Category Archives: osprey starvation

Saturday in Bird World

1 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

It is bright and sunny and nearing 1800 on the Canadian Prairies. We had a lovely brunch with the entire family on the deck with warm sunshine blessing all of us. The grandson is on his way back home to Ottawa. Son is heading north to go fishing, and we will be going to check on the eagles at Hecla Island in the coming weeks – not sure when. It was lovely to see everyone. We will have a bit of a break and then the third round – looking forward. Most everyone lives at a distance so these times together are very precious.

The cats have come out of hiding. Well, Hugo Yugo and Missey like company. Calico and Baby Hope don’t. They are all sleeping. Worn out by the excitement! The rain has made the garden really lush. The European Starlings seem to have taken over the area. Mr Crow comes for his cheesy dogs and then they fly in – at least 8 or 10 of them. They have nest in the garden and I think they just don’t want to risk the Crows predating their chicks. Mr Grackle came for a nice bath today and there have been quite a number of House Finches flittering about. No more Baltimore Orioles. The homing bird feeder is up but I have not seen any visitors.

My Girls wish you all a wonderful weekend!

Visiting. One day we did get in quite a nice walk but most of the time it is good food and lots of conversation, catching up. My legs needed to move and it was off this evening early to count the goslings and ducklings at the park. 68 goslings!

Richmond and Rosie had their first hatch on Friday the 31st of May! Yeah. We have all been waiting for our SF Whitley Crane couple on their new light post nest to start their family.

In Montana, Iris and Finnegan are doing well. Gosh, aren’t you getting excited? We might get to see Iris raise a chick. Seriously, I would. be happy if there was only one healthy one. That would not wear her out. The females, as you know, are known to lose 30% of their body weight during incubation and raising chicks. Mind you, Finnegan is one good provider for Rosie. We haven’t had to worry about her. Finnegan believes his first egg was laid on 5 May. That means that we are at 27 days. Hatch watch 10 June.

Continued good thoughts, please, for Lake Murray. I checked and there are no strobes on at the time I am writing at Lake Murray. Oh, goodness. Why?

Mum was on the perch and at 23:01 she flies off and then returns to the nest where she stays with Middle. Did she hear the owl? or was it the woman walking under the nest pulling something – lights? The strobes went on by 2308. Thank goodness.

Beautiful fledglings at Venice Golf Course. With 26 areas to get fish, this couple once again pulled off a nice healthy trio of chicks to fledge.

MNSA trio looking good.

Looking Bleak. Concerns grow for Little at Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home. He has had less than 20 bites of food, some scraps Mum found, on Friday. Not looking good. Be cautious if you are watching this nest. Sadly this baby will probably not make it through the weekend, if that long. Starvation is terrible thing. If only the ospreys had one or two chicks. If only.

Prove me wrong. OR maybe. Put some fish on that nest or near it for this family. Do a Port Lincoln and help out!!!!!!!

We are on fledge watch for Cal Falcons! Can you believe it?

CJ7 and Blue 022 have a nest full – the fourth chick hatched on Friday and they are going to be very, very busy. How many still remember when CJ7 didn’t have a mate and she met Blue 022? They ‘romanced’ all over Poole Harbour! This is wonderful. Send good thoughts to the little one.

We all wish Jack and Diane the very best. They need to go and find fish and get their health back to a good state. The nest has its predator baffles thanks to Tampa Bay Raptor Centre – we wait for another year.

At Boulder, the chick, the Only Bob, is cheeping away for fish and at another time Dad wants Mum to feed him, too.

They are all reptiles with big crops at Radford University. Little Bob looks good today!

The camera at Cowlitz PUD is beyond frustrating. We know there are chicks. Once in awhile you can see a little head. Hope those fish grates prove that are the most reliable predator deterrent (for GHOs and eagles) for our ospreys.

If you use the overhead cam at Cowlitz, you will see that there are three osplets. One is so tiny. I am already worried.

The Only Bob at Clark PUD is one lucky osplet.

Field Farm seems to be holding its own with its trio of hungry beaks.

Fledglings still visiting the Frenchman’s Creek nest for fish.

Great Bay – has three Bobs – and so far, so good. Big Bob is in the reptile state while Little Bob still has fluffy down.

The two chicks at Patchogue are getting their feathers. Gosh, don’t you wonder what Little Mini is up to? I sure hope she survived – certainly deserved to!

The camera at Collins Marsh is almost as bad as what my mind tells me water torture would be. There is at least one little bobblehead (new) on that nest. Why do their heads have to look like an egg on these poor resolution cameras?

Flopping fish at Loch Arkaig. Who cares when you have three Bobs in the nest and they are all hungry for a fish dinner?!

When I say – which I often do – that I wish each osprey nest would have one really healthy chick. This is what I mean. Only Bob at Rutland Water is transitioning out of the Reptile Phase – just look at that beautiful copper plumage on the back of the head – into getting its juvenile plumage. Only Bob is getting the best of the fish, not the skin, as many of the later hatches in dubious nests have to eat. It is understood that some fish are more beneficial and that others and only getting inferior parts of prey (this would also include other raptors) does not provide the high quality nutrition that all need. Maya and Blue 33’s only chick this year has the best of everything. Oh, goodness. We wish this for all the nests, but sadly, many struggle like the Little Bob at Maryland Western Shore.

Can you see Only Bob’s bursting at the seams crop?

At Goitzsche-Wildnis, Dad was feeding Mum. Osplets really growing. They have a Little Bob, too. Fingers crossed for all the ‘Littles’.

Betsy and Frederick’s two osplets appear to be doing alright.

Oh, goodness. There is a lot of flapping and hopping going on at the Cornell RTH nest of Big Red and Arthur. The Ns will fledge this month…too soon.

The strobes were not on when I checked Lake Murray. Hopefully someone will hit the switch or we could lose Middle Bob tonight. I am not saying strobes are 100% effective against predation. I believe the fish grate protectors are. I wish we could all go and make a lot of noise under this nest until such time as Middle Bob migrates!

May’s Ventana Condor Chat.

Monty and Hartley will be giving flying demonstrations to their Fab Four showing them what to expect when they spread their wings and dare to jump off the ledge.

We are on fledge watch at Cal Falcons…did I say that earlier? Look at the difference in plumage between the San Jose chicks and Cal Falcons – there is a week in age difference. Cal Falcons older.

‘J’ writes: “What a surprise when I checked the Cal chicks. They went from fluffy to falcon within two days! Gosh, were they cute in their woollen jackets. I’m keeping Archie in my thoughts, I really want him to be Annie’s forever partner. Did you see this video? It made me laugh so hard. That look: “what?!” You could write many memes for this video, so many expressions on those lovely faces.”

Adult in the scrape with the only falcon chick at Evergy Energy in Kansas.

Lots of prey on the nest of the Russian Imperial Eagles – and still two little fluffy white chicks. They raised two in 2023. Maybe again this year. Abundant prey is the key.

There are two of the most precious little bobbleheads in the Golden Eagle nest in Estonia. Wish for lots and lots of prey. Would love to see these nests be the exception to the norm of the oldest killing the second hatch! Wouldn’t that just warm our hearts from the losses at the osprey nests?

‘H’ reports: “The Captiva osprey family is doing very well.  Jack and Edie have been able to deliver plenty of fish.  Ding is 39 days old, and Darling is 37 days old.”

“Patuxent ospreys:  The osplets were 24, 23, and 20 days of age on 5/31.  At 0535 Dad delivered a ‘whale’ of a fish, that would last three meals.  The older and aggressive siblings actually ‘allowed’ Little to eat.  Little ate 98 bites of fish and had turned away from Mom by the time Dad removed a huge leftover.  Dad returned with the fish at 0922.  Little had a private feeding from 1019 to 1053, and ate 181 bites of fish!  Mom fed the large fish tail portion at 1118 and Little had an additional 30 bites of fish.  There were two additional fish brought to the nest at 1646 and 1721.  Little did not eat at those meals, but he did not seem hungry, and didn’t really try very hard to get to the table.  Little ate at least 309 bites of fish today.”

‘H’ loves Tuffy and Ruffie – and she wanted to add a photo of the two of them today. Thanks, ‘H’.

Just look at that face on our little Tuffy.

‘A’ checks on Smallie for us: “Check out Smallie a few minutes ago (from 11:05:43), when a sister allows him to grab a huge chunk of food from outside the scrape and pull it inside, where he then fights first her, then another sister who joins them, for his share of the food. With one sister holding it down, Smallie is able to self-feed with significant success, and then grabs at the food during a three-way tug of prey. 

My concern is that all three of the sisters are now spending a lot of time outside the scrape, where the food is being delivered. If Smallie joins the scrum out there, he is in danger of falling – the others are probably able to glide to the ground if they fall, with at least two of them looking ready to fledge, with virtually no fluff left. I am worried, though, that if he doesn’t get outside to eat, there won’t be food inside for him. So unless he can grab food from inside the scrape (which he did manage to do this morning), he will have problems. 

At least there is no chance that his sisters will mistake him for a meal – he is way too aggressive for that, and I’m sure at least one of his sisters is fairly wary of him. But he is determined to eat, and I suspect he will find a way to survive no matter what that takes. He is a very brave little falcon. Just adorable.”

Middle is still alive at Lake Murray. Relief. The lights held him off or some larger prey. Thank goodness.

Thank you so very much for being with me today. Please have a wonderful weekend. Spend some time away from the screens worrying – go outside and smell the fresh air and listen to some birds. We hope to see you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, streaming cams, images, and articles that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J’, Montana Osprey Project, , VGCCO, MNSA, Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home, Cal Falcons, BoPH, Achieva Credit Union, Boulder County, Radford University, Cowlitz PUD, Clark PUD, Field Farm, Frenchman’s Creek, Great Bay Ospreys, PSEG, Collins Marsh, Geemeff, LRWT, Goitzsche-Wildnis, OBX 24/7, Cornell RTH, Ventana Wildlife Condor Chat, SK Hideaways, Evergy Energy, Imperial Eagle Cam RU, the Eagle Club of Estonia, Patuxent River Park, Window to Wildlife, Moorings Park, Amersfoort Falcons.

