way to the ‘Reptile phase’. Notice the black oily heads, the beautiful copper feathers at the nape of the neck. This is normally the time when they get ‘cranky’ and get serious about bonking if it is going to happen. Then you begin to see their pin feathers grow in along the wings and at the little tail and it won’t be long til they begin to look like juvenile ospreys. This stage they are growing very fast and often appear ‘lanky’.

Three cuties for Charlie and Lola at Charlo Montana. Little Three needs some more food – send good wishes.

Three much older osplets at nest #4 in Finland are doing fantastic.

White Storks for the London, UK metropolis?

Rewilding-plan-aims-to-bring-majestic-white-storks-to-London-Rewilding-The-GuardianDownload

Protecting Falcons. Thanks, ‘SP’ for the link.

‘Ive-known-some-of-these-peregrines-for-15-years_-protecting-Scotlands-raptors-–-in-pictures-_-Environment-_-The-GuardianDownload

Great news from the Oakland Zoo – a treated and released Condor.

Prey in the form of several voles and a Raccoon Dog have been delivered by both adults at the Estonial Golden Eagle nest 2. While the oldest gets the majority, the youngest has mantled the remains of the Raccoon Dog, after the oldest ate some, and has eaten. This is good. The oldest still attacks. The eaglets are hungry but now that both parents are delivering again we will wait and watch – with hope.

Another sunrise and two Golden eaglets at Estonia nest 2 alive. Hoping for another Racoon Dog for them today along with a basket of small voles.

‘PB’ is “mpressed with Steelscape! Dad just delivered a lunch fish 1230pm nest time and it’s 88 there high 95 today. All 3 babies look good!” This is fantastic news. Steelscape is in the heat area, too!

Learn all you can about Menhaden – the Osprey fish of choice in the NE US. Why they are important and then learn what is decimating the numbers and why coastal osprey in specific areas are suffering nest loss repeatedly.

Inshore-The-Atlantic-Menhaden-The-FishermanDownload

I am hoping that Little Mini at McEuan Park is still with us. Mum shading and I can only see three big ones but baby could be on the other side. No, sadly, Little Mini has passed at McEuan Park sometime during the late evening of Friday or early Saturday morning.

The kids at Grand Lake want fish. Just look at that nice meal Dad just brought in. They were telling Mum to hurry up and quit messing about. “We want fish!”

What a gorgeous evening in Colorado at the Pitkin County Open Spaces and Trails Osprey Nest. One of those successful osprey rescues took place at this nest two years ago. The chicks were accidentally pulled off the nest with some straw. One died and one survived and was in care for awhile because the chick needed to get well before it could learn to fly. Yes, one of those ospreys who testifies that they do well in care! Saying that they don’t is an excuse not to rescue and try.

‘H’ reports:

7/5 Osoyoos osprey nest:  This family ended up having a pretty good day.  The temperature was predicted to hit 35 C.  After two very early fish, there was not another fish brought to the nest for the next eight hours, and I was starting to worry.  But, Olsen resumed his deliveries at 1446, and brought three more fish by 2032.  There were no ‘whoppers’ today.  The meal durations were: 10, 26, 9, 5, 7, and 8 minutes in length.  The osplets were all little angels, and they ate side-by-side as Soo fed them.  

7/5 Patuxent River Park osprey nest:  It was very warm at this nest, at least 97 F.  But, Dad was able to provide ample fish for his family, and everyone ate well.  The chicks are 55, 58, and 59 days old.  Chick #2 continues to be the leader in the race to fledge, showing off with a few mini-hovers.

7/5 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Capt Mac’s Fish House):  The little 21 day old osplet is doing well.  There were six fish meals provided, with one long stretch of six hours between meals.  Because the chick was ‘hangry’, I caught the lil’ one taking its frustration out on Mom.  S/he stretched and sat up as tall as it could and repeatedly tried to beak June in the face.  “I want fish, Mom!”

7/5 Colonial Beach:  Betty and David’s 10 and 11-day-old chicks are doing well.  For the most part, there is harmony and both are getting fed.


7/5 Captiva Ospreys:  We do not have a report from CROW as yet regarding the condition of Darling, since he was rescued from the water on 7/4.  Ding had two fish meals brought to him by Edie on 7/4, but we did not see Edie on 7/5.  Ding is trying his best to learn how to catch a fish.  She made at least eight attempts to fish from the platform on 7/5, with no luck so far.  Fingers crossed that Ding has a meal today, either from Edie, or perhaps when Ding catches her first fish.

Geemeff’s Daily Report for Loch Arkaig and the Woodland Trust:

Daily summary Friday 5th July 2024
Louis and Dorcha are still around, and reaffirming their bond – he coy-mantled and attempted mating, she rejected his advances, and later he brought her a fish. At the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, their chicks are settling in and WTS Jill gives us this update: RDWF reported yesterday that both birds are feeding well and seem to be settled in the lovely dry aviary. But it’s still too early to say they are out of the woods entirely. The final vet screening will happen early next week, we’ll get more concrete news after that.  Nest One had a visit from Garry LV0 bringing moss and doing a bit of housekeeping, several songbirds also visited and a Hoodie preened on Dorcha’s perch for a while. The weather was reasonably settled after a wet night but more rain is forecast for tonight, with thundery showers tomorrow. The chicks are missed but the consensus on the forum is that in the circumstances, they’re better off in the translocation programme.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 00.06.53 (03.35.23); Nest Two 23.45.16 (03.43.32)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/zakv38LnsXI N2 Dorcha’s not impressed: no fish and Louis tries mating 08.00.12

https://youtu.be/EamXrQ5Z1TYN1 Four little birds flit around investigating the nest 09.15.32

https://youtu.be/KM9WDj8AjRk N1 Does Garry notice the two birds chasing each other? 09.36.18

https://youtu.be/rX4DKIlw6dM N2 Louis brings a lunchtime fish for Dorcha 13.20.39

https://youtu.be/kzKHN0llDEE N2 A solo Hoodie flies onto the side of Dorcha’s perch and preens 20.24.30

Blast from the past, this day in previous years:
https://youtu.be/KmKrmLCYAdk  N1 The chicks Bring Jollity doing flight prep quick time 2020 (Classic Ospreys – Holst)

Watch the Loch Arkaig Osprey livestream 24/7 and join in the conversation here:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

Both White-tailed eaglet fledglings on the nest resting in the Tucholskie Forest in Poland.

Bety and Bukachek’s only storklet is gorgeous.

Thank you for being with us today. Please take care of yourselves. Stay cool if you are in parts of Canada and the US. Remember to hydrate and for those feeling a little cooler down under, stay warm! Hope to have you with us again soon.

Thank you to the following for their letters, notes, posts, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, EJ, Geemeff, H, MM, PB’, PSEG, Native Songbird Care and Conservation, Mary Cheadle, Ian L Winter, Lucille Powell, Moorings Park Ospreys, Field farm, BoPH, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, LLyn Clywedog, Clark PUD, Kielder Forest, Minnesota Landscape Arobretum. Iowa DNR, Dunrovin Ranch, Charlo Montana Osprey Cam, Finnish Osprey Foundation, The Guardian, Oakland Zoo, Eagle Club of Estonia, Looduskalender, Steelscape, The Fishermen, McEuan Park, Grand Lake Ospreys, Pitkin County Osprey Cam, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Bielik On Line, Mlade Buky White Storks, Osoyoos, Fenwick Island, Colonial Beach, Patuxent River Park, and Window to Wildlife.

Too many deaths…Wednesday in Bird World

19 June 2024

Hello Everyone,

As I wake up, sadness has just drifted over Bird World again. Dear Luna is gone and so are Zeus and Hera’s chicks. Bless his heart, our little sweet Smallie is gone, too.

It feels like a day for quiet reflection and to give thanks for those little ones that are surviving this year. They are VERY special!

I am writing this sitting at the nature centre eating a lunch-type breakfast and sipping Moroccan Tea. The Woodpeckers and the Red-wing Blackbirds are pecking away at the feeders. I find it interesting that the Blackbirds are not out foraging. Is it our horrific weather? It rains every day. I am surprised my house is not covered in mould and creepers! And then there is Steve, the resident Muskrat. Steve lives under the deck of the nature centre and loves eating bird seed~. The forecast is for yet another thunder storm this evening. This has been weeks with some breaks. The water in the river is very high making it difficult for the eagles and ospreys to fish. Our wildlife and raptors are suffering like they are elsewhere. We certainly needed the rain after our dry winter and it has stopped all of the wild fires but it is time to let somewhere else that needs the moisture have it. Famous last words. Our rain gauge can’t even keep up!

I am so glad that I have ‘The Girls’, the garden animals, and my walks. They help me to keep balanced in a Bird World that is decidedly unbalanced this year.

These two had been taking turns washing one another when they turned around and ‘sort of’ looked up.

Such an angel when she is sleeping.

Calico and Hope had been on the top snuggled together, too. Of course, I went to get the phone camera and look what happened.

Little Red was the first to find the new seed cylinder!

This is the season that just keeps on gifting – and the gifts are grief. Luna, the only surviving eaglet of Liberty and Guardian at the Redding nest in California on the Sacramento River, is dead. Her brother Sol died on the nest on 14 June.

Are these deaths related? or not? Is it possible that this is HPAI? Hopefully the necroscopy will tell those that need to know. Condolences to Liberty and Guardian who faced a challenging year with rising water and a nest tree that was very frail and to all the Friends of the Redding Eagles.

I will start with Heidi’s reports.

Last year, Hera lost her chicks to the weather We thought she had lost her mate, Zeus, too. This year dramatic sadness:
“6/19, South Cape May Meadows osprey nest of Hera and Zeus:  There is no night light at the nest, and it was very dark.  It sounded like a GHO knocked Hera off the nest at 0359.  The GHO then landed on the perch, and went to the nest for a short time.  The owl returned to the nest  at 0420.  There is no sign of the babies or Hera this morning.  The osprey nestlings were 8 and 5 days of age.”

Hera came to the nest at 0906, she was dirty and disheveled, but she otherwise seemed (physically sic) okay.

6/18 Osoyoos osprey nest:  There were six feedings that I saw from 5 fish.  A few of the fish were medium in size, some smaller.  All of the osplets ate well at each meal, except meal #5, during which Little decided he’d rather sleep!  I did not see any aggression during the feedings.  The osplets are looking good.  The osplets are 11, 10, and 8 days of age.

6/18 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Captain Mac’s Fish House):  Johnny and June have one baby this year (the remaining egg will not hatch).  I’ve been concerned that the 4-day-old chick may not be getting enough to eat.  I tried to follow their activities more closely today.  There were five feedings that I saw, and the feedings seemed to go well between mom and baby.  Usually the young osprey babies require small, but more frequent feedings.  Johnny is not bringing fish to the nest very often, and he removes leftovers.  The baby looks okay, though.  I will continue to monitor.

6/18 Audubon Boathouse osprey nest:  Congratulations to Dory and Skiff on the hatch of their second baby!

