Category Archives: migration

Fish Fairy Arrives at Port Lincoln…Friday in Bird World

8 November 2024

Good Morning,

It was sunny and windy on Thursday morning. There were about 500-600 Canada Geese on a nearby golf course when I drove past. The water in the ponds providing swimming for some and no doubt safety for others later.

All of the feral cats have been to the feeders this morning: Squishy, a grey tabby with a flipped over ear, the Orange Ginger family pet that is let loose during the day, the grey tabby, and The Boyfriend. The need is growing. Of course, everyone thinks that prices of things will drop, but in my lifetime I have never seen this happen. Pet food appears to be soaring. My heart breaks for the families who have to surrender their pets, but not for those that dump them. They need care and surely there is someone to take them home and love them rather than leaving them to the freezing cold of a Winnipeg winter. On Saturday we will take all the wood out of the wood boxes, load them with straw and put a light bulb in there and close in three and a half sides. It will help some.

There is still concern about Avian Flu and bird feeders. ‘R’ sent us an article from The Washington Post that might answer some of your questions. The author says, “While avian flu is widespread among wild bird species, less than 2 percent of cases have been in songbirds and other typical visitors to bird feeders. Health officials have not recommended taking down bird feeders except for people who keep domestic poultry as part of a backyard flock. (In such cases, the USDA says poultry owners should take down feeders for wild birds or keep them well away from their captive flock, and to make the captive flock’s food and water inaccessible to wild birds.)

People should clean bird feeders and bird baths regularly. Make sure to thoroughly wash your hands after touching the feeders. Avoid direct contact with birds, and do not handle sick or dead birds.”

Here is the entire article. Please read!

Opinion | Why it’s concerning that a pig has contracted the H5N1 avian flu – The Washington PostDownload

The GHO continues to come to the nest of M15 and F23. https://youtu.be/dRJqTZaPN-M?

Fort St Vrain female brings rabbit up to the nest. https://youtu.be/KhZAFvcMp1c?

Gabby on and off the nest quickly at NE Florida!

M15 and F23 working diligently every day on their nest in Fort Myers, Florida.

M15 checks out the nest for suitability for F23 and their eggs.

Chandler flew in to the Port Tobacco Eagle Nest for a few seconds!

Haven’t seen anyone so far on Thursday at Big Bear.

Ron and Rose were at the WRDC nest despite the very windy conditions on Thursday.

Connie and Clive visit the Captiva Eagle nest on the Barrier Islands in Florida on a breezy day. Nice crops! Good to see these two after Milton tore through the island.

Eagles working on the Denton Home nest and sleeping together at the nest. What a wonderful sight.

Wednesday they worked on the West End cam of Thunder and Akecheta, Thursday it was Two Harbours nest of Chase and Cholyn, Thunder’s parents.

Sub-adult visits the NCTC nest of Bella and Scout. https://youtu.be/uWfxpBlLquY?

They were flapping and waiting for breakfast at 367 Collins Street in Melbourne.

Prey delivery at Collins Street.

‘A’ remarks: “Suddenly, the trio at Collins Street are rapidly approaching fledge. Two of them are now running along the ledge, flapping their wings vigorously, which is nerve-wracking in the extreme. There is almost no fluff left on the older two, except a few dandelions on their heads. The youngest still sports some fluff on its wings, but suddenly, these three are looking very much like juvenile falcons. We will not have them for much longer. I cannot believe how quickly that triple-headed fluffball of an eating machine has become three juveniles who are potentially within days of fledging. Omigod, I am going to miss them SO much. It seems like only yesterday that we saw our first gutter stomp. “

Yira and Gammata share morning prey. Diamond feeds, too.

Do they need more prey at Orange? https://youtu.be/S-XJbpAaq0c?

‘A’ comments: “At Orange, the pair still have quite a bit of down on their heads and wings. They are about a week behind the Collins Street trio, are they not? At least the Orange fledglings do often/usually return to the scrape after fledging (we remember those occasions when the parents literally had to bar the door from their adult offspring, with a not so gentle hint relating to the concept of dispersal). But we do generally get to see a bit more of them once they fledge. At Collins Street, we essentially wait until someone finds one of them injured, dead or starving on the streets of Melbourne’s CBD. We get little or no information on them post-fledge (although the Facebook group may have some BOTG – I’ll be relying on you for info from that source). But watching the Collins Street kids today has left me flabbergasted at how time has flown and the fact these chicks are already about to do the same. I’m sad now. “

Dad is off his perch and Mum is calling for food. There was not much on Thursday and Kasse got nothing. There was some beaking. This provoked the fish fairies into action.

‘A’ reports: “The most important news of the day is that there was a four-fish delivery from our beloved Fish Fairy at Port Lincoln this morning (09:38). A day too late unfortunately to prevent the two incidents of bonking yesterday that for the first time occurred during a feeding and was definitely done in order to prevent Kasse from eating. Not a good thing, and I’m glad the FF stepped in straight away. I would have preferred it to happen two days ago, when I was worrying about the lack of food deliveries and the potential for aggression this presented, but I suppose they were trying to avoid it altogether. And dad had been stepping up his fishing efforts – successfully, up until the last three or four days. So it was probably weather-related. But whatever the reason, the nature and timing of yesterday’s aggression made it essential that the Fish Fairy step in asap. I’m glad they didn’t delay. “

Thank you, Fish Fairies! I will sleep better Thursday night in Canada knowing you are there.

Heidi’s video of the Fish Fairy!!!!!!!! They included this information below the video: “Wilko is 33 days old, and Kasse is 30 days old. There were only two fish delivered to the nest yesterday, and as a result there was significant sibling aggression due to food competition. This morning, the ‘Fish Fairy’ placed four fish on the nest. It was the first time the supplemental fish were necessary this season. Ospreys are endangered in South Australia, and last season they instituted an officially authorized program of supplemental feeding for this nest. The supplemental feeding program is intended to help increase the survival rate of the osprey nestlings. Last year’s Fish Fairy program was a success, and both osplets fledged! For more information on the supplemental feeding program, please see this statement dated 10/27/23: https://portlincoln-osprey.com/portli…

https://youtu.be/lZRZQG4puUs?

The latest on the Olympic Park eagles.

Elizabeth Grey, National Audubon said on Thursday that Audubon vows to: “Strengthening Local and State Initiatives: While federal policy may shift, our commitment to local and state conservation efforts remains steadfast. We will work with communities to build resilience, ensuring that conservation continues regardless of changes at the federal level.” Just as I see my City taking every piece of land and building 3-4 story apartment buildings instead of 35 stories, each of us needs to lend a hand to help wildlife. You can do that in your own garden.

Jackie and Shadow have been chortling! https://youtu.be/d8gCyTmwZ0A?

I needed a smile today and seeing Seren 5F at her winter home in The Gambia does it. She is a great mate to Dylan at Llyn Clywedog and a fantastic mother. She wasted a lot of years being courted by Aran but, in the end, he stayed with Mrs G. Great choice! But glad 5F found a great mate, too. Dylan is amazing. This is her biography from Glaslyn Wildlife.

Seren Blue 5F will be thirteen years old during the 2025 breeding season.

“Hatched at the Rutland Site K nest in 2012. Her mother is the satellite tagged female Yellow 30 (hatched at the Rutland Site B nest in 2005) and her father was the translocated Rutland male Red 08 (2001).

In December 2013, Blue 5F was photographed by Chris Wood at Tanji Marsh in Gambia, she was 18 months old at the time and would not yet have made a return journey to the UK. In December 2014 Chris returned to Tanji Marsh and he again found 5F settled for the winter there. She had not been spotted back in the UK during the summer, although it is likely she would have travelled north as a two-year old. On 9th April 2015 Blue 5F was captured on camera again, as she landed on the perch of the Glaslyn nest, this was the first sighting of her in the UK as an adult. She remained in the Glaslyn area during the summer and intruded at the Glaslyn nest on several occasions. By the middle of October we heard the news via Fansu Bojang and Chris Wood that 5F was back in her wintering quarters in Tanji Marsh.

On 29th March 2016 Blue 5F landed on the perch at Glaslyn once again. Two days later she was in a skirmish with her cousin Blue 24 at the Dyfi nest. Glesni, another cousin, who was the resident female at Dyfi, had not yet returned. Before long, 5F was back on a favourite nesting platform in the Glaslyn area. Aran was spotted mating with her on several occasions and for a while she appeared to be incubating eggs. The nest failed however and 5F soon resumed her regular intrusions at the Glaslyn nest.

During the winters of 2016 to 2019, 5F was once again settled in her wintering quarters in Gambia, where Chris Wood photographed her for the fourth and fifth consecutive years.  During the winter of 2018 she spent the majority of her time in the Tujereng Beach area of Gambia, although she was spotted at Tanji again in autumn 2019.

On 1st April 2020, 5F appeared on the camera that had been installed by NRW at the Llyn Clywedog Osprey nest in mid-Wales. On 3rd April she also appeared on the Glaslyn nest, before being seen off by Mrs G. The following day she returned to Clywedog and was soon joined by the resident male, Dylan. The original female, Delyth, failed to return and 5F became Dylan’s new mate. Together they raised three male chicks and all three successfully fledged. A very happy outcome – Congratulations 5F!”

There are still Ospreys in the Netherlands that have not migrated – along with several in the UK. Maybe they know something we do not? Is it possible not to migrate in an age of climate change? Last year was the hottest on record for our planet.

How might climate change impact Bald Eagles?

How climate change could hurt bald eagles » Yale Climate ConnectionsDownload
Modeling climate change impacts on overwintering bald eagles – PMCDownload

Latest ever osprey in Poole Harbour is Blue 511.

A 25 year old German Osprey has been seen in Sardinia. Blue Ring OD. Amazing. Its experience, after surviving those first years after fledgling, have kept this bird alive. Incredible.

The last information I could find on the migration of the Black Storks from Estonia. Apologies for the small size. I cannot enlarge but perhaps you can.

Calico wonders if you would like to make someone feel warm and fuzzy? Lucille Powell has provided the address for the residents of the Riverview Care home next to Iris and Finnegan’s nest. Have a card and a stamp? Want to include a note about yourself and how much you love the ospreys? Or anything else. Here is the information. Think about spreading the love!

I do not know if they are taking any further orders but here is the information about the Iris and Finnegan pins. These are made out of sticks brought to the nest by the ospreys and collected by Dr Greene. They are carefully lathed and assembled by Sharon Leigh and her husband. I have enjoyed mine for years and you can get find new ink cartridges almost anywhere.

Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care of yourself. We hope to see you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, R’, The Washington Post, Androcat, chickiedee64, NEFL-AEF, Port Tobacco Eagle Cam, FOBBV, WRDC Eagle Cam, Window to Wildlife, Denton Homes Eagle Cam, Trudi Kron and Bald Eagles 101, Deb Stecyk and NCTC Eagle Cam, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Nesting Birdlife and More, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Olympic Park Eagle Cam, Heidi McGrue, Judy Harrington, SK Hideaways, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Valerie Webber and The Clywedog Osprey Group, Yale Climate Connections, Ecology and Evolution and PMC, Jeff Kear and Friends of Loch Arkaig FB, H Lorm and Looduskalender Forum, Montana Ospreys at Hellgate and Lucille Powell, Montana Osprey Cams.