Friday in Bird World

31 May 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Oh, it is pitching down rain in Winnipeg. We had such a lovely sunny warm day yesterday. So glad I did not stay inside! The rule should be: Never put anything off. If it is a nice day, get outside and enjoy nature because you never know what is coming tomorrow. The Grackles, the Starlings, and the Crows are still trying to get cheesy dogs regardless. Their babies need to eat! Calico is on the top of the cat tree watching them.

Lake Murray is going all out with the lights to try and keep the GHO from taking the last osplet.

We still have a chick at Lake Murray. I really hope it is the lights and not the fact that the owl is so full form eating Big the other day.

Something to celebrate! World Parrot Day (a day behind, apologies). All the good work by the great folks at Kakapo Recovery have really increased the numbers of these gorgeous green flightless NZ parrots in two decades.

‘B’ sent a link to a great video on Peregrine Falcons with Sean and Lynn. Thanks, ‘B’. Really enjoyed that. We are sharing it with you.

CJ7 removes the last of the eggshell from chick 4 at Poole Harbour at 0113 Friday the 31st of May.

The second egg for Elen and Aran hatched at Glaslyn.

West Des Moines Iowa had two hatches.

First hatch for Mrs O and FKO at Tweed Valley.

Still one osplet at Clark PUD.

There are at least two osplets in the nest at Oyster Bay.

Beautiful Only Bob at Boulder County. Other two eggs presumed non-viable.

Some nice fish on the nest at Radford University Osprey platform. All had crops!

I have not seen Jack on the nest, but I could have mixed him up with Diane. ‘MP’ reports that “Jack is in the nest and has been every day. They are both thin…I don’t know if it is because of age, parasites or lack of food availability or all of them. There’s a new female spending time in nest. It’s the same female that came a month or so ago. Jack wasn’t very hostile to her a month ago either. They both just shooed her away then. It is true though that Jack is looking really bad. He left this day at dusk. Diane is furiously defending her eggs and still on them at night.”

Last year, the St Petersburg area of Florida suffered extreme drought conditions. I have not heard any news this year but it is quite warm. It would be a real shame for these eggs to hatch. These parents need some fish. We now that ospreys often have trouble with other raptors stealing their fish, too. Send them good thoughts.

Big Red and Arthur’s two hawklets are entering the month of June when they will fledge. They are learning about stealing prey and self-feeding under the watchful eye of Mum and Dad. When they fledge, Arthur and Big Red will take turns teaching them to hunt.

At Amersfoort Falcon scrape, Smallie has a nice crop. Thanks ‘PB’ for the image.

Louis has been delivering some very fine trout to Dorcha and the trio.

Cara, Yellow XKT, has a new mate, AKE, at the Janakkala nest in Finland this year. Her former mate Red CCL did not return from migration. The couple have three eggs laid between 5 May and 10 May.

An Osprey on the nest, but no eggs at Paltamo.

Very lonely nest at YLLÄSLOMPOLO.

Three beautiful eggs at Muonio.

So hard to see those babies at the Bridge Golf Club. So many couples this year opted for very deep egg cups.

I am so happy that Blue NCO has a new partner – young and enthusiastic! I was so afraid she was going to lose her beautiful nest at Loch of the Lowes but it appears that just might not be the case! (Video below)

Keep sending good positive energy to Lake Murray. Let us hope that this only surviving osplet gets so fat it can hardly fly – that would put that GHO off, too!!!!!!

There are three at Cowlitz PUD. Electra gave us a good look today.

Two fledglings – each with a nice fish – at the Venice Golf and Country Club.

Still two babies at the Imperial Eagle cam in RU.

‘H’ reports on Patuxent – all other nests doing great so how did they do? “5/30 Patuxent Nest-1:  The ages of the osplets were 24, 23, and 20 days.  There were 8 feedings from 5 fish.  A few of the fish were quite big, and Dad would remove a large leftover, and return later with a large fish tail.  Fish deliveries close together really helped little to be fed while the older siblings were still full.  And the very large fish were very helpful, as Little was fed after Big and Middle were sated.  One of the largest fish of the day was a huge headless fish delivered at 1745.  Little was able to eat for 13 minutes and ate 80 bites of fish.  Dad removed a large leftover, returned at 1933 with the fish tail, and Little ate 35 bites at that feeding.  Little ate at least 206 bites of fish today.  Go Dad!  Go Little!”

‘A’ brings us reports from ‘Down Under’: “At Olympic Park, the cold wet weather may have reminded Dad and Lady that spring is still a long way off. But no, apparently not. Things are instead heating up. I am giving you three days of reports because of the amount of nest-related activity now occurring. 

May 29: The eagles shared an early duet and matings – then off. Dad was back with the first stick around 7am. At 8:33am, Dad returned with a headless bream, which he left on the nest. Lady brought another bream herself at 8:50am but didn’t eat. Dad returned and ate one of the fish, then left at 8:12am, so one fish was still on the nest. Both brought in a few sticks and leafy branches, then flew off. Dad returned at 12:14 and sat for ages near the nest. He finally left at 14:21. He returned with a stick at 15:37 and took the remaining fish, eating on the branch. Where has Lady been since just after 11am? Dad returned the fish to the nest after a while. Then, there was a report of Lady near Ironbark Roost, soon returning to the nest beside Dad at 15:53. She still didn’t eat, and they duetted and mated. She appeared to have eaten elsewhere? Dad finally ate the second fish himself. He brought in a late stick just before 5pm and they moved things around on the nest, then settled nearby.

May 30: Both eagles were near the nest last night. They were awake early, and both brought in sticks and leaves. Before 9am they had brought eight deliveries. More sticks were brought in after a while, and they mated at 10:16am. Dad brought in half a large mullet at 12:40pm, which Lady claimed and ate shortly after. A few more sticks were brought, then both were away from 1:30pm. They returned just before 5pm with a couple of sticks, then shared a duet and mating at around 5:15pm, before settling close by for the night.

May 31: There was camera work being done on the nest cam in the morning. Our eagles were awake very early, with a clumsy mating attempt, but had more success a little while later, at 6:22am. Dad brought a couple of early sticks, then a headless fish at 7:32am. The cameras were not streaming then but Lady did not seem to get the chance to eat it. One eagle was spotted at Goat Island at 10:27am. The eagles were away all day, with one returning to the nest at 17:22. At dark though, it seemed only one eagle was home – and fish was still on the nest.”

‘A’ also reports on Smallie: “Smallie got some food at this morning’s early feedings, leaning out of the scrape for some bites too at one point. Then, when a parent brought food around 10:10 Smallie was competing for bites but eventually ended up jumping out of the scrape, where around 10:14 he is either being fed or is self-feeding or both. Certainly, he has had a relatively good morning, with quite a decent amount of food. When he’d had what was on offer outside, he jumped straight back into the scrape without difficulty. 

So far, I have not seen any of his siblings leave the scrape, while our wee Smallie is jumping in and out at will now. I am hoping this will represent a turning point for his feeding – if he does what he did this morning again, he may get a day or two before his siblings join him out there. At least one of the floofs (the oldest) is looking oh so ready to fledge, with virtually all her fluff gone and vigorous wingercising all over the scrape, which nearly knocks her fellow eyases off their feet at times in that restricted area. How lucky are the chicks at Cal Falcons, with unlimited room to flap and run? 

Mum is definitely not ignoring Smallie or refusing to feed him, as some chatters continue to suggest. She fed him while he was in the doorway of the scrape this morning, and then later on fed him outside the scrape in something of a private feeding (see above). Obviously, it is flat enough outside for mum to prepare food and feed the chicks from there, and Smallie had no problems out there both being fed and self-feeding. So I am surprised that the others are not yet exploring beyond that doorway. Still, it is a temporary advantage Smallie may be able to take advantage of today. “

Thank you so much for being with us today. We hope that your week has been a good one and that you will have some time to get outside over the weekend and listen, we hope, to some songbirds. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, letters, posts, images, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog this morning: ‘A, B, Geemeff, H, J, MP, PB’, Lake Murray Ospreys, Kakapo Recovery, Cal Falcons, BoPH, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Tweed Valley, Clark PUD, PSEG, Boulder County, Radford University, Achieva Credit Union, Cornell RTH, Amersfoort Falcons, Geemeff, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Bridge Golf Club Ospreys, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Cowlitz PUD, VGCCO, Imperial Eagle Cam RU, Patuxent River Park, and Sydney Sea Eagle Cam.

Yeah for the Port of Ridgefield and sadness for Lake Murray…Monday in Bird World

27 May 2024

Good Morning,

My post is very relatively short today. My son flew in from the West Indies on Sunday morning. While I have been to visit or saw him in Asia, he hasn’t been ‘home’ for ten years! The day was magical. He is here for a month. Did I say I was in bliss?

I am behind in sending pictures of the garden animals and the girls. They are all doing well. All of the birds in the garden have nests full of babies and Mr Crow is going through 3 kg of cheesy dogs in a day and wanting more! There are little squirrels running about and fat little sparrows and wrens. Dyson is getting ‘fatter’. There will be baby Grays shortly. Missey, Hugo Yugo, Calico, and Baby Hope are not too keen on human company in the house. They miss all the individual attention! It was so funny.

Breaks my heart. The inbox was full. Morning Sadness: The GHO took another chick at Lake Murray. This proves that strobe lights do not work. The only thing keeping the GHOs and eagles from taking osplet chicks are the metal grid barriers attached to the sides of the nest. Thoughts go out to Mum and Dad, who worked so hard for these chicks. Two dead now.

‘A’ gives us the narrative: “It happened shortly after 12:32. The chick was sitting up, preening, when at 12:32:15 the GHO just swooped in from the left, grabbed one of the two osplets (who were sleeping quite a distance apart from each other rather than in a pile) and took it from the nest. 

