Well, I haven’t been able to concentrate. Despite the freezing temperatures, a walk seemed like a good idea. It was so cold and slippery that the trails did not give much joy on Wednesday, so today, I am heading to a pool to go for a good long swim while we wait to see if any of the eggs at Big Bear are viable.
Will this mini bottle of champagne get opened this year? We wait to see. I bought it last year to celebrate the hatch at Big Bear, and it has sat in the cupboard waiting just like Jackie and Shadow have to try again for a family.
10,731 were watching the nest at 1534 on Wednesday. I just wonder what the numbers will be when the Pip starts. So many people love this couple. They are the epitome, like Jak and Audacity, of resilience and hope.
Rolling the precious eggs.
Singing together.
11, 784 and growing at 0700 watching for a pip as Jackie rolls the eggs leaving us to wonder.
JC23 and JC24 are quite the characters – and strong. My goodness the necks these two have!
Boone feeding these babies. Gosh that one is so strong. It appears the bonking has waned for awhile. Hoping it stays that way.
Abby and Blaze have fed Swampy and Meadow all day on Wednesday – full-to-bursting crops were the order of the day. It is a wonder either of these eaglets can move.
Starting to look like the new fleece jackets!
Proud Mamma Abby with her two beautiful eaglets.
Have a look at Swampy’s fat bottom and a huge PS!
Two eggs for Andor and Cruz at Fraser Point.
News coming in of the South Australian ospreys.
Beau and Gabby have been mating and working on the nest. Could I seriously hope that these two might have another clutch of eggs? at this date?
Mum is still incubating the eggs at Duke Farm and it appears that there will be at least one little one as hatch is underway. Congratulations.
The Bald Eagles on the Hanover, PA nest now have two eggs. It was a breezy rainy day there on Wednesday. HDonTap says, “With the recent arrival of the second egg, the plot thickens as two male eagles fiercely vie for the coveted space. As observers eagerly await the hatching, speculation mounts, adding an extra layer of suspense to this captivating avian tale.”
There are two eggs at the ND-LEEF nest in South Bend.
Everyone wants to incubate (except Beau and Lewis)…
Arthur and Big Red worked on their nest with Arthur in and out with sticks several times. At 17:45 he arrives with a vole (or mouse) for Big Red and calls her but she did not fly in. He took the prey and left!
Notice how many sticks Arthur has accumulated. Those rails look pretty good. Is he expecting 3 or 4 eggs this year?
The eaglet at JB Sands Wetlands is really changing its plumage. Just squint and you can see the dark feathers starting to come in with the charcoal thermal down.
Food delivery at the Hilton Head GHO nest that I missed! Aren’t they cute?
More bonding at Anacapa with Lena and HJ.
Is Archie inviting Annie to come down to the scrape with him? Does she join him? Watch and see!
Not sure I this is before or after Annie discusses Pocket Gophers and Rodenticide with Archie!
I am imagining the most famous raptors all over giving lectures on dangers to their existence.
Only one Kakapo was born on Leap Year Day – Tau Kuhurangi. Happy Birthday!
Frustrated by the camera at FORE and wanting to watch Liberty and Guardian, here is some news.
And now…for some really good news. With population numbers declining rapidly for some species, the Eastern Imperial Eagle is having a comeback in Austria!
“Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca)” by Bernd Thaller is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
In 2020, there were only three recorded nesting pairs of Imperial Eagles in Serbia. The reasons for the total decimation of the population were:
“Loss of habitat, poisoning, and poaching are the problems that brought the eastern imperial eagle to the edge of extinction. The european ground squirrel [Spermophilus citellus, native to Eastern Europe and Asia Minor], a favourite food of the eagle, lives in open grassy fields, most often pastures that have been plowed over due to the dying off of traditional animal husbandry. There are no cows grazing, no pastures, no ground squirrel, no old trees that can withstand the nests of these large birds, so there are no imperial eagles. When you add in pesticides and poaching, the state of the population is not surprising,” he says.
Reckless pesticide use is very bad for the birds, but Serbia also faces the issue of intentional poisoning of wildlife.”
In the last article, more discussions of how humans have made the Imperial Eagle decline so rapidly. I hope by reading the article on the growing numbers in Austria that you will appreciate how difficult it was – because almost everywhere these gorgeous raptors are in great decline.
Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care and remember – all eyes on Big Bear starting tomorrow.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, screen captures, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘H, J, SP’, FOBBV, Johnson City Eagles ETSU, Rollin’ Dog, Eagle Country, Lisa Yen, Brooke Copp, NEFL-AEF, Duke Farms, HDonTap, ND-LEEF, PIX Cams, Cornell RTH, JB Sands Wetlands, Hilton Head, SK Hideaways, Cal Falcon, Kakapo Recovery, FORE, BirdGuides International Openverse, NABU, Emerging Europe, Birdlife International my-mriya, Kathy Robles, and The New York Times.
The sky was blue on Sunday and the temperature was -5C. Not as warm as it was on Saturday, but still nice. It meant a trip north of the City to check on eagles and, wow. We lucked out. Sitting there quietly in a tree minding its own business was an adult Bald Eagle. The second image is heavily cropped. All taken with my iPhone from a distance.
People were ice fishing on Lake Winnipeg at Gimli. The marina where the Osprey fishes from spring to fall was silent today. Everything awaiting the thaw.
‘The Girls’ did not get into too much mischief on Sunday. Hugo Yugo held her own and kept command of the top of the smallest cat post. Baby Hope was on her favourite sofa. Calico was no where to be found and Missey was by her window on arrival home. It looked like it was a lazy Sunday afternoon for them. No one wanted to pose and neither of these two were particularly happy that I was bothering their nap.
The Bald Eagle nest in Johnson City, TN is blowing so hard. I was afraid the tree was going to go down…This was during pip watch and then…
The eaglet hatched! Congratulations Jolene and Booth on this feisty new born.
The egg at Duke Farms is 35 days old. We are officially on hatch watch. Did you know that Duke Farms “is located on 2,700 acres near Hillsborough, New Jersey” and “is one of the largest privately-owned parcels of undeveloped land in NJ state.” Isn’t that fantastic! (For clarification, 600 acres is a square mile to give you an idea of the size).
We are THREE days away from pip/hatch watch at Big Bear Valley with Shadow and Jackie. Eggs are still in tact as of Sunday afternoon. Their nest is in a Jeffrey Pine, some 145 feet from the ground. It is one of the highest Bald Eagle nests in the US in terms of elevation at 7100 ft above sea level.
Watchers of the Captiva Osprey nest are hoping that Jack and F07 will have their first egg on Sunday.
No egg yet on Sunday.
It is not all smooth sailing at the tower of Diamond and Xavier. Cilla Kinross notes some altercations with the Kestrels. The falcons have also been hunting at night! You might recall that Annie’s mate, Alden, was a great nocturnal hunter.
Will Newmann pick Julie? There is some action at the Great Spirit Bluff scrape on Sunday that might suggest romance is finally in the air.
Archie and Annie spent Sunday in and around the scrape at The Campanile.
Clive delivered a large fish to Cal on Sunday. Dad demonstrates ‘unzipping’ the Pompano for Cal and leaves the fish for his youngster to self-feed after he gets some good bites.
Sunday morning at Flaco’s roost tree in Central Park. I have to admit that I am captivated by the outpouring of love for this owl and how his plight of being in a small cage resonated around the world. People wept for his death and also for the joy they believed he felt in the year that he was free. Flaco spoke to something deep in our own souls. Can YOU imagine sitting in a cage watching life walk by? or fly by? Or flying yourself? Is this the heart of what is happening?
I will only mention products that really work in my post and that I have either used or, in the case of books, read. I do not get a penny for mentioning Feather Friendly but it works. So do Crayon Window Paints. The key is to put these on the outside of your windows (decals and all other items, too) including the window paint. The lines for the window paint need to be 2 inches a part in every direction. You can clean the paint off at the end of migration season with White Vinegar that does not harm the environment. The Feather Friendly are expensive but they are supposed to last a number of years. The window markers are the cheapest of anything you could use.
I use the Feather Friendly on the Conservatory. We can watch it save lives.
A lovely article on birds and aging. It is two years old and still a good read. Found it on a FB feed this morning and wanted to share. Please note that Wisdom is now 72 years young! She was dancing on Midway Atoll but did not get a mate and is back foraging at sea.
Preparing the nest in Durbe County, Latvia – Milda, the White-tailed Eagle and her new mate. The first year I watched Milda she laid her eggs the third week of March.
It looks like an almost two-and-a-half-year-old eagle landed on the nest of Beau and Gabby late Sunday afternoon. What a beauty! The only hatches from this nest that might come close would be Jasper or Rocket. The larger amount of hot chocolate brown could account for the slight difference from the image below.
Beau wasn’t happy and chased the youngster off.
Two successful GHO fledges on the SW Florida property of the Pritchett’s that is shared with M15 and F23.
