Category Archives: peregrine falcons

Darling Fledges…Thursday in Bird World

27 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Oh, the solar-powered fountain for the bird bath has arrived. It is not as hot today, only 20 C. I will see if anyone enjoys it. – Well, not so far. I think they are afraid of the shower.

It is nice to wake up and converse with people thousands of miles away about Ospreys and their lack of food. I am specifically speaking of Menhaden in the Northeast US but, of course, warming water and pollution plus overfishing in other areas cause huge problems as well for our beloved fish eating raptors. What the folks at Menhaden – Little Fish, Big Deal and I hope to do is bring enough attention to bear on the issue of Osprey population decimation due to lack of fish that we can cause a ban on commercial fishing and get all of the authorities involved in cleaning up areas and restoring them as clean natural habitats. I am certain that those in the 1970s calling for a DDT ban faced similar challenges and the Osprey, at the time, was the canary in the mine. They certainly are again. It would be fantastic if each of us could add a voice and make a huge difference. We would all sleep better at night.

Our Ospreys in the NE USA depend on the Menhaden. Educate yourself with what is happening. This is one FB group that will. I will also post articles in the coming days.

So today I am reaching out to those watching osprey nests anywhere along the eastern coast of the US or on the Mississippi. If you have seen a nest fail, a nest where there has been a lack of food and chicks die, please send me the name of the nest and the link to the camera or web page, if possible, and anything you can remember. If you know what kind of fish they were primarily eating, even more better. Dale Neal writes to me, “Thank you, if we can show there are issues in other places along the coast, that could be large. I know herring forage fish populations are also an issue in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, not sure how many of the osprey problems further north may be related to that.” Any information will help, no matter how small and even how insignificant you might think it is. Every piece adds up to the big picture of depleted fishing stocks. Thank you so much – from the tip of my tiny little toe.

My first thought is that inland osprey nests are doing better than those along the East Coast and up in Washington and BC. This has to be proven – or disproven. If it is true (except for severe weather issues) then why? Is it a lack of fish? warm waters? over commercial fishing? or all of the above?

Let’s go with the bad news first and that comes from ‘PB’ who has been watching the Cowlitz PUD nest and Steelscape. The third hatch at Cowlitz PUD is starving to death. It has had little food for the past 2 days. It sounds cold. It is no longer trying to eat, even if a big fish is there. Poor thing. Their organs begin to go and something like cancer patients, the desire to eat leaves them. It is terrible. And it is happening repeatedly at nests we cannot see due to a sheer lack of food. I have yet to learn precisely what is happening in this area this year. Still, historically, it has been difficult because of competition with eagles who take the fish from the Osprey, according to Cowlitz PUD staff.

Electra is off the nest and may have gone fishing. Send this nest your positive energy.

In the UK, attention is coming to the plight of the Golden Eagles and the Peregrine Falcons with some good news coverage of the people who protect and help find evidence to convict.

South-Scotland-golden-eagles-peregrines-feature-on-BBCs-Countryfile-and-Landward-programmes-–-RapDownload

On Tuesday Finn had a tough day fishing. Only two came to the nest – very early morning and late evening. Iris was very anxious when he came in with a whole fish on Wednesday morning and she wanted to feed her babies and not let him take that fish. Finn was hungry, too and you can bet Iris was as well.

Everyone on the nest and kids still eating after 10.

Iris and Finn had a good meal with the kids.

Finn brought in another whopper! Is anyone going to be hungry?

Finnegan’s fish is huge. Iris called and he brought it to the nest. Oldest chick eating first, but we know that this fish is so big that both chicks will be filled to the brim with even some crop drops and Iris will have some nice fish, too. Finn ate the head.

Iris makes certain her smallest chick eats.

‘R’ sent us a great little clip from a local radio show about Iris and Finnegan. Thanks, ‘R’. I was so impressed with Dr Greene’s excitement. By now, Iris must be like his own daughter and he is cheering Finnegan on!!!!

https://www.npr.org/2024/06/26/nx-s1-5009211/followers-of-iris-the-osprey-celebrate-her-chicks-hatching

‘A’ comments on Finnegan and his fish: “No-one is going to go hungry on this nest. They ate last night from a fish Finn brought in around 6pm and they ate until they couldn’t eat any more and then Little Bob took a break and Big Bob kept eating, until Little Bob finally snapped out of his food coma and came back for seconds. There were still leftovers, which Finn claimed later. 

