Thank you for all your good wishes. I am having a delightful time. It is fun to be in a different city. Toronto is a beautiful place to visit. For someone from a small Canadian city, to be able to walk through neighbourhoods that are entirely Greek, Korean/Japanese, or Italian is fantastic. The little privately owned shops and cafes with no big box store in sight make for a lot of nice window shopping. I love beautiful fountain pen inks and cannot find them where I live. I have ordered them from a small shop near the University of Toronto for years. What a pleasure it was to visit the store! Bottles of the most amazing colours of ink, all made in Kyoto. The young lady who helped with my ink purchase made that visit more special, telling me of a nearby Japanese coffee shop with custard cream dorayaki. They are not precisely like North American pancakes but similar, filled with custard cream, strawberry cream (Lewis’s favourite), or red bean paste. Delicious. Blocks of Japanese restaurants – not just sushi – . Decades ago, fewer Japanese restaurants in Winnipeg served more than sushi and ramen. Those gave way to sushi shops and now to a few Japanese fast food-type restaurants. How extraordinary to sit down and have a full meal of seasonal plates! LOL. I did not get to the park with the ducks!!!!!!!!!! That will come either tomorrow or Monday. The snow is heavy and very damp, and is difficult to walk. Still, there were over 16 kilometres of walking. It was marvellous.
A mural of an owl staring dow at Bloor Street West.
That heavy snow is also in Ithaca, New York, the home of Big Red and Arthur. They visited the nest on Saturday afternoon.
Ferris Akel had his regular Saturday tour, and it was a magical landscape at Sapsucker Lake near Ithaca. That Cardinal on the snowy branch is gorgeous.
When I got back to my room, there was a great joy. Annie had laid her fourth egg. Is Lou going to be able to get four big red-speckled eggs under his little body? He will surely be busy if all four of those eggs hatch!!!! Remember Melbourne. Gosh, golly.
There was other good news. After its fludge, Valentine has made it back to the nest. Now we wait for Nugget to get itself up there! It sure helped having a hungry eaglet and a fish on the nest!
Oh, tears. ‘B’ just wrote. At 17:17:43 Nugget is back in the nest. Whew! All is well. Nugget flew on to the nest like a pro and mantled that prey! Valentine looked and knew he was coming!
Look at Valentine – a look of sheer surprise as Nugget hones in on that fish dinner! Nugget, you earned it. So happy to see you both back on the nest.
You may remember the Bald Eagle family that adopted the Red-tail Hawk, Mahlala. Remember Mahlala had to work herself back up to that big old nest, too. Nugget, you can do this!
The intruders are causing issues for M15 and delivering prey to the Es. By 1200 noon on Saturday, they had no deliveries, nothing. Poor M15. He has had to be a security guard and mum and dad lately. What happened to R23-3? She had kept these other female eagles away?
Glad to see that M15 got some food. He has to be strong to protect the Es and to take care of them. We are getting close to fledge for these two. On the 2nd of February did we believe we would see this miracle?
That new female is a big gal!
Besides the intruders preventing M15 from feeding the eaglets today (so far I have not seen any prey drops but I could easily have missed one today), other sad news is coming from the Corona Owl cam. ‘A’ writes that little Peanut, the fourth hatch, died at 25 days. 11 March at around 10:00. Cause unknown.
Warning: Deceased owlet in image 2 down. As is a practice amongst some raptors, the deceased was considered prey, not a living eaglet, and fed to the others.
‘A’ wonders if this nest is not problematic for smaller owlets due to its shape. It reminds me of some deep egg cups in eagle’s nests that have caused the tiny ones to be trampled and unable to get up high to eat.
The two osplets at the Moorings Osprey platform in Naples Florida are growing…notice they are starting to take on that ‘long and lean’ look to their necks as they approach the Reptilian Phase.
The Duke Farms eaglets are fine, too.
Pip watch at the Dulles-Greenway Nest of Martin and Rosa right now – as I keyboard these words in!
Ervie has been fishing!!!!!!!! Would love to see some recent photos but, isn’t it such a relief that his tracker is working?
The last of the 55 Kakapos that hatched in 2022 has been named.
And last, trying to track down information on an Osprey seen in Barbados on 09 March. Blue Darvic Ring on left leg KW0. Do you recognise this number? USFWS? Passing through? or local?
Thank you so much for being with me on the day that Nugget flew back to the nest. So much joy! Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their questions, notes, postings, videos, and streaming cams that help make up my blog today: ‘MSJ’, ‘H’, ‘A’, ‘B’, Cornell RTH, Ferris Akel Live Stream, Heidi Mc and Cal Falcons, KNF-E3, Rhonda A and KNF-E3, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Corona California Owls, Moorings Park Ospreys, Duke Farms, Dulles-Greenway, Port Lincoln Ospreys, and Kakapo Recovery.
I hope that your week is going well! We have been sent back into the deep freeze. This morning it was -21 C. It is -12 C now, with the promise of much warmer weather at the weekend. Yippeee. When it is really cold, I keep the door to the conservatory closed. Missy and Lewis do not like it these days! They stand and stare but quickly settle into the other living area with nice windows looking out to the birds. Lewis has taken a keen interest in them as of late. It is nice to see both kittens enjoying the out-of-doors safely indoors!
We are going to start with Jackie and Shadow. It is terrific that Ravens ate the two eggs of our beloved couple. I have never said that before! The Ravens arrived at the Big Bear nest at 15:01. They were cautious, looking out for the eagle pair and then getting busy consuming the eggs. Jackie and Shadow can move forward. I have used, and so have many others, the term ‘second clutch’ about the Big Bear nest, but that is the wrong term. The appropriate wording is ‘replacement clutch’ about when the first clutch of eggs is non-viable or lost to predators. At least when they return to the nest, the eggs will be gone. Jackie and Shadow will have closure. Thanks, ‘B’ for letting me know about this!
Jackie and Shadow are going to be on television. Here is the information if you get CBS.
There are currently 2 eggs at the Two Harbours nest of Chase & Cholyn, 1 egg at Sauces with Jak and Audacity (please keep sending best wishes to them), and three eggs at Bald Canyon. I have had no news or seen anything about the Fraser Point nest of Andor & Cruz (they are showing highlights). For those anxious to discover what is happening with Thunder and Akecheta’s nest, Dr Sharpe is travelling to the area at the weekend and will send out a report confirming if there are eggs.
This has just been posted from the IWS Tuesday late.
Akecheta shows up at the old West End nest site where three eaglets fledged last year. Time is 11:31 on the 7th of March.
He was still there at 12:11 enjoying the sun and the view.
Bald Canyon Eggs. Three always make me nervous. Two eaglets are a handful. It is difficult to image the resources and feedings required for three in comparison.
Cholyn at Two Harbours incubating her two eggs. I believe she is 25 years old this year.
Some of the best news is that Jak and Audacity’s seventh egg is still in tact. Today is day 9.
The Channel Islands Bald Eagles are part of a reintroduction project by the Institute for Wildlife Studies. Most of us know Dr Sharpe and his team from the intervention efforts at three of the nests during the 2022 breeding season: eaglet rescue at West End, eaglet rescue at Two Harbours, and Victor removed to rehab from the Fraser Point nest.
