It is the start of the last week in August and today our temperature dropped to 28 C. It didn’t feel like the end of August of years gone by.
Some mark the end of summer at this time with children heading back to school. Others look to the calendar and notice that the fall equinox is on the 22nd of September, a Sunday beginning at 0743. I have yet to see any trees ‘turning’ where I live, but it often comes slowly, barely perceptible, going from deep emerald green through the greens to yellows and reds. What does this year have in store?
There are still hundreds and hundreds of birds in the garden – wrens, finches, sparrows, Blue Jays, Crows, woodpeckers, and the occasional ‘odd one out’. Dyson is here with her big kits, and all of them are starting to get their cold-weather fur. Dyson looks healthy and gorgeous. I hope to get a photo of her for you in the coming days. Little Red is busy, along with a few other little Reds. The Crows are still here, all from the one family across the lane. Everyone survived! Tonight, they were feasting on pizza. :))))))
Hugo Yugo and Baby Hope wish you a very good last week in August! We are going to have their parties on 2 September, Hugo Yugo’s birthday. We will also celebrate the arrival of Baby Hope a year ago and, of course, Calico. There will be dental treats – oh, don’t tell them they are healthy and keeping those teeth clean and gums nice with every crunch! A few new toys and another cardboard recliner scratcher. They have obliterated the one from Missey’s birthday already!!!!!!!!
If I am looking for Hugo Yugo, she will be in the cat tree – the large one in the conservatory. If she wants to find you, there will be the loudest yawl out of the smallest cat. Hugo Yugo has only one volume – extremely high! Calico never meows. Never. She doesn’t complain if I sleep in. All that is left to the little orange tabby that was supposed to be a male!!!!!!! LOL. I do adore her. Hugo Yugo is undoubtedly a character and lives up to her name. She is going to the vet the first week in September. I am concerned about her teeth, and then, of course, there is always the watery eye. I need help keeping up with the eye patch cleanings. She has gotten to the point that she runs if she sees me coming with the pad jar!
Baby Hope (aka Calico Kitty Kitty) is simply the perfect cat for someone who likes quiet. She never scratches the furniture. She never begs for food. She never gets into trouble knocking things over. She loves sleeping in the basket, looking out, and watching the squirrels, the Blue Jays, and the Crows wrestle for food near the Weeping Caragana. Her eyes don’t drool, and her teeth and gums are perfect. She is very strong and healthy (or that is how things appear).
I am so glad that we fed Calico as much as we did as long as we did once she began coming to the garden in the winter of 2022-23. Surely it helped Baby Hope have strong bones. Hugo Yugo’s mother did not have that advantage and I think he has severely compromised Hugo Yugo’s overall health. She was starving and taken in at the last minute before the seven kittens were born.
If you ever want to do the cat world a favour, adopt a rescue, and don’t buy a purebred. Donate food to a shelter, help raise funds through a yard sale or spread the word if there is one. Right now, in Winnipeg, one kitten adoption group has more than 240 kittens in its care, and we are just coming into the next kitten cycle. Advertisements are everywhere for beautiful senior cats whose owners have died and need a home. There are so many. The Girls have given me more joy and love than I will ever do for them. They are surely a cause for celebration when it comes to lowering stress.
The problem today is that you cannot have pets if you live in a 55+ or assisted living, normally. Many apartments do not allow pets. I looked at a condo overlooking Lake Winnipeg not long ago when caring for my husband, and the garden just seemed too much. The problem – they would only allow me two of the four girls. I couldn’t separate them! And, of course, the other problem was leaving the garden animals. — But, it occurred to me that there is a real problem with people being able to have pets live with them. Don’t these places know that pets can lengthen one’s life and add joy, aiding in pain relief and easing tension?
I want to start our day with something entirely different. It does involve feathers, though. I love getting letters and messages, and this story about MOMA moved me. It comes from a reader who rescues budgies. Many are elderly. MOMA was one of those lucky to find their way to this caring home. She didn’t live long, but she lived well and with love. I thought she deserved her own spot, but more news came pouring in, so here we go, first up – MOMA, the gorgeous blue and white budgie. Just look at her below.
These are the words of a lovely woman, ‘J’, who lives in Europe and rescues budgies. She currently cares for fifteen – the maximum she feels she can feed and provide veterinary care. There are hundreds, if not thousands, out there needing homes, found in deplorable conditions. She is contacted often to see if she can take any more. People need to realise the amount of care that is required, the cost of food, and veterinary costs. Even getting beaks trimmed costs at least 30 Euros. ‘J’ has always told me to tell everyone to please help stop the sale of pets at pet stores and their breeding. There are already too many wanting to find homes – sounds like our cat situation, too. So please keep that in mind.
Thanks ‘J’ for sharing Moma’s story with us. These are ‘J’s words:
Since the beginning after I read your bio I wanted to tell you about Momo. Because it involves pottery. In the year 2000 I did a course in pottery. Just a beginner, so I wasn’t very good, but I enjoyed it very much and made cups so small they’re only good for japanese tea ceremonies or such. One day though, my piece got higher and higher… My teacher came and put her hands over mine to stabilize them, and with her help I made a wonderful piece that I made into an oil therapy lamp. Years later, when the birds moved in, I couldn’t use it anymore, so I just put it on top of a cupboard.
Today, exactly four years ago, Mia and Momo moved in. On the same day, but from two different people. Mia came first and her bringer stayed quite a while, because they’re car broke down. Instead of waiting in the car she of course waited in my kitchen where Mia stood in a small cage. Then Momo was brought, and the moment her bringers left, Momo’s bringer said “WHAT is that?!”. Not very nice, but very understandable, because you had to look twice to say that the little bundle of eh what? was indeed a budgie. Or as I said to my vet: If she had been human I would have said Momo was a bag lady who had been living on the streets for many years. She was very small, and bent. Momo was found outside in such a bad state that her first avian vet was surprised she survived. Gotten to know her I’m not: Momo was a Tough Cookie!! Her age of course was unknown, but everyone agreed she had to be over 10 years of age.
Since she needed some peace and quiet now and then from the rest of the flock (the reason she moved into her own home in the first place) and also needed to be underneath the bird lamp, I put her in the big cage, lamp an all, which normally was left open so Momo could get visitors, but that I could close to give her some rest.
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I couldn’t leave her on the hard cold floor, because her feet/legs were badly (don’t know the correct word) “hurt” because she was laying on them all the time. You can see what she thought of my efforts. She kept shredding the kitchen paper and throwing it out.
I finally found a solution she accepted in a piece of synthetic cloth that came with one of my early mistakes (I bought a “hut” because it looked so cute). Well, she mostly accepted it…
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Even a bird as small as Momo does NOT fit in this lamp, often her tail stuck out through one of the star holes I made – hilarious. Her poor tail had looked poorly from the start, being in the lamp didn’t help. So I went out and bought five different houses with more room. Momo went into one, looked around, walked out and went back into the lamp and that was it.
Going to the vet was easy: why catch her, when I can just grab the lamp? Can you imagine the face of my vet, opening the box expecting a travel cage and instead looking at an oil therapy lamp??
Unfortunately, Momo didn’t get to stay long with us, she died only 7 months later. But what a 7 months they were. I am in awe of this little bird. She was so courageous, so tough and did things HER way. I was lucky to get to know her, she was one special Lady.
What a lovely story. The little bird had “Cataracts, arthritis, sores on legs, scrambled feet, bent back, and this tiny little bird lived the best life she could live.” A bit of a lesson to us all!
At Port Lincoln, the first egg of the season was laid early Monday morning. Congratulations! Mark your calendars for pip watch: 21-22nd of September.
At the NE Florida Bald Eagle nest, Beau continues to wait for Gabby’s arrival with fish on the nest! Typically, she does not return til September.
The Captiva Eagle cam is not streaming yet, but Clive is home! We have seen Jack earlier at the Osprey nest. Poor guy still has that spike in his leg, but he seems to be flying and feeding well.
My goodness C16 is a gorgeous osprey at Charlo! And look at that stunning background.
It looks like Iris and Antali at the Hellgate Canyon nest so far on Sunday (up to 1354).
Finn delivers a massive fish to Antali that will surely make him sleep well!
There have been juveniles at Blackbush at Old Tracadie Harbour osprey platform. Gosh, I wish chicks were banded in the US – at least the ones on streaming cams – so we could see who is still coming to the nest.
There is at least one juvenile coming to the Field Farm osprey platform for food while the nest cleaners wait to see what is left for them.
Juveniles continue to come to the Oyster Bay nest on Long Island.
No one appears to be home at PSEG’s other osprey platform in Patchogue – that is for the little sparrows who have their nest in the bottom of the osprey’s.
Keke is still with us at Sandpoint. She watches as River eats its morning fish.
Only Bob is still home at Boulder and still being fed.
I am seeing no action at the Cowlitz Osprey platform in Washington State. That doesn’t mean the ospreys are not around. I have just not caught them on the nest.
It appears that three ospreys – Louise, Harvie, and a juvenile were at the Fortis-Exshaw nest in Canmore, Alberta on Sunday.
Olsen is delivering fish to the Osoyoos nest. By 1331, he had delivered a goldfish, a twiddler, and another small fish to waiting juveniles. Soo is there too, she took a fish and Olsen worked on the egg cup.
Viki reports that all of the ospreys around Island Creek, except for Mr Bennett, have departed for their migrations. The Bald Eagles are currently returning to the area and that does seem to be the case elsewhere. I will be curious to see if the eagles lay their eggs earlier this year?
At Poole Harbour, one of the chatters (‘HW’) cited the fish deliveries at that nest in southern England: “Fish today – 12:25 (022 -> 5H6), 14:45 (022 -> 5R0), 14:55 (CJ7 -> Unclaimed), 16:00 (022 -> 5R2), 20:07 (CJ7 -> 5H6)”. It would then appear that the female CJ7 is still at the nest helping with deliveries and has not begun her migration.
Three of the four had fish at the nest with the youngest one 5H6 winning two deliveries including a royal battle with the 2007 delivery by CJ7.
Poor Dad. He needs to get out of their quick. Talons are snapping. This is one huge dust up!!!!!!!!!!!
The baby wins the fish.
Key dates for this breeding season and it is 5R1 that we have not seen at the nest on Sunday. CJ7 migrated on 2 September last year after fledglings migrated on the 27th and 29th of August. CJ7 hatched at Rutland in 2015. She is 9 years old. Blue 022 was translocated to Poole Harbour in 2019. He is 5 years old.