Meadow and Swampy were both well fed on Sunday…no problems here except for the flies.
Everything looks good at Superbeaks. That little one is right up there in front. Pepe and Muhlady have a catfish and is it a bird? in the pantry.
Thunder was attacked by a hawk while incubating her three eggs at the West End on Saturday. My heart sank.
The first Cahow has hatched in Bermuda.
“bermuda petrel, cahow, pétrel des bermudes” by Miguel A Mejias, M.Sc. is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
They are the Bermuda Petrel – known on the island as a Cahow. They are also the national bird of Bermuda and are one of the rarest seabirds on Earth according to the Cornell Bird Lab.
Thank you so much for being with me today. We hope to see you soon – take care everyone!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, photographs, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A’, Duke Farms, Sara A, Gracie Shepherd, FOBBV, Window to Wildlife, Holly Parsons, Cilla Kinross, Ashely Wilson, Cal Falcons, Birgit Nanette, @BirdCentralPark, Marion Savelsberg, Feather Friendly, Audubon, LDF, Biruta Papa, NEFL-AEF, Lisa Russo, Eagle Country, Superbeaks, Janntonne, Nonsuch Exhibitions, and OpenVerse.
It is +7 C in Winnipeg and everyone seems to be outside, smiling, walking their dogs or cats. The squirrels and Black-capped Chickadees were out at The English Garden. It really was superb despite my angst over the fact that we need the snow, we need our normal winter.
I am smiling. 4.8 km. It was a good day for a walk. Limited ice, lots of sunshine!
At home, Missey and Hugo Yugo found the store room. Quilts piled high on storage bins in case they wanted to look out. It is awaiting spring cleaning, but these two did not care! Well, not quite true. Hugo Yugo raised her head. She did not want her nap disturbed by me.
Lewis and Missey spent hours at this window next to one another, watching the Chickadees that had a nest there. Life goes on. Hopefully Hugo Yugo will spend time there with Miss.
It has been a horrid week. Trees were cut down, Hugo Yugo was ill and is now well, and ‘The Boyfriend’ disappearing topped it all. He did return. And then he was gone again. Not like him! A few of us feared the worst, but then he showed up at 1620 Saturday for food, and as I am writing this, he is eating kibble from the dishes left by my neighbour. Turns out he was locked in her garage for a few days. So…please check to ensure no kitties are locked in yours if you leave for a few days. Things turned around. I cannot do anything about the trees, but plant more in my garden or move which I don’t wish to do — I really couldn’t leave the garden animals. So, forward!
First, there is a correction. I had originally posted that Stella and Talon had their first egg on the 21st. Then I heard that they had three and thought I was wrong. It appears that the second egg was laid yesterday -Saturday- at the Florida-Gainesville nest, so let’s rewind. If there is to be a third, it should be in the nest on the 27th.
Andor and Cruz have their first egg of the 2024 season at Fraser Point in the Channel Islands. You may recall that they are Lillibet and Victor’s parents. Victor was rescued and treated by the Ojai Raptor Centre before being rereleased to the wild in 2023.
The first egg for Dad and the new female at ND-LEEF (ND17’s nest) was laid Saturday evening.
The Centreport Eagles have egg number 2. It feels like the sky is raining eagle eggs as of late.
Jak and Audacity teach us the meaning of love and hope. It has been three years since they fledged a single eaglet. Will we dance for joy on 8 March – we certainly will – if this egg survives to hatch!
PB sent a great image of Meadow this morning. Unless something changes, it appears that we no longer have to worry about Meadow’s survival. Isn’t that fantastic?
They are both rather itchy at Eagle Country.
Beau and Gabby also teach us about love and endurance and accepting one another’s learning curves. The couple returned to their nest after abandoning their egg on Saturday working away. Maybe they will have eaglets next year, maybe not. For now, the two are keeping their territory out of the hands of intruders and living their lives.
Tiny bobbleheads at Superbeaks.
JBS20 has had nice crops all Saturday. The arrival to the nest of the second adult made for some happy moments. AE sent a screen capture of that happy reunion.
Are you holding on to the edge of your seats? Today is the 25th of February. We are four days away from pip/hatch watch for Jackie and Shadow. FOUR.
Shadow has been up to his old stick trick to try and get some incubation time – and when the exchange happens, we get to see three intact eggs.
At the Captiva Eagle nest of Connie and Clive, their surviving eaglet, Cal, is getting proficient at self-feeding!
Ron and Rose are having R6 feed himself most of the time, too.
Chase and Cholyn’s precious egg at Two Harbours.
A view of the two eggs at Duke Farms.
And two eggs at Decorah North!
Royal Cam chick watched over by parent LGK followed by some good feedings. It is always hard to see these little ones left while the adults are out foraging. I wonder what kind of a gardener this one will be?
Giliath is doing well. Making the rounds and catching Puffers, too.
Bonding taking place at Lake Murray Osprey Platform. Lucy lost all her chicks to the GHO last year as well as her mate. I am disappointed that the protective guards used at Cowlitz PUD successfully in 2023 were not tried at this nest.
It is touching that so many are grieving over the death of Flaco, the Eurasian Owl. Tributes poured in from everywhere – the major newspapers and stations as well as a myriad of FB groups.
People and news crews gathered to remember this remarkable owl. Poems were written, tears were shed.
My inbox has been full of the same question – how do I feel about Flaco’s death? The simple answer is I was both sad and conflicted when I heard about his death. I am glad that out of his fourteen years (13 in captivity), he could live one of them freely, being an owl, learning to hunt and flying freely. This will conflict with many people whose opinions I respect and who I contact for help if a raptor is in danger in their area. My thoughts come from seeing our local eagle, Majestic, sitting in a 10 x 10 ft cage – it is a cage, come on. She did this for years and years before an enclosure like the one Rita has was built. Majestic cannot fly and cannot live in the wild. There was nothing wrong with Flaco – he was, as all animals in small enclosures in a zoo are, nothing short of a display object. I cannot even imagine what it would be like for a healthy owl to be confined. So…I am so sad he has died, but I am so glad he was able to fly free.
I just received a message that the ospreys from West Africa are beginning to arrive in Spain! We are less than three weeks away from UK arrivals if they are as early as Maya was one year. Gosh, golly…..And remember. We are FOUR days away from pip/hatch at FOBBV with Jackie and Shadow.
Thank you for being with me today. If you want more images and discussion about Flaco, I urge you to check out Bruce Yolton’s blog. He is a photographer and has followed Flaco from the beginning. I know that he preferred that Flaco was safe in his enclosure, so we will agree to disagree. He is, however, talented and observant of all wildlife in the area. Take care everyone. There are too many Bald Eagle eggs, and the Ospreys are coming online. It is going to get busy. Take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, images, posts, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘AE, EJ, MP, PB’, IWS/Explore.org, Trudi Kron, ND-LEEF, Eagle Country, NEFL-AEF, Superbeaks, JB Sands Wetlands, FOBBV, Window to Wildlife, Duke Farms, Bald Eagles of Centerport Live Stream, tulsaducati, PLO, Laurie Spencer, Brendan Hall, Stella Hamilton, MandaPanda73, Pauline Ludwig, Janet Walker, Ian Ingle, The Guardian and The New York Times.
It was gorgeous weather, and loads of people people were at the nature centres making bannocks, at the Festival du Voyageur, and at many other celebrations across my city. My blog is ‘thin’ today because I wanted to spend as much time outside as I could! Walking is so much easier when the sky is blue and you don’t have to wear a jacket rated to -40 C!
After doing the daily ‘cat and bird chores’, I headed off to the nature centre for a long walk in what snow remains. It was -2 C, and lots had melted. There were so many people that the birds and deer had escaped to quieter parts of the park! Then, it was home to clean the cat’s teeth, check on the nest at Eagle Country, and see if ‘The Boyfriend’ was about. He has been missing since Friday. There he was this morning – he must have gotten locked in someone’s garage or found a steak dinner elsewhere. What a worry. When I left the nature centre, I did not feel very hopeful for little Meadow.
As I write this, I am closely watching the Eagle Country Nest of Abby and Blaze. It is true – we cannot ever take anything for granted. Our friends and family have heart attacks and die quickly and we didn’t even know they were having issues. Meadow went from a lovely eaglet on a nest where both were being fed nicely to a full 24 hours of rain on the nest, little food, and an irate Swampy. Meadow has not had much to eat for at least 24 hours at the time I am writing this and then, the miracle we all hoped for. Swampy got full and Meadow was fed – from roughly 4:32pm to 4:55 pm. This is a huge relief. I really thought we might lose this little eaglet.
Swampy eating.
Meadow being fed after Swampy goes into a food coma.
Thank goodness, Meadow had a good meal. Swampy was back bonking hard at 1734.
Ah, I am just not a fan – a believer that the species should cooperate to thrive.
Still, Abby and Blaze are amazing parents and Meadow had at least two good feedings on Monday. Tears of joy.