You might not know the history of DDT on the Channel Islands. Here is an introductory excerpt from the IWS website:
Bald eagles were present on the Channel Islands until the mid-1950s or early 1960s, but no successful nesting activity was known. The reasons for the decline and eventual disappearance of bald eagles on the Channel Islands are not completely understood. Possible causes include shooting, egg collecting, nest destruction, poisoning, removal of young from nests, and nest disturbance (Kiff 1980). The most likely cause of population declines, however, was the production and use of the industrial pesticide DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro ethane). Between 1947 and 1961 an estimated 37 to 53 million liters of DDT-contaminated acid sludge, containing 348-696 metric tons of DDT, were disposed of in an ocean dump site 16 km northwest of Catalina Island. In addition, it was estimated that another 1800 metric tons of DDT were discharged from the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant outfall, 3.3 km offshore of Palos Verdes Peninsula (Chartrand et al. 1985). The introduction of DDT into the Santa Monica Basin marine ecosystem was implicated in the decline of two other piscivorous bird populations on the Channel Islands, the brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) and the double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) (Risebrough et al. 1971, Gress et al. 1973). These declines coincided with the decline of bald eagles as a breeding species on the Channel Islands.
I have mentioned it before, but DDT was also sprayed on Big Bear Lake. The toll this believed to be harmless insecticide wrought on all wildlife is unbelievable and ongoing.
Here are the links to all of the Channel Islands cameras including the falcons.
We are three days away from pip watch at the WRDC nest of Ron and Rose in Miami. It is hot at the nest! 86 degrees F. Oh, goodness. We will get to see how eaglets do in the heat. You have observed them when it is cold and snowy.
Pepe and Muhlady have had a wonderful year. Tico and Pearl were on the nest Tuesday at 15:10, having some fish. They are observed flying around the area. Excellent.
On Tuesday, M15 had to contend with an intruder who even entered the nest. Still, he brought in 3 fish, and two prey items – an odd bit of something and a road kill possum. M15 is a constant observer – either in the nest or on the branch – of how the eaglets are doing with their self-feeding. Each of us must be smiling from ear to ear. We all have favourites every year, and 22 has certainly won over the hearts and minds of so many. No longer submissive and cowering but strong and surviving.
Mid-afternoon, Dad brings in a fish and feeds the other eaglet the rest of the road kill.
At 1646, Dad is in the nest cleaning up some of the tidbits that would attract predators and feeding the eaglets their final meal for the day (presumably). E22 is right up there snatching and grabbing that old possum!
Good Night SW Florida. Where is R23-3? Am I missing something?
The two eaglets at Duke Farms each ate well on Tuesday. They are sure growing! Fuzzy little ones with big crops.
In Louisiana, KNF-E1-03, Trey, was almost hit by a falling perch branch!
At the nest of Big Red and Arthur, Arthur flew into the nest early (0626) with more greenery. He checked out the nest bowl and off he went!
Big Red was in later inspecting everything that Arthur did just to make sure it is perfect.
The snow is starting to fall on the nest of our adorable Red-tail Hawks Tuesday evening. It is -1 C with 25 kph winds. Very windy!
The osplets at Mooring Park in Naples, Florida appear to be doing quite well.
Mum Sally needed a quick early morning break.
After the osplets hatch, the Mom stays in the nest most of the time. That said, she does take breaks, and, at this nest, Dad can be seen relieving her so she can have a stretch and a relaxation break. Still, his primary role is food delivery – ‘Daddy Door Dash’ and security. Alan Poole reminds us that the number of fish deliveries doubles and triples in the first 20 days after hatch. This is a rapid growth period.
Ospreys are semi-precocial. This means that they are not as developed as ducks or chickens who, after 24 hours, can walk, are covered with feathers, and feed themselves. Ducks and chickens are precocial. On the other hand, Songbirds are born altricial –naked and require complete care. Osplets are in between. They need their parents to feed them. They cannot regulate their temperature until they are 2 to 3 weeks old.
In terms of growth, osplets should “triple their body weight in the first eight days after hatch and then double that again in the next four days”, according to Poole. By the time they are a month old, they will be 70-80% of their adult size if all has gone well.
The GHOs in Corona, California are growing. That nest is getting tight. All four are doing well. The fourth hatch – about a 1/4 of the size of the oldest – has had some personal feedings.
We all knew it…just from the size, but it has now been confirmed. Sweet Pea or South Plateau Royal Cam chick is a male! A little boy. So nice for a change.
Making News:
We have seen 3-D printers make beaks for eagles and bits and bobs for humans, but, we have been waiting for legs. Now, when will we see these on an eagle? Surely they can use their mind to clinch the toes and talons, right?
Each of us wants to know what happens when one of the birds fledges. This is especially true when they have had a tragedy, such as ND17, when it fell from the collapsing nest. In the UK, at Balgavies Lach, Blue 640, known as The Bairn, did just that – fell out of a collapsing tree, too. That juvenile was spotted in Senegal! It survived its first migration. This is the reason for a huge celebration.
Now this is exciting!
Do you live near enough to the Audubon Centre of Prey in Maitland, Florida, to go for a celebration of baby owls? Oh, it looks like fun! What a great way to get items needed for the rehabilitation of our raptors.
The Cal Falcons t-shirt and hoodie fundraiser has begun for 2023. This design is fantastic, and on Wednesday, 8 March, if Annie is on time, she will lay her 3rd egg around 1600 scrape time.
The Institute of Wildlife Studies (Dr Sharpe) is having their annual fundraiser, also.
Wisdom, the oldest living banded albatross in the world (early 70s) is a grandmother again!
Thank you so very much for being with me today. Keep an eye on Annie and Lou’s scrape and, of course, the WRDC nest of Ron and Rose as pip watch approaches. Take care all. See you soon.
Thank you so much to the following for their notes, posts, tweets, videos, and streaming cams that make up my blog today: ‘B’, ‘H’, FOBBV, Jana Maria Johnson Jamar and FOBBV, IWS, IWS and Explore.org, Jann Gallivan and CIEL, WRDC, Superbeaks, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Duke Farms, Tonya and KNF-E1, Cornell RTH, Moorings Park Ospreys, Corona California Owl Cam, Sharon Dunne and the Royal Cam Albatross Group NZ, David Attenborough Fans, Ospreys, The Telegraph, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, Cal Falsons, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatross and Petrels.
It was a beautiful day on the Canadian prairies on Saturday, and I did not stay as alert to what was happening on the nests as I might usually. Sometimes that is a good thing! It gave me some time to spend with the kittens in the conservatory, which I enjoy doing. Lewis is a particularly hyper kitty. It is no surprise. He chased toys all over an aquarium the first time we saw him. Missy was quiet like she is now. Indeed, she hardly ever meows but has the sweetest purr. She leaves all the haggling for food and treats to Lewis, a task he particularly enjoys. In early November, both kittens could fit with room to spare on the top spot of the cat tree. No more! Lewis even hangs off the edge.
Lewis enjoys being a dare-devil!
He certainly has a great view of the garden!
Missy was too busy watching birds out of the window to worry if Lewis was going to fall down.
They had a lovely day. Missy even got to see Mr Woodpecker!
M15 continues to bring in prey items. E22 got the first on Saturday which appeared to be a squirrel, bunny, or roadkill. After that, E22 continued to mantle and got the fish. E 21 would steal it from between 22’s legs. You must dig those talons in, 22! Both are eating well, and there is no cause for concern unless something catastrophic happens at the nest.
At 12:06, M15 came to the nest and broke a fish into two pieces (or what it looked like) so each eaglet could eat. He fed one, and the other ate. It seriously doesn’t get better than this. He is an incredible dad who has made several deliveries to his 8-week-old eaglets on Saturday. They will be on the nest for 10-11 weeks til they fledge. At that time, M15 will help them get their flight muscles strong and their flying good while providing prey and teaching them to hunt. I know that we did not ever think we would see this day a month ago but wow. Isn’t it grand?