Lucy had been down on the nest until 12:07, when she flew off the nest, landing on the perch 20 seconds later. She too was awake and preening at the time of the attack, and immediately flew off the perch, following the owl, but returned to the nest 20 seconds later, alarming. She stayed on the nest for a while afterwards but at 03:55:42 she flew off the nest, returned to the nest at 03:56:20 alerting, flew off again at 03:56:30 and returned to the perch just before 03:57, still alerting. She flies off yet again at 03:57:13, landing back on the perch at 03:58:08. She is still alerting. The remaining osplet is asleep on the nest. 

It is now about 05:05. Lucy is still on the perch but she appears to have stayed awake since the attack. The remaining osplet is sleeping. Alone. On the nest. It looks very small there now. Dad brought in a nice big whole fish shortly after 06:18 and Lucy fed her remaining osplet. I fear she is simply fattening it up for the GHO.” 

There is great news coming out of the Port of Ridgefield. They will be adding, as did Cowlitz PUD, protective grid guards to stop predation from eagles and other raptors on their osprey nest. Now the question is this: Why are not all other nests known to have issues with predation not setting up a plan to do the same? This is a much more economical way to protect the ospreys. It also means that the nest can be inspected and repaired in the off-season or even replaced if necessary. Bravo to the Port of Ridgefield!

They are also going to install baffles on the pole from predators. So give a shout out and a thank you to the Port of Ridgefield and encourage all those nests that have predations to follow their lead! Always remember that Cowlitz PUD started this trend of caring for the ospreys.

The Ospreys are rebuilding at Cartage after the tragedy that killed their chick destroying their nest.

At Captiva:

‘H’ reports that CO7 and C08 have received their names. “CO7 = “Ding” and CO8 – “Darling”  Named after the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Sanibel.

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/jn-ding-darling

‘H’ also sent us this link:

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

She also reports: “5/26 was another difficult fishing day.  There were four fish delivered to the nest and Edie brought two of them.  Ding was a little extra aggressive, and Darling didn’t get that mega-crop that we have seen in previous days.  But, Darling did eat.  In the four meals, Darling was able to eat for a total of about 28 minutes.”

‘H’ reports also on Forsythe: “5/26 The Forsythe NJ osprey nest of 4 tiny chicks is doing well, so far.  Oscar is providing plenty of fish.  I’m impressed with Opal’s expertise in feeding the four little babes, and especially the great effort she takes to make sure Mini #4 gets fed.”

‘H’ sends here report on Patuxent. There could be a tragedy at this nest – my words, not ‘H’s if more big fish do not come and Little does not eat. “
5/26 Patuxent-I osprey nest:  Although there were 8 meals for the day, things simply did not work out well for ‘Little’.  The fish were rather small, and the one large fish that Dad brought was taken away prematurely.  The huge fish was delivered at 1119, and Little was prevented from eating.  Even Middle was beaking Little to keep him from eating.  There should have been plenty of fish left over after Big and Middle ate their fill.  While waiting for his turn to eat, Little was across the nest taking advantage of Dad’s shade.  When Big and Middle moved away from the table, Dad thought everyone was finished eating, because Little was not up at Mom’s beak.  So, Dad removed the large leftover.  Little ate a total of 46 bites of fish today, and only 30 bites of fish on Saturday.  Little must have a good meal or two today.”

Monty and Hartley’s Fab Four are outside the scrape! What a curious bunch of little falcons this year – at every scrape.

In the mailbox, ‘B’ writes: “I agree with ‘A’ that the bands of the Cal Falcon chicks are often (usually?) difficult to see, and, yes, dark blue can be hard to distinguish from dark green.  And the yellow can be hard to pick out.  But I can offer clarification regarding “the fourth color”.  It would be logical for the fourth color to be red, as ‘A’ presumes it to be, but Cal Falcons now refuses to use red because the color is closely associated with Stanford University, Cal’s rival.  I believe that Cal Falcons mentions this in the video of the Q & A session they did on banding day.  They have called the fourth color silver or “none”, because it simply means they applied no colored tape over the silver metal band.  I believe they used red tape in some previous years, but not recently, and, of course, the fact that there are four chicks this year forced them to use both green and blue, which are harder to distinguish from one another. I do enjoy pointing out that the distinguished Joseph Grinnell, the first director of Cal’s Museum of Vertebrate Zoology for whom our beloved Grinnell was named, received all his graduate degrees at Stanford.  But I guess the color red is still off limits. The below photo that Cal posted when names were assigned was color-coded according to band color:”

Eclipse is very curious.

Duke Farms Cookie fledged on Sunday! Ready to take off. Both Snickers and Cookie have now fledged.

Fledglings being fed at Venice Golf and Country Club. Flying is difficult and hard and it makes these young ones hungry. Nice to be fed by Mum.

Issues at Dahlgren. New inexperienced parents learning the hard way.

Dorcha needed a break and was away when Louis delivered the third fish on Sunday. In fact, Louis just keeps delivering fish after fish! Way to go…will he deplete the loch?

Where’s your Mum?

Geemeff catches the Bobs battling for top Bob.

We are waiting for hatch at the Niagara Bee Group.

Three precious Bobs of Idris and Telyn. Mum and Dad are buckled down Sunday night with the wind and some rain in Wales.

Oh, they are so cute. CJ7 and Blue 022’s Two Bobs at Poole Harbour. Seriously, is there anything cuter than a little osplet – with its soft natal down – beak wide open wanting some fish? The third egg was cracking as I was settling off to sleep.

Seren blocks the view to the trio at Llyn Clywedog while her and Dylan stay on the nest in the cold wind.

It is not a nice day for Flora and Harry at Alyth and their chicks.

Baby getting a private feeding at the Outerbanks nest of Betsy and Frederick. There will be only two chicks at this nest. The third egg, seen in the top image, was later stepped on and broke. Betsy ate the insides and moved it off.

It is challenging to tell what happened on Sunday in terms of prey. Smallie is getting feathers! They are coming in. So far behind its three older siblings – send your best wishes for this adorable little falcon. You can see those feathers better in the top image.

Montreal falcons doing well.

Anticipating hatch watch at Glaslyn for Elen and Aran soon.

Baby at Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home getting a private feeding.

Watching for changes for Richmond and Rosie’s behaviour.

The story of one of Japan’s falconers who shares his knowledge with a youngster. I was so excited when the link popped up on FB tonight. Link to video is below images.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/3016163/…

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, B, Geemeff, H, J, L, PB’, Port of Ridgefield, Lake Murray, Patuxent River Park, Forstyhe, Window to Wildlife, fws.gov, Wikipedia, SK Hideaways, Cal Falcons, Duke Farms, VCCCO, Heidi McGrue, The Woodland Trust, Geemeff, Niagara Bee, Dyfi Osprey Project, BoPH, Llyn Clywedog, Alyth SS, OBX Osprey Cam, Amersfoort Falcons, Faucons UdeM, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home, SF Bay Ospreys, and NHK.

Saturday in Bird World

4 May 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

I thought I would return to normal on Friday, but it did not turn out that way. Despite feeling dizzy and still rather weak, I forced myself to go for a half-hour walk in the park just after some rain so I would not be around anyone. Everything is so green, and the rain that we have had for the past three days has been so welcome. I owe many of you responses, and I will get there – this is just taking a lot longer to overcome than I ever imagined. It is entirely possible that there will not be another blog to go out until Monday – in the hope that another day of absolute quiet and Geemeff’s peppermint tea and saltines will save me.

Hugo Yugo is trying hard to be good.

‘H’ is giving us a smile for the day.

At 10:47 on Friday, the New Guy at the Hellcat Canyon nest of Iris kicked the first egg out of the nest. Don’t let anyone tell you male ospreys can’t count!

Annie and Archie’s chicks are getting their pin feathers! Can you believe it?

A remarks, “Watching the 11am feeding from Cal Falcons (3 May), mum works incredibly hard, circling the chicks to take up feeding from a different angle to reach different beaks. Around 11:17:30, the piece she is feeding them runs out, and even after checking her talons, she has nothing further to give. As she checks the group of chicks in front of her, one grabs at her beak, indicating it is still hungry. (The youngest was at the back, though it leapt valiantly over its siblings to get bites and seemed to be doing relatively well, especially after one of its older siblings face-planted in a food coma and removed one of the obstacles to mum’s beak. 

But Annie circles the chicks and around the front of the scrape, 180 degrees around the group to the other side, she finds a decent chunk of food, which she proceeds to feed to the chicks who had previously been at the back of the group. She concentrates primarily on the two younger chicks. As is usual with Annie’s feedings, everyone has a crop by the end of the meal. This piece of prey started off as the body of a largish pigeon, I think, minus the head and legs. These four have demolished it. Poor little Archie must be absolutely exhausted. He is hunting up a storm for this lot, and I can only hope he keeps it up. There’s still such a long way to go if these two are to raise these four and then teach them to hunt. I can only imagine that learning to hunt as a peregrine is a very difficult and exacting task. Mistakes could be fatal. Indeed, I often wonder how parents teach fledglings to dive at speed at a prey bird and hit it at the right speed and angle to kill it without injuring themselves. They don’t eat carrion like eagles, so cannot scavenge or steal food to survive, leaving them with only their parents to rely on until they can perfect a particularly difficult hunting style.”

Annie and Grinnell’s grandchildren get tucked under their daughter, Larry.

‘B’ sent us an article about the new streaming cam for Larry! Thanks, ‘B’.

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The chicks are hungry at San Jose City Hall’s scrape of Monty and Hartley.

Oren and Ruth have three hatches at their Syracuse University RTH nest and they are so cute.

Arthur has the Cornell nest he shares with Big Red full of prey, too. I could see chipmunks, voles, squirrels, and birds. The two chicks are getting their pin feathers and it does seem those other two eggs are Dudleys.

Diane and Jack have the second egg of the second clutch on Friday at Achieva.

For French Osprey fans, the first osprey of the 2024 season hatched on Friday!