6/18 Forsythe osprey nest:  Oscar brought six fish to the nest, all were at least medium sized, and a couple of them were quite large.  The osplets both ate well, and there was no aggression.  Very hot temperatures are predicted in the upcoming days, so keep plenty of fish coming in if you can Oscar.

6/18 Patuxent osprey nest:  We saw the ‘return of the whopper’, and Little had a much better day today.  The first meal was from a small whole fish, and Little didn’t get any of that.  At 0730, Dad delivered a medium sized partial fish, and Little started to eat first.  Dad turned right around and brought a medium whole fish at 0737, and  a dual feeding took place, with Dad primarily feeding Big and Middle.  Little had a mostly private meal and ate for 17 minutes. Little ate for a total of about 27 minutes at the following three meals.  At 1659 Dad delivered the whopper.. a huge whole fish, that would feed the family for the next two hours!  Each osplet had a few meals, and Little ate on and off for approximately 33 minutes.  Dad showed up with a huge goldfish at 1806, and his family was still eating from the whopper fish, so he left with it.  At 2020 Dad returned with the headless version of said goldfish, and he barely got a nod from anyone.  They were all zonked out with their huge crops, so he left with the fish again.


6/18 Captiva osprey nest:  Captiva had a wonderful day.  Edie brought three fish to the nest, and Jack contributed one.  Poor Jack was swarmed by Edie, Ding and Darling when he brought in his fish, and he could barely escape from the nest, lol.  So, there was plenty of food to go around.  The really big news of the day was the incredible hovering by Ding, as she took advantage of a brisk breeze.  On one of her hovers in the morning s/he found herself hovering over the right perch, and landed on it.  Ding enjoyed being on that perch so much that she landed on it a few more times throughout the day.  Ding was on the perch at the time of one of Edie’s fish deliveries, and it took a while for Ding to gingerly make it back to the nest by shuffling her feet along the perch brace.  The osplets are 56 and 55 days old.

Polo 7422 caught some wing action Hope was doing at Lake Murray. She is our fledgling, the Middle Chick, that survived the GHO attacks.

The female at MN Landscape drives me nuts. She now has only one chick to feed. The male is bringing in big fish. There is no excuse. She requires the chicks, little ones, to move to her wherever she decides to feed and she takes about 25 bites to their one. I hope this last one survives. It is damp and cold and it needs to be warm and well fed.

In comparison, you have several osprey families that are fantastic and can feed and care for four. Think Field Farm and Poole Harbour. I am holding my opinion of McEuan Park right now. I want to see how Little Mini does in a week.

So the question is this: Is it the female behaviour at Minnesota? The male is bringing big fish? or is it a lack of resources? weather?

Field Farm.

Poole Harbour.

McEuan Park also has four and the difference between Big and Little Mini is very noticeable. Let’s hope Little Mini can make it.

Janis Kruze rings the storklets. Liznm caught it.

At Loch Arkaig, C1 (I think he is a male) is starting to react to protect itself and eat.

Geemeff’s Daily summary from Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:

Daily summary Tuesday 18th June 2024 Today was all about fish and the situation between submissive older chick C1 and dominant younger chick C2. Louis brought six fish to the nest including a late night snack-sized one, taking his tally to two hundred and sixteen. C1 is learning some strategies to deal with C2 including the odd lunge at its sibling then beating a hasty retreat to tuck down and await the swift retaliation, but the most successful one is waiting when fish arrives then sidling round the side of Dorcha and getting some mouthfuls from her – in one case, getting a ten minute exclusive feed from her while C2 was resting its bloated crop. C1 even took a cheeky nibble which is very encouraging – the sooner C1 starts self-feeding confidently, the better. As today ends, both chicks have full crops. On the anniversary of Dorcha removing the sad remains of 2022’s Bob3, body disposal was a topic of discussion on the forum as it was observed that dominant C2 attacked the body of C3 several times with some vigour. Was it just attacking, or attempting to feed? Will the body gradually be subsumed into the nest or will Dorcha remove it? Meantime, it is still clearly visible. In other news, Garry LV0 visited Nest One and stayed for over an hour, bringing nesting materials and doing some nest-scraping. What this means in terms of gaining residents remains to be seen, his visits are infrequent enough to assume he’s nesting somewhere in the area with a mate, but with Garry, nothing is certain. The weather was settled and set to continue tonight with a clear sky and light winds, and sunshine tomorrow.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 00.20.14 (03.16.26); Nest Two  23.34.57 (03.45.34)

Watch the livestream 24/7 and join in the conversation here:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/WZyXxYRAsfo N2 Fish number one, C1 self-feeds 04.47.10  

https://youtu.be/bB9Dwon2I3o N2 Fish number two, C2 attacks C1  09.30.47 

https://youtu.be/Wxu_Vl1wvlw  N2 Fish number three, C2 seems to have prevented C1 eating.. 10.50.06 

https://youtu.be/tZeYWxBU94U N2 ..But cunning C1 waits, and gets an exclusive feed  11.11.54

https://youtu.be/tGKhmichhqo N1 Garry LV0 visits with nesting materials and does housework 11.50.26  

https://youtu.be/U-tu9Y00WH0  N2 Fish number four, younger chick attacks older chick 13.47.43 

https://youtu.be/JeleU0HE-Iw  N2 Fish number five, headless trout, C1 sidles round and gets some  20.54.59

https://youtu.be/wYOfQq2c0dg  N2 Fish number six, snack-size trout, C1 gets nothing 22.41.54 

Bonus read – who knew you could put a backpack on a beetle? Woodland Trust, that’s who!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz55jm0m80ro

It will not be long til we have White-Bellied Sea Eagle eggs in the Sydney Olympic Forest!

The weather has been one of the leading causes of death of osplets. Today, it is pouring at the nest of Iris and Finnegan. Not good for newly hatched osplets or for feeding – they can’t thermoregulate yet – and for fishing.

‘A’ comments: “Iris has been trying to feed it but then clears up what look like the bites it was fed, so at yesterday’s feedings, I am not sure it actually ended up swallowing much at all. And the weather is not helping, with a very wet day. Iris is hunkered down on the kids, looking soaked. It is 17:31 and despite the rain, Finn has brought in a nice-sized fish. Iris is telling him that she wants the fish but it is too wet to feed the babies at this moment so he should leave the fish and she would grab the next break in the weather. (At least, that’s what I would be saying to Finn, and Iris is a girl of like mind.) She is VERY chatty. He as always just stands quietly, the strong silent type. She gets up though and dad hands over the fish.

Big Bob turns and watches dad, so Little Bob is the only one in the feeding line. Mum tries to feed him but dad’s tail keeps bonking him in the head! Nevertheless, he gets a bite and Iris tries with another. Another tail bonk! And again! But she finally manages to give him the second half of the bite. He takes it but it gets stuck on his beak! By now, Big Bob has worked out where mum and  the food are and has turned around. Feeding Big Bob is much easier for Iris, who may be a little stiff and resents having to lean over and down to a young chick (she was like that when Big Bob first hatched too), so she feeds him. Little Bob is not offered food, as he is still not entirely sure which direction to face and is also getting an occasional tail bonk from dad, knocking him down onto the nest. He pops straight back up though – he is a lively little chick and seems healthy and active. Iris has obviously got some food into him. (At this stage, I am assuming Big Bob is a feisty girl and Little Bob is a younger brother, because that is the usual nest order apparently, but of course it could be the other way around, which would be wonderful.) 

So far, things are going well in the sense that Finn is providing enough fish and the chicks are eating when they are given food. I am a little concerned that Iris seems tired, and perhaps even a little lazy. She is sometimes reluctant to feed for long enough and finds it hard to reach down to the little one. Only time will tell. At this stage, both are looking healthy and active and that is the best we can hope for. “

‘A’ continues, “Finn was in early as usual to say good morning to Iris. She packed him off to get breakfast around 7am, and was far from pleased when he arrived back nearly 45 minutes later with a giant stick but no fish! She has a great deal to say about it and she does NOT sound at all happy. She has two hungry osplets who are becoming slightly unruly beneath her, it’s nearly 8am and she has nothing to feed them. And Finn thinks it’s a good time to consider baby rails? 

Now, as Finn continues rearranging the nest structure, Iris keeps nagging at him constantly. He does not appear to have a crop, though his underfluffies do appear to be wet. They could merely be a little messy. Finally, shortly before 07:47 he flies off again. 

Iris is hunkered back down as if it was raining. She could simply be tired. She tends to lay her head down on the nest and literally pass out, rarely if ever sleeping tucked. She does seem to have been particularly tired for a couple of days following each hatch, which makes a lot of sense, as she got little or no sleep on those nights the chicks were hatching (two nights of disturbed sleep per chick, with a third night at the beginning when she was not so restless because she was not constantly moving but was aware of movement and peeping inside the egg, so was awake and listening to the chick the night before the outer pip was visible). 

She is an elderly osprey, and it is lovely to see Finn doing things like feeding her on the nest. She had to work very hard yesterday afternoon to get the fish off the remaining skin (Finn had returned a fish that by then had largely been eaten and was feeding the last remnants to the younger chick, Big Bob having passed out in a food coma some time earlier). It was a shame really because it meant she fed very slowly, so that Big Bob eventually woke up and got food that should have gone to the little one. 

So far, it seems to be growing well and eating enough. It had a dear little round crop yesterday afternoon – its first one (you know how when they’re really young, they don’t really eat enough at each feeding to get noticeable crops – they just don’t look sunken). Of course its older sibling had a very large one, as it usually does nowadays. 

My heart sank yesterday when the older one started bonking the baby. The good part about it was that the little one had no real clue what was going on. It is not quite able to see properly (it’s still a little vague about where things are and who is what) and can’t really tell the difference between being bonked by dad’s tail feathers and being beaked by Big Bob, who is not at all vicious in his pecks. They’re tokenistic at this stage but definitely intended to make the pecking order clear to Little Bob. 

So far, there has been no attempt to stop Little Bob from eating or from lining up for food. It was simply boredom, I think, and maybe a little frustration. There was no food involved. We will wait and see what happens today. I was pleased to see that Iris was making an obvious effort to feed Little Bob, both after she has filled up Big Bob and also when she gets the chance at a private feeding, such as when Finn returned the remnants of that fish when Big Bob was asleep. 

So I remain hopeful that dad will bring enough fish of a really good size to ensure there is enough for everyone, though his tendency not to leave leftovers on the nest is a bit of a worry. He doesn’t seem to realise that these chicks need half a dozen feedings off that big fish he brings in for breakfast (remembering of course that he has usually eaten the head off this gigantic fish, so has had a seriously large amount of food himself). Both Finn and Iris have voracious appetites, and although Iris is definitely prepared to sacrifice some of her own share to her osplets, Finn takes any remaining fish off the nest with some alacrity, sometimes despite loud protestations from Iris. 

At 08:03 she is still waiting for Finn and a fish.”

Not a bad day for Boulder County and its Only Bob.