Each has been working on and off again with the head of an Armoured Catfish that came in around 15:20:41.
E22 mantled the fish head, but then E21 took it.
Around 1700, E22 was still chewing on that old catfish head while 21 had found a dried fish tail hidden in the rim of the nest. Then 21 got excited and started jumping and flapping! 22 could care less. He continued eating!
Good Night M15, R23-3, E21 and 22. Sweet Eaglet Dreams.
There have been two deliveries at the SW Florida nest before 1100. They came around 10:00 and another nice fish at 10:43.
Both eaglets have been spending time on the rim of the nest.
Our great Dad.
Word has come from ‘H’ this morning that Pearl flew to the nest on Saturday and landed on Tico, forcing him to fledge. He has not been seen at the nest since.
Tico was seen across the street with his foot caught in a vine upside down last night. He freed himself. There have been boots on the ground looking for him. They believe he could be in the woods.
If you have been watching the Bald Eagle nest at Camp Margaritaville in Auburndale, Florida, CM2 has passed. This little one was harassed and hurt from the time it hatched for no obvious reasons, as there was plenty of food in the nest. (There is a stocked pond). Whether it died on Friday or Saturday is unknown, but the cause was siblicide. The eaglet suffered greatly. Sometimes we must be grateful that the suffering ends for these precious little ones. Thanks, ‘H’ for alerting me to this tragedy.
Annie arrives to incubate her and Lou’s first egg of the season…talking to it! How precious. Time 08:39:37 4 March.
Cal Falcons tells us when to expect the next egg.
This is a view of Bald Canyon. Thank you, Gracie Shepherd. If you want to see all of the IWS streaming cams from the Channel Islands, go to iws.org and click on the name of the nest in the listings on the left.
Gabby and V3 continue to put a smile on my face. V3 is a good provider and a fantastic security guard. Have you noticed that there are seemingly no more intruders coming to the nest except for the odd fly through juvenile?
V3’s talons have had a rough time lately.
The two eaglets at Duke Farms are growing and eating and are such cute fuzzy little bobbleheads. They look like miniature teddy bears. Did you know that their Dad, A/59 is 23 years old? He is! There is lots of food in this nest!
Jackie and Shadow are spending less time on the eggs. Right now, I wish the Ravens would come and take them so the eagles could move forward. They did visit today. It must be difficult for the eagles to destroy their own eggs.
They might have another clutch, but they might not. If those eggs weren’t in the nest, it would give them some closure. So sad for these two. Amazing parents who gave us Spirit – 1 year and 1 day since her hatch.
At the MN-DNR nest of Nancy and Beau, one egg remains. One broke after Nancy worked hard to protect the two eggs during a strong winter storm. The songbirds are announcing spring is coming. You can hear them in the background of the streaming cam. It is lovely.
Cholyn and Chase are still incubating a single egg at Two Harbours in the Channel Islands. Folks were watching for a second egg and Cholyn did not disappoint. That egg arrived around 18:14:24 Saturday 4 March.
Maria dk caught the moment on video:
Everyone is holding their breath and sending the most positive wishes to Jak and Audacity who are still incubating egg #7 after the eighth egg broke.
‘H’ had me laughing and well, anytime there is siblicide, we look to find the joy in the birds. Dear Angus loves to stand on the back of Florence. Poor thing!
Harry and Sally are doing a fantastic job of being first-time parents. Their osplets both hatched on 3 March. The oldest at 01:29 and the youngest at 20:03. Now, if every female raptor (osprey or eagle) could manage their delayed incubation so that the hatches were this close or closer, the world of raptors would be a much more equitable place.
Seriously, how much more cuteness do we need? Just look at those two lined up so nicely for fish.
We are still some days before pip watch at Achieva in St Petersburg, Florida. The first egg is 25 days old today – so 10-11 days from now, probably making that the 15th of March.
Rosie and Richmond were both on the Whirley Crane today. It seems to take them a few days to get re-acquainted each year but, for us, it is nice to have both of them safe at home.
The Welsh take their ospreys seriously. The final touches to the Dyfi nest of Idris and Telyn were put into place as the team awaits the couple’s arrival from their winter migration. Ospreys were seen over Suffolk today, heading north!
The Patuxent River Park Osprey platform cams are streaming, and the first bird arrived on Saturday. It is happening – everything is starting at once!!!!!!
Small and lost Atlantic Puff is saved from highway collision in New Brunswick, Canada.
Happy Hatch Day! Another Kakapo celebrates. This is so wonderful. 55 hatched in 2022 and they are still alive!
What should and what can we do to stop the destruction of nature on our doorsteps? There is a new word for it, ‘ecocide’.
This wholesale demolition of nature is described as ecocide – a term put forward by the Stop Ecocide Foundation as “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts”. Although no law has yet been passed, we know ecocide when we see it. It is a moral red line that is being crossed.
While this is about a particular acerage being taken over in the UK, the concerns extend to the entire globe.
“The dismantling of nature’s complexity can no longer be seen as acceptable fallout to maintain the way we have become accustomed to living, and to support the “growth” agenda to which we have become addicted. The planet is perilously close to ecosystem collapse. Humanity created the problem. It is our job to fix it – now.”
Big Red has been at the Fernow Light stand nests. Progress is really being made and we are within 9 days of what could be the first egg laid.
Did you watch Bonnie and Clyde raise Lily and Tiger on the Bald Eagle nest on Farmer Derek’s Property in 2021? Well, their eggs are getting closer to hatching this year. Egg 1 is 33 days old, and egg 2 is 30 days old. The incubation period for GHOs is normally 30-37 days….so guess what? We are there.
Guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Thank you, ‘A’ for the link. Sweet Pea is a proficient gardener. Watch out for the squiggling in the nest and those paddles!
Last but certainly not least is a march and a call to end rodenticide poisons. We must all band together to stop these deadly toxins that kill rodents, our beautiful raptors, and other mammals! Raising awareness helps.
It is so nice to have you with us in Bird World. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, their tweets, their posts, their videos, and their streaming cams that help make up the news in my blog today: ‘A’, ‘H’, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Camp Margaritaville Bald Eagles, Lady Deeagle55 and Superbeaks, Maria dk and IWS and Explore.org, Cal Falcons, Gracie Shepherd and Raptors of the World, NEFL-AEF, Duke Farms, FOBBV, MN-DNR, IWS and Explore.org, Window to Wildlife, Moorings Park Ospreys, Achieva Credit Union, Golden Gate Audubon, Patuxent River Park, CBC.ca, Kakapo Recovery, The Guardian, Cornell RTH Cam, Farmer Derek, Lady Hawk and NZ DOC, Terry Carman Bald Eagle Live Nest Cams and News.
The top Osprey story has to be that Rosie has returned to the nest on the Whirley Crane in the Richmond Shipping Yard. Richmond will be delighted! Oh, so happy you are home safe, Rosie.
Just look at those two beautiful eaglets on the SW Florida Nest. They are 7.5 weeks old! It has been a month since their Mum, Harriet, disappeared. M15 has done a fantastic job caring for the couple’s two eaglets, who were a month old. Now they have their juvenile plumage, standing on the rim of the nest, stealing food, and self-feeding. Life doesn’t get much better than this.
On Tuesday, M15 brought a squirrel to the nest. Of course, E22 grabbed a massive piece of it! What a survivor! SK Hideaways caught E22 doing another great eating trick: sit on 21 to get to the beak!
