Category Archives: Olympic Park Eagles

Sum-eh flies Monday in Bird World

5 August 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Morning update:

It is getting to the time when you need to be getting your ‘miracles’ of the year in! Deadline: Wednesday, the 7th of August, so Tuesday evening CDT is the deadline—about 2000. Even a single sentence! Let me know what made you happy this year. I won’t spoil it, but there is already a clear winner for the top miracle of the year. Can you guess what that was?

It is cooler on the Canadian Prairies. Imagine extreme heat (32 for us) and then waking up and thinking you need a jumper! That was what it was like Sunday morning. The garden animals are loving it!

I did have a bit of a scare this evening. All the Crows were about and two of them were ragged and had white on their breasts. Took a deep breath. It is Junior and his mate and they are molting. Poor things. Junior stays but she heads south in the fall. I hope one or two of the youngsters will be around with us for fall and winter. They have been busy tonight protecting their territory. Urban crows live in family groups taking over a specific area and making sure that other groups of crows don’t enter! That said, when the GHO arrives, everyone comes to help usher it out of the space.

The blog is a little all over the place today. Osprey nests are winding down with fledglings returning for fish and awaiting the time to depart for migration. People are starting to stop and look at the state of the eagle nests and – we are on pip watch for the Olympic Park White-Bellied Sea Eagles in Sydney!

Update: Confirmed pip for SE33!

The three osprey chicks at the Osprey House Environment Centre are doing very well. Three weeks old!

In Port Lincoln, Mum is resting on the barge nest. Yes, yes, it is all beginning to happen ‘down under’.

Xavier is delivering prey to Diamond in the scrape at Orange, Australia. Now all we need is the Melbourne CBD Falcon cam to come on line. Typically that is after the eggs are laid.

If this is your first time to watch ospreys, you might want to find out about their migration – as most (save for Florida and some Gulf areas, the Caribbean, and Austral-Asia) fly to winter homes.

Osprey Migration Explained – Avian ReportDownload

More about migration from the UK.

https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/62/2023/03/Do-ospreys-migrate-6e4d8a7.jpg

Where do they go? Well, it depends on where they started!

Where Do Ospreys Go in the Winter? | AudubonDownload

Many of you will remember the Red-tail Hawk raised by the Eagles on Gabriola Island in British Columbia. You will also recall that the eaglet that shared the nest, Junior, was electrocuted. We all cried. It is too common an occurence. We lost one of two gorgeous osplets raised by Oscar and Ethel at the Russell Lake Osprey nest in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. It was discovered that it was Heidi. She had fledged the day prior. These events are so very sad.

If you recall the discussion with Dr Christian Sasse and Dave Hancock on how to mitigate against electrocution using simple methods and know that YouTube video, let me know. I am looking forward to sharing it with our friends in Nova Scotia. I have written to the HWF but have not heard back from them.

‘H’ reports:

8/4 Osoyoos osprey nest:  There were nine fish delivered to the nest, including one from Soo.  Olsen had tapped into a good location to catch those small green-colored fish, so his offerings consisted of those fish.  Soo brought a large headless fish at 1251 that actually resulted in two separate long feedings.  It was interesting to note, with 5 of the 8 fish delivered by Olsen, chick 1 rather easily took the fish from chick 2, after chick 2 had initial possession of it.  Chick 2 still displays some residual effects of the psychological conditioning that took place during all those weeks when chick 1 had been very aggressive toward him, and he learned to submit.  Chick 2 needs to get over that, and try to hold on to his food!  Chick 1 did not eat all of those fish he acquired, and he left a couple of good sized chunks on the nest for chick 2.  Everyone had plenty to eat today.  Chick 1 took a few flights off the nest throughout the day.  And, chick 2 managed to get several inches of lift off the nest during his evening wingercizing!  Weather forecast for 8/5: Sunny, high temp 94 F, light winds. There is a chance of strong thunderstorms in the afternoon. 

8/4-8/5 Colonial Beach:  Betty has not been seen since 0935 on 8/3.  Last night, 42-day-old Cobey spent his second night alone on the nest.  Cobey did not have anything to eat on Friday.  On Saturday, David dropped off a headless fish, Cobey self-fed for the first time, and was able to eat most of that fish.  On Sunday, David provided Cobey with a headless fish at 0724.  Once again, Cobey did a great job with his self-feeding.  His technique is not perfect, but he does amazingly well.  He ate the fish off and on for several hours, and picked it clean.  At 1828 David brought a live fish to the nest.  The fish was not very lively, but it took Cobey a while to figure out how to unzip the fish.  Cobey managed to do it, and ate the head!  Then he reached in and pulled out a lot of the center of the fish, avoiding the tough skin.  This morning 8/5,  Cobey has already tackled the leftover piece of fish, and managed to pull off a few bites, but it is dry and tough.  Hopefully David will bring Cobey a fresh fish this morning.  And, we are praying for Betty to come home.  Weather forecast for 8/5:  Sunny, high 90, light winds.  The forecast for the rest of the week may include periods of very heavy rain and some wind, as the remnants of ‘Debby’ moves up the coast.  Cobey will need some protection from all that bad weather, and David doesn’t seem to like that kind of Dad.  Please come home, Mom.