This morning, that fish came early and it was huge! Absolutely massive. Finn had removed the head, having gone fishing very early this morning. He’s being a really good dad. These chicks are going to make very little dent in this monstrous fish. It really is the biggest of the season so far I think. Again last night, he spent the whole night on the perch, protecting his family. He has been doing this for several consecutive nights now – perhaps a week. 

You could be right that he HAS done this before, but I still think he was very clumsy around the nest early on and has been learning quite a lot during the season. He is a quick learner, and his fathering is continuing to improve. So if he has, he is still very young. I cannot get over how handsome he is. Just a magnificent osprey. “

Oh, you have been waiting and they are back! The Dorset Eurasian Hobbies!!!!!!! They are incubating three eggs. There is a new basket for the birds and a new camera with IR. There is also a chatHere’s the link:

Precious osprey chicks in Latvia. It is estimated that the osprey population in Latvia has doubled since the 1990s with there being approximately 200 nesting couples in the forests. They make their nests on the tops of the tallest trees.

That second hatch at the Golden Eagle nest #2 in Estonia is truly brilliant. It is not having any difficulty self-feeding as compared to the #1 hatch who occasionally has problems. Both are doing well and this nest will really help inform studies on Golden Eagle behaviour. Plenty of food, good parenting – there does not have to be siblicide.

Great Bay Trio look fantastic.

At Field Farm, even Mini Little is getting some nice juvenile feathers.

Four beautiful civilised Bobs at the Poole Harbour nest of CJ7 and Blue 022. If you ever get to Poole Harbour, go for the Osprey cruise. You might get to see one of these amazing ospreys.

‘MM’ writes: ” found a new nest today but I’m sure it’s already on your radar but If not there are two more of the cutest chicks to add to your list. They are so little and absolutely adorable 😍  I only had a chance to watch one feeding today but will keep an eye on them as much as time allows me. From what I learned through a quick Google search the nest is on a horse ranch in Montana. Attacking a pic of the two cuties. Have a great day.” I haven’t had a chance to check on Swoop and Winnie. I am so glad that ‘MM’ did. Aren’t they adorable!?

Loveland Colorado osplets doing really well, too. Gosh they are lovely in those juvenile feathers.

Gorgeous babies at the Mashpee NWR MA osplet platform. There are three of them- oh, they are feathered and appear to be really healthy.

Did anyone follow the Pleasant Hill Osprey Platform in Perrysville, Ohio?

Two beauties at the Blackwater Refuge in Cambridge, MA.

We are sadly up to 86 on the Memorial Wall. The second osplet at Terrapin Cove in New Jersey died from lack of fish on Wednesday. Fell off nest.

The surviving chick at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum looks pretty good.

At the Allin’s Cove East nest, the adults continue to make adjustments to the rails. Will there be a hatch soon? Let’s hope!

LGL returns to feed the Royal Cam chick a squid smoothie.

Columbia science create an artificial tropical rain forest to try and save the Harpy Eagle.

In-Colombia-a-long-perilous-romance-to-save-the-harpy-eagleDownload

USS Steel Fledgling Lucky is believed to have been spotted after many worried about whether or not he had survived. Such good news.

The trio all lined up at Charlo Montana!

Once in awhile, Hope feeds her first hatch at the Newfoundland Power nest in Snow Lane.

‘H’ reports:

6/26 Audubon Boathouse osprey nest:  The chicks are 12 and 8-days-old, and have been named “Harbor” and “Gray.”  From AudubonGloria (Mod): “These names come from the two year-round seal species that are found in Maine, which can be frequently spotted right in Muscongus Bay off the Hog Island docks and Boat House.”  Young ‘Harbor’ has started to express its dominance over ‘Gray’, with some serious beaking and biting (aww, poor lil’ Gray!).  So far, this aggression has not seemed to prevent Gray from eating.

6/26 Forsythe osprey nest:  Sometimes one can try to piece together some missing nest history after a live stream has been down for a couple of days.  It seems as though fishing in the area has become difficult for Oscar and Opal.  There were only four fish delivered to the nest by Oscar today… two were small, one was tiny, and one was a good size fish.  I noticed that the dominance by the older sibling has returned after the nest had been peaceful for at least a week.  Big was aggressive and was trying to prevent Middle from eating.  Middle ate for five minutes at the longest meal, and only had five bites of fish at another meal.  Opal left the nest for a couple of extended periods, so she may have tried to fish as well.  The osplets are 36 and 35-days-old.