Two beautiful juveniles at Hope and Beaumont’s nest in Newfoundland. What a great year they had too!
There is more news coming from Captiva with Window to Wildlife:
Please remind everyone! The stores are now full of Halloween decorations – tell friends, family, and neighbours.
Geemeff’s daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust.
Daily summary Sunday 25th August 2024 Another day with no activity, unless you count the spiders – both nests now have a resident spider who looks spectacular on night cam, appearing huge and spinning a gigantic web. It was as wet and windy as forecast with just the odd moment here and there of sunshine stealing through, no change expected tomorrow. This time last year we saw Ludo LY7 for the last time on nest cam, and off-nest reports from LizB informed us she’d sighted an Osprey with fish in Louis’ perch tree for several hours in the late afternoon which was probably Louis sticking around, but of course, there’s no need for him to do so this year, and he hasn’t been seen since 30th July. I
t would be lovely if Garry LV0, last seen a few days ago on the 22nd, popped in if he’s still around. Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.26.30 (05.26.20); Nest Two 21.24.45 (05.35.29) Today’s videos: none! Bonus reintroduction projects – a David Attenborough video explaining the highly successful Rutland translocation, and a news item about the new Irish Osprey project:https://youtu.be/BR2M1Jgvess https://belfastmedia.com/dulra-let-s-make-the-osprey-a-symbol-of-the-lough https://youtu.be/pRLsj6nkSzM N2 Farewell to Ludo – final visit to the nest in 2023
Watch the Loch Arkaig Osprey livestream 24/7 and join in the conversation here:
I missed ‘A’s post for Sunday at the Olympic Sea Eagle nest. Here it is, “This morning there was a big fish on the nest when Lady decided to have a nibble herself and then, soon after 06:01, start feeding SE33, who seems hungry and is eager to eat. SE34 slumbers on, his back to the table. He wakes up and stretches a little just before 06:02 but immediately pushed the snooze button. Just before 06:11, he wakes up properly and lifts his head to survey the scene. He is still facing the wrong way. He’s in no hurry, lying there just looking around. SUCH a cutie. He is adorable. Soon after 06:16, he finally gets up and turns to face Lady. He is much closer to her than is SE33, and when she offers SE34 his first mouthful of the day, at 06:16:41, he readily takes it. Lady tucks into the fish herself, and while he’s waiting, SE34 edges closer. SE33 is also sitting up at the table, and when Lady finally offers a bite to the eaglets, it is to SE33. Lady returns to eating. The next bite, at 06:18:10, goes to SE33. At 06:18:21, Lady gives a bite to SE34. When he takes it, SE33 immediately beaks him. He lays his head down on the nest, while Lady immediately distracts SE33 with a bite of food. She then feeds SE33 for some time. It is 06:23 before SE34 again lifts his head. But he refuses a bite at 06:23:09 and another 12 seconds later, with SE33 leaning in his direction. Lady feeds SE33. SE34’s head is down on the nest. Lady picks up a dropped piece from next to SE34, who lies still, his head down. SE33 has a huge crop at this stage. There is still plenty of fish, and somehow, SE33 is finding space to eat more of it. 06:25 and Lady is unsure of what to do. She steps back, some fish in her beak, and surveys the eaglets. She eats the bite herself. She walks over to the two, wondering whether to brood them, but with Dad waiting behind the nest on the perch branch, his eyes on the two-thirds of a large fish still on the nest, Lady turns back and grabs the fish, pulling it closer to the eaglets and further from Dad. 06:27 and SE33 surely must be full. It feels so good, it stands tall and flaps its little wings. 06:27:20, Lady reaches out to offer fish to SE34, who refuses it, pulling away and putting his head back down onto the nest. Lady eats it herself, and the next bite. SE34 stretches his little wings, standing up a little and leaning forwards. He looks at Lady, but when she offers him food, he is too scared to take it. Just before 06:28, she again tries to get SE34 to eat but he is again too scared to reach for the bite. He puts his head back down on the nest while Lady offers the bite to SE33.
SE34’s head is up and he is watching Lady as she offers him another bite at 06:28:41 but he pulls away. Lady returns to eating herself, occasionally offering a bite to SE33. Dad has retreated up the branch and has turned his back on the nest, giving up on the idea of removing the fish – at least for now. 06:19:15 and SE34’s head is up. It is 06:28 and mum is still feeding SE33, with SE34 too scared to eat. His head is up and he is watching everything but he stays down. He recoils when Lady offers him a bite. 06:29 and Lady, eating quite a bit herself, is still feeding SE33. 06:29:25 and SE33 finally stands up and waddles away from the table, turning around (carefully, with an enormous crop). At last, at 06:29:39, SE34 accepts a bite of food from Lady without hesitation. He is still nervous when she picks up a dropped piece from near him, which she feeds to SE33, and SE34 pulls away slightly. 06:30 and Lady is cleaning all the dropped pieces from the table and feeding them to SE33. Lady returns to the fish, where she eats several bites herself before offering one to SE34. He is reluctant, and she is very patient and persistent with him, to no avail. At 06:31 she gives up and eats it herself. 06:31:31, it is as if SE34 has suddenly made a decision. He lifts his head and looks at mum. He shuffles forward. SE33 has left the table, but is behind SE34.
However, SE34 is still too nervous to accept the bite he is offered. 06:31:39. At 06:31:47, he finally accepts a small piece. And another 15 seconds later. And a third, larger piece just after 06:32. And another. And another. Lady is eating a lot herself, but every 10 seconds or so, she gives a bite to SE34, who is now taking them all. There is a gap between two of the bites, and when Lady offers the next one, SE34 pulls away sharply, as if startled and fearful. Lady rips the skin off the fish and eats it, leaving the juicy fleshy part of the fish, now easy to get at. SE34 is watching her closely. When she offers him a big bite at 06:33:30, he accepts it readily. Lady has to offer him the next bite three times, however, before he has the courage to grab it. SE33 has sat up now, which has perhaps made him nervous. Still, he is less scared in taking a big bite at 06:34. But in doing so, he becomes aware of the proximity of SE33 and is very nervous about accepting another bite. Probably, SE33’s huge crop brushed him as it turned away, and SE34 takes the next bite. And the next, and the next. SE34 is now eating with more confidence and SE33, full and content, is resting its giant crop, lying behind SE34 and surveying its forest world, having a yawn. Oh, butter wouldn’t melt in that sweet beak. Surely it would never bonk a younger sibling! It’s angelic.
06:35 and finally, SE34 is getting fed some breakfast. SE33 surveys the canopy above, gazing around its nest. It turns to check out the ongoing feeding of SE34 but soon returns to its fascination with its surroundings. 06:36 and SE34 is eating really well. Lady is feeding fast, and giving him big bites, but SE34 is managing them well. He is hungry and eager to eat. Lady occasionally takes a couple of bites herself. 06:37 and SE34 is suddenly in need of a break. He pauses, perhaps dealing with previous bites. He has eaten a large amount of fish in a relatively short period of time, and seems full at 06:37:24, but Lady coaxes him and he takes another bite. And another at 06:37:30. He has his second wind and continues to eat. He is still nervous, though, and when he drops a bite and Lady retrieves it from beneath him, he cringes and refuses the resulting bite. Lady pauses for a short snack, then offers SE34 a bite at 06:38:36. He is ready to take it. Lady continues feeding SE34, now offering him smaller bites. He eats manfully on, 06:40 and Lady is still feeding SE34, who is eating confidently.
This feeding was both reassuring and worrying. SE34 is obviously not confident when eating. Lady is persisting, and there is plenty of fish on the nest, so I remain confident that the outcome will be positive. But the process may be a nervous watch, with SE34 periodically missing out on meals and being fairly randomly bonked by SE33. I think the random nature of the attacks are part of the problem. Sometimes, SE33 is laidback and has no objection to her little brother’s participation in a meal. At other times, she is positively Zoe-like, intolerant of SE34 getting a single bite even when her own crop is absolutely massive. And there is little or no effort from SE34 to ensure he gets himself fed. It is entirely dependent on Lady’s patience and persistence. If she does not ensure that SE34 eats, there is every likelihood that he won’t. This does not bode well for his future survival prospects. If he lacks the drive to ensure its own survival in a relatively friendly nest environment with a helpful and experienced parent, I hate to think of its chances when it comes to seeing off those pesky birds that we know will shadow his every move once he fledges. I hate to say that, but in order to survive, these sea eaglets need some spunk. They need spirit and the drive to survive. I am not seeing that in SE34, which I find disturbing and concerning.
But it’s not meant to be a depressing post – SE34 had a full tummy to start the day, as did SE33, and with plentiful sushi on offer on the nest at most times of the day, let’s hope things continue to work out for SE34. If his size relative to SE33 is anything to go by, he has caught up a little bit in the past week, so the parents must be successfully getting enough food into the little man. I do hope he gains in confidence, which is such an essential quality for a successful future as an eaglet fledging into this forest. He won’t stand a chance against that army of pestering small birds if he can’t stand up for himself against imaginary threats like mum moving too close. Nor has he shown any ingenuity when it comes to getting fed. He has not moved away from SE33 or tried to skirt around it to ensure a better feeding position. He worries me in that respect. But please prove me wrong, SE34. Lady and Dad are certainly doing their best. Even mum is bringing in fish, of which there appears to be no current shortage in their favourite fishing areas.”
Today’s report from A on the sea eaglets and weather: “At 06:42, the eaglets are sitting up at the table side by side, looking adorable, but Lady is only feeding SE33. She sees that SE34 is not confident enough to take a bite. But SE33 soon decided it could no longer fit fish into its giant crop, and turned away from the table 06:42:20. S/he then lay down behind SE34. When he took a bite from mum and was not beaked for it, SE34 was emboldened to take another bite and another. Mum then proceeded to feed SE34 the remainder of the fish. He ignored SE33, who in turn was more interested in playing with nest material than bonking her little brother.
06:42:42 and SE34 is STILL pulling away from Lady offering a bite of fish. SE33 is not interested and SE34 can see that as he looks over his shoulder, but he still cringes away from the next bite offered, just before 06:43 and the next. Mum is patient, offering the bite a third time at 06:43:10 but again it is refused. But six seconds later, SE34 takes the bite and nothing happens. But as Lady offers the next bite, SE33 sits up again and SE34 turns his head away. Lady offers SE33 the bite but s/he isn’t interested and moves away. This gives SE34 the courage to take the bite offered at 06:43:45 and another five seconds later. SE34 turns away from the next bite but Lady is patient, offering it to him again, waiting, offering it again. Finally, it is taken.