I am so looking forward to seeing these beautiful Nova Scotian ospreys in real life. Take off in a week! Will be announcing a wee break in normal posting – I will be sending out special Nova Scotia episodes while I am away so you can learn about one of our beautiful Atlantic provinces. It is famous for birdwatching – I am so excited.

Flipping over to Wales. Dylan has been busy delivering his famous Brown Trout to the Llyn Clywedog nest in Wales that he shares with his mate, Seren. The kids are there wanting fish! And if one is eating the other is fish calling very loudly!

Aran is busy at Glaslyn fishing for his and Elen’s kids, too. Everyone wants and needs to eat before migration.

In the south of England, the kiddos are waiting at Poole Harbour, too – and Blue 022 has four to feed!!!!!!!

At the nest of Iris and Finnegan, Sum-eh is getting restless to fly.

She is getting more height by the hover. Could today be the day she flies?

Our friend ‘A’ comments: “I’m hoping that her bond with Finnegan will bring her home. Certainly, she has something to come home to, which has not been the case before now. I know they’re territorial, and she returns to her nest, but now that nest has someone waiting on the perch, she may have an even stronger urge to be back. If indeed the older chick is female, then it is an incredible testament to the mothering skills of Iris, who has raised these two to be as close as any siblings I’ve seen on a nest. Never a hint of aggression or intimidation. They love to snuggle. Little Bob is usually fed first, but regardless of feeding order, they wait their turn. Sometimes, they compete for bites or even eat from each other’s overflowing beaks but never with violence attached. And if indeed Iris has achieved that outcome with a huge female hatched a week before her younger brother, we are definitely in the presence of a super mum. I love the way she has abandoned the nest to the kids, watching from the perch. She does always look to have a good crop, so at least Finn is keeping the family well fed. Perhaps too well fed. Why would these kids bother to leave home? This generation doesn’t, apparently. I do need to remember their names!!

This morning, big sister did a big and healthy PS, which pleased her so much that she had a hover. She is getting very good at her hovering. Oh Mary Ann she is magnificent. Such a beautiful osplet. She is gorgeous. (Little Bro is not yet interested in leaving his version of terra firma.) Iris immediately rises as if in an invisible lift, and she is out of there. Let hovering practice take place without her!! She can supervise from the perch. There is much fish calling (it’s 06:53). Little Bro is fascinated by his sister’s hovering (or perhaps he is just worried she’s about to land on his head)! But certainly, he is keeping his eyes on her. She is really getting some strength as she flaps. She is holding herself aloft for longer and longer, sometimes landing on an outer kiddie rail (is that technically branching or does she have to reach the perch?) and she is really enjoying the sense of wind beneath her wings. Those talons already look pretty deadly to me! “

At nest #3 in Finland, Tuulos and Taika have a fish and mate in the nest.

They are rebuilding at Decorah North!

Only one left to fledge at Blackbush – the other two that are flying continue to return to the nest for fish. Everyone is so well fed that on Sunday even Mum had some time to have a nice fish meal to herself.

In Newfoundland, Canada, Hope and Beaumont’s oldest is starting to work its wings. The chicks are 42 and 37 days old. We could have fledge in a little over a week for the oldest. Fledge dates average around 55 days. (some say 50-55)

Little Eurasian Hobby doing well eating dragonflies brought to the nest. As a fledgling, it will glide over the water catching dragonflies and other bugs for its meals along with small birds.

Everything you wanted to know about the Eurasian Hobby and more:

Eurasian Hobby | The Peregrine FundDownload

Geemeff’s Summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:

Daily summary Sunday 4th August 2024

A dreich day with no sign of Louis or Dorcha, it’s starting to feel like they’ve headed south to warmer climes as Dorcha was last seen eight days ago on the 27th, and Louis last seen five days ago on the 30th. Of course, those are the dates they were last seen on nest cam so there’s the possibility they are still in the area. Affric 152 and Garry LV0 are definitely still around and both came to Nest One today. Affric looked hollow-cropped and asked Garry for fish but he didn’t have any for her. It’s her mate Prince who should be providing fish for her back on the Bunarkaig nest where their newly fledged chick is probably still returning to, but like last season, there’s a complex relationship with that pair and Garry LV0 which seems to be ongoing. The forecast for tonight and tomorrow is heavy rain with a gentle breeze, and light rain for the rest of the week too.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.29.01 (04.37.17); Nest Two 22.21.56 (04.44.16)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/mqRrJB__R5o N2 A Hoodie arrives and perches on Dorcha’s perch 07.10.05

https://youtu.be/O28igrtvFXE  N1 Affric 152 follows Garry LV0 to the nest 12.13.01

Bonus webinar – Osprey migration with Dr Tim Mackrill: 

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

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

‘CG’ reports that the streaming cam at Boundary Bay, the nest of Blue, is still down and expected to be so until some time today.

Debby is hitting the nests in Florida and is ramping it up in Fort Myers as I write. Send good thoughts.

Gardening for the animals.

The frogs may be gone, but life goes on: how I regained my faith in gardening for wildlife | WildlifDownload

Worries continue for USU’s wing at nest #1 in Finland against growing concerns that Nuppu (Mum) will depart the area. At the moment fish continues to be brought to the nest for the youngsters.