6/26 Osoyoos osprey nest:  They had a very good day.  There were only six fish brought to the nest before the live stream went down in the evening.  But, one fish was large and another fish was officially considered an Osoyoos Whopper!  The kids were all bug-eyed…they had never seen such a large fish.  Nicely done, Olsen!  Since there were no fish with tough skin, you can judge the mass of the fish by the duration of the meal times. The first five meals took Soo 8, 10, 12, 8, and 22 minutes to feed (there were no minnows today).  And, at 1715 Soo fed 1/2 of the whopper for 28 minutes!  That’s fantastic for this nest.

6/26 Patuxent River Park osprey nest:  It was banding day for the osplets…they all got their silver Federal bands.  They were banded in the morning, and there were no complimentary fish left on the nest by the banding crew.  So, their feedings got off to a late start, and perhaps due to the stress of banding, Big resumed her aggressive ways toward Little.  Nevertheless, they all ate very well today.

6/26 Captiva Osprey nest:  Some viewers are a little disappointed at this stage in the osplets life, because the oldest, Ding, acquires (sometimes after fierce battles) most of the fish brought to the nest.  This is fairly typical however, and Darling is not starving.  Darling did eat 1/2 catfish in the morning, and a small part of a catfish later in the day.  Jack is doing a fantastic job, and brought five fish for his youngsters today.  We also witnessed what appeared to be Ding making her first dive today!

But, the really BIG NEWS:  DARLING FLEDGED at 63 days of age!  Well, it wasn’t exactly planned…the siblings had been in a prolonged epic battle for the last fish of the day.  Then, trying a different tactic, Darling was playing it cool, trying to act all nonchalant, and sort of casually walked around Ding (but Ding was on to him, lol).  When Darling went for the grab, Ding made a big wing slap at Darling, and in order to avoid the strike, Darling propelled himself off the nest.  It was actually a nice take off, and he immediately flew!  Darling flew two circuits around the nest area.  Darling did not return to the nest in the evening.

Sydney Sea Eagles, Lady laid her first egg. ‘J’ adds: “27th June, 2024 – 17:28 Lady finally laid her first egg of 2024! Dad joined Lady in the nest bowl, till he realised he wasn’t going to be able to help. Lady then got down to business and a few minutes later, one big push and SE33 arrived.”

https://www.facebook.com/Sea.EagleCAM

Thank you, Heidi. My goodness that is good news at Osoyoos! Congratulations Darling and well, the season has begun down under!

Geemeff brings us her report for all the activities at Loch Arkaig:

Daily summary Wednesday 26th June 2024

Well, there’s not a lot to say – Louis seems to be having a rest as he only delivered one fish to the nest, and that was merely the remains of his large meal, and then spent the rest of the day perched nearby. Dorcha fed it to the chicks and got very little herself.  She kept calling over to Louis without response – will he spring into action and go catch a fish before the day ends? His all-time late delivery record, set just a few days ago on the 23rd, is 23.45.37 so there was still time but no fish appeared. That one fish takes his tally to two hundred and fifty. No action on Nest One today, there was a bit of light rain overnight, and more expected tonight with a forecast of light rain showers and a gentle breeze.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 00.09.10 (02.06.06); Nest Two 23.34.54 (03.49.01)  

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/AITavG2FXxw Fish number one, small trout remnant, Dorcha gets very little 11.51.50

Bonus read – BTO history of ringing (you might be surprised at how long it’s been carried out): 

https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/bird-ringing-scheme/about-ringing/history-ringing

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

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

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, MM, PB, R’, Dale Neal, Raptor Persecution UK, MontanaOsprey Project, npr.org, Dorset Hobby Camera, LDF, Eagle Club of Estonia, Great Bay, Field Farm, BoPH, Dunrovin Ranch, Pam Breci, HDonTap, Ildiko A Pork, MN Landscape Arboretum, Allin’s Cove East, Cornell Bird Lab, pays.org, Gracie Shepherd, Charlo Montana, Newfoundland Power (Snow Lane), Audubon Boat House, Forsythe Ospreys, Osoyoos Osprey Cam, Patuxent River Park, Window to Wildlife, Sea Eagle Cam, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust.

Wednesday in Bird World

26 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

I hope that the first half of the week has treated you well. Thank you so much for your notes and the news that you sent that arrived in my Inbox this morning (Wednesday). I will put those great items in for tomorrow! So appreciated.