Lady keeps offering bites and SE34 cringes away, feeling SE33 moving behind him. Eventually though, he accepts a bite, but cringes away again from the next, even though Lady patiently offers it to him several times. His head is turned away from Lady. After much coaxing, he accepts a bite at 06:45:45 and another ten seconds later. And another two in the ten seconds after that.
From this point, Lady feeds SE34 the rest of the fish. SE34 gets to eat a large amount of very fresh fish and by 06:57, he has a crop that rivals SE33’s. Just LOOK at it at 06:57:15-20!!!! Just look at those bright little eyes and that shiny little black beak. Is that not just absolutely adorable? And that’s a nice way to start the day – both eaglets with giant crops before 7am, and a nice feed for Lady as well. Fabulous.
We are expecting gale force winds over the next 36 hours and I think Orange may be affected. Sydney is on the fringes of the impacted area but should be okay. Melbourne shouldn’t be hit. “
‘A’ reports on the Royal Cam chick: “He is magnificent. It literally brings tears to my eyes, emphasising as it does how very little time we have left with these gorgeous chicks. As I was saying the other day, we are spoiled in the sense that it is a very very long season, with a long incubation period and a long pre-fledging period. But that does have the effect of giving us a very long time to fall deeply in love with these beautiful creatures. Seven or eight months is a very long time to watch them prepare for the flight of their lives. Or, rather, the flight that is their lives. They’ve never even practised fishing and off they go, heading for the coast of Chile, completely alone in the world and without any skills at all. There are no training wheels for albatross chicks.
We will miss you little man. You are gorgeous. Both parents have been in to feed TF in the past few days, so at least we know that they’re okay. It is always a worry for me, waiting for a parent to return and counting the days. “
Scientists are asking us to help them find species of rare birds. Can you help?
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, stories, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today. ‘A, Geemeff, J, VV’, Moma, Melbourne Falcon Cam, Port Lincoln Ospreys, NEFL_AEF, Jenny Peckham, Charlo Montana, Montana Osprey Project, Blackbush at Old Tracedie Harbour, Field Farm, PSEG, Sandpoint, Boulder County, Cowlitz PUD, Fortis-Exshaw (Canmore and Osoyoos), BoPH, Newfoundland Power, Window to Wildlife, and Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Olympic Park Eagles, SK Hideaways, Lady Hawk, and The New York Times.
Remember that I mentioned those two year old returnees are coming! In the regions where banding is not done, you can never get as excited as those platforms that know their chicks have survived. Another one of Dylan and Seren’s fledglings has returned this year. Blue 555 from 2024 landed on Telyn who is incubating eggs at Dyfi a few miles away from his natal nest at Clywedog Reservoir.
Here is the sequence. Telyn hears/sees another osprey approaching. Blue 555 lands. Blue 555 is sent off by our excited mom-to-be. Idris arrives to save the day – all within about half a minute or less.
Telyn looks up.
Here comes 555.
Here comes Idris. No one is going to mess with his Telyn!
Did you see this? Murphy is a foster again!
At Captiva, Jack is keeping the fish coming and it was a good day for the little one. ‘H’ reports: ” CO8 did okay today, and basically I would have the same summary as yesterday. S/he takes a beating from CO7 at times, but it’s too soon to worry. CO8 may not get as much to eat as CO7, but he did have a good crop a few times today. Jack even fed CO8 for 8 minutes at meal #4. ” And then…”Jack delivered a large partial fish at 1907, that provided a long feeding for both of the siblings. They ate side by side without any aggression, and both of them ended up stuffed.”
At Loch Arkaig, Louis has been busy and it was a late fish delivery for Dorcha.
Gosh, Louis is such an attentive mate. Some hardly bring the males any fish. I wonder what those new males will be like when chicks arrive?
Tuffy has grown into an exceptional osplet. Oh, how worried we were.
It appears that one or both of the osplets at Frenchman’s Creek have ‘branched’ to the camera pole OR the camera cannot get sight of one area of the nest. The shadows change and you can see the wings flapping.
The streaming cam at Redding is back up and running. Everyone is OK.
Mason is way up high in the natal tree at Superbeaks. Dixie looks out to the world beyond from the rails. These two will be flying soon. They are very active!
‘H’ reports on Lake Murray: “C3- ‘Little’ at Lake Murray is doing OK. There is some aggression toward C3 by both older siblings, but there was only one meal on 5/7 where Little was shut out from the feeding. Kenny is supplying lots of fish.”
‘A’ sent in a long report on several nests that she is tracking:
“I can hear Iris on an open tab – she is very chatty with her new man. He seems very proud of their eggs (they must be his and not Louis’ or he would doubtless have got rid of them by now). And – omigod, he’s brought in a tree now!!!! Sorry. I just turned over to Iris’ tab and what do I see? The most massive branch that resembles a small tree without leaves has been brought to the nest. I told you that yesterday he was bringing in some large, awkwardly shaped branches, but this one takes the cake. I wonder if he intends to plant a small forest around the outside of that nest. Or perhaps he too is worried about the dangers of an osplet being blown off that platform by that extra strong wind. But seriously, have a look at that tree! Talk about a laugh for the morning.”
Now, let us think about a time for us to begin to watch for these eggs to hatch of Iris and New Guy: 11 June? Pip watch?
Cal appears to have dispersed. Today he is 140 days (exactly 20 weeks) old and it will be the seventh day since he was seen at or near the nest, though of course Connie and Clive are maintaining their territory. So the general consensus is that he has left to find his own mate and territory. Godspeed little one. You will always own a tiny piece of my heart. And remember, you fly for two, as you will also carry Lusa with you in your travels. How sad it is when we say goodbye to them, knowing their chances at reaching their first birthday are relatively low. All we can hope is that Cal learned well on the nest, with that bossy older sister, and has had the very best parental preparation for adulthood. He has great genes and we can only hope he gets the chance to pass them on.
In Tennessee, Angel was last seen briefly (for just two minutes) early on the morning of 3 May, while Tom was there very briefly the following morning. There have been heavy thunderstorms in the area over the past couple of days, and they usually fail to appear on very wet days, but I think we have to admit now that the window is closing fast and that there will be no eggs for Angel and Tom this season. Now, we wish them a safe year until we see them next. Angel is such a rare beautiful creature, and I know her survival is far from assured. To add to the natural hazards they all face, she of course is unable to camouflage herself and even has to worry about unscrupulous individuals who have offered large sums of money to anyone prepared to divulge her whereabouts so she can be captured or killed as a trophy. I find it appalling that Connor has been offered tens of thousands of dollars for that information, though sadly it does not surprise any of us.
At Taiaroa Head, our gorgeous boy was 7.9 kgs yesterday (7 May) at 105 days of age (the average for males of that age at this colony is 7.8 kg) – the same weight as the week before (when he had been fed by both mum and dad just before the weighing). Over the past week, he has had frequent feedings, with both parents visiting more than once, some feeds quite small and others larger. There had not been a feeding for a couple of days before this latest weighing, though, which accounts for his weight remaining the same as the week before. Mum came in yesterday afternoon and fed him around 4.15pm, and both our on-camera chicks have been fed this morning (8 May), with mum LGL feeding TF chick at 7.17am and dad BOK coming in to feed TFT chick shortly before 10am. He is doing well, as are both his parents. Every time they leave on a foraging trip, we worry about when and whether they will return. Of course OGK never did. He has now, finally, been officially declared deceased at this point, as he would have returned to breed this season had he been capable of doing so. Sad news, but this year’s beautiful Royal Cam chick cannot but bring a smile to your face. His gorgeous plumage is pristine, revealing that he has lived his first 105 days of life without an incident of fear that has caused him to ‘spill’. So those snowy-white feathers are, in a sense, the sign of an stress-free childhood (or a very brave little chick or both). Whenever you need a smile, just turn to the albatross chicks on Taiaroa Head, where the rangers are constant and devoted guardians and we get to love our chicks for seven months or more. New Zealand truly is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. “
Those Cal Falcon chicks of Annie and Archie can put a smile on your day, too.
Annie and Grinnell’s grandchildren are ahead in development (they are obviously older). Look at their tail feathers and they are walking around the scrape. Larry (Annie and Grinnell’s daughter) and his mate are doing fantastic. What a treat to have a camera at their Alcatraz scrape!
Speaking of falcons, a wonderful soul posted an image of the screen at the CBD in Melbourne on FB and the falcons are there on the ledge! Maybe there will be chicks this year. I knew you would be excited.
Oh, I am getting excited that they might turn that Melbourne Live Stream on early. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they left it on all year?
The chat for the Cornell RTH is on the livestream and is open in the mornings. Check the time. Arthur had just brought in a nice little chippy for N1 and N2 when I tuned in.
Gosh those kids are cute. It won’t be long til they are pecking away at those chippies.
Watching for Rutland. The two eggs deemed unviable by Maya could have been the first ones that were laid so, it could be a few more days. Good news at LOTL. The new male has removed all the eggs from the egg bowl and maybe Blue NCO will start thinking he could be a ‘catch’. I am hoping so!
Thank you so much for being with me today. I am feeling better in the mornings and pretty horrible in the evenings still. The sun is out and it will be a good day for a walk, regardless. I am wondering if we have more little goslings hatching? Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you as always to those great people that send me news of the nests they are monitoring – I am calling them the Fabulous Four: ‘A, Geemeff, H, and SP’ along with all the others, the cams, the postings, the videos that helped me to write my post this morning including the Fab 4 and Dyfi Osprey Project, PBS, Window to Wildlife, Geemeff, Moorings Park, Frenchman’s Creek, FORE, Superbeaks, Lake Murray, Montana Osprey Project, NZ DOC, Cal Falcons, Parks Conservancy, Maya Rowe, and Cornell RTH.
Thank you so much for your outpourings of love for Lewis and for sharing the stories of your beloved pets. It all meant so very much to me and was very comforting.
The house was so quiet without Lewis tearing around, jumping over all the furniture with one toy or another. Oh, that big, beautiful boy brought such love and laughter to our lives. He is really missed and I treasure every moment we had together from the time I first laid eyes on him when it was ‘love at first sight’.