Geemeff sent us some more stories. Enjoy.

1) Article says nest was inspected and no eggs or chicks found. But it sounds like this was an active nest if it suddenly became a problem. Would be good to hear a new platform is being built nearby:https://www.whec.com/top-news/osprey-nest-removed-from-cell-tower-in-town-of-ontario-was-disrupting-cell-service/

2) A good news rescue story:

https://www.obawebsite.com/local-tree-climber-saves-osprey-in-night-rescue

3) And this one made me smile:

https://www.diesachsen.de/en/environment/swan-family-causes-traffic-chaos-in-limbach-oberfrohna-2944816

And back in California, Hartley and Monty are bonding after a great season!

Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. We look forward to seeing you again soon.

Thank you to the following who sent in notes, posts, comments, videos, articles, and the streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘A, Connie and Don Dennis, CG, Geemeff, H, J, RP’, Hellgate Osprey X, Becky R, Olympic Park Eagle Cam, Osprey House Environment Centre, PLO, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Avian Report, Purpleshrub.com, Audubon, Ospreys of Nova Scotia FB, Osoyoos, Colonial Beach, Llyn Clywedog, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, BoPH, Montana Osprey Project, Saaksilvie, Raptor Research Project, Blackbush, Newfoundland Power, Wildlife Window, The Peregrine Fund, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, CNN Weather, The Guardian, whec.com, obawebsite.com, diesachen.de, Heidi McGrue, John Williams, and SK Hideaways.

Friday in Bird World

2 August 2024

Hello Everyone!

Don’t forget to send me a note or a long list with your favourite moments of the 2023-24 season (every bird counts, no matter the species). I will publish these on Wednesday, August 8th. We need to have some smiles and I just know that there are some surprises lurking out there that have not been mentioned! You can put the list in the comments or send me an email: maryannsteggles@icloud.com Make sure I get this before midnight CDT on Tuesday August 7. Thank you so much!

Another hot day. 32 C. The bird baths needed filling continually. The Crows and Jays kept quiet during the high heat of the afternoon and are just coming into the garden. Dyson should be joining them soon!

We are nearing the time when every osplet should be fledgling. They will then have time to gain their muscle strength and get lots of practice. Some very precious osplets might even catch their fish before they leave on migration, but most will depend on their parents and, in particular, Dad as Mum will be departing well before anyone else. The females lose from 10-15% (some even have been found to lose up to 30%) of their body weight, and it takes them extra time to build up for their long journeys.

The University of Toronto reminds us of the simple facts, “There are two distinct populations of osprey with respect to lifestyle, the Residents and the Migrants. Residents are the ones, which breed in the subtropical latitudes in winter; they either stay in the same area all year round or move only locally during the non-breeding season. The other ones are the Migrants, which nest in the temperate latitudes and fly off each autumn to spend the winter in the tropical regions. North American ospreys start migrating south to their wintering grounds in Central America and in the northern parts of South America, around mid-August. By early September, most nesting colonies in the northern latitudes are empty. The numbers of migrating ospreys observed at selected watch points along their southward route are at their greatest during mid-September and early October. They reach their wintering grounds by late November. During winter, the only thing an osprey does is to eat, rest, recover from the stress of the previous breeding season and prepare for the next breeding season. It has been observed that during winter, they become more tolerant of each other as they congregate in loose flocks and are even known to hunt together in small groups, a few birds hovering over water, looking for fish might also stimulate others to join in the frenzy. Adult ospreys start leaving their wintering grounds in early March, by late March, more than half of the wintering ospreys have left the wintering areas, for their natal nesting grounds. Yearling ospreys stay on their wintering grounds for another eighteen months, returning to their natal nesting grounds at the age of about two years. Two-year-old ospreys however, leave the wintering grounds much later than the adults, and may reach their natal nesting grounds as late as June, by then; they are already too late to breed. However, pre-adult ospreys may become a nuisance to the breeders, because they try to take over nest sites and may interfere with the breeding pairs, as they explore and search for nesting sites of their own. They are also sometimes known to replace a partner in a breeding pair if it dies or is incapable of performing its duties. Ospreys arrive back at their natal nesting grounds by early May.”

If you are looking for interesting books on Osprey migration, here are my top two.

Soaring with Fidel by David Gessner is not your typical academic book and that is why it is my favourite choice for anyone wanting to understand the migration of ospreys and, in particular, those on the NE coast of the US. Gessner follows Fidel down the coast, to Cuba, and into South America. I promise you that you will want to travel to the mountains near Manzanillo, Cuba to see the hundreds if not thousands of ospreys that fly over heading south. It is the top of my bucket list. And I will get there!

The second choice is more for older chidren but Heidi expressly told me that it is not just for children, adults can enjoy it, too, and I agree. Belle’s Journey. An Osprey Takes Flight will touch your heart. It is the true story of a GPS tracked osprey. Rob Bierregaard takes us from Belle’s fledge, to her first successful fish catch, through a tumultous trip down the coast of the US to South America.

Which leads us into these amazing birds that are hopping, jumping, and hovering and will soon spread those wings with confidence and fly for the first time.

