Category Archives: Osprey behaviour

Archie saves the Day…Swampy falls off nest…Wednesday in Bird World

24 April 2024

Hello Everyone,

Thank you to everyone who sent me a note about the little Tern’s rescue in Hawaii. Anyone can be a hero. You just have to stop and care enough to help. That is what ‘S’ did—empathy, patience, concern, and commitment. So stop the next time you see a goose crossing the road with goslings. Make others stop til they get across safely. Help the bird that has fallen out of the nest by calling the proper authorities to help. Do you have the local wildlife rescue in your phone contacts? Keep a shovel – one of those small folding ones is ideal – in your trunk. See a dead animal on the road. Pull over safely. Slow the traffic, and with your shovel, move it safely from the road so the carrion eaters can have a meal. — This also applies to urban streets. Put the dead animals away from the curb so the Crows can have a meal instead of relying on the junk food in the dumpsters. There is so much we can all do, and sometimes that means simply a shallow bowl of water – believe me, it can save the lives of so many birds. They need water! If you know of building supervisors who put poison out for the pigeons, find a way to persuade them to stop. The urban raptors rely on pigeons, and if they are poisoned, they will not only die, but their chicks could also get sick and die. Other ways include donating clean old towels, sheets, and items to your local wildlife rehabilitation clinic – and volunteering. It doesn’t have to be money.

Tuesday was a lovely day in the garden. The Blue Jays arrived before the squirrels and started helping themselves to the peanut pile. The peanut pile on the big table feeder started like this. The Jays shake the peanuts. They want to ensure they get a shell with two good nuts inside it, not an empty one! So shake, shake, shake. They spend a lot of time selecting just the right one.

A few hours later, Dyson was digging to find a peanut! Normally she is out with her kits well before the Jays arrive, but not today. But never fear, Dyson returned the minute she heard more peanuts being added and had quite the fill.

This little kit hit the jackpot a new seed cylinder!

Wild Birds Unlimited’s website has some interesting facts about Blue Jays. Here are a few about caching nuts that you might find interesting.

  • Research studies have recorded Blue Jays making over 1,000 trips per day when hiding food.
  • In one research study, 50 Blue Jays were observed selecting and caching 150,000 acorns over a period of 28 days. Each bird cached a total of 3,000 acorns by selecting and hiding an average of 107 acorns per day.
  • In another research study, Blue Jays were observed storing over 2,000 beach tree nuts in one month.
  • A Blue Jay was observed packing over 100 sunflower seeds into it’s gullet during just one visit to a feeder.

Amy Tan’s latest book arrived in the post on Tuesday.

I had been looking forward to its arrival since I watched the NYC Audubon interview with Tan and saw her lovely drawings and ‘felt’ over the virtual miles her passion for the ordinary – but always extraordinary – birds that live in her garden. The book did not disappoint – I am only 3 hours into reading it, steady, but excited. It is written like a journal with particular birds and entries for particular days out of a huge selection the author had to choose from.

I chose this illustration because it is beautiful and because the Juncos are in my garden now. Tan captured their remarkable plumage.

Of course, I love Mr. Crow and his family, and it is clear that Tan has closely observed the behaviour of her Corvids.

Moving on to Bird World…

UPDATE: Swampy officially flew and officially fledged off the branch of the tree Wednesday morning. To my knowledge, Swampy was never fed by the adults while on that branch nor the day prior. I hope this baby has some food soon – . I will however leave you with the story below and a great capture by ‘H’.

We begin with another sad, or potentially sad and lethal, story from Eagle Country. On the morning of Tuesday, April 23rd, Swampy was flapping his/her wings and slipping off the nest. This sent shock waves through viewers, who conjured in their minds Meadow, the younger sibling, being blown off the other side of the nest and eventually dying. I couldn’t believe my eyes – and the thought “This can’t be happening again” repeated itself over and over again during the day.

The time was 0811. Swampy was seen on a lower branch like Meadow. Is it possible that we will now lose Swampy?

Some Osprey nests in the UK get refurbished during the off-season. The rails are built up and wired together. Sticks are brought in to make the nests safe and help the tired migrating birds when they return from West Africa (or wherever they over wintered). Why don’t those individuals who own the streaming cams to these nests do the same? Get up there when permits are not required. Make sure that nests are solid and safe. Heaven only knows that it is difficult for the raptors to find nesting materials in some places because of habitat loss. In this instance, had that rim been secured, neither eaglet would have fallen off. (No, I am not blaming Eagle Country, but I am certainly suggesting they get a climber up there and repair this nest!)

Swampy is on the opposite side of the tree but we cannot assume s/he is uninjured just like we could not tell that Meadow was emaciated. Swampy could be also. And s/he could be injured. Swampy is ready to fledge, however, so this is a plus.

Swampy was perched on the branch. I don’t want to be cynical but we know that Meadow was emaciated and it looks like Swampy is going to suffer the same fate unless an adult gets some food to their eaglet.

The newly hatched osplet at Captiva is tired. The last time I checked on Tuesday, CO7 had not been fed. Oh, goodness gracious, Edie, get to feeding your baby. Yes, of course, it can wait but many are getting bites within a few hours of hatch! Forgive me, but this year’s first-time eagle parents have caused me to become overly worrisome around first-time Dads and/or Mums. Some are naturals; others are not.

Family portrait at Captiva. Proud parents. Will this be an only osplet?

Captiva chick eating well and Jack with the pantry packed.

First egg at Llyn Brenig at 1740 on the 23rd. Blue 372 finally has her own nest with LJ2. Everyone can rest easy now. She was out searching for a mate and now she is going to have a family. Well done 372!

‘A’ gets quite excited about those little fluff balls. “And we are still waiting on number four, who is making progress. The fluffy three that we have already are looking strong and healthy. The littlest one couldn’t seem to work out which way was front at the 6am feeding but Annie is such an experienced mum and by about 06:06, she is ensuring that the baby of the three gets some bites. It is strong too, and is really holding its own and keeping its little head up, occasionally using its tiny wings for balance. Oh Mary Ann, they are just the sweetest, most darling little creatures. Every time I see a falcon hatch, it’s just like the very first time. They warm my heart in exactly the same way as the first hatch I saw. The wonder of it never wanes. And watching these devoted, gentle, patient parents is so lovely. I do love the safety of this scrape for the chicks. It seems like a good place for a chick to grow up and find its feet, as it were. Much safer than a ledge on a high rise like Collins Street, or even that box in the sky at Orange, where the chicks always terrify us with their proximity to the edge before they have the ability to fly. Here, they have that rooftop to chase each other about and flap and play. It’s a lovely playroom for them. Four. Wow. This is going to be interesting. “

Archie meets the third chick.

Archie does wonders. How many times have we seen eaglets get hypothermia when not under Mum or Dad. Well, Archie saves the day at Cal Falcons!

If you need cheering up, head over to Cal Falcons. It will work wonders.

‘AE’ wrote and wondered about the Mum at Frenchman’s Creek. The female has been in and has fed at least one of the osplets. There has been some animosity between the osplets. They are undoubtedly frustrated and hungry despite a nest full of fish and self-feeding.

Tuffy is really growing and his beautiful feathers continue to come in. He had a reasonably good day on Tuesday, but it was not without Ruffie pushing her weight around, literally.

A large fish came in at 2008. Tuffy looks over as Ruffie is filling up. Notice that Tuffy does have a crop (thank goodness). It is during this meal that Ruffie decides to show her dominance.

It was impossible to tell if Tuffy got any fish because of the placement of Sally. He certainly was fish calling while Sally was eating – but, as mentioned before, he had a crop and he will go to bed feeling full. Sally horked the fish tail at 2105.

Once again, dear Milda is alone and trying to fend for herself and now an eaglet that has hatched. It has snowed in Latvia, a late spring snow, and Milda has to leave to find food. Will she have a chick survive this year? Milda was away for more than one and a half hours in the freezing temperature.

Many have been concerned about Tom. He is believed to have made an appearance, however short, Tuesday at the nest.

Blue NCO laid the third egg at Loch of the Lowes on Tuesday.

The first egg was laid at the Kent Island Chesapeake Conservancy nest of Tom and Audrey on Tuesday in the US.

The third egg appears to have been laid at Steelscape on Tuesday.

In the UK on Wednesday, there were more eggs:

Loch Garten: Asha and Brodie have their second egg at 1406.

Tweed Valley: Mrs O and FKO have their second egg at 1000.

Emyr Evans gives us a science lesson after Telyn lays her third egg on the 18th:

Telyn-Lays-Three-Eggs-in-2024-Without-Delay-Dyfi-Osprey-ProjectDownload

There are eggs at other nests as well and some sorting out who their mates will be. It has been a long week and I feel like my head has been crushed entering all the data for all the nests this season. Soon, we will be ‘bored’ waiting for hatch while they incubate! So if you are missing a little osplet and want to see one, try Captiva. In the meantime, I am anxiously awaiting hatch at Big Red and Arthur’s nest on the Cornell Campus.

‘A’ has been watching Big Red’s nest too and adds: “When Big Red actually stands up briefly to change position just after 17:36:30, is that a large pip I see on the top of the right-hand egg (as we look at it) nearest the camera? It looks like the second egg to me from the speckling (the egg at the front on the left appears to have more markings and was therefore probably the first egg laid) but the ‘pip’ is at the correct end of the egg and it sure looks to me like a chick is on the way out.”

I suppose we can look forward to tomorrow morning (24 April) to see whether I am right. Certainly, we have to be on pip watch at Cornell by now. 

Oh those three at Cal Falcons are adorable. I did expect number four to have joined us by now but there have been so few opportunities to see that egg today, and I am unsure whether or not it is hatching. We may end up with three eyases and a Dudley, which would be fine. But I will try and scroll back to get a good view of that egg. 

I am SO hoping I am right about the pip at Cornell, and it is so easy to misread anything from a shadow to some nest material stuck to an egg, especially when you are desperate to see a pip or even a hole. In this case, one minute I suspect we may be up to the small hole stage and the next I am thinking it is just something stuck to the egg. 

We watch, we wait, we cross everything for the little ones in the hope that they can safely make their way into the world in good shape – certainly, it will be to loving parents..”

Please do not use glue traps….EVER. Another reason why. Tell your friends and family and your retailers. They are outlawed where I live but they are still for sale on many retailer’s shelves.

The other campaign is rodenticides. This beautiful owl family lost its life – the Mum GHO and the three owlets because of rat poison. Remember ‘Rodents are the Answer’ – they eat more rats and mice than you could imagine getting in sticky tape or eating poison and you don’t have to worry about your domestic pets dying, too. (Images and original posting on Cornell Hawk Chatters by Harold Wilson as a call to stop this senseless tragedy).

White-tail Eagles breed for the very first time in centuries in Belgium. But why? Find out.

White-tailed-Eagle-breeds-in-Belgium-for-first-time-in-500-years-BirdGuidesDownload

In New Zealand, the songs of birds are returning to the urban environment. Maybe this could happen around the planet. What do you think?

Penguins-in-the-pond-kiwi-in-the-back-yard-how-a-city-brought-back-its-birds-Birds-The-GuardiaDownload

It never stops. How long will the public put up with a select view and their weekend shooting parties killing off beautiful raptors because they eat grouse? It never seems to end…Hen Harriers one day, Buzzards the next.

Buzzard-shot-killed-near-Ilkley-Moor-West-Yorkshire-–-Raptor-Persecution-UKDownload

Do you know someone who might like this position monitoring raptors in Wales

Job-opportunity-Welsh-Raptor-Monitoring-Coordinator-–-Raptor-Persecution-UKDownload

Thank you so much for being with me today. Tomorrow I am going out to Delta Marsh to catch the shorebirds that are arriving. It is going to be a long day and I look forward to hopefully having some images for you. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following or their notes, posts, videos, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, AE, G, H, PB’, Amy Tan, Wild Birds Unlimited, Eagle Country, Moorings Park, Window to Wildlife, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, Heidi McGrue, LDF, Chesapeake Conservancy, Dyfi Osprey Project, Cornell RTH Cam, Steelscape, The Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), Frenchman’s Creek Osprey Cam, World Bird Sanctuary, H W and Cornell Hawk Chatters, BirdGuides, and Raptor Persecution UK.

*Disclaimer: I have made every effort to credit those individuals who send me notes and those who create the videos and other content. Please let me know if I have failed to recognise someone.*

3 Hatches at Cal Falcons…Tuesday in Bird World

23 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

It was a beautiful spring day on the Canadian Prairies! The hundreds of Dark-eyed Juncos remain in the garden. They hop and hop, scratching and pecking trying to find seeds. They are adorable. We will enjoy them for awhile longer and then they will leaving, heading north to return again in the fall.

Calico has asked me to post her ‘new look’. She is now down a little over three pounds. She runs down the hall, through the galley kitchen and straight up to the top of the cat tree. The energy and the joy in play have returned!

In California, it was sheer happiness as the second eyas of Archie and Annie hatched on Earth Day, too!

Archie meets his chicks for the first time.

The chicks first meal.

Can’t get enough of Annie and Archie!

There will be a third one soon!

And then there were three for breakfast on Tuesday! Way to go Archie and Annie!

The first eyas has hatched at Cromer Peregrines, too!