Hatch is in progress at Superbeaks. That great microphone has picked up the cheeping of the eaglet. The banner says it is coming from egg 3. As I write this, we are 37 hours since the pip was first seen. Will there be an eaglet when I wake up? And will only one egg hatch? We wait…there is a lot of waiting with raptors!
And that little one was free of that shell this morning. Congratulations Pepe and Muhlady – you have a baby! We hope it thrives.
At Little Miami Conservancy in Ohio, Bette has laid her first egg of the 2024 Bald Eagle Season. The time was around 15:35ish.
It was a relief to see Gabby and Beau both on the nest at NE Florida Monday afternoon. I had started worrying about Gabby.
Not sure what to do about that egg. Looks at it, incubates for a bit, and then goes up to the Sunset branch.
No eggs for Talon and Stella at the University of Florida-Gainesville campus.
Annie is feeling the love at The Campanile.
At Great Spirit Bluff, Julie might be wanting to win the affection of Newmann since Savannah is no longer with us.
It is difficult to watch Cal with Lusa’s body still on the Captiva Eagle Nest. On Monday, Connie arrived early, at 0717 with a nice whole fish, which her and Cal shared. Clive arrived around 0900 with another fish that Connie fed to Cal around 10:35. Nice to see fish coming in on the nest…stay away from the birds and the rights, alright?
Part of the day was spent exercising those big wings.
Liberty and Guardian have two eggs and the streaming cam is back on line!
It looks like Harry did such a good job last year that Sally thinks they can go for three in 2024!
Good news for Albatross lovers.
Hatch is in progress at Superbeaks.
Cameras are up and running in the Channel Islands.
Fraser Point: Home to Andor and Cruz.
West End: Home to Akecheta and Thunder. It is a little wet there on Monday. Incubating three eggs.
Two Harbours: Home to Chase and Cholyn. Still on Highlights.
Sauces Canyon: Home to Jak and Audacity. Incubating one egg. Still looks good. Raining there. Lots of nesting material!
Let’s move over to Big Bear Valley with Jackie and Shadow. Pip watch is now 9 days away…that’s right. Thursday the 29th. Will there be 10,000 people watching?
I don’t know about you, but I hold my breath every time I see those eggs. Send all positive energy – every bit of it, please.
Rain started. Jacki only takes a second to get a stretch and back on the eggs. They are being ever so careful.
The eaglet at JB Sands Wetlands can easily be seen now. Thermal down is appearing along with the mohawk!
At Port Lincoln, both fledglings are doing well. Here is today’s posting of Giliath’s tracker.
An article in The New York Times asks if the demise of the dinosaurs allowed our feathered friends to flourish.
We are expecting egg 3 at Farmer Derek’s Bald Eagle nest if it is to happen and egg 2 at Berry College today.
The Girls wish everyone just a fantastic day!
Thank you for being with me. Please take care! We hope to see you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘H, J’, LouisRielDay.com, Eagle Country, Little Miami Conservancy, NEFL-AEF, UF-Gainsville, SK Hideaways, Ashley Wilson, Window to Wildlife, Sharon Pollock, Moorings Park, Holly Parsons, Superbeaks, IWS/Explore.org, FOBBV, JBS Wetlands, PLO, and The New York Times.
Thank you, again, for your kind wishes for Hugo Yugo. She is fine. She is more than fine. Flying around the house and getting into trouble – back to her usual self. I have no idea what made her tummy upset or why she was vomiting and refusing to eat. There are no poisonous plants in the house or fresh flowers – nothing I could tell she might have eaten. Today, however, that slick little one flew onto the kitchen counter behind me (a gallery kitchen) and ate at least one mouthful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese before I caught her. So, of course, I will be watching out tomorrow. She has certainly tried to make up for any food that she missed as well and has been romping and running with Baby Hope, to the delight of her younger sister, who had no one to play with while Hugo Yugo was not herself.
Calico doesn’t understand ‘why’ she doesn’t get the little extra meals the two younger ones get, but she is on a diet and doing well. She was so thin from feeding Hope and living in the street. The calming medication she was given caused her to blow up like a whale in a few weeks. I took her off it. The Feliway diffuser helped, and finally, she and Missey live mostly harmoniously. On occasion, Calico gets cranky, not just at Missey but at Hugo Yugo, too! Now it is taking months and months to get that weight off. I have a padded harness for her, and when the weather is better, we are adding walks to the regiment.
I love the golden light on Calico and the paper Peonies.
A few more pics of ‘The Girls’ on Sunday.
Yes, Hugo Yugo got caught under the plant stand. I have no clue how she managed to get herself under there. It is 2 inches clearance, but she did.
Their evening ritual in the Swan chair…Calico wakes me up at 0830, and twelve hours later, she is in this chair with Baby Hope. You could set your watch by her.
It is raining in Florida on Sunday, pitching down rain at a time when it should be ‘dry’. The forecast is for it to rain for the next 24 hours.
Abby and Blaze have been particularly attentive to little Swampy and Meadow. There is plenty of food on the nest and they are being fed quickly and Abby is taking good care not to let them get wet.
At Captiva, Cal looks so wet and lonely.
Food had been scarce. Cal was hungry. It was late on Sunday when prey finally arrived. Around 1645, Clive and Connie flew in with a nice fish for Cal. He had a lovely feeding and then got the fishtail all to himself. He was so excited when that fish dinner landed on that nest.
It is raining at NE Florida and there is no sign of Beau or Gabby. The egg, which was nearing its 48th or 49th day today, is uncovered. I hope that they have given up on it hatching and are out doing eagle things. I am not expecting a second clutch here this year, but….the eagles can surprise us.
I would say Gabby has abandoned the egg. Smart girl. Glad she did not incubate it for any longer…
Still raining…we are on pip/hatch watch for the first egg of the second clutch for Pepe and Muhlady and what terrible weather they have for this.
That hatch is now in progress. Thanks, ‘H’.
E23 was wet. F23 came in and fed him/her a nice fish meal and tried as hard as they could to warm that little one. Oh, I wish Connie would come in and snuggle with Cal.
The weather is nice at the JB Sands Wetlands near Dallas. JBS20 is being left alone more and more as s/he gets older.
We are on egg watch at Denton Homes in Decorah, Iowa.
Thank you ‘J’ for the laugh. Yes, Sally certainly does have a ballgown instead of underfluffies! She is working hard today to keep her two precious Osprey eggs warm and dry.
The weather is good at Big Bear. No wet sticks for the eagles to slip on…and the three eggs look good. Gentlest of changeovers from Jackie to Shadow Sunday morning. We are now 10 days away from pip watch.
At 1300 nest time, there were 6328 people watching Jackie incubate the eggs. Those numbers will soar when those eggs hatch. Wonder which news station will launch the story first?
Someone needs to make Dr Sharpe a Superhero costume. Qualifications: quick thinking on one’s feet, the ability to make something out of nothing, no fear of heights, able to climb cliffs, no fear of Bald Eagles, can carry more than one’s weight, not afraid to jump out of a helicopter with eaglet in hand — sounds like a comic strip character. — So you are wondering why I am writing this – well, Dr Sharpe went out in a helicopter to find out why the cameras are not working. Gracie Shepherd posted the adventure:
R6 goes back into the nest after banding and after all dangerous materials are removed. Thanks Lloyd Brown for the video!
R6 is in the grey/brown bag.
Xavier and Diamond are empty-nesters having raised Marri and Barru to fledge. While we will never know what happened to Barru (perhaps nothing but an early exit from the territory although I do doubt that), we do know that Marri was well trained by her parents and hopefully she will thrive raising her own chicks in a few years.
Cilla Kinross posted this image of Xavier catching some rays at sunset.
The fishing line and lure in the E3 nest at Kistachie National Forest have caused concern. On camera, the female was seen with what ‘appears’ to be a fishing lure in her mouth. She moves to the edge of the nest, but, to my eye, it is not clear what happened to the lure after that. There are no eaglets in the nest. There are not even eggs. Any remaining fishing line in the nesting material to the left and that lure could cause future harm or even harm to the two adult eagles attempting to claim this nest. So my question is very simple – why not clean up the nest? Surely to goodness the evidence is there of manmade materials and the potential future harm to warrant a green light to do some housekeeping for the raptors.
Now there is a GHO visiting the nest that could get injured if any manmade objects are still in that nest like fishing line, hooks, and lures.
Looks like Rosa is doing the heavy lifting at Dulles Greenway. Will Lewis bring her something to eat? Two eggs now.
At Decorah North, Mrs DNF laid her second egg of the 2024 season on Sunday.
Liberty has now laid the first egg of the season for her and Guardian 15 February at 1607. Was there a second egg on the 18th. Should have been. Will find out!
‘J’ and I have been discussing the age of some of the female eagles and she sent me the following information on Liberty. You might find it as interesting as I did. (I do not know the author of the material, perhaps you do and can tell me so I can credit them).