The two eaglets have been enjoying the Florida sunshine and standing on the rails on Thursday. There were four deliveries on Wednesday: 1308, 1338, 1457, and 1505. They came fast and were not large. E22 often got the fish only to lose it to 21.
M15 came to the nest with a small fish at 13:38:16. E22 pulled off something quickly, 21 got some fish, and Dad quickly left. He was gone in 39 seconds! At 13:38:55.
After, E22 searched for scraps while 21 looked out at the big world beyond.
Lady Hawk caught the deliveries and the action in a video montage.
It is 10:30 in Florida as I finish writing on Thursday. The Es are waiting for breakfast.
As I continue monitoring the SW Florida Eagle nest with M15, I try to catch up on other nests we have been watching. These eaglets are growing, and it will not be long until there are fledges. Right now, the first hatch of Alex and Andria at the KNF-E3 nest in the Kisatchie Forest in Louisiana is hovering! Yes, you read that right. He has wind under those wings. Just look. Incredible. The nest is going to become a trampoline for these two eaglets.
B16, the ‘apple’ of Pa and Missy Berry’s talons and eagle eyes is 39 days old today and is now mantling prey when it comes to the nest!
Both of the recent hatches at Duke Farms appear to be doing well. Dad has been on and off the nest checking, and there was an attempt at tandem feeding today. Well done, Duke Farms!
What an adorable image. Two little fluff balls. Pa and Ma make sure that each gets fed and has a little crop.
There has been more trouble at the nest of Liberty and Guardian in Redding, California. An intruder landed on the nest! Gary explains what is happening but, Guardian prevails saving the nest and the egg.
At the nest of the Sauces Canyon couple, Audacity and Jak, egg #7 is holding. If I were Audacity, I would eat on the nest without trying to move! Everyone send this fantastic couple the most positive wishes you can – imagine, seven eggs hoping that one will not break easily and will hatch!
Cholyn was thrown off the nest at Two Harbours in the Channel Islands on Wednesday. There were concerns for her. She returned to incubate the egg overnight, doing a handover to Chase at 0605 Thursday morning. Cholyn is 24 years old – she went right over the cliff’s edge.
Nancy and Beau at the Minnesota DNR nest have lost an egg. It is believed to have broken when Nancy tried to keep the eggs warm and dry during the recent winter storms. Let’s hope for one healthy hatch!
A squirrel has been in the nest at Decorah North chewing on the egg. There is a question of its viability. Eagle back incubating regardless!
We are looking for a pip at the Moorings Park Osprey platform. Sally was acting rather peculiar…maybe the pip has started! Sally and Harry are not giving a thing away. Cannot tell Thursday morning if there is a pip or not.
Arthur is being just his amazing self and delivering sticks for the nest for Big Red. We could be less than two weeks away from the first egg!
Arthur should be proud. He has diligently transformed a pile of windswept sticks with new ones creating a nest for his queen, Big Red. Let’s hope she approves!!!! Big Red can be specific when it comes to stick placement!
Thanks, Sharon Dunne, for the update on the first Moli of the Laysan Albatross Colony on Kauai’ to hatch this year.
Another Kakapo gets its name!
Scientists were delighted when travelling through Madagascar, a believed to be an extinct songbird, the Dusky Tetraka, was seen! Here is that article from Birdlife International. Can you imagine how excited they were?
You will remember my joy when the EU announced that lead would be banned in all 27 European countries in wetlands as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. Here is more information about this bold move. Can we get this to happen in North America? It would certainly be a beginning but we need to ban lead in all hunting and fishing equipment everywhere!
While the Bald Eagles and some ospreys nest in the US, the first osprey to return from winter migration to Africa has flown over Hampshire in the UK. It will not be long until we have our first returnees on the streaming cams. Will it be Blue 33 and Maya at Rutland?
I am getting so excited it is impossible to think!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, it is going to be getting soooooo busy. Word has come of Osprey crossing The Strait of Gibraltar. Oh, cold chills are going up my arms. I do so love these raptors.
There is a new osprey platform going up in Cumbria that is hoping to attract a couple! Good luck everyone.
Last is a book review that I have been reading in the evenings after checking on the SW Florida nest.
Raptor behaviour interests everyone, and I wanted to know more about M15. Marti Lord is one of the local photographers and observers of the SW Florida nest. To say that they love these eagles would be an understatement! Their book, Miracle in the Pines – An Eagles Love Story, is an intimate account of a single year in the life of M15 and Harriet. It is 2020. Lord says, “This book is a mixture of my real-life visits to the Southwest Florida Eagles Nest, home of Harriet and M15, to Photograph and observe them, mixed with watching the live cams every day and documenting the activity on the nest. Then I add my own twist of fiction and storytelling to complete the story.”
The story is about season 8. Harriet and M15 had two eggs in the nest. One failed to hatch. Mr Sassy Pants, or E14, was the name given to the eaglet that hatched and tragically died on the nest at 26 days of rodenticide poisoning. CROW removed the body and the non-viable egg. Lord says, “I watched closely to see if there would be any clues as to what Harriet and M15 would do next.” They did move on, and what unfolds is the story of two eaglets, Miracle and Grace, hatched from a second clutch of eggs.
While the book is composed of chapters following the daily lives of the eagles, what struck me most is how Lord shares another perspective, one that those watching the nest on a streaming cam will never have. The family of eagles is observed in the area around the nest. M15 is particularly present once the eaglets fledge. He helps them by the pond, delivers prey; he flies with them. Those stories make this book a really good read, especially if you want to know more about this family and M15.
In 2020, E9 is still in the area, and M15 goes hunting with him. Not only is the season remarkable for the success of a second clutch, but also because this is the year Miracle stays at the nest with her parents squeeing and chasing Dad for fish until the 15th of November. It is just about time for Harriet to lay her eggs, and everyone is wondering when 15 will leave OR will Harriet and M15, who have been working on an alternative nest, have to move house. This intimate behind-the-scenes account of this extraordinary year was such a joy to read. Lord brings to life all of the birds and mammals that live on or come to the pond at the Pritchett property and their interactions with the eagles. And, yes, the GHOs are there and knocking M15 off the branch, too! My only disappointment was that the images were in black and white, and Lord’s photographs of this nest, often seen on the SW Florida Eagles Facebook, are extraordinary in colour. I presume that this was the publisher and a cost issue. It happens far too often now… but, that does not take away from a really detailed and passionate accountant of a year in the life of this Bald Eagle family. I admired M15 prior to reading the book and am more of an ardent supporter now!
How ironic it just was to check FB and Trish Rawlings had posted a picture of Harriet feeding E15!
Just because. A throw back video to a month ago when Mama Harriet was being fed by M15 who was also feeding the eaglets. Yes, it is OK to tear up.
Love. Annie and Lou style, thanks to SK Hideaways. Eggs? Soon?
There is lots and lots of news and nests to cover now. This is a glimpse into what is happening at some of the nests!
Lewis and Missy wish everyone a good end of the week. Did I say they love their big dog fluffy bed?
Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, postings, tweets, videos, and streaming cams which help make up my blog: Lucille Powell and the SF Osprey Cam with Rosie and Richmond, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Tonya Irwin and KNF E3, Berry College Eagles, Gary and FORE, Gracie Shepherd and Raptors of the World, IWS and Explore.org, MN Non-game Wildlife Program, Raptor Resource Project and Explore.org, Moorings Park Naples Florida, Cornell RTH Cam, Sharon Dunne and Royal cam Albatross Group NZ, Kakapo Recovery, Birdlife International, Alan Petrie Ospreys FB, @WildHaweswater, Marti Lord, NEFL and SWFL Eaglecam Watcher’s Club, Lady Hawk and SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, and SK Hideaways and Cal Falcons.