Louis really likes bringing huge sticks to the Loch Arkaig nest 2.

Bradley still loves his Puffers. Thank you, Bradley, for bringing them to the nest to eat!

At Loch of the Lowes, Blue NCO left to eat. Another osprey landed on the perch. It is unclear if it is Laddie or a stranger.

Gorgeous Tuffy.

Stella and her one surviving chick are hanging in there at the University of Florida-Gainesville. R reports that Poor little Middle is reported to have died around 0200 the other day. Stella looks down at her healthy baby in some disbelief. Her whole season has gone up in flames so to speak.

All three eaglets at Little Miami Conservancy are doing fantastic. The older two are really getting their juvenile plumage while you can see the baby has all of its thermal down (in the back).

Thanks, ‘A’ for stepping in and bringing us some good news form Sydney’s Olympic Forest: “Lady and Dad are not just doing a lot of nest building at Olympic Park in Sydney – they are also mating regularly, and have been doing so for at least a week. Here are the ranger’s reports for the past four days (and who might the ‘third eagle’ be?): May1: Both spent the night by the nest, and Lady came in early when disturbed by a possum passing up the tree. Dad joined her then with an early duet and mating. Both left around 6:30am and returned with sticks. Just after 9am, duets were heard again. They both brought in a few sticks during the morning. Then Dad sat by the nest alone for about an hour, before leaving at 11:20am. Both were then away for the day – somewhere – until Dad returned at 3:26pm with a stick. A very windy afternoon at the nest. Dad brought another stick shortly after and we could hear calls – but could not see the eagles. At 5:10pm, no eagles  were seen at the river. At dark, neither eagle had returned home. Dad brought seven sticks today and Lady brought four.

May2: Neither eagle was at the nest last night. A Powerful Owl was head calling in the distance a few times. Eagles were reported at Burns Bay from yesterday afternoon. They were seen soaring and circling over Linley Point in the afternoon and honking early there this morning. At 8:10am an eagle was seen in the Goat Island area flying west up the harbour. Just before 11am, two eagles were reported at Goat Island. And at 14:06pm, we saw a picture of three eagles soaring overhead there. A little later, at 16:10pm, one eagle was seen heading west, but an hour later, none was seen on the river. Then at last light, both Lady and Dad appeared on the nest – moved a stick or two, sat side by side on the branch and then settled for the night.

May 3: Eagles were home last night by the nest. Lady was disturbed early by a possum. Then we heard an early morning duet. Both were then off. Dad returned with sticks over the next hour or two, Lady with just a few. Duets were heard off nest around 7am. Then more sticks and leafy branches coming in and both chewing in the nest bowl. Mating again at 9:29am. At 9:45am, both were off, and were noted down on the river an hour later – one on River Roost, the other on Mangrove Island. At 11:08am, both flew off to the east, then at 11:23am, two eagles were at Goat Island. Rain was steady again in the afternoon. At 15:34pm, one of the eagles caught a good-sized fish. At dark, they could not be seen at Goat Island – so where are they?

May 4: The eagles were away last night, possibly at Goat Island, where they were seen at 11:20am – with a duet heard as well. Then, just before 4pm, Dad showed up at the nest, while Lady was seen at River Roost at 4:25pm. She headed off to the nest soon after and joined Dad. He started bringing in sticks then, and there was a mating at 16:49pm. He brought six sticks in before dark and she brought two. They both then settled for the night close by.

Now this really is early. Surely they are not planning to lay eggs in the dead of winter. The winter solstice is not until 21/22 June for heaven’s sake – which is still over six weeks away – so surely not. Surely they are just enjoying a little quiet grown-up time, yes? They’re not considering producing eggs for a good while yet I presume. 

Great, though, to know that they’re together and doing well. Obviously, they spend the whole year together, roosting and hunting and generally behaving as a couple. That’s so sweet. I often wonder whether the storks and ospreys who migrate ever really get to know each other at all, let alone the albatrosses, whose total lifetime of interactions might add up to less than a day when you think about it. Which I hadn’t until now. “

We need a proactive approach to power lines if our ospreys and other raptors are to be saved. Thanks, Geemeff!

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Thank you so much for being with us this morning and for all your well wishes! It is appreciated.

Thank you to the following or their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘A, B, Geemeff, H, PB, R, SK’, Montana Osprey Project, Cal Falcons, USParks Service Alcatraz, SK Hideaways, The Mercury News, SU Hawk Cam, Cornell RTH, Heidi McGrue, Sylvain Larzilliere, Geemeff, PLO, Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), Moorings Park Ospreys, UFlorida-Gainesville, Little Miami Conservancy, Sea Eagle Cam, and The Wildlife Society.

More Osprey eggs…Sunday in Bird World

28 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

When I set off to check on the Stellar’s Sea Eagle at our local zoo, it was windy, and the temperature in Winnipeg was 5 degrees C. The clouds parted, and the dreary day hinted at in the early hours soon gave way to bright blue skies and sun. It was glorious. I am so grateful to be able to get out and about exploring. It is never taken for granted. Each day is a unique treasure filled with discoveries.

At the far end of the zoo in the Asian area is one very handsome Stellar’s Sea Eagle. I love standing and watching him. Today they were cleaning out a part of his huge enclosure and he was just perched paying no mind. I wonder how long this beautiful creature has lived in a cage?

You might recall that a Stellar’s Sea Eagle landed on the eastern coast of Canada in November 2021. The huge eagle eventually travelled to Maine before returning to Canada. How it got from its regular home in Russia is unknown.

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Red-tail Hawk

The male Reeve’s Pheasant has the longest feather of any bird globally at 2.4 metres. The layers and layers of curved feathers are quite amazing. I was mesmerised by the limited colour pattern and how using only black, white, and a golden orange-yellow nature created such spectacular plumage to attract a female!

A lone Grey Wolf captured a lot of attention.

I spotted a pair of Eastern Phoebes in the trees. They are classified as ‘flycatchers’ and are one of the first birds to arrive in Manitoba in the spring, normally in March. They depart in September after making their mud nests and raising their young. They incubate four to eight pure white eggs for 16 days. They normally have two broods every breeding season. They are gorgeous little birds with a grey-green-slightly brown head (like a light olive khaki colour) and back with creamy white underparts tinged with a slight yellow-green-grey. Their bill is black and distinctive.

Hugo Yugo is having a bit of a rest before getting into more mischief. She loves to carry objects in her mouth, including the tub stopper, any earrings that get left out, keys, bags of cookies, necklaces, pens and pencils, cables for computers and cameras, and earbuds. Nothing appears to be safe these days. She also likes to hide them.

Gosh, I adore this little ginger. She is such a character – there is never a dull moment and I cannot imagine, for a single second, my life without her.

You will remember agonising over whether Tuffy at Moorings Park would live or die. Today, almost fully feathered (if not completely), Tuffy is a prime example of why you never give up hope for these little ones. I think that it is also a good example of why you do not turn away. We will never appreciate the struggles that the raptors have if we do not hang in there with them through the good, the bad, and the sheer ugly.

Look at Tuffy’s eyes light up when he sees a fish dinner. What a darling.

‘H’ captured that feeding on video for us. Please have a look. You can watch this on YouTube by clicking the YT link at the bottom left.

Many do not make it. In 2023, out of 339 eggs ‘H’ and I monitored, fourteen died from siblicide. In comparison, eighteen starved to death due to circumstances not related to siblicide and 36 did not hatch.

Asha and Brodie have their third egg at Loch Garten. Proud Mum shows off those eggs!

Aran and Elen have their third egg at 0807 on the 28th – this morning – at Glaslyn. Aran was on the perch giving support.

Mrs O at Tweed Valley laid her third egg on the 27th.

Johnny and June have their second egg at Fenwick Island in Delaware at 0810 on the 28th.

The Ravens took the eggs of Milda and Hugo ending another sad year for this gorgeous Latvian female White-tail eagle. She is now free to find food and not sit incubating and starving – and allowing her health to deteriorate.

There is an egg in the nest of the Lesser Spotted Eagles, Anna and Andres. I have included the link Sassa Bird provided.

This is one of the most interesting articles about the Lesser Spotted Eagle and should alert any potential viewers to the fact that under normal conditions, if there is a second hatch, it is killed by the first even if there is plenty of food present. (I have posted it previously). It is the definition difference between siblicide – the killing of siblings when there is only food for perhaps one – and enough food but the first hatch, the dominant bird, kills the second for no apparent reason.

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E23 is still home and still learning about those annoying small birds.

Edie feeding the two osplets at Captiva. It will be easier when they are not bobbling!

The male brought in a fresh fish at the Frenchman’s Creek osprey platform. He called the female several times while one of the osplets played tug-o-war with the fish. When the female did not come, he began to feed the chick/s. This is good news! These chicks will, despite everything, probably fledge. Thank goodness.

There are three eggs at the Radford University osprey nest in Bradford, Virginia. Thanks, ‘PB’ for mentioning this nest!

This is the link to their streaming cam:

Still snowing at some of the osprey nests in Finland.

Lots of shift changes at the nest of Big Red and Arthur – with two wiggling chicks underneath!

Meal before bedtime. Arthur has the pantry nicely stocked.

There is quite a wiggly nest full at Cal Falcons and everyone is hungry!

Gosh, we have fallen in love with Archie.

‘A’ writes, “

dinner at Cal Falcons was a lengthy affair, beginning at around 17:58 and still continuing more than 25 minutes later, with mum e-chupping to encourage the chicks to open their beaks just one more time. The two youngest chicks were at the front of the pack for this feeding, and were fed first, which was great, as the youngest is often stuck at the back and can miss out altogether at some feedings. Annie is very diligent about feeding all four, though, most of the time. At this feeding, she brought in a very large piece of prepared prey (she was gone about five minutes, unusually, and of course Archie came in to keep an eye on the eyases while she was gone – he is ADORABLE). 