The Decorah North eagle family is surviving without their beloved nest. They hang around the old nest and it is simply beautiful.

‘PB’ has been monitoring the Cowlitz PUD nest and shares concerns that Little Bob might not getting enough food and he is being bonked. Send positive wishes for them. This is a difficult area because of all the competition for food. The Eagles like to steal from the Ospreys.

Lucille Powell caught both of the osprey fledglings on their Sun Coast nest.

Look at Aurora!

Things are looking OK for the surviving fans at San Jose.

Beautiful Only Bob at Rutland is ringed. It is a boy!

We need a big smile and here it is – this is what happens when a community comes together and feeds the osplets on a nest so that they can grow and thrive. Thank you, Port Lincoln, you are a role model!

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, videos, photos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, Toni Hoover and Amersfoort Falcons, FORE, SCMM, Forsythe Ospreys, Patuxent River Park, Osoyoos Ospreys, Audubon Boat House, Fenwick Island, Polo7422, MN Landscape Arboretum, Field Farm, BoPH, McEuan Park, Liznm, Geemeff, SK Hideaways, Montana Osprey Project, Boulder County, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Pam Breci, Lucille Powell, SK Hideaways, Rutland Osprey Project, and Port Lincoln Osprey.

Tragedy at Crooked Lake…Sunday in Bird World

16 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

To all those wonderful men – human and not – for taking care of living breathing things, protecting them, feeding them, loving them – Happy Father’s Day. And to one special Osprey this morning who is injured with a spike in his leg – Jack at Captiva. You are amazing. Despite all, you are still helping feed your family this morning!

There is a lot going on in Bird World. Rescues, uprightings, sibling rivalry, hatches, GHO attacks, and death. You name it, it seems to be happening. The very beautiful and good is tinged with the sorrow and sadness. We just have to breathe and as someone said today, ‘life is very fragile, embrace someone and hold them tight, you don’t know what is coming next’. What a year it has been and we are only half way through. As one reader said to me, “The Memorial Page has exploded”. It has and I am still catching up! It is always sad to lose one of the birds and, please, take the time to check out the Memorial Page. If I am missing one of our feathered friends, please write and tell me so I can add them. I am still working on the European Storks that died so tragically from the horrific weather. And, another thing, the second hatch at Hellgate has not happened. I was sent incorrect information and the more I looked for a second head, I could not find it.

In all of this, Saturday was a gorgeous, hot windy day and we spent it at the duck pond watching the little ducklings and goslings, of all ages, flitter around the pond enjoying the shade and the cool water despite the build up of algae. People were happy being outside. There was a wedding reception in the garden area, and the ice cream man with his bell could be heard at a distance. Even deer were coming out to eat grass in the shade. Now the skies are pearl grey to dark charcoal and you can just feel a storm building up. Despite saying we would have no rain, we are now in an area of Extreme Weather with high winds, hail, and rain predicted. If this continues, we will need machetes for the garden instead of clippers and mower.

There were lots of ducks and geese on the islands in the pond which is shaded. The wind was keeping everyone cool despite the 27 C temperatures. Some of the geese had been in the water with their goslings. Some went in and out, in and out. Others foraged for little pebbles to aid their digestion. The goslings range in size from those that are about half as large as their parents to tiny wee ones that looked like they hatched only a couple of days ago. All of the adult geese are moulting. They will exchange all of their feathers. They will not be able to fly and leave the area until their full moult is complete. I don’t think anyone minds. Each trip I gather a handful of feathers for ‘The Girls’. They go crazy for them. Besides boxes and bags (without handles), these feathers are their next favourite toy. Their most favourite are the tunnels that they race in and out of late in the evening or early in the morning.

Baby Hope will be one year old on 2 July. As so many of you know, just thinking about her brings tears to my eyes. After Calico ‘decided’ that she was coming in the house on 28 August 2023, we thought we would never be able to find her only surviving kitten. (We could tell there was only one by the single teat being suckled). It appears that Calico might have lost ‘Hope’ and that was why she was ready to leave her life on the streets and come inside where she had lots of food, a safe place to sleep, comfy beds and toys and, of course, lots of love and stories. Five days later we looked out at the feral feeding station and there was a mini Calico. We knew it was her kitten. In three hours, Hope was inside suckling on Mum and life was good. We are trying to figure out precisely just what kind of party to have for her!

Hugo Yugo says that she thinks we need grilled cheese sandwiches along with ice cream for the party! What do you think?

Hugo Yugo is still tiny, a little peanut, but she remains the boss of all the others. Despite eating her food and theirs, she has hardly grown. She is a bundle of energy that never stops. She still sleeps draped around my neck at night. And she still begs for her pieces of cheese around 2100. I have been able to wean her off the kitten milk at the vet’s request. She is dynamite!

As I go to press, I am getting sad news. It appears that a GHO attack has taken all of the osplets from the Crooked Lake nest in Iowa. ‘H’ says, “This is without a doubt the most bold owl attack I have ever seen.  Just unbelievable. The owl stayed in the nest and killed all three osplets right in the nest in front of Mom, then flew off with one of them.’

Geemeff is also writing that C2 at Loch Arkaig is now dead or death is imminent. This is so sad and is due directly to siblicide by the ever aggressive C1. First time ever to happen at Loch Arkaig.

We will begin with news from ‘H’.

6/15 Forsythe osprey nest:  There were eight fish delivered to the nest by Oscar, and a few of them were fairly big.  How many times have we seen situations where the fish production at a nest increases after the starvation deaths of one or two of the osplets?  I know I’ve seen it happen a few times, and it just leaves me shaking my head.  After the siblicide/starvation deaths of Mini and Little, there is still some aggression from Big toward Middle.  But, Middle is managing to find ways to eat.  S/he most often squeezes around to the other side of Opal from Big, where there is just a small space between Opal and the outer rim of the nest.  Middle ate at least 345 bites of fish in eight meals.  I hope Oscar continues to have fishing success.  

6/15 Dahlgren osprey nest:  The baby named ‘Hope’ was stuck in a deep hole in the nest for about 1.5 days.  Dahlgren Osprey Cam arranged for a rescue by Tidewater Wildlife Rescue.  TWR performed the rescue this afternoon, and repaired the hole in the nest.  Little Hope is doing well, and we are so grateful.  Keep the fish coming in, Doug!

6/15 South Cape May Meadows osprey nest:  The two little bobs are doing very well.  Zeus has really stepped up, and he is providing lots of fish for his family.  We are so pleased!

6/16 Chesapeake, Kent Island osprey nest:  We wait to see if the first egg of the second clutch for Audrey and Tom will hatch.  The egg is 39 days old, but it was pecked by a crow on 5/16.  I hope there will be at least one 

6/16 Boathouse osprey nest:  The little osplet of Dory and Skiff is doing great.  Their second egg is 35 days old today.

6/15, Patuxent osprey nest:  Dad continues to deliver tons of fish, and many of the fish are huge.  He brought fish to the nest six times today, but we could tell that a few of them were the large leftovers he had previously removed from the nest.  All of the chicks were stuffed many times over.  There was very little aggression today, and Little was even seen eating at the ‘big kids table’!


6/15 Captiva ospreys:  There were 7 fish brought to the nest, four by Edie, and three by Jack.  There was a lot of eating going on…feedings and self-feedings.  Ding and Darling ate their fill.  And, at 53 days of age, Ding was hovering!  We are still worried about Jack.  He still has that foreign body ‘spike’ sticking through his leg.  But, he is able to fish and help take care of his family.  Bless his heart.

I want to thank Heidi – again and again. I could not keep up with the nests without her. So everyone, give her a loud shout out, please!

Those watching the Dahlgren nest and getting ever more anxious that the wee babe named Hope was stuck in a hole can now relax. It has been rescued and all the time it was there, dear Mum kept feeding it. Thank goodness. This is one of those really feel good moments that we need when tragedy seems to be lurking at many of our nests. Thank you to everyone who alerted the owners and to the rescue team that saved the wee one. Bless their hearts they filled in and repaired this nest with sticks, mud, and grasses/moss. Well done!

Tragedy may have been averted at the Wells Fargo Iowa DNR Osprey Platform. The little one with a full crop got on its back and could not right itself. It took the entire day. Will it be alright? We have to wait and see.

My favourite capture of Iris and Finnegan. I hope she lives many more years to enjoy this wonderful relationship.

Zoe fledges and Lucia returns flying strong several times.

Middle flew back to the osprey platform to be with Mum at Lake Murray after avoiding the GHO by flying. Magnificent. Fingers crossed everyone. This is such good news. Seriously this is incredible news. So happy happy.

Polo 7422 published a video of the hit by the GHO on Hope. (Have you noticed so many named Hope or Hugo??)

Going to check on some of the Finnish nests today! I had a lovely note from ‘SP’ today. I have been covering some of them as best I can but I also learned that some of my confusion with the numbering and names is because there are two separate organisations. That is why I cannot find 10 nests on this one site! ‘SP’ elaborates, “The link I gave in my previous male, Sääksikamerat (kaikki näkymät) | Sääksilive (saaksilive.fi), with 5 nests, and 2 views of the active nests (I follow mainly these):                     

Here nests 1, 3 and 4 are occupied. 

  • Number 4 has last year’s couple, 3 chicks, eating a lot, and the making heavy exercises (fighting) from the very beginning (genes from the female). A video in the web by a non-native follower:
    Brutal fight between two eaglets #ospreycam #ospreys #siblingfight #shorts (youtube.com)   
    Hope the fishing weather will be good in July … (Last year the yongest chick got fiercely killed by the sibling.)
  • Number 1 has an older, experienced couple, with so far 1 chick and 2 eggs left.
  • Number 3, with a first time mum (bride from last year) and last year’s male, has 1 chick, one to pop up soon (hole in the egg already). First chick died.

(Last year the female disappeared and the 3 chicks died.

Number 5: the last year’s couple arrived, but somehow they ”changed their mind” abt nesting. The two eggs, not taken care about, were taken by a raven. Very ”nicely”, indeed, both times:

The other robbery:  6.5.2024 – #5 – Korppi ryöstää Saran munan mukaansa – YouTube

This nest, number 5 was interesting last year: After the own 2 chicks had left, a foreign chick, from Sweden, landed on the nest, and stayed very long, for weeks, and got fed by the male.”

Number 1 – adults doing incubation. Waiting for pip/hatch watch.

Number 2 is a failed nest. No activity.

Number 3 has a beautiful osplet. Dad brings a huge fish!

Number 4 has three healthy osplets.

Number LS/5 is a failed nest. No activity.

From separate organisations:

Seilin in the West of Finland. Couple incubating eggs.

Janakkala in the North has three osplets.

Muonion, in the far north, is incubating eggs.

At Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Dad delivered no less than five fish, several large. There is also rain and Mum is keeping those babies warm and dry. Everyone ate.

‘L’ writes: “Dad stood near mom while she fed the babies at Minnesota. I think he is trying to teach her. She literally went over the head of the oldest one to feed the third one. ” It seems that the latter part of the day was not so good at this nest. We live and hope.