Lewis and Missy hope you have had a wonderful start to the week. They are enjoying a new ‘dog bed’. It is so soft, and with their own blankets, they both decided that it was ‘OK’. They are way too big to share the small basket, and neither one will be alone!
They had to do everything together from the moment they came to their forever home. It is like synchronised living. Sleep, eat, drink water, poop, look out the window, play – it is always in tandem.
My goodness. Most of the time we think of a pip and then a wait to see how long it will be until hatch. Well, the first eaglet of the year has blasted out of the egg at Duke Farms. This is one strong eaglet. Want to bet she is a fierce formidable female?
Dad was on the nest checking on the progress.
The reveal came around 14:06.
Well, hello! Aren’t you amazing? Such a strong eaglet! Dad sees his chick for the very first time.
One strong eaglet! A nice fresh fish on the nest for Tuesday morning breakfast!
The first breakfast for Monday came in at 10:28:45 at the SW Florida nest of M15 and the Es. It was very difficult to see what that prey item was, actually. E22 mantled it and got a huge chunk. M15 found some small bits and kept 21 busy feeding him.
Another delivery came at 13:47:05. This time it was a small fish, not tiny but not huge. E21 was up at Dad’s beak first but 22 did his usual work around and got up to the beak to get some of that fish. E22 exhibited no fear as he touched beaks with 21 trying to get some fish. Meanwhile, the female is down in one of the trees not bothering what is going on at the nest. It appears that 21 and 22 play around trying to eat the skin and some bits and bobs.
E22 is the fastest eaglet on this nest and the best at self-feeding. He learned those traits early on when we all thought he might not survive. What a great eagle you will be 22.
M15 came in with another prey item at 14:54:14. It was difficult to tell which eaglet was which, but both got something to eat. I think it was 22 at the end who also had the bone and was chewing on it. Perhaps you held your breath seeing the adult above the nest, but thankfully, it was M15 just getting off the nest at 15:01:36.
I believe it is 21 on the left and 22 on the right by the tail feathers but, I could be so wrong.
M15 came in with another fish for the eaglets at 16:23:21. E21 got some first bites but E22 was quick to get itself into a position to snatch and grab from the right to the left!
E21 is on the left and E22 is on the right.
He just grabbed a big piece of fish!
22 pushes 21 back while keeping his beak up to get the fish.
The fish went back and forth, but E22 got it and finished it off quickly. Dad was back up to the branch at 16:28:38.
That might be the last feeding of the day. It has gone well. Thank you, M15.
They both look a little tattered. Harriet was M15’s first mate. She was a fierce eagle as we know and no one would mess with her chicks, her nest, or her territory. We wait to see how this goes.
I am warming up to her. Injuries, stress, hunger. They all trigger behaviours that might not otherwise take place. Yes, she has pecked and winged but, she has not injured E21 or E22. As we know she did, voluntarily or feeling forced, feed 21. She has protected the territory. M15 will need a ferocious mate to take on this popular territory together.
M15 brought a squirrel into the nest at 093215 for 21 and 22. He did some feeding but, in the end, it seems that 21 took some of it to self-feed. That is 22 getting fed by Dad below.
There appears to be, sadly, a territorial dispute going on at the Redding Bald Eagle nest of Liberty and Guardian. Guardian returned to the nest where Liberty is incubating their single egg for the season injured on Sunday. Injuries appear to be the left eye, the top of the head, and some frayed tail feathers.
A short time in Ron and Rose’s nest, a shift change. I love the chortling.
Everyone is counting down the time to eggs and I am thinking that it is two weeks. Around 13 March for Big Red and Arthur. So happy they are back at the nest on the Fernow Light Stand so that we can watch them raise their eyases.
Meanwhile, L4 is still with the young hawk and still on Mum and Dad’s territory as far as I am aware.
The heavy snowfall promised to hit the northeastern US is now falling on Big Red and Arthur’s nest in Ithaca, New York.
Indigo is still home! And he is loud. Missy and Lewis always want the volume off. For some reason, Indigos’ screeching scares them.
If you want to glimpse the four owlets at the Corona Owl Nest, you need to watch during the night or do a good rewind. There are four of them, and voting will begin on naming the four on March 6. Check out the chat with the live stream: Corona Owls on YouTube.
At Taiaroa Head, home to the Royal Albatross Colony, Sweet Pea does her very first sky call. Lady Hawk caught it for us!
Jackie and Shadow made the news in Greece. I keep saying if love could fill that nest with little eaglets, that nest would be spilling over. Fingers crossed for a successful second clutch and hatch in the future. If you are wondering, yes, it is possible. When Harriet and M15 lost Sassy Pants, M15 wanted another clutch of eggs. Those two eaglets hatched and were named Miracle and Grace.
Making News:
I brought you the news from CROW about a GHO owlet that had fallen out of a tree and was placed in a laundry basket hoping the parents would feet it. The story gets quite amazing. A wellness check was done, the original nest located, a sibling and lots of food in the nest – and even more special, the adults welcomed the ‘lost’ baby back into the family! Thank you, CROW.
They stopped the fireworks in the UK not to disturb this amazing walrus named Thor. Today, he was discovered in Iceland!
Please don’t tell any gamekeepers on those moors!
‘EJ’ sent an article to me explaining it isn’t the type they usually send. It is hard to believe that some individuals take shotguns and are called ‘removers’. They are culling one owl species for another. Honestly, I think humans should leave nature to nature. Do we actually understand what we are doing to wildlife and the planet? — Sorry, I am ‘getting started’. Nothing has convinced me that we are proper conservators of our home and theirs or that we have insights that make us superior. I wish it were different.
The author says: “Remover” was an accurate term for what Hunt did. But it was a euphemism. Hunt is one of the best in the business at shooting barred owls out of trees with a shotgun. The twenty-eight-year-old, slightly-built wildlife management specialist from Belmont, New York, had spent five winters tracking barred owls and systematically blasting them from the canopy with a twelve-gauge. The goal was to reduce the barred owl population enough to relieve the pressure on spotted owls. It was a divisive study generating high emotions on all sides. But Hunt loved the work. “I’m kinda sad the removal part is over,” she said.”
This is wonderful news. I am certain that when Rita was injured, we wished this might have been the outcome. It was not to be but, for this couple, it was the perfect ending. Congratulations to all!
Some bird humour compliments of the Webster Texas Eagles FB page.
The season’s first egg is at one of the Peregrine Falcon’s nests in Japan. Congratulations! For those who would like to watch this scrape, I have messaged the site to get a link. The scrape fledged four little eyases in 2022.
A former student ‘CD’, now teaching her university-level science classes, posted this today. Do you know about these women who saved the birds?
Thank you so much for being with us today! Take care, everyone. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their tweets, notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that help make up my blog: ‘CD’, ‘EJ’, Duke Farms, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Gary and FORE, @Cornell Hawks, Valerie Valicento and Cornell Hawk Cam Chatters, Elain and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Corona Owls, Lady Hawk and NZ DOC, Maria Grigoriadou and FOBBV, Heidi Mc and WRDC, CROW, BBC, Google Maps, Yorkshire Post, Salon.com, Sydney Wells and Bald Eagles Live Nest Cam and Nests, Webster Texas Eagle Watchers, Ashai Falcon Kirara, Women Who Saved Birds.