By 18:23, the younger ones at the front appear to have got a second wind and are again accepting bites of food. Annie is amazing. She has been feeding for 25 minutes, and remember this lot is under a week old. I cannot imagine how much work poor mum is going to be doing feeding these four over the next four weeks or so, until they begin to learn to self-feed. And so far, dad has been fantastic in terms of ensuring a pantry full of delicious well-prepared meat for the family. But of course that load is going to increase dramatically week by week, as these four grow rapidly. So both parents are really going to have their work cut out for them. I do wish them both well in this huge endeavour. Annie is not used to raising four, and we have no idea of Archie’s parental experience, if any. It will be a big task for them both. Annie is still feeding at 18:25. By 18:27, there are finally no more takers and Annie eats a bit herself before taking the carcass (not much edible remains) back to the pantry. We can hearing Archie vocalising in the background – he sounds displeased though I have no idea why (and whether that vocal is indeed one of displeasure, but it is certainly very much like the one Annie uses when she is ‘warning’ that she is not happy with or about something or someone). But surely, after that thorough a feeding, all four eyases will sleep with happy tummies tonight. “

Two little hungry osplets at Captiva.

Nesting material is finally coming in to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum nest. It even looked like Dad was telling Mum to incubate the egg that she kept wanting to cover up – it was the egg left out in the rain and uncovered on Friday.

‘AE’ shares news of Monty and Hartley. “From 6:05pm last night and until 6:38am today Monty was the one doing the overnight incubation duty. Hartley had visited the nest ledge. Monty never got up from the eggs so Hartley took herself over to the sunshade where she spent the entire night!”

Betsy and Frederick have three eggs. There was a wee break in the incubation to fix up some rails. Good idea!

Screen captures of Iris and Louis from Saturday. There was concern over an injury to Louis’s chest. You can see what could b e the injury on the chest close to the left wing. I realise that everyone in the world would like Iris to have a dedicated mate, but I don’t want Louis to be injured and possibly die due to an infection if that is a deep gouge with a piece of wood in it as some believe. Starr is at the baseball park, and if she doesn’t have eggs, she will soon. We know what will happen if Iris lays eggs, and that is fine – she will be free from the duties of raising chicks, which I clearly believe has lengthened her life. She eats well and cares for herself year-round. Most research indicates that female raptors lose at least 30% of their body weight, raising babies.

Swoop and the new female at Dunrovin are working on the nest. Look at that long strip of nesting material! An intruder was about and Swoop was in the nest quickly in protective mode.

There is some concern over the GH owlet at Wolf Bay. It has been slightly lethargic most of the day.

‘AE’ got a great screen capture of JBS20’s feet! She said, “Gotta love those feet! I never appreciated orange bird feet so much until I started watching bird cams. He’s waiting for breakfast to be delivered.”

Prey delivered, JBS20 eventually arrives to eat leftovers.

Swampy appears to be doing just fine since he fell from the nest to the branch and fledged and returned. Everyone keep sending him good wishes.

Have you been watching the FOLFAN eagles? Here is the latest.

All three eaglets at Little Miami Conservancy are doing fantastic. Look at the nice crop on the third hatch.

The two eaglets at the ND-LEEF nest both went to bed with full crops. I did not notice any aggression at the last feeding of the day. They both look like they are doing well.

I have written ‘R’ who is observing the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest of Talon and Stella. It looked to me that the two osplets had only one feeding on Saturday and that it was hot. Mum shaded them, but was on and off the nest. Is the Dad missing? One osplet, the third hatch, has already died of siblicide. At one time, Talon was bringing in plenty of fish. Something is amiss. Will another so-let’s life be in jeopardy? or both?

Bradley still loves eating his Puffer Fish on the natal nest!

The thawing of the permafrost is going to have a significant impact on birds and their migration. Many that travel to the UK for the winter from Scandinavia, Greenland, and Siberia, may stop migrating. What else is happening with the permafrost thaw?

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Another deliberate killing of a raptor – this time a Red Kite.

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Incubation continues at Great Bay Ospreys.

Your smile for the day comes from the Venice Golf and Country Club Osprey platform where the nest is full. Aren’t those three gorgeous in their juvenile plumage? The oldest is almost as big as the female.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care. We want you back with us soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, observations, videos, articles, images, posts, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, AE, Geemeff, H, MP, PB’, CBC News, Moorings Park Ospreys, Heidi McGrue, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Tweed Valley Osprey Project, RSPB Loch Garten, LDF, Sassa Bird, Research Gate (B-U Meyburg), Frenchman’s Creek, Radford University Osprey Cam, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Cornell RTH Cam, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, Window to Wildlife, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, San Jose City Hall Falcon Cam, OBX Osprey Cam, Montana Osprey Project, Dunrovin Ranch, Wolf Bay, JB Sands Wetlands, Eagle Country, American Eagle Foundation, Little Miami Conservancy, ND-LEEF, UFlorida-Gainesville, Port Lincoln Ospreys, American Bird Conservancy, BirdGuides, Raptor Persecution UK, and VGCCO.

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.

An egg, a fledge and 632 bites of fish for Tuffy…Sunday in Bird World

14 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

And now for some really good news before we even begin. Louis and Dorcha at Loch Arkaig have their first egg of the season! Thanks, Geemeff. This is a good nest to watch. Louis is an excellent provider although they have had their tragedies and triumphs in the past couple of years.

JBS20 fledged this morning without an issue at 08:09:10. The wind was blowing and the eaglet was antsy. Perfect form. Mum waits for the return.

It is nearing 1700 on Saturday on the Canadian Prairies when I start writing this post. I am sitting on my deck basking in the blue sky, the sounds of the songbirds in the garden, and not knowing what to think of the 20 C temperature. It is, by and large, summer.

Baby Hope is looking more and more like Mamma Calico every day. Hope just chills on the back of the sofa in the Conservatory (or glass room as we seem to be calling it) while the others try for the best spot at the open window to smell the fresh air and listen to the birds.

Mamma got to be Queen for a Day.

Of course, Hugo Yugo has the best seat in the house. I would like to give some of Hugo Yugo’s attitude to our little second and third hatches. She has never taken any ‘gruff’ from the bigger and older cats. She just pushes her way in there and gets what she wants — and she never looks them in the eye. First rule to being a little eaglet or an osplet- do not look the older one in the eye when they are in a mood.

The arrivals in the garden today include House Finches, Song Sparrows, Northern Flickers, and Cedar Waxwings to add to the Crows, European Starlings, Grackles, House Sparrows, Blue Jays, and Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers.

I walked along the river, and I was unsure whether to believe my eyes. I did not have my camera with the long lens with me. Still, it looked like a family of Hooded Mergansers. This seriously cannot be possible. The Wood Ducks just arrived at the park. In fact, today I managed to go for a long, long walk at the nature centre and a stroll around St Vital Park to welcome the Wood Ducks while scowling at the water quality and the fact that with no rain, the pond is drying up. Is there a way and a will for our City to fill it? Then, it was a walk down the path by the river with a lovely ice cream cone.

Nothing is green except for a few patches of grass, here and there. I watched five Robins pulling worms from an area where it had rained. What a beautiful sight. Seeing Robins – for me, anyway – is a rare occurrence. They hardly ever come to the garden and – wow, there were five!

Some of the geese have discovered they like bird seed.

These geese were trying to find some plants to eat under the dry grasses.

The geese were particularly aggressive to one another at the park.

The waterfowl in the river. They turned out to be Common Goldeneyes. The ones with the white patch are the males. These are divers not dabblers. They arrive in Manitoba in late March and will migrate in November.

As you can see, I took my own advice and stayed outside most of the day. Going for a walk and stopping to just notice our environment is a good way to relieve any kind of stress. I hope you will get outside soon, too! — As a result, my post is rather short today. There is no news on Meadow and I am going to assume that the old saying applies – “no news is good news”.

It has been a hard week at the nests – well, it has been a difficult season, and it isn’t over. We often think that if there is only one chick on a nest that it will have an easy life, but that is not always the case. Little B17 showed us that. The nests get damp, there is mould, there are diseases, intruders, lack of prey and loss of habitat -. A very good nest can change over night and become a tragedy. Likewise, a nest that is in trouble, can turn around. A good example of that is Duke Farms this year. We can only hope that all goes well especially for those little third hatches. One nest that still hangs in the balance is Moorings Park – if you are concerned about beaking, do not watch this nest at this time. Give it a week – let us hope that the aggression will end with the transition out of the Reptilian Phase.

But all is not negative. There are so many good nests out there to watch but, for now, ‘H’ and I are keeping track of Moorings Park and any potential Osprey nests with conflict because that is what we do. For those new to watching Ospreys, I would caution against Moorings Park for the time being – give it another week and let’s see what happens.

At Moorings Park poor little Tuffy got really beaten by Ruffy on Saturday. Ruffy reminds me of Zoe. I cannot shake her from my head but the brutal attacks on Tuffy that ‘H’ documents below when there is plenty of fish and Ruffy is full to the tip of its beak reminds me too much of that first hatch Osprey at Port Lincoln that killed her two siblings. I hope Ruffy grows out of this attitude. — Please read ‘H’s’ narrative of the day. We must find that golden lining and it does come to Tuffy on Saturday. And just a note. The research that I have done alone and over the past two years with ‘H’ has demonstrated that on average an osplet can live (stay alive but not thrive) on about 100 good bites of fish a day when a nest is stressed. As today’s title suggests, Tuffy got much more than that today.