At Mispillion Harbour, Della loves bringing things to the nest she shares with Warren. Sometimes it is something yellow, Della loves yellow. Sometimes it is something else..

The pair also have a full clutch of three eggs.

I did not get a chance to watch Tuffy as closely on Monday. He is definitely being fed. Ruffy is so big compared to Tuffy and requires much more food that it often feels as if Tuffy gets short-changed.

A nice meal at sundown and Tuffy will get a nice crop and go to sleep dreaming of more fish for breakfast.

Heidi reports that there is a possible pip in one of the eggs at the Captiva Osprey nest of Jack and Edie. This would be a welcome surprise. Some have said that they do not have late hatches in the Barrier Islands – so let us wait and see!

And it was a hatch! Welcome to the world little miracle osplet. We now know that opera eggs can hatch with a live chick this late in the season on the Barrier Islands.

Surprise! Two chicks at Lake Murray. Wow.

First egg or Mr and Mrs UV at Kielder Forest nest 5A on the 22nd at 19:47.

Nest-5A-joins-the-egg-club-Kielder-OspreysDownload

The Ospreys are returning to Finland. Some are finding open water with snow melting while other nests are covered with no ospreys yet (smart).

#1 Nest: The male, Ura, arrived on 14 April at 1516.

#2 Nest, Satakunta: Nothing

#3 Nest: Nothing

#4 Nest: Nemo, the male arrived on 8 April with Nuppu, the female, arriving on the 14th.

#5, LS: Roni and Sara are together. Sara arrived on the 16th with Roni arriving on the 21/22nd.

Janakkalan: nothing

Juurusvesi: nothing

Muonion: nothing

Aran and Elen at the Glaslyn nest in Wales have their first egg.

The second egg has been laid at Dahlgren for Helen and Doug.

What is happening at nest 1 at Loch Arkaig? What is wrong with Prince

Poor Affric. Two males. One female. One nest.

Meanwhile on the other Loch Arkaig nest, Louis is taking very good care of Dorcha.

This is the situation at Frenchman’s Creek Ospreys. The nest is full of fish, the older two osplets are alive and self-feeding. The streaming cam is up and running with notices from Frenchman’s Creek about stealing content, etc. You can go to their site on YouTube to check on the osplets. So far they are alive and it looks as if they are sleeping on fish!

In Latvia, Milda is in the midst of a snow storm. She is trying to care for her two eggs by herself since the absence of Hugo.

The female at the Trempealeau Eagle Nest in Wisconsin has done a top rate job caring for her two little eaglets all by herself! She had to leave alone to hunt for them so the three could eat. They survived that and now have their thermal down. Send positive wishes to this nest, please.

Oh, thank you Stephen Basly. I know we have talked about Meadow but let us go back to ND17. Starved by its two older siblings. We know that he had to eat skin and bones to survive and then he fell from the nest. Spent 3 full days and a bit more on the ground and then, thankfully, Humane Indiana Wildlife rescued ‘our baby’ – he was everyone’s baby. ND17 survived. They taught him to fly and hunt and returned him to a spot near the nest site where he engaged with his parents.

I want to thank Trudi Kron who has been keeping a close eye on the Mum at the JB Sands Wetlands Bald Eagle nest. You will recall that Mum injured her foot and was unable to care for JBS20 for a few days. Dad did a heroic job and continues to help out. But Trudi got a great screen capture and enlarged it and it is showing improvement and healing! Great news.

Watch for Swampy to fledge anytime! S/he is climbing higher on the nest and really working those wings.

The trio at Decorah North are getting their blood feathers. They are growing so fast. It seems only yesterday that they were white little chicks sitting in the morning sun.

There are three eggs at the Great Bay Osprey nest in New Hampshire. The third was laid on the 18th of April.

‘A’ has been keeping a wishful eye on the nest of Angel and Tom. “A male red-tailed hawk that we believe to be Tom just flew onto Angel’s nest. He left after 15 seconds, and there is some debate now about the tail markings, which were apparently different from those of the RTH that shared beakies with Angel on 5 April at 09:02:08. Others say it was definitely Tom, based on the confidence with which he entered the nest and based on the fact that this is Tom and Angel’s territory. There is a view that Tom’s plumage is still changing, even in a the two and a half weeks since 5 April, and that this was definitely Tom. 

Obviously, we all very much want it to be Tom, and it does confirm the report I made of hearing RTH vocals when I was typing my earlier email to have been accurate. It’s now 11:42 on the Tennessee nest and I can again hear the sound of a RTH very nearby. This is probably what I heard originally when I lost the TS – it sure sounds like it. If I check the PTZ cam at around the 11:42 onwards TS (the noises are continuing), I may be able to spot whether it is Angel there or whether it is Tom. or even whether it’s neither of them and some visitor instead. 

I will keep you posted, but I would call that a very hopeful sighting, and I am fairly confident it was Tom. Talons crossed. He (or she, if he was accompanied by Angel) is continuing to vocalise, and it sounds as though the vocals are coming from either the nest tree itself or somewhere within one or two trees either side of that microphone. It sure sounds extremely close. I am hopeful. “

The three Bald eaglets at the Sutton Centre in Bartlesville, Oklahoma are thriving.

Three Osplets at Venice Golf are all feathered and fine. Gosh, isn’t this a relief.

Our darling Ervie.

‘EJ’ wrote to remind me that Any Tan’s book on her backyard birds is being released tomorrow. There will be many articles and there is a wonderful interview with Tan on YouTube. My copy should be in the mailbox by Wednesday. I am so looking forward to reading it, but most of all seeing the drawings that Tan made of ‘her’ birds. She took classes, taught herself. That should encourage all of us to look closer, keep a nature journal, and get really involved with the wildlife right around us.

EJ sent this article:

https://www.npr.org/2024/04/22/1245849320/amy-tan-the-backyard-bird-chronicles-trish-okane-birding-to-change-the-world

Here is the link to the chat:

Another senseless death due to a power pole. This time a White-stork mother with five eggs on a nest. The male stayed for two days incubating and then eggs were removed. Power poles kill. Every new install should be safe at the outset – every old pole should be retrofitted so it does not harm wildlife. Yes, there are a lot of poles, but the solutions are often simple as shown to use many times by Dave Hancock of Hancock Wildlife Foundation and Christian Sasse. So sad. It happened in Germany.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Stop in and see Annie and Archie’s little fluff balls. Turn the sound up to get the full impact during a feeding. Smile. Little falcons can quickly take away the glum of the day. Take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, articles, videos, and streaming cams: ‘A, Geemeff, EJ, H, PB’, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, Heidi McGrue, Sharon Pollock, Mooring Park Ospreys, Joanna Dailey, Lake Murray Ospreys, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Dahlgren Osprey Cam, Geemef, Frenchman’s Creek, LDF, Aiva Vantere, Stephen M. Basly, Trudi Kron, Raptor Resource Project, Window to Wildlife, PLO, Npr.org, and VGCCO, NY Audubon.

Tuffy smiling at the camera…Monday in Bird World

22 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

It seems that ospreys were busy laying eggs on Sunday. It was like bunnies were delivering them – whether it was the first or the third – to nests around the world. I hardly had time to pull my head out of the data forms to check on other nests! So, today’s posting reads a little bit like a list. And in about 36 days there will be sixty or more osplets hatching around the world. Imagine it…they will join their siblings. Let us hope that all of the nests prosper this year.

I love a good rescue story with a happy ending and the one today comes from a friend ‘S’ who lives in Hawaii. A nestling White Tern had fallen off its branch; they do not build nests. The proper authorities were called, the chick was taken up to a much higher branch and the parent immediately came to it. Saved!

Check out the webbed feet that help them cling to branches where they nest and roost.

Animalia says, “White terns are often seen on their own or in small groups. They are a diurnal species but are more active at dawn and dusk. To eat, it dips its beak to catch prey at the water’s surface or just beneath it. A dive is often preceded by extensive hovering, and the bird may use the wind to sustain its flight. It may catch flying fish from the air, and it is commonly seen foraging near groups of predatory fish and dolphins which drive their prey towards the surface. An individual may carry a few small fish in its bill, taking these to its young with the prey held crosswise. If disturbed by a predator, a White tern will hover, flutter and make buzzing sounds. This bird has a graceful flight. It flies easily low above the waves, without landing. It will touch the surface once it has spotted prey. Its flight is buoyant, involving erratic changes in speed and direction.” They are often called ‘fairy terns’.

‘The Girls’, and I hope you had a beautiful day. It was sunny and warm—16 C—on the Canadian Prairies, but a brisk, cool wind was accompanying it. Ice cream did not taste the same, even with a heavy jumper!

Archie was encouraging the pipping chicks to hatch! What an incredible Dad he is – ‘SP’ has often wondered if he has raised chicks before and lost his mate. We will never know, but I hope that he is with Annie for eons. Cannot wait to see these fuzzy little ones with their pink beaks and legs jumping for food.

Falling in love with Archie. His enthusiasm is contagious.

The four Osaka Peregrine Falcon chicks being fed on the 20th. This is what Archie and Annie will be looking forward to very, very soon!

We have not been able to follow Nancy and Beau at the MN-DNR nest as they moved nest when theirs collapsed last year. Trudi Kron reports that the couple have two eaglets in 2024! Fantastic news.

As you know the posts by Audubon caused a stir in Bird World and everyone wanted to know what had happened to Meadow and when. The Raptor Centre of Tampa Bay posted this on their FB page on Sunday:

It certainly is a worry for those chicks that we love and who might suffer from lack of food and/or abuse by their siblings. Even Hugo Yugo craves anything with Calcium; we often think it is because her mother was starved when carrying those 7 kittens. What will Hugo Yugo’s life be like? Is this why Mini at Patchogue had the injured leg, ‘AE’ ponders. We won’t know, and sadly, we cannot tell, but there is concern for these chicks who suffer and do not get food regularly like the others. As you might recall, Meadow was beaked often and kept from prey at one time. This includes our dear Tuffy, who had a bit of a rotten ride for a while.

Today, Tuffy has been eating well. ‘H’ sent me the first screen capture below showing Tuffy smiling at the camera. How adorable. I hope that Tuffy’s health has not been compromised from lack of food and beaking for those days we worried about this little one.

He is right up at the beak at 1700 and no doubt will be smiling again.

Tuffy having a nice meal before bedtime on Sunday. Great crop, too.

On Sunday, Louis brought Iris a fish gift. — Don’t fall off your chair! Iris has been thwarting his advances. Keep it up – get some more fish, Iris!

‘H’ reports that the second egg was laid at the Seaside Nest in Oregon.

The third egg for Boulder County was laid on the 21st!

There are three eggs at Ferris State University’s Osprey nest. The three egg clutch was completed on the 21st. Their camera is now on Twitch and there is no rewind that I can see, but they do have an up-to-date FB page.

There are three eggs for Herbert and Hermine at the Eschenbach Osprey nest. Sunday began with a snow-covered nest that gradually melted during the day.

The second egg at the Cowlitz PUD osprey nest in Washington arrived on Sunday the 21st.

The three osplets at the University of Florida-Gainesville are entering the Reptilian Phase!

Waiting for the arrival of the first egg for Aran and Elen at Glaslyn.

First egg in the nest at GribSkov on the 21st.

There are now three osprey eggs in the nest in the Ramucka Forest in Poland.

‘BHA’ reports that the third egg (and hopefully the last) was laid at the Port of Ridgefield on Sunday.

It’s three eggs for Mispillion Harbour on the 22nd!

Second egg for the new couple at Dahlgren.

And then there were three at Alyth for Flo and Harry!

Bety and Buky have been incubating their two eggs in Mlady Buky.

Dunrovin Ranch’s latest newsletter reflects on the absence of Harriet and the great matriarch she was of their osprey nest.

Honoring-Queen-HarrietDownload

The American Eagle Foundation posted some images and information on Mr President and Lotus and their eaglets at their new nest. I know that many of you loved this eagle pair and are so disappointed not to be able to see them raise their chicks.

The GH owlet named Wyatt branched at the nest on Farmer Derek’s land on Sunday.

Down in the Sydney Olympic Forest, Dad and Lady are starting the nest renovations for the 2024 season! Wow. Cal Falcons hasn’t even hatched their eggs yet….did time start moving at warp speed?

The Cream-Coloured Courser is only one bird that is beginning to breed further north than its norm. Climate change is driving more and more birds to cooler areas to make their nests.

“Cream-coloured Courser (Cursorius cursor) Tal Chhapar, Churu, Rajasthan, India February 15th, 2013” by Dibyendu Ash is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Cream-coloured-Courser-found-breeding-further-north-than-ever-before-BirdGuidesDownload

All About Birds shows this normal distribution map.

Key:

Animalia describes them as wading birds that forage for insects. Their numbers are decreasing but so far they are listed as of Least Concern.

“These coursers are found in Canary Islands, Cape Verde, North Africa and Southwest Asia. Their two eggs are laid in a ground scrape. The breeding season extends from February to September, but they may breed also in autumn and winter when local conditions (especially rainfall) are favourable. They are partially migratory, with northern and northwestern birds wintering in India, Arabia and across the southern edge of the Sahara. Some birds also breed in the southern desert regions in northwestern India and Pakistan. They are rare north of the breeding range, but this species has occurred as far away as Finland, Ireland and Great Britain.”