Saturday was a huge surprise with the revolving door deliveries at the SWFlorida nest. Just when we worried because of the female’s presence, M15 brought in lots of prey. And once, ‘she’ fed E21 and only once did she get in the nest.
The day started well for the eaglets, E21 and 22. M15 has delivered two fish to the nest. The first was an Armoured Catfish, but the second appeared to be a normal catfish. E21 had a crop, and E22 is working hard on that second fish!
The second fish arrives at 1100. I thought that Dad might feed the eaglets, but he keeps the female away from the nest by doing food drops.
After 21 eats their portion, 22 takes the fish. The time is 1142.
22 kept working on that piece of fish until it was all gone. He is our little survivor!
Meanwhile, while 22 was working on that fish, Dad brought in more mysterious animal organs. E21 grabbed them and ate quickly. 22 didn’t even seem to notice! Time is 12:04.
We must celebrate these two eaglets. They are doing so well under the circumstances and Dad is just doing the absolute best he can for them.
At 13:10:49, M15 brings another nice fish to the nest for the eaglets. This time he is followed by R23-3 (Black Talon). Dad leaves her. Interestingly, while this female was hungry and ate most of that fish, she did feed 21 and didn’t seem to be mean about it. This is disheartening as the morning and yesterday had gone well without her.
By 1317, 22 decides he might get up there and get a few bites. I do not think 22 got any, but he had eaten much of the earlier fish. Still, you can see him moving his beak up. The lunch was finished at 13:19:40, and the female flew up to a branch above the nest.
Lady Hawk caught it in a video showing that the female was not all nice but, she did feed E21 some bites. Perhaps M15 was watching?
The prey items keep on coming. M15 brings in another fish to the eaglets at 15:38:09. 22 is right up there snatching and grabbing. He is very hungry and intends to get this fish!
Our Snatch and Grab King is not giving up on any of this fish even if Dad moves it around to also feed 21.
22 is getting so much fish. He will sleep well tonight and be good if nothing else comes to the nest today. Bravo, M15!
Dad also has a nice crop so he is also eating well today. Simply relief. I don’t know if there are medals for eagles figuring out complicated life circumstances, but M15 would surely be at the top of the list this year to receive one.
At 0800 on Sunday, M15 drops a live fish on the nest. E22 mantles and grabs it first but submits to 21 who eats it all!
It is not clear what happened next on the SW Florida nest Sunday morning.
At 09:15:57, the female with the injured talon, no longer black as the scab had come off, was on the nest with the eaglets. At 09:15:15, M15 had flown down into the nest. Did he want her to leave? Did he have fish? I could see he did not leave a meal, and the female remained in the nest. I suspect she thought there was some fish, and 21 had cleaned everything up. 21 finished eating that live fish at 0857.
Dad at the ND-LEEF Bald Eagle nest has been contending with a rather aggressive female since Mum disappeared earlier this month. It now seems that Dad and her are a couple. She’s a big girl!!!!!!!
People are fascinated by Bald Eagles buried in snow. This is Nancy at the MN-DNR nest.
This is what it was like at the eagle nest of Jackie and Shadow in Big Bear where the winter storm continues to rage.
Jackie and Shadow made The Los Angeles Times. Oh, they are so loved both in California and around the world. Again, if our love could help them, they would have a nest full of eaglets!
The weather is much different in Jacksonville, and V3 managed to get a fish on the nest, eat a few bites, and then Gabby came and claimed it. No talons were injured this time, and well done, V3. What a guy you are keeping security watch while Gabby eats. V3, you are fantastic.
No eggs at The Hamlet but HD and HM (Hatchery Dad and Mum) at Decorah welcomed their first egg on Saturday. Congratulations Iowa! Talk about a handsome eagle couple!
For those of you following the love triangle saga at Centreport, New York, ‘H’ tells me that Mum has been mating with D4 and that Mum also mounted D-5. Yes, you read that right. Will we have a lover’s triangle on Long Island?
‘H’ confirms also that Angus and Florence mated ten times on Saturday! Angust brought four fish gifts. One is the Talipia in the image below. Now..when will we have eggs on that nest?
B16 is 35 days old today. Wow. Those eaglets (B16, Connick, Ringo, the ones at KNF) are getting so big and grown up.
Ringo, the lone surviving eaglet, is strengthening her legs and wings! Doing well in Webster, Texas.
More and more postings are showing raptors in rehab because of rodenticide poisoning. When will these designer poisons be banned? Let the raptors do their job and have food without the fear of death!
Did Jack come too close to the eggs with his fish delivery for Diane? Heidi Mc caught it on video!
Sweet Pea is in the post-guard phase for those who follow the Royal Cam Albatross. I do not recall a little Albie wandering from the nest so early, but there he goes (yes, I believe it is a ‘him’ this time). What a brave and independent baby this year!
And last, but absolutely never least, Big Red and Arthur have been on the Fernow Light stand building a nest! Aren’t they beautiful? Arthur will deliver and you can count on Big Red doing the supervising! (She also delivers sticks).
Big Red and Arthur’s 2023 hatch L4 – who no one believed would survive – is still living on the parental territory without any issues from Mum and Dad.
Here is the link to Big Red and Arthur’s camera on the Cornell Campus in Ithaca, New York. This is one of less than a handful of streaming cams focusing on the lives of Red-tail Hawks. Big Red is 20 this year.
Thank you so much for being with me this Sunday morning. Take care, everyone. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, their videos, tweets, posts, and streaming cams that make up my blog this morning: ‘H’, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Lady Hawk and SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Stephen Basly and the Notre Dame Eagles, The Sacramento Bee, FOBBV, The Los Angeles Times, NEFL-AEF, Raptor Resource Project and Explore.org, Window to Wildlife, Berry College Eagles, Paul White and the Webster Texas Eagles, Boston.com, Heidi Mc and Achieva Credit Union, NZ DOC, Cornell Bird Lab, and @Cornell Hawks.
Well, gosh, golly. I am going to bed feeling better than when the day began. The mantra, ‘Trust the Eagles,’ should be printed and put on the bulletin board before me. Yesterday, I worried that the intruding female had caused M15 to reconsider feeding the eaglets for fear of his and their safety. Thankfully, that was not the case. He was trying to figure out how to discourage that female and get on with being the great dad that he is.
On Friday, M15 hatched a plan that worked. He brought 3 prey items for the Es, and eventually, the pair had crops. I worried he might abandon them if the black-taloned eagle kept up her attack if he brought whole fish to the nest. So no whole fish. Some would consider those scraps, but the eaglets ate. The prey item times were: 1300, 1353, an 1515.
M15 flew to the nest and quickly dropped a fishtail off. E21 got it. Maybe this is the way to keep the female away…make tiny drops to the eaglets. They will need a lot of them, but they can self-feed now. Thank goodness. E22 will get some of that fish, too. No worries.
22 still eating. 1339. M15 more food! 21 watches how well 22 is doing at self-feeding.
The other fish part came in at 13:53. It was a really niced size piece that fed both eaglets.
They see Dad flying in with more food.
At 15:15, M15 flew in with a carcass of ‘something’ with feathers and long yellow legs. Perhaps carrion/road kill he found on the way home. Or did he raid a nest. He dropped to the nest with it and was rushed by two extremely hungry eaglets. It is difficult to say how much meat was on that piece or who benefited. E22 was self-feeding at the end. Is this M15’s plan – to bring scraps to the nest for the eaglets, small pieces and get out so as not to attract that female?