I could not believe the number of Blue Jays in the garden Tuesday afternoon. A pest control person would say we have an ‘infestation’ of Blue Jays – there were 16 in the garden at once. No, not some flying in and out and being counted twice, but sixteen! What an amazing feeling to see so many. Ever since I was luring Calico into the house and met people from another street near where I live, I realised that many people were feeding the birds and the feral cats. It has helped to increase the population numbers.

Below are some lousy images taken through the conservatory windows with the iPhone.

Too many choices!

This one loved digging in the plant pot.

This Blue Jay really wanted a peanut, but one of Dyson’s kits was on the table feeder. This one is also moulting but have a look at those beautiful markings especially around the eye. Looks like it has been practising the latest look with the kohl markers.

The markings around the eye are entirely different on this one. Gosh, I love Blue Jays. These images will go in the file form last summer to see if I can identify any of the birds.

Hope is almost ready for her first birthday and she has the most beautiful eyes. She has only to stare at me and I melt – not beautiful Baby Blues but Baby Greens.

Hugo Yugo has the most beautiful tail. It is as big as she is!

While Omega is taking record catches of Menhaden (its quota), the Ospreys in the Bay area are noted to be having difficulty finding food. This is the saddest thing I can think of. The ASMFC makes the quota and every state is represented. IF we want our ospreys to have food and not have their population completely decimated then the people that make quota decisions need to understand that commercial fishing of Menhaden needs to stop and stop now. The list of those decision-makers is below.

I also learned this: “The Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay are two separate ecosystems.Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) uses ocean only survey data from NOAA on Menhaden to set an Ocean and Bay quota. No wonder the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem is on the verge of collapse – the 112M lb Bay quota is set by throwing darts.” (Brain Collins, Menhaden – Little Fish, Big Deal FB).

Commissioners-Atlantic-States-Marine-Fisheries-CommissionDownload

‘EJ’ sent me some great news about the intentional release of balloons. In Florida, it is now against the law. You can still have balloons, you just cannot intentionally let them fly free. But what about those accidents? Now can we get an all out ban on the use of balloons for anything? Just ban them. People who leave them tied to the gate posts on their drive cause as much trouble as those who release them into the air. They still get into the environment. Just take the big step and ban them.

DeSantis-signs-law-banning-intentional-release-of-balloons-Fox-NewsDownload

A Himalyan Vulture has been photographed in Armenia for the first time.

Western-Palearctics-first-Himalayan-Vulture-photographed-in-Armenia-BirdGuidesDownload

England is getting another protected area in Cumbria. It may be baby steps to some but any success is worth the effort!!!!!

Englands-largest-rainforest-becomes-protected-reserve-BirdGuidesDownload

Waiting for hatch at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.

All is well with CJ7 and Blue 022 at Poole Harbour and their four osplets. One is wanting to nibble and get that fish away from Dad!

The two Golden Eaglets at Estonian nest 2 Kaljukotkas are the sweetest things. Yes, you read that right! Prey was brought in and older sibling left some for the younger. Seriously it doesn’t get much better than that!

Aran and Elen’s trio at Glaslyn are marvellous. I can’t wait til they are ringed. What an idyllic spot to hatch! The sound of cows and sheep, the beautiful green of the Welsh countryside. They will be ringed shortly.

The two surviving chicks at Maryland’s Western Shore nest are really wanting to self feed. Mum still likes to control those fish!

They are very loud – oh, that beautiful sound of an osplet fish crying. And they are the size of their parents.

Nox and Annie – you might want to turn down the volume!

‘PB’ reports that in the late afternoon the third hatch at Steelscape finally had a crop! The little one has had trouble getting any food. We are concerned.

The baby had a tough time at Cowlitz PUD today, too, but ‘PB’ counted 50 nice sized bites of fish at the last feeding. That is not good but might be survivable providing more fish comes in early on Wednesday. A confirmed late evening large fish has arrived. The two older chicks ate their fill. Little three had nothing.

Marders Only Bob is doing very well.

I have to remind myself that those tiny third hatches can survive when I look at Blackbush. I am thinking of Tiny Little Blue 464 at Foulshaw Moss, Tiny Little at Achieva in 2021, Little Mini aka Tiny Dancer at Patchogue…but they have to have spunk and a bit of creativity to get to that fish.