Oldest chick fledges from Saaksilvie nest #1 while the remaining chick gets some high hovers!

I haven’t reminded anyone about the benefits to birds of shade grown coffee for awhile. It is time to do that as we examine, on occasion, agricultural practices that can benefit not only humans but wildlife. The Snithsonian certifies ‘bird friendly’ coffee. They even sell it. In Canada, it is Birds and Beans. Yes, it is more expensive than brands where the tree canopy has been clear cut but, compared to other high quality small roasters in Canada, it is only about $3 more per 454 grams (one pound). It is discounted if you get a subscription. And no, I don’t get a commission! But I do support every effort to rewild and to make our planet more inhabitable for all living creatures so I cut back on the amount of coffee that I drink so I can purchase the bird friendly brand.

Shade-grown coffee demonstrates the benefits of combining agriculture and conservation – Oxford BrooDownload

Ventana Wildlife is not all about Condors. They are a Species Recovery Programme. This is a recent video about the success of the restoration of the Bald Eagles in Central California. It is beautiful and short, 1:27 minutes.

Some news about Blue and a lot of flapping at Boundary Bay.

Food deliveries for Blue:

‘CG’ sends her report on Blue’s Day:
Mere.  Ha, ha.  I’ll bet she was the twitterer I kept hearing yesterday.  Blue knew she was there and was squeeing at her.  I’ve seen this kind of thing happen before.

July31-South1.jpg

Blue greeting the day from her favorite spot.  Wonder what she thinks of the fog.

Screenshot 2024-08-01 090238.png

I thought she had a pretty good day.  She was very active all day long and did quite a bit of squeeing.  I wondered if a parent was around but didn’t hear any adult twittering until later in the day.  She spent the morning wingercising, hopping, and dancing across the nest.  It was so cute that they put together a video.  

Great Flapping From Blue on YouTube with a message from Hancock Wildlife regarding concern about Blue.

There was a food delivery of fish around 1000 hours.  Blue pounced on it, and there was a struggle to release it from Mere’s talons.  I’d called it a medium sized piece, and it was all gone by 1018 hours.  

,During the afternoon, she spent time moving around the nest, looking out, preening, wing stretching, and more dancing, skipping, and flapping across the nest.  She lay down a few times today but not for long except when she lay down in her favorite spot in the late afternoon.  I think she was dozing.

There was another food delivery at around 1830 hours, and she accomplished a good clean snatch.  It was a large piece.  It looked like moist fresh meat, a little more work than fish, but she did a good job of holding it down and pulling pieces off and all the time was squeeing while eating.  After dinner, she stood for a while, and after squeeing, she was answered by a lot of twittering.  Someone asked about Pere.  He is still around.  In fact, it looked like he delivered the last meal.  When chicks become “exuberant” trying to grab food when delivered, dads tend to retreat.  All chicks are bigger than dad, especially the females.  Poor Akecheta delivering food to his 3 eaglets at the West End Territory ended up on his back in the melee.

At 2200 hours, Blue was up and started doing a lot of preening.  I had seen a lot of moths on previous nights, but tonight, as well as the moths, there were lots of tiny flying insects.  Had to be annoying.

I checked in at 2244 hours, and she was asleep lying down with her head to one side.  She looked so adorable.  Funny, the flying insects and moths were gone.

WEATHER:  Thursday, 8/1, at 1715 hours, it is 82F, mostly sunny, wind 8 mph, humidity 63%, feels like 90F, low tonight 61F.

Friday, 8/2 through Monday, 8/5:  Highs ranging from 79F to 82F with lows ranging from 50F to 62F.”

If you missed it, Finnegan and Iris’s chicks were named. This article includes the overwhelming numbers of people who voted and how many chose the winning names.

Hellgate Osprey Chicks’ Names Revealed After Community Vote | Cornell Lab Bird Cams Cornell Lab BirdDownload

Iris, Sum-eh and Antali see Finnegan coming in with a fish!

This nest just makes me smile. Thank you and good night Iris, Finnegan (wherever you are), Sum-eh, and Antali.

‘RP’ found this on X. So cute.

When fish deliveries come, everyone wants in on the action and some of that nice dinner! Fledglings who have been civil to one another on the nest take on a new energized stance as they prepare to live independently in the world.

Dyfi Osprey Nest.

It is precisely the same at every nest.

Glaslyn.

The baby, 5H6, claims the fish at Poole Harbour!

Later, other siblings want some fish, too.

At McEuen Park, the fledgling is enjoying a fish dinner all by itself.

It feels like things are finally settling down in the nests. The last of the osplets will be fledging and then they will need to eat and fatten up a bit – so will Mum and Dad – before they begin their migrations (if they migrate, some don’t). What a year it has been.

Annie and Archie are finally getting some quiet time after successfully fledging four! Dear Nox, the fourth hatch that landed in the water at the marina is improving. Great news. If I had a list for cutie pies this year I bet Nox and Smallie would tie. Interesting that they are both Peregrine Falcons!!!!!