So, thank you again, ‘H’ for your great eye and constant vigilance: “At 0929 Harry delivered the first fish of the day, a huge whole tilapia, and Ruffie intimidated Tuffy to the side rails, but also followed him and beaked him.  The size of the fish almost ensured that Tuffy would get fed eventually.  Sally started to work on the fish, and at 0932 Ruffie started to eat. At 0947 Ruffie took a little break just to go over and beak Tuffy.  Ruffie also periodically went half way over to Tuffy just to intimidate and warn him.  At 1019 Ruffie went all the way to the rail to beak Tuffy.  At 1023 Ruffie moved away from the table.  Tuffy began to make his way to Sally, but had to get past Ruffie first…Tuffy didn’t make it, Ruffie beaked him and then she ate some more.  At 1025 Ruffie moved away from Sally again, and Tuffy shuffled toward Sally, and got his first fish bite, but was intimidated by Ruffie and Ruffie ate some more.  By 1029 Ruffie had moved further away from Sally creating a wider swath for Tuffy to traverse without having to come too close to Ruffie.  Once at the table, Tuffy ate two more bites, but Ruffie beaked him and then she ate some more.  At 1031 Ruffie backed away, and there was still a lot of the fish remaining.  Tuffy got another bite to eat, and Ruffie attacked him brutally, beaking and biting him on his head, neck and wing.  Ruffie ate some more until 1035, and then moved away.  Tuffy stayed tucked in submission and Sally was the only one eating.  Finally, at 1037 Tuffy tried to get closer to Sally, but Ruffie intimidated him, and Ruffie ate some more.  The same scenario repeated at 1038.  I noticed at that time, when Tuffy was tucked that his head had a small bloody spot, the back of his neck was red, and there was a pink area on his wing.  Harry landed on the nest at 1039 due to an intruder issue.  At 1041, Tuffy raised up and finally got another bite of fish, and he received several fish bits before Ruffie intimidated him, and Ruffie ate some more.  At that point Tuffy had only eaten 9 bites of fish since the fish was delivered over an hour ago.  At 1044 Ruffie moved away, and it just so happened that Sally turned slightly so that Tuffy was on the other side of her from Ruffie.  Tuffy ate and ate!  He had eaten a total of 74 bites by 1050, when Sally shifted, and Tuffy was once again exposed to Ruffie.  When Ruffie saw Tuffy eating, she charged and intimidated him.  There was still a lot of fish left, and Ruffie ate some more.  Sounding like a broken record… At 1058 Ruffie moved away, Tuffy ate a few bites, then was intimidated by Ruffie, and Ruffie ate some more.  When Ruffie moved away, Tuffy got a few more bites until 1102, when he was intimidated by Ruffie.  This time Ruffie did not eat, but simply went away.  Go now Tuffy… Tuffy was getting fed, but slowly because Sally was spending a lot of time pulling on fish skin… “feed faster please Sally!”  By 1104 Tuffy had eaten 94 bites before being intimidated by Ruffie.  Ruffie ate, and moved away at 1106.  Then Tuffy ate again.  At 1109 Ruffie intimidated Tuffy into a tuck, and Ruffie ate a few bites.  When Tuffy resumed eating Sally was feeding faster.  Tuffy had eaten 150 bites by 1114; 190 bites by 1119.  Then Sally labored pulling on fish skin again… “please hurry up Sally, stuff the kid as fast as you can before Ruffie comes back!”  Tuffy had eaten 217 bites by 1122, but then Sally began intruder-alarming, and she jumped up and accidentally landed on Tuffy.  Harry arrived.  1123: “get up Tuffy, the intruder is gone”… but he stayed down.  Was he hurt?  Whew, 1124 Tuffy got up and resumed eating.  Ruffie was still laying down across the nest.  Tuffy had eaten 230 bites by 1126.  At that time, Harry quickly flew off the nest after an intruder, and so did Sally, and she took the fish with her!  Ah, but she immediately returned to the nest and still had the fish.  Tuffy resumes eating at 1127.  Ruffie was still too full to move, and had not been a problem since 1109.  At 1129 this was now a two-hour feeding and Tuffy had eaten 250 bites of fish.  1129 there was another intruder issue, Harry was back, Tuffy pancaked.  Feeding of Tuffy resumed at 1130, and by 1133 Tuffy had eaten a total of 265 bites of fish… at which time the live stream went down.  There was still a little bit of fish remaining at that time.


…The live stream returned 40 minutes later at 1211, and Sally was feeding Ruffie from part of a fish. In my opinion, there had not been ’40 minutes of fish’ remaining on the earlier fish.  I would estimate the previous fish would have only lasted about another 10 minutes or so.  I wonder if Harry had delivered a small headless fish while the live stream was offline.  At any rate, we returned live to find Tuffy on the furthest rail sticks, about as far as he could go without falling off the nest.  It was obvious that he had been forced into into that precarious position.  And, he was boxed in by the positions of Sally and Ruffie feeding right behind him.  At 1219 Sally moved the fish and Ruffie followed, allowing Tuffy a space to climb back into the nest.  This kid sure has a difficult life!  Tuffy circumnavigated the perimeter of the nest attempting to come around the other side of Sally, but as he got near, he was cut off by Ruffie.  By 1226 Tuffy was beside Mom and got two bites, then was intimidated by Ruffie.  Another bite of fish, then Ruffie was on him, and a couple more bites and was intimidated by Ruffie who was no longer eating but was stationed right at Tuffy’s tail.  At 1231 Ruffie ate some more.  At 1237 Ruffie finally moved away, and Tuffy was fed.  Tuffy had eaten 32 bites by 1241, and then Ruffie charged in front of Sally to beak Tuffy.  Sally and Ruffie finished the fish, and Sally fed Tuffy a couple scraps later.  Total for Tuffy at this meal (that we observed) was 34 bites of fish.  Because of Tuffy’s position on the nest when the live stream returned, he was most likely forced to the nest edge by Ruffie, and I doubt that Tuffy had anything to eat from this fish while the live stream was down.


…At 1605 Harry dropped off a headless, medium sized fish.  Ruffie began to be fed and Tuffy stayed away, waiting his turn.  At 1610 Ruffie intimidated Tuffy just for the heck of it, Tuffy tucked.  And she again intimidated Tuffy at 1611, so Tuffy moved further away.  At 1625 Ruffie moved away from Sally, but Tuffy did not approach, and stayed on the far rim.  He knew he had no clear path to get to Sally where Ruffy would not be able to attack him.  At 1627 Ruffie ate some more.  Ruffie seemed to be finished eating at 1629, and at 1630 Tuffy started to make his move, but about halfway to the feeding line, Ruffie cut him off, and Tuffy ended up tucked at the rail on the other side of the nest.  By 1631 the fish was gone.  It takes a really big, long-lasting fish for Tuffy to have a chance to eat.

‘H’ continues, “Harry delivered a large headless fish at 1658.  It wasn’t just the size of the fish that meant Tuffy was  likely to be fed, but also because it was delivered so close to Ruffie’s last meal, and Ruffie would still be full.  To start, it just so happened that Sally was positioned in a way that Tuffy could be on the opposite side of her from Ruffie.  Sally was preferentially feeding Tuffy to her left.  Several times Ruffie tried to get at Tuffy by going under Sally’s chin, but was not able to do so.  Eventually, Ruffie’s actions disrupted Sally and she had to move, which exposed Tuffy, and sure enough Ruffie inflicted a brutal and prolonged attack on Tuffy.  Sally ate, and Ruffie was not very hungry.  At 1705 Ruffie moved away, but Tuffy was hesitant and stayed tucked for a bit.  By 1706 Tuffy was at Mom’s beak and being fed.  Tuffy had eaten a total of 34 bites by 1707  when Ruffie returned, and Tuffy tucked.  Ruffie moved away again at 1713, and Tuffy had a long private feeding.  At 1723 Sally moved the fish a little closer to Ruffie and offered her some, but she wasn’t interested.  Tuffy moved closer to Mom and started to eat again.  To say Ruffie was more relaxed than earlier in the day would be an understatement.  By 1725 Tuffy was still eating and Ruffie was standing close by, just watching him eat.  At 1742 Tuffy was so crop-heavy he had to go lay down.  Sally finished the fish.  Total bites of fish for Tuffy at this meal = 249.  So far today, Tuffy has eaten approximately 548 bites of fish.”

..At 1900 Harry brought in the fifth fish of the day, a large headless fish.  Tuffy moved aside a little bit, and Ruffie started to eat.  Tuffy was able to get 6 bites before he was intimidated by Ruffie, then he got a couple more bites at 1904, and by 1906 they were both being fed.  From what he has been put through, Tuffy was understandably a little skittish of Ruffie, and Tuffy moved away a few times, even though Ruffie was not acting in a threatening way.  Ruffie laid down at 1916, and Tuffy kept on eating.  At 1917 Tuffy took a little break and laid down, but went back for more at 1919.  By 1924 Tuffy was refusing most of Sally’s offerings, and Sally finished the fish at 1928.  Tuffy ate at least 84 bites of fish at this meal.  Total for the day = 632 bites of fish for Tuffy !

Remember – it is not the number of fish but the size that matters. Five large headless fish are much better than 8 small ones!

My inbox was flooded most of yesterday with concern for Tuffy. Those that stayed throughout the day even thought Ruffy might kill Tuffy. It was then such a relief to see the little one with that full crop. ‘H’ caught it as did many others including ‘PB’.

‘H’ is also monitoring a few other nests. She reports that Opal laid egg 2 at the Forsythe Nest and egg 3 arrived at Carthage today, too.

Each one of these nests brought some bitter sadness to viewers last year.

Forsythe (Caution watching this nest):

Carthage (Caution watching this nest):

There are now three chicks at Fort St Vrain in Colorado. Like many of you, I hoped that the third egg would not hatch. The two older siblings are just so much bigger than the little one. We will wait and see how this will all work out. Last year one of the two eaglets was dragged off the nest by a raccoon and killed. This appeared to be in retaliation for the eagles taking one of the baby raccoons to feed to the chicks. A predator baffle has been installed at the nest for this year.

Sunnie Day posted a note on FB about the female at Fort St Vrain: “Mom was banded in Colorado in May 15, 2002. she is 22 years old! She has hatched 36 eaglets. “

I cannot say how this nest will behave in terms of beaking yet.

In contrast, the three osplets at the Venice Golf and Country Club appear to be fine. There is plenty of fish in the area and this nest is recommended. The osplets are out of the Reptilian phase, also. They are all getting their juvenile feathers. Perhaps I have missed it, but life seems pretty civil compared to Moorings Park. Please feel free to correct me!