Thank goodness some communities understand. Portsmouth stops seaside condos from being built due to worries over wintering bird habitat! Give them five gold stars.

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There appears to be an egg at the Balgavies Loch nest on the 21st also. So many eggs on the 21st – it is raining them.

Movement has been noticed in one of the eggs at Captiva. ‘H’ reports that egg 3 is 37 days old today.

And, sadly, dear Audacity laid another egg on Sunday and it had a puncture.

Thank you so very much for being with us today. Things are going to get quite exciting the third week in May when these osplets start hatching! Take care all. Happy Earth Day.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, screen captures, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘AE, BHA, H, PB, SS’, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, Osaka Peregrine Falcon Cam, Trudi Kron, Raptor Centre of Tampa Bay, Moorings Park, Montana Osprey Project, Seaside Ospreys, Boulder County, Ferris State University Osprey Cam, Fischadle Eschenbach LiveStream, Cowlitz PUD, University of Florida-Gainesville Osprey Cam, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, GribSkov, Ospreys in Napiwodzko-Ramuka Forest, Port of Ridgefield, Mispillion Harbour Osprey Cam, Alyth Ospreys, Mlady Buky Stork Cam, Dunrovin Ranch Newsletter, American Eagle Foundation Live Nest Cams, Farmer Derek, Eagle Cam, BirdGuides, OpenVerse, Animalia, and All About Birds.

Earth Day…Sunday in Bird World

21 April 2024

Good Morning,

Earth day is the 22nd of April but we have celebrations today across my City so that everyone can participate as Monday is not a holiday.

Today is Earth Day. It is a day for us to remember that conservation, sustainability, biodiversity, and working together to help create a healthier planet for our wildlife and us are paramount. There are many events and initiatives. “The 2024 theme for Earth Day, “Planet vs. Plastics”, calls to advocate for widespread awareness of the health risk of plastics, rapidly phase out all single-use plastics, urgently push for a strong global agreement on plastic pollution, and demand an end to fast fashion.” (Canada Gov). “For over 50 years, Earth Day has been celebrated across the planet as a way to educate the masses about the environment, enact conservation efforts, and promote action towards the environmental movement. It’s a day of action to adjust human behavior and create policy changes for the good of Mother Earth. The annual event is marked with a wide range of events that are coordinated globally by earthday.org—reaching 1 billion people in more than 193 countries!” (Pioneer Woman)

‘The Girls’ and I are working hard to completely end our use of plastics and continue to ‘forest’ our urban garden. This year we will be planting 5 native shrubs along with four new native trees. It only makes a dent. The City’s Million Dollar Tree Project has only planted 44,000 trees, and the City has been cutting down diseased trees to the point that neighbourhoods have lost their gorgeous ambience with the birds and squirrels losing homes. We can all help by doing our part – and often it is close to home. What will you be doing to celebrate Earth Day? I suggest a short walk or a sit outside!

Correction: At the Lake Murray Osprey Platform in 2023, the third hatch was the victim of siblicide. The older two were taken from the nest by the GHO.

Morning Updates to eggs and hatches: The first egg has been laid at Tweed Valley by Mrs O and FKO at 11:35. Likewise, Asha at RSPB Loch Garten has laid her first egg at 10:47. Flo and Harry at Alyth have egg three at 06:53 and the first hatch has happened overnight at Lake Murray in the US.

Dorcha has not been able to catch a break so far this season.

We have been watching several nests getting ready for hatch watch. We should be having pip/hatch watch for Big Red and Arthur at Cornell in a week. On Saturday Arthur spent a lot of time incubating the eggs before Big Red took over later in the day. I wonder if her leg is bothering her and if it helps to have Arthur there during the day since she has to be there all night and if the position over the eggs doesn’t put strain on that leg.

But what is happening at Captiva? The first egg is 42 days old today. Too late to hatch. That would make the second egg 39 days and well, if it was the one that was crushed and went into a bean shape, then that leaves us with eggs 3 and 4. Will they be viable? Egg 3 is 36 days and should pip right away and hatch soon I it is going to. It is late and some believe that no osprey eggs ever hatch this late on the Barrier Islands.

Moorings Park. Harry Delivered a Fish at 0907 much to the delight of Sally who chirped when she saw him approaching the nest.

Harry comes in with a second small fish at 1044 and Tuffy will get some bites this time. Fish were small. Hoping for larger ones.

Tuffy with his/her feathers coming in.

Harry brought in a nice big chunk of fish at 1412 and Tuffy did get some of that fish. Ruffie is being a bit of an agro.

Fish at 1648.

Tuffy had some first bites – for about seven minutes -.

Tuffy had a good day and notice in the last image how ‘healthy’ and how beautiful he is.

It is Sunday morning and Tuffy is enjoying breakfast.

E23 still likes to be a ‘nestling’ and F23 and M15 like having her/him at home. This nest is a very good reminder of how post-fledge should work – fledgling returns to nest, adults bring food, fledgling learns to fly better and strengthen their wings, fledgling observes and learns to hunt all the while being fed by adults.

Thankfully M15 and F23’s nest is reasonably secure but those GHOs did visit. The GHOs and Canada Geese are taking over the eagle and osprey nests at other sites. This situation is not good at Cape May Meadows as ‘H’ is watching for Hera to lay her first egg. GHOs are formidable enemies and are top Apex raptors. They have taken many osplets off nests and injured and killed other raptors. They might be ‘wise’ – all of our feathered friends are – but they are also dangerous, not soft and cuddly!

GHOs took over the Wolf Bay Osprey platform this year in Alabama. I thought there were two owlets but only one is on the nest and waiting for adults to deliver food. Do you follow this nest? Do you know what happened to the other owlet?

Late spring snows have been hitting the nests in and around Montana and Colorado.

This is Boulder County Fairgrounds on Saturday.

The snow is gone at Dunrovin and Swoop is on the nest with his potential new mate.

Three eggs at Clark PUD.

It is nice in Scotland and Blue NCO was right on time with her second egg.

There are now three eggs at the Foulshaw Moss nest of White YW and Blue 35 in the Lake District.

The cam at UFlorida-Gainesville is frozen. There has been rain or so it appears. Do we still have three osplets? Can’t tell. They are under Mum.

At Tweed Valley, it seems to be a bit of a nest swap.

I have been very worried about the fate of Black-Stork Karl II’s family since he was electrocuted in Turkey last fall on his migration south. I have contacted Maria Marika on Saturday and there is no news. She is also concerned about Kaia. The younger storks she tells me return to the north the end of April. I hope we have some news of Bonus and Waba. Last word on Bonus was his battery did not charge on 28 August 2023.

The Royal Albatross Centre asks us to imagine what it would be like if there were no albatrosses. Today, they are protected (have a read how this happened), but what will happen with warming seas and overfishing and if the long haul trawlers do not change the way they load their lines.

I was able to confirm from ‘VV’ that Star and Louis did return before Iris. For a moment I fantasied about whether or not, if Star had not returned, would Louis turn out to be a good mate and provide for Iris and any osplets. — Well, squash that idea.

Loch Garten. Impossible to tell if there are any eggs. Look at that nest!

Great Bay has three eggs. The last one was laid on the 19th of April.

I don’t know why, but I still worry about that tiny third hatch at Little Miami Conservancy.

Bonnie and Clyde’s two eagles at Cardinal Land Conservancy are doing quite well.

Oh, just look at them all lined up being so civilised. They have their Mohawks and are getting their pin feathers – these are the Majestic eaglets from Denton Homes near Decorah, Iowa.

Almost at the precise stage of development, the Decorah North eaglets are quickly losing the downy soft white plumage of their heads and their pin feathers are clearly noticeable.

It was raining in Texas. JBS20 was lured to the nest for a meal.

ND-LEEF eaglets are getting their thermal down and are doing well – it is so good to see so many healthy and well cared or.

Swampy is still on the nest but continues to branch higher and higher. S/he will take to the skies shortly. Let us all hope that Swampy returns to the nest over and over again like JBS20, E23, Cal, and the others who have survived this year to fly.

I realise that camera angles make objects appear larger or smaller depending on the position and angle. That said, just look at how large the eldest chick of Thunder and Akecheta is compared to Akecheta!

Andor and Cruz with their two eaglets. What a beautiful image.

Well, I will say it. I wish more food were coming to the Duke Farms nest for the two eaglets.

Sassa Bird reports that White-tail Eagle Milda, whose partner Hugo has disappeared, finally had a full crop after leaving the nest on Saturday to eat. The eggs were not harmed in her absence.

Have you seen this very informative 25 minute film about the White-tail Eagles in Latvia? Please watch! These are such beautiful and rare birds. It follows the life of the couple from nest building, to an egg tragedy, to a fledge.

Close monitoring of the nests and the eagles in Latvia gives researchers much information on these large raptors.

Latvijas-valsts-mezi-Monitoring-Shows-White-tailed-Eagle-Nesting-Success-This-YearDownload

The Bearded Tit is a gorgeous little bird. Do you know it?

Country-diary-Holding-our-breath-as-we-watch-the-bearded-tits-Environment-The-GuardianDownload

Thank you so very much for being with me today. We look forward to having you with us again soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, H, MM, SB, SP, VV’, Earthday.org, Geemeff, Cornell RTH Cam, Window to Wildlife, Moorings Park Ospreys, SK Hideaways, Heidi MC, Wolf Bay, Boulder County, Dunrovin Ranch, Clark PUD, Colin Douglas, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, UFlorida-Gainsville Osprey Cam, Tweed Valley Osprey Project, Royal Albatross Centre, Montana Osprey Project, RSPB Loch Garten, Great Bay Ospreys, Little Miami Conservancy, Cardinal Land Trust, Denton Homes, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, JB Sands Wetlands, ND-LEEF, Eagle Country, IWS/Explore, Duke Farms, Sassa Bird, the LDF, and The Guardian.

Dorcha is injured…Saturday in Bird World

20 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

We woke up to a little more snow Friday morning after the rain and snow mixed on Thursday. It is quite cool at 0 degrees C today compared to other days, and it is quite windy. That snow continued on and off during the day and has now accumulated late Friday night. I feel for the birds who do not know if it is winter or spring. They do better in the snow than in the rain as some of the food does not get sloppy and wet. There were hundreds and hundreds today and south of where I live, people had hundreds of Robins on their lawns pulling up worms!

I should introduce new readers to some of the garden animals so they know who I am constantly mentioning.

Dyson is the matriarch of the Grey Squirrel family. She is named after the inventor of the famous vacuum cleaner because of her skill in ‘sucking up peanuts’ faster than anyone! She is at least five years old; my diary tells me seven. Last year, she had three kits. They still come to the garden. She is much adored and has her own fan club! She is extremely healthy this spring. I love how her little fingers cup the small Black-oil seed and peanuts.

Little Red lived in our garden shed until it had to be torn down for the conservatory two years ago. I tried to build him a new house. Then we purchased a special squirrel house from Finland – Little Red didn’t like it and then Dyson ate the wood around the hole so she could get in and eat the peanuts I had placed in there to lure Little Red. Little Red was always alone. Then Miss Little Red arrived and well, now we have at least four Reds living in and about the garden.

A baby?

There are also Mr and Mrs Blue Jay, who are the parents of Junior, who had his little jays starting two years ago. He does not migrate, and last summer, we had two Blue Jay families living within 10 metres of the garden. The fledglings arrived and ate at the feeders. There are currently six Blue Jays around. I cannot wait for this summer. The garden could be filled with Blue Jays!!!!! Their colours are so magnificent, and the white pattern on the tip of their tails is different for each one – that is how I identify them. Junior’s feathers are a bit of a mess right now. It looks like he has been in a fight, as it seems a bit early for moulting. Indeed some of the feathers appear broken.

Then there is Mr and Mrs Downy, Mr and Mrs Hairy, and Mr Pileated that come throughout the day. I caught Mrs Downy on the suet this afternoon.

The European Starlings are having a feast in the large table feeder. Today they seem to be attracted to the suet while the squirrels – both Dyson and the three kits from last summer – and the two little Reds – forage for peanuts. I have not seen the Blue Jays so far and it is 1322 Friday afternoon.

Four cats bring me more joy than anyone could ever imagine. Missey arrived with Lewis on 2 November 2022; they were adopted from the Humane Society, which takes in stray cats and kittens. Sadly, we lost Lewis in September 2023. Calico lived in the garden and was dumped as a kitten (or so it seems). I lured her into being friends in the winter of 2023 and then once she had her kittens – only one survived (Baby Hope) – they moved into the house. It was quite the ordeal tracking her and then hoping the kitten would find us (it had left their nest and was eight weeks old). The most recent addition is Hugo Yugo, who is a rescue. Her mother was starved when she was carrying her seven kittens. As a consequence, Hugo Yugo continues to be the size of an 8-10 week old kitten despite the fact that she is now eight and a half months old. She was supposed to be a male but turned out to be a Ginger Female (only 20% of Gingers are female). She is a character. I would not part with any of them. They create a life around me that is like a symphony.

Missey has been talking to the Dark-eyed Juncos through the window and Hugo Yugo along with Calico and Baby Hope went into a food coma and have yet to surface.