I should not have said anything the other day about the Duke Farm’s Mum and snow. This is her on Sunday. I know they handle the snow, but goodness my heart aches for them regardless.
Monty and Hartley must protect their territory from pesky juveniles!
Here is the weekly video summary for the Port Lincoln Ospreys, Giliath and Bradley.
At Port Lincoln, Bradley is reminding me more and more of Ervie. At 0735 he had his first puffer on the ropes. Mum and Dad are over on the old barge hoping their restaurant delivery days are over for this season!
Nice close up of Gil.
Seán Ronayne is out to record every bird in Ireland – to compel people to hopefully understand and empathise with what is happening to nature. Well written, captivating article.
An excerpt: Ronayne’s passion for wild birds, and the precious but dwindling habitats that support them, has struck a chord in Ireland at a moment of late-dawning awareness of the seriousness of the country’s ecological crisis. “It’s an outrage, but many people still don’t realise how bad it is,” he says, sounding uncharacteristically angry. “Ireland is one of the most nature-depleted countries in Europe. We have lost 90% of our wetlands, more than any other country in the world, and have just 1% of native tree cover, the lowest in Europe.”
The core issue is intensive farming, with more than 60% of the land given over to what, in government-speak, is called improved agricultural grassland. “It means that everything has been removed except rye grass for animal feed,” Ronayne says. “Fields are now cut maybe three of four times a year for silage, whereas there used to be traditional hay meadows that would have been host to nesting species like the corncrake, skylark, lapwing and curlew.”
News has come that ‘America’ – the Dollywood Bald Eagle – has died.
Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care. We hope to have you with us again soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, streaming cams, videos, and articles that helped me to write my blog today: ‘H, J’ Eagle Country, Window to Wildlife, NEFL-AEF, Superbeaks, SW Florida Eagle Cam, JB Sands Wetlands, Denton Homes, Moorings Park, FOBBV, IWS, Lloyd Brown, Cilla Kinross, Tonya Irwin, Dulles-Greenway, Sharon Lee, FORE, Duke Farms, SK Hideaways, PLO, Bart M, and The Guardian.
I hope that you have had a grand weekend so far. Some of you will be celebrating the Lunar New Year while others are preparing for the Super Bowl – or maybe both! Whatever you are doing today, enjoy. Savour every moment. Life is way too precious to miss – the tiniest things are often the most joyful. And remember to laugh. Surprise someone by being kind, by saying ‘hello’ to a stranger – who knows, it could lift them up from the deepest depths. Send a note to someone you have been meaning to – just to say ‘hi’.
The ‘girls’ were very needy on Saturday. I am not sure why. Was it a change in the weather? Are they impacted as much as we are? It is curious. Calico woke me as usual – she really is better than the alarm. Today, she wanted to stay for cuddles instead of rushing to get me up to feed the gang. We spent nearly half an hour alone without Hugo Yugo screaming for breakfast. It was fantastic. Calic is a truly a gentle soul – like Missey. Except when it comes to Missey.
After breakfast, Hugo Yugo and Baby Hope only wanted to eat and play. Their minds were made up – today was the day they would leap through the air to catch the unicorn on the end of the fishing pole. As so many of you have reminded me, It is a very good thing Hugo Yugo is so tiny and lightweight. Otherwise, the house would be destroyed.
Missey decided to stay way out of the way. I have noticed that it has been mostly Hope and Hugo Yugo playing rough now. Missey and Calico tend to just go somewhere ‘quiet’.
Missey seems to get woolier by the day. Her back fur is now more than 7.5 cm or 4 inches long. She is brushed no less than five times a day to keep that beautiful coat from turning into a mat.
It is still amazing how much Calico and Hope look alike. Their evening ritual is to get into the ‘Swan’ chair and cuddle around 1800. Calico will give Hope a very good wash, and then Hope, feeling invigorated, will want to play a little rough. Calico gets irritated and boots her out after a few minutes!
Hugo Yugo is so tiny. I still walk around shaking my head. She is now 5 and a half months old. In another month she will have ‘her surgery’. Dr Green has suggested that I get a tiny, tiny onsie for her to wear instead of a cone. Now to find one small enough – or make one ? My sewing talents are not that great, but I am determined to learn how to darn! Maybe there is a Chihuahua onsie????
The kitten adoption has their own vet to do the surgery. Hugo Yugo is also set for a follow-up checkup with Dr Green three days later to ensure everything is in order. It is going to be impossible to stop her from jumping. I was told there are three layers of stitches and I should not fret too much. That is like telling a cow it shouldn’t moo.
After, it was off to the nature centre. With the new snow, the trails promised not to be icy – it was a super morning. Squirrels were running everywhere, invigorated by the colder temperatures and snow. Children were again using the tower to slide their sledges onto Devonian Lake. The Chickadees flitted about the forest – there has to be at least 50 of them – while the Sparrows and Woodpeckers looked for seed. It could not have been a more perfect day.
When I got home, there was a note from ‘B’ alerting me that Annie and the new male were in the scrape. He was calling and Annie obliged. He bowed, keeping his head low and his tail high. This courtship ritual lasted for a good three minutes! Lots of ee-chups. Peregrine Falcons are so civilised.
This new male seems tiny.
Before I go any further, two Osprey brothers fishing in the same area in South Australia. How wonderful. I bet Dad was there, too! Delamere is near the Marina and you might recall that Ervie fished there with Dad when he fledged.
There is so much food on the Eagle Country nest that it is rotting and attracting so many flies. The Eagles probably don’t care, but it does seem that the buzzing around of the insets does disturb them. Meadow and Swampy are deep in the nest bowl. You cannot see them much of the time…I do hope that nest has a good, thick bottom!
It looked like there was a double feeding going on at one time. Look closely in the top image and you can see the little eagles, Swampy and Meadow.
There is continuing drama at the Captiva Osprey nest. Having just named the new female ‘Jill’, that bird has now disappeared and there is a new female. Jack has duly delivered a fish and mated with her at least four times on the nest. I don’t think he cares anymore – he just wants eggs and osplets! The first female to oblige will hopefully be safe from other female intruders and stay the course at least til after fledgling. This nest makes me nervous. Too many intruders. — An update. It is now 1900 on the nest and the new couple have mated 10 times on camera. That must be some kind of record. How many viewers were blushing?
E23 continues to do well. So curious about what is happening outside the nest now. These nests with one eaglet have been so wonderful to watch this year. Big healthy chicks.
Jackie and Shadow continue to take turns doing incubation. Jackie takes control at night – as she always does. I have not seen a lot of prey eaten on the nest since the eggs were laid. Is that because of the snow, OR is it because Jackie and Shadow might deem it a safety measure not to in order to not step on the eggs? I am curious. Let’s see what they do if the snow melts before hatch.
It sure started out window but, overall, the day looks nicer.
Shadow did have to take things into his own talons in order to get more egg time, though! Watch it until the end…Jackie gets Shadow out and then Shadow returns.
Did R6 double in size overnight? S/he will be four weeks old today! the 11th. This eaglet is one cutie. Look at that soft, downy mohawk. It will soon disappear. And those big clown feet. They are turning yellow…and that nice charcoal thermal down—one healthy baby.
Heidi Mc continues the story and provides us with a good ending for R6 and the pigeon band.
Look hard and you can see the little one at JB Sands Wetlands.
Many watching the Redding nest of Liberty and Guardian are thinking Liberty is getting ready to lay the first egg.
SK Hideaways reminds us that Liberty is 24 years young.
A good look at Chandler and Hope’s first egg at Tobacco Creek!
We are now a week away from hatch watch for Pepe and Muhlady at Superbeaks! They are going for gold with a second clutch. Let us all wish them well…they should be able to hear their eaglets cheeping and wanting out of those shells.
They are still incubating the egg. Beau has turned out to be quite good – sad that it is too late to save it, but maybe next year. These close-ups of Gabby need to be seen. Great screen captures.
For the past two years the geese have hatched little ones from this abandoned eagle nest at Decorah. I do hope they do it again this year! It really was marvellous watching all of them leap down to get to the stream with Mum and Dad.
Pittsburgh-Hays is now live again.
Clyde brought Bonnie a big rat for her meal after 2200. Bonnie quickly horked it down and had a wee break before going back to incubation duties.
You can barely see the rat before she downs it. I hope the businesses and people around this nest do not use rodenticides. This is now the ongoing concern for Flaco, the Eurasian Owl in NYC. Rodenticides. Secondary poisoning. It is tragic.
It is pretty quiet at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge. Two fish came in on Saturday around mid-day. The nest is empty on Sunday. I wonder how much longer Gil and Brad will come to the barge.
We know Bradley is doing well. Those pink and red rings sure stand out! Great news.
Rutland gets visits from Egyptian Geese and Colin the Cormorant, but we are all waiting for Blue 33 and Maya to return from their winter migration and the countdown is on. We are seriously less than 42 days now.