Olsen is doing the best that he can at the Osoyoos Osprey Platform. Most of the fish brought in were so small but he landed a whopper later in the afternoon and everyone did eat well.

It has been a miserable day across much of Wales. Telyn and Idris worked to feed their three chicks and to keep them dry even though they are getting their juvenile plumage and can thermoregulate.

Blue 022 is working hard to get lots of good fish to CJ7 so that their four Bobs will all be full and happy.

I know how sad everyone has been after the loss of Sol, so close to fledge, at the Redding nest of Liberty and Guardian. Everyone at FORE is simply heart broken, too.

Luna is alive and well and for this we must be very glad.

All three eggs have now hatched at Niagara Bee. They are all looking good.

I will now be carrying the daily summary by Geemeff that she publishes for the Woodland Trust. It is the happenings on the Loch Arkaig nest of Dorcha and Louis. Lots of good information and links to videos! Thank you, Geemeff, for allowing me to publish this information.

“Daily summary Saturday 15th June 2024

No action on Nest One, and very little on Nest Two. Louis only brought one fish mid-morning, and wasn’t seen again until suppertime when he caused consternation by arriving empty-taloned. Dorcha couldn’t believe it and gave him a right earful while he cleaned bits of fish off his beak. He’d obviously eaten recently and had a nicely rounded crop which added fuel to Dorcha’s ire. Earlier Dorcha had caused a bit of consternation herself when she arrived with an awkwardly shaped stick and proceeded to drag it through the huddle of chicks, although she quickly redeemed herself by being an excellent mumbrella and keeping her three big chicks warm and dry during a torrential downpour. As usual, chick2 got all the fish and beaked the other two to keep them away from the food, therefore it will be good if Louis arrives early tomorrow morning with a fish big enough that C1 & C3 get a share too. Statto Steve Q provided us with a thorough analysis of the fish stats to date – despite the odd blip, Louis’ current total of two hundred and two fish is pretty much comparable with previous years. The weather was very unsettled today with a misty start turning into a rainy day and more of the same forecast for tonight.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.36.53 (02.58.59); Nest Two 23.10.58 (03.27.50)

Watch the livestream 24/7:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/2hIydufKS3I Fish number one and only, headless trout, C2 gets it all 10.17.28

https://youtu.be/FlvoO8n_ZAk  Dorcha: from menace with a stick to brilliant mumbrella 17.32

https://youtu.be/OiKvZO7vkTU Louis finally arrives but he’s fishless! Dorcha can’t believe it  20.13.30

Bonus info – Steve Quinn’s fish stats for week 11:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=15060802

Blast from the past, this day in previous years:

https://youtu.be/ntv71sF-N_s  N1 Simultaneous feeding – mum and dad each feed a bob! 2019

https://youtu.be/1RzPgaEWMr0  N1 Limbo dancing 2020

https://youtu.be/PvklkJGfZIc  N1 Home alone chicks amuse themselves 2020

https://youtu.be/J8geReKxLxc  N1 Mumbrella Aila does her best to shelter the chicks 2020

https://youtu.be/FJYbKk1hA-4  N1 A Jay visits the empty nest 2021

https://youtu.be/tsAAz0z9Ac8  N2 Hooded Crow intrudes and perches on the nest 2022

https://youtu.be/k6W6PKYMMYQ  N2 Chicks battle it out as soon as mum leaves 2022

https://youtu.be/LTMLWBLOZnY  N1 LV0 just won’t get the message 2023

https://youtu.be/hFbYpDjHeyI  N1 Affric reaffirms her bond with Prince 2023

https://youtu.be/yvMLAjhrNaA  N2 Hangry chick attacks Dorcha 2023 (quick-time)”

Looks like we have one hatch at the Green Ledge Light Preservation Society nest on Long Island.

There was a lot of discussion over which eaglet it was that fell from the Fraser Point nest of Andor and Cruz. It appears it was Manini and not Reign as I reported earlier. Congratulations on fledging!!!!! BVS Girl has that first flight on video.

The two Golden eaglets in Estonia nest 2 are plump and healthy. They are flapping their wings and walking.

This is the second hatch spreading its wings. Look at that fat bottom and those big strong legs. I am so happy for this nest. I hope the good fortune continues.

Fish dinner arriving at Cowlitz PUD and we have three hungry osplets.

I cannot tell you how much fish Little Mini got at Field Farm on Saturday. It is often difficult to tell, but the wee one is growing and had a sort of half crop in the morning.

Checking in on the San Jose Falcons.

For images of the Cal falcon fledglings, please go to the Instagram account of moon_rabbit_rising!

Suzanne Arnold Horning posted some lovely images of Big Red and Arthur’s Ns. They have fledged and were found in spots near to Fernow and Tower Road. Both fledglings are doing well.

Tweed Valley Osprey Project gives us an excellent view of Mrs O feeding her three osplets.

Thank you so much for being with me. Watch for that hatch of Iris and Finnegan from Sunday-Tuesday according to Dr Greene. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, observations, videos, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A’, Geemeff, H, L, MM, PB, SP’, Timothy Dygert Live Stream, The Woodland Trust, Forsythe Ospresy, Dalgren Ospreys, SCMM Kent Island, Boathouse Ospreys, Patuxent River Park, Window to Wildlife, Heidi McGrue, Sunnie Day, Montana Osprey Project, SK Hideaways, Lake Murray Ospreys, Polo 7422, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Nesting Bird Life and More, MN Landscape Arboretum, Osoyoos Osprey Cam, Dyfi Osprey Project, BoPH, FORE, Niagara Bee, Feemeff, Green Ledge Light Preservation Society, BVSGirl, Eagle Club of Estonia, Cowlitz PUD, moon_rabbit_rising, Suzanne Arnold Horning, and Tweed Valley Ospreys.

Iris second hatch, Lake Murray Osplet flies when hit by GHO, deaths at Forsythe…Saturday in Bird World

15 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Friday was a really beautiful day. The sky was a clear blue and there was no rain and little wind. The temperature was 24 C. It was a good day to check out the goslings and ducklings at the park later – I went around 1700 and they were coming out of their shady island nests to swim. Even with the sprinkler system, the rain and the heat are causing some algae/pond plant problems.

It was really hard to see the tiny ducklings.

Oh, I adore the little female Wood Ducks.

This Mallard had two surviving ducklings. Many had 12 or 13 and it was hard to tell as the Canada Geese do their ‘daycare thing’ so you might see several geese caring for nearly forty youngsters while the other parents forage.

Five beautiful and tiny little wood ducks.

My garden is lush. The water has caused everything to thrive in a year when I worried as the winter had been so dry. Some of you will recall that there was a peony plant and a climbing rose that were planted on my property in 1902 when the old two-story house was built by Italian rail workers. Both are still alive. The peony is full of buds that will bloom soon and the rose is simply bursting with buds. I coddle it as if it were the most precious thing and I often wonder who lived here and who the woman was who planted the roses and the peonies.

The roses now cover an area of approximately 3 metres by 5 metres. The area is absolutely thick with branches laden with these amazing buds. What a treat! I am already dreaming of what it will be like to sit next to the flowers and sip my tea when they bloom – imagine the scent!!!!!!!

I feel that I am such a bearer of bad news these days. There are so many issues that face our raptors and many of those are playing out around the world. You might recall that there was heavy rain and flooding around the nest of Liberty and Guardian. It was noted that the tree was dead. Today, Sol is dehydrated, and death could be imminent. FORE has tried to get a tree climber but the tree is in too bad of a shape for them to climb. Liberty tried to feed her eaglet but Sol was not interested.

Over the years the citizen scientists, like yourself, observing the nests of all avian species have noted issues with nests. If it isn’t happening (and certainly some places are diligent at inspections), nests should be inspected annually prior to breading season. Dead trees, sadly, should be taken down so that we do not find ourselves in the situation with Liberty and Guardian’s Sol. This might also help with nest collapses when the nests are simply too large and heavy rain would cause them to crash potentially killing eaglets.

Sadly Sol passed away Friday morning. He was 77 days old. Right ready to fledge.

For those concerned for Luna, boots on the ground found her and she is alive and well. What a relief!

At the Fraser Point Nest of Andor and Cruz, Reign has fell off a nest that is collapsing. She was found safe under the nest!

The full report of Ospreys on the Iberian Peninsula for 2023-24 is now available.

Aguila-pescadora-El-Corzo-2024Download

‘EJ’ sent us a news story to put a smile on our faces. We do need a good rescue right now!

Raptor-Resource-Project-Bald-Eagle-and-Bird-of-Prey-CamsDownload

What a beautiful Black stork nest in Poland!

Two juveniles on Tor – those West End fledglings are strong. Thunder and Akecheta got them a lot of high quality food. We see it in their spunk and in their flying. But, oh, to have such open spaces without buildings. They are blessed.

All three West End Eaglets – Koa, Treasure, and Sterling were caught on video soaring together. How lovely.

Idris and Telyn did a great dual feeding for the osplets at the Dyfi nest in Wales. They are looking for names. Need to be unused river and mountain names in Wales. Check it out! Dyfi Osprey Project.

Those Montreal falcons really want to fly! If you are missing the Cal Falcons and San Jose ones, then take a look at these three.

Things have still to settled down at Loch Arkaig. C2 still dominates all the feedings.

Blue 022 gets the fish to the nest for CJ7 to feed the Fab Four.

New dad, Finnegan, is actively involved in every aspect of the family including security, delivering food, feeding Iris, and feeding the chick plus being support. What a guy. So thankful you came along, Finnegan. This is an amazing story unfolding on the nest Iris now shares with you.

Good night, Iris.

‘A’ alerts us to the second hatch. Iris didn’t get much sleep!

“Darling Finn was in with a late fish last night (14 June) at 18:53:45. It’s a nice size and appears whole. When Iris stands up to claim it, we can see the second tiny head in the nest. It is still very tired from the hatch, and only wakes up because Big Bob disturbed it by standing up, getting ready to be fed. Big Bob is gigantic already, so this second hatch is going to need to be a strong-minded chick. Iris begins eating while Finn checks out his offspring. 

Finn stands and watches Iris feeding Big Bob, who is a great little eater. After a couple of minutes, he flies to the perch while Iris continues feeding. By 19:09 Big Bob’s face is covered in fish and he is falling into a food coma. Mum settles down to brood the pair. Finn flies down the nest, then at 19:16 heads off. Dad is back with a stick at 19:30:24 and leaves again immediately. 

Shortly after 19:29, Iris stands and begins alerting. She looks upwards, continuing to alert loudly. Intruder? She calms down relatively quickly but continues to glance upwards and to her left (towards the camera). It is at this point that Finn arrives (from the opposite direction) with the stick, which he nearly brains the chicks with. After he leaves, Iris remains standing and occasionally glances at the same spot again. 