Rookie Release Day…Thursday in Bird World

7 November 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

Wednesday was a cold to the bone, grey, damp day on the Canadian Prairies. The birds, once again, were feeding frantically. It felt like we could have a snow storm any moment. The skies were the colour of new down on an osprey chick.

It was also release day for the Ventana Wildlife Society. They had six 18-month-old condors that had hatched and been raised at the Los Angeles Zoo to send out into the wild. The timing of the release is parallel to that of chicks born in the wild. They are about a metre tall (36 inches) and weigh 9 kg or 20 lbs. Their wing span is 3 meters or 9.5 – 10 feet. They are giant birds. Before their release, they were tagged, had radio and satellite transmitters put on them, and were vaccinated against HPAI and West Nile Virus.

There was a Zoom presentation with questions, a visit with a group of second graders who asked questions and showed their pictures of condors, and the count down to the release. Interestingly, it was female 1233 that went out first to feed on the carcass left for them (they had not been fed for six days), then males 1232 and 1226 known as Pongo. The three most dominant birds while the flock was in the cage were the last to leave.

Condors are social animals and they survive as a group. There is a hierarchy and the least dominant learn how to cope and get food after the ‘King Pins (a nod to the dominant male released in 1997, now deceased, the mate of Redwood Queen who was the father of Iniko) have fed.

These are some of the screen shots I took during the Zoom presentation. The entire discussion with release will be available on YouTube.

Older birds feeding on the carcasses of lead-free carrion.

Current statistics. Once all chicks fledge and the Rookies are released, there will be 119 California Condors in the wild in Central California. This is amazing. There were none in 1997. Ad notice that in 2024 they had no deaths. Knock on wood this continues til the end of the year.

They did pay tribute to Condor 171 Traveler, the matriarch of the Central California Clan, who was declared dead in October after being missing for an entire year. She was released in 1997 in the first cohort of Condors to be sent out into the wild after DDT and Lead decimated their populations.

She had reproductive issues all her life and finally raised a chick in 2022. Male 1182 is that chick and heir and is doing fine.

In the release pen waiting for the gates to open.

As I said earlier, female 1233 was the first out and she did get a nice little feeding before males 1232 and 1226 flew out to feed.

If you are unaware of the challenges and hard work that the Ventana Wildlife Society undertakes, I encourage you to visit their website and explore the information available. That address is ventanaws.org

There are two organizations that I fully support for their dedication that knows no bounds. That is the Ventana Wildlife Society and the IWS where our dear Dr Sharpe continues to work beyond his desired retirement. Yesterday he was out with a volunteer team doing camera maintenance at the Nest of Thunder and Aketcheta at the West End.

The Bald Eagle numbers in the Channel Islands can be attributed to this amazing man. How many chicks have gone over the edge that you have seen rescued there?

So a big shout out to VWS and the IWS! Thank you for all you do.

For those interested in Ferringuous Hawks, their migration patterns that are determined by prey availability, and the challenges especially climate change, please take the time to view this extremely interesting presentation by HMANA: https://youtu.be/gdYRmoBitNo?

The latest on the Sea Eagles:

‘A’ sends the latest ranger report:
“November 7: A flock of Rainbow Lorikeets visited the nest this morning, with a couple of Scaly-Breasted lorikeets as well. Shortly after 7am, both parents were seen on Mangrove Island – neither juvenile was spotted. At 8:15am, the adults were seen on the island, one with a fish. A juvenile flew closer – the adult was eating and the juvie seemed to be eating a little as well. The other adult moved to River Roost. There was some light rain, then a hot day. At 12:14pm, one adult was at River Roost, with the other on the island. There with no juveniles in view. Later, at 3:40pm, one juvenile was seen on Mangrove Island with an adult – the other adult was still at River Roost, though it flew to the island soon after. There were no further reports of sightings at the end of the day.”

Sounds windy at Port Lincoln. Mum, Wilko, and Kasse are waiting for breakfast.

Wilko and Kasse are a month old and Heidi has them on video. Hasn’t Dad done a marvelous job this season with his fishing? https://youtu.be/0VYcHkyu2Y8?s

A reports: “At Port Lincoln, it was nearly 5pm before any food arrived at the nest, and even then, it was only a small partial fish that provided little sustenance for the osplets. The two shared a feed of just under 20 minutes. The only other fish of the day arrived at 20:09. Again, it was a small partial fish only, and the resulting feeding lasted just over half an hour, during which period Wilko did better than Kasse. It is noteworthy that twice during the feeding, Wilko bonked Kasse. This has not happened during a feeding, until now, so I suspect that unless the Fish Fairy steps in to ensure a good couple of days for both osplets, we could create a problem for Kasse here, now that Wilko has experienced proper hunger and has realised that Kasse is limiting the food available for Wilko.”

At Orange, Diamond looks on as her two chicks try to tackle a Starling breakfast — unpacked!

Diamond will make sure that the youngest gets food to eat.

‘A’ gives us a long commentary on the eating and feeding at Orange today: “Xavier brought in a quail just before 6am and Yira grabbed it from him. He wasn’t arguing. Diamond soon arrived and Garrama rushed to complain to mum. Garrama tried self-feeding from the prey Yira was able to hold down, and soon, Yira ripped a piece off and took it into the far corner. Diamond at this stage arrived to help Garrama, who was left with the prey but couldn’t handle it alone. Diamond fed him – he’s a sweetie and SO much smaller than his gigantic sister. 

By 06:02 Yira had finished her piece of prey and returned to steal the remainder from Diamond, who looked a little startled. Garrama was far from pleased. She tried to grab it back but Yira took it back into her corner! Diamond leaves the kids to sort it out, watching from in front of the camera, near the Cilla Stones.She obscures our view of the chicks, who are both self-feeding, Yira holding the food down and both pulling pieces from it. There are many cute noises accompanying this activity. 

Around 06:04 Yira gets sick of sharing and brings the food over near the Cilla Stones, which Diamond has rapidly vacated. Garrama follows his sister and again tries self-feeding from the prey as Yira holds it down. It’s a technique that seems to be working well for both of them. Yira could weigh nearly twice what Garrama does. It’s hard to tell with their remaining fluff. 

Yira is doing better, though, than Garrama, who gives up his efforts by 06:05. He heads over to see whether there are any dropped pieces where the chicks were eating earlier, but no joy, so he approaches Yira and the prey from the other side. Garrama gets a couple of bites but is largely disappointed, and by 06607 he has again given up. 

He watches his sister, stares wistfully at Diamond, who stays on the ledge, watching the kids but makes no move to assist Garrama. He is frustrated and pecks a little at Yira’s wing feathers. By 06:06:30 he is again having a go at pulling some pieces off Yira’s quail (it’s a big piece of prey and Yira is eating A LOT of food). She obscures our view of her little brother, but it seems he too is managing to get some pieces. 

At 06:07:48 Garrama picks up a large meaty morsel Yira has dropped. He turns away with it Diamond comes over to him to see whether he needs help eating it but then seems to change her mind, deciding that he should be able to manage it. Good mum. Shortly after 06:10, he is finished and turns back towards Yira, wanting more to eat. 

Diamond moves to pick up Garrama’s leftovers and he literally begins screaming in her face. Is he annoyed with her for touching his piece of prey or is he simply demanding that she offer him some food? I suspect the latter, as Garrama starts nipping at Diamond’s toes, hoping to find food there. Diamond has to use her beak more than once to free her talons from Garrama’s grip and beak. He is certain there is food between those toes. There isn’t, and Diamond is very patient with him, all things considered. 

Diamond moves towards the ledge and Garrama follows her. His breast feathers are exquisite. Mum has no food and dives out of the box. For a second, I feared he would follow her but he didn’t – just stayed where he was, looking out after her. Yira continues to eat. She has eaten a very large breakfast indeed and at 06:13 shows no sign of slowing down. 

There was another food delivery (a juvenile starling) just before 06:56 – I didn’t watch that feeding – and another, grabbed immediately from Xavier by Yira, shortly after 11:01. Xavier briefly considered trying to retrieve it from her but quickly decided against this and left the scrape. Poor little Garrama watched his gluttonous sister, who has already devoured nearly a whole quail this morning but is still the epitome of greed. Around 11:03, Yira pauses in her eating to do some vigorous wingercising, making contact with Garrama, who objects. Yira returns to eating her starling. 

Garrama sits and looks out of the scrape while his sister feasts on. He flaps across the scrape, does a PS out of the scrape, and returns to looking outside while Yira eats. Poor little Garrama hasn’t had that much food today – neither of the parents seem prepared to face down Yira once she has taken control of a piece of prey! Even Diamond was happy to leave her to it, though she did try to help (Garrama was managing that piece on his own anyway). She is aware that he is not getting enough to eat – she’s just not willing or able (could be either or both) to challenge her massive daughter to take back control of prey. Xavier has zero chance – she is twice his size – and although he did valiantly consider a quick snatch and grab on one occasion, he thought better of the move. So I am a bit worried about whether Garrama is getting enough. 

At 11:08:30 he moves in and again tries self-feeding from the food his sister is holding down. He gets perhaps a small bite or two, then gives up. He tries again about a minute later, but only managed to nibble a toe. Soon after 11:10, he again approaches and tries to eat. Still, he is only able to get hold of a foot, and there is not much meat on it. He gives up again. Yira eats on like a machine. She has eaten SO much this morning, while Garrama has managed perhaps a snack at best. 

These two are rapidly losing fluff and their juvenile plumage is really starting to show through. They are exquisite, especially Garrama, who is an absolute darling. He is not getting enough to eat under the present arrangements, with the parents having effectively ceased to feed the chicks, leaving them to self-feed. They can both do that, both of course Garrama has no chance of beating his sister in a battle over a piece of prey, and given how greedy she is, there is rarely anything much but feathers left over once she has finished eating. So unless something changes here, I am officially worried about our little male hatch at Orange. He is simply not getting nearly enough to eat. “

The 367 Collins Street triplets were digging through the gutter looking for prey. I had seen no breakfast delivery prior to 0823.

At least once of the chicks has made it to the ledge above the scrape today. A milestone to fledging.

Triplets react to a rain storm! https://youtu.be/QkDeJjYBNhs?

At NE Florida, Gabby and Beau were working hard.

Just look at the wings on this eagle in South Australia! Lukin is 82 days old today. Growing and getting ready to fledge. My goodness. Congratulations to everyone.

Well, what an amazing event. I wish I were in South Australia. What an opportunity! Spread the word.

Eric Kotz produced a history of Tumby Island to demonstrate how really tough it is for the ospreys in South Australia.

When we go out to feed the Chickadees and then have lunch outside the City, we drive past the many sites where industry is digging and digging for the things that make concrete – sand is one of those. But, at the sites now disused, there is water and wildlife. It makes me smile that something nice can come out of something so ugly and dusty. Here is an article about how the largest landfill site is now a home to wildlife. I hope it makes you smile, too.