Looking at the two osplets at Bridge Golf Course you might not notice that there is concern for the leg of the second hatch.

Geemeff sends us the Loch Arkaig Daily Summary – thank you, Geemeff!

Daily summary Tuesday 25th June 2024

A day with few fish but plenty of good manners, and confirmation of two chicks on the Bunarkaig nest (thanks Chaddie), whose parents may or may not be Prince & Affric 152. Louis only delivered three fish today, none of them especially big, so Dorcha gave the two chicks, who queued up politely and took turns, most of the fish and only took a little for herself. Louis’ tally rises to two hundred and forty nine (249), although judging by his bulging crop, he may well have caught more than three today. Dorcha took out her hunger on some sticks and the chicks paid close attention making sure to keep out of her way. Garry LV0 paid several visits to Nest One, bringing nesting materials and doing housekeeping as well as perching quietly and preening. The weather was settled today, and more of the same tonight with a forecast of light clouds, light winds and a low of 12 °C.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 00.18.32 (03.29.13); Nest Two (04.08.47)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/K3WvjHDOV-M N2 Fish number one, not much left for Dorcha 09.29.00

https://youtu.be/Z_3zm3AQWgc N1 Garry LV0 brings bedding but only stays a short time 12.04.22

https://youtu.be/Y2Gv_Oh4iNk N1 Garry returns and does some nest prep 14.45.25 

https://youtu.be/dFLYF7Ayh0E  N2 Fish number two, chicks queue politely 16.44.47

https://youtu.be/ySDyxYVtZpw  N2 Personages with long sticks 17.17.01 (Classic Ospreys – Saint-Saëns)

https://youtu.be/4vw_4rNXK2g N2 Fish number three, small headless trout, Dorcha gets hardly any 20.02.23

Bonus shopping – bag a bargain in Woodland Trust’s sale – every purchase made from WT’s shop funds vital work to plant and protect trees and woods across the UK: https://shop.woodlandtrust.org.uk/summer-sale

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

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

Oh, look at my guy. Blue 33! He is delivering fish #10 at 20:18 for Maya to feed their Only Bob. Oh, there are nests that could only dream about this number and size of fish. So what is the difference? Rutland has a stocked pond.

Blue 1H0 has the same ‘snake eyes’ as Daddy Blue 33. Just gorgeous.

Oh, Iris. You are looking tired to me. But you are taking such good care of those babies.

On Tuesday, it appeared that Finn had trouble fishing with only this very early morning fish. Will there be another? What is the problem?

Darling Finn brought in the second fish of the day for Iris and their babies. Thanks, ‘PB’. Was he on security duty all day? or was fishing particularly difficult? That was a huge gap in time.

SF Bay Ospreys are giving us a 26 day report – that is the age of the oldest of the two chicks of Rosie and Richmond. It is now half way to fledge. Gosh, time passes so quickly.

Anna and Andrew’s Beautiful Lesser Spotted Eaglet at Zemgale, Latvia, Ieva. Several voles coming in for food. I wonder how many small mammals are available in the forest for food? Have the population of small mammals changed in the area?

Selgas and Svinga have at least one miracle little osplet in that nest in Latvia. I strained my eyes to try and see if there were two of them on Tuesday.

And yes, it was a second little head. Thanks, ‘J’.

In Newfoundland, the first egg has hatched at the nest of Hope and Beaumont in Snow Lane.

It’s raining and it is unclear to me if the baby has been fed.

‘A’ keeps us up to date on what is happening with Dad and Lady in the Sydney Olympic Forest: “Meanwhile, an egg is surely just around the corner at WBSE: June 25: After some time on the nest, standing and keeping us in suspense, Lady went to her sleeping branch and slept quietly for the rest of the night. Both woke early, with several early morning duets and finally mating at 6:25. Both were away just before 7am. Dad returned with a small bream, head eaten, and left it on the nest at 7:13. Both eagles were seen from the river at 7:50, one at River Roost, the other near Ironbark Roost in the forest. Dad returned and took the fish himself just after 9am. He brought a stick in just before 10am, followed by Lady, and left again after a little work. Both returned just before 11am, Dad with another stick. Both left again, no prey. Dad was back again an hour later, followed by Lady – no prey – and off again. Then he brought a leafy twig, again followed by Lady – then she was off again. Dad returned with a big whiting at 16:19, quickly claimed by Lady and taken off to eat at Ironbark Roost. She returned the last scrap to the nest at 16:48. Later, at last light, both were on the nest, then moved to nearby branches for the evening. Will tonight be the night?