Eventually, after a good rouse and another glance around, Iris goes to settle on the chicks but changes her mind and stays standing, looking around. Around 19:33:40 she has a good flap of her wings. Impressive.At 19:34 she carefully returns to brooding the chicks. At 20:06:30 Finn is back on the perch. He flies off again at 20:12:20.

This morning, Finn arrives on the nest just before 05:18, while it is still dark, to say good morning. He stands beside her. She is her usual very chatty self. He is silent. Having said only yesterday I’d never seen Iris sleeping tucked, she did so quite a bit last night (especially as morning approached). Shortly after 05:25, Finn set off to get breakfast. He returns soon after 06:30 but without a fish. Iris does not sound pleased by this development. 

He does a little busy work on the nest, but when Iris stands up at 06:3424, he immediately flies off. Iris stretches her wings and then flies off the nest herself at 06:34:40. She is back at 06:35:13, so obviously just did a circuit of the car park. Dad is back just before 06:38, again with empty talons. Iris leaves again. Finn is standing on his left leg a lot, which I presume is just resting but I am hoping he has not suffered any injury to the leg. I don’t think so. He wonders whether/how to brood the chicks and looks around for Iris. 

Eventually, shortly after 06:41 Finn settles down to brood the osplets. It appears Iris has taken breakfast into her own talons. Iris is back at 06:56:17. She has no fish. Finn gets up carefully and flies to the perch, allowing Iris to brood the osplets. Iris gets up, moves a large piece of bark, and settles down again. Why? Strange. After a good preen, Finn leaves again around 07:09, hopefully on a fishing expedition. Iris looks to have a good crop still but the chicks need feeding, especially the younger one. 

It is now 07:25 and Finn is not yet back. I do hope this new baby is not too tiny and that it is able to get fed. I also hope that it is a female and the first hatch a male, but I doubt that. This first hatch is precocious, physically and behaviourally. It is strong and a very good eater. I am fearful for the younger osplet, but then always was with the lengthy gap (a full week) between the laying of those two eggs. We will wait and hope.”

An absorbing article about Iris and Finnegan with interviews with Dr Greene and his helper Sharon Leigh-Miles.

‘Thats-a-great-mom-World-famous-osprey-welcomes-a-new-chick-Montana-Public-RadioDownload

‘A’ has finally fallen in love with Ospreys! She writes, “Iris carefully supervised Finn’s first attempt at feeding their chick yesterday morning (14 June) at around 08:55. Initially, he wasn’t very good at it, finding it hard to reach down far enough to put the food into the chick’s beak, but after two or three efforts, he successfully gave the chick a bite. And another. He was good at getting the pieces small enough but leaning down to get the food into the chick’s beak took him a little more practice. But he is learning. Iris standing behind him, watching closely but not interfering, was so sweet. She is happy to teach him how to be a good dad – I’m surprised she is not more protective of the wee one, but she obviously trusts this guy and he has already proven himself to her in many ways. Certainly, he has demonstrated an amazing level of devotion to his family. Let’s hope he remembers that his primary role is away from the nest – fishing for the family and keeping intruders away from the territory. Family time is a bonus. But I do adore how proud he is of Iris and their chick. I wonder how he will manage provisioning for two osplets, Iris and himself. 

By 08:57 Iris was a little concerned that far more fish was going into Finn’s mouth than into the chick’s beak and decided to intervene. When Finn tries to feed the chick a piece that is too large, Iris takes it from his beak and bends down to feed it carefully to the wee one. Finn continues to eat the fish, while Iris feeds the chick saliva several times. He keeps eating. She moves closer, obviously wanting more of this fish to be fed to the chick. (It is large and pretty much whole, so Finn is entitled to eat the head at least. Iris however is concerned only about feeding the chick.) When he turns to feed a piece to the osplet, she takes it from him again and feeds it to the chick. This is repeated several times, with Iris taking food from Finn to feed to the chick. This is SO sweet. They are not so much tandem feeding as team feeding. Iris is clearly teaching Finn about being a great dad. 

Finn now concentrates again on eating for himself, so Iris settles down to brood the chick, though it remains visible at her breast. She reaches out to nibble at the fish Finn is holding down, as he continues to eat beside the nest bowl. He feeds Iris a couple of bites, then continues eating. She continues nibbling at the fish too. When Finn flies to the perch shortly after, he leaves the fish beside Iris. He returns to the nest at 09:33:35 with eyes firmly on the leftover fish. Iris has a lot to say. He nibbles on the fish a little, but soon leaves without removing the remaining fish. 

He is soon back again (10:05), possibly with a stick, although Iris standing up obscures our view. She is very chatty. He is tall, dark and handsome, a man of few words. She settles back down to brood and he simply stands behind her on the nest, protectively. After a couple of minutes, he circles Iris and she stands up to show him his baby (and the hatching second egg, presumably). He looks down into the nest, obviously fascinated as always. She continues to chirp. Having closely examined his progeny, Finn flies to the perch. Iris continues chatting. By 10:19, she is settling down to brood again. Finn remains on the perch. There is still half a large fish (probably a fair bit more) remaining on the nest. “

We still have three chicks at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum! Mum provided good shade for much of the day and the three had some good fish.

Wow, that third hatch at Charlo Montana sure came quickly. Charlie looks on at this three kids and his new mate.

Little Mini had a bit of a crop earlier in the day from this feeding but was shut out later – something that bothered me a bit. It was rather submissive during a late feeding allowing the older Little Bob to lean over it and eat. I am hoping Little Mini was just full.

Only Bob at Sandpoint is a fat bottomed little cutie.

‘MM’ watched the Osoyoos nest for us on Friday and she reports: “It was offline again until about 9:30 this morning so not sure if there were any feedings before then but I have counted 6 so far today with the 6th one still taking place. For the most part they have been very small especially the first three or four. I’m almost certain at the first feeding(9:56 am) mom ate it all while the chicks bonked one another. The fish lasted all of 5 minutes, was so small you could barely see it. At 10:56 and 11:34 am dad delivered small fish again with each chick getting a few bites and mom also definitely wasn’t enough to fill their crops. At 1:26 and 2:51 pm he brought fish that were a little bit bigger but not by much. Again they each got enough to keep hunger at bay but still not seeing bulging crops like at other nests. Number 6 was delivered at 4:12 pm and was still ongoing when I started this email. It was definitely bigger than the others. As the chicks get older hopefully the fish will get bigger because there’s no way those tiny fish will fill up 3 growing chicks and mom has quite the appetite as well 😄 I noticed they are pretty well behaved whilst eating but not so much while there’s no food on the nest.”

The 6th fish of the day and the biggest. Thanks, ‘MM’

Two gorgeous feathered babes on the Patchogue nest!

The little one enjoying some fish on the Cowlitz PUD nest.

It is difficult to see if all the chicks are alright on the Oyster Bay nest because of the greenery.

Two surviving osplets at Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home are fantastic.

Smallie spent the night in the scrape. He is looking very well.

Prey continues to be provided for the Ns at the Cornell nest of Big Red and Arthur. Both fledglings appear to be flying strong.

‘H’ reports:

Dahlgren osprey nest:  Early on 6/14, viewers noticed that the 12-day-old chick was in a deep hole in the nesting, and sitting on a bottom wood slat of the platform nest.  The baby is surrounded by some articles of clothing, perhaps gloves (?), and can’t hardly move.  So far, Helen has been able to feed her baby in that position.  Viewers tried for hours to raise awareness with the nest owners.  Finally this morning on Facebook is the response:  Brigitte Schwurack Top contributor Thank you for your message, the owners of the camera are informed.

6/14, The weather started to clear, and it turned out to be a great day!  Due to poor fishing, the youngest osplet, Darling, had not eaten for over 3.5 days.  At 0917 Edie delivered a whole catfish, and Ding ate. Darling was not able to eat any of that fish.  At 1015 Edie brought another whole catfish and fed Ding.  While that was taking place, Jack arrived with a partial fish.  Ding grabbed Jack’s fish, and Darling was quick to grab Edie’s catfish, and ate his first bites of food for over 87 hours.  At 1024 Edie took the fish from Darling and began to feed him.  Darling ate for about 40 minutes.   At 1259 Edie landed with a partial ladyfish, Darling grabbed and mantled, but Ding took it away.  Ding ate until 1334, then walked away.  There was still a lot of fish left, and Darling self-fed on the ladyfish.  At 1337 Edie brought a whole ladyfish, Darling abandoned the other one, and Edie fed some of the new fish to Ding, but most to Darling. At 1428 Edie fed the remainder of the first ladyfish, mostly to Darling, and some to Ding.  Finally, at 1956 Edie delivered a partial catfish.  She fed Ding, and then Ding did some self-feeding.  Everyone’s prayers had been answered for tons of fish.  Darling had a large crop for most of the day.  We are so very thankful that the weather cleared and Edie and Jack were able to catch fish, and that our dear Darling is still with us!

6/14 Forsythe osprey nest: There are not enough fish being brought to this nest.  It has already undergone brood reduction once.  Mini4 died of siblicide/starvation on 6/11.  There were four fish brought to the nest on 6/14, and none were very large.  Big and Middle were both responsible for preventing Little from eating for the second straight day.  Little passed away overnight…COD siblicide/starvation.  Big also controls when Middle is allowed to eat, and Middle ate a total of 156 bites of fish the entire day.  This may end up being a one-chick nest, where once there were four of the cutest little osplets you had ever seen.

6/14 Fenwick Island osprey nest – Captain Mac’s Fish house:  Congratulations to Johnny and June on the hatch of their first baby at approximately 19:45.

6/14, Patuxent osprey nest:  There were six fish brought to the nest by Dad, and a couple were whoppers!  Everyone had a great day, and Little had several good private feedings.  Remarkably, at meal #5, Little was eating right beside Big…as if they had been best buddies their entire lives!


It was almost daylight, and I thought the osplet had survived another night without being hit by the GHO.  At 0538 C1 was standing up in the nest when she was struck hard by the GHO.  The GHO was not able to take her.  C1 managed to grab the rail sticks with her talons, but had been thrown  off balance, and she eventually fell off the nest.  That nest is very high, and we hoped that she was able to flap and float down to the ground.  Well, she did better than that….  The nest owner saw C1 flying across the lake!

‘J’ sent us an update on Connick, Connie and Clive’s eaglet from 2023.

‘J’ also sent us an update on Chance:

‘RP’ sent us a smile:

Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, observations, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, EJ, H, J, MM, PB, RP’, FORE, Vicki Jacques, BVS Girl, Aguila Pesiadora, The Raptor Resource Project, BocianiMyBolewice, IWS/Explore, Dyfi Osprey Project, Friends of Loch Arkaig, Montreal Falcon Cam, Geemeff, BoPH, Montana News, Charlo Montana Osprey Cam (Owl Osprey Project), MN Landscape Arboretum, Field Farm, Sandpoint Ospreys, Osoyoos Osprey Cam, PSEG, Cowlitz PUD, Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home, Amersfoort Peregrine Falcon Cam, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, Lake Murray Ospreys, Forsythe, Patuxent River Park, Dahlgren, Fenwick Island, and CBS Sunday Morning.