Last year Laddie LM12 and Blue NC0 laid the first egg, but it is unclear what happened to Blue NC0 last year. She left the area quite early – in mid-July and she may no longer be with us. I actually have her in the 2023 Memorial Listing. Laddie is not a youngster. So we will have to cross our fingers and toes and wait to see.
If you are in Wales, the Dyfi Nature Centre opens on the 1st of March…getting ready for the arrival of Idris and Seren!
Join with Audubon or Cornell – who cares which one – and do the Great Backyard Bird Count. We are only a few days away. It takes only 15 minutes a day and runs from Friday, February 16, through Monday, February 19, 2024. Here is the info from Audubon.
Want to protect those adorable Albatross? and other seabirds? Well this is how your government policy makers can make a difference. This focuses is from Malta, but it applies everywhere.
Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care. Look forward to having you with us again soon.
Thank you to the following for your notes, posts, videos, screen captures, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ’B, H, J, SP’, Cal Falcons, Eagle Country, SW Florida Eagle Cam, FOBBV, FORE, SK Hideaways, WRDC, Heidi Mc, JB Sands Wetlands, Port Tobacco Eagle Cam, Superbeaks, Carol Shores Rifkin, Laura Rose, PIX Cams, Farmer Derek Owl Cam, PLO, LRWT, Dfyi Nature Centre, Audubon, Give a Shift about Nature, Emergence Magazine, and Birdlife Malta.
To those celebrating the New Year (新年) or, as it is often known, the Spring Festival (春节), I wish you great prosperity, good health, and a long and happy life. Millions will be travelling to be with their families – and, as we know, it is the year of the Dragon (the Wood Dragon). Trees may be decorated with red lanterns, and couplets will be pasted to each side of the entrance door. These are ‘wishes’ for the new year. Many of my students would cook a special stir fry that had 16 to 19 kinds of vegetables. Those ranged from cauliflower, broccoli, bean sprouts, and snow peas. Other foods were prepared – each tasting different – and served in various coloured covered dishes. I always wondered at the variety, beauty, and hard work that went into the celebration. It was the joy of my teaching career to spend time with these students, missing their families who were far away and not being able to celebrate 年夜饭 – niányèfàn – or the lunar New Year’s Eve dinner with their loved ones. They taught me a lot! Many are now good friends.
The girls will be wanting to eat some of the spring Festival Dishes tonight – and play with the longevity noodles and dumplings. We have been practising making them and Hugo Yugo was right there – wanting to help. I will try and get some images from the festivities on Saturday night to show you our curious kitty!
In Winnipeg, the forecast for Thursday was correct. As I was sitting and laughing with the allergy doctor testing me to see if I was allergic to anything – including my beloved cats – winter hit just as predicted. The rain shifted to snow, and the winds picked up, and two and a half hours later, I was glad to be tucked inside with ‘the girls’. As it happens, I am not allergic to anything! Nothing. What a relief. Mind you, I would never have gotten rid of my cats for an allergy – and there is treatment now, but it is best for those who work with animals daily, such as vets. I have Vasomotor Rhinitis, which is being treated with a kind of inhaler. ”These symptoms are excessive at times and are exacerbated by certain odours (e.g., perfumes, cigarette smoke, paint fumes, inks); alcohol; spicy foods; emotions; and environmental factors such as temperature, barometric pressure changes, and bright lights”. It can also include wildfires and hot soup. My symptoms have been excessive and have prompted a growth in the stockmarket value of Kleenex tissues. LOL.
At any rate, winter has returned, and I am pleased. We need the snow cover, and most people need to slow down. Winter storms can help with that! The arrangement of the newsletter is a bit different since I was gone most of the day. And the poor girls. I have a new book just for them which we will read tomorrow – Be Mine, Porcupine. I wonder what else we can get to help celebrate Valentine’s Day with them. They are my ‘loves’. Let’s see if they will cooperate and give me some nice photographs for you in the morning. They have been darlings this evening. The onset of winter has slowed them down. It is now nearly 2100 and they are not leaping about reminding me of their last meal before bed! This is highly unusual.
Two of Dyson kits were at the feeders early trying to find seeds from under the snow.
Hugo Yugo and Missey were watching the birds landing on vines on the side of the conservatory.
Hugo Yugo wanted to leap and grab one! I sure wish I had her energy. She kept me away half the night…she discovered necklaces hanging from pegs and was jumping at the wall trying to get them! Eventually they were all taken down and hidden in a drawer. Next it was the box with all the pens in it. She has figured out how to get the lid open…never stops, always funny. Adorable. Just look at those little paws.
Baby Hope was wishing for bird videos – not the real thing. It is so funny. She doesn’t care a thing about the animals outside! When she wants the videos turned on, she will lie in front of the screen.
Achieva Osprey Platform, St Petersburg, Florida: I am not pleased that Achieva has a third egg. Jack and Diane are not the most robust ospreys and have great difficulty if three eggs hatch. It cannot always be put down on them -. The area is full of birds, including gulls and eagles, that eat fish and steal fish from ospreys. The other issue was the extreme drought conditions in the area last year. Jack often doesn’t deliver enough fish. One year, perhaps four years ago, we thought he might even have another nest. Diane had to resort to going out and finding her catfish. I had hoped that the third egg would not come, and now it has, a little late, and that is also concerning for that third hatch.
We are going to start off with Ospreys because they really are on my mind. It feels like there is going to be a huge flurry and now that the third egg has been laid at Achieva, 11 days after the first, I am already trying to find the box of worry beads.
The first egg was laid on January 28, and the second on the 31st. Those are expected differences in dates. The problem is the third egg, which was laid on either the 7th or 8th of February. I think you can begin to imagine my concern. That is a difference, as mentioned earlier, of 11 days. I want you to sit and imagine an 11 day old osplet and a newly hatched. I know we had a miracle at Patchogue, Long Island last year with the fourth hatch, but let’s be honest. Jack and Diane are not the parents at Patchogue. Ospreys are different from one another and circumstances are different. We have no idea the competition Jack has for fish and if he loses fish to gulls enrolee back to the nest. What we do not is that the deliveries on this nest, historically, have not proven to be sufficient. Diane has gone out fishing when the osplets were old enough and, indeed, her catfish have kept some alive that might otherwise have perished. The couple are not young either. This is highly worrisome.
Captiva Osprey Platform, Barrier Islands, Florida: The new female at the Captiva Osprey nest is being named Jill – so we now have Jack and Jill. They have mated and it is a good nest. Let us hope that we have some chicks here this year.
Moorings Park, Naples, Florida: Harry and Sally, meanwhile, are taking their sweet time. No first egg on that nest yet!
Pelican Bay Osprey Platform, Naples, Florida: We have hatch but it is unknown how many eggs there were or how many hatched -yet.
Venice Golf and Country Club: First egg laid on 6 February. Second expected today.
Can catch their streaming cam here:
Here is the weekly summary for Gil and Brad at Port Lincoln, our South Australian fledgling ospreys:
A Spanish site to follow. Sunnie Day comments, “The osprey is categorised in the Red Book of Birds of Spain as “EN – Endangered” and is included in the Spanish Catalog of Threatened Species, as “VU – Vulnerable.” For more information about the species, consult SEO BirdLife’s Guide to Birds of Spain: https://seo.org/ave/aguila-“
Want to send a special Valentine:
European and UK Ospreys – the very first of the monitored returnees – will be home in 6 months or 42 days! Yes.
This came up on one of my FB groups today and I wanted to share it with you. The Return of the Ospreys to Loch Garten. Just to get you excited.
Switching back to the Bald Eagles in the US.
Big Bear Valley with Jackie and Shadow. Live fish delivery! Eggs have been rolled, both have taken incubation duties. Today is 9 February and in 20 days we are on pip watch. I am marking off my calendar, are you?
Our loved eagles have made The Washington Post! ‘B’ kindly saved the article as a PDF so we could read about them. How nice! It is a really good read. I hope you enjoy it.
Not to worry about that fish. Jackie returns and enjoys her dinner. Thanks Baibai for capturing these events.
Redding Eagles. Liberty was on the nest checking out the flood water. She does not seem particularly concerned. She was still on the nest after dusk. I wonder.
Gabby brought in a pile of moss to the nest slightly covering that egg. Is it time for Gabby to say goodbye to the hopes of motherhood this year?
Nature Chat has added a new Kansas Bald Eagle nest to its list of streaming cams. The adults are Ellie and Harvey. Here is the link if you are interested.
US Steel Bald Eagle Nest, Pittsburg. No egg yet for Irvin and Claire. They have been fiddling with their nest, too!
SW Florida with M15, F23, and E23. That little much loved eaglet is still adored, but my goodness how it has grown. Well fed and every need has been attended to by his very doting parents. Check out that tail in the image below. You can see the quills holding the blood feathers. Then look, you can see them on the wings. Those quills will break off during preening or as the feathers grow and develop. What a beautiful eaglet with such a huge wing span. Many think our E23 is a female. That would be fantastic after years of speculating that the others were mostly male.