Mamma Calico and Baby Hope. They posed. I could not believe it. My heart just stops every time I see them together – and they are like this most of the day unless eating or playing. Inseparable. Calico raised Hope. She would come and eat and run back to take care of her quickly. Hope was the healthiest feral kitten I had ever seen. Calico did a superb job. Cannot imagine them living on the streets.

And for those wondering who I am, well, I am a Retired Professor who has undertaken a long-term study of siblicide on Osprey nests. Last year, I increased the number of eggs observed to 341 with ‘H’. This year, we are aiming for 500. The results will be published when we have good annual comparisons – starting with 2 years and then moving next to 5 years. In 2023, many chicks were lost due to a Nor-eastern in the Chesapeake Bay Area and overfishing of the Menhaden. Perhaps that will not happen this year. I am not desensitised to the tragic events on the nests that have deaths – I take each one pretty hard. It is the joy of seeing the chick we might believed would perish thrive – to wonder at their perseverance, determination, and cleverness. Ultimately, I would like to see if these beaten chicks that do survive the nest to fledge have a higher return rate in the second year. Sadly, due to the fact that so few nests band their osplets, it is impossible to determine.

I want everyone to enjoy nature. To marvel at how beautiful the world is right outside our own windows and to realise how important it is to get out and breathe the air and listen to the birdsong. Life is stressful and it is one proven way to calm ourselves down!

Friday was a day for egg laying…I continue to tell everyone to mark their calendars. That third week in May is going to be a very busy one.

On Friday afternoon, 19 April, Dorcha was injured in an encounter with a large raptor—a golden eagle or a Sea Eagle—at Loch Arkaig. According to Geemeff, Ravens were escorting the large raptor out of the area when Dorcha got involved. Dorcha returned to the nest at 1501 with scratches, blood, and an injured leg.

The injuries to the right leg – it looks like a large puncture to me – can clearly be seen when Dorcha gets up from incubating her egg when Louis brings her a fish.

Poor Dorcha. She was due to lay her third egg and she did at 02:26 Saturday morning, the 20th of April. Hard incubation should begin.

I am expecting the third egg if there is to be one at Loch of the Lowes today, the 20th.

All eyes are on the eggs of Big Red and Arthur on the Cornell Campus anxiously awaiting the sign of the first pip.

Positively nothing at the nest of Angel and Tom. Is Tom missing? ‘A’ seems to think he is.

At Eagle Country, Swampy is going higher on the natal nest tree. S/he will fledge shortly. What a seemingly strong and healthy eaglet.

Tuffy had a Good Friday. Harry delivered a huge Tilapia at 0941 at the Moorings Park nest on Friday. Tuffy was in and out of the feeding, but by 1055 was finished and had a nice crop!

Tuffy has had big crops all Friday. This little one is eating well.

Later than the image above, after another fish. Harry must have an excellent spot to land these whoppers…

A fish arrived at 1423. Tuffy had a nice crop at the end of that meal, too!

Tuffy had a crop when the 1602 fish arrived. He looked but didn’t bother to go over and eat. He was full already.

A little bit of a fish came at 1831..Tuffy even got some!

It ‘feels’ like Tuffy and Ruffie have done nothing but eat all day. Each time I go and check Tuffy is up at the beak. If this little one continues to eat this much fish per day, we will have to change the middle letters of its name from ‘F’ to ‘B’. Sssshhhh. Don’t say it out loud. We don’t want to give the second hatch a complex. All kidding aside, Tuffy did really well on Friday. In fact, both were so full that Sally got to finish off a nice fish as the sun was setting on the nest.

First egg for Cowlitz PUD is 18 April! Love these folks. They put up metal fish grates to protect the osplets from being taken by the Bald Eagles!

Egg #1 or Bruce and Naha at Seaside on the 18th of April, too!

We have an egg at Oyster Bay on Long Island.

‘H’ reports: “Opal did it again…she laid the 4th egg at 17.46.” I caution new observers that this is a tough nest to watch if all eggs hatch and fish deliveries are few. Siblicide warning.

All three chicks at the Venice Golf and Country club platform look fine.

The camera has gone black again at Frenchman’s Creek. Now it is only listed as Private so I presume residents only that wish to sign up. We will sadly never know the fate of the two older osplets. I hope that they continue to self feed and that someone from Frenchman’s Creek will let us know if they fledge.

All three eaglets at Little Miami Conservancy have nice crops on Friday.

Snow on Finland’s Osprey nests.

Egg three at Llyn Clywedog nest of Seren and Dylan arrives on the 19th as well.

‘L’ reports: “New female at Charlo is OJ (Wakati) from 2018 Dunrovin nest. She’s got her leg banded.” This might get interesting. Happy for you Charlie if Charlotte does not show up!

Lucy and Kenny’s three eggs at Lake Murray Ospreys. For new viewers, a GHO took all three chicks off this nest in 2023. Former mate, Ricky died and difficult for Mum to feed, hunt, and offer security.

Iris was at her nest in Missoula, Montana on Friday.

It is hard to believe that these two are Liberty and Guardian’s little eaglets.

Lots of soft bedding for the two tiny eaglets at Fort St Vrain – and a good thing, too, as the snow began to fall Friday evening.

Port Tobacco’s only eaglet appears to be doing just dandy!

Do you have a dream to see the geese that winter in the UK? Before the climate changes so much that they stay in Greenland and Siberia? Here is a file to help you identify them. It is on my bucket list!

Guide-to-Britains-geese-species-how-to-identify-and-where-to-see-Countryfile.com_Download

We know how Ospreys connect people! Here is an article on three special women whose lives are intertwined by these fish eating birds.

The-Osprey-Connection-AudubonDownload

To my knowledge, all nests are doing well. The snow has again started, and I am behind in my data entry. I will check on some of the eagle nests tomorrow, along with what is happening at our hawk and osprey nests. Take care everyone. Thank you for being with us today.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, articles, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, L, PB’, The Woodland Trust, Geemeff, The Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), Cornell RTH Cam, Window to Wildlife, Eagle Country, Moorings Park, Cowlitz PUD, Seaside, PSEG, Forsythe Osprey Cam, VGCCO, Little Miami Conservancy, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Llyn Clywedog and CarnyXWild, Charlo Montana, Lake Murray Ospreys, Montana Osprey Project, FORE, XCel Energy, Port Tobacco Eagle Cam, BBC Countryfile, and Audubon.

*Disclaimer: Every effort is made to acknowledge those that provide information and material for my posting. If I have failed to credit someone, please do let me know so that I can correct this. Thank you,’

It is raining eggs…Friday in Bird World

19 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

For those of you that still pay attention to what day it is, it is the end of the work week! There are currently snow showers in the garden on the Canadian Prairies. Hundreds of Dark-eyed Juncos are foraging for seed while the European Starlings are pounding away at the suet. The ground is literally moving with Juncos! Dyson has managed to scare of anyone wanting peanuts as she scurries back and forth from her nest to the big table feeder. Dyson is in such good shape. Her fur looks wonderful. She is no longer a youngster, but is approximately seven years old, if not older. Living in an urban environment is not easy for the birds nor is it for the squirrels who are now compelled to run across the road instead of climbing the trees on the boulevards and crossing over from one side to another using their branches.

‘MM’ sent me another link to access Frenchman’s Creek Ospreys that she found. The two older chicks are able to self-feed and they have been unzipping the piles of fish on the nest. The Mum is unwell and the third hatch has passed. Send these two fully feathered osplets your most positive energy – they will need it. Let us hope that Dad continues to provide fish for them in the absence of care by the female. In fact, if the Mum is having trouble feeding more than 2 or 3 bites and if she does have a contagious throat infection, it is actually good she is not feeding the osplets. They seem to be doing alright. We can only wish this nest luck and hope for the best.

Try this link to the streaming cam:

‘H’ asked me if I had seen the eagles at Superbeaks lately. She got a great screen capture of both of them! Dixie and Mason hatched on the 20th and 22nd of February. They have both crossed the 8th week milestone and are moving towards branching and fledging.

The West End eaglets of Thunder and Akecheta have been named. The oldest WE1 is Koa. The middle WE2 is Treasure, and the third hatch WE3 is Sterling.

Yesterday ‘H’ posted the cutest video of Tuffy going after Ruffy. That little one really had its confidence going. The link I provided only worked for certain members of a FB group. (Believe me, I am an IT illiterate!). Here is the link for everyone else, please have a look. — I should mention that the individuals that work on these videos (Heidi Mc, SK Hideaways, Geemeff, and Trudi Kron) spend considerable times so please have a look at what they capture).

‘H’ continues to keep a close eye on Moorings Park in case there is any change. Her observations from the first fish delivery on Thursday: “At 0929 Harry delivered a large live tilapia.  Sally ate for a few minutes so that the fish was easier to control.  Tuffy was harassed and pushed aside by Ruffie.  Sally began to feed Ruffy at 0933.  Tuffy moved to the other side of Sally, but did not appear to get any fish bites.  At 0937 Sally had to adjust the position of the fish, thus exposing Tuffy, and Ruffie moved over to harass him.  Sally resumed feeding Ruffie.  At 0942 Ruffie saw Tuffy trying to sneak over to the other side of Sally, so she went behind Sally to intimidate Tuffy, then Ruffie moved away slightly.  At 0943 Tuffy got a few bites of fish, but Ruffie moved to intimidate him again, and Ruffie ate some more.  Then Tuffy snuck around to Sally’s right side and received a few more bites.  By 0948 Tuffie had eaten a total of 15 bites, when Sally simply walked away from the fish.  Ruffie attempted to self-feed.  Sally flew off the nest at 0951 and returned a minute later with nesting material.  At 0955 Sally resumed feeding Ruffie.  At 0959 Tuffy was positioned on the opposite side of Sally and received several bites, but Ruffie had to move over and intimidate him again.  This scenario repeated a couple more times.  By 1016 Tuffy had moved to Sally’s right side and was eating, but this time Ruffy didn’t care, and laid down.  Tuffy and Sally finished the fish at 1030, and Tuffy had eaten at least 154 bites of fish.”

‘H’ notes: “Harry dropped off a very small whole fish at 1317.  Ruffie ate.  Tuffy was intimidated by Ruffie a few times when he would get within reach of Sally’s beak.  Tuffy managed to eat two bites of fish.”

“H’ said “At 1418 Harry brought a medium sized headless fish to the nest.  Tuffy’s crop was flat.  Ruffie moved up, and Tuffy moved away slightly.  At 1420 Tuffy got a couple quick bites and was harassed.  While Ruffie was being fed, she hovered over Tuffy, and Tuffy was afraid to untuck.  At 1439 Tuffy was actually attempting to move further away from Sally, when Ruffie spun around and beaked and bit Tuffy on the neck.  But, Ruffie was finished eating anyway, and moved away!  Tuffy was fearful and waited.  Finally at 1442 Tuffy went to Mom and was fed.  Tuffy ate at least 57 bites of fish at this meal, and ended up with a very small crop.”

“.. At 1542 Harry delivered a medium sized whole fish.  Right away Sally dragged the fish over to Tuffy’s location and began feeding him.  Tuffy got a couple quick bites, but he saw Ruffie approaching and he tucked.  At 1551 Tuffy made his move and went to Sally’s right side and received a few more bites from Mom.  Ruffy looked around and saw what was happening over on the other side, and didn’t like what she saw.  So, she went behind Sally and beaked Tuffy a couple of times..  Ruffy ate some more, then moved away from Sally at 1600.  There was very little fish remaining.  Tuffie shuffled over to Sally and ate.  Tuffy ate 35 bites of fish at this meal.”

“..At 1653 Harry delivered another medium sized headless fish.  Sally fed Ruffie, and while he was waiting for his turn to eat, Tuffy was hanging out in the shade under Mom’s tail.  Around 1659 Tuffy poked his head out from under Sally’s tail on her left side, and she reached around and gave him a bite of fish, and then 4 more bites.  Then Ruffie reached in front of Sally and intimidated Tuffy.  At 1700 Sally moved the fish across the nest and continued to feed Ruffie on her left side.  Tuffie quickly positioned himself to Sally’s right, and he received some fish bites.  Ruffie briefly stopped eating and moved under Sally’s tail for shade, but she saw Tuffy and intimidated him, then Ruffie ate some more.  By 1706 Tuffy again got a few more bites over Sally’s right shoulder, and he was promptly intimidated by Ruffie.  Sally and Ruffie finished the fish by 1713.  Tuffy ate 20 bites of fish at this meal.”

Harry brought in fish at the following times: 0929 – 154 bites for Tuffy; 1317 – 2 bites; 1418 – 57 bites; 1542 – 35 bites; 1653 – 20 bites

I went to check on Tuffy and he was smiling looking over the rim of the nest with an enormous crop. Seems that he was fed quite a bit from a fish that Harry dropped off at 1823. A much better feeding than some o the others mentioned by ‘H’ above for our little lad.

Just look at that crop!

That feeding went rather well for the second hatch – thank goodness.

Tuffy goes to bed with a much-deserved crop. Sleep well, little one.

Harry delivers a massive Tilapia at 0941. Tuffy is going to get its share!