Pip in Iris and Finnegan’s second egg…Friday in Bird World

14 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

The rain clouds came Wednesday evening and watered the garden and they are rolled in again from the West Thursday morning. Hugo Yugo is afraid of the thunder and lighting and the minute it starts she scatters to get under the duvet on my bed. Poor thing. Friday is a different matter. There are no clouds in sight. The sky is a pure beautiful blue with the bright emerald green from the trees decorating it. Everything is so lush. I have never seen trees and shrubs grow so much in such a short time. It just shows how much we need the water and how dry our winter had been.

I spent about three hours walking at the zoo on Thursday and about an hour sitting and having tea and watching the polar bears. It was the most glorious day. I am hoping to be a good example to all of you to get out and about, but I have to admit that I was pretty sore and tired after that!

The bears had been fed and were swimming in the icy cold water area before they left to go into their den. They are so gorgeous and are extremely well cared for. (I am still not sure what I think about zoos).

Besides spending time in the research centre learning how climate change is hampering the ability of these iconic bears to get food, I also found out how the staff at the zoo determine if one of them is ill. They put different coloured sprarkle bits in their food. So Bear A might have green, Bear B red, etc. Then they check their poop. Reminded me of the movie, The Last Emperor of China.

Polar bears are most active in the winter and hibernate during the summer. Churchill, Manitoba, is the Polar Bear Capital of the World. I do not know when they gave that small town on Hudson’s Bay the moniker, but today, if you want to see Polar Bears, you must go out in boats at two specific times of the year – spring and fall. The times are getting later and later as the sea ice gets smaller and smaller and further away from land. The bears have great difficulty getting food. They must fatten up in the winter to live on the fat all during hibernation. Sadly, they are hungry because of fewer and fewer seals. Some bears are catching seals in open water, and in the fall, they are desperately hungry. They come into Churchill and feed on garbage, which causes the citizens to get upset and the bears to be shot. Life is becoming desperately hard for them.

Sad news coming in this morning. One of the four fledglings at San Jose, Luna, has been found dead on the ground following a building collision. Thank you ‘SP’ for alerting me.

As I ready for bed, there is serious concern over the Captiva Osprey nest. Connor from Window to Wildlife posted the following letter. This is one of the nests that ‘H’ monitors and she notes that Darling has had nothing to eat (but perhaps a few scraps) in 75 hours. This is because of the weather. We are hoping for a miracle but are realistically expecting Darling to pass away.

‘H’ reports on Captiva which is a nest she monitors: “6/13 Captiva ospreys:  The stationary tropical wave weather pattern that extends all across south Florida is expected to continue for the next few days, albeit with conditions predicted to be a little less severe in some places.  The two osplets, Ding and Darling, had eaten a meal the evening of 6/10.  Then fishing became impossible due to the stormy weather, not just because of the wind and rain, but due to the effect it had on the water surface and water turbidity.  The evening of 6/12 Edie brought a partial catfish to the nest which was eaten by Ding.  The morning of 6/13, Jack delivered a partial needlefish that was eaten by Ding.  In the afternoon, Edie brought a partial catfish, and that was eaten by Ding.  And, in the evening, Jack delivered a partial sheepshead that Ding ate.  The shortage of food has rekindled Ding’s ultimate dominance over Darling, and Ding wins the battles for the fish.  If enough fish is brought to the nest, Darling will win some of those battles, and Ding may also allow Edie to keep a fish to feed Darling.

In my opinion, if Darling passes, it will have nothing to do with Jack’s injury.  This is about the weather.  It is a prolonged weather event that a young unfed osplet cannot endure.  And, I’m sure this scenario is being played out at many osprey nests all across south Florida that have been impacted by this nearly-stationary tropical wave.

This is exactly the same effect that the Nor’easter had in New Jersey last June.  Certain adverse weather systems simply hang around too long, causing poor fishing that lasts for too many consecutive days…not just one day, or two days, but three days or more.  The end result is the starvation/dehydration deaths of many young ospreys.  In some cases, the prolonged stormy weather may cause the deaths of the adult ospreys as well.  For example, at the Ocean City, NJ nest, where the parents disappeared after the June 2023 storm, intruders took over the nest, and the osplets died in the nest.   

When the weather begins to improve after such a prolonged adverse weather event, and the adult ospreys are able to catch a fish, they must eat at least part of the fish to ensure their own survival, before bringing the remainder of the fish to the nest to feed their young.  Then, the dominant osplet in the nest will eat first.

At Captiva, Edie was providing for her two osplets just fine for three days in Jack’s absence, while we were unaware that he had been injured.  Then the storm hit, and made fishing impossible for an extended period of time.  Now that fishing has started to improve, and both Edie and Jack have been able to bring a few fish to the nest, the eldest osplet, Ding, has first dibs on the food.  If Darling dies, it will not be because of Jack’s injury.  It will be due to the storm, and because s/he happens to be the youngest osplet in the nest.  

By 07:00 on 6/14, Darling will not have eaten for 84 hours.  Pray for enough fish this morning to feed both Ding and Darling.”


6/13, Forsythe osprey nest:  After 10 fish were brought to the nest by Oscar on 6/12, this nest took a nose dive…with no apparent explanation.  At 0822, Oscar delivered a medium-sized headless fish.  Little was not permitted to eat at that meal, and Middle only ate a few bites.  After many hours, Opal decided to go fishing herself, and she returned with a large whole fish at 1530.  That feeding lasted for 40 minutes, and yet Little only ate 4 bites of fish.  He was prevented from eating by both Big and Middle.  We saw Oscar on the perch, but perhaps he wasn’t feeling well.  Little ate pretty well on 6/12, so he is not in immediate danger of starvation.  

6/13 Patuxent: There were six fish brought to the nest by Dad.  Little did not manage to eat at the first meal, but had a nice 12 minute private feeding at the second meal.  Little was not able to make it to Mom’s beak during the next two meals.  Little usually automatically assumes his tuck-and-surrender posture when a fish is delivered to the nest, and he has learned to wait his turn until Big and Middle are full.  But, at meal five, he fell asleep while waiting, lol.  The meal began at 1600, and by 1616 both Big and Middle had dropped back…queue Little…calling Little…where’s Little?…Oh my goodness, he had fallen asleep!  Mom ate some of the fish, and all of a sudden Little woke up at 1621 and said, “Oh, here I come Mommy, save some for me.”  But, there were only two bites of fish that Mom had left to feed her youngest.  Ahh, but Dad wasn’t finished…he delivered a large headless fish at 1822, and Little had a mostly private feed for 23 minutes and ate 145 bites of fish. 

6/14 South Cape May Meadows osprey nest:  We knew that the crow most likely destroyed egg #3 on 6/8, and it pecked at another egg.  One egg hatched on 6/11 which could have been either the first or second egg.  Well…another egg hatched overnight on 6/14!  So, the first baby was from egg #1 at 39 days, and the second baby was from egg #2 at 39 days.  “Now, you two must get along..Ya hear!”  Congratulations to Hera and Zeus!

6/14 Fortis Exshaw osprey nest:  The second baby hatched overnight.  Congratulations to Louise and Harvie!  (I do not have any good photos yet) 

6/14 Boathouse osprey nest:  Congratulations to Dory and Skiff on their first baby of the season.  The lil’ one hatched just after 8 a.m.

Gosh, that is a cute little baby, Heidi! Look at those dark eyes.

Thanks so much, ‘H’. We love your reports!

One of my readers said this morning that ‘the Montana nest might bring us the happiness we need this year’. With all the worry about Jack at Captiva with ‘the something’ sticking out of his leg (looks like part of a fishing spear to me), and all the nests that have four chicks, and now Loch Arkaig with the ferocious C2, well. It is going to be nice to sit and watch Iris live out a wonderful summer. She always had the best nest in the country. She would work on it right after she arrived from migration and then stop and make sure it was in tip top shape when she left. Just look at it. Perfect. This is just the best ‘icing on the cake’ for this female. A devoted male after so many years. When did Stanley die? 2014? If you look at the timeline below, you will see that the fledge in 2018 was just a fluke. It has been ten years since Iris had a clutch of chicks that fledged! So this really is a miracle year.

Hellgate-Osprey-Cam-Timeline-Cornell-Lab-Bird-Cams-Cornell-Lab-Bird-CamsDownload

So far, Finn is delivering on his promise to continue to be a good mate and dad. A huge fish came on the nest for Iris and baby Thursday morning.

The enthusiasm for a big fish for the babe and Iris caused some concern Thursday afternoon. ‘MB’ writes, “Some clumsy/scary looking moments at Iris’ nest 14:50 ish.  A large fish arrives complete with head.  The two adults both seem keen to wrangle it, more interested in the fish than the chick.  The wee chick is trodden on a few times.  It goes down and stays still for a while, and I am holding my breath.  By 15:00 ish the chick is back up and begging and the fish has been taken over to the perch to be sorted out. Hopefully it will arrive back for a more civilised feeding.”

Goodness me. We do not need a nest accident! Iris and Finnegan with that whole fish and wee babe wanting fish!

Finnegan looks down at the wee babe while Iris feeds. Oh, I wish I could see what he is thinking.

‘A’ adores Finn: “Finn does appear young, but if he has never done this before, he sure is a natural dad. He adores Iris and worships this tiny creature in the nest. He watches it with absolute fascination, and spends quite a bit of time on the perch, guarding his family with obvious pride. Adorable. 

You should see the size of the afternoon fish he brought it – it is MASSIVE (timestamp 14:51:15). Iris is happy! She starts to eat, but Finn decides he’s hungry too, so there is a bit of a tug of war over the fish, with the chick rapidly moving out of the way for fear of being squashed by this giant fish. Iris returns to brooding the chick and Finn starts eating the head of the fish. The chick is confused! 

Finn takes the fish to the nest perch and continues eating. And eating. And eating. By 15:32 Iris is getting impatient, and Finn brings the fish back to the nest. He stands beside Iris, looking very proud, until 15:40, when he grabs the fish and brings it around to Iris’s head. She is periodically vocalising at Finn but not getting up for the fish! 

Finn continues eating the fish head, occasionally offering a bite to Iris, who ignores it. Just before 15:43, he feeds a bite to Iris, which she accepts. She finally stands up, and slowly moves around to the fish. It is 15:44 and the chick is hungry. Finn stays on the nest, and the chick is not sure which parent to turn to for food. Iris is eating. Finn is watching his chick from the other side of the nest cup. Finally, around 15:45 Iris starts feeding Bob. The chick is good at this part! It is a voracious little feeder and can hold its head up, and steady, very easily indeed. It is strong and it is healthy. Such a blessing. Iris is giving her baby the smallest pieces – just right for a newborn osplet. She is such an experienced mum – calm and diligent. In fact, this chick seems to have inherited some pretty good genes all around. 