Syracuse University confirms that Oren and Ruth’s two Red-tail Hawklets fledged.

‘H’ sends her great reports!

6/25 Colonial Beach Osprey nest: Yay!  Betty and David now have two lil’ babies.  Their second baby hatched at approximately 17:48.  One more egg to go.

6/25 Fortis Exshaw:  Things are going very well for this family…Harvie brings in so much fish, that there is no feeling of food insecurity by the osplets.  Two years ago, Louise and Jasper fledged three chicks.  Last year, Jasper disappeared early in the season, and Louise had a difficult time fishing for her three young kids, while at the same time dealing with some really mean intruders.  Louise had some assistance for a few weeks by another male, Mr. O.  He brought fish and helped with nest security, but I fear that Mr. O may have also been a victim of the intruders.  Only one osplet of three fledged.  That was Banff.  Fingers crossed for Louise and her new family this year.

6/25 Osoyoos osprey nest:  In my mind, fish size is relative to any given nest.  A ‘whopper’ at Osoyoos would be considered a medium sized fish at many other nests.  Olsen mostly brings tiny, small, and medium sized fish to the nest, and rarely is he able to catch a large fish.  There are variables such as: is the fish headless, is the fish thin or thick (fish mass)?  I like to judge by how long it takes Soo to feed her three kids from any given fish.  From my observations: A feeding from a tiny fish only takes Soo 3-4 minutes to feed, 5-7 minutes for a small fish, 8-10 minutes for a medium sized fish, and 11-15 minutes for a large fish.  This is not a perfect system by any means…a tough fish will take longer to feed, and if Soo becomes distracted for a bit, that will prolong a feeding.  There were ‘only’ five feedings for the osplets today, down from their average of 7-9 meals per day.  No aggression was observed during any of the feedings.  The meals lasted (in minutes of duration): 5, 11, 5, 8, and 15 minutes.   The chicks are growing rapidly, and their appetites are increasing.  Due to the size of the fish, Olsen needs to catch a whole lot of fish for this hungry brood in order to prevent any food insecurity.  Fingers crossed.

6/25 Forsythe osprey nest: The live stream had been down for 2.5 days, and upon return of the stream just before noon today, we saw one of the osplets self-feeding.  And, after a while, the other chick stole the fish and also self-fed.  The self-feeding is a new development.  The 35 and 34-day-old osplets are looking good.

6/25 Mispillion Harbor osprey nest:  Della and Warren are doing a great job, and this family is doing well.  The 29 and 28-day-old osplets are simply gorgeous (this is one of my home nests…so I’m a little biased, lol).

In Oklahoma, excessive heat is killing songbirds. Many Robins found dead. Some people are putting frozen gel packs in their water bowls and bird baths to help keep the water cool. Please put out water for all the feathered friends and critters! Shallow dishes with pebbles help. Food if you can, but water is so important. Thank you and thank you to everyone who sent me a note to say they are doing their part with providing water. You are saving lives. Smile. Every little bit helps.

It is about that time. 1 July in Canada and the 4th in the US. And I am sure there are celebrations elsewhere. I continue to imagine celebrations without things that harm the wildlife – like balloons and fireworks. Just think what the money spent on fireworks could do to help non-humans and humans.

Persuade your community that there are alternatives – that might even include a free picnic for everyone. Anything but fireworks and balloons.

Final note: The little one at Cowlitz had no fish from the first feed at Cowlitz PUD and the same at Steelscape. So sad.

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, posts, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: A, EJ, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, Brian Collins, ASMFC, FOX News, BirdGuides, Trent University, BoPH, Eagle Club of Estonia, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home, SK Hideaways, Steelscape Osprey Cam, Cowlitz PUD, Marders, Blackbush, Bridge Golf, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, LRWT, Montana Osprey Project, SF Bay Ospreys, LDF, Newfoundland Power, Sea Eagle Cam, SU Hawk Nest Cam, Colonial Beach, Fortis-Exshaw, Osoyoos, Mispillion Harbour, Forsythe, and Spay-Neuter Coalition of NM,

2 kg female osplet ringed in Wales…Tuesday in Bird World

25 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone!