The first egg of the season was laid at the Osprey nest of Dylan and Blue 5F Seren at Llyn Clywedog on Saturday. This couple have successfully fledged a number of eaglets, many of them returning in their second year. Sadly, last year, one of the osplets was taken by a goshawk when Seren was feeding.

There is a difference between the nests of the UK and the US. First, there are far fewer Ospreys in the UK. Many of them have their nests in living trees. They are rural as opposed to living in cities near people. The nests are located near reservoirs or lochs full of fish. In the seven years that I have been researching siblicide, the incidence of this in the UK has been minimal. Loch of the Lowes is one exception that comes to mind. These are good osprey nests to watch. If I were to recommend just one, it would be the nest of Idris and Telyn at Dyfi in Wales for those just learning about UK Ospreys.

Iris worked on her nest at Hellgate Canyon in Missoula, Montana to everyone’s surprise and delight on Saturday. Maybe she just had a tour of the area after she arrived and now she is ready to work on her always amazing nest. (This nest is good to watch because it is Iris, but there will be no chicks. Since 2018, there have been no chicks because the male she has bonded with, Louis, has another nest with Star at the baseball field). Most of us hope that Iris lays her eggs, the Crows eat them, and she has a lovely summer to herself eating trout!

Intruders have been bothering Hera and Zeus and there was some concern for Hera earlier.

Harriet did not return from her migration to Dunrovin. Swoop might have a new female partner. This is the latest.

Now nests that I certainly recommend include the falcons and the hawks. There is little to no sibling aggression. We will be looking for a hatch in about ten days with Annie and Archie. Archie is a first-time Dad – or is he? He can certainly incubate eggs. Maybe he lost his mate, too. In fact, poor Annie has had four mates in four years. That gives you some idea of the dangers that the males face in this urban environment.

Archie loves incubating the eggs!

The little eyases are hatching in Osaka!

And you have to watch Big Red and Arthur, the Cornell Red-tail Hawks! Big Red is twenty-one years old. When her long term mate, Ezra was killed, Big Red chose a very young Arthur – he didn’t even have his red tail which is a marker when the birds turn a year old. Watchers thought she was ‘nuts’. Well, she wasn’t. She trained Arthur and he is an amazing Dad and an incredible hunter. The year was 2017. They had their first chicks in 2018. In all the years, possibly eighteen, that Big Red has raised hawklets, only one has failed to fledge and that was K2 who had to be removed from the nest due to a jaw issue. She was later euthanised.

There are several really good eagle nests. The West End nest of Akecheta and Thunder is top notch.

But what about the nest of Liberty and Guardian in Redding, California? Their two eaglets are younger and they are doing well. (One egg broke).

The Duke Farms nest has turned around. At one point, the bites of fish that Jersey got were counted. Ringing is expected on Monday morning with measurements. Recommend to watch or fledge.

‘L’ found a recent image of Wisdom, the oldest banded Albatross in the world, taken by the USFWS on Midway Atoll. Wisdom is on the right. She is in her 70s.

‘L’ sends us images from the birds at the Fairhope Pier on the Gulf of Mexico in Alabama. An Osprey couple make their home on the lighthouse while a Blue Heron suns itself among the gulls. Thank you for sharing your day – this is where everyone should be, if they can – outside!

Osprey are on the light platform.

Birds never want to pose for a good picture – right when ‘L’ got close enough for the Heron to be in focus! Gosh, isn’t this the problem trying to photograph wildlife?!!!!!!! Or cats.

Just look at those legs.

They are beautiful. There are parakeets in London and in San Francisco and I bet some of you can tell me more places. Here is a beautifully photographed article in a French magazine about the “Parakeets of Paris.”

The-Parakeets-of-ParisDownload

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, photographs, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘Geemeff, H, J, L, PB’, Geemeff, JBS Wetlands, Moorings Park Ospreys, Forsythe Ospreys, Carthage Ospreys, Fort St Vrain, SDNP, VGCCO, CarnyXWild and Llyn Clywedog, Montana Osprey Project, SK Hideaways, Osaka Peregrine Falcons, Heidi Mc and Joy of Ospreys, Pam Breci and Joy of Ospreys, Cornell RTH, IWS/Explore, FORE, Duke Farms, USFWS, and MFCH.

*Disclaimer: I make every effort to acknowledge those that send me photographs, videos, articles, etc. If I fail to recognise someone, please let me know and I will rectify the situation. Thank you.*

Monday in Bird World

8 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

I had a marvellous day and, as a result, this post might be rather short. The weather has been splendid on the Canadian Prairies and at 15 degrees C, we begin to believe that summer is here – not spring – LOL. Everyone is out on their bikes, their electric scooters, walking their dogs, and generally being of a good humour.

I headed out to try and spot the arrival of some of the first Sandhill Cranes. No luck. Instead, I was treated to a magical ten or fifteen minutes with thirteen Snow Geese. They were riding the thermals way, way above my head, dancing with the wind. It was magical. (The images below were taken with a 600 mm lens and cropped! I have no idea how high they were.)

They are heading north up to the top of Manitoba and the Arctic Circle.

Speaking of heading north, I will be going on a short holiday north of Winnipeg, hoping to see the Sandhill Cranes, more Snow Geese and Tundra Swans, and eagles and Canada Geese. There will not be Wi-Fi available where I am going (except for my phone), so I will not be posting any news on Friday and Saturday. Everything will return to normal on Sunday. Please continue to send your images, videos, and news. I will catch up with all of them late Saturday and put them in the posting on Sunday with much appreciation. Thank you!

Today, I want to start with something so beautiful. How many times have you seen a double rainbow? Storm Kathleen was quite frightening and now that calm has arrived, Louis and Dorcha’s nest has been double blessed.

The nest that is on everyone’s mind is Moorings Park. It is nothing short of agonising watching Tuffie wanting fish and being beaked into submission continually by Ruffy. Like people, the osplets and eaglets lose their confidence despite their hunger. Some are very clever and muster enough energy to devise ways to survive. Others not only devise those ways but also have a Mum that sees and understands and finds ways to help. Some simply wait to be fed if a feeding happens. Right now that seems to be where little Tuffie is. — But if you want to remember clever and determined, then I remind you of the fourth hatch at Patchogue in 2023 named by many ‘Tiny Dancer’. Or the third hatch Tiny Tumbles at Achieva in 2021. There are, of course, a number of others. We can only hope that Tuffie gets its strength up, that it gets enough fish to last through the Reptilian phase, and that Harry continues to deliver at least 5 fish on the nest, perhaps more.

‘H’ has been wonderful to watch over this nest for me for the past few days and I am so grateful. She writes:

“At 0651 Sally picked up the leftover fish and began to feed. There was no initial aggression, as Tuffy was still quite sleepy and showed no interest in eating, so Ruffie was fed.  At 0658 Tuffy was finally awake enough to show interest in the meal, at which time Ruffie beaked Tuffy into submission.  Sally stopped the feeding at 0705 with fish remaining.  No bites for Tuffy.  The remainder of that fish was removed from the nest.

1029 Harry delivered a live bluegill. Tuffy was already at the side of the nest and didn’t bother to head toward Mom.  Sally fed Ruffie.  At 1043 Tuffy finally approached the feeding line, and was promptly beaked into submission by Ruffie.  At 1050, with the fish nearly gone, Ruffie moved away, and Sally finished the fish.  The bluegill was not nearly as big as the tilapia that Harry frequently brings in, so there was not an opportunity for Tuffy to eat after Ruffie was full.  No bites for Tuffy.”

“At 1734 Harry delivered another large headless tilapia.  Tuffy got 5 quick bites before he was attacked by Ruffie.  At 1734 Tuffy got 4 more bites and then was brutally attacked.  Ruffy ate some, but wasn’t very hungry.  Sally ate.  At 1744 Tuffy got 1 bite.  At 1748 Tuffy ate 3 bites.  Then, starting at 1749 Ruffie left him alone, Tuffy had a long feeding, and he was seen crop-dropping several times.  Tuffy ate an additional 90 bites of fish, for a total of 103 bites at this meal!  After his last two bites at 1806, Tuffy was so full and tired, he simply scooted away from Mom and laid his head down.

So far today, Tuffy has eaten at least 133 bites of fish.”

“Harry delivered a smallish headless fish at 1852.  Ruffie was not aggressive toward Tuffy, although a couple of times Tuffy moved away slightly because he thought he was about to be attacked.  Tuffy ate at least 40 bites of fish.

Total for the day so far = 173 bites for Tuffy.” I don’t know about you, but seeing that little one – and it is so little compared to Ruffy – an indication of the difference in good and gender – with a bulging crop just makes me weep.

‘H’ sent me a short video of Tuffy’s PS. I thought it was good. It appears that our little one is ‘allowed’ to eat at the end of the day if there is enough fish.

Relief for another day.

This video is from a couple of days ago but what a lovely family, all eating. Thunder could send out booklets to all the Mums on how to take care of bonking.

At Big Bear, Jackie and Shadow might be thinking that the eggs are not viable and they will soon move on.

Louis and Dorcha are alright. It looks wet at Loch Arkaig but the gale force winds from Storm Kathleen seem to have subsided.

Mum and Dad working on the nest at Boulder County Fairgrounds.

The names of the two eaglets at the Kansas City Bald Eagle nest on Farmer Derek’s property are Wichita and Cheyenne. And just look at them. It feels like they only hatched a couple of days ago!

JBS20 is about ready to fly. Thanks ‘AE’ and ‘MP’ for these wonderful screen captures. There were a lot of worries at this nest including the death of JBS21 and Mum’s injury. We are nearing fledge. Fingers crossed that all goes well.

The two little ND-LEEF eaglets of Dad and Gigi are so cute and so tiny and before we blink they will look like JBS21!