Oh I love this little family. Finn is proving to be a perfect dad, He could not be prouder of his osplet and he adores Iris. I know how many people are just over the moon for Iris. Every girl deserves a Finn in her life! I adore the way he feeds her on the nest. SO sweet. I have never seen a feeding like yesterday’s – yes, a few bites, but not a full eight-minute feeding that involved at least 50 bites of fish. That really was something very special indeed. I love this guy. Not just delivering fish but breakfast in bed for the new mum. He’ll be bringing flowers next! “

A pip in the second egg of Iris and Finnegan has been confirmed Thursday evening. Tears. Get the tissue boxes out!!!!!! The champagne is already gone.

The three babies at Charlo Montana are soooooo tiny.

C2 finally let up and everyone, including Dorcha, got some fish out of the sixth delivery of the day. Did I say that C2 is a big female and behaves like Zoe, the osprey, at Port Lincoln of 2022?

All of the osplets at Field Farm are accounted for!

A flurry of a tandem feeding at Poole Harbour with CJ7 and Blue 022 trying to keep the four osplets alive and healthy. They are doing an incredible job.

Blue 022 is great at feeding. Both adults were rushing to get the four fed as heavy rain was coming into the area.

One surviving Osplet, one deceased by a nest accident, and it looks like a DNH egg at Sandpoint.

Those three are tough little osplets at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. They are still alive!

It is extremely difficult to see how many or how little fish are coming to the Osoyoos nest with its three osplets. Soo and Olsen have had a tough time of it in recent years. The area has been hit with heat bombs and the local lake and river that supply the fish appears not to have enough fish – or it is so warm that they are diving deep – that Olsen cannot catch them.

I noted three feedings on Thursday. At 1034, 1536, and 1656. This is not enough to sustain this family.

If you have the time, the Osoyoos cam is up and running. Any help in establishing how many fish come on this nest would be ever so helpful. Thank you.

It’s hot at the Cowlitz PUD nest. Three osplets. We need lots of fish to come on this nest!

Perhaps it is my imagination but it seems like the fish deliveries at some of the nests with small babies – that need to be fed a little but many times over – are slow.

Waiting for pip/hatch watch at Captain Mac’s Fish House Osprey platform.

Maya keeping her Only Bob dry from the rain at Rutland. What a great Mum she is. So sad she was sick at the beginning of the season. The ringing of the chick is scheduled for June 21.

At the Golden Eagle nest #2, Mum has brought prey in a couple of times on Thursday. Both chicks ate.

Edith P caught the feeding on video.

Golden Eaglet in Bucovina România doing well.

Some images from the nest of Big Red and Arthur and the new fledglings, the Ns.

The two hawklets at Syracuse have both branched and the nest is bare. I am thinking they both might have fledged.

‘H’ is watching for a pip Thursday evening for Dory and Skiff. Will see what she reports in the morning.

Hatch at nest #3 in Finland. (One egg had nest accident and one other egg left to hatch)

One osplet so far at nest #1 in Finland.

Some of you will have read the book Beauty and the Beak. I am sorry to inform you that Beauty has passed away.

Thank you so much for being with us today. There is joy tinged with great sadness. Please take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, posts, images, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, PB, SP, T’, Connor and Window to Wildlife, Patuxent River Park, Forsythe Ospreys, SCMM, All About Birds, Montana Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Lab, Charlo Montana Ospreys, Geemeff, BoPH, Sandpoint Ospreys, MN Landscape Arboretum, Osoyoos, Cowlitz PUD, Pitkin County Open Spaces and Trails, Captain Mac’s Fish House, LRWT, Eagle Club of Estonia, Edith P, Wild Bucovina Association, Cornell RTH, Heidi McGrue, Nesting Bird Life and More, Finnish Osprey Foundation, and Birds of Prey Northwest.

Saturday in Bird World

1 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

It is bright and sunny and nearing 1800 on the Canadian Prairies. We had a lovely brunch with the entire family on the deck with warm sunshine blessing all of us. The grandson is on his way back home to Ottawa. Son is heading north to go fishing, and we will be going to check on the eagles at Hecla Island in the coming weeks – not sure when. It was lovely to see everyone. We will have a bit of a break and then the third round – looking forward. Most everyone lives at a distance so these times together are very precious.

The cats have come out of hiding. Well, Hugo Yugo and Missey like company. Calico and Baby Hope don’t. They are all sleeping. Worn out by the excitement! The rain has made the garden really lush. The European Starlings seem to have taken over the area. Mr Crow comes for his cheesy dogs and then they fly in – at least 8 or 10 of them. They have nest in the garden and I think they just don’t want to risk the Crows predating their chicks. Mr Grackle came for a nice bath today and there have been quite a number of House Finches flittering about. No more Baltimore Orioles. The homing bird feeder is up but I have not seen any visitors.

My Girls wish you all a wonderful weekend!

Visiting. One day we did get in quite a nice walk but most of the time it is good food and lots of conversation, catching up. My legs needed to move and it was off this evening early to count the goslings and ducklings at the park. 68 goslings!

Richmond and Rosie had their first hatch on Friday the 31st of May! Yeah. We have all been waiting for our SF Whitley Crane couple on their new light post nest to start their family.

In Montana, Iris and Finnegan are doing well. Gosh, aren’t you getting excited? We might get to see Iris raise a chick. Seriously, I would. be happy if there was only one healthy one. That would not wear her out. The females, as you know, are known to lose 30% of their body weight during incubation and raising chicks. Mind you, Finnegan is one good provider for Rosie. We haven’t had to worry about her. Finnegan believes his first egg was laid on 5 May. That means that we are at 27 days. Hatch watch 10 June.

Continued good thoughts, please, for Lake Murray. I checked and there are no strobes on at the time I am writing at Lake Murray. Oh, goodness. Why?

Mum was on the perch and at 23:01 she flies off and then returns to the nest where she stays with Middle. Did she hear the owl? or was it the woman walking under the nest pulling something – lights? The strobes went on by 2308. Thank goodness.

Beautiful fledglings at Venice Golf Course. With 26 areas to get fish, this couple once again pulled off a nice healthy trio of chicks to fledge.

MNSA trio looking good.

Looking Bleak. Concerns grow for Little at Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home. He has had less than 20 bites of food, some scraps Mum found, on Friday. Not looking good. Be cautious if you are watching this nest. Sadly this baby will probably not make it through the weekend, if that long. Starvation is terrible thing. If only the ospreys had one or two chicks. If only.

Prove me wrong. OR maybe. Put some fish on that nest or near it for this family. Do a Port Lincoln and help out!!!!!!!

We are on fledge watch for Cal Falcons! Can you believe it?

CJ7 and Blue 022 have a nest full – the fourth chick hatched on Friday and they are going to be very, very busy. How many still remember when CJ7 didn’t have a mate and she met Blue 022? They ‘romanced’ all over Poole Harbour! This is wonderful. Send good thoughts to the little one.

We all wish Jack and Diane the very best. They need to go and find fish and get their health back to a good state. The nest has its predator baffles thanks to Tampa Bay Raptor Centre – we wait for another year.

At Boulder, the chick, the Only Bob, is cheeping away for fish and at another time Dad wants Mum to feed him, too.

They are all reptiles with big crops at Radford University. Little Bob looks good today!

The camera at Cowlitz PUD is beyond frustrating. We know there are chicks. Once in awhile you can see a little head. Hope those fish grates prove that are the most reliable predator deterrent (for GHOs and eagles) for our ospreys.

If you use the overhead cam at Cowlitz, you will see that there are three osplets. One is so tiny. I am already worried.

The Only Bob at Clark PUD is one lucky osplet.

Field Farm seems to be holding its own with its trio of hungry beaks.

Fledglings still visiting the Frenchman’s Creek nest for fish.

Great Bay – has three Bobs – and so far, so good. Big Bob is in the reptile state while Little Bob still has fluffy down.

The two chicks at Patchogue are getting their feathers. Gosh, don’t you wonder what Little Mini is up to? I sure hope she survived – certainly deserved to!

The camera at Collins Marsh is almost as bad as what my mind tells me water torture would be. There is at least one little bobblehead (new) on that nest. Why do their heads have to look like an egg on these poor resolution cameras?

Flopping fish at Loch Arkaig. Who cares when you have three Bobs in the nest and they are all hungry for a fish dinner?!

When I say – which I often do – that I wish each osprey nest would have one really healthy chick. This is what I mean. Only Bob at Rutland Water is transitioning out of the Reptile Phase – just look at that beautiful copper plumage on the back of the head – into getting its juvenile plumage. Only Bob is getting the best of the fish, not the skin, as many of the later hatches in dubious nests have to eat. It is understood that some fish are more beneficial and that others and only getting inferior parts of prey (this would also include other raptors) does not provide the high quality nutrition that all need. Maya and Blue 33’s only chick this year has the best of everything. Oh, goodness. We wish this for all the nests, but sadly, many struggle like the Little Bob at Maryland Western Shore.

Can you see Only Bob’s bursting at the seams crop?

At Goitzsche-Wildnis, Dad was feeding Mum. Osplets really growing. They have a Little Bob, too. Fingers crossed for all the ‘Littles’.

Betsy and Frederick’s two osplets appear to be doing alright.

Oh, goodness. There is a lot of flapping and hopping going on at the Cornell RTH nest of Big Red and Arthur. The Ns will fledge this month…too soon.

The strobes were not on when I checked Lake Murray. Hopefully someone will hit the switch or we could lose Middle Bob tonight. I am not saying strobes are 100% effective against predation. I believe the fish grate protectors are. I wish we could all go and make a lot of noise under this nest until such time as Middle Bob migrates!

May’s Ventana Condor Chat.

Monty and Hartley will be giving flying demonstrations to their Fab Four showing them what to expect when they spread their wings and dare to jump off the ledge.

We are on fledge watch at Cal Falcons…did I say that earlier? Look at the difference in plumage between the San Jose chicks and Cal Falcons – there is a week in age difference. Cal Falcons older.

‘J’ writes: “What a surprise when I checked the Cal chicks. They went from fluffy to falcon within two days! Gosh, were they cute in their woollen jackets. I’m keeping Archie in my thoughts, I really want him to be Annie’s forever partner. Did you see this video? It made me laugh so hard. That look: “what?!” You could write many memes for this video, so many expressions on those lovely faces.”

Adult in the scrape with the only falcon chick at Evergy Energy in Kansas.

Lots of prey on the nest of the Russian Imperial Eagles – and still two little fluffy white chicks. They raised two in 2023. Maybe again this year. Abundant prey is the key.

There are two of the most precious little bobbleheads in the Golden Eagle nest in Estonia. Wish for lots and lots of prey. Would love to see these nests be the exception to the norm of the oldest killing the second hatch! Wouldn’t that just warm our hearts from the losses at the osprey nests?

‘H’ reports: “The Captiva osprey family is doing very well.  Jack and Edie have been able to deliver plenty of fish.  Ding is 39 days old, and Darling is 37 days old.”