The raptors in Latvia and Estonia are rare and treasured. The following article was written two years ago and concerns the logging industry and biodiversity in these areas and the challenges to the wildlife. Last year, we saw a drought and the storklets on Karl II and Kaia’s nest survived due to the fishing baskets provided by Urmas. They would surely have starved to death without that intervention. Sadly, we lost Karl II who was electrocuted on his migration south in Turkey in 2023. There has been no word of Kaia, Bonus, of Waba that I am aware and I will shortly add them to the Memorial List as well. Loss of habitat, illegal shooting, drought, other weather, toxins, wars, and the sheer magnitude of their migration creates great challenges for these much loved birds.

OF-CLEARCUTS-and-BIRDS-3-EstoniaDownload

Golden Eagles Helju and Kalju are incubating two eggs that were laid at their nest in Estonia on the 15th and 18th of March. The average number of days to hatch is 44. We have ten days to go. Mark your calendars for the 28th of April.

For those nervous about siblicide, please be aware that it is common practice for the first hatch to kill the second in the Golden Eagle nest (amongst others). The second egg is deemed ‘the insurance egg’ if the first does not hatch. Sometimes, we are lucky, and both survive.

Sibblingaggression-Ibis-PDF-3Download

We have an egg at the Eastern Imperial Eagle nest in Russia. It was laid on Wednesday the 17th. Contrary to siblicide practice, this nest raised two Imperial Eaglets in 2023.

The Black Storks in Poland are incubating four eggs laid on 31 March, 2, 4, and 6 of March. There is a wide hatching range from 30-40 days. So storklets arriving at the end or the first week of May, probably.

The third egg was laid right on time at the Dyfi Osprey nest of Idris and Telyn. Hard incubation is underway, and I look forward to a lot of hatches around the third week in May.

CJ7 laid her second egg between 1216-1220 on Thursday at Poole Harbour.

‘BHA’ reports that the second egg has arrived at the Port of Ridgefield on Thursday.

Warren and Della have their second egg at Mispillion Harbour!

Helen and Doug, the new couple at Dahlgren, have their first egg of the season.

‘H’ reports that the 4th egg will be laid at Forsthye today if it is coming and there is no pip yet at Captiva.

Richmond and Rosie have their first egg on their new nest in SF!!!!!!!

At Llyn Clywedog, Dylan and Seren have their third egg of the season in Wales.

New of Ervie and his brothers, Bradley and Giliath. It is fantastic….love that they are hanging out together.

Ever wonder what R6 actually sounds like? or any other juvenile eagle? Listen. Starts about 45 seconds in.

At the Mispillion Harbour nest of Della and Warren, a whopper comes in!

Lots of unwanted action at the Loch Arkaig 2 nest for Affric.

A baby bald eagle in Texas was blown off a nest and reunited with its parents. Thanks, EJ for a story with a good ending!

Baby-bald-eagle-reunited-with-parent-by-Austin-Texas-wildlife-rescueDownload

That article leads me back to Meadow and further reflection by the Vet tech. “I just thought about Meadow’s condition when she was blown off the nest. As emaciated as she was, it could have caused her to be blown more easily than Swampy, and the fact that she was not as strong as an eaglet who wasn’t sick could make it impossible to hang onto the nest. Then, the fact that your immune system, if compromised, will make your bones vulnerable to breakage. For whatever reason, this bird’s immune system wasn’t as robust as Swampy’s, making her vulnerable to this opportunistic fungal infection.” 

A beautiful capture of a wonderful eagle family by Sassa Bird to closed our day with an explanation to the names chosen for the eaglets.

Thanks so much for being with us today. I am so glad that you enjoyed AM’s beautiful spring images! I will pass that along. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: A, AE, BHA, EJV, Geemeff, H, MM, MP, PB’, Frenchman’s Creek Ospreys, Superbeaks, SF Bay Ospreys, Heidi Mc, IWS/Explore, Moorings Park Ospreys, Mispillion Harbour, Dahlgren Ospreys, John Williams, Port Lincoln Ospreys and Fran Solly, Eagle Club of Estonia, B Meyburg and Research Gate, RU Eastern Imperial Eagle Cam, Polish Black Stork Cam, Dyfi Osprey Project, Poole Harbour Osprey Project, Port of Ridgefield Raptor Cam, Geemeff, The Hill, and Sassa Bird.

Spring, eggs, and Tuffy starts a fight…Thursday in Bird World

18 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

I want to thank one of our readers from Japan, ‘AM’ who sent the most beautiful images they took of a Sparrow Hawk and a Warbling White-Eye. Notice the magnificent cherry blossoms! It is spring in Japan and I would so love to have been there to see these birds in person. Thank you ‘AM’ for sharing with us! This is a wonderful way to start our day!

If you are not familiar with the Japanese White-eye, please have a read. The Canon Bird Branch Project provides some good information.

Canon-Bird-Branch-Project-Biodiversity-Initiatives-Bird-photo-guide-Japanese-White-eyeDownload

I had a question today that many of you might also be wondering about so I thought I would post it. Thanks, ‘AJ’ for allowing me to. The question: “I had a question about the Meadow situation. From what I saw, it appeared that Meadow did not eat for about 48 hours. She was fed around 10am the morning of her fall and then not rescued until she fell off the branch, two mornings later. I was wondering if there is some law preventing them from intervening unless the eaglet has fallen to the ground?” This is an excellent question and will help us to understand the complexity of the situation that Meadow was in. First, the Migratory Bird Act does now allow for anyone to approach a nest in North America during the breeding season without a permit from USFWS. Rescuers can get a permit if the nest occupants have been injured due to a human action – such as fishing line. We saw this at Dale Hollow and other nests. Other instances include infections that might be of interest to the public. We saw this at SW Florida when the two eaglets E17 and 18 had conjunctivitis. Neither of those cases would apply here because Meadow was blown out of the nest. You might recall the images of Meadow on the branch close enough to the nest for some to believe that Meadow might have been fed by the parents there or that Meadow might have been able to scramble up to the nest. A permit to rescue Meadow at that particular position might not have been given for two reasons: Rescuers arriving via rope or cherry picker might have caused Meadow to fall further causing injury or death OR those same actions might have caused Swampy to bolt and be injured or killed. Great caution has to be exercised in a situation like this. Still a permit has to be obtained and there has to be individuals skilled to make this type of rescue. The trees are quite tall. I do not know the terrain so I cannot comment on what could have been used or if anything could have. Permits take time. Getting a rescue team together takes time as well as the equipment. It is possible that was being undertaken – we might never know. What we do know is that Meadow fell. No permit is required to rescue an eaglet on the ground. That was what was done at that time. This was a very sad situation and there will be continuing debates over what should or could have been done, why postings were worded the way they were, and whether or not the infection weakened Meadow’s system and how its bone broke. A real tragedy for a much-loved eaglet. —– Thank you for this great question.

The same act applies throughout North America – the main law is the 1994 Migratory Bird Act. At times there have been some changes but anyone approaching a nest with occupants must have a permit.

Migratory-Birds-Regulations-2022Download

It is such a relief to not have to worry about Tuffy. No more going to bed wondering if the little fella has to wait til nearly 1800 to eat or if he will be beaked continually. Now, we can sit back and watch Tuffy grow and that little bottom get even fatter. What a turn around – a wonderful event and, if we had not witnessed the struggle of this second hatch, we would not be finding the joy that we are now that the food competition appears to be over. Sally is a great Mum and all is well. Tuffy ate so much and is now enjoying a good sleep.

Tuffy had nice crops and could be found eating much of the time. Then Tuffy got all fired up and started a fight with Ruffie. ‘H’ is making a video. ‘PB’ posted a screen capture and I am adding a few more. It was a hilarious exchange. Watch Tuffy’s posture. The confidence is growing.

Meals are peaceful.

Big Bad Tuffy telling Ruffy he has had enough.

Here is Heidi’s video clip:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/605504046583864/permalink/1832483540552569

There was a surprise delivery of a fish tail at Moorings Park in the night caught by ‘H’. “4/18, At 0235 Harry made a somewhat clumsy landing on the nest in the dark.  He was holding a small fish tail.  It took the sleepy family a few moments to react.  Sally was like: Harry dear, do you have any idea what time it is? lol.  Lil’ Tuffy started chirping away.  Ruffie was slow to wake up.  Sally began to feed Tuffy some bites of fish at 0238, although Tuffy found it difficult to find Mom’s beak in the dark.  Tuffy had only eaten 3-4 bites of fish by 0239, when Ruffie inserted herself in between Sally and Tuffy, and Tuffy reflexively moved away.  Sally and Ruffie finished the fish tail by 0254.”

Cute little Tuffy. Seeing this baby getting bigger, chubbier’ is so nice.

The three osplets at Venice Golf and Country Club ate well on Wednesday.

Little Miami Conservancy third hatch 7 ate quite well on Wednesday.

There is incredible news coming out of Rutland Water. 1H1, the eldest of a clutch of all females of Blue 33 and Maya at Rutland in 2022 is in Germany! Now, did she meet a wonderful German osprey male during her wintering in West Africa that invited her to join him? Everyone is delighted. That clutch kept Blue 33 so busy – all big healthy females. You might remember it! I am in tears – tears of joy. I watched those three grow up and am so thrilled we know this one has survived. I look forward to seeing her chicks.

Did I ever tell you that Maya and Blue 33 are super Ospreys? No only do they set records for raising healthy chicks, but their return rate is going to shatter some records, also. Good DNA and good luck – that is what my friend Tiger Mozone says is needed. Well, this bird has both.

I posted the following on 2 July 2022 when 1H1 fledged!

A close up of the nest of Richmond and Rosie.

We might never know the fate of the two remaining osplets and the Mum (the Dad appears to be fishing fine) at the Frenchman’s Creek Osprey Platform. After the death by siblicide-starvation of the third hatch and observers questioning the health of the female, the streaming cam has gone black. Actually, it is completely removed from YouTube. Anyone who wrote to Frenchman’s Creek might have received a reply that this is only a technical glitch.

It is like you have never seen it before! Beautiful done footage of the nest of Louis and Dorcha at Loch Arkaig before the birds returned by the Woodland Trust (on X, thanks, Geemeff). Some screen captures:

It is snowing in Missoula, Montana and Iris has been at her nest. Louis came over to pay a visit. Now I know that many are going to be upset with me, but I would like to think that Louis will give Iris some attention, she will lay the eggs and then the Crows will eat them because Louis is busy with Star at the baseball field. Then Iris will go of and have a very leisurely summer catching award-winning size trout and warming herself in the sun. As someone said, maybe we have Louis to thank for Iris’s longevity. She has not had the stress of raising osplets since 2018. I hope she has a lovely serene spring and summer and returns to us again in 2025 to have all of this repeated again.

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Iris shows us just how good she is. She brings one of her whoppers to the owl pole late Wednesday.

It is snowing in Colorado at the Dunrovin Ranch and Swoop is at the nest with his new mate. They probably wished they had waited a few days to return to the north!

Snow at Charlo Montana but it melted later in the day.

First egg at Boulder County Fairgrounds.

No eggs at Crooked Lake, yet.

Jack and Edie exchange incubation duties at Captiva. You can still see the bean shaped egg. We wait to see if any of the other eggs are viable. We are on hatch watch.

After her incredible reporting on the Moorings Park nest, ‘H’ is back monitoring all manner of other Osprey nests and brings us this news to be aware of this morning:

“At Captiva, Edie was listening to the eggs some more yesterday (4/17), but so far no pip seen in the IR lighting tonight.  

Steve and Callie are both back at Hog’s Island.  They may not actually use the Hog Island on-cam nest, but it will be a pleasant surprise if they do.  Last season they simply protected the nest, and may have used another nest on the Island.  

Oscar and Olivia at Severna Park have been bringing a lot of soft grasses to line the center of the nest, as well as a few clothing items, lol.  Perhaps eggs soon.

Today is day 35 for egg #1 at Lake Murray, I don’t know if Lucy delayed incubation.”

Trudi Kron caught JBS20 returning to the nest in Texas in video:

JBS20 continues to return to the nest for prey. You want to see this: the chick fledges and returns to the nest. They might not do it immediately, but you want to see them return and follow their parents to the nest. Fantastic. Thank you ‘AE’.

The trio at Centreport seem to be doing well as per the post and image by Robert Schwartz. So happy!

Nothing sweeter than watching Liberty and Guardian with their eaglets.

Their dream of a family this year might have shattered, but Jackie and Shadow are as strong a bonded pair as ever. They dreamed, they hoped, they persevered. Now they are moving on. Good lessons for all of us.

Ask me how much I admire Isabella Tree and the rewinding of Knepp Farm and the return of the White Storks – you will get an earful and more.

Buky and Beth are incubating their eggs. The first one was laid on 7 April. Oh, we have 33-34 days on average to hatch so mark your calendars for 10-11 of May. Gosh, we are going to have some osplets hatching then, too!

There is a Black Stork at Nest 3 in Estonia. Is there a mate? And who is this stork? The nest in Estonia was found and a camera installed in 2022. According to Looduskalender :

“Nest site is situated in Pärnu county, near wind farm development area. That was the reason to track Kergu, male stork who nested here last year, as well as reason to install webcam. There are proposed some mitigation measures, like preparing better feeding conditions in other sectors of home range. Hopefully results of those measures will be visible also through webcam in time. The measures are at the moment in planning stage, yet. So if somebody has ideas for mitigation measures in that situation, those would be valuable to analyse in current situation.