‘The Girls’ and I are sitting in the conservatory despite the high temperature. It is 29 C. We have gotten hotter in the summers, but everything feels strange – like a big storm coming. The trees are twirling around and the clouds are moving quickly covering up the sun and yet, there is no prediction of anything happening. Cold water has been put out for the birds and more food for the Corvids as they are feeding babies and fledglings are coming to the garden now. I hope to get some good images of them one day.

I am not complaining. I understand from ‘MM’ that it is 96 F with a heat index of 101 in North Carolina. This is why all those osprey babies (and eagles) should hatch in the winter. So much better!

The garden is a shady paradise in the lilacs and the tunnel created with the vines and other trees. There is also shade on the deck in the late afternoon. The birds come out to feed again after having a siesta.

Junior wants a peanut but Dyson is there.

So he decides to have a bath.

It is hot everywhere. Please remember to leave out shallow bowls of water for the animals. You will save their lives. Water is more important than food when the heat is so high. Even pie pans with water – put try and put them in the shade. Thank you.

This just puts a smile on my face. Someone doing something to help birds. Enter mosquitoes to the Hawaiian Islands.

Millions-of-mosquitoes-released-in-Hawaii-to-save-rare-birds-from-extinction-Hawaii-The-GuardianDownload

Idris and Telyn have set a record at the Dyfi nest in Wales. One of the females broke the weight record for a chick ringed in Wales. She came in over 2 kg. Here is the announcement with the names of the osplets!

That is incredible. ‘Daddy Longlegs’ Idris has really been hauling in the fish. Even that male has a nice healthy weight.

‘MM’ sends news that we have the first hatch at Colonial Beach. It is hot there. 31.3 C or 88 F. Chick has already had its first feeding! Well done, Betty and David. See also ‘H’s report below on this nest.

Iris’s oldest chick is rather precocious. It is already nibbling on the fish!

‘A’ comments on something magical: “Finn brought in a leftover chunk of fish at about 18:44 and just stands with it on the nest for about 25 minutes. Finally, he starts nibbling at it and Iris stands up, but Finn just keeps eating himself. Baby Bob spots who has the fish and is promptly over to dad, although both chicks already have good crops. It takes dad a while to stop feeding his face (and giving the odd bite to Iris) and start feeding Little Bob, and then he looks the wrong way when dad offers him fish, but around 19:16 a feeding of sorts begins. Soon, Big Bob sees what is happening and lumbers up behind Little Bob but does not interfere. Dad leans over to feed the older chick and at this point, he gives up on eating and starts feeding the two osplets in turn. It is wonderful to watch. This guy really is a keeper. He has a bit to learn about leaving leftovers on the nest and if he is only going to catch two or three whoppers a day, to bring them back more than once so they represent more than one feeding, but none of that will matter shortly, when they are big enough to handle fewer, larger feeds. 

Finn has been an amazing first-time dad, guarding his family and the territory with great dedication and bringing in enough fish to feed the family (albeit his delivery schedule needs a little adjustment – see above). He has fed Iris on several occasions when she is tired or when it is wet, and now, he is feeding the osplets as well. This is one fantastic dad in the making. And Iris has chosen well. “

‘B’ writes that we have fledges! “Fledges at both Fraser Point and Bald Canyon this morning — the second FP chick (usually referred to as Reign) at 8:32:09 and Selene at BC at 10:07:54.  Reign was back on an adjacent branch at 10:38:06 and on the nest proper within a minute…So all the Channel Islands eaglets that are on nest cams have now fledged.” Congratulations everyone. A wonderful year!

‘B’ also sent us a link to an article in The Washington Post. Do you think the Bald Eagle is the official bird of the United States? Have a read!

Opinion | You probably think this is our national bird. Think again.

‘TU’ has sent us some news. A pair of Egyptian Geese took over a stork nest. Their chicks took the leap this morning. Video below.

In Montreal, Peregrine Falcon chick Polo fledges! Beautiful flight. Oh, how I hate those windows.

Let’s catch up with the news from ‘H’:

6/24 Colonial Beach Virginia osprey nest:  Congratulations to Betty and David on the hatch of their first baby!

6/24 Barnegat Light osprey nest:  Even though Daisy and Duke did not have any eggs this season, they continue to hang out together in the bay area.  We are delighted when they grace us with their presence on camera.  Theirs is a love story.

6/24 The Osoyoos osprey nest had another nice day. They had nine feedings, and all three of the osplets had good crops.  Meal times remained peaceful, but