All is well at Duke Farms. Mark your calendars. Leaper and Jersey will be banded, weather permitting, on 12 April at 10am.

The trio at Little Miami Conservancy are adorable.

Peach (aka BC17) is already out of the nest bowl and over to the rim! Goodness. I am glad that I did not see this live.

Only surviving eaglet renamed Viper at Bluff City appears to be thriving.

Dixie and Mason at Superbeaks are big kids now. We can see them with east on the side cam!

DNF did not let those two little precious eaglets of hers be out in the damp cool weather in Iowa for long. Both are doing well.

US Steel welcomes USS7 who hatched from that rather crushed shell Sunday morning.

It looks like Swoop might have arrived at Dunrovin! Now for Harriet.

‘A’ sends us news of Angel and Tom: “

They have been back since 3 April, and though neither turned up on 4 April, both have visited each morning since. Many people seem to think the eclipse on 8 April may have something to do with her tardiness in her egg-laying schedule but personally, I’m somewhat sceptical. On the other hand, anything that disrupts the ‘pull’ of the moon in a major way could in theory impact egg laying, and presumably ovulation in humans. No-one will convince me that in a creature that’s about 75% water, as we are, the length of the cycle of the moon just coincidentally happens to exactly coincide with the female ovulatory and menstrual cycle, especially when the moon’s cycling demonstrably influences the movements of bodies of water on our planet, in the form of tides etc. In other words, there is a logical reason why it COULD be so, meaning perhaps it IS possible. If so, according to the theory, after today (8 April), she may lay her egg/s.

They are both continuing with their nest-preparation behaviour albeit in a very limited way – at this stage the only thing they are bringing to the nest is tree bark for the nest bowl, no sticks at all. Other interesting behaviours of note include beakie kisses between Angel and Tom, Angel plucking at her brood patch and, for me most exciting of all, Angel getting in some chick practice by allopreening Tom’s head. Shades of Deyani!!! 

She is definitely getting ready to lay an egg.  But then, I have said that before … This nest has appeared ready for at least three weeks now. The question has been whether Angel and Tom are ready. But small things are different. No sticks, just bark to line the nest bowl. Cautious behaviour too – standing in the nest looking carefully around for example, as if checking for intruders. Tom is also being annoyed by a few of the smaller birds (last year they buzzed poor, stoic Angel almost constantly but seemed to leave Tom completely alone – that is no longer the case). 

Can you tell I am OVER THE MOON that my gorgeous Angel and oh so handsome Tom are back at their nest? Now for an egg or two. Just so excited. “

And, look, Bradley with a puffer! So nice to see you 173 day old Bradley.

Is there a miracle happening at the NCTC nest of Scout and Bella?

“The Girls” and I have finished two books. The first one they want to tell you about is Tim Mackrill’s The Osprey. I did not think that Tim could do any better than his book for the RSPB, RSPB Spotlight Osprey, but he did. This is a wonderful volume and will be a great addition to the library of anyone who loves Ospreys and wants to know as much about them as possible. Over 300 pages. There are charts, reference materials, and excellent colour photographs (not tonnes but enough to illustrate his points). Tim is a gifted writer and is one of the leading authorities on Osprey migration. The book covers everything from nesting behaviour and raising chicks to migration issues and considerations. Discussion is not just limited to UK ospreys either. I much appreciated the discussion of their wintering habitats and discussions of the threats to their survival. Even the girls gave it a 10 out of 10. The price is $60 CDN for the hardcover. If that is more than your pocket will bear right now, but if you are looking for an excellent book on Ospreys, go for the RSPB Spotlight Osprey, which is $24 CDN. I prefer it to Alan Poole’s larger more expensive edition on ospreys, actually.

The second book is Chris Packham’s Birdwatching Guide from Beginner to Birder. Chris must have been a teacher in a previous life. The book is laid out, like Tim’s, in a logical way, covering every aspect of birdwatching from the purchase of binoculars, setting up a hide, what to wear birding to bird behaviour. There is a good discussion on wing shape and caring for your garden birds. I loved the one with images of the feet to show you the relationship between the feet and bird species. The illustrations are very good. I would definitely buy this for someone who is beginning to watch birds. And if you are feeling a little bit flush and wanted to add something more, how about a map of good birding spots in the individual’s location, a pass to a nature centre, or add a pair of binoculars along with this book. It will get them going. The price is right. 12.99 GBP. Hardcover.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care of yourself. We hope to see you here again soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, observations, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post for today: ‘AE, H, J, MP’, Geemeff, Moorings Park, Lady Hawk, SK Hideaways, Geemeff, Boulder County, FARMER DEREK, JB Sands Wetlands, ND-LEEF, Duke Farms, Little Miami Conservancy, Sharon Lee, Bluff City-ETSU, Superbeaks, Raptor Resource Project, PIX Cams, Kitty Carlyle, Window to Wildlife, Port Lincoln Osprey, Deb Stacy and Bald Eagles 101, and Amazon.

Thursday in Bird World

4 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Today’s posting may be short. I was away most of Wednesday and visitors will be here most of Thursday! It is time for homemade soup, Focaccia, and apple crisp. I also need a slight break from staring and counting the bites that Tuffie isn’t getting at Moorings Park.

When everything seems rather bleak, it is good to turn to a couple that can raise three eaglets, where the female has the nest under control, and where the Dad steps in and helps feed and keep the peace. That nest is the West End with Thunder and Akecheta. It is also Manton Bay at Rutland where Blue 33 has helped dear Maya when they had four!

There is a big difference in size between hatch 1 and 3 at the West End, but no matter. Both are thriving.

Our thoughts are with Meadow and his sibling, Swampy, and Abby and Blaze at the Eagle Country nest after Meadow was blown off the nest during high winds on Wednesday. Meadow was on the branch safe at the time of writing. Meadow is 64 days old today. The average age of an eaglet to fledge in Florida is 11 weeks or 77 days.

Perched for the night. (more images below)

It is so difficult to watch a nest that is struggling and that is certainly what is happening at Moorings Park. It began with the transition to the Reptilian Phase and a perceived drop and lateness in fish deliveries by the eldest chick, Ruffy. The question is: will Tuffie get enough fish to survive this period?

Osprey chicks typically double their weight by day 7 or day 8. Between days 8-10, the soft grey down they hatched with is replaced by a wooly charcoal coloured down. They become more mobile in the nest. The data records that ‘H’ and I have kept indicate that it is during this period of time when the Reptilian phase begins that the chicks are most ferocious if fish is not plentiful. Darker feathers on their heads begin to appear – a kind of black oily spot and some gorgeous copper red ones down at the nape of the neck. When they are about three weeks old, the primaries, secondaries, and the rectories begin to appear.

          The chicks are kept warm by their buff-colored plumage of down feathers called the first down. The crop develops within the first week of its life, which stores food so that the chicks don’t need to be fed very frequently. They usually double their weight in the first week of their lives. Under normal conditions, a nest will settle, and the fear of siblicide will pass as the osplets leave the Reptilian phase. That is, of course, not always the case. There are exceptions, and Port Lincoln certainly showed us in its past history that chicks are not safe, even at 42 or 65 days of age, if the eldest is determined to kill them.

Tuffie keeps his beak open and is begging for food and there is none on the nest when Ruffy is asleep. I have seen females hide food or keep food back to feed these little ones. Sally is not doing this.

Tuffie got only a few bites. Nothing more. Ruffy had a crop. I am in the seventh year of my twenty-year siblicide study. It is never easy. In fact, it seems to get more difficult to observe every year, every nest.

In contrast, Duke Farm’s Mum found scraps in the nest and made sure both Leaper and Jersey had some bites.

The rain is coming down and is expected to continue for several days. The eaglets, Leaper and Jersey, will be banded at the end of this week. What an enlightened nest! Wish each nest on streaming cams would band their chicks. Thank you Duke Farms!

There are now three osplets on the University of Florida-Gainesville nest of Talon and Stella.

The three at Little Miami Conservancy are doing well. Mum even changes the side of the nest from where she is feeding to make sure all three get prey.

The first egg for the Patchogue Ospreys on Long Island was laid on Wednesday.

Maureen posted these images of Meadow on Naturechat. Meadow is still on the branch, can flap its wings, and is safe. Not back in the nest but the parents can feed it there.

Parents know where Meadow is and are caring for their second hatch.

We can see Richmond and Rosie – barely. They are quite a distance from the Whirley Crane and its camera.

Louis is keeping Dorcha supplied with fish!

As we sit and ache for dear Meadow on the branch and longing for Tuffie to have a real good meal, imagine why a person would kill over 3000 eagles? Have a read. This is horrible…

Man-pleads-guilty-to-eagle-killing-spree-BirdGuidesDownload

There was a confirmed pip in egg two at Fraser Point for Andor and Cruz Wednesday evening.

No eaglets. No matter. Their bond is strong. Our beloved Jackie and Shadow will forge ahead. — I am starting to wonder if they laid their eggs later if they might have more success or is it only the altitude and not the altitude and the weather.

I am not sure what is being served up, but the two Decorah eaglets are warm and DNF is making sure they are both fed in cold damp conditions.

There are two at Centreport. It wasn’t an April Fool’s joke.

Still no sign of Elen after some days at Glaslyn. Aran is now ‘considering’ Blue 372.

Mice. Introduced by humans to Marion Island continue to injury or kill both the Albatross adults and the chicks.

The New Forest in the UK has received funds to help with the restoration of wetlands, bogs, meadows, and heaths. Congratulations.

New-Forest-habitat-restoration-scheme-awarded-significant-grant-BirdGuidesDownload

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, J, L, R’, IWS/Explore, Eagle Country, Moorings Park, Duke Farms, U of Florida-Gainesville Osprey Cam, Little Miami Conservancy, PSEG, Maureen and Naturechat, SF Bay Ospreys, Erica Crowley, Geemeff, BirdGuides, Gracie Shepherd, SK Hideaways, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Centreport Eagle Cam, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, and Agreement on the Conservation of Albatross and Petrels.