“Patuxent ospreys:  The osplets were 24, 23, and 20 days of age on 5/31.  At 0535 Dad delivered a ‘whale’ of a fish, that would last three meals.  The older and aggressive siblings actually ‘allowed’ Little to eat.  Little ate 98 bites of fish and had turned away from Mom by the time Dad removed a huge leftover.  Dad returned with the fish at 0922.  Little had a private feeding from 1019 to 1053, and ate 181 bites of fish!  Mom fed the large fish tail portion at 1118 and Little had an additional 30 bites of fish.  There were two additional fish brought to the nest at 1646 and 1721.  Little did not eat at those meals, but he did not seem hungry, and didn’t really try very hard to get to the table.  Little ate at least 309 bites of fish today.”

‘H’ loves Tuffy and Ruffie – and she wanted to add a photo of the two of them today. Thanks, ‘H’.

Just look at that face on our little Tuffy.

‘A’ checks on Smallie for us: “Check out Smallie a few minutes ago (from 11:05:43), when a sister allows him to grab a huge chunk of food from outside the scrape and pull it inside, where he then fights first her, then another sister who joins them, for his share of the food. With one sister holding it down, Smallie is able to self-feed with significant success, and then grabs at the food during a three-way tug of prey. 

My concern is that all three of the sisters are now spending a lot of time outside the scrape, where the food is being delivered. If Smallie joins the scrum out there, he is in danger of falling – the others are probably able to glide to the ground if they fall, with at least two of them looking ready to fledge, with virtually no fluff left. I am worried, though, that if he doesn’t get outside to eat, there won’t be food inside for him. So unless he can grab food from inside the scrape (which he did manage to do this morning), he will have problems. 

At least there is no chance that his sisters will mistake him for a meal – he is way too aggressive for that, and I’m sure at least one of his sisters is fairly wary of him. But he is determined to eat, and I suspect he will find a way to survive no matter what that takes. He is a very brave little falcon. Just adorable.”

Middle is still alive at Lake Murray. Relief. The lights held him off or some larger prey. Thank goodness.

Thank you so very much for being with me today. Please have a wonderful weekend. Spend some time away from the screens worrying – go outside and smell the fresh air and listen to some birds. We hope to see you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, streaming cams, images, and articles that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J’, Montana Osprey Project, , VGCCO, MNSA, Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home, Cal Falcons, BoPH, Achieva Credit Union, Boulder County, Radford University, Cowlitz PUD, Clark PUD, Field Farm, Frenchman’s Creek, Great Bay Ospreys, PSEG, Collins Marsh, Geemeff, LRWT, Goitzsche-Wildnis, OBX 24/7, Cornell RTH, Ventana Wildlife Condor Chat, SK Hideaways, Evergy Energy, Imperial Eagle Cam RU, the Eagle Club of Estonia, Patuxent River Park, Window to Wildlife, Moorings Park, Amersfoort Falcons.

Tragedy strikes at Carthage! Friday in Bird World

23 May 2024

Good Afternoon Everyone,

It was a gorgeous sunny day and I set out to check the number of ducklings and goslings at our local pond. Little did I know the tragedy that was brewing in Tennessee with the recent thunder storms. I am glad that I got out in nature for awhile. To my surprise there was a Greater White-fronted Goose in the pond just paddling about. I was completely taken by surprise by this medium sized goose with its distinctive white face patch and light pink bill. It was a medium ash brown splotched. When it was paddling I noticed its very bright orange legs.

Not a great image. I have not colour corrected. It is migrating through on its way to the tundra in the Arctic region in the far north of our province.

There was a single female Mallard with 9 babies, lots of wood ducks but I did not see any ducklings. I counted a total of 65 Canada Goslings and approximately 250 adult Canada Geese.

They were so cute! The numbers are extremely good compared to previous years!

A new reader asked me why I felt that people needed to intervene to stop the GHOs from taking the Osprey chicks as prey. They reminded me that GHOs need to eat, too, and that this is nature, not a zoo.

My long answer: For me, Ospreys are treasures. They have been on this planet since the Palaeocene Era approximately 65 million years ago, just like the owls. Unlike the other raptors that eat all manner of prey and even carrion, Ospreys eat exclusively fish. There has been the rare occasion when fish stocks were not available and they have been seen to eat birds. Perhaps twice that I am aware of in decades. Osprey talons are made for catching fish, not other types of prey. They do not attack and take the chicks of the eagles and the other raptors. They leave them alone. Have you ever seen an Osprey knock an eagle or eaglet or an owl off its perch or in the nest? In addition, the extreme curved nature of their talons makes them poor fighters against eagles, goshawks, and large owls. Despite the siblicide, they are gentle creatures going on about their business hoping that humans stop overfishing and, of course, they will shortly begin to notice our impact on the climate if they haven’t already. GHOs can live on other prey. In fact, if we would change our agricultural practices and, not use pesticides and herbicides, and stop poisoning rats and pigeons, the owls would help us get rid of those and be quite well-fed and healthy. They do not need to eat Osprey chicks – and if my research is correct, in 2-3 years time, there will be an alarm sounded for a decline in the osprey populations. We will want every chick to survive!

I am a great supporter for intervention in all manner of raptor situations. Not just ospreys. Humans have ‘messed’ with nature so much that the old saying ‘let nature takes its course’ seems wildly inappropriate in the face of great habitat loss, warming seas and dying fish, overfishing to the point that more than 90% of the fish since the beginning of the twentieth century are gone. Because of what humans have done to the planet (our manipulation and control of nature) – including leaving our garbage everywhere – we have a responsibility to all wildlife, and that includes owls, to take care of them and in some instances, that also includes GHOs – but not if they are harvesting osplets.

But, specific to now. ‘H’ and I are intimate with the Raptor families (almost exclusively Ospreys) we monitor for our data information project. I am in my 8th year, and ‘H’ has been with me for nearly three years. The osprey families are a part of us. We understand and recognise their behaviours and can tell when ‘something is up’. We are probably closer to the ospreys we watch than to many members of our own family. Indeed, I can predict the behaviour of many osprey families better than I might my own kids. We sit with them when they are laying eggs, monitor their labour, cheer their hatches, and cry when other osprey intruders attack, such as at Fortis Exshaw last year, and they lose chicks. They are such a huge part of our lives. A piece of us disappears each time one of them dies. We might be accused of caring too much – not being too cold and ‘scientific’. We understand that Ospreys have emotions just like humans do (so do the other raptors/animals). We empathise with them. So, knowing that Lake Murray Mum lost all three of her chicks ast year and seeing how well she and Dad have provided for the trio this year – well, to lose one because the strobe lights or the fish grate protectors were not in place early enough knowing the GHO was there – makes me sad, disappointed, and angry. These osplets are their children like we have children. Do we want someone to steal them and eat them in front of us? That is what the GHO did to Lucy with dear Little.

I hope that answers your question.

The storms going through the central US (or is it the Midwest or both? I forget) have caused havoc for the raptors on the streaming cams and off. We will never know the full extension of the destruction and deaths. In Europe, the gorgeous little storklets, so healthy and happy, have drowned in their nests due to torrential rains. Any that survive are precious and need to be protected.

As all of you know the Denton Homes Bald Eagle nest collapsed. It was rebuilt by the company about 8 feet off the ground, similar to the nest at Fraser Point. The trio of eagles were in care and returned. At least two of the eaglets are observed to have trouble standing or walking. The male came to the tree but did not come down and feed the eaglets. They are now in care. We will never know why the adult eagles rejected the nest and/or their chicks. Human speculation is useless in these situations.

On Friday, storms pounded Tennessee. The Mum at Carthage was doing the best to protect her Only Bob when the nest collapsed with her own it. From the looks of the scene it was not a proper platform but something more makeshift on top of a pole. My breaks for this Osprey family that had done so well this year.

I want to show you images of the Only Bob who could not have survived this tragedy from earlier in the day. ‘H’ has a done a video of the collapse.

It is obvious that all osprey platforms in areas impacted by heavy storms such as the Central and Midwest US should have category 5 hurricane platforms. If anyone wants those specifications, talk to Connor at Window to Wildlife. Poor Mum was holding on tight when the nest just flipped. Additionally, these nests need to be inspected annually and rebuilt, if required.

This is news from Iowa but it might represent many other regions like Tennessee.

Things appear safe at the Johnson City ETSU Bald Eagle nest.

Little Miami Conservancy is OK.

Bluff City is offline and I am concerned as that fast moving storm that hit Carthage is heading right towards the Bluff City-ETSU nest.

One of the eggs at The Port of Ridgefield Osprey Platform has broken and was eaten by the male later on Thursday.

Thank you Lake Murray for keeping those strobes going! It could save their lives.

Strobe lights might help Iris. They could be set up in the parking lot. Too late to install the wonderful fish grates of Cowlitz PUD.

Hatch watch at Cowlitz PUD.

Few Bald Eagles in the Channel Island this year. That baby below is precious.

Gracie Shepherd caught up with the Trio at the West End – my goodness. They really messed with the stats in the Channel Islands because it looks like they are going to fledge three healthy eaglets. Look at that hover!

I was caught off guard. They ringed Monty and Hartley’s Fab Four on Thursday – FOUR GIRLS! Monty must be run off his feet. No wonder feedings are a frenzy!

There is good news out there. And we have to celebrate all these little miracles.

Banding Day Highlights.

‘H’ and I are both worn out from the recent tragedies. Her report for Captiva and Patuxent are below. They are short and this newsletter will probably be short also.

I think I missed a feeding later at Patuxent, but from what I had seen earlier, Little was beaked now and then, but had eaten 243 bites of fish in the first 4 meals.

Captiva: I missed the last two meals, but CO8 was very well fed today; had a bigger crop than CO7 at times.

Louis and Dorcha appear to have another precocious and quite lively Big Bob on their hands this year.

The two osplets of Betsy and Frederick are doing fine.

It is a good thing that Idris and Telyn are very experienced parents and that there is plenty of fish at Dyfi – Big and Middle Bob are already going at it. I hope it is just because their eyes are not focused yet and any beak represents potential fish! And guess what? Three hatched early Saturday morning. Bring in the fish Idris!!!!!!!

And now there are three at Dyfi.

Waiting to see if there is another hatch at Poole Harbour. There was a second pip noticed.

Flora and Harry now have two Bobs at Alyth!

Please note the following fundraising from Dr Sharpe and the IWS team:

Want to save birds and do something really beneficial, then get people to either stop using sticky tape on trees or cut it off!!!!!!!!!

Thank you so much for being with me today. If you are in the area of storms, please take extra precautions to stay safe. We hope to have you here with us again soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, images, announcements, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘BHA, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, Denton Homes, DTC-Carthage, Heidi McGrue, 9ABC News Iowa, Johnson City-ETSU, Little Miami Conservancy, Bluff City-ETSU, Port of Ridgefield, Pam Breci, IWS/Explore, Gracie Shepherd, SK Hideaways, Patuxent River Park, Window to Wildlife, Geemeff, OBX Cam, Dyfi Osprey Project, Birds of Poole Harbour, IWS, and Wild Mountain Birds.