Fresh Kills in Staten Island: A Park Built on a Landfill, Now Teeming With WildlifeDownload

Smile. The first batch of Iris and Finnegan pens are on their way to your home if you ordered! What a great fundraiser.

I am not too sure it is too late for an order. They seem to be working flat out on the pens.

Smile. A person who cares about wildlife!

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/nov/05/shetland-man-bond-otter-award-winning-film-billy-and-molly?CMP=share_btn_url

Calico’s Tip of the Day: Please be careful!

And, of course, Calico hates these noisy things for more than one reason:

Seren 5F, Dylan’s mate from Llyn Clywedog, was photographed again today in The Gambia on her favourite pole. So happy she is alright. All of these sightings are priceless.

‘J’ sent the latest report from Redding for Liberty and Guardian but the text was too small and I could not enlarge it. Please check the FORE FB page – and watch Liberty and Guardian on camera building their new nest!

Thank you for being with us today. Please take care. Bird World is quiet. It is time to rest up. We are expecting Bald Eagle eggs within a fortnight. Then, the prolonged incubation til the end of December. We will continue to monitor the sea eagles as long as there is news. We will watch the falcons in Melbourne and Orange for Fledge, Buddy to Fledge at Growing Home, and then Wilko and Kasse. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, presentations, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A’, The Ventana Wildlife Society, IWS, HMANA, Sydney Sea Eagles, Rohan Geddes, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Heidi McGrue, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, SK Hideaways, NEFL-AEF, Gardenista, Friends of Osprey Sth Aus, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Eric Kotz, Montana Osprey Cams, The Guardian, Tamarack Wildlife Centre, Leaf of Life.

Crops popping at Port Lincoln, Sea Eaglet photographed being fed in Sydney…Monday in Bird World

4 November 2022

Hello Everyone,

Sunday was a very rainy day. Despite that we did the Chickadee Trail at Bird’s Hill Provincial Park – the long trail. It is fast becoming my favourite place to walk because of the silence. Yes, on occasion, you can hear traffic from the main highway but mostly it is the song of the chickadees that fills the air. They were hungry today as not so many people visited the park in the recurring periods of heavy rain. Every where we stopped, wee little songbirds, the sweetest things, flew down to our hands to grab a seed! It is magical. They weigh nothing. They are so beautiful. And like all other songbirds, we need to protect them.

The paths were a bit muddy but there was a rich earthy scent to our walk that we didn’t have yesterday. What a privilege to be able to visit a place during every season.

So cute.

Calico finally had her party. It wasn’t as glitzy as it might have been, but they all enjoyed those squeezy chicken treats and dear Hugo Yugo was into everything before Calico could get there. She got a new reclining scratch post, much needed as they have used up the other two. They still like to sleep on them like a chaise. She has a new book and lots of dental chewy sticks that she loves plus some other dental treats.

Calico is licking her lips! She loved her new scratch post and devoured her treats and got right into chewing on her dental toys.

Missey decided it was safer elsewhere. Missey loves those squishy squeezy chicken treats. (They smell terrible).

The big news in Bird World is what we knew, but what we wanted to see – a juvenile sea eaglet being fed by Lady or Dad down by the river roost. If it wasn’t for the energy and dedication of BOGS like Rohan Geddes we might not feel the relief that we are seeing this baby being fed by its parent. Now..if we could only see both sea eaglets being fed at the same time – well, that would feel like winning the Super Jackpot Lottery.

Here is all the latest news I could find trolling the Internet.

Are you in Devon? There is a fundraiser to put up some platforms for the Ospreys!

Some Ospreys are doing so well they have decided not to migrate yet. Remember it is all about food availability, not weather.

News of a Kielder Fledgling at its winter home in Senegal!

At Orange, Yira and Garrama share a pigeon. https://youtu.be/zuWX9kr6V3Q?

Strong windstorm caused Di to have trouble flying into the scrape! https://youtu.be/i2wOgHKTVeA?

Wilko and Kasse along with their big clown feet enjoyed an early fish breakfast.

Are those feet really as long as their heads???

Kasse is very full!

Nothing cuter than little ospreys.

More food – and a beautiful family.

The down is quickly disappearing from the Collins Street triplets revealing beautiful deep ebony wings.

Working on those wings! https://youtu.be/s0fAxKZu0xY?

‘BA’ reminded me to mention Bubba at Growing Home. That nest is near Sydney, Australia. So grate to have another osprey cam in Australia. Bubba is doing fantastic. Looks fully feathered to me!

Gabby and Beau at the nest on Sunday.

It was windy in Big Bear Valley. Jackie and Shadow did some quick nestorations on Sunday.

We can’t get enough of Jackie and Shadow. https://youtu.be/MqUK46ZVvv8?

Nest collapse at Iroquois Wildlife Refuge. Will the eagles rebuild so they can be seen on the cam? We wait.

There is good news for the Black Grouse population in Europe.

Calico’s birthday book, Sky Dancer, by Gill Lewis, looks very promising as a book that you might want to add to the list of children in your lives, ages 8-12. (I am enjoying it, too). I will keep you posted as we work through a book where children wonder what ‘the wild’ really is. Gill Lewis is a vet who has travelled from the Arctic to Africa, examining different species and their habitats. She lives in the UK and has a series of books I am keenly interested in. We need to educate our children to know about the history of raptors, such as the hen harriers who were virtually killed out of existence in the UK. In 2016, only three pairs – think about that – successfully raised young in the UK. Lewis says, “I hope that the dream of rewilding our landscape and rewilding our own lives becomes a reality.”

Ongoing results for the International Osprey Data Project: I am behind in entering nests. I still have 8 from Nova Scotia, 2 from Manitoba, and about 20 miscellaneous ones for 2024. This is, however, the results of our mortality study for 2024 so far, without those nests.

Out of 493 eggs, 80 DNH, 103 died, and 309 lived. Of those that died, 1 was from an illness, 10 were nest accidents, 1 was electrocuted, 2 were deemed to be natural deaths, 8 deaths were from unknown causes, 37 were predated with owls being the largest killer, 1 died in rehab, 1 died after translocation cause unknown so far, 19 died from siblicide, 10 starved to death (there will be many more in this category once I finish entering data), and 13 died from weather-related events.

Sharon Dunne brings us up to date with what is happening with the Royal Albatross.

Calico’s Tip for the Day: Bird Feeders should be at least 15 feet or 4 metres from any windows. All windows should be bird friendly. Decals and stickers need to be spaced close together and placed on the OUTSIDE of the window or they are not effective. Calico does not recommend them as it is expensive to purchase enough for them to repel the birds. Instead for those with short budget strings, get window markers made by Crayola. The white and yellow work well. For those with more funds, Calico recommends Feather Friendly strips.

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: Rohan Geddes, Judy Harrington, Dixie Rottler, Devon Osprey Partnership, John Thorpe, Joanna Dailey, Falcon Cam Project, SK Hideaways, Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, SK Hideaways, Growing Home, NEFL-AEF, FOBBV, Baiba, Trudi Kronenberg, Rewilding Europe, International Osprey Data Project, Sharon Dunne, USFWS Alaska.

Sunday in Bird World

3 November 2024

Good Morning,

Calico thanks everyone for all the lovely birthday wishes! They made her day. She feels so special. The online retailer did not, however, come through. Her prezzies were due to arrive on Saturday so we could have her party on her ‘real’ birthday, but the party has been delayed until arrival – hopefully Sunday by 10pm. Everyone was ready today – even The Boyfriend!

I keep picture books hard copies, of the kitties. Calico tried posing for her birthday photo. Here were the possibilities. Which one do you like best?

Calico said she thought she looked like a Corgi and not a cat in the first one.

Calico decided to try for the movie star pose! She thinks this is the best look for the family album.

Happy Birthday, Calico! We will have your party tomorrow. You have brought so much joy! Thank you for agreeing to come and live with us. I cannot imagine my world without you.

Saturday was a beautiful day. Inside the City, we spotted no less than 300 Canada Geese. In the country, returning home from a long walk at Bird’s Hill, we saw a skein of about twenty-five geese heading towards Winnipeg to spend a safe evening in the water. We will check Oak Hammock Marsh tomorrow to see how many geese are feeding in the adjacent fields.

This path is the quietest place. (We do the 2 or 4 km walk through this forest.) You will recall that I ‘used’ to spend much time at the nature centre. Because it is inside the City, many school groups visit, as well as the dozens who rent bikes or others who bring theirs to ride on the trails. It is often not the tranquil spot my mind seeks when I go to the forest for a walk.

There was a wet, earthy smell to the oak leaves lining many of the paths.

Today, there were four deer and a fox in my neighbourhood. The fox comes to our garden regularly to eat. It was heart-warming that people fed the deer pumpkins and didn’t want to harm the fox.

The report on the state of Canadian birds came out today. It is really pretty dismal for some species. Success is being seen in waterfowl and raptors while the long-distance migrants (Arctic Birds), shorebirds, and grassland birds are disappearing at an alarming rate. Have a read!

November NewsDownload

The destruction of habitat is one of the reasons we dutifully purchase coffee grown in the shade, so that the land is not cleared, and the trees are not destroyed. Think about it.

The Collins Street triplets are so cute and so energetic. They can’t wait to fly! https://youtu.be/s0fAxKZu0xY?

The latest news of the sea eagles:

‘A’ sends us the latest report from the ranger for the WBSE: “November 3: Again, no eagles spent the night at the nest last night, though ringtail possums passed by just before 8pm – including two young ones. Eagles were seen down on River Roost early – with lots of Sunday morning river traffic- water skiier, boats, ferries. Adults were then seen on Mangrove Island – and we felt that a juvenile was hidden there as well. Later, we saw one juvenile perched on a mangrove on the island – so hard to spot with its brown colouring. One of the adults then flew into the mangroves west of River Roost – out of sight and an unusual place for it to fly. Was the other juvenile in there? By early afternoon, it was a hot day, and only one adult was seen on the island. Later in the afternoon, both parents and a juvenile were on Mangrove Island. One spent a long time preparing bird prey, then a juvie was seen eating on the ground. No eagles still at the nest, though there were rainbow lorikeet visitors in the late afternoon.

I remain hopeful.- at least one of the eaglets was seen to be eating today. It is hard to be patient but as I said the other day, the BOTG at this nest are some of the best, so we just have to trust in their reports and hope for the best. The littles are strong and healthy – or were when they fledged – and hopefully their parents will get food to them.” 

At Port Lincoln, there is an early fish. Everyone is delighted. Wilko was 4 weeks old on Sunday in Australia.

In Orange, Xavier comes in with an envy of a prey item – looks like some kind of parrot to me, certainly not a Starling. Yira grabs it before everyone’s eyes. Diamond comes into the scrape and takes charge. Earlier (late Saturday night in Orange), in what could have been a terrible accident with Garramatta going off the ledge – we had a save, but Dudley flew out during the ordeal.

Aren’t these two just the cutest little eyases you have ever seen (OK, tied with Annie and Archie!)?

Dudley goes over the ledge: https://youtu.be/-YvE2GF7D88?

Gabby and Beau at the nest.