Geemeff’s daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:

Daily summary Thursday 1st August 2024
Not much action today but after a quick pop in on Nest One from a pair of Warblers, we did have the pleasure of seeing an Osprey – Garry LV0 arrived and spent a few quiet minutes looking around and preening before flying off again. Chaddie 14 gave us the exciting news that the chick at Bunarkaig has fledged, this chick is thought to be the offspring of Affric 152 & Prince. Link to his update:  https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=15536809.  WTS George says we would really appreciate people signing our Living Legends petition to protect our ancient trees:  https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=15532685. The weather was settled today, but tonight’s light cloud and light winds will change into heavy rain tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.32.55 (04.30.46); Nest Two 22.32.34 (04.38.42)
Today’s videos:
https://youtu.be/9LKihnfJAjo N1 A pair of Warblers visit 10.31.12https://youtu.be/QTRqeePpg8I N1 Garry LV0 arrives, stays a while, and preens 13.07.21

Bonus watch – Soar with a Golden Eagle as it flies over Scotland wearing a go-pro eagle cam:https://youtu.be/JDmgtkaKx6c

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

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

Royal Cam Chick is loosing all his baby down and transforming into a beautiful albatross that will be fledging in another 5-6 weeks. Isn’t he lovely?

Everyone is still home at Blackbush.

Morning rained stopped. Minnesota Landscape Arboretum chick is certainly ready to begin some great hovering and flapping. My goodness, I hope some fairies bring some soft material to this nest next year to help the ospreys get a head start.

Fledgling at McEuen Park waiting for Mum to bring some fish! This is actually a bit of a miracle, too. It is hard enough for a single parent to take care of chicks in a perfect world. Then imagine a single parent with four chicks, intense heat, and babies not able to thermoregulate. I think we are lucky that we had one survive on this nest in Idaho this year.

My goodness. The two chicks at the Latvian osprey nest in Kurzeme seem to have grown even more overnight! Look at the wing spread and look at that healthy ‘ps’. Another miracle nest and congratulations to Singa and Svings. The chicks were ringed on the 30th of July. The oldest is Red 59T, a female weighing a whopping 1750 grams. The second is Red 59V, a male weighing 1400 grams. The third egg DNH.

It’s very windy there.

Dorsett Hobby scares everyone by climbing to the rim of the nest. Is chick hungry?

Chatters have expressed some concern over what appears to be a wing problem with the chick on nest #1 in Finland.

Many of you will know that the largest wildfire in California history is burning and could be a threat to many nests. Here is an update on Liberty and Guardian.

Russian Imperial Eagle fledglings waiting at the nest for prey deliveries.

‘A’ sends the latest posts from Australia if you have not seen them:

At the Olympic Park, we are very close to hatch:

August 1: The 35th day since the first egg was laid. Early duets, and then Dad came in and took the fish tail off himself. He returned and sat for a short while. Lady returned after only 31 minutes. Another shortish shift each, then Lady came in at 9:20 with leaves and incubated again. During the morning, both were in for short shifts, with calling and duets. Later, both took their turn at incubating during some light rain. Late afternoon, Dad relieved Lady briefly, until she returned for the evening at 5:20. Lady spent some 7 hours on the eggs today, and they were uncovered only briefly during changeovers. No prey was brought to the nest.

August 2: A cold wet night for Lady. After a few calls, Dad came in at 6:30, and Lady was off for a break but heard close by. She returned after only 33 minutes – a quick break for her. There was some rain in the morning, and several changes. Lots of calling off the nest. Some rain on and off. Dad had a long (two-hour) shift from just before 9am, and again in the afternoon. Is Lady out getting prey for herself? Both brought some greenery in today, though again, no prey was brought to the nest. Lady was home from 15:35, and other than a few short stretches and rolls, she sat on the eggs until evening- though there was quite some muttering from the nest. A few late ups and downs, then settled. Both parents spent a similar time on the eggs today, with the eggs only uncovered for brief periods.

‘H’ sends her reports:

8/1  Osoyoos osprey nest:  Breakfast consisted of the large leftover fish from yesterday.  Soo fed her youngsters for about 18 minutes.  The first new fish of the day did not arrive until 1221, when Olsen dropped off a very large partial fish.  That fish provided for a 46-minute feeding for the osplets.  I did not see any more fish brought to the nest the rest of the day, but I noted that the chicks both still had large crops late in the afternoon.  It was a very warm day, with the temperature reaching 101F/38C.  Soo was acting as Mombrella to help shield her big kids from the sun most of the afternoon.  Weather forecast for 8/2: mostly sunny, high temp 102F/39C, light winds.  

8/1 Colonial Beach osprey nest:  It was a better day for this nest.  Four fish were brought to the nest, three of from Betty.  And, David delivered a fish after he had not been seen on cam for three days.  So, little Cobey ate pretty well today.  Betty was even seen acting as Mombrella for a while to shade Cobey from the hot sun…that’s progress!  Forecast for 8/2: mostly sunny, high 95, winds 16 mph.