Kergu has rings (incl. left leg 7047) since childhood, he has been ringed in 2011 as one of three chicks in nest situated about 10 km of current Kergu nest. Three chicks fledged in Kergu nest in 2022 and they were in good condition during ringing. Female in this nest we did not know, most probably she was without of rings. In 2023, here we did not see female in nest. Kergu refreshed nest properly, few times neighbour male Nurme visited the nest as well as not ringed immature individuals. But in general Kergu was in nest alone, listening neighbour bird species, like woodland owls, passerines, etc.”

A close up confirms that this is indeed the male Kergu 7047 at the nest.

In Latvia, we have, according to Sassa Bird, the hope for the couple Ogris and Urga at this nest of the former Jan and Janikka. Black Storks are so very rare in Latvia and Estonia and the loss of Karl II (and perhaps Kaia and the others, also) makes any presence of the Black Stork such a special rarity. I see below the nest a full stream which could provide frogs and little fishes for a family here. It would be wonderful if this happens. (Note: Please correct me if any of this information is wrong).

Want to know how to identify White-tail eagles in the UK?

White-tailed-eagle-guide-how-to-identify-and-where-to-see-in-the-UK-Countryfile.com_Download

Missing little falcons? The four are getting fed at Osaka!

Hawk Mountain’s first migration chart. They note, “The damp start to April has made for challenging migration, and counting, conditions. Low cloud ceilings and persistent rain kept our spring trainees off the rocks for the first three days of the season! In between showers and fog, the trainees have counted 302 raptors through April 15th. Highlights from the 14 species of raptors seen from the lookout include a sub-adult golden eagle observed April 11th and migratory bald eagles and ospreys dodging the local bald eagle pair. The first broadwing of the season passed the lookout on April 5, and numbers have been gradually increasing with 54 broadwings observed on April 15 giving the current high-count placeholder at 74 migrants. During the solar eclipse, clouds marred the 95% coverage, but the lookout continued to count sharp-shinned hawks migrating throughout the window.”

If you missed it, this man has spent decades recording the sounds and he knows the birds are disappearing.

‘These-birds-are-telling-us-something-serious-is-happening-the-songbirds-disappearing-from-BritainDownload

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

Thank you to the following or their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘AE, AJ, AM, Geemeff, H, MB, MM, PB, SB, SK, TK’, AM, Canon Bird Branch Project, Government of Canada, Moorings Park Ospreys, Pam Breci, Heidi Mc, VGCCO, Little Miami Conservancy, LRWT, The Woodland Trust, SF Bay osprey, Montana Osprey Project, Bird Watchers General Store, Dunrovin Ranch, Owl Research Project/Explore, Boulder County, Timothy Dygert Live Stream, Window to Wildlife, Hog Island Ospreys, Severna Park, Trudi Kron, Rob Schwartz, SK Hideaways, Knepp White Stork Cam, Mlade Buky, Looduskalender, Eagle Club of Estonia, LDF, BBC Countryfile, Osaka Peregrine Falcons, Hawk Mountain, and The Guardian.

JBS20 returns to the nest…Whitetail eagle crosses the English Channel…Wednesday in Bird World

17 April 2024

Good Morning!

Oh, it has rained on and off all day. During the break some very beautiful birds came to the feeders.

Purple Finch, Adult Male, Eastern. He is a beauty. Look at that underbelly with that iridescent pink on white. Or that solid pink necklace and darker red head. He is pretty gorgeous. Tory Peterson described the Purple Finch as a “sparrow dipped in raspberry juice”. How fitting.

Male Hairy Woodpecker moulting.

Baby House Sparrow. They have been busy.

The Blue Jays were very busy getting peanuts while the rain stopped.

The Dark-eyed Juncos are everywhere searching for those tiny Millet seeds I toss on the deck for them.

This is a non-breeding European Starling.

The girls were busy. They spend a lot of time watching the garden now that so many birds are there – normally a couple of hundred at a time. There is something always moving! Today, the rain also fascinated them.

Hugo Yugo is fascinated by the outside.

Calico watching the Juncos hop around during the rain.

The rain pouring down.

Missey is the only one that enjoys her collar and tag. She is the sweetest most compliant cat never fussing for a second when her teeth are cleaned or her nails trimmed.

Baby Hope.

Hugo Yugo looking up at Baby Hope getting ready to pounce and knock her of the top of the cat tree.

Some really good things happened on Tuesday marked by the expected, but still sad, passing of osplet three at Frenchman’s Creek. Eggs were laid, ospreys returned to their nests, and a fledgling was lured by Dad back at JB Sands Wetlands. The eaglet is safe, strong, and hungry. JBS 20 is now tired, too. Flying is hard work!

Louis and Dorcha have their second egg at Loch Arkaig! Oh, so happy.

The first egg for Laddie LM12 and Blue NCO at 10:49 on the 17th of April at Loch of the Lowes.

There is the first egg at Poole Harbour, too for CJ7 and Blue 022 at 15:40 on the 16th. We are going to be really, really busy right after the middle of May!

I would like to go back to Meadow or a moment. Many of us were confused by the statement of Audubon on the 8th of April that Meadow had no fractures in the X-Rays and then to read that s/he did, indeed, have fracture that caused the eaglet to be euthanised along with his other condition. A very knowledgeable individual who worked in veterinary medicine wrote to me. Meadow was diagnosed with Aspergillosis. “Aspergillosis is a noncontagious, opportunistic fungal infection—is caused by Aspergillus species. It is also known as a mycotic infection, which may cause a fungal pneumonia. Certain species have been reported to be more at risk for Aspergillus infection…Aspergillosis is a difficult disease to treat and cure, and treatment can take months. At the beginning of treatment, hospitalization is often required. Diagnostic testing for aspergillosis includes: blood work, fungal culture, serology, imaging, and endoscopy. Treatment includes: stabilization, stress reduction, fluid therapy with crystalloids, and correction of fluid deficiencies. Typically, birds present with vague and nonspecific signs (depression, inappetence, difficulty breathing, reluctance to fly/perch, drooped wings). Initial physical examination findings typically include weight loss, respiratory abnormalities (dyspnea, tachypnea, cyanosis), lethargy, polyuria/polydipsia, vocalizing, open-beak breathing, tail bobbing, and/or enlarged nares. Some affected birds can have biliverdinuria (biliverdinuria is a condition in birds that causes urine to turn green or yellow). It is associated normally with liver disease which results in poor feather quality.”

I understand that the diagnostics required are a complete blood count, radiographs that might show subtle lesions and later pneumonia or a breakdown of sections of bones, the thickening of the air acts. Serology or antibody tests are required along with DNA testing. Of course, on top of this, Meadow needed to be fed various types of food to get its strength up. We know our eaglet gained weight and then refused to eat, further complicating its progress. I was told that the disease causes great trauma to the patient. Add to that the physical trauma of falling out of the tree and having to survive on the branch for a period of 24 hours plus, without food and in the heat, makes the chances of surviving somewhat tenuous. With everything going on with Meadow, they could have easily missed the fractures and, this individual said, …”I don’t believe s/he would have survived the procedures to determine everything that was wrong (sic); or at the very least it would have been inhumane to put her/him through it all.”  I am very grateful for these insights and thank ‘MP’ for taking the time to write to me so that we can all understand the great difficulties that Meadow was experiencing that ultimately led to euthanasia.

Wow. The second Isle of Wight White-tailed Eagle has crossed the English Channel. What an incredible distance!

‘H’ is so excited. Della laid the first egg of the Osprey season for 2024 at Mispillion Harbour Tuesday morning – and she got to see it when it happened on screen!

As you are aware, yesterday ‘H’ and I quit counting bites that Tuffy received at the meals in the afternoon. It was readily apparent that two events had happened. First, Harry is having great fishing and the fish that come to the nest are, by and large, very, very big. He delivered at least 5 a day, but often 7. The second event is the osplets have now exited the Reptilian Phase and have their feathers. The video that Heidi put together demonstrates precisely what Tuesday was like on the nest – best siblings, good buddies, sharing meals! It is wonderful! Smile and enjoy every minute.

BHA writes that the first egg was laid at the Port of Ridgefield Osprey nest in Washington State on April 16. This nest is new to the streaming cam community.

PB sent a message that the couple at the Omaha Public Power District nest at Fort Calhoun Station in Nebraska also have their first egg on the 16th of April. Gosh, we are going to be busy looking trying to keep up with all the hatches coming in May!

The two lads at the Duke Farms Eagle nest have been named by local school children. H44 is Cookie and H45 is Snickers! Cute.

There is a petition to change the speed limit and put up markers by the SW Florida nest of M15 and F23. This morning I was watching the Glacier Gardens new nest of Liberty and Freedom. You should see the fast traffic by that nest. In North America, many raptor nests are located near urban areas with high traffic. The first that comes to mind is Big Red and Arthur’s nest at Cornell. Thanks to a small group of dedicated locals, markers go up and the area is monitored when the hawklets fledge. I would like to see the traffic stopped at Cornell for those two months til the fledglings disperse from that area. All areas near raptor nests should be required to slow or stop, if at all possible, during fledging time including Glacier Gardens. Do you live near an active raptor nest near a busy highway or road? See what your Council says about traffic calming during this time! Smile and be persuasive.

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Thank you to so many for caring and for all the messages about the situation at Frenchman’s Creek. . The third osplet passed after having a couple of seizures on Tuesday 16 April 2024. The nest was full of fish and the oldest sibling continued to beak it. We might never know what caused this turn of events. We will hope that Mum is able to continue feeding the new older siblings to fledge, but there could be something wrong with her. The older are trying to self-feed. The nest remains full of fish, and well, we wait to see how this nest sorts itself out. It is always difficult to lose a chick but one with its juvenile feathers is even more disturbing.

There is a new female Blue 500 at Border Ospreys to replace Samson’s Juno who did not return.

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Blue 5F Seren has laid the second egg of the season on the nest she shares with Dylan at Llyn Clywedog. The time was 1318.

There are two beautiful White-tailed eaglets in a gorgeous tree in Poland!

We are on pip watch at the Captiva Osprey nest of Jack and Edie. Three out of four eggs remain.

There is no activity on the nest of Angel and Tom in Tennessee. ‘A’ brings us up to date as she impatiently waits for eggs: “I am SO impatient for Angel and Tom, but now that they have returned to their nest and are bringing bark to line the nest bowl daily, suddenly Tom disappears. It has been more than three days since he was last sighted at the nest, and the farmer says he has not spotted him anywhere around the property either (as I mentioned in my comment on your blog, he has not spotted a second nest either, or seen activity from Angel and Tom to suggest that there is one, which is one positive).I am seriously concerned at his non-appearance, as he had been a regular shadow for Angel, but I do try to reassure myself with two things.First, it is now up to Angel to lay. The nest is prepared – there is nothing further it needs or can fit really. And second, Tom’s plumage is the most perfect camouflage. These RTHs, as hawklets, as juveniles and as adults, are almost impossible to see amidst the dappled beams of sunlight and the various branches and leaves. So it would be quite possible for Tom to be perched quite near you and not see him at all. Okay, they’re not quite owl-like in that respect but they are good. Very good. Except of course for darling Angel, whose colouring probably makes her the preferred target she obviously is for those damned blue jays. In any event, there will be no eggs without Tom. So obviously, we are exceptionally worried and very much hoping these two have their own quiet private place where they have been canoodling and mating and generally doing their thing out of the way of prying human eyes. Talons crossed. “

Electra and her mate have returned to Cowlitz PUD in Washington State on Tuesday.

Ospreys are reported on the Exshaw platform near Canmore, Alberta. The streaming cam is not turned on as yet. ‘H’ reports that Soo and Olsen are at Osoyoos! The ospreys are coming north!

For those new to either Exshaw or Osoyoos, I would watch these with caution. There was a nest take over at Exshaw in 2023, the male was presumed killed, the intruders attacked the osplets. One osplet died on the nest and the other survived but no one knows how after she was repeatedly attacked and taken off the nest by the aggressive adult intruders. The Osoyoos nest suffers from the frequent heat domes that hit that area of British Columbia causing few fish to come to the nest and they are small. Chicks have been lost. One fledged last year.

*Caution*. Little Miami Conservancy. The little one LM7 did get some food but has been bonked by the older siblings that have kept it from eating at some meals.

Look where Swampy is! Having branched yesterday s/he is exploring higher.

The two eaglets at Redding are covered with thermal down. Aren’t they adorable?

They are fine at Kansas City also! Wichita and Cheyenne are growing nicely.

The two surviving eaglets at Fort St Vrain appear to be alright. One is an expert at getting out of the egg bowl!

Juvenile fledgling R6 of the WRDC nest visited home on Tuesday.

Decorah is getting rain! That thermal down is working like a great raincoat for the two eaglets of Mr and Mrs North.

We are anxiously awaiting for a pip at the Cornell Red-tail Hawk nest of Big Red and Arthur later this week.

*Caution*. The third osplet at VGCCO had a nice private feeding for about half an hour on Tuesday. Whew! It was intimidated by the older sibling most of the day.

Mamma Cruz takes good care of her two eaglets while Andor keeps that pantry filled.

Chandler was on and off the Port Tobacco nest multiple times on Tuesday. Some had been concerned that he was missing.