Lewis’s short life teaches us to take full advantage of the present. There is absolutely nothing promised. Lewis went in for his annual jabs, and in less than a week, he had crossed over the Rainbow Bridge. Treasure all those around you. Tell them how much you love them. Settle any conflicts. Make the most of every moment that you have. You never know if it is the last.
The girls have done better than I expected. Missey called for Lewis and searched for him, and then in the early evening hours of Friday, she began to play. She ran from one end of the house to the other, with Hope and then with Calico joining in sometimes. It was ‘music’ to my ears to hear them skidding and sliding with things falling or rattling.
Calico and Hope moved into the main part of the house, and Missey could then be back in her much-loved conservatory watching the birds and squirrels. Hope has had the biggest adjustment. Feeding stations have been moved, and her little world got much bigger. She is doing much better than I anticipated. Calico is no longer nursing Hope and Hope has figured out who brings the food!!!!!!!!
These photos are not so good. The light was bright and they were taken with the phone camera.
Calico loves her baby blankie.
Odd that. This showed up on FB as an ad for a tea towel.
Today is the fall migration count. Please go out and check your garden or your park. Participate. Help and be a community scientist. Go to Cornell’s bird.org/octoberbigday for information if you have not already take part in bird counts.
Despite Mirvac turning off the cameras at 367 Collins Street, F22 and M22 returned to their eggs and were incubating them at the time the switch was pulled. Our hearts go out to them. An injury changed their entire breeding season. Was it a good thing because of El Niño this year? Would those chicks have baked in the sun? We will never know.
SK Hideaways put their last day on view for us in a video. Let us all wish them a safe year until we see these two again and let us, at the same time, see if we can figure out a way to get a screen over that scrape box. If Dave Hancock can build eagle nests with sun shades in Canada surely that same empathy can apply to falcons in Melbourne!
The names of the two fast growing and ever so sweet chicks of Diamond and Xavier will be revealed on Sunday. They are growing so fast and there seems no discrepancy on who gets fed – both are pretty equal with the second hatch stretching to get that prey!
Xavier keeps the family well fed.
Xavier and the chicks.
The chicks are way too big to fit under Xavier — and Diamond now! They are both thriving!
It is late Thursday night but it is Friday in South Australia and everyone is waiting to see if there will be a pip in the first egg at Port Lincoln.
Don’t know about anyone else but at 1354 it sure looked like there was a pip in one of those eggs. It could have just been the light or the marks…but, gosh, we are close if it isn’t.
The Sea Eaglets have had a bit of a tug o war with a piece of prey.
It won’t be long til these two beauties fledge.
In the land of Bald Eagles, nestorations continue.
Gabby and V3 are testing out the nest and egg cup constantly.
Thunder was at the old East End nest.
Baiba caught Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear.
Lady Hawk gives us some gorgeous images of M15’s new mate F23. She is a fierce beauty. Look at those eyes! Formidable.
Some articles I have been reading -.
Merlins. The small falcons are thriving in Northumberland at a wind farm!
My son looks out his office window and sees the coral bleaching because of the hot sea in the Caribbean. What is happening in Florida? Don’t be fooled – this is happening in many, many other places not just Florida and the Caribbean.
For Karl II’s family, there is no new data from either Kaia or Karl II. I am trying not to be concerned telling myself that they could be in an area where there is no coverage.
Waba is in Israel.
Kalvi is in Bulgaria.
Migration continues to be on everyone’s mind and Mary Cheadle posted this talk by Tim Mackrill on FB and I know that there I much you know and much you can learn. Have a listen.
Thank you so much for being with me this morning. Please take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their posts, articles, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to compose my blog today: The Radical Tea Towel Company, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, SK Hideaways, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Elain, PLO, Sea Eagle Cam, NEFL-AEF, IWS/Explore, Baiba, Lady Hawk BirdGuides, Hakai Magazine, The Guardian, Looduskalender Forum, Mary Cheadle and ShareScreen Africa.
It is Wednesday, and today is the day that Lewis has his test. I am touched – you will never realise how much – by the outpouring of concern and care for this big goofy, lovable cat. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I will never forget your kindness.
I took him off his pain meds thinking that they might have been the cause of his distress. His vomiting returned in spades in the middle of the night on Monday. He had little reprieve. He has plenty of water and is drinking, but regardless of the food – thin broth with babyhood, pulverised chicken and broth, tinned food – he cannot keep it down. An ultrasound will be taken to see if there is an obstruction and, of course, fluids for any dehydration – all providing that the HPI test comes out negative. Send warm thoughts to our big guy!
Pets are our children. These cats are mine now that my children are all grown.
I have had cats since I could crawl – as a toddler, my playmates were the strays my dad fed and a three-legged dog. Those strays were very gentle. It was a different time. Did anyone talk about HPI? No. Teeth problems? No. Cats going to a vet? Not really. My Dad had his own ‘home remedies’. Gosh, I would love to have a chat with him now.
Of course, he was not always right about their gender. Or was he? A big brown tabby came to our porch one day. Oh, it was a sweet soul. “Could I have it? I asked. My dad dutifully checked under the tail, pronouncing it was a boy, and said “yes”. My grandmother always said that the cat was “sweet”. She declined comment when I insisted that it was the most beautiful cat. “She sure is sweet” was a constant. Of course, she had kittens a few weeks later and lived another ten years with us. A girl! Maybe my Dad knew but didn’t want to alert my mother. Who knows! I mean seriously could he not have known the difference? Those kittens were gorgeous. Each one was a smokey blue-grey colour with yellow eyes…yes, like Burmese. Being my dad, we kept them, too. ——– The point of all of this is that it is hard to deal with the members of our animal family when they are ill. They are family. They bring us joy in the same way that the birds do. We want to heal them when they are sick or injured. It is like we wanted to reach out and mend Little Mini’s leg at Patchogue or make F22 at Collins Street well so she could incubate her eggs.
For now, I am waiting to see if Lewis can be helped. It is the waiting that is hard. Watching him suffer eats away at my soul. If love could heal him, Lewis would be thriving. There are 15 more hours of waiting as I write this – waiting to find out if he is HPI negative or positive. The result of that test will determine the outcome. I have just given him his sedative and will give him another in the morning. A long walk in the park helped me clear my head and realise that whatever the result is – this is all about Lewis. Not me. Lewis. His quality of life is all that matters.
There were lots of geese and some ducks plus Dark-eyed Juncos everywhere, various types of sparrows flitting about, and a couple of hawks. Gulls, too. It was a beautiful clear, crisp fall day.
As I was walking through the park, it was World Mental Health Day. One thing I have learned by being out in the forests and the parks and spending time with the animals in my garden, the birds, and the cats – trees and nature in all its glory is a place where we can settle our troubled minds. Just find a bench and sit in the sun. Close your eyes and listen to the birds. Or listen to the stillness. It is gold.
Migration is in full swing in southern Canada. In the eastern US, Hawk Mountain gives us their most recent count. The birds follow the thermals over the mountains. The Broad-winged hawks are certainly doing well.
There was a lot of sadness in Osprey World last season and when good news comes it just makes you tingle. Well, it doesn’t get much better than this. Last week Blue 5F Seren, the female from Llyn Clywedog and mate of Dylan, was spotted on her normal concrete post in The Gambia. I posted those images just the other day. Well, look, at this – it is Seren’s mother!!!!!!! Yellow 30. Is she the oldest breeding female in the UK now that Mrs G is no longer with us?
My friend Tiger Mozone and I have chatted often about the Ospreys and how two things go into making success – good DNA and a heck of a lot of luck. Yellow 30 certainly has both and she passed that on to her daughter, Blue 5F Seren. I hope that continues down to Seren and Dylan’s fledglings, too.
Jean-Marie Dupurt counted 222 Ospreys in Senegal yesterday including ‘his old friend Yellow 30.’
Sadly, many migrating birds continue to be lost as they cross the border into Malta on their way to Africa. It is time to figure out how to help those in Malta deliver a message to the politicians that humans care about these birds and indiscriminate slaughter for sport needs to be banned.
In Australia, the oldest 2023 chick, SE31 did branch – real branching! Congratulations. A bittersweet moment as this leads up to fledgling too soon.
Here is the video of that historical milestone for SE31.
SK Hideaways gives us another look!
Oh, gosh, Xavier is so tiny compared to Diamond! Here he is arriving with prey for the babies and Mum. Adorable isn’t a big enough word.
The chicks can now see. Consequently, they are also snatching morsels of food out of their parent’s beak. A milestone.
Doesn’t this image just make you melt? Notice the pin feathers coming in and you can clearly see the crops when they are full. Their eyes are bright and focused and their beaks and feet are losing that pink baby colouring.
This is Cilla Kinross’s latest blog on the 7 and 8 day old chicks of Xavier and Diamond and, as we can expect, it is a great report on these two healthy chicks. Gosh, golly they can take the gloom out of any day.
Martin and Rosa visit the brand new nest at Dulles-Greenway. They fledged three last year – fantastic parents – and one chick the year prior. Let us hope this new nest serves them well for years to come. They are an incredible couple. Watching them raise the three eaglets in 2023 was inspirational. Be sure to put this nest on your watch list.
Lady Hawk gives us some gorgeous images of F23 at SW Florida.
Pip watch officially begins today at Port Lincoln.
Victor Hurley has stated that the camera feed at 367 Collins Street will only be on for a few more days. For those who might be playing catch up, it appears that Mum, F22, was injured. Precisely what the problem was or what caused it is not known. she abandoned the eggs. The male tried to incubate them, and then Mum came for a few hours, but they are considered unviable by Victor Hurley, who monitors this and many other nests throughout Victoria.
Some really good information in the form of an easy to understand chart on Bald Eagle nesting. It is a great resource to keep you informed as to what is happening state by state.
Jolene and Boone have been working on the Johnson City, TN nest for the past day.
Checking on Jackie and Shadow. Did you know that their nest is one of the highest in terms of elevation in the US? It sits on top of a Jeffrey Pine Nest (145 feet up) at 7100 ft.
Did Jack go fishing and fly to the Achieva nest that he shares with Diane to dry off on Tuesday?
In New Zealand, YRK, the mate of OGK, has been seen on the headland! I am going to wish for a miracle – to see OGK waddling over a bumpy hill!
Following Karl II’s family. There remains no transmission from the beloved patriarch Karl II. Kaia, his mate, has reached the Sudanese border. This is fantastic news. Kalvi is till in Bulgaria.