8/2 Mispillion Harbor osprey nest:  There is a patch on the ground at the very top of our nest-cam-view where the marsh grass is thinned-out a bit, and I have seen both fledglings fly to that spot on occasion.  There’s something they like about being on the ground, and they think they are hidden by tall grass.  It was getting dark, and at 2030 in the evening on 8/1, I saw both of the fledglings fly from the nest to that spot.  I could make out one of their heads, while the other one was just out of view.  I have not seen a fox this season, but I have in the past.  They roam the marsh at dusk.  I didn’t like the fledglings being on the ground at that time of day.  How would they learn to stay up high out of harm’s way from ground predators, especially as darkness approaches?  Shouldn’t it be instinctual?  Or, is it something that they would somehow learn from their parents?  Certainly learning from experience doesn’t sound like a very good idea.  Well, I worried all night, and I was very grateful to see those silly juvies fly to the nest early this morning.  I wonder where they actually spent the night.

If you happen to be near St Louis, Missouri, there are celebrating Murphy at the World Bird Sanctuary (Thanks, J)

And they continue…Omega will be there til they get the very last Menhaden. Perhaps it is time for a world wide boycott of Omega!

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

Thank you to the following for their wonderful reports, posts, pictures, videos, articles, books, and streaming cams that helped me write my post today: ‘A, CG, Geemeff, H, J, PB, RP’, Amazon (book covers), David Gessner, Rob Bierregaard, Nesting Bird Life & More, Oxford Brookes University, Ventana Wildlife Society, Hancock Wildlife Foundation, All About Birds, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, BoPH, Pam Breci, SK Hideaways, Geemeff and the Woodland Trust, Blackbush Beach Ospreys, MN-LA, McEuen Park, LDF, Finnish Osprey Foundation, FORE, Imperial Eagle Cam RU, Olympic Park Eagles, Sharon Dunne, Montana Osprey Project, DancinLionHeart, and Menhaden-Little Fish, Big Deal.

Monday in Bird World

29 July 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

We hope that you had a really lovely weekend. I have been busy taking photographs of the six Blue Jays in the garden along with Dyson and family and all the baby sparrows. And today, there will be time to go and get a new cable to connect the camera to the computer so I can show you this week. All of the garden animals are fine. The Girls are actually enjoying a new furniture arrangement in the conservatory and today they are waiting for a family birthday party where they will get some treats!

I want to start with some really good news from the Los Angeles Zoo, which was reported in The Guardian. A record number of condors have hatched in captivity. This is just the best!

‘Nature’s clean–up crew’: record-setting 17 condor chicks hatch at LA Zoo | California | The GuardiaDownload

Question from ‘RP and VS’ – Crows and Cheesy Dogs. What are they? Where do I get them? As I answer this, a Blue Jay is jumping around near a huge plate of cheesy dogs and chicken weiners and Mr Crow is flying in to get his share as well.

Well, Crows like meat. It is a bad thing if you are Vegan or a Vegetarian which seems to run in my family. So we giggle when we are in the check out line at the shops – hoping no one sees us. We have a very discounted grocery near us. They sell chicken hotdogs in 3 kg packages. These are just plain ones, and the Crows love them. We slice them into thin disks and pile them on a big plate. The Crows devour them. They have a very strong smell – . The Blue Jays love them, too, and so do the Starlings. Now for the cheesy dogs – they are a smoked sausage like weiner with cheese injected in them. Sometimes, they even have Jalapeno pepper flakes. They love these. Again, sliced thin. Some places call these Smokies. They remind me of European hot dogs or sausages. The Crows also love hard-boiled eggs, Chinese chicken balls, etc. BUT they won’t touch chicken strips from certain companies. It is like they are too processed. How could that be different from the chicken hot dogs? We also put out small pieces of fruit for them. I know that your specific question was about the cheesy dogs, but we keep leftovers and I have places that keep their food at the end of the day that can’t be given to humans. That is how I know they love Chinese chicken balls with sauce! They will also eat pizza (the local shop is good to save the food) and we cut it into small pieces. I don’t like giving them bread. It reminds me of the ducks and geese that get Angel Wing. Perhaps it is alright for the songbirds and Crows – I should do some research!

Oh, I do love these garden visitors. We have also discovered that the songbirds like different types of seed and suet. Sometimes you have to experiment. Brands may lok the same but the birds in my garden will not touch a certain brand of suet and they prefer, above everything else, Black Oil Seed. Some won’t eat millet while the Dark-eyed Juncos devour the stuff. Just get a little bit at first and test it on who is coming to your garden.

Be sure to clean your feeders and bird baths regularly. I have been using a vegetable brush on the bird baths because of the hot and the algae issues.

Today was a particularly quiet day. I did not spend much of it watching the nests. The last couple of weeks took the wind out of my sails. Instead, I continued to enter data into the forms for the nests in Nova Scotia, some in Norway, and a handful from my own province. I had hoped to get us up to 500 eggs that were monitored during the 2024 osprey season and it looks like we are going to make it! Tragedies in one region are off-set by successes elsewhere. I wonder how 2024 will compare to 2023? We wait to see.

A quick run through of some nests:

Dorsett Hobby: The only surviving eyas is just rather wet today! There is some concern for the little Hobby. ‘SP’ follows this nest closely and says that it has little attention form Mum in the last 36 hours. She has made Dorsett Hobby aware of the concerns – let us hope Mum brings in more food and stays with the little one although she could be perched on a nearby tree and we are not seeing her. 

#1 Finland. Everything is OK.