My goodness. They are beautiful – and powerful. Sea Eagles being returned to the Severn Estuary.

‘You have to disguise your human form’: how sea eagles are being returned to Severn estuary after 15Download

The New York Times report includes the following: “A Washington man who killed hundreds of eagles and hawks in Montana that he later helped traffic and sell on the black market was sentenced to nearly four years in prison on Thursday, prosecutors said.

From 2015 to 2021, the man, Travis John Branson, 49, of Cusick, Wash., traveled to the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana to help kill hundreds of birds in a “killing spree,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana said. In addition to his sentence of three years and 10 months in federal prison, Mr. Branson was ordered to pay $777,250 in restitution, prosecutors said.

“Branson went on self-described ‘killing sprees’ for thousands of eagles and hawks,” Jesse Laslovich, the U.S. attorney for the District of Montana, said in a statement. Mr. Laslovich added that Mr. Branson “butchered” the birds “and sold the parts and feathers for profit on the black market.”

Mr. Branson, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy and trafficking charges in March, killed at least 118 eagles and 107 hawks himself, according to investigators who traced the killings to Mr. Branson through text messages. In total, Mr. Branson worked with others to kill about 3,600 birds, prosecutors said.”

Man Who Killed Hundreds of Eagles and Hawks Gets Nearly 4 Years in Prison – The New York TimesDownload

‘L’ sent us the video about the man getting 4 years in prison for killing eagles. https://youtu.be/EH4YiIkYezo?

Reaction to the sentencing from the Couer d’Alene Tribe on whose land the eagles were killed. https://youtu.be/g695eLZYZI4?

Well, I am really glad that this is not about our dear Dyson!

P’Nut the Squirrel Is Seized From New York Home and Then Put Down – The New York TimesDownload

Dyson is on the fence feeling a bit guilty. She has just chewed through the wire connecting my twinkly fairy lights and the solar panel that would bring those little twinkly globes to life. We love her regardless. Dyson is about the same age as Peanut. She has lived in the wild and come for peanuts and brought her kits to the garden. She is family.

Thank you so much for being with us today. Remember to turn your clocks back if you haven’t already. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, L’, Birds and Beans Coffee, SK Hideaways, Marilylu Pitcher, Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Birdie Cam, NEFL-AEF, The Guardian, NBC Montana, KREM News 2

All is well in Bird World (well mostly)…Thursday in Bird World

31 October 2024

Good Morning,

It is Halloween. It is also Diwali, the Festival of Lights. Will you be celebrating either of these holidays? In years past, we used to get at least 75 children at the door wanting treats, and that all changed. I am thrilled that some of the streets in our neighbourhood are being blocked off so that the children can run from house to house and cross the street without worry of being hit by a car. On Saturday, there was the walk at Bird’s Hill, and CPAWS put on all the games and treats. There have been events at many of the community centres. Everyone is trying to make it safe for the little ones to be outside. The biggest Diwali party took place at our convention centre a couple of weeks ago.

I remember several years spent celebrating this holiday on the Indian Subcontinent eons ago. The food was delicious! It was the same later in Singapore. We have put up extra lights in the garden this year and will be thinking of our friends in India and Singapore as they celebrate good over evil and light over darkness.

“Divali 2011” by npmeijer is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

National Geographic Kids gives this information on Divali: “Diwali, or Dipawali, is India‘s biggest and most important holiday of the year. The festival gets its name from the row (avali) of clay lamps (deepa) that Indians light outside their homes to symbolize the inner light that protects from spiritual darkness. This festival is as important to Hindus as the Christmas holiday is to Christians.

Over the centuries, Diwali has become a national festival that’s also enjoyed by non-Hindu communities. For instance, in Jainism, Diwali marks the nirvana, or spiritual awakening, of Lord Mahavira on October 15, 527 B.C.; in Sikhism, it honors the day that Guru Hargobind Ji, the Sixth Sikh Guru, was freed from imprisonment. Buddhists in India celebrate Diwali as well.”

Now, ‘The Girls’ are wondering how much you know about Halloween. They consulted Good Housekeeping and it says, “If you think Halloween is a uniquely American tradition, grab a mini Snickers and settle in, because you’ve got some learning to do. Dressing up in a creative costume, traipsing around in the gathering dusk to collect the best candy or throwing a monster bash with friends are all time-honored holiday traditions. But Halloween didn’t start stateside at all. 

In fact, the origins of Halloween go back thousands of years to the Celtic celebration of Samhain (pronounced “sow-win”), a festival that marked the end of the harvest season and ushered in a new year. During Samhain, the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead was thought to be especially thin, so people could communicate with loved ones who had passed on.

Whether or not you buy into the supernatural, it’s still fun to learn a little something about the meaning behind your favorite Halloween traditions before you head out trick-or-treating. Turns out, the holiday has a much more interesting (and sometimes even spookier!) backstory than many people realize. Travel back in time with us to learn what some of the very first celebrations of Halloween looked like, including throwback ghoulies and ghosties, what people used to carve in place of pumpkins and even the elements that Valentine’s Day and Halloween have in common. We can guarantee there wasn’t a glitter pumpkin or superhero costume in sight.”

Calico urges you to keep your kitties inside during Halloween. (She thinks they should be inside all the time and Calico should know – she lived on the street!)

The best news in the world is that Lady and Dad are feeding SE33 and SE34 over away from the river from the moment and while they might be getting harranged by Currawongs and other small birds, they appear to be flying strong and eating well as of the time I am writing. Seeing the eaglets and their parents together just made me shed tears of joy. I hope you did, too!

I will continue to post all of the news that I can find. Some might overlap with earlier reports.

Those precocious falcon chicks are stealing more prey from Dad. https://youtu.be/pDUOEwKDnzM?

The Collins kids are all over the place.

It is really, really hot on that ledge in Melbourne. The temperature ready for lower down is 16 C. I wonder what it is on that ledge. Just look at Mum.

News from New Jersey says that Ospreys are staying later this year. In Manitoba, there are still lots and lots of geese and ducks. Perhaps this is the reason for the low migration numbers of raptors below. I sure hope so. The Red-tail Hawk count makes me cry. Let’s hope this is just a late season or these raptors are in trouble.

It seems that we take one step forward and one or two backwards when it comes to protecting wildlife and habitat. More news from Geemeff:

This is a damning report on the state of the environment and rewilding just after we read about huge swaths of land being put into trust and not into grouse shooting.

https://www.pressreader.com/uk/blairgowrie-advertiser/20241029/281530821516284

Osprey accepted the platform that had to be removed and rebuilt in South Australia. Wonderful news. Now if we can get Ervie a mate and a platform with a camera all of our dreams will come true. Little Envies!!!!!!! Think about it.

Breakfast at Port Lincoln. Gosh, Dad is doing a good job this season. Would love to give him a pat on his feathered back. Keep up the good work!

Wilko is full and Kasse is still eating.

Breakfast for Yira and Garrama. Yira takes the leftovers. https://youtu.be/RBnv5MTwXdg?

Elain gives us a glimpse into Yira and Garrama in a way only she can. https://youtu.be/2WdhOJyefhc?

Beau and Gabby continue to work in their amazing nest. As we enter November, we can hope that fertilized eggs will appear by the end of the month with a hatch on Samson’s hatch day (24 December).

‘H’ sent me some sad news this morning regarding the cameras at NE Florida: “We’ll be lucky if we get to see any of Gabby and Beau and their family this season.  As you know, cam 2 is down all season due to a broken cable.  Well, now the cam 1 issues have been diagnosed:  a partially broken cable.  Not all the strands within the cable at the nest are being used to transmit to the server… meaning that some of the cam 1 cable fibers are broken.  Cam 4 is still okay so far.”

I cannot imagine know knowing if Gabby and Beau have babies this year. Was it the hurricane that damaged the cables (Milton)? Do the cameras get an annual check up here? I wonder.

Pouring down rain at Decorah North on Wednesday.

Eagle vocals were heard at Pittsburgh-Hayes.

Jackie and Shadow were busy on Wednesday.

Five food gifts for F23 from M15 on Wednesday. https://youtu.be/-V8VxMSS1is?

It was raining at the West End, too. Thunder was looking out over the territory.

This is a very good use of funds. They will get to the bottom of all the questions about Menhaden and quotas and surely to goodness will help save the Osprey in the same way that the warnings from Rachel Carson issued about DDT did in the 1970s. There are many species at risk because of the commercial fishing of Menhaden being allowed by the State of Virginia. It needs to stop before they are wiped out entirely and there are no more ospreys, not even starving ones.

Butterflies are moving north, expanding their territory because of climate change. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/30/butterflywatch-gatekeepers-spread-north-scotland?CMP=share_btn_url

Scotland is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. It is home to so many raptors. So why not rewild 33% of Scotland. This film asks that question. Our narrator is a 26 year old who has eco- anxiety. Take some time to watch. It isn’t just Scotland. There are some gorgeous images and thought provoking questions. Even a good comparison between Scotland and Norway, the Oder Delta between Germany and Poland, and other sites that have rewilded. Happy ecosysystems and biodiversity link to the nature and climate crisis. https://youtu.be/FFypWj1bjPk?

Missing story time with Calico and the other three girls is not a good thing. I apologized this evening profusely and we settled down with treats and a good book. It got Calico’s Ten Golden Paw Award and she thinks you might want to put it on your holiday list for those special children in your life. It is not about raptors, but about seals and comes to us from Wales. The main characters are the seals that come to the island to have their pups and to rest. The other central character is Tina, a little girl who lives on the island where her Mum is the local vet. It is summer holiday season and Tina is determined to make the holiday goers that come to the island understand how to respect the seals. The book is: Rescue at Seal Bay by Gill Lewis. The only colour illustrations are on the front and back covers. All others are black and white drawings, just in case you wanted to know. The story is really good and Calico didn’t mind not seeing images in colour! It is listed at $14.99 CDN at the online retailers.

Calico found a lot of books written by Gill Lewis. We just ordered another one for her birthday – Sky Hawk. It is about Hen Harriers! I can’t wait to read it.

Smile for the day. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/JPkhvnseMUSZKTni/

Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. We hope to see you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J’, OpenVerse, National Geographic for Children, Eagle Cam, Judy Harrington, Rohan Geddes, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, SK Hideaways, Hawk Mountain Migration Chart, pressreader.com, Fran Solly Coffin Bay Community Notice Board, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Nesting Bird Life and More, Elain, NEFL-AEF, Androcat, Raptor Research Project/Explore.org, PIX Cams, FOBBV, IWS/Explore.org, Joanie Millward, Menhaden – Little Fish, Big Deal, The Scottish Rewilding Alliance, Gill Lewis, Harley Thomas White.