Dad and Gigi taking care of the two eaglets at the ND-LEEF nest in South Bend. They are getting their thermal down.

At the White-tail Eagle nest of Milda in Latvia, her new mate Hugo has been missing for a number of days. She is incubating two eggs and had not eaten for four days. On Tuesday she left the eggs a couple of times – and I hope she had some food. It will be impossible for her to raise these two eaglets on her own, sadly. She tried before. My heart goes out to her.

We know that there are areas that need more platforms for Ospreys, but as Port Lincoln points out, there is also a need for perches for our fish hawks.

Remember. If you know of an Osprey nest that I have not mentioned, please let me know the details. Happy to spread the word!

One of my favourite books next to Soaring with Fidel by David Gessner is being republished by Cornell!

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, streaming cams, and articles that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, AE, BHA, Geemeff, H, J, KR, MM, MP, PB, SB, TK’, JB Sands Wetlands, Geemeff, The Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), Trudi Kron, Roy Dennis Foundation, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Heidi Mc, Moorings Park Ospreys, Port of Ridgefield Osprey Canm, OPPD, Duke Farms, Glacier Gardens, The Guardian, Frenchman’s Creek Osprey Cam, Border Ospreys, Sassa Bird, Window to Wildlife, Cowlitz PUD, Osoyoos Osprey Cam, Little Miami Conservancy, Eagle Country, FORE, FARMER DEREK, Fort St Vrain, WRDC, Raptor Resource Project, Cornell RTH, VGCCO, IWS/Explore, Port Tobacco, ND-LEEF, the LDF, Port Lincoln Ospreys, and David Gessner (Ospreys P).

Leaps of Faith…Tuesday in Bird World

16 April 2022

Good Morning,

It rained. The skies opened up late Tuesday night. I stood outside and listened to the drops falling; the wet earth’s smell was amazing. It is supposed to rain periodically on and off until Thursday, when things will change to a mix of rain and snow. We are finally getting the moisture that the prairies need, and it is wonderful. The grass will turn green immediately! The geese will have something to eat besides the dead blades they have been living on for weeks. The Robins will be busy pulling the worms out of the soil tomorrow. I wonder if the Starlings will join them? Or the Brown Thrashers? It will be interesting to see how ‘The Girls’ react when I open the windows a bit so they can get a sniff.

Today’s news is mixed. ‘H’ and I are celebrating the triumphs of Tuffy at Moorings Park and new Osprey eggs while another Osprey nest is struggling to survive, and our dear Meadow has died. I do not want to get desensitised to the struggles and the deaths, and I do not want you to either. Last year, significant declines in osprey fledges were observed, especially in the NE USA. This year, we see low numbers of eaglets fledging on the streaming cams. This impact will not be noticed for a couple of years, but it could be substantial in terms of the declining population numbers of these raptors. At the same time, we must celebrate those that survive. Remember those that we have lost or the ones struggling. Find the joy because it is there. On the day that Meadow died, Swampy branched. S/he looks very healthy. Others laid eggs, and Tuffy continued to eat without much interference.

What can I say? Devastating news coming out of Audubon. Meadow was euthanised. The stated reason was fractures to the wing as in the announcement below and poor condition. On the 8th of April, Audubon put out a post stating that they had not found any breaks or fractures. Everyone is quite sad about this and felt encouraged that Meadow would recover. I wonder if he damaged his wings while flapping about in care?

‘H’ did the first-morning feeding and turned the rest of the day over to me to monitor. I hope to do half as good a job as she does! Tuffy had an extraordinary day on Monday. This nest has turned around because of the regular deliveries of large fish and the willingness of Sally to feed her chicks continually throughout the day.

Tuffy had a very good Monday morning. The smallest chick at Moorings Park dominated the first feeding. At 10:20 a large whole fish was delivered by Harry. Tuffy still had a crop from the earlier feeding. Sally begins eating the head of the fish while Ruffy moves into position. Tuffy stays away. Tuffy is intimidated by both Ruffy’s presence and position but is not beaked. Ruffy dominates the entire first part of the feeding. Tuffy tries to get into a position to be fed but cannot. Sally is obviously hungry and fighting with the head of the fish. At 1045 Tuffy does an excellent PS. The little one begins to move. Tuffy gets bite 2 at 1046. Sally tries to give bites to Tuffy but Ruffy moves to get in the way. Tuffy cannot position itself. At 1048 there is still fish and Tuffy begins its private feeding while Ruffy is in food coma under Sally’s tail in the shade. Our little Tuffy managed to get 227 bites of fish at this second feeding. Well, done, Tuffy, for waiting your time. It was a large fish – plenty for all three!

The third fish of the day was a headless large fish delivered at 1252. Harry stayed on the nest for a few minutes. Today Ruffie is 25 days old and Tuffy is 22 days old. They are exiting the Reptilian phase and that could easily account for the more peaceful nest. At 1253 Ruffie had an excellent PS. Tuffy stays back from the feeding at the beginning. He has a large crop. Ruffie goes to eat. Indeed, Tuffy does not appear interested! At 1259 Tuffy begins to move. Ruffie notices and moves her head but does not beak. Tuffy moves closer to Mum at the back of the tail. Tuffy is positioning himself. At 1301, Tuffie has a second excellent PS for the morning. Ruffie moves away and Tuffie is in position to have its first bite at 1303. There is a nice portion of tail remaining. By 1305 Tuffy had 32 bites of fish. Mum is feeding fast. By 1310 Tuffy has had 78 big bites of fish and has turned away. Ruffie moves up to eat again. Eats its fill and Sally gets to enjoy that nice fish tail. Both of the osplets have eaten very well by 1320 on Monday with no physical aggression from Ruffie to Tuffy. Oh, Tuffie gets more. At 1328, he got 14 more bites so a total of 92 good bites of fish for the third feeding of the day. Well done, Tuffy! Those excellent ‘ps’ demonstrate this chick is not dehydrated and is doing well. This nest is changing for the better.

The fourth fish was a slightly headless sheepshead – gosh, which are tough fish for these mums to feed. That fish arrived at 1520. Both Ruffie and Tuffy have big crops. Ruffie is not interested. Tuffy gets right up to the table to eat. Sally cannot feed the fish quickly, and Tuffy is often impatient and picks up pieces of dropped fish from the moss to eat while he waits. Tuffy was fed until 1539, when he had eaten approximately 1/3 of the fish and was quite full, moving away so that Ruffie could have some fish. No aggression was shown during the feeding. Sally was still getting the meat off that fish at 1640! Tuffy never returned to the table.

The fifth fish arrives in 1811 and is a large half-fish. Tuffy is right up there. Ruffy moves to the table, but Tuffy keeps eating. Then, at 1814, Ruffy takes exception hovering over Tuffy to force him into submission. Rufy gets fed, but Tuffy is back up at the table eating from 1829 to 1839. At 1842, Tuffy did an enormous PS right over the edge of the nest! The fish is done around 1843. I did not count bites. It was obvious that all was well despite the single incidence of domination. The two have eaten very well today.

The sixth fish arrived at 1939. It was a partial large Sheepshead. Both osplets were up at the beak. Ruffy ate until Tuffy began at 1946. Tuffy was fed until 1953 when Sally quit feeding. There is lots of fish on the nest. Both osplets had full crops at bedtime.

Sally decided to have a late night snack without the kids!

Tuffy’s ‘ps’. This excellent poop shot going well over the edge of the nest is a testament to Tuffy’s good eating and health over the past day. ‘H’ and I are going to stop counting bites as long as things remain stable on the nest. Tuffy is going to survive this. Both osplets are getting their feathers and I will probably say it several times – they are growing out of the Reptilian Phase and we would expect the aggression to be ceasing as long as Harry continues to provide this level of fish and their regularity.

*Caution*. I continue to worry about the Mum at Frenchman’s Creek. There are still fish piled on the nest. She fed one chick and stopped. The big one is trying to self-feed. This Mum is not lazy, she is ill. I believe it is possible that she has Trichomonosis. It causes severe damage to the tissues of the mouth, throat, crop and esophagus and affected birds may drool saliva, regurgitate food, have difficulty in swallowing food and water, demonstrate laboured breathing and/or have a swollen neck or throat. Several ospreys have died because of this including the Mum at Janakkala Osprey nest in Finland. The Dad piled fish on the nest and the two osplets tried to self-feed. One survived if my memory serves me correctly. The fourth eyas at the CBD in Melbourne died from this disease.

The older osplet is attacking the smaller one. Sheer frustration. Nest full of fish and chicks starving. Mum ill. Very sad.

Older osplets desperately trying to feed themselves in a nest full of fish. Little one has been beaked – leaning over top of nest. Has not eaten for a couple of days and will likely die shortly unless a miracle happens.

Mum is feeding the two older chicks this morning. The third chick is close to dying and by the time you read this will probably have passed.

The ospreys are into hard incubation at Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home with three eggs in the nest.

Only 5 goslings survived the leap of faith at the Decorah Goose Nest on Monday morning between 0802-0804. Believe it or not, another goose rushed to the nest and began laying eggs at 1030! It is quite a year. The Goose eggs are expected to hatch on Nest 2 in about a week.

Here is the live cam from Nest 1.

More Osprey eggs laid in the UK On Monday.

CJ7 and Blue 022 laid their first egg at Poole Harbour at 1540 on Monday. Congratulations!

Harry and Flora laid their first egg at Alyth at 1101.

Idris and Telyn have their second egg of the season at Dyfi at 0801 precisely 72 hours after their first egg was laid.

Audacity and Jak had another egg laid today at Sauces Canyon. The time was 14:55. You can see the flattened thin-shelled egg below in the image. So sad for them.

A little branching but both feet were off the nest bowl for Swampy at Eagle country at 1524 on Monday.

Both eaglets at Duke Farms are little boys. I don’t think this is a big surprise. Their aggression was only limited to a bit of time when prey was scarce.

Wichita and Cheyenne are doing fine at the Kansas City Bald Eagle nest.

It was difficult to tell how much prey the third hatch at Little Miami Conservancy received today. This nest could warrant a *caution* in watching for now.

Johnson City eaglets are big and doing great.

It looks hot on that Osprey platform at the University of Florida at Gainesville. Stella and Talon still have three osplets! What a nice sight to see as I have missed checking on them for a couple of days. The difference between the first and third hatch had me worried, but so far, so good.

Big Red and Arthur’s eggs were laid from the 17-26 of March. The average period for Red-tail Hawks to hatch is normally between 28-35 days, according to most of the guides. Last year, Big Red’s first egg hatched on the 37th day. I have tried to avoid the nervous energy of an expectant auntie….but we are entering the time when we can all get excited.

First Bald Eagle Hatch at White Rock in British Columbia, Canada announced today by Hancock Wildlife that oversees the nest.

The fourth and I believe final egg at the Peregrine Falcon nest in Japan has hatched. Just look at the size difference. It will be a joy to watch that little one catch up.

A glimpse of a day with Hartley and Monty in San Jose.

Smile. Bradley returns with another Puffer! Oh, he reminds me of Ervie.

And another reason to smile. Murphy who incubated a rock and got an eaglet to raise last year will get another chance this year. How wonderful. It is a win-win!

Concerns for White-tailed eagle Milda this year as her mate Hugo has not been seen for four days. She has protected the nest of eggs from intruders but needs desperately to eat. This so reminds me of the year Ramis was killed. Milda, go eat!

For all the lovers of our gal Iris at Hellgate Canyon, a young male visited her nest yesterday and tried mating with our gal. Keep your eye on that nest!

UK Migration in Review for last week:

Review-of-the-Week-8-14-April-2024-BirdGuidesDownload

That’s it for today. I spent my day watching Tuffy which was a sheer delight after the news of Meadow. Please take care. Thank you for being with us.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘H, PB’, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, Moorings Park Ospreys, Frenchman’s Creek Ospreys, Raptor Resource Project/Explore Decorah Goose Cam, Poole Harbour Osprey Project, SSEN Alyth Osprey Cam, Dyfi Osprey Project, IWS/Explore, Eagle Country, Duke Farms, Farmer Derek Kansas City Bald Eagle nest, Johnson City-ETSU, UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey Cam, Cornell Red-tail Hawk Cam, Hancock Wildlife Foundation, the Japanese Peregrine Falcon Cam in Osaka, SK Hideaways, Port Lincoln Ospreys, World Bird Sanctuary, Raine and LDF, and BirdGuides.

Joy and Sadness…Monday in Bird World

15 April 2024

Good Morning,

Today is full of some good news and some worrying news. As I reminded everyone yesterday, the nests and lives of our feathered friends are not easy. A nest full of happy, well-fed chicks can change in an instant, and that is precisely what might be happening at the Frenchman’s Creek Osprey platform. Across the pond, at Loch Arkaig, dear Louis and Dorcha welcome their first egg with great joy. We never know what will happen. We need to rejoice in the good times, and when we can, we need to reach out and help those birds near us – even if it is just a life-saving bowl of water. It could make all the difference in their life.

Sunday was another gorgeous day on the Canadian Prairies. Everyone is outside in their summer attire despite the nippy wind that is gusting between 30-45 kph. The girls have spent time sniffing out the open windows in the conservatory wishing they were not ‘imprisoned’ in a house! I continue to tell them it is for their own good and the good of those birds that they are so interested in! Calico now has a hassock pulled up to the window. Her and Hugo Yugo are imagining what it would be like running around and chasing the Dark-eyed Juncos they are so interested in. Oh, I adore them!