#2 Nova Scotia. Both of Ethel and Oscar’s chicks, Skylor and Heidi, have now fledged. Heidi flew on Sunday with Skylor taking his wings on Saturday. (Photo by Don Dennis)

Right now the temperature in Nova Scotia is 30 degrees C. They have just finalised their listing of ospreys and they have sixty (60) this year. That is a fantastic survival rate per nest – in fact, most nests I am told, did not lose a single chick! Well done, Canada.

Hellgate Canyon: Just look at how big that oldest chick is? Almost as big as Mama Iris! The question is – where is Finnegan? where are the fish? Did I miss deliveries in the morning, at noon, in the afternoon? It looks like Iris has gone out on her own. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Check out the snake eyes on these two kids of Iris and Finn! These are just the most gorgeous osplets. Finn and Iris have made two beautiful babies.

Finn apparently chased Louis off the Owl Pole and it appears he told him in no uncertain terms to ‘get out of Dodge’. And then Iris and Finn defended the nest against an intruder which was possibly Louis checking out what was going on. Since his chicks fledged, it seems he has some time on his hands. Let’s hope he stays away.

Finn eating a much wanted fish by Iris and the kids.

Iris and her train.

Finn got that whopper, minus its head, to Iris and the kids. She waited rather impatiently.

They are having a feast!

It took some time to get fish on the nest today and the oldest has decided to be a bit of a ….. No worries. There is enough fish for three or four nests. That was a whopper. Iris will make sure both are fed.

And she did!

Llyn Brenig: Emrys fledged on Sunday!

Poland Black Stork Nests: Maria Marika has posted saying that none of the four Black Storks fitted with a transmitter in 2023 and ringed are alive. Sad day for their community. Details on individual storks will be provided on the Memorial Wall in coming days.

‘H’ reports on Patuxent River Park happenings:

Patuxent River Park:  

Rewind:  On 7/25, two significant events happened less than 20 minutes apart.  At 1444 there was an adult intruder on the nest when one of the resident juveniles flew in and attempted to land.  The intruder jumped up to intercept the juvie and struck her just as her talons hit the nest.  The younger osprey was knocked backwards and fell down below the nest.  The nest is only ten feet higher than the level of the marsh.  We soon knew that the juvenile osprey had been Big.  The intruder flew away after that assault.  Nineteen minutes later, Middle was in the nest when Dad flew in with a large goldfish.  The intruder landed almost immediately behind Dad and tried to grab the fish.  Dad attempted to defend, but to no avail.  The intruder had possession of the goldfish with Middle still attached and the intruder fell/flew off the nest.  Middle returned to the nest.  Soon after that, we started to intermittently hear rustling and flapping coming from below the nest.  There was obviously an injured osprey below the nest.  Hours passed, and as high tide approached, the flapping sounded like it was in water rather than just the vegetation.  Who was down there?  Was it Big?  Was it the intruder?  We have never seen Big again after she was knocked off the nest that afternoon.  By late evening, we no longer heard the flapping.  At 1100 am the following morning, the park staff searched, but did not find an osprey below the nest.

Fast forward to 7/28:  Middle was the only fledgling that we were still seeing at the nest.  Oh boy, did Dad ever take care of his girl today!  Dad brought six fish to Middle.  There were five fish delivered to the nest between 0641 and 0846!  We didn’t think she could do it, but Middle ate all of those fish.  Have you ever seen an osprey grinning from ear to ear?  

Middle was in and out a bit, enjoying her day.  An adult intruder landed in the nest at 1220, and Middle soon arrived to shoo the visitor away.  At 1338 a visiting juvenile osprey arrived at the nest.  After several minutes, Middle flew in, there was a fight, and they both went overboard.  The wayward juvie returned to the nest.  Middle soon arrived and literally gave the juvie the boot, with a karate kick!  After that, the visiting juvie decided not to return.

Dad delivered a huge whole fish to Middle at 1650.  Middle ate and ate, but she had to take breaks to rest and digest, so her fish meal was lasting a long time.  At 1851 Middle was still in possession of a large piece of fish when she was dive-bombed by an adult osprey.  A couple minutes later the intruder landed in the nest, but was repelled by Middle.  We could tell that the intruder kept landing on the camera, and at 1856 it dive bombed Middle again.  But then, things seemed to calm down, and by 1914 Middle resumed eating her fish.  At 1922 and 1923 the intruder returned and landed in the nest, but was forced off both times by Middle.  At 1924 the intruder flew in very fast, grabbed Middle on her upper back and dragged her backwards off the nest.  We heard her hit the marsh 10 feet below.  We did not see middle for the rest of the evening.  We did not hear any rustling or flapping coming from below the nest.  Please come home Middle, so that we know you are okay.

I have video recordings of all of the attacks on 7/25 and 7/28, and I have reviewed them carefully.  Based on head and chest markings, I believe that this is the same adult intruder that attacked Big, and shortly thereafter dragged Middle off the nest on 7/25.  It was the very same adult that attacked Middle today.  So, now there is no question who the osprey was below the nest on 7/25.  It was Big, and she was likely carried away by the tide, and may have drowned.  I would love to be wrong about Big’s demise.  We loved you Big.  Fly high.”