Thank you so much for being with me and for all your notes and good wishes for Lewis. As someone reminded me today, if love could heal my dear Lewis, he would be in top form. I do want you to know how much I appreciate your kindness. Please take care. Stay safe!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, videos, and streaming cams that helped me with my short report today: Woodland Trust, Hawk Mountain, John Williams, Jean-Marie Dupurt, Se McGreger, Sydney Eagle Cam, SK Hideaways, Cilla Kinross, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Dulles-Greenway, Lady Hawk, PLO, Linda McIlroy, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Baiba Grausting, Johnson City Bald Eagles, FOBBV, Achieva Credit Union, Royal Albatross Centre, Raptor Persecution UK, and Looduskalender Forum.
Monday was such a gorgeous day. So many people were out at the park having a picnic. The sun was glorious, as was the blue sky. Canada Geese started flying onto the pond around 1530. Some had been eating on the cricket fields earlier. Several Mallards and some Wood Ducks were still in the park. It is to get cold tonight, down to 0 C. Will everyone leave soon?
A male wood duck in transition. He will not normally begin migration until he has all of his new feathers.
I went to the park to clear my head. Lewis, as you will know, has some health issues – specifically, his immune system appears to be attacking his gums, causing them to swell up with intense inflammation. He was given painkillers but, ironically, taking them coincided with his inability to keep food down. I stopped the painkillers on Monday around noon. Lewis ate mushy tinned food this evening, and so far, he has kept it down – and then he didn’t. He was ‘starving’ at midnight, and I gave him soft, mushy food with broth. He couldn’t keep it down.
But, for a few moments, he managed to be his silly self. I brought in the herb pots from the garden for fear that frost would get them tonight. Lewis immediately curled up with the chives after I watered them.
When he and Missey were little, they had this habit of wanting to lay on the wet soil of the plant pots. One of their little idiosyncrasies. I never knew what was so attractive, and now, look, he is so big he can’t wrap around the pot anymore!
Missey spent the day watching the Dark-eyed Juncos out of the window. They were all over the garden.
We wait to see about Lewis and to see if he is HPI positive or negative. I will also have an ultrasound done to make sure there is no blockage that is causing his regurgitation. Thank you for your continued good wishes for our darling boy.
I am attaching the latest news from Birdlife Malta. It will show you the challenges that people face trying to protect the raptors that migrate over that country.
I did not spend a lot of time checking on the nests. The Bald Eagles are coming and going to their nests in the United States preparing for the upcoming breeding season.
V3 was guarding the nest while Gabby was trying it out!
Clive and Connie were on the Captiva Bald Eagle Nest. Their 2022 chick, Connick, remains in the care of the Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey at Maitland, Florida. He will be released as soon as all of his feathers are grown in. I will let you know as soon as Audubon has provided release details.
Beautiful night at Superbeaks. Pepe and Muhlady have been diligent in getting their nest ready.
In Australia, we now have only one Peregrine Falcon family: Diamond and Xavier on the streaming cam. The two chicks are doing fantastic. Both are well fed – and always are ready for more prey. Xavier has had time feeding them but they are too big for him to brood. They are even getting too big for Diamond!
The feeding after 1430. Adorable…just adorable.
‘A’ adds: “At Orange, Xavier is doing his usual sterling job of keeping the scrape well provided with food. Diamond is doing a much better job now that the little one can fight with his sibling on a relatively equal basis for the food. Oh, but that little one is demanding. It NEVER stops begging for food unless its beak is full. I’m not even convinced he doesn’t squeak in his sleep as he dreams of food! I adore this chick. (Yes, I know I adore all of them, but this one is SUCH a personality. Xavier and Diamond certainly do produce some feisty eyases, do they not? Here is a feeding from this morning (Tuesday 10 October): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLXfdZT5C64&list=TLPQMTAxMDIwMjOq7dYrqDV9Tw&index=4. See how well our little one is doing. And doesn’t Xavier look even more dashing and handsome than usual?”
Only a miracle could save an egg in Melbourne. F22 was on the eggs for a bit and was at the north end of the scrape. She looks ‘rugged and ragged’ according to ‘A’ – her feathers dishevelled. She also appears to have some pain but is looking a wee better.
The Sydney Sea Eagles will be branching soon. Branching is specifically flying from the nest to land on a branch. It is not walking up a branch. They are gorgeous eaglets. Lady and Dad have done a superb job. I hope – for once – that they get to train these two to hunt prey and help them with their flying! I know the odds are against this but – I would like to hope.
31 has been on that branch for some time.
We are awaiting the pip watch at Port Lincoln. Some think this will happen on the 12th so we are only a couple of days away. I want to see if this new Dad can pick up the pace with the fish and get at least 7 or 8 on that nest daily until those chicks are a month old. We might see another three fledge again like the year of Bazza, Falky, and Ervie. Wouldn’t that be something?
There are eggs at Turnby Island that will hatch in the next few days. Eggciting news for South Australia.
Lady Hawk has highlights for the Royal Cam family at Taiaroa Head. We will never forget you, beautiful Prince Manaaki. We wish you safe travels, prevailing winds and a tummy full of squid. And we wait for the day we will see you again.
It looks like the GHOs might want to claim that beautiful nest at Skidaway Island this year.
On the way to the park Monday afternoon, my mind was boggled at the sight of leaf blowers, lawnmowers, and bags and bags of leaves so everyone could have a pristine lawn. There needs to be a blitz in every community, in schools, in the local paper to get people to stop – stop with the toxins to make the lawn green, stop with cleaning up. It is the least we can do! It costs nothing to leave everything alone. Stop trying to be ‘House Beautiful’. Please spread the word and be an advocate for our birds.
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Keep your eyes on Port Lincoln! I can’t wait – it has been too many months since there were little osplets to watch.
Thank you so much for being with me today. My report is short – I am exhausted worrying about Lewis and hopeful that calm will settle over us shortly.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A’, Birdlife Malta, NEFL-AEFR, Window to Wildlife, Superbeaks, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Sydney Sea Eagles, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Fran Solly, Lady Hawk, Ventana Wildlife Society, Wild Justice, Darlene Hawkins, and Healthy Yards.
To those in Canada celebrating Thanksgiving, Happy Thanksgiving to you! And to everyone else reading this, I am thankful to all of you – what a beautiful community of empathetic, intelligent, bird-loving people you are! I feel truly blessed to be in your company. Thank you for all your good wishes for today.
Sunday was coolish – an incredibly gorgeous fall day full of yellows, reds, and oranges. The nature centre was full of people enjoying the fall foliage and the Canada Geese that were landing on the lakes and fields. There were a few Mallards about and some House Sparrows and a feisty squirrel at one of the feeders.
All of the garden animals were out. A few Dark-eyed Juncos visit the deck. I did remember, after a comment from ‘J’ to get out there and carve that pumpkin up a bit to see if the squirrels would get interested. Will keep you posted. Mr Crow was on the hydro line and I wonder if he saw the pumpkin and thought it might be tasty.
Little Red has been digging around in the old planting boxes. I haven’t seen him going in and out of the wood box and this worried me a bit so it was great to see him today.
Remember the chubby little baby Blue Jay, just fledged, that slept with the two clay bird ornaments? Well, look now! Beautiful.
The ‘girls’ are doing well. I am sad to report that Lewis took a turn for the worse. He has been unable to keep any food down – and believe me, I have tried everything. Broth, Baby food, tinned food with broth, pulverised chicken. We wait and hope that this situation will change. It is hard to deal with any suffering.
Hope is growing fast and continues to want to play more than she wants to eat.
Calico and I have almost finished our WWII spy novel by Cara Black. Wonder what she will want to read next? I am imagining putting my comfy chair by the wood stove in the dead of winter with Calico on my lap reading away.
These cats have taught me so much about the need for a safe space that is ‘their own’ and how stabilising a routine is – even for cats!
Lewis always feels better after he throws up. Sleeping on one of his favourite chairs. Poor little guy. The Gaviscon bottle is being emptied as my stomach churns repeatedly for him.
Missey was caught in Lewis’s carrier. Oh, if something happens to dear Lewis, Missey will be lost. They have been glued at the hip since they were both adopted as rescues on 2 November 2022. This evening she has been very motherly – washing and washing Lewis – over and over – and comforting him.
It is all about Peregrine Falcons – we have had falcons on our minds since the news at Melbourne. The clutch at Melbourne is believed lost for this year. We hope the female will recover from any injuries she has sustained. Our new dad, M22 – remember he was not the father of the chicks last year but came in and helped like Xavier did with Diamond years ago, is refusing to give up on those eggs. He flew in and incubated them on Monday.
There was a video posted by the Bondi Vet, Chris, in Sydney, Australia. Do you know this character? A Peregrine Falcon couple at the Westfield Mall came into his care. Oh, this is good – ten minutes long. Enjoy.
Meanwhile, Diamond and Xavier and the two little ones – who will have names on the 15th of October – are doing fantastic. Gosh, golly, they are so cute. I fear those pink beaks and toes and that fluffy white are giving way, and little feathers are popping in underneath. The first hatch is visibly larger than the second now…a female? Probably.
So cute!
In this video by Elain, Xavier feeds the babies and Diamond, too! Very special moments of our incredible family.
‘A’ writes, “Dear little Xavier had a brief period brooding the chicks late this afternoon (about 15 or 20 minutes), during which he made valiant but futile efforts to cover the chicks by sitting up and leaning over them. He was obviously concerned about being unable to fit the egg underneath him too, and tried several times (eventually successfully) to cover it. So sweet but not a chance of brooding the two chicks. He really is tiny. Check him out when he delivers prey to Diamond. She is gigantic, especially with all her broody underfluffies, whereas Xavier is very sleek, which accentuates how much smaller he is.”
At The Campanile, Lou is sunbathing. Nice to see these two are safe and sound. I worry about them because of the poisoning of pigeons, too. Stay safe you two!
‘N’ sent me a note asking what books I recommend on Peregrine Falcons. Here is my list – not in order of preference.
Richard Sals and Steve Watson. Everything you ever wanted to know about falcons and more. A monumental book – great reference.
J. A. Baker. The Peregrine.
Christie Gove-Berg. (especially for children)
Madeline Dunphy. The Peregrine’s Journey. Similar to Belle’s Journey that documents the migration of an Osprey.
Alan Tennant. On the Wing.
There are, of course, many, many books that mention falcons.
On Sunday, Thunder and Akecheta sunned themselves at the West End Bald Eagle nest. What a gorgeous couple. Wonder if they might reconsider their nest location this year. Nudge, nudge.