The garden was busy! It is migration. We had birds visit that I have never seen at our feeders and at the bird bath drinking water. So, I urge all of you to put out water and if you can, some food. Shallow bowls work wonders. You do not need a birdbath! Put in some rocks to get out if they slip in the bowls.

The Red-winged Blackbird was so thirsty and hungry. It foraged all under the feeders and we put additional food on the ground hoping that there was something in the songbird mix that it would find appealing.

Oh, I love it when the Starlings come. Look at that beautiful plumage. I love the purple on their chest that blends with the iridescent blacks, blues, and greens, and the little kisses of gold. This bird has its breeding plumage. Hopefully, some little Starlings will be coming to the garden to feed in the early summer.

The Starlings particularly like the suet. Normally I would have meal worms for them – this week will mean a visit to the shop.

The six Blue Jays were busy trying to get peanuts in-between Dyson & Co visiting the feeder.

The Dark-Eyed Juncos are everywhere. They love Millet so if you have them in your garden spread the millet on the ground. They will find it.

The other new bird in the garden was a White-winged Crossbill. According to the Cornell Bird Lab, these songbirds, “…inhabit coniferous forests, feeding primarily on spruce and tamarack seeds. Like Red Crossbills, they occur throughout forests of balsam fir and red, black, white, and Engelmann spruce. However, they are scarce or absent in most pine, hemlock, and Douglas-fir forests occupied by Red Crossbills. During periods of low food supply, many White-winged Crossbills wander far out of range. At such times, they frequent habitats that vary from weedy fields to ornamental plantings to pine forests. Their preference is for spruce species, and during irruption winters, they are attracted to small stands of spruce, as often found in older cemeteries, arboretums, or university campuses.” I have never had one in the garden before and, I am wondering if this is because of a very low food supply and an extreme loss of habitat by the continual construction of homes on prime agricultural or bird habitat land.

“Two-barred-crossbill (white-winged crossbill)-2013-12-30_05” by Jan Thomas Landgren is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

I went to check on the state of the ducks. There were a few at an industrial park pond.

The water in the agricultural fields has dried up and not a feathered friend to be seen. It is possible that we and they are going to be in for a big shock in a few days as the forecast is for either heavy snow or lots of rain. They are not sure which. It doesn’t matter. We need the moisture and I hope it materialises.

I also stopped in at a small antique and collectible shop, and look what I found—an old-fashioned pet carrier just the right size for Hugo Yugo. It reminds me of the ones that are sometimes seen on the television series from the Yorkshire Dales, All Creatures Great and Small. This one needs a good latch. That could prove to be a challenge.

Louis won our hearts during the pandemic with the triplets he raised with Aila. Here he is getting a look at his first egg of the 2024 season with dear Dorcha. He does always seem to be surprised!

Later, Louis brings Dorcha a lovely fish and takes over incubation duties.

Louis and Dorcha made the BBC news with that egg!

Tuffy did not get a lot of fish at the first feeding according to ‘H’ who patiently waited to see if the tide on the nest would change.


Harry brought the first fish of the day at 0958, a medium sized whole fish.  Tuffy received two bites but was then forced away by Ruffie, and then Ruffie ate.  Tuffy seems to be getting clever… he crawled over the rail sticks, and went around in front of Sally and ended up on her left side away from Ruffie, and ate a couple more bites.  Well, Ruffie was on to Tuffy’s little scheme, and didn’t like what she saw at all!  Ruffie dove under Sally’s head to get at Tuffy with such force that she knocked Sally backward.  Tuffy moved away and Sally resumed feeding Ruffie.  At 1005 Ruffie was still being fed, but just could not leave well enough alone, so she went behind Sally to the side and beaked Tuffy who was already in submission.  Then Ruffie wedged herself between Tuffy and Sally, and ate some more.  At 1016 Ruffie was still eating, but decided to back up, and went across the nest to beak Tuffy again.  Ruffie ate some more.  Persistent Lil’ Tuffy then went around the nest to end up on Sally’s right side (away from Ruffie), and received a few more bites of fish.  Ruffie saw Tuffy eating, and did not immediately react.  But, after a minute she decided to intimidate Tuffy into moving.  At that point, Ruffie was not eating, but just policing.  Sally gave Tuffy the last two bites of the fish.  Total fish bites for Tuffy = 18.


The second feeding of the day was tough for Tuffy as ‘H’ reports”


…At 1043 Harry delivered another whole fish, a live ladyfish, that was not very big or meaty.  It would take a very nice and pleasant sibling for Tuffy to get much to eat from this fish.  Tuffy moved aside, and Ruffie ate.  By 1100, Ruffie had stopped eating, and Tuffy received his first bite.  However, Tuffy was positioned precariously close to the edge of the nest.  By 1102, Tuffy had eaten 16 bites of fish, when Ruffie decided to dominate, went over to Tuffy and nearly forced him off the nest.  Ruffie then ate some more.  At 1104 Ruffie was no longer eating, only Sally was eating, but Ruffie was laying down right at Tuffy’s tail, forcing him to stay where he was.  Sally finished the fish by 1109.  Finally by 1114, Tuffy was attempting to extricate himself from that dangerous spot, so he inched sideways toward Sally on firmer nesting, and then he had a great PS.  Total bites for Tuffy from this fish = 16.

‘H’ checks on the 1307 feeding:

…At 1307 Harry delivered a very meaty prepped sheepshead fish.  Tuffy was closest to Sally but backed off as Ruffie approached, and she began eating.  Sally soon moved the fish to Tuffy’s advantage and he got 3 bites, but was intimidated by Ruffie and moved away.  Tuffy moved back within beak-reach of Sally, and grabbed bites when he could.  For the most part, Ruffie was less aggressive at this meal, tolerating the close proximity of Tuffy.  But, at 1316 and 1318, she did intimidate Tuffy enough so that Tuffy moved away for a short while.  Tuffy would inch closer and again grab bites from Sally.  By 1322, Ruffie was finished eating for a while, although she stayed close by.  Tuffy began a long stretch of solo eating, and had eaten a total of 246 bites by 1339.  At that time, Tuffy took a PS break and Ruffie woke up and wanted more fish.  By 1345 Ruffie retired from the meal again, and Tuffy had another long private feeding. Tuffy had eaten 286 bites by 1350 at which time Ruffie wanted a few more bites, and she and Sally finished the fish.

Despite everything, ‘H’ tells us that Tuff did manage to eat over 500 bites of fish on Sunday. by 1715:

…At 1604 Harry brought a large headless tilapia, guaranteed to allow for a decent meal for Tuffy.  Ruffie started eating, and Tuffy was waiting in the rear, crop-dropping in anticipation.  Well, Tuffy couldn’t wait, and at 1610 he approached, and got beside Ruffie who proceeded to drive him back to the rail and beak him.  At 1612, Ruffie took a break from eating, but laid down where Tuffy could not easily get by her.  At 1618 Tuffy did scoot around Ruffie, and Mom started giving him some bits of fish.  By 1619 Ruffie was back, intimidated Tuffy, and Ruffie ate some more.  Sally reached to her right and gave Tuffy a couple of bites, much to the displeasure of Ruffie who intimidated Tuffy and  caused him to scurry away.  At 1623 Ruffie was finished eating and moved away…but Tuffy hesitated to come back.  By 1624 Tuffy was back at the table, but it didn’t last long, as Ruffie returned at 1626.  Ruffie ate until 1629.  Again, Tuffy hesitated, and Sally ate.  Tuffy returned and ate at 1630, but golly, Ruffie was back eating at 1631.  Tuffy moved over to Sally’s right side, and she was feeding Tuffy several bites of fish over her right shoulder, while still feeding Ruffie.  Ruffie could have put a stop to this ‘conspiracy’ between Mom and the little brother…but she didn’t.  By 1633 Tuffy had eaten a total of 49 bites during this meal.  At 1636 Ruffie moved away, and Tuffy had a nice private feeding.  Tuffy had eaten 174 bites of fish by 1648, when he started to reject Sally’s offerings.  At 1649 Tuffy shuffled over to the rail and laid down beside Ruffie.  There was still a decent amount of fish left, and Sally had a nice meal.  At 1709, Lil’ Tuffy lifted his head, Mom came closer, and began giving her little youngster some more fish.  Tuffy had eaten at least 202 bites of fish by 1712, and then he laid down again.  At 1714 Sally was pulling the last bits of meat off the fish tail, and fed a couple bites to Ruffie, when Ruffie suddenly decided she had better lay-down-the-law again… went over to Tuffy at the rail, and bit him on the neck a few times.  So far today, Tuffy has eaten at least 522 bites of fish.

The last feeding and report from ‘H’ for Moorings Park on Sunday:

…At 1825 Harry shared a small piece of fish tail with his family.  Sally fed Ruffie, and Tuffy did not approach the table at all.  The piece of fish was finished in just over 3 minutes.

Tuffy ate very well first thing Monday morning so all is well at Moorings – indeed, it is unusual for the little one to do so well at breakfast so, yes!


At 0637 Harry arrived with a headless tilapia, and it took a while for the kids to wake up.  Tuffy got the first bite at 0639, but was beaked by Ruffie.  See you later, Tuffy.  Ruffie ate.  At 0648 and 0650 Ruffie inflicted a little reinforcing intimidation upon Tuffie.  At 0706 Ruffie moved away from the table, and Tuffy moved toward his mom.  Then, it was Tuffy’s turn to eat some breakfast.  Tuffy had eaten 125 bites of fish by 0719, when Ruffie returned.  Tuffy immediately turned and tucked.  Tuffy inched closer to Sally and got another couple of bites at 0731, and was promptly ‘scolded’ by Ruffie.  Ruffie turned away from Sally again at 0733, and she did not return to the table again during this meal, nor did she harass Tuffy.  Tuffy feasted, and he was noted to be crop dropping a few times.  Tuffy had eaten at least 256 bites of fish by 0753, when Sally downed the fish tail.

The third hatch at Fort St Vrain has died on Sunday. It had gotten out of the egg cup and rolled on to its back and appeared not to be able to right itself. The COD is not entirely clear but Elfruler notes and it sounds reasonable, “Lying on its back at this age constricts the air passages, it probably died of asphyxia. Chicks don’t begin using their lungs and air sacs until after the internal pip, and it takes a while for the system to be fully functional. Same thing happened at the John Bunker Sands nest in January, the chick ended up outside the cup on its back and couldn’t turn itself over.” 

There are concerns that JBS20 has not returned to the nest (JB Sands Wetlands) since fledging Sunday morning. This is the area around the nest in the tower. ‘AE’ provided these images of the nest and the surrounding area, along with a screen capture of Dad waiting for JBS20 to return to the nest.

Trudi Kron has it on video!

All of the goslings at the Decorah Goose Cam have hatched successfully. The most likely date for their leap of faith is today – Monday the 15th of April – to the stream below the nest.

There was much concern yesterday about the Mum at Frenchman’s Creek. Fish were stacking up and she had not fed the chicks. I have received news from ‘PB’ that Mum is back feeding the chicks on the Frenchman’s Creek Osprey nest Monday morning. Wonderful news. And there she is with them below this morning! Let’s hope all is well.

Meanwhile, all appears to be well with the Venice Golf and Country Club osplets.

It looks like we have the first egg of the season from Harry and Flora at Alyth!

Despite their sadness, Jackie and Shadow demonstrate that love overcomes everything as they move on from their disappointment.

We are waiting for eggs at the Loch of the Lowes in Scotland with Laddie LM12 and Blue NCO. Blue NCO looked a little ‘eggy’ on Sunday. Fingers crossed.

Blue 022 worked particularly hard on the nest at Poole Harbour that he shares with his mate CJ7 on Sunday. It looks pretty comfy.

The genome of the Night Parrot has been sequenced for the first time. “Scientists have sequenced the genome of Night Parrot, one of the world’s rarest and most enigmatic birds, for the first time.The breakthrough by researchers at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) – Australia’s national science agency – is expected to provide valuable insights into the parrot’s genetics and biology, potentially informing conservation strategies for this recently rediscovered bird, with a live parrot only photographed as recently as 2013.”

First-Night-Parrot-genome-sequenced-BirdGuidesDownload

Why is genome sequencing important for wildlife conservation?

Population-genomics-for-wildlife-conservation-and-management-PMCDownload

Thank you so much for being with me today. This was a hop, skip, and jump around less than a handful of nests today. To my knowledge, the others are doing alright. And, I forgot. The Redding eaglets are the first clutch, one egg broke. I keep saying second clutch and for the life of me I do not know why! Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, photographs, screen captures, postings, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘AE, Geemeff, H, MM, PB, SP, TK’, Gemeff, BBC, Moorings Park Ospreys, Fort St. Vrain, JB Sands Wetlands, Trudi Kron, Alyth SS, SK Hideaways, Frenchmen’s Creek, VGCCO, Bird Guides, The Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), Poole Harbour Ospreys, and Wiley Molecular Ecology.

*Disclaimer. Every effort has been made to acknowledge those that have provided material for my post. If I have inadvertently missed thanking someone, please let me know so that the omission can be rectified. Thank you.*