Fingers crossed for the sea eagles…Wednesday in Bird World

30 October 2024

Hello Everyone,

Thank you so much for being with us. It is nearly the end of October! Tomorrow is Halloween. The following day is All Souls Day, and when I lived in England, we were preparing to celebrate Guy Fawke’s Day on the 5th of November. I have lots of beautiful memories of ‘Guys’ in wagons, bonfires, and jacket potatoes in the back garden with friends. It marked fall. The back garden of our house on Gorse Road in Grantham had fruit trees, mostly apples and plums. They were delicious and by the beginning of November all had been picked and eaten or given to friends and neighbours. The ones that had fallen were left for the hedgehogs to eat. Shallow bowls of water were always left on the back step for them, too. When we first moved to the UK, hedgehogs were the stuff of children’s stories. Our son decided to bring one inside the house. Yes, those of you who are British will know what happened next! Fleas flew everywhere. It was a solid cloud. Our dear little friend quickly found its way back to the orchard – and if memory holds, not a single other hedgehog made its way into the house.

The past several years have been really challenging. I never know if I am waking up to a toddler or a teenager. It is difficult navigating through life with a partner whose Lewy Body Dementia is getting worse. I have learned more about dementia in the last couple of years than I ever imagined. Well, to begin with, I never imagined caring for a person with dementia a decade younger than I am, but it happens more often than you might think. There are beautiful moments, and then, in a blink, his world and mine change. I have learned to grasp onto those times and hold them tight. Thank you for bearing with me through these transitions. My reports are not as long and do not include as much academic information – Bird World is relatively quiet right now (thank goodness) and my real focus is always the ospreys. Thankfully, the Northern Hemisphere’s breeding season is not here yet and will not be in full swing until the new year. In the meantime, I am so grateful for the garden animals and The Girls and for the fact that I can go for long extended walks in the parks and forests near to where I live. It all helps keep my mind in balance!

I did have a laugh. One long time reader and friend thought that Missey had done Calico in. No, Calico was not eaten by Missey! Yes, I know Missey looks huge in the images. She is large; she is a Maine Coon, but she is also mostly fur. Missey does look formidable, something out of a medieval forest lurking with magical creatures. Calico is, however, very much alive and well. Both Calico and Missey like to think that they are the boss, but the real boss of the house is Hugo Yugo. She is the tiniest, bossiest little ginger female I have ever met. She will rush to finish her food dish and then leap off the counter and run to push Calico away from her dish so she can eat it. That single fact has helped Calico lose all that weight. Just look at how trim she is. The vet will be pleased when she sees her in November for her annual check up. When we brought Calico in from the cold outdoors, we did not know when she was born. The vet guessed how old she was and based on that we picked November 2 for her birthday. This, of course, means that we will be having another one of those wild parties on Saturday.

Sadly, as The Girls have now all passed the year mark, they do not run and play at night like they used to. I surely miss that!

The real boss of the house! And if you are wondering, Hugo Yugo did run and jump on Calico to get that spot in the purple chair.

I have said it once and I will say it a million times, Baby Hope is nothing short of the sweetest thing around. Look at her staring at Hugo Yugo as HY is getting ready to leap to the top of the cat tree.

Calico and Baby Hope never cause an instant of trouble. It is always Hugo Yugo and Missey. If things are falling down in the middle of the night, you can count on it being those two.

Two Crows were at the big tray feeder. I counted. This one carefully took six peanuts including this one, the seventh, in his beak. Incredible. The Crows are ‘off’ the cheesy dogs. I also find that very interesting. They started wanting only peanuts in early September. We start out with huge piles on the tray feeders – big and small – and scattered on the deck for the squirrels. They will be gone within an hour! I am not kidding you.

Junior and the Mrs were also after those peanuts. Just look at that pile of peanuts on both those feeders. These Corvids are busy! They are in competition with three grey squirrels and two red ones.

Just a quick note. Yesterday I included the day’s sightings at some of the Bald Eagle nests. I did not mean to imply that eagles had not visited ETSU-Johnson City. I had just not seen them yesterday. Boone and Jolene have been regularly visiting the nest and refurbishing it!

Wildlife groups and rehabilitation clinics continue to plead with people not to use the fake spider webs. Here is another one:

What is going on in Bird World? Well, the focus is on the Sea Eaglets at the Olympic Park in Sydney. And the questions that are on everyone’s mind are these: Are the eaglets eating (either being fed or getting their own prey? OR Will they wind up grounded near the Discovery Centre and wind up in care – which if they are not so emaciated, would not be so bad. As far as I can tell the only bad scenario is that these fledglings are not seen fed and are not grounded by the Discovery Centre so they can be rescued. So fingers crossed. I will post all the news that I can find.

SE34 looks to have a crop in the image below.

Video of eagle flying. https://youtu.be/rlZYZ4Zx21k?

‘A’ sends the Ranger’s report from Sydney:

Here is last night’s report from WBSE:

“October 29: Eagles were seen on the river around 7:30 –then shortly after on the mangroves – one with a fish. While doing surveys in the wetlands nearby between 7am and 8:30, there was no sign of either eaglet. Around 8:15, an eaglet was seen flying across the Armory grassland, being chased by the usual swoopers. It was seen on top of one of the old Navy-era mounds, then flew off again. One eaglet was reported by a member of the public along one of the pathways, but was gone when we investigated. We think this is SE34 and it is flying strongly and moving about. There were more sightings during the day, and one of the eaglets was seen from the ferry, flying along the river. Early evening, Dad was seen with a bird, taking it to River Roost. Neither eagle returned to the nest today. At dusk, the adults were at River Roost. The picture is from a sighting yesterday.”

‘A’ remarks: “I can hear those damned currawongs from the open WBSE tab, which I check regularly in the hope that one time, I will see an eaglet back on the nest, eating some fish. But all I hear are currawongs. It’s worrying, and oh so sad. I really thought this year might be different, due to the lengthier time the youngsters spent dealing with the swoopers while still having the nest as their ‘safe spot’. But it seems not. And what is really worrying to me is that it seems to be the parents who are letting the eaglets down. I was hoping that, like last season, the parents would help the eaglets by feeding them and showing them where the fish were. Watching their parents hunt would surely have helped immensely. But apparently this is not happening. “

In the Central Business District of Melbourne, there is a peregrine falcon scrape. Everyone held their breath as one of the chicks got a little too close to the ledge. https://youtu.be/0nKnS5II4rU?

They are getting their juvenile feathers as you can see clearly in the images below. They will be walking soon, tall and strong. They are learning to pluck by watching the parents who are bringing the prey to the nest and plucking it before them.

‘A’ remarks: “At Collins Street, the littles are self-feeding, and at least from dad’s point of view, it may well have reached the dump and depart phase. He brought some prey early, about 06:12, but one of the humongous fluffballs grabbed it from him and dad considered, then thought better of trying to retrieve it. The triumphant chick took its prize down into the gutter to eat it in peace, so dad retrieved what looked like a very long leg (or perhaps a piece of wing) from the scrape and began feeding it to one of the others. 

The third chick sat motionless, intently watching the scene unfold, from the back corner of the scrape. Eventually, it moved forward and into the feeding line. When dad responded by offering it food, it stole the entire piece and took it back into its corner of the scrape, where it proceeded to self-feed. Dad continued feeding what was left of his leftovers to the remaining chick. 

So in the end, everyone ate breakfast, but it was hardly the most organised or coordinated of feedings. Everyone ate in their own place and in their own time. Dad just went with the flow, handling the situation with aplomb. These three are already a massive handful for their parents, especially poor little dad, who is dwarfed by his offspring. This family is just TOO funny. “

These kids at Collins Street are so precocious. They are developing right where they should and one decided to take the prey from Dad and high tail it to the other end of the ledge!

Oops. Dad arrived Wednesday morning on the ledge and those triplets let him know that he can only come with his talons full! https://youtu.be/ej47XnKN9JE?

At Port Lincoln, Wilko eats first but Kasse wants some fish and gets some! He scoots up and Mum notices. ‘A’ comments: “At Port Lincoln, there was a bit of bonking at 06:32, but dad brought in a small whole fish at 06:41 and everyone was happy. Kasse is up off hisd tarsi and onto his feet today. He seems to have a fascination with feet that reminds me of a sweet girl called Lindsay. She too had to be reminded that other people’s toes were not toys. But Kasse is playing with Wilco’s toes and with mum’s. Just adorable. “

Diamond feeds Yira and Garramma their second breakfast. Xavier had a good go for a few minutes!

And Yira steals breakfast! https://youtu.be/URxLf7lZE-4?

At NE Florida, all that nest needs is eggs! Gabby and Beau are just putting the finishing touches on an amazing nest.

All is good in SW Florida. These two love a bath as much as our Starlings do! https://youtu.be/LyDlJfL2ukA?

The six kestrel chicks are doing well.

Black Stork Migration. Here is the Bird Map chart for the 30th of October. Waba still appears to be in the very south of Egypt at his last transmission.

Despite the fact that ospreys are what make me wake up in the morning, I love all birds and there are some that pull at my heart strings more than others. Jackie and Shadow are one of those couples. Jackie was at the nest looking at it and out over the territory while Shadow was finding the best sticks for cot rails. This couple lives in hope – the eternal hope that maybe this year they will be able to raise another eaglet together.

Polar Bears. The Canadian province where I live is often called the world’s Polar Bear capital. At our local zoo, three live in a large open space with pools and dens built a few years ago. In the north, in Churchill, the bears are hungry. If they come into the town three times, they are shot. Not tranquilized, but killed. They are hungry. The sea ice has retreated, and there are fewer seals they rely on for food. It is hot in Churchill and parts of the Arctic. It is unclear when the entire ecosystem that supports them will collapse, but there is evidence to show that it is beginning to happen sooner than expected. So what about captivity, like our zoo? What are the pros? And cons?

This is a good read. It asks a lot of important questions.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/29/polar-bears-are-back-in-britain-but-should-they-really-be-living-here?CMP=share_btn_url

What a great post from Connie Dennis in Nova Scotia. How often do we hear people say or read that our dear feathered friends, mammals, and fish do not have feelings? They are sentient beings; their behaviour towards these beautiful creatures will surely change once people recognize this. For a good read on animals and birds as sentient beings look no further than Marc Bekoff, The Emotional Lives of Animals.

The trailer for the documentary on California Condors from the Ventana Wildlife Society: https://youtu.be/dgCVAA-NNig?

Geemeff sends us some really good news. Don’t we wish we could get together and buy the Chesapeake Bay and stop the fishing? They say, “One more parcel of land for nature, one less for the #IdiotsWithGuns who like to kill in the name of so-called ‘sport’.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/29/wildlife-trusts-buy-rothbury-estate-in-largest-land-sale-in-england-in-30-years

While that is a good thought-provoking read about polar bears, we are going to close today with a good news story about a juvenile rescue. We need these good stories!

Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care everyone. Stay safe out there.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, images, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, J, SA’ Valerie Wright , Judy Harrington, Kerry Allen, Sydney Sea Eagle Cam, Deborah Victoriana, SK Hideaways, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Falcon Cam Project, NEFL-AEF, Androcat, Charter Group Birdcams, The Guardian, Connie Dennis, Ventana Wildlife Society, Tamarack Wildlife Centre.

Saturday in Bird World

26 October 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

I want to once again thank SK Hideaways for putting together the Memorial video of dear little Nox. So many have reached out to say how sad they are at his passing and how much they enjoyed it. Nox (Equinox) was a very special little guy. One of those amazing birds that come into our lives that will never be forgotten.