Gracie Shepherd caught more of Thunder and Akecheta.
Everyone is hopeful that there will be a clutch of eggs in that nice soft nest Gabby and V3 are working on.
The adults are on the nest in Webster, Texas on Sunday.
Connie and Clive have been working on their nest at Captiva on Monday.
Gosh, 1800. Start checking on Jackie and Shadow. These two love to come to the nest in the early evening. They are certainly doing a close inspection!
In Central Park, Bruce Yolton gives us the latest on Flaco and his adventures living in the ‘wild’ of the Big Apple. (Lots of videos in the blog below)
Monday was the first time I heard Pied Currawongs in the forest while watching the Sea Eaglets SE31 and 32. Someone will tell me that I am a bit daffy, but there doesn’t seem to be an over abundance of prey being delivered to the nest.
At Port Lincoln, Dad brought three fish to the nest on Sunday. Both are doing incubation duty. Egg 1 was laid on the 6th of September. Depending on how you count, that would be 24 days in September plus 10 in October, making that egg 34 days old. Hang on, we will be on pip watch shortly!
Checking on the progress of Karl II and his family from both BirdMap and Looduskalendar Forum. The Birdmap check on all of the storks – not just Karl II’s family – is from the 6th. Please note the concern for Karl II who has not sent data from the 30th of September.
Kaia is making good progress towards her winter home in Chad.
Kaia continues and she I snow in the Eastern Desert.
Kalvi is still in Bulgaria.
Turkey is where Waba is currently foraging.
The second Condor chick in 2023 has fledged! Fantastic.
Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care – and please continue to send your best warm wishes to all the nests and to our dear Lewis.
Thank you to the following for their notes, questions, articles, posts, videos, photos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A, J, N’, Bondi Vet, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Holly Parsons, Elain, SK Hideaways, IWS/Explore, Gracie Shepherd, Carol Shores Rifkin, Webster TX Eagle Cam, Window to Wildlife, FOBBV, Bruce Yolton, Sydney Sea Eagles, PLO, Looduskalendar Forum, and Ventana Wildlife Society.
Good Morning. Thank you so much for the continued outpouring for Lewis. It is so appreciated. He had a reasonable Saturday. The inflammation medication that helps with his pain also causes him to be ravenous. Sadly he just ate so quickly at breakfast that he lost his meal but, after a few hours, I warmed up some of that very condensed chicken broth form the chicken bones and mushed it up with tin food and he had a really good meal and kept it down. So happy! Of course, the girls all had their share of warm broth, too!!!!!!!!
It was chilly at 6 C on Saturday and damp with some drizzle. The three Amur Maples from our City’s tree-planting programme will be lovely! They are so healthy. Today is planting day.
So far, the squirrels have not touched the pumpkin. There were a few Dark-eyed Juncos on the deck today, and they inspected it. Too funny. Dyson was out with her gang, Little Red was around, and the Blue Jays – all four of them – made an appearance. There are still Wood Ducks at the park and I plan to go and see them tomorrow. Soon, they will leave. I think I will cut bigger holes in that pumpkin to help them get started.
We are going to start with some fantastic news coming in from Geemeff. LY7, Ludo, the 2023 fledgling from Loch Arkaig, has been photographed in France!!!!!!!! Oh, what wonderful news. As Geemeff points out, these are now the fledglings from Loch Arkaig – Louis’s kids (with Lila and Dorcha) – that have been spotted after leaving the nest: “Doddie JJ6 twice! Somerset (2020) and Shetland (2022), Willow LW5 (France 2022), Rannoch JJ2 (Senegal 2022), and now Ludo LY7 (France 2023). Jump up and down. Tear up. Great news. That feisty kid is doing great.
My Saturday newsletter alerted us to concerns at the Collins Street scrape in Melbourne. The news continues to be sad – sad that the four eggs that were laid might not hatch, but as I wrote to ‘H’ when she sent me the news – I am glad there were not four little fluff balls waiting on the ledge for food and Mum being injured or unable to care for them.
The four eggs have been left since 0559 except for two brief periods shown below in screen captures when the male returns to incubate three – one of the eggs is off to the side (or so it appears).
There were at least two times that the eggs were incubated for a short time.
This is the latest news coming from the FB Admin.
The Melbourne Falcons are the most popular in terms of streaming cam numbers of all the Falcon cams internationally. Everyone has a very heavy heart today. The male has been incubating on and off. From experience with eagles, the eggs can, in cool temperatures, be left for more than five hours and still hatch. Such was the case with Milda the White-tail Eagle. It would be desperately hard for the Dad to provide all the duties – incubation, territorial defence, food, and feeding and protecting the hatchlings. The chicks cannot regulate their temperature, and food is required. We have seen falcon males take on full-time duties, such as Newmann at Great Spirit Bluff, this season, but those eyases were much older (at fledge).
It now appears that the female might have returned to the ledge and is incubating the eggs. It is not 100% certain. We are going to have to wait and see how this plays out.
This is Dad M22 rolling the eggs with his talons. Little Dad – what a guy – working hard to try and keep things going while Mum is healing.
‘H’ gives a very detailed communique on the happenings at the nest over the past few days. This is followed by the latest dispatch from Victor Hurley.
“Melbourne / Collins Street Falcons, October 8 – F22 returned to incubate the eggs during the overnight of 10/8. At 0619 she flew out, and then from 0648 to 0702 she hung out at the north end of the ledge (the opposite end from the nest). F22 has obvious injuries to her head with several patches of missing feathers, but there is no evidence of blood-stained trauma. Her right eye does appear slightly puffy and she sometimes attempts to hold it closed. Her disposition was a little ‘off’, and she seemed to be in a slight daze. Dr. Victor Hurley has stated: ”I wouldn’t be surprised if her injuries included some concussion.”
The eggs were left unattended for over 4.5 hours. Finally, at 1039 M22 landed at the south ledge and immediately began to incubate the eggs. He only stayed for 38 minutes, however. He later returned at 1212, and this time he stayed on the eggs until 1324.
At 1341 F22 landed on the north ledge. She seemed a little more alert, and she was doing a bit of squawking and rapidly looking around. She left at 1358, without going to the eggs at all. At 1359 M22 landed and began to incubate three eggs. The fourth egg had been inadvertently cast aside at his last departure, but he did not make an effort to gather it at this time. There were a few times when M22 rose to roll the three eggs. This time M22 did a long incubation stint of 4.5 hours, and at some point, he did gather the fourth egg to join the other three. Curiously, while M22 was incubating the eggs, F22 landed on the north ledge at 1430, and there was some light chatter between them. She did not approach the nest, and she flew off after 11 minutes.
At 1827 F22 returned to the north ledge, and that’s when M22 ended his incubation stint and flew off from the south end. F22 departed the north ledge at 1942, and once again, she had avoided the south ledge and the nest. F22 has not been at the nest with the eggs since 0616. At 2009 F22 landed on the north ledge and went straight to the perch. The time is now 2200 and F22 remains on the north perch. The four eggs at the opposite end of the ledge are looking so very cold and lonely. The current temperature in Melbourne is 9C/48F, and predicted to be 6C/43F overnight.
The eggs have been left unattended for extended periods over the past few days. Has F22 come to believe that her eggs are not viable causing her to abandon them? We won’t ever know what happened to our beloved female, F22, but we are very glad that she is alive, and we wish her continued healing. We need to remind ourselves every single day just how challenging and difficult the lives of all of our feathered friends are. We must not take a single moment with them for granted.”
This is the latest dispatch from Victor Hurley on the situation on the ledge. Thanks so much ‘H’ for keeping tabs on the correspondence coming out of Melbourne!
Thankfully everything is absolutely perfect at the scrape of Diamond and Xavier at Orange.
The older chick is a little larger now (female probably) and she often gets the first of the food. ‘A’ notes a cute event yesterday, ” Xavier managed somehow to avoid Diamond’s watchful eye and sneak in to do a feeding today, which lasted for 13 minutes and included the younger chick in a big way (he was constantly checking to see if she was about to storm into the box, not at all happy with his ‘interference’). See from about 15:28 – after a bonding session with Diamond, Xavier returns to the box to brood the chicks but as he settles down, the chicks tell him they are hungry (especially the younger one), so Xavier retrieves some stashed prey from the front corner of the scrape and proceeds to feed the pair. His back is to the camera, obscuring the majority of the feeding, but based on what we can see (and hear), the younger chick is getting fed much more at this feeding than it normally does at a Diamond feeding. “
Dad taking one of his incubation times so Mum can have a break at Port Lincoln.
The observation board at Port Lincoln for the 7th of October.
Gorgeous Sea Eagles. Hoping that they’re going to get some more prey! Check out the interest in walking up the branch.
They are nothing short of gorgeous.
And now for some really good news! We can all use it after the worry for Melbourne and, of course, the shooting of the Condor in California recently.
The two surviving ospreys at Osprey House in Australia are doing very well. Gosh, I wish they had a streaming cam to bridge the gap between the end of the season in the US and the hatch at Port Lincoln! Miss those little grey fuzzy balls of energy! Soon….soon. The beaking will begin.
There is good news coming out of the E-1 nest at the Kisatchie National Forest. Anna is on the nest! No question. It is her.
Everything appears to be alright at the NE Florida Bald Eagle Nest of Gabby and V3.
Gabby and V3 are quite loud…Gabby was biting V3’s bottom today! Affection Eagle Style.
What do you know about Bird Island? First, (don’t peek) do you know where Bird Island is located? Secondly, what are the major bird species that still populate Bird Island? And what are their challenges?
The more educated we are about the challenges that all our birds face the better equipped we are to advocate for their protection!
Thank you so much for being with me this morning. Take care! See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, photographs, and streaming cams that helped me to compose my blog this morning: ‘A, Geemeff, H’, The Woodland Trust, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Leigh Stillard, Victor Hurley, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, PLO, Sydney Sea Eagle Cam, The Peregrine Fund, Key News, Osprey House Environmental Centre, Tonya Irwin and KNF E-1, NEFL-AEF, Lady Haw, Google Maps, British Antarctic Survey, and the Albatross Task Force.
Thank you so much for your comments and letters. I appreciate hearing about your pets and your experiences with feline teeth – thank you for sharing and caring. I am pleased to report that the pain medication has helped Lewis, and he is eating well again. At this very moment, Lewis and Missey are glued to the living room window. A Hairy Woodpecker is going after one of the corner cedar shakes!