Steelscape: ‘PB’ watched the intruders trying to take over this nest earlier on Sunday. One of the fledglings appears to have sustained an injury.

It has been a rough day.

Decorah North: Eagle eyed Deb Stecyk has noticed something a miss with one of the adults on the Decorah North nest. Deb wonders if it is an old injury? scar? It is the first time I have seen this dark line. Please note that all Decorah cameras will be shut down for annual maintenance on 2 August.

Other images make it look like a nasty cut to both sides of the mandible with dried blood on the left side of the neck. But is this insect bites and could Dad have scratched them? Just wondering. PB’ says they are terrible in the MidWest right now.

Gosh, I feel like I am the writer of doom and gloom today. There is just so much going on, and there are a lot of nest takeovers and intruders this time of year wrecking havoc with stable avian homes.

HWF-BBCentral: Blue is looking better today. More alert. He was seen doing some wingers and had a crop. Let us hope this eaglet gets its mojo and fledges off that nest to the shock of everyone.

Charlo Montana: Still hot. Nest still doing alright. Those funny balls that Charlie brought in have been used as a pillow by the rapidly growing chick.

Sandpoint: River is looking in excellent form!

The Bridge Golf Club: Fledgling returns to the nest for fish and is sleeping there Sunday night. All is good.

Port Lincoln Barge: Mum is on the nest waiting for Dad!

Olympic Park Eagles: Incubation continues. Cathy Cook writes that we will be on pip watch starting on Monday.

I want to add a note -. This nest has not had failures every year. Things happened once the eaglets fledged. The Currawongs chased WBSE 25 out of the area, and sadly, WBSE 26 had to be euthanised. 26, the much loved little eaglet, had injured its leg within its first 48 hours. 25 was good for supporting, caring, and encouraging its younger sibling. 26 did fledge and did return to the nest after several days, where it spent considerable time before. Sadly, it was chased out of the forest, winding up – during a storm – on a high-rise balcony. The wildlife rehab team decided that 26 could not be successfully put back together and was euthanised. In fact, the Currawongs are the biggest problem! Eaglets have been rescued, and two of them, if I remember correctly, were fitted with transmitters after rehab and released in another area. They had been tracked for some time. Last year was amazing. It was the first year we could fully appreciate how Lady and Dad cared for their young as they fed and trained WBSE 31. It was incredible, and the images provided by the community photographers that were posted warmed our hearts. Cathy confirmed that 31 stayed in the area till February. Let us hope that these two hatch, all goes well, and we will see them flying over the Parmatta River and eating fish at the River Roost.

Cathy also informed me that there are ospreys fishing in the area, too. How wonderful.

Geemeff sends her daily report for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:

Daily summary Sunday 28th July 2024

No sign today of Louis, last seen on 25th July, or Dorcha, last seen yesterday, and no activity of any sort on Nest Two. Over on Nest One, Garry did some early morning sky-dancing with a fish, which may have been why Affric 152 arrived on the nest and stayed long enough to take the fish from him when he landed. The fish was an unusual one, a Perch, first time seen on the nest and possibly a cause for concern as they shouldn’t be found in this area. Link below to WTS George’s comment about this. Affric flew off with the perch – perhaps she was taking it back to her chick on the Bunarkaig nest. A bellowing of Bullfinches visited the nest before Affric returned at lunchtime but was disappointed when Garry joined her without bringing her another fish. The weather was settled and sunny today, but drizzle is forecast for tonight, with more rain tomorrow. 

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.56.03 (04.13.18); Nest Two 22.45.47 (04.23.40)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/0IsE6V9aoyo N1 Sky dancing heard then Garry lands with fish for Affric 05.42.30

https://youtu.be/njpggXeqWMs N1 A bellowing of Bullfinches visit 07.34.31

https://youtu.be/Iyy_ZwZ_cM8 Garry LV0 joins Affric 152 on the nest 12.24.16  

Bonus info on Garry LV0’s unusual fish –  European perch (Perca fluviatilis):

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=15497584

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_perch

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

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

‘H’ reports:

7/28 Osoyoos osprey nest:  This family had a good day.  There were nine fish brought to the nest, including one from Soo.  Four of the fish were tiny, but the others provided meals that lasted 13-19 minutes.  There was very little aggression from Big toward Middle today.  There were a few meals where Big ate more, but there were also feedings where it was obvious that Middle had more to eat than Big.  Weather forecast for 7/29:  Cloudy with chance of showers, high 77, light winds.  Warmer temperatures will gradually return by the end of the week.

The BBC covered the Alyth Ospreys and the construction of their nest. Lovely interview with Roy Dennis about the move of the nest.

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, questions, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘CC, Geemeff, H, MM, PB, RP, SP, TU, VS’, The Guardian, Dorsett Hobby, Llyn Brenig Osprey Project, Finnish Osprey Project, Connie and Don Dennis, Montana Osprey Project, The Weather Network, Maria Marika, Patuxent River Park, Heidi McGrue, Steelscape, Raptor Research Project, Deb Stecyk, HWF-BBC, Charlo Montana, Sandpoint, Bridge Golf Course, PLO, Olympic Park Eagles, BBC, and Osoyoos.