It was a nippy albeit beautiful fall day on the Canadian Prairies. The only leaves remaining on my property are on the small Cranberry bushes and the lilacs. Everything else is bare and brown, and the grey-brown dismal, taupey days of early winter are heading our way.

The park looks pretty desolate.

There have been only two Blue Jays lately, Junior and the Mrs. Only two Crows. The Starlings continue to dominate the numbers at the feeders. Around the City there are still Canadian geese feeding on the grass and ducks in the ponds and at the river. It is time again to go and check the numbers and see how many are flying in and out at night.

Mr Crow enjoying a peanut.

One good thing that did happen today was an apparently successful mating between Gabby and Beau. Last year he just didn’t know which end was which! https://youtu.be/bAIeeFqm72Q?

That mating was on the nest! And Gabby didn’t seem to nip or be off putting. All good signs.

The pair to continue to work on their nest bringing in sticks and moss. Fingers crossed for a successful year for these two – can I say ‘finally’.

F23 and M15 continue to work on their nest in SW Florida while guarding their territory. https://youtu.be/bs2Dq24r01M?s

At the Sydney Olympic Park, SE34 is still on the nest after having its elder sibling SE33 fledge yesterday. SE33 was located on a low bush near the nest after spotters heard Magpie calls. It is unclear if any food is going to SE33 or if he can get out of its location.

SE34 might fly at any moment.

A nice whole fish came to the Port Lincoln barge for Mum, Wilko and Kasse at 0711. Wilko seems to be behaving his/her self better.

And more for Kasse.

Mum had some fish, too. Yeah!

‘A’ is monitoring our little osplets: “Meanwhile, at Port Lincoln, Dad brought in a large whole fish at 07:09 this morning and both osplets ate well. Dad retrieved his leftover fish at 07:34 and ate hungrily but returned the tail end about ten minutes later, so the kids had a second breakfast at 07:44. I saw no bonking and little Kasse is an eager eater, definitely not intimidated by its sibling, which is good to see. 

These two are deep in their oily teenager phase but will soon emerge from it as those gorgeous shades of bronze appear on their heads and necks.  Meanwhile, those round tummies and fat little bottoms are testament to their good health and always make me smile. These two are just SO cute. I don’t think Kasse quite understands bonking – he looks confused more than scared. “

In Melbourne, the triplets are moving up and down the gutter and have no trouble getting back into the scrape box.

Dad brings prey to the kiddos in Melbourne! https://youtu.be/L4V9bEG3w0A?

The kids choose the cooler other scrape with the cover and F23 follows her intelligent children! https://youtu.be/6Umglw1ZJp4?

Breakfast was early at Orange.

Diamond brings in a Galah for the kids. https://youtu.be/fRDIoRcJYTE?

‘A’ remarks: “All is well at Orange, where a pile of fluff slumbers in the corner while Diamond watches from her favourite position perched on the ledge. Here is the summary of this morning’s activity:

26 Oct FEED 05.55.22 leftover; 06.49.53 scrap; PREY 06.06.08 X feeds; 07.39.04 X feeds/07.42.43 stashed on MW ; 07.57.36 feeds; 09.04.30 feed; WATCH 07.46.10 Yira selfie

At Collins Street, the chicks have taken advantage of their newly found mobility to immediately change scrapes. When I tuned in this morning, the scrape was EMPTY and of course for a moment, I panicked, before I realised where they had to be. Sure enough, on the north facing camera, we can see two chicks sleeping in the sheltered scrape, with a parent perched on the comfortable spot that was added to the front of the sheltering structure, so the parents can comfortably use the perch rather than getting stiff perching on the edge of a board. They used some sort of car-tyre rubber, I believe, to create that perch and it is obviously very comfortable for the adults, who can get up and out of the melee to a good supervision spot. Perfect. A great addition. 

So this makes us happy because the shelter at that end is SO much better, giving mum a break from her mumbrella duties and also improving the safety of the chicks themselves. You know how much I wanted the scrape at the south end of the ledge actually removed altogether, forcing them to use the northern end, but the chicks have done that of their own accord as soon as they were able. TOO funny. I wonder whether they will stay at the north end, return to the south end, or split themselves between the two scrapes. It could get very awkward for feedings and confuse the parents no end. 

Anyway, that’s the big news in Australia’s falcon world this morning. “

Clive’s Ride made more news stations. Clive is possibly the most positive story to come out of Hurricane Milton.

There’s an eagle at Decorah North in Iowa!

Gracie Shepherd caught Mr North and DNF having a bath today! https://youtu.be/B-vDfnf0NvY?

I missed her on cam but the chat says that Hope was doing some nestorations early Friday at Port Tobacco.

I did catch the two darlings of the Big Bear Valley, Jackie and Shadow, perched looking out over their territory.

‘J’ sent a link to a video showing Jeffrey the Pinecone on Jackie and Shadow’s nest is bigger than Fiona! https://youtu.be/Oqy1JFa4r4o?

Liberty and Guardian were home working on their nest in Redding, California.

Sadly, today I added Nox and the little fourth hatch at the Coobowie Osprey Platform in South Australia to the Memorial Page.

How do war zones – and as I write this tonight there are many of them – impact our raptors, their lives, and their migration?

I have been concerned about the Black Storks that have migrated through Ukraine. Now I try to keep an eye on Waba whose last transmission was on the 18th of October when he was in Israel. I hope to goodness he is now out of Israel and well into Africa.

Active European warzone impacts raptor migration: Current BiologyDownload

Cal Falcons gives us a favourite Nox moment. https://youtu.be/uzDzj0htaXQ?

As we continue to monitor the issues surrounding Osprey’s deaths in the Chesapeake Bay, Geemeff sends us to reports on the impact of commercial fishing of Menhaden on osprey deaths. Thank you, Geemeff.

https://www.cbf.org/news-media/newsroom/2024/all/as-osprey-populations-struggle-manager-continue-deliberations-on-chesapeake-bay-menhaden.html

and from William & Mary University:

CCB’s latest osprey study continues decades of work on behalf of the species

Calico’s Tip for the Day could save your pet’s life: Do not use scented candles, air fresheners that plug in, or any time of air freshener spray. There are also essential oils that are extremely dangerous. You might be putting a few drops in water in one of the new plug in contemporary diffusers. Please check with your vet to find out which oils are safe! This is why.

‘The Girls’ wish you a fantastic day! And a lovely weekend. Remember to sit outside and listen for the birds! They sure would like to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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

Thank you to the following for their posts, videos, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, J”, Nest Flix Memories, NEFL-AEF, Androcat, SWFlorida Eagle Cam, Olympic Park Eagles, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, SK Hideaways, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Nesting Bird Life and More, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Falcon Cam Project, AccuWeather, Decorah North and Raptor Resource Project/Explore.org, Gracie Shepherd, Port Tobacco Eagle Cam, FOBBV, Nature Lover Bird Life Odyssey, FORE, Current Biology and British Trust for Ornithology, Cal Falcon Cam, cbf.org, William and Mary University.

Branching at Olympic Park Eagles…Saturday in Bird World

12 October 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

15 C with blue skies and sun on Friday but it is nippy Saturday morning reminding everyone that fall is certainly here. We have wind and the dry leaves are dancing off the branches of the trees today. The Starlings arrived early for their suet and the little birds are eating seed and having baths. I am perplexed that we have, or seemingly have only one little Red Squirrel, when in the spring there were at least five. Dyson and the three kits are here as are the Blue Jays and Crows. Mind you, the Crows caw for cheesy dogs but are really wanting peanuts right now!

The Girls have been checking the cat food drawer. It is getting stocked up for our week away along with the food for the outdoor kitties and other garden animals. It feels a bit like getting ready and having a dormitory of teenagers to feed. It is definitely taking longer to get them organised than it will me.

The trip is going to be a little different. One of my former teaching and research assistants when I was at Acadia University lives in the area and after a couple of decades we are going to have coffee and goodies and catch up. Another potter that I wrote about several years ago, Susan Delatour, lives near Lunenburg and we plan to catch up and see the birds around the island where she has her studio. Hopefully there will still be migrants and some eagles will be on hand. The Maritimes are gorgeous this time of year. People travel from all over to see the changing colour of the leaves in mid-October. I hope to have some nice images for you.

There is not a lot happening in Bird World which is why it is a good time to take a wee break. The little falcons are growing like crazy. The Sea Eaglets need to get on with their branching and it appears that Wilko and Kasse, the osplets at Port Lincoln, are going to be a bit of a handful and a joy to Mum and Dad. Many of the cameras are still down including Captiva Eagle cam and NE Florida where the residents of the area are without power, tens of thousands of them. It could be some time before the cam is running again and we find out what is happening in ‘As the Nest Turns’. Maybe this year it will stop turning and Gabby and Beau will settle and raise some eaglets. I sure hope he is up to the task!

Isn’t this sad. No Menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay. None. Zippo. This is precisely why a moratorium is needed.

Let’s hope Clive kept his tail down in that nest as it is OK!

Ron showed up at the WRDC nest looking like he had had some prey. He is looking good. Now, where is Rose?

This was on the Loch Arkaig FB page. I am posting it here so you can see how remarkable these ospreys are. Look at that distance flown in a short amount of time!

Karl II’s son (2022) Waba making progress to Chad.

I wonder if your local wildlife rehab clinic could use any hollow logs you have in your garden? We keep ours so they disintegrate and we have insects for the spring birds but maybe you don’t do that…

News from Ranger Judy Harrington and the Olympic Sea Eagles.

And more from Olympic Park: A says, “At WBSE, we still have our two eaglets, settled in for the night side by side, duckling style, exactly as they have done for the past week or ten days. Here is today’s ranger report:

October 12: A cooler morning with all awake early and all joining in a chorus. Mating at 7:06 (in front of the children, too, and certainly recreational rather than procreational), then both were off. Good hunting this morning, as both returned with gull nestlings just after 7am. Lady fed both eaglets – a long feed with some self-feeding as well. SE33 managed to swallow the leg scrap at one stage. Later, both eaglets were flapping and jumping in the wind. Around 8:30am, SE33 was up onto the branch – so close to branching? Later, SE34 spent time on the rim as well. Then later, after 2pm, definitely branching – SE33 in the ninth week since hatch, at 67 days . More food arrived when Dad brought a fish piece in at 13:26 and Lady fed both eaglets. She brought in another bird herself at 15:37 – a good prey day again.

These two eaglets are the best of friends and are really enjoying lounging about the house without their parents. It’s a wonder they don’t throw a teen party. But please, stay as long as you like – we are in no hurry to see you go. “

The nest at SW Florida is just fine. https://youtu.be/36VTljFZHV4?

Wilko and Kasse wanting fish. It is now past 1200 and no fish! Mum has sat on them to keep the peace. There were four the day prior. This is not good and underlines the importance of the fish fairies at this nest. It is not clear why there are fish some days and not others. See discussion of osprey fishing later in the post. We know, however, that the survival of the two chicks last year rested entirely on the fairies and the dedication of the Port Lincoln Osprey committee.