Hope and Calico are oblivious to everything going on with Lewis. They are just happy – loving watching the birds, playing and having stories. We are certainly going through novels!
It is interesting to watch Calico get settled for ‘a story’. She now expects this and curls up on my lap. The little one watches carefully from the edge of the chair as she is doing below. It is certainly one way to plough through books that have been sitting waiting to be read! It is wonderful.
Calico is putting on weight. Talk about a gentle soul. You can see that the dining room table in the conservatory is still their ‘safe dark’ spot…with its duvets piled on the floor for warmth and layers and layers to cover the top and the sides. It is getting cooler at night now that we are into October and the girls get the heat turned on once the sun goes down.
We punched the holes in a small pumpkin and filled them with peanut butter. It sits on the log Little Red uses to jump to the table feeder. Let’s see if this pumpkin treat works! Clearly will not win any awards for beauty but we will wait to see if it is something that the squirrels will enjoy.
In Canada, this is Thanksgiving weekend. The celebration is on Monday and coincides with what was traditionally the end of harvest and giving thanks for the land’s bounty. (Quite different than the American Thanksgiving).
I am so grateful to the garden animals that they will get special treats on Monday.
We are going to Australia right away. It is hot and the wind is really blowing. ‘A’ has already pointed out an interesting problem. M15’s mate at SW Florida has been named F23. We have F22, a falcon, at Collins Street. We are both hoping that there will not be another F23 this year anywhere or it will get confusing.
‘A’ has been watching the Sea Eagles and reports, “SE32 won the fish Dad brought in late this morning (6 October) at WBSE. He held onto it, mantled it, protected it from SE31 and self-fed most of it, before allowing SE31 to take the final piece. The head and tail had been removed from what was originally a medium-large fish, so with the fish unzipped, SE32 was able to get in some wonderful practice, and by the end, he was doing really well. He did get the majority of the fish, finishing with a very nice crop. He was obviously hungry, as he was simply fearless in claiming and hanging onto that food. At one point, there was some serious fighting over the fish (lunging with beaks was involved, along with much flapping), but SE32 fought his sister with great determination while hanging on tightly to his fish. He was NOT letting go. I was so proud of him. After watching that self-feeding, and the consequent boost to SE32’s confidence, I am way less concerned now than I was yesterday. Even though the food supply at this nest has not been as good as I would have liked over recent days, at least SE32 is not now missing out on his share of what there is. Both are doing a lot of wingercising and are looking strong and steady on their feet, with excellent balance. SE32 is doing more hopping than his sister, bounding across the nest like a small wallaby.
There has been little or no sound or sign of crows or currawongs this season, though I don’t remember seeing them much or at all in previous seasons either until fledge day arrived. I remain hopeful that these two, with their strong relationship, will return to the nest after fledging, if only to be together. I do wish Dad and Lady would spend more time over the next week or two imprinting this nest in the eaglets’ minds as a smorgasbord of delicacies to which they will definitely return once they take the plunge. I think back to last year – in particular, the way SE29, after fledging, came back to sleep at the nest with SE30 each night and what may have happened had SE29 not gone into care the day before SE30 fledged. These two have a very similar relationship to the one between SE29 and SE30 last year, so there is a chance their bond will again help them survive after fledging this year.”
Please keep the female at Collins Street, F22 in your warm thoughts. ‘H’ just sent me the latest posting by Victor Hurley that explains why we have seen M22 incubating the eggs so much!
What a delight it is to watch Diamond and Xavier with the two eyases. The closeness in time of the hatch has made all the difference. These two are developing well – each getting their portion of food. You can see a slight difference in size but this is not hampering the second hatch at all. Xavier is working hard to get prey to the scrape and is doing a fantastic job despite some high winds that have been in the area. The temperature remains around 18-20 C.
Diamond got upset. A Currawong flew past the scrape!!!!!!!!!!! She is not going to let that bird get near her precious babies.
If you missed Dr Victor Hurley’s talk on Peregrine Falcons in Victoria Australia, here is that link.
Gabby and V3 continue to make restorations at The Hamlet. V3 has certainly won the heats and minds of everyone for his staunch protection of the territory around the nest. We are all hoping for little eaglets this year!
Anna’s injury is really improved. You might recall she even had problems landing. Well, that wasn’t the case on Friday when the landed on the nest with a nice fish and began chortling. How wonderful! Nice to see this improvement.
Osprey Season is over in North America, the UK, and Europe. Jeff Kear has posted a very informative article by the Scottish Wildlife Trust about their feathers that you might still find useful as we prepare for hatch at Port Lincoln.
Please keep your positive thoughts going for the migrating ospreys. Things in West Africa are changing and the once pristine habitat is being altered – either by climate or by habitat loss due to human expansion.
This is tragic. As you will remember from yesterday’s blog, there are Ospreys who navigate a route from their spring/summer breeding area in the UK to the precise concrete pillar. Our dear Seren 5F is being impacted. So what happens to those birds when the water and fish dry up or are irreparably flooded?
Countries do listen especially if tourists decide not to travel. Let those that allow poaching – Malta and Cyprus – know how you feel by travelling elsewhere – to places that value nature and wildlife.
Malta has long been a place that is renowned for its illegal songbird poaching.
Owls. I have a love-hate relationship with them – and get bloody upset when they start knocking M15 off the perch or fly in and take our precious osprey babies. Did you know that there are 234 different species of owls living around the world, from the ice-cold Arctic to the tropics and the deserts? Their keen eyesight and hearing and specialist feathers help them hunt at night – they are the silent killers.
Thank you so much for being with me today! We will be planting trees later today. It is Re-Leaf day and there are three Azur Maples arriving to add some more colour to the garden. Take care all. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, videos, pictures, and streaming cams that helped me to write my newsletter this morning: ‘A, Geemeff, H’, Sydney Sea Eagle Cam, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Liznm, Victor Hurley, NEFL-AEF, Tonya Irwin, Jeff Kear, The Scottish Wildlife Trust, Chris Wood, Geemeff, Conservation Science and Practice, Responsible Travel, Google Maps, Cambridge Core, and Cornell Bird Lab.
Thank you so much for all your good wishes for Lewis. We are taking it all one day at a time. After many consultations with vets (5 this morning), Lewis is on anti-inflammatory pain relief and will be tested for feline FIV on Wednesday. This is a holiday weekend and this is the earliest booking we could get. All decisions will be made based on the results of that test. Feline FIV is like human AIDS. Many feral cats have FIV. Our Humane Society used to test for this at intake but the explosion of pets during Covid – and their subsequent dumping – meant they could not keep up and the lab cost of each test also soared. ‘Feline immunodeficiency virus, or cat FIV, is a retrovirus infection first discovered in cats in the U.S. The virus is often referred to as cat HIV or cat AIDS because it has a similar effect on felines. FIV-positive cats may have the virus in their system for years before showing signs of illness.’ One of the signs is the gums and teeth so we are waiting for testing with Lewis.
One reader’s grandmother advised her never to do anything but to wait…wait until you have all the answers. That is what I am doing. I have found all manner of mobile vet clinics that do specialised care. What a blessing as Lewis was simply overwhelmed with anxiety when he was at the clinic. He is such a sweet boy. To my knowledge, he is only a danger to Hope. Missey is FIV negative and has been vaccinated and so is Calico. Hope cannot have her vaccinations until she is spayed in three weeks. So they are separated and Calico remains separate, too. Lewis and Missey have always been together and she brings him a lot of comfort.
The vet advised that he only have soft food but, I decided, in the end, to put out his favourite hard food, some soft food from a tin, and a lovely bowl of roasted organic chicken for his supper. He ate a little from all the bowls. Poor fella. The girls had some as well. One day at a time. He also had some breakfast. Sadly there is no cure for this disease and sometimes you never see the cat’s activation of the disease til they are much older. Your warm wishes for him are much appreciated.
Lewis and Missey looking out the little window together this evening.
Lewis votes for ‘Wallander’ as one of the best TV shows on BritBox.
The winner of Australia’s Bird of the year for 2023 is –
Looking at the birds. Today brought a single story that just made me so joyful. Tearful.
There are many amazing Ospreys. This is about one amazing female Osprey. She flies more than 4500 km from her nest in Wales to Africa, landing on the same concrete post yearly. Those living in The Gambia wait to see her arrive. What a comfort to know that Llyn Clywedog’s Blue 5F Seren arrived at her winter home safely again this year. It does just bring tears to your eyes. Ten years. A decade.
Migration is the single most perilous event in the lives of the ospreys. Many never make it their first year to a winter abode where they will live, maturing for the next two years. This amazing female – the fantastic mate of Dylan – has been doing this repeatedly. What an amazing bird she is. Let us all hope that her winter home continues to exist amidst much habitat loss for the birds in the region. Send positive wishes that she avoids Avian Flu and returns in April to her nest to raise more amazing chicks. She lost one this year to the goshawk – taken while feeding them. Such a tragedy.
Here is an article form Natural Resources on Seren.
The migration map for all species for 5 October in North America.
Checking on the migration status of Karl II and his Black Stork family for 5 October.
Kaia is in Israel!
Last data from Karl II he was in Turkey.
Kalvi is in Bulgaria.
Little Waba is in Romania.
Bonus’s tracker quit transmitting some time ago. His status is unknown.
Please go and vote for names for the two falcons at Orange. This year the choice is from local mammals that live in the area.
Gabby and V3 are thinking about eggs. Moss came in to line the nest bowl today. Looking good in The Hamlet!
The Pritchetts have ended the wait and all the anxiety surround ‘a name’ for M15’s new female. Like him, she has a gender designation and the year she came to the nest. F23.
One of the pair flies away. You can see that in the images 2/3. Going to get more moss!
At Orange, ‘H’ caught Xavier delivering breakfast to his lovely family. These two chicks are doing so well. They are being fed equally, and there are no problems with their size, etc. It is wonderful to see!
At Port Lincoln, Dad has been delivering fish. Here is the daily observations from yesterday.
Imncubation continues at Collins Street.
The Sea Eagles are beautiful. They are growing up too fast, and we should be looking for branching shortly. Too soon they will fledge. Just look at those beauties.
The NZ DOC ranges had their best year ever. 33 chicks Royal Albatross chicks fledged off Taiaroa. Congratulations!
The heating planet and seas will have a direct impact on the ability of our beloved Royal Albatross (and all other sea birds and those that rely on fish from the sea, rivers, and lakes) to survive. What are some scientists saying?