Florida’s Eagle Country with Abby, Blaze, Swampy, and Meadow. We all have our favourites, often little ones, that we are concerned about. I often root for the underdog, the younger one that struggles with a big sibling intent on bonking. Swampy, despite piles of fish and prey on the nest, continues to go after Meadow. Sometimes it is not even when it is a feeding. But, today, it seems Meadow got fed up and gave some back.
Swampy got its nose out of joint right before 6pm. Reminds me of Calico and Missey – the no apparent reason just to be miserable.
I think these eaglets offer some good insights into what we should be doing – finding joy and happiness and cooperation. Not beaking each other for who is the most powerful or dominant. There is plenty of fish provided by Blaze and Abby is a good Mum. Just chill you two! (I do tell Calico that every night BTW).
Rollin’ Rag had some good observations on Swampy and Meadow for today:
WRDC, Dade-Country, Florida nest of Ron, Rose, and R6. It seems that R6 is destined to eat strange things and survive. Rumour has it R6 ate the leg, and the metal ring of a bird recently brought to the nest. I cannot say…just a rumour. R6 looks extremely healthy with its fat bottom and strong wings. The dandelions are disappearing fast, and that dark charcoal thermal down covers this eaglet. He would make quite the model on the couture runway this season! Everyone seems to want expensive fleece – . Aren’t birds and animals fortunate? They don’t have to decide what to wear in the morning or do laundry! They certainly don’t contribute to the piles of waste textiles filling many African landscapes.
Captiva Eagle nest of Connie, Clive, Cal, and Lusa, Barrier Islands, Florida. The two eaglets are self-feeding. Not completely adept at this milestone, but they are sure trying hard. Standing on the rim of the nest bowl. Scary stuff. Another milestone.
PA Country, nest of Lisa and Oliver: First egg!
At Decorah North, Mr North and Mrs DNF are fiddling with the sticks for the nest. They are hilarious – like Shadow.
At the fruit table feeder in Panama, there is a visitor – a Roadside Hawk.
Cornell says, “The Roadside Hawk is one of the most widespread raptors of the Neotropics. Its name is due to its preference for the edges of forests. It is found in open to semi-open areas, forest borders, roadsides and plantations. It is usually not found in the forest interior. The Roadside Hawk feeds on a variety of small prey including reptiles, small mammals and birds, but mainly feeds on insects. This is not a social species; pairs can be seen during breeding season.”
I wonder if they would eat the hummingbirds flittering around as Cornell does not specify which small birds.
The Peregrine Fund gives us more information on these neotropical hawks:
There are twelve sub-species of Roadside Hawks
The Roadside Hawk tends to avoid dense forest habitat.
The Roadside Hawk is one of the most commonly seen raptors throughout its range.
Researches reported one observation of nestling siblicide in Roadside Hawks – meaning one nestling intentionally kills one or more of its brothers or sisters while they are all still young and in the nest.
The PF also tells us how this beautiful raptor got its name. “When you first hear the name “Roadside Hawk” you might guess that this raptor likes to hang around the sides of roads, and you would be correct. This hawk is often seen perched in trees, or on fence posts or power lines along highways, trails and paths. Just as it has a varied diet (which you can read about below), it also spends time in a wide variety of habitats including forest edges, plantations (such as pine, coffee and eucalyptus), woodland, scrubland, savannas, pine-oak forest, river edges, mangrove edges, and thorn forest. It can even be found living comfortably near humans – in suburbs and city parks.”
Thanks so much for being with me today. Take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, photographs, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog this morning: ’A, B, H, J, M’, Achieva Credit Union, Heidi Mc, Moorings Park, Pelican Bay, VGCC, PLO, Sunnie Day, Mary Cheadle, The Washington Post, FOBBV, Baibai, FORE, Eagle Goddess, Nature Chat, PIX Cams, Lady Hawk, Eagle Country, Rollin’ Rag, WRDC, Window to Wildlife, Trudi Kron, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Cornell Bird Lab, and The Peregrine Fund.
Another grey miserable day that chilled you to the bone regardless of the warm temperatures! It is time for rain jackets and puddle boots. Hard to believe. Wishing for snow.
It was another day of ‘Who is going to be the Queen of the Cat Tree’. It is all hard play and goes on from morning to night with the ‘top cat’ changing regularly. On Monday morning, Baby Hope was enjoying having a relaxing time on the top rung of the cat tree after breakfast. Then…she looks down, and who does she see? You guessed it! Hugo Yugo has arrived to disturb the peace.
Ouch! Hugo Yugo is fearless and is fortunate that Baby Hope has a very sweet disposition.
Baby Hope decides all she wants to do is get away or is she going to try to take over from another position on the cat tree?
The winner – for now,
While I was out, ‘L’ sent news that Meadow was being fed well today. Yahoo! Sometimes it is just those first few days for the oldest to set dominance and the beaking stops. This is fantastic. I was almost afraid to look.
Poor Jackie and Shadow. They cannot get a break from the horrific weather that is in California that is causing major flooding and mudslides. Pouring rain and now rain and snow mixed on Monday.
The deadly storm is slowly moving out of the area.
It started off west at the nest of M15 and F23 in Fort Myers before the weather changed and little E23 could sun itself and dry out.
You can see the dramatic change in the plumage in the image below. Notice the quills holding the blood feathers for the tail and the few white dandelions left on the top of the head. The beak is becoming a shiny ebony, and the yellow legs, feet, and the mandible indicate this is a healthy little eaglet.
E23 has attempted to do some self-feeding after finding some prey hidden in the nesting material.
M15 flew in with a big fish. ’J’ caught some screen captures of F23 feeding little E23 his lunch.
D Morningstar caught some good close ups of E23 – she was 36 days old on 5 February and is 37 today. Time passes so quickly. Look at the plumage and then look at those fuzzy babies at Eagle Country. What a difference a month makes.
The same weather system went through Captiva before hitting Fort Myers. Cal and Lusa are trying to stay warm and dry under Connie, but to no avail. They are way too big. What sweeties. After drying off, look at them both standing so tall and strong on those beautiful chrome yellow legs.
It was wet at the WRDC nest of Ron, Rose, and R6. Heidi Mc caught Ron being a ‘Dadbrella’. Way to go! Looks like there is still some coot left on the nest too, but catch R6’s crop! What a cutie.
At the Captiva Nest of Jack (and formerly of his mate Ruby who is MIA), it seems the male might have a new partner - just in time for breeding season we hope. She accepts his fish gift – that is a good start.
It looks like it could be just two eggs for Jack and Diane this season at Achieva. Fantastic!!!!
At JB Sands Wetlands it was sunny. I could not tell what was in the pantry but the little eaglet is being well taken care of.
Did Ervie meet his brother Giliath when they were both out looking for fish?
More tracking for Ervie. Have to say it – Ervie is the ‘Rock Star’ of the Port Lincoln Osprey barge. Sorry, Gil and Brad.
I am getting so excited for Osprey season to begin that I can hardly think of anything else. Tiger Mozone posted an older video of Henry and EJ. It shows Henry returning from migration to discover EJ on eggs – not his! So what does Henry do? Watch.
Oh, don’t you just love Osprey behaviour!
Angel, the Leucistic Red-tail Hawk, is back at her nest! Window to Wildlife gives us the good news: “Angel is back! In late January Angel was seen on her nest while our team was out doing some routine maintenance and upgrades to the cameras for the upcoming season. The new upgrades will include better low-light viewing with infrared floodlights for a better viewing experience of Angel’s amazing nest!There is still some work to be done before the streams can go live, so stay tuned for more updates and an announcement of when that will be! We’re looking forward to another fantastic season and hope you’ll stop by the streams!”
Eagles at the ND-LEEF nest on Monday.
At the NE Florida nest of Gabby and Beau, Gabby had an unexpected visitor on Monday – A1. He even went into the nest bowl. Some worried that Beau had been injured in a fight with A1, but Beau did return later all talons in tact.
Bonnie has spent much of the day on the nest on Farmer Derek’s property in Kansas. We are expecting her to begin laying eggs in 2 or 3 days. Normally, Bonnie lays two eggs with successful hatches in past years, and both are fledging. They grow fast!
It sounded like thunder. The rain began in a gentle way and then really began coming down. I hope Monty and Hartley are safe and dry – and, I am wondering why they just don’t sit out the storm inside the scrape where it is dry. Any thoughts?
In Port Lincoln, Gil and Brad each had a fish on the 5th. Today they are both waiting, taking turns, to see who will be the lucky one on the nest when din-dins arrive.
Canada Geese are loud and the one who landed on the Decorah nest is no exception.
What does your City do during migration? Is it switching off the lights like a number of growing urban centres?
Why is switching lights off important? Let’s check.
Birdcast says: ”Light attracts and disorients migrating birds, confusing and exhausting them as well as making them vulnerable to collisions with buildings, not to mention other urban threats like cats and toxins.”