My friend ‘A’ has nothing but praise for 22 doing this feeding. She says,
‘The feeding at 15:15 saw E22 get brave. He snatched and grabbed some big bits of that feed and he swallowed one giant bit of bone with flesh attached to it that even I doubted he could manage – but only for a moment. For a few mouthfuls there, he still had about ten inches of that hanging out the left side of his beak while he grabbed another three good-sized mouthfuls from dad, then returned to swallowing, and repeat. So he did well. He has had enough food to get through to another day. He mantled that food too when he grabbed it – and when E21 tried to intimidate him out of the position right next to M15’s beak, E22 fought for his spot and refused to be driven away from it.’
22 is in there first.
22 is doing some snatch-and-grab as 21 gets to the beak of M15. The intruder did not bother M15 today.
At 16:18:53, E22 is full for the first time in 48 hours or more. He cannot hold up his crop or keep his eyes open. The three prey items came in a flurry of deliveries from 1300-1515, 2 hours and 15 minutes. That interests me because not only did It fill up the eaglets, but coming in such rapid succession meant that both ate without intimidation. The female intruder did not come around. Good job, Dad.
M15. Thank you! You are so loved and admired. It has taken some time to figure out how to manage all that you have on your plate – eaglets to be fed, your own needs for prey and keeping healthy, sleep, security, and keeping intruders away from the eaglets. You have worked that out. I am so sorry if I ever doubted you!
Good night Dad! Good night Es. SEDs.
If you are wondering, ‘she’ is not on the same branch or cuddled up to M15 tonight, as I write. She is, however, on the nest tree. She could be as formidable as Harriet and make a great mate, protecting future eaglets, but right now, M15 doesn’t need her attention, nor does he need her in the nest stealing food. As we know, male Bald Eagles do not normally fight larger, more aggressive female eagles. I am glad he has figured out how to deal with all that has been ‘thrown’ at him. The Es are seven weeks old. They are going to branch and fledge before we know it.
Around 0835, M15 dropped off an Armoured Catfish to the eaglets and did some aeration on the nest. He did not stay to feed the eaglets at that time. It appears that they have broken through the head and are self-feeding. This is a great start to Saturday!
E21 seems to have given up and 22 has been working on the tail..smart. It is 0903.
In other news, the Peregrine Falcons are back in the scrape box and have been for some days. Elain caught all of them -Diamond, Xavier, and Indigo – yesterday in her scrape highlights.
Do you remember the fireworks that caused Diamond so much distress? The discussion over what happened continues.
You can still hear the ice pellets at the nest of Bald Eagles Jackie and Shadow. Shadow did bring in a very nice fish to Jackie! Oh, how I wish she would stand up and we would see a huge crack in one of those eggs.
I so admire how Californians love Jackie and Shadow. They are making the news with their endurance during this terrible winter storm that has hit Southern California.
There is something about Angus. Is it his youth? or the funny expressions he makes? Looking forward to eggs for Angus and Florence at Captiva!
Other Osprey nests are now coming into play. At the Lake Murray platform, Lucy has returned on the 17th of February and Ricky was back on Thursday the 23rd.
‘H’ writes to tell me that there is a possible first pip at the Moorings Park Osprey Platform in Naples, Florida!
And speaking of Ospreys, how would you like to help protect the Glaslyn Ospreys? Do you live in Wales near the Glaslyn Valley? Geemeff writes that this is a great opportunity – and it is. I wish I lived there!
As so many of you know, the Royal Cam chick is a delight to watch. Yes, it is difficult to see them alone on those nests! It is rather amazing that they stay so close to home. My kittens would never be so disciplined. Sweet Pea is gardening already. Sharon Dunne caught it on video:
The Steller’s Sea Eagle was first seen more than a year ago along Canada’s Atlantic coast. Then it went to Maine, returned to Canada, and is now back in Maine. It appears that a large raptor that should be spending its winters in Ussuriland, Japan, or Korea is finding life rather pleasant in Maine. Obviously, there are no food worries. The Stellar’s Sea Eagle breeds in areas of Russia and in particular, the Bering Sea. As far as I know, there is no mate.
One of the nature centres about an hour from where I live is getting ready for the ducks and geese to begin arriving. So lovely to involve students from one of the local universities to get their hands in there and help them with their duck tunnels!
Elsewhere in Canada, old-growth forests are continually under threat in British Columbia. This past year numerous Bald Eagle nests have been cut down. There is a move for legislation to save the very last of these lovely spotted owls before they are completely extinct.
I promised I would check on the GHO nest in Corona, California. There are four owlets in that nest! On Thursday night, Hoots brought Owlvira the following: 1 RODENT, 1 MOUSE, 1 RABBIT / Tonight: NO deliveries as of yet on Friday as I am writing this. The weather is a little frigid and mice might be tucked in tight.
This is the link to this streaming cam. Best action is during the night when food deliveries and feeding occurs.
In Kansas, on Farmer Derek’s land, Bonnie and Clyde are incubating eggs. You might recall that in 2021 they took over the nest of a young Bald Eagle couple. They raised two owlets to fledge. They were adorable, and seeing them climbing around on this giant nest was a treat. It will be a good comparison to that deep nest in California. Highly recommended.
I wish I could tell you that Jackie and Shadow have a pip or a hatch or that Zoe has checked in, but I can’t. We wait until the eggs are unviable, and with Zoe, we hope her transmitter begins working. CROW does not need to intervene in SW Florida. M15 has this under control! Relief.
Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care. Looking forward to seeing you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, their posts, videos, and streaming cams where I took my screen captures: ‘A’, ‘H’, ‘Geemeff’, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Susan Starck Romano and Bald Eagles Live Nest Cams and News, Elain and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam Project and Cilla Kinross, Cilla Kinross and Orange Australia Falcons, FOBBV, Jason Robertson and FOBBV, Window to Wildlife, Moorings Park Osprey Nest, Shela Staley and Osprey Friends, Cambrian News, Sharon Dunne and NZ DOC, Matt Felperin and Maine Birds, Oak Hammock Marsh, The Guardian, Carona California Owl Cam, and Farmer Derek.
There is some good news, and there is worrisome news this morning. This 2023 breeding season has really started off like a wild roller-coaster ride.
First…a big shout-out to Laguna Beach, California. They have banned balloons to save the ocean and wildlife. Let’s see who will stand up for the planet and its living inhabitants next.
Thursday has been a very tense day in Bird World. The female with the black talon attacked M15 when he brought a fish to the eaglets for breakfast on Thursday morning. She chased him around the pasture and then flapped him off the nest. It is mid-afternoon, and M15 has not fed the eaglets. The female with the black talon is on the branch below M15, above the nest.
M15 at the very end of the tree doing security. Or is he waiting for her to leave? We should never underestimate this female. She is larger and heavier than M15, and she is determined. Her talons demonstrate that she is not afraid to engage, and we know from footage around the nest site that she has protected the area. It is extremely difficult to anticipate what she will do next but, it seems that any food M15 brings could be grabbed by her and not get to the mouths of the eaglets.
Females injured feet and talons.
SW Florida video of the interaction.
Getting older.
Beautiful hot, and hungry babies. They are 7 weeks old.
It is 17:15 on the SW Florida Nest. No food has arrived. It is now after 1800, and M15 is not at the nest tree. The Es are searching for any old scraps that they can find. We wait.
I worried M15 might not return, but he did. He is on the branch of the nest tree with the black-talon female. We wait in the hope that the eaglets will be fed on Friday. M15 is caught in a terrible dilemma. If he brings food to the eaglets, the female will swoop and eat it. Then he has to quickly get more for the eaglets, ensuring the female does not injure him. He did this successfully the other day. Will he be able to do it again?