‘As Carbon Brief has pointed out, it makes three main points. The first is that some important clean energy tech – solar energy, electric cars and battery production – is now being rolled out at a record pace, in line with what is needed to reach global net zero emissions by 2050. Under the IEA’s pathway to zero, solar and EVs could provide one-third of the global emissions cuts needed by 2030. This tells us that rapid change is possible. In the case of solar, it suggests that it can leapfrog fossil fuels as a primary energy source in the developing world, if influential countries tailor their support in that direction.’
This could be one of the solutions for our birds – solar power is growing in many industries, including fishing boats. Now, if we could get them to limit their catch, set their lines at night – or even have a 5-year moratorium on any fishing – might the seas recover?
Feeding cats is a problem and I must be much more diligent to ensure that my family of felines only eats sustainable products. I will keep you informed as I work my way through this process of Dolphin Friendly, no bycatch brands. If you have been studying this, please let me know what you have discovered!
From ‘H’ this morning – a wonderful thought to share with all of you.
We know that leaving our gardens for the winter is the best thing we can do for the insects, the animals, and the birds. One of the elders in our province tells us, ‘We don’t cut into Mother Earth with metal blades; we cover her with a blanket and tuck her in for the long sleep.’ Wise words.
Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, photographs, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘B, H, K’, Birdlife Australia, Jane Dell and UK Osprey Info, Natural Resources Wales, Birdfact, RSPB, SAVE, Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, Sunnie Day, Looduskalender Forum, Donatella Preston, Lady Hawk and SW Florida Eagle Cam, NEFL-AEF, Heidi M, PLO, NZ DOC, The Guardian, Holly Parsons, and Sydney Sea Eagle Cam.
I hope that this newsletter finds each of you well and happy.
Thank you so much for your continued kind wishes. Your warm thoughts and notes are always appreciated.
Wednesday. It had been on my calendar for several weeks. It was the day that the three older kittens had to go in for their shots, and Missey and Lewis had to have their annual check. My vet is very busy and I so hoped that my Covid test would show negative and the clinic would allow me to come with the babies. They did. It all worked but it turned out quite differently than I anticipated. I am hoping that soon things will become ‘calm’ – boring. Gosh, boring would be so nice.
Off we went – three cats – one huge hard carrier for Lewis and two soft-sided ones for Missey and Calico. They were all darlings, thankfully, on the way in and out of the car and to the clinic.
Lewis peeking out.
Calico is in there!
Missey’s eyes are always so expressive. She was allowed to wander freely around the examination room.
Calico passed her check-up with flying colours. She has healed nicely and is the proper weight with nothing untoward. The vet said she can continue to nurse Hope as long as she wants -it wouldn’t hurt either. Eventually, Calico will have enough and stop it all but it could be some time. I do not care as long as they are healthy. Missey was a tad ‘pleasantly plump’ – the problem associated with her still eating kitten hard food, which is being corrected. Nothing major. Missey’s teeth were sparkling white with good, strong gums. She had her shots and explored the room – a confident, dominant female cat. Quiet, confident, secure. Lewis, on the other hand, is insecure and quite frightened. As it turns out, he was so stressed that the vet did little with him besides checking his teeth and giving him his shots.
But Lewis had a serious problem, and I did not even notice. Lewis’s gums are swollen and red. Lewis, poor dear darling Lewis, needs all his teeth, but the canines, pulled. Cats are able, I was told, to live fine eating soft food.
Lewis was not tested for AIDS when he was adopted. The Humane Society used to test for the disease but stopped when the costs skyrocketed. So, we do not know if he has AIDS, which could cause his body to respond this way. If he has AIDS, is there any point in agreeing to have the surgery – which, according to the vet – is major? So, all of these things begin to twirl through your head. Is Lewis in pain? How long? Why didn’t I notice? But he is still eating. So, is this an issue of over-treating? or good sound vet advice? Too many things to think about. Tomorrow, I will walk in the park and sit with the ducks. Perhaps an answer will rise to the surface.
It took the wind out of me and so, this newsletter is shorter.
Geemeff sent me the most amazing article on Godwits, weather, and migration. We know about the extreme distances that Godwits fly to get to their winter homes but this is the tale of the return trip due to weather. Incredible story!
All of the Royal Cam chicks have fledged at Taiaroa Head. We now wait to see which adults will return for the upcoming breeding season. I am particularly interested to see if there is any remote possibility that OGK might appear. He has not been seen since the 19th of May 2022.
The joy and love continue to radiate out of the scrape at Orange. Two beautiful eyases. Both are fed well, both are a good size to one another. It is all good.
‘A’ remarks, “Those eyases are just darling. When isn’t a scrape containing fluffy chicks the most wonderful thing? Those sweet little squeaks (before they become ear-splitting shrieks) are the cutest sound, and I love the noise they make when their squeak is suddenly cut off by a mouthful of meat). Not to mention mum’s adorable chups to get them to open their little beaks. So cute. One chup and the little mouths automatically spring open. Both the chicks appear to be healthy, strong and eating well. Today, they were fed seven times through the day, and Diamond appears to be feeding both of them at each feed. She is carefully making sure that each chick is getting fed and she is being very patient in doing so. This is helped by the lack of a significant size difference, although of course chick two is a little less stable than chick one in terms of knowing which direction is front. It can, however, hold its little head up very well and is pretty stable when it does so, meaning it is able to eat when it eventually works out how to face mum (which it usually does within a couple of minutes of the feeding beginning). Xavier is not getting nearly as much chick time as he would like (of course) though Diamond is very tolerant of him remaining on the ledge if he wants to, sometimes even when she is feeding the chicks. She is especially okay with him being there very early in the mornings, when he was coming for lengthy periods before the chicks came along (and he was there for a couple of hours before both hatches). This is new, as was Diamond actually allowing Xavier egg/chick time when chick two was only halfway out of its egg! Now that’s something I never thought I’d see. So these two lovebirds are very comfortable with each other now, in season seven or eight or whatever this is for them (Xavier arrived in 2016, I believe, but they weren’t his chicks that year, so although Xavier raised three chicks with Diamond in 2016, their first season breeding together would have been 2017).”
Want to take part in the naming of the chicks? Holly Parsons tells us how.
There is a bit of excitement going on in Surrey at the Hancock Wildlife Foundation with the arrival of this Bald Eagle couple.
An owl attacked the juvenile at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum nest Wednesday night. Thankfully the fledgling returned to the nest seemingly unharmed. Time: 1957.
Gabby and V3 were at the nest on Wednesday. We are all hopeful.
This gave me a chuckle!
Everything is good at SW Florida with M15 and F23. Lots of bonding!
Contentment at Collins Street. It is supposed to be very hot for these falcons because it is an El Nino year. So thankful they have a reprieve for a few days and wish that a shade would be put in place above them.
El Nino is heating the oceans, too, and our seabirds might be seeing some change to their ability to find food. In the Caribbean where my son lives, outside his office, the coral is bleaching because the ocean is so hot. “The symbiotic algae inside the coral can not take hot water for a long time and die. The algae provide energy for the coral and without it they will die also.”
The Sea Eaglets continue to get more beautiful each day but as ‘A’ remarks there is some concern about the level of prey deliveries, “
I am far more concerned about the food situation at WBSE. There was one day this week when I saw no food brought to the nest at all. I may have missed something small, but certainly nothing large enough to feed them both. (It is possible for example that I missed a small fish that was immediately claimed and horked down by SE31, but I don’t think so – I certainly scanned through the footage incredibly carefully). So I am a little concerned. The parents don’t seem to be worried about it, sitting in the nest tree and not heading off to hunt for most of the day. At 07:46 this morning, they were mating on the branch behind the nest (within full view of the children, too!). So their minds are perhaps on other things. The wind this morning was extremely strong and worsened as the morning went on. Around 09:28, it was blowing a gale when Dad flew in, The kids were very hopeful, lining up at the table, but although it appeared Dad had been fishing, as he was shaking water from his feathers, he had no food in his talons. Lady flew in around 09:33 and took up a submissive position, though Dad decided not to mount her. This is bonding behaviour, I presume, though I’m wondering why it’s being considered necessary at this point of the season. Fishing would be more useful, though in that wind, it would definitely be difficult. The whole tree was tossing wildly today. Shortly before 09:58 both parents flew off, first one then, a moment later, the other. At 10:03:45 Dad flies in with a smallish whole fish. SE32 immediately claims and mantles the prey be can he keep it? SE32 is not good at unzipping a whole fish but he is trying. SE31 watches for a chance to steal the fish. SE32 is not giving her one. At 10:07, he still has the fish. Whether he is getting any bites off it is another question (and impossible to answer, as the eaglets have their backs to the camera and we cannot see much of what is happening, only who is in possession of the fish, currently still SE32). SE32 is doing a great job of mantling the fish and seems to be getting some bites from it, but about a minute later, SE31 succeeds in stealing the fish, and we can see that SE32 has got very little from it at all. He waits for a chance to steal the fish back but gets no chance until about 10:20, when he makes a frantic grab for the last piece, realising he is about to miss out altogether. SE31 responds to this by horking the remaining food down in one go. She has had a very nice breakfast. SE32 has eaten nothing. During the self-feeding by SE31, SE32 twice backed up for a PS, on one occasion trying three times, and I saw nothing come out on any of these tries. So it appears likely that food is being brought very irregularly to the nest and what food there is largely gets eaten by SE31, as SE32’s self-feeding skills simply aren’t good enough and he is not getting a chance to practise them much! When those large eels are brought in, as happened two days ago, I think, there is probably enough food to keep them going for that day and the next, and I think there had been a late afternoon eel the day before the (probably) food-free day, but perhaps Lady and Dad are encouraging these two to fledge. Surely not. Perhaps it’s just the bad weather the whole southeast of Australia has been having, with lots of rain and quite heavy winds at times too.”
The pair made another milestone on their way to fledging. They did sleep standing up just like Lady and Dad.
At the same time incubation continues at Port Lincoln with an average of two fish coming in per day for Mum.
Thank you for being with me this morning. Please send your good wishes to our dear Lewis today. Take care all.
Thank you to the following for their notes, photographs, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog this morning: ‘A, C, Geemeff, H’, BBC Royal Albatross Centre, Charles Sturt University, Holly Parsons, Hancock Wildlife Foundation, MN Landscape Arboretum, NEFL-AEF, Carol S Rifkin, SW Florida Eagle Cam, lady hawk, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Sydney Sea Eagle Cam, and PLO.