Audubon has their own article on their Lights Out Programme – and there are hundreds more on the Internet. Educate yourself and your City! Save the birds.
When I adopted a Kakapo in 2022, I adopted Rangi. He is a very special Kakapo – at least 51 years old. His story is really worth a read – it unfolds in the posts below. Rangi is very special.
Here is the full text. It is very interesting. ”The known population at the time was just 90 ahead of another breeding season on Whenua Hou. Ranger Chris Birmingham was out checking the location of females when he heard booming from an unidentified male. As soon as he noticed the old metal leg tag, he knew this was an extra special find. Excitement passed through the team on the island and the bird was soon undergoing a full health check, sampling, and having a transmitted fitted. That night the team matched records to the tag number confirming it was Rangi, one of four males missing since their first release. Ranger Chris wrote a new database entry adding, “words cannot express the joy I feel at finding this guy!”
Genetic data shows Rangi fathered Wendy, Zephyr, Sarah, Adler, Merty and Ralph; making him a grandfather to 17 (including @Sirocco), and great-grandfather to nine.
He hasn’t bred since 1981, but Rangi still booms in season and has been maintaining his bowl site recently. His exact age is unknown but he would be at least 51 now. He lives amongst dense supplejack vines making it tricky for rangers when it’s time for his annual health checks. Elusive yet crafty, he has been known to sneak quietly through the undergrowth to circle back behind rangers that are following him. Rangi is known as the artful dodger after all!”
Last but never least – we often hear the names of men who made a difference in the world of birds. But what about the women? This is a previously published article that is always good to visit again to remind ourselves that everyone can contribute! What a wonderful list of amazing women.
Thank you for being with us today. Please take care. We hope to see you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, screen captures, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog this morning: ’A, H, J, L’, Eagle Country, FOBBV, The Mercury News, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Visa, D Morningstar, Window to Wildlife, WRDC, Heidi Mc, Achieva Credit Union, JB Sands Wetlands, PLO, Tiger Mozone, BBC Report, ND-LEEF, Gracie Shepherd, Farmer Derek Owl Cam, All About Birds, San Jose City Hall, Bart M, Rosieanne B, National Audubon Society, BirdCast, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, USFWS, Audubon, and the Kakapo Recovery.
It was another warm not so nice day on the Canadian Prairies. Everything is shades of grey and brown. The snow is all dirty and the sky had no blue in it. Even the kittens just wanted to sleep! I felt the same way. A good book, a cup of ‘real’ hot chocolate (made with the best melted chocolate and hot milk) would have made the day perfect.
Missey was up and about and finally found the felted rock that Hope was playing in yesterday and used it as a pillow!
There were not a lot of birds in the garden. The European Starlings came around noon along with a few sparrows. The squirrels were about eating peanuts and a lone female Downy Woodpecker showed up at the suet.
The Eagle Country nest has bothered me. Perhaps I am a bit more sensitive after losing the baby at JB Sands or nearly losing R6. So of course, just take this as concern.
This is why I am worried about Meadow at Eagle Country. Swampy eats well and attacks Meadow who is calling for food. Abby does not feed Meadow. It is true that Meadow does not require as much food as Swampy. S/he is younger. It is the fear put into the little one not to eat that is the issue. Let’s keep an eye and send positive wishes.
It is not a gentle attack. Swampy twists Meadows neck and makes sure it doesn’t get up.
A wee bit later, Meadow doesn’t even bother to raise its head.
It is impossible to tell – because of that deep cup – whether or not Meadow got any of the subsequent small feedings. Mostly I see only one head. If you have additional information, please send me a comment.
Checking in on Connick. Thanks, ‘H’ for finding us an update.
Report of an Osprey in South Africa – and Geemeff notes this is just as far as you can go in the country. ”This bird was sighted at Langebaan, which is very near Cape Town, about as far south as you can get in Africa! Not ringed. Female, judging by the necklace, and is that juvenile plumage? Difficult to tell in that light.”
The Langebaan Lagoon is a large salt water lagoon, regarded as a wetland of international importance, protected by the West Coast National Park (formerly called the Langebaan National Park), 100 km north of Cape Town.Langebaan is 16 km long and no wider than 3 km at any point. All that lies between it and the Atlantic Ocean is the Langebaan Peninsula, 15 km long and 2 km wide, peppered by large granite outcrops known as Vlaeberg and Konstabelkop. All of the literature says that it is a birdwatching paradise.
The students at the University of Florida-Gainesville have their osprey cam back up and running after the light stand was changed out last year. There was a big fundraising campaign and it all came together well. We can once again watch Talon and Stella raise their chicks.
Here is the latest news form the website: ”Watch the osprey family raise another family! The nest is located on a light pole behind the SW Rec Center on UF Campus. Thanks to HdonTap for streaming the live feed, UF’s SW Rec center for allowing the camera to go back up, and a host of people from UF’s IT and Facility Services that helped to install the new camera and get things working. It truly took a village to get this up and running (again)! Special shout out to Wally Sanchez from IT that helped to troubleshoot the camera! A generous gift from Wild Goose Farms in Umatilla, FL provided the needed funding for the equipment. We continue to accept gifts of support for ongoing maintenance and management of the camera, and we are grateful for the support from our generous donors!To date, I have seen Talon (the male) and Stella (the female) on the nest as of January 30th. In fact, Stella just arrived January 30th – much to the delight of Talon! Talon (the father) and Stella (the mother) built a new nest in the same location (in 2023) after the bank of lights were switched out for more efficient LEDs. Professor Mark Hostetler, who is an urban wildlife ecologist in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida, has been watching with earnest to see if they would rebuild. He helped direct a few structures on the new lights to entice them to rebuild the nest (nicknamed The Cheap Seats or Home Plate). In 2022, we had over 70,000 viewers from around the world (see https://wec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/ospreycam/). We really got to see the osprey family daily (and nightly) activities. Your contributions were much appreciated.”
It looks like Sunday will be a much nicer day for Jackie and Shadow. You can still hear a lot of wind and branches cracking in the distance.
For the only eaglet at JB Sands Wetlands, life looks good.
So far only two lovely Osprey eggs at Achieva!
No egg at Moorings Park. They have surprised everyone.
Flaco is fine and exploring and moving into the beginning of his second year of freedom in The Big Apple.
Cal and Lusa are enjoying a huge amount of fish on Sunday along with another feathered water bird. Sometimes it is interesting to try and identify the prey if you do not know what it is.
E23 is such a sweetie. Little squees…M15 and F23 could not be prouder.
R6 continues to grow and change plumage with what appears to be no ill effects from ‘the event’.
There was a bit of excitement at the WRDC nest a little later…
It makes me really sad. Gabby and Beau are still incubating the very unviable egg. He is getting lots of practice and if they survive for another year, let us hope that they return and raise some chicks in late 2024.
Pa and Missey are back working on the nest at Berry College. Will there be a chance of a second clutch?
‘H’ found some lovely photos of Annie and her new mate at The Campanile on moon_rabbit_rising. You can see them here:
I find the albatross and the nests that they build to be so fascinating. Are these up high to protect if there is any flooding?
“The Chatham albatross nests only on The Pyramid in the Chatham Islands. Using aerial photography, in 1998, scientists estimated that there were between 3,200 and 4,200 pairs nesting.” Let’s see if we can find out what their numbers are today.
“PROTECTION / THREATS / STATUS: The Chatham Island Albatross suffers harsh weather conditions during the breeding season. Severe storms can kill adults and chicks. Outside this period, storms may destroy the vegetation on the breeding grounds and remove the soil necessary for nest-building. In addition, they have very restricted breeding range. When at sea after the breeding season, they are threatened by longline fisheries off the west coasts of South America, and oil pollution throughout the winter range. Translocation of chicks to a protected area in the SW corner of the Chatham Islands is underway between 2014 and 2016, in order to enlarge the breeding range of this species.
The Chatham Island Albatross is listed as Vulnerable. The global population is estimated at 11,000 mature individuals, equating to about 16,000 individuals in total (counts 2008 – 2011).”
At the Midway Atoll, Wisdom was seen dancing and attempting to find a mate. The USFWS has not seen her since and has determined that she is not breeding this year and has returned to sea. There is news about other Laysan Albatross here along with the story about Wisdom.
The White-tail Eagles are arriving home in Kemeri National Forest in Latvia. Akacis was there on the 30th of January.
In Finland, a gorgeous White-tail eagle visited the Osprey nest at Seal.
Milda has been visiting her nest in Durbe County with a new male (?). I must check and find out what has happened to Voldis!
There is now some exciting news coming in from the ND-LEEF streaming cam in St Patrick’s Park, South Bend, Indiana.
At Port Lincoln, Bradley got the first fish that came in – a gift from Mum at 1303. It took 100 minutes for Bradley to finish that fish!!!!!!!!!!!
Calypso has visited the TulKa nest – let us hope that he gets a new mate for the coming year after losing his mate to electrocution.