A small partial fish came in quite late, around 1243.

Perfectly behaved. Beautiful little osplets. Aren’t they the most adorable things you have ever seen?

‘A’ and her unique remarks: “Dad brought in a big, very much alive perch at 19:09:37 and it was very floppy indeed, knocking both osplets for six. Both quickly regained their footing and were up for a feeding. Wilco got the early bites but mum was very careful to feed both osplets. The fish continued to flop about, escaping mum at about 19:14 and having to be recaptured. This helped Kasse, who had been behind Wilco but now got to the front. From this stage of the feeding, Kasse did slightly better than Wilco, so they ended up eating about the same amount. They are very strong little feeders, both holding their heads up, beaks open, and starting to handle bigger bites now. They love their fish and both quickly develop sizeable crops. This is a very large fish, so there’s plenty for the chicks and mum to eat, dad to remove the fish and have his share, and then return the remainder of the fish for another feeding. Everyone is going to go to bed with full crops at Port Lincoln.

Despite the very long wait for the first fish of the day today, there was no sign of bonking or dominant behaviour from Wilco when the food did arrive. The feeding was peaceful and amicable, with no aggression and no intimidation. Neither osplet appeared nervous of the other and both were keen to eat. This was a great relief to us all, I’m sure, because that really was the worry today with the kids getting pretty hungry before food arrived. Hunger is an experience that is very problematic on an osprey nest, as we know, so I think the osplets handled their first taste of not getting a taste (if you get my drift) in a very mature manner. I was proud of them. 

They truly are the cutest little people, with their racing stripe and their cute little round bottoms. It will be nice to watch their individual personalities emerge over the days to come. Certainly, we already know that neither has a vicious streak and both love their mum and love their fish. So far, they love each other too and snuggle a lot. The only foolproof way I have found to distinguish them is the size of their egg teeth. Of course, Wilco’s is the smaller egg tooth. “

It is 11 C when this image of F23 and the triplets was taken. It will get to 19 C today in Melbourne and hotter with the sun bearing down on the ledge at 367 Collins Street.

A reports: “The sun is getting hot at Collins Street and our wonderful mum is shading her chicks, sprawled out in front of her in the shade she is providing. They have plenty of stretching room in the area she has protected with her body and wings. She stands a lot while shading them, and yesterday was working really hard, beak open, panting heavily. But her babies were totally comfortable and completely shaded. She has this down pat. She does the best mumbrella I have ever seen at Collins Street. As long as she is on the nest, we need not have a single worry this season about the chicks being broiled in the Melbourne summer sun. That’s a HUGE relief. We both know how concerned we have been on occasion at this scrape, waiting for that sun to cross the scrape and for some shade to come. Now, we need not worry about it any more, unless of course for some reason the chicks are left alone. She has not made that mistake thus far. “

Notice the eyes of Diamond and Xavier’s chicks, Yira and Garramma. They are no longer slits but are open and the chicks can now see.

‘A’ remarks: “Darling Xavier got the chance to start the breakfast feeding at Orange this morning – 06:50 or thereabouts and the kids were up and consuming food. Too cute. I do love it when Xavier is allowed to parent. He did a feeding yesterday and he is so careful (as I said the other day, honey I choked a chick is not a sentence Xavier ever wants to utter. It’s funny how he keeps checking over his shoulder in case Diamond arrives and he gets into trouble. TOO adorable. This morning, he gave up his position without an argument when Diamond’s hefty frame loomed in the doorway of the scrape.” And later, “At Orange, little Xavier popped in shortly before 11:40 to find the chicks alone, so he quickly settled in for some quality brooding time. (I love the way he tiptoes across the scrape.) Even with only two, he is still so tiny that he broods them standing up. So tiny compared to Diamond. The chicks are hopeful of food and reach up towards dad’s beak and Xavier reaches down and touches one of the chicks with his beak. Sweet. 

But Diamond was gone for only a couple of minutes. When she returned to the scrape at 11:42, poor little Xavier knew any argument was pointless, though he put in a token protest before getting up. I do adore the way Diamond peers around Xavier to see the chicks, as if checking that they have not come to some harm since she left them a couple of minutes ago. 

Xavier does not leave the scrape – he simply moves to the ledge, where he continues to perch, looking out. Aww. Family time. Too cute. Xavier is such a sweetie, though I do fear that he will choke a chick one day with all the feathers he feeds the babies. He prepares the food so well at times, and then at other times he brings in something with virtually complete plumage and starts feeding it to the chicks. “

At Growing Home, Bubba is doing really well. Just look at the transition now to the juvenile feathers.

At Achieva, Jack looks down at the mess that Milton made of the nest in St Petersburgh that he shares with his mate, Diane.

Beautiful fall day at the nest of Duke and Daisy at Barnegat Light. Bald Eagles have been passing through on their migration and stopping at this site. It is gorgeous.

Gorgeous day on the Cornell campus home to Red-tail Hawk couple, Big Red and Arthur. Sadly, both of their chicks died after fledging. One from a window collision and the other from West Nile Virus.

Claire was at the US Steel Plant Bald Eagle nest in Pittsburgh on Friday. https://youtu.be/M0W9v2ULPCQ?

Decorah North streaming cam is now live and there is at least one eagle there!

Jackie and Shadow were working on their nest! https://youtu.be/OPwENFsdYK8?

What do you think the biggest threat is to eagles? We will be looking at this as two bills are set to be passed by the US Congress that will impact the Migratory Bird Act.

Bills Introduced in the House will Help Bend the Bird Curve | AudubonDownload
programs_fish-and-wildlife_wildlife_eagle- watch_about-bald-eaglesDownload

“Humans are the biggest threat to bald eagles. Much of the bald eagles’ habitat was lost, many of the birds were shot, and they were exposed to widespread contaminants. Between 1917 and 1952, for example, a bounty was placed on bald eagles in Alaska.”

There has been some questions about how often ospreys are successful in catching fish. That is a very loaded and complicated question. It depends on the time of year and the availability of fish. It depends on the water and wind speed. Ospreys only dive down approximately 1 metre or 3 feet tops. They need clearer shallow water. It depends on the temperature of the water. If the water is very warm, the fish dive down to stay cool. That is one of the issues for Olsen at Osoyoos. If we sit and think of the Chesapeake Bay and the fact that Omega could find no Menhaden, it would mean that the ospreys could fish all day and not catch anything. All About Birds says the success rate is 1 in 4 dives. Again, it is complicated and not that straight forward. Observers in the UK note that it often takes 13 dives for an osprey to get a fish.

All about Osprey hunting and feedingDownload

Dyfi’s findings on success rate vary greatly from those of others published. The Dyfi Osprey Project put out some facts on Osprey fishing:

Fact 31

Ospreys have two main ways of catching fish:

The wet method: Soaring or hovering above the water’s surface from between 10 – 30m, the osprey will dive head and talon first into the water at great speed after identifying a suitable fish prey. After plunging up to a metre under the water, the osprey will surface, position it’s wings above the waterline and with great strength, become airborne from a half submerged position from a stationary position.

The dry method: Rather than hunting at altitude, an osprey will fly almost parallel to the waterline and pluck any surface feeding fish straight out of the water getting only its legs wet. This method is usually used in warmer countries where the fish live near the water’s surface.

Fact 32

Ospreys will catch anything from tiny minnows weighing only a few grams to fish that weigh up to the size of the osprey itself – up to 2Kg or 4½ pounds. Most however, are around a pound in weight or less.

Fact 33

Because ospreys live on all continents on earth except Antarctica, they have a huge variation of fish species they catch. The old English name for osprey is ‘Mullet Hawk’ which gives us a pretty good idea what their main fish prey species in the UK was (and actually, where they nested) before they were persecuted to extinction by 1916.

Fact 34

Ospreys won’t catch a fish at every attempt. Young fledglings have a very poor success rate, around 5% to start with. However, as they acquire more experience, this success rate shoots up considerably. A recent study (2010) of ospreys fishing on an estuary in the northern Iberian Peninsula showed an average success rate of 69%. Young birds caught fish around two times in every five attempts (40%) whilst more experienced adults caught a fish nine times out of ten attempts (92%)!

Fact 35

In the last few years, ospreys breeding in Scotland have started to catch mackerel where historically they had not. This could either be as a consequence of more ospreys choosing nest sites nearer the sea, or a change in the feeding behaviour of the ospreys. Or both!

Fact 36

Every year at the Dyfi we check carefully the areas underneath the osprey nest and various perches. We find loads of ‘opercula’. The operculum is a hard flap covering and protecting the gills of a fish, it’s made out of fused bones. They look a bit like your Granddad’s big toe nail! This is the only part of the fish that the osprey can’t eat.

Fact 37

Every year, we record what species and size of fish the Dyfi ospreys catch. Roughly speaking, around half are grey mullet, 20% are flounder and 20% are trout. The other 10% consist of other fish like sea bass, garfish and perch.

Fact 38

Nora had a great dislike of flounders (or to be more scientific – had a least preference for flounders). There may be a good reason for this. Of all the fish caught by Monty, flounders not only have the highest water content and the least calories, but they are also very tough and take more calories to eat. Think of all those neck muscles straining to tear bits off. This is very hard to prove scientifically but is based on our (anecdotal) observations. A bit like the celery story – it takes more calories to eat celery and to digest it than there are in it!

Fact 39

Monty has on a couple of occasions caught a ‘twaite shad’ – an extremely rare fish in UK waters belonging to the Herring family. So rare in fact, you need a licence to catch one. Monty, now has all the relevant paperwork in plaice.

Fact 40

Ospreys typically catch fish that weigh between 150–300 g (5 –11 oz) and measure about 25–35 cm (10–14 in) in length, but the weight of fish they catch can range from 50 g (2 oz) to 2 kg (4.5 lb). 

Wind tunnels are helping us understand about birds and their migration.

What Flying in a Wind Tunnel Reveals About Birds – The New York TimesDownload

Sacha Dench and saving migratory birds: https://youtu.be/9ilgn0YkbCo?

Calico’s Tip for the Day: Do you own a dishwasher? Do you know what Tang is? Well, they have something in common – clean dishes! Calico got some tips from the Maytag factory and she is passing them along to you. First, do not rinse your dishes. Scrape them. Always use the automatic setting on your dishwasher. Once a month put in a packet of those orange drink crystals – Tang. It will clean and freshen your dishwasher!

Thank you for being with us today. Take care everyone. See you tomorrow!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A’, William Dunn, Menhaden-Little Fish, Big Deal FB, Window to Wildlife, WRDC, West Midlands Birding and the Friends of Lock Arkaig FB, Maria Marika, West Wildlife Rehab, Judy Harrington and Sydney Sea Eagles, wskrsnwings, Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Olympic Park Eagles, Growing Home Osprey Cam, Achieva Credit Union, Conserve Wildlife of NJ, Cornell RTH Cam, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Cali Condor, Audubon, USFWS, All About Birds, All About Eagles, Dyfi Osprey Project, The New York Times.