M15 has walked a fine line since Harriet disappeared, trying to do everything single-handedly. This female may not allow him to continue to feed the eaglets as he did so valiantly. If that is the case, I hope that CROW has the permit to remove them so that they can eat, learn to fly, and fledge safely. If that should happen, I do not think anyone will forget the good fight that M15 undertook to raise his eaglets under the most difficult of circumstances.
SW Florida Eagle Cam reminds us:
It is Friday morning 11:00, and the eaglets are yet to be fed. Did I say that I am extremely worried about them? Another person has been caught leaving food! Did I say that the eaglets’ ps are getting thin? If M15 doesn’t feed them because of injury to himself, them, or both, will CROW remove the eaglets and care for them til they fly free?
Maybe if I send this quick he will fly in with a big meal for them but, alas, I fear that the fight in the nest and the fact she took two meals in a row and chased him might have changed this. Stay strong babies!
So where does someone go if they want to see stability and tranquillity? Well, there are many choices. The first up for me would be Gabby and V3. No eaglets to worry about. No intruders at the nest. Just nice and quiet. Both have eaten well and have crops. They are in good physical shape, and V3 has ensured that the revolving door of suitors is closed. Gabby saw his great potential and accepted him. While we may have gone after looks, it seems she went after a good security guard that also was quite handsome. Hopefully, they will have eaglets next year. Like everything else in Bird World, we wait.
Of the nests that have eaglets, Captiva is a good choice, but there are intruders sometimes. The KNF-E1 and E-3 nests of Anna and Louis or Alex and Andria have plenty of food and are doing well. It is difficult to tell precisely what is happening at Superbeaks, but at least one of the eaglets has fledged, and both have branched. This has been a great nest to observe. The Royal Cam nest is always sedate and beautiful until the parents begin leaving the chick. This has just started happening, and now there is anxiety because of the number of juveniles or non-bonded individuals cavorting around SP.
Meanwhile, winter storms are troubling some nests. Jackie is going to begin to get very hungry. Do her and Shadow have a food stash? They must!
Jackie and Shadow are valiantly dealing with a big winter storm in the Big Bear Valley area. This is Shadow in the nest Thursday. More than 14,000 people are watching and wishing. If our love could give them a viable egg, they would have a full nest!
Shadow brought in a ‘black’ bird for dinner at 15:53. The couple switched incubation duties while it was plucked and eaten. All I can think of is — if it is hard to hunt prey today, is it now the pesky Ravens that are being served up?
Nancy and Beau are dealing with a winter storm at their nest in Minnesota, too.
Nancy’s new mate, Beau, is good at bringing in fish for Mum and taking over incubation duties.
There is snow in Iowa at both the Decorah North nest (top three images) and Decorah (bottom). We tend to worry more about the eagles when they are buried under snow than when it is hot. We look at them and think that they will freeze. In reality, the snow and cold are better than the heat. Eagles are also so intelligent – as we all know. According to my grandmother, they are much better weather predictors than any meteorologist. If you had watched, they would have prepared the nest with more materials. We saw this in Iowa and Minnesota recently. They might also stash prey items. The eggs will be nestled cosy, deep in the nest, safe and warm.
At the nest of KNF-E1 Anna and Louis, Trey was doing some winging when Dudley blew up! That is one way to get rid of an egg on a nest. It was obviously non-viable!
The Mum at ND-LEEF, Little Bit ND17’s mother, has been missing now for 19 days. There is a new younger female at the nest but the relationship between Dad and her is anything but cordial. The South Bend news carries the story of our beloved missing mother from the nest in St Joseph’s Park in South Bend, Indiana.
‘H’ sent me a lovely note and images about the Captiva Osprey this morning. Angus and Florence mated four times (looks successful) and had a lovely spa bath together during the day. Things are looking up for a change—some nice news on a Friday morning.
Last year we were entranced with Thunder and Akecheta raising three eaglets. This year they have moved their nest. Oh, how we will miss this amazing family! It is nice to see them even at a distance, though.
Happy Hatch day for two more Kakapo. What a brilliant year 2022 was for the Kakapo Recovery. 55 chicks. 55!
Sweet Pea or South Plateau Chick is now in the post-guard stage. It spent the day panning the horizon for intruders and worked on gardening around the nest.
Bird Flu impacts almost every country in the world. I want to thank one of our readers from Japan for alerting me to this situation. Thank you ‘A’.
Over 10 million birds have been culled in Japan because of Avian Influenza. On the northernmost island of Hokkaido, the first Tanbaku Crane was discovered to have the flu when it died in late October. Since then, there have been—–
Oriental White Storks are Special National Treasures in Japan.
They are smaller than the most famous of the Cranes, the Red-Crowned. They average 110-150 cm in height, or 43 inches to 59 inches tall and weigh anywhere from 6-13 lbs or 2.8-5.9 kg. Their wingspan is quite large at 7.3 feet or 2.2 metres. They have a black beak, red around the eyes and bright white irises. This is the best way to tell them from the Red-Crowned cranes.
The storks live on insects, small fish and reptiles, as well as small mammals. They are a top Apex wetland predator and like Ospreys and Bald Eagles in North America, their presence is a good indicator of a healthy environment. These beautiful wading birds originally lived and searched for their prey in the ride paddies. The industrialisation of agriculture, which included the use of pesticides and chemicals, killed off their natural food sources. The change from having natural waterways connected to rivers to concrete drainage and irrigation was also detrimental. Humans could flood the rice paddies quickly, which meant that many amphibians, such as tadpoles, that the storks relied on for food did not mature. So we now have also a loss of habitat with the logging of pine forests. Many succumbed to mercury poisoning from these pesticides and chemicals and could not breed. This is, of course, very similar to the issues of DDT use in North America. The very last wild storks were seen in 1971, again, a similar time table to the decline of the Apex raptors in the US.
These gorgeous birds are featured in many works of art and on buildings throughout Japan. The risk of extinction caused them to be designed as a special national treasure in 1956 when there were 20 wild storks left. Plans to breed the storks in captivity began to be discussed. It was not until 1985, when Russia translocated six young storks to Japan, that there was hope. Four years later, one pair raised their first chick in the wild! Meanwhile, 300 storks have been bred in captivity and released. Their new threat is Avian Flu.
The female stork hatched in April 2022 and was banded. Her name was Niji, and she was discovered dead at a pond in Muragame on 15 November. Tests indicated that it was the highly pathogenic H5 strain of avian flu. This will have a devastating impact on all the water birds of Japan.
When you think it is too much at some of the nests, just read this. The raptors do not mess around when it comes to territory. They protect it – often to the death.
I can assure you that all of the eaglets on the nests – save for 21 and 22 – are being well-fed. Eggs are being incubated. There are intruders and sub-adults, even following Jackie at Big Bear today. Mating occurs in the hope of eggs and spring at other nests.
Thank you so much for being with me. Please take care! See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, announcements, and streaming cams, where I took my screen, captures for the newsletter today: ‘A’, ‘B’, The Guardian, SW Florida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, SW Florida Eagle Cam, NEFL-AEF, FOBBV, MN-DNR, Raptor Resource Project and Explore.org, KNF-E1, South Bend Tribune, ‘H’ and Window to Wildlife, Gracie Shepherd and Raptors of the World, Kakapo Recovery, Cornell Bird Lab and NZ DOC, OpenVerse, and Ciryon Hoop and Raptors of the World FB.