The weather remains problematic at the Redding nest of Liberty and Guardian. The water appears to be rising. How will the heavy rain, winds, and flooding impact the nest? (it is believed to be in a dead tree) The water has risen significantly since yesterday. Sending positive wishes to Liberty and Guardian.
Newcastle is installing homes for the Kittiwake on their new Tyne Bridge. Maybe other countries and cities should consider this for all birds that need homes. Think Swift Bricks, too!
What are the pollutants that are currently causing much harm to our birds. A current article in the BTO news gives us some clear insights into the problems.
Thank you so much for being with me today! Take care of yourself. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, photos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ’Geemeff, H, J, J, R’, Eagle Country, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, @derfonteinfenie, Openverse, UF-Gainsville, FOBBV, JB Sands Wetlands, Achieva Credit Union, Moorings Park, Paul Briber, Window to Wildlife, International Crane Foundation, SW Florida Eagle Cam, WRDC, Chao-Hwa Chen, NEFL-AEF, Mary Louise Ripley, Biruta Lapa, Dept of Environmental Protection for PA, PLO, Bart M, moon_rabbit_rising, Kakapo Recovery, Gill Winter, Friends of Midway Atoll, Arlene Beech, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Carol Mandis-Beadle, FORE, BirdGuides International, and BTO.
Oh, good morning. Sunday was a marvellous day. Sunny and warm at 0 degrees C. It was the perfect day to get outside – and most of the people in the City where I live agreed.
I had been waiting to go and visit the chickadees, and it was ‘almost’ the perfect day. The parks department decided to trim all the trails at the Chickadee Walk at Bird’s Hill Provincial Park for the cross-country skiers. As a result, the hundreds of Chickadees were right up by the entrance at the parking lot waiting for seed. They are so tame that the birds land on your hands, arms, and heads! There were also Red-breasted Nuthatches, and a quick drive through the country meant seeing some soaring hawks and owls.
Close by is a place that I have visited since I returned to Manitoba more than two decades ago. Pineridge Hollow as built on the site of an old quarry. It was originally a small restaurant serving a locally sourced menu and a small gift shop with a petting zoo. It has grown over the years to become a destination about half an hour’s drive outside of my city. There is now a ‘village’ – a dozen or more shops full of marvellous things, including an old-fashioned grocery.
To expand their operation, they built the Village – parallel shops selling local produce, a bakery, a coffee shop, and clothing. I was surprised at how busy everything was, but we longed to get out in the winter, and today was the perfect day. The roads were good; there was no snow or wind, and our hands didn’t freeze if we didn’t wear gloves.
Many families and couples were milling around the property, visiting the goats and chickens, tasting the cheese and meats, and sipping hot chocolate by the numerous outdoor fire pits. It was fantastic. What a nice boost.
The cats have been fantastic. Hugo Yugo sees the vet on Wednesday, and I think Dr Green will be in for a shock. E23 has nothing on this darling ginger cat in terms of growing overnight. It is shocking. I can’t wait to see how much Hugo Yugo weighs.
Once I got home, all the bird news was good except for the egg at NEFL. We can’t complain, and Gabby and Beau will move forward. Hopefully, next year will be a success for them.
The first egg of the osprey season has landed on the Achieva Credit Union nest in St Petersburg. Diane looked like she was ‘thinking about something’ since Saturday morning and that egg arrived 1421:57.
I am so excited. Little ones are arriving the first week in March!!!!!!
While we dream of ospreys at Achieva, Gil is 105 days old and Brad is 103 days old at Port Lincoln today. They could disperse anytime OR maybe, because they are male, they will hang around Port Lincoln like Ervie.
Gil was on the nest when Dad flew in with the first fish of the day at 0816. Brad was hot on his tail!
I don’t think that Gil is going to save anything for Brad.
No fear. Dad flew in at 1241 with another fish and this time Brad was on the nest and got it! Don’t you love how they do a toe dance like Mum when they see that fishy dinner arriving?
PLO has posted some tracking data.
This is Giliath who is following adults to their favourite fishing spots.
“Ervie continues to do laps of the Bay. He forages at Point Boston quite a bit and seems to return to the wharf to roost.” (PLO)
‘MP’ sends news that the second chick has hatched at the John Bunker Sands Wetlands on Sunday. Congratulations Mum and Dad. Oh, let us all hope that things go well and we have two fledglings this year from the nest. That would be splendid. It was a dual feeding before bedtime for the duo.
Lady Deeagle has the two getting a feeding! I understand the need for the deep nest. Just look where it is located but, a camera looking down would be helpful!
Great capture at the nest by ‘AE’. Thank you! Were they celebrating the arrival of Dad with that magnificent fish? or alerting to an intruder? or both?
Jackie and Shadow have their second egg of the season. Congratulations. We are into hard incubation with an eaglet expected the same time as the osplets at Achieva.
There were constant intruders at the SW Florida nest of F23 and M15 as caught on video by SK Hideaways. Just listen to that alarming.
E23 is sleeping and eating and growing. Just in case those sub-adults come back and threaten her little one, F23 is in the nest tonight with her baby. M15 got himself an amazing mate!
All seems to be well at Captiva. ’A’ writes: “CE10 and CE11 spent the day eating and eating and eating. There were TEN feedings during the day. Seriously. Ten. These are not hatchlings. They are growing up so fast, and with ten feedings a day, they are going to be massive fledglings! Connie and Clive continue to astonish me. They are amazing parents. Absolutely amazing. Right up there with M15 and F23. Connie in particular has been the most devoted of mums, while Clive provides so well for his family.”
Poor Gabby. She wants to be a Mum. And there were two sub-adult intruders today – they were gorgeous. Jasper and Rocket?
The new couple at Anna and Louis’s nest (KNF-E1) appear to be serious. They are bringing in nesting materials.
So what is happening at the WRDC? Well, it looks like all of the fish that was provided when the nest was cleaned and that huge fish that Rose brought in, is now gone. ’H’ reports that it is windy and that the fishing might be very difficult again. ”Now, it seems that they may be having trouble fishing again. It was quite windy on Sunday, and neither parent brought prey to the nest. Yesterday, Ron was hungry and ate some of the ladyfish and tilapia, but he did provide two very nice long meals of the fish for R6. R6 was fed 7 times, but two of those meals consisted of fish scraps.” ’H’ provides a photo of the pellet that R6 cast Monday morning.
And then when everyone was worrying, three big fish came to the nest! The times were: 7:06:51 Rose; 7:10:16 Ron; 8.52.14 Ron.
Tears of joy all around for this lovely eagle family that was so hungry.
At Decorah North, DNF is really finishing off that nest. Are they ready for eggs?
There is no egg at Moorings Park yet. Perhaps next week!
SE31 appears to have set off on their life journey. Lady and Dad have visited the nest to give it a good check – maybe before they head to Goat Island for a vacation.
LGK has returned home – quickly – to feed the Royal Cam chick! What a turnaround…it is hard to stay away once the little one arrives. How sweet.
Been wondering about what Challenger is doing today? Don’t know who Challenger is? For both, check out this video.
On the Cornell Campus, Big Red and Arthur were both spotted.
‘SP’ sent me the news of Marri being seen at Orange. She has not left! How wonderful.
Kielder Forest is excited. One of their fledglings from 2020 has been sighted by Jean-marie Dupart in Senegal!
We love our birds and we participate in bird counts. Is there anything else we can do to help alleviate the threats to their existence? More than 600 million birds are estimated to have been lost in the UK in the last four decades. That is shocking. I wonder what it is in North America. So what is causing this? And believe me, the farming practices in the UK are not dissimilar to those in NA and other parts of Europe.
“Nor is it hard to trace the main cause of this loss of birdlife. As the RSPB has made clear, intensive farming practices, particularly the increased use of pesticides and fertilisers, have been the main drivers of most bird population declines in the UK since the end of the Second World War. The fact that farming could affect all birds, even those in inner cities and suburbia, may seem unlikely.
However, almost three-quarters of the UK is made up of farmland. What happens there affects birds in all habitats. In effect, our urban and suburban avian populations are overspills from the countryside. It would therefore be tempting to blame farmers for this unsettling state of affairs and press for quick measures to cut farm yields. Biodiversity loss would be slowed and carbon emissions cut. However, such rapid impositions would be risky.”
Thank you so much for being with me for a quick run around some of the nests to see what is happening. Take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, photos, chat rolls, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ’A, Geemeff, H, J, MP, SP’, Bird’s Hill Provincial Park Songbirds, Pineridge Hollow and The Village, Achieva Credit Union, PLO, John Bunker Sands Wetlands Eagle Cam, Lady Deeagle, FOBBV, SK Hideaways, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Window to Wildlife, NEFL-AEF, WRDC, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Moorings Park, Se McGregor, AEF, Lady Hawk, @CornellHawks, Kielder Ospreys, The Guardian, and Charles Sturt University Falcon Cam Chat.