Clive, the bravest of the brave…Thursday in Bird World

10 October 2024

Hello Everyone,

Cams are down in Florida. We have yet to determine what happened. ‘PB’ sent the following images to me from Barb Henry. All is well at SW Florida in Fort Myers. We are waiting for the word of Clive. And I am presuming that Achieva platform is alright. It was still holding in the worst winds as the far eye wall went through last night.

This report is a kind of mixed-up stream of consciousness following of Milton and the nests. In particular, I focused on Captiva, Achieva, and SW Florida. Thursday was quite the day and many of the other nests got simply overlooked – brief mentions at the tail end. So many of you watched Clive and stayed with him til the cameras went out at Captiva. He is my hero! Let us all hope that there is some word from Window to Wildlife on his status on Thursday since power to the cameras appears to be out there.

This is the wall of the hurricane after Milton made landfall hitting the Achieva Osprey platform. Notice the surge of water in the street below.

Milton has made landfall. So far, M15 and F23’s nest is holding. Some of the upper branches might break off.

At 36 minutes to landfall…cameras went out at Captiva at 1934 or thereabouts. At that time, Clive was in the nest.

Achieva. 89 mph wind gusts at the moment. Achieva had 5 inches of rain in an hour and had more than 7 inches prior to that. Lots of flash floods. The worst of the winds seem to hit Achieva after 2100 and you could see the streets filling up with water. See second image below.

This was 24 minutes til landfall near Achieva nest.

M15 visited his nest in Fort Myers, Florida before a tornado was at Cape Coral moving towards the Fort Myers area. They are expecting that tornado to hit the area of the nest within a few minutes as I write this. This is a PDF tornado, a monster tornado with life-threatening winds. They are saying that these are some of the biggest tornadoes ever seen in Florida. There is significant damage on the north side of Fort Myers. The cells are moving to the east and the nest should be alright for now. It is 1317 at the nest.

Lots of water when that system went through but M15’s tree is still standing.

Twisting M15’s tree around. Not sure those top perches are going to survive this.

There are huge tornadoes all over the area of the nests that are covered on the streaming cams – and, of course, all those wildlife that are not covered on cam. What a horrible day this is going to be.

One of the Bald Eagles is in the nest at Captiva! Look at the time. We are within 1 hour 48 minutes of Milton making landfall. Maybe this eagle knows something we don’t. They are thinking the hurricane is going to hit Sarasota instead of Tampa Bay. That would include Fort Myers and, of course, Captiva is in that path.

Lots of power line flashes going on at Captiva.

Osprey nest at Captiva. The storm surge is hitting the island. Milton is 1 hour and 3 minutes away and the osprey nest is losing sticks and rocking but holding in there.

Cameras off at Captiva now. Clive was still at the nest, hunkered way down as the hurricane went right over Captiva on its way towards St Petersburgh and Sarasota.

‘PB’ sent the migration map. Notice how smart those birds were to avoid Florida.

In other news…

Wilko and sibling, halfway around the world, only have one thing on their mind – fish! *

Every crop is full at 367 Collins Street in Melbourne.

‘A’ reports. “Those three are voracious eaters, and mum is kept very busy indeed filling those three endlessly open beaks. The youngest is very good at getting fed – it begs ceaselessly and loudly and always has its beak wide open. When it turns forward to face mum, it does not do as well as when it has its back to her in the tripod configuration I have been talking about. When the three beaks are gathered together in the centre of the tripod, it is very easy for mum to put food into all three, even though the heights vary. So the youngest has the best access to food in this position, which it has quickly realised. Smart little eyas. Getting fed is its number one priority after all and it is working that out fast. 

These little snow people are beyond adorable. Fluffy wee falcons are the cutest things. Little dad is working hard and doing a great job. From soon after 16:24, we can hear him chirping away from the northern end of the ledge. Mum is brooding the trio, who are sprawled in front of the open garage, sleeping in a pile. Dad is eager to get mum’s attention, but she remains with the chicks, It certainly interests the chicks, who wake up at the sound of dad e=chupping. He then begins his kak-kak-kak vocalisation, loudly. He repeats it once or twice. No move from mum. “

The two little falcons appear to be doing just fine at Orange.

All is well with the Olympic Park Sea Eaglets.

Everything is good at Port Lincoln!

Thank you to everyone for being with us. Continue to send positive wishes to everyone as heavy work begins cleaning up after Milton. Take care. See you soon.

*It was reported that Mum removed Comet from the nest. This was an error. The second hatch was fed to the two other chicks as we saw at Niagara Bee.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, H, PR’, Achieva Credit Union, Window to Wildlife, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Google Maps, BirdCast, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Olympic Park Eagles, and Port Lincoln Ospreys.

2nd hatch at PLO, Cute Australian Bobbleheads…Monday in Bird World

7 October 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Sunday was a bit nippy. 9 C. The 40 kph winds were whipping the trees about with the leaves falling at an alarming rate. It is now 1100 and everyone is in the garden. Three Crows eating peanuts and suet. Three Blue Jays doing the same. Then there are the 18 or so European Starlings trying to grab some mealworms in between the Jays and the Crows. At least in our garden, they are not bullies. Everyone seems to wait their turn like planes lined up on a runway. Since the spring we have not been able to see the little birds very well as they have been hidden in the lilac bushes with their thick leaves. Soon all of those lilacs will be bare.

The bird feeder workshop was quite fun. The young woman leading the few of us that dared to show we lacked some essential skills was wonderful. She discussed every aspect feeding birds from seeds to feeders and for me, how to breed my own meal worms. Yes, we will call it Hugo Yugo’s Meal Work Farm!!!!! I don’t think Calico would want anything to do with bugs and worms! You need a transparent plastic bin (ugh, plastic), some paper towels, bran, and some starter meal worms. This tub has apparently been going at Oak Hammock Marsh for fifteen years. There are hundreds and hundreds of meal worms. I will keep you posted – I have everything but the breeding stock of worms.

Then we had a tray that showed us what to feed birds, different seeds for different species. Two things she noted should not be fed: bacon grease and peanut butter. Both of them will stick to the feathers of the birds and prevent them from flying. The bacon grease melts at a lower temperature than suet which should only be used in the winter. So don’t be tempted to use it. Popcorn – do not salt or butter – and best not on strings. Just air pop it and put it on your tray feeder! Some seeds can only be purchased at specialty bird shops while others can be bought at your local feed and seed stores. Calico says to always check prices -. We get some seed from a local farmer and others at the feed and seed. Our specialty bird feed store is at least twice as expensive. With the number of birds we feed, we need to find good quality food at reasonable prices.

And like magic…another feeder for the garden!

In the fields adjacent to the marsh, the geese were feeding. There were all four species that come to this area of the Canadian Prairies present – Ross’s Geese, Snow Geese, White-front Geese, and Canada Geese.

Florida hasn’t cleaned up after Hurricane Helene and already Milton is on its way to hit Fort Myers. Again, we can only be thankful that the raptors do not have any eggs or chicks in those nests. This will be the largest evacuation of Florida sine 2017 as Milton prepares for landfall. Milton appears to have the potential to impact all of the nests in Florida from Miami to Jacksonville. Stay safe everyone.

A different view of the Olympic Park Sea Eagles from cam 4. Lady is hunting for lunch! https://youtu.be/UIO6-eJBsGA?

Lady worked hard for prey.

Xavier tried to feed his chicks! Poor Guy. He is such a sweetie. Diamond is one protective falcon female!!!!!!!!!! https://youtu.be/rSGA_ATc7IE?

‘A’ reports that it is time to name the chicks at Orange! “Thought you would want this info in your blog as soon as it dropped. Here is the link for voting. They will choose the top two names from the voting (and the third egg, if it hatches, will get the third most popular name). 

Here is the link to the home page (they want people to go through the home page to vote, not just go straight to the voting page, so that’s the link I’m including): https://science-health.csu.edu.au/falconcam and select the News section (if you want to go straight to the voting page, which they prefer you not to do, it’s https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSVVrghyPtbulRzJAR8GxNyv-kK66jKHowKKqg4OdXxfO0JQ/viewform?pli=1. 

The name choices are: 

Bidhi (big)

Birrang (high, faraway, blue sky)

Birrgun (swift)

Bumbi (smoke)

Garrama (hunter)

Ghuda (shiny)

Gindhay (playful)

Magarra (pretty or bright)

Marrung (cunning)

Nanan (fast)

Yira (sharp)”

So did Mum tell Dad to go and get a fish or put in a phone call to the fish fairies? He flew out right after a little chat. 🙂

OMG. Ervie’s little brother or sister is so cute…and Mum had such a time getting it back under her after its feeding!

Heidi reports: “The second hatch at Port Lincoln occurred prior to 15:19 on 10/7.  The second baby was first seen out of the shell for a split second in a very fuzzy cam view at 15:19 (screenshot).”

The triplets are eating well in Melbourne!

Heidi got that morning feed by Mum on video! https://youtu.be/M-AMx425fZc?

Beautiful eaglets.

Lukin is the name of the little White-tail eaglet at Port Lincoln. He is 50 days old today and is standing and walking on the crane nest quite steadily.

Beau was on the LOP and Gabby was there, too. They are in the area of Milton. Send them good wishes – like I know you will to everyone.

It is raining in Fort Myers. The ground is absolutely saturated.

The nest is really a beauty. F23 and M15 have been working particularly hard and those cot rails are getting perfect. I wonder what it will look like after this hurricane? https://youtu.be/mOMRW5Ff8yw?

Brown Pelican caught on the Captiva Osprey cam where it is also raining and winds are gusting. Milton is not set to make landfall til Tuesday.

Sleeping kestrel chicks – six of them! https://youtu.be/aP6eWWocNcM?

The Black Storks are making progress on their way to Africa. Some have arrived. You can follow their journeys on the interactive BirdMap.

Calico’s Tip for the Day: Go for a walk! Or, if you can’t, sit outside in the sunshine. It will do you more good than you can imagine!

‘Nature is free, and the best kind of medicine’: is this the perfect walk for improving mental healtDownload

As most of you are aware, my husband has Lewy Body Dementia. Getting out in nature is essential not only to HIS mental health, but also mine. Taking part in simple activities, like building a bird feeder, is also key to one’s well being. It was not rocket science. Pre-drilled holes, but it helped with confidence. So if you know of someone who needs a boost, see what is happening at your local wildlife centre and take them! Sign up for a morning bird walk, build a bird house, learn to identify raptors. Life is truly beautiful – live it! Our dance card is full – every day there is something even if it is a trip to the local farmer’s market for their final event. The local honey is divine. Fantastic in tea or on toast.

Thank you so much for being with us today. Send warm wishes to everyone in the path of Milton as Florida prepares to get hit again.

Bird World is so exciting with all the new babies. Watch the cams, check them out, rewind to see the wonderful feedings. Watching falcons is so much different than ospreys. Now that we know that the fish fairies will visit Port Lincoln, we can relax. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, H’, Oak Hammock Marsh, CNN Weather, Olympic Park Eagle Cam 4, SK Hideaways, Falcon Cam Project, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Heidi McGrue, Olympic Park Eagle Cam, NEFL-AEF, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Window to Wildlife, Charter Group of Wildlife Ecology, BirdMap, and The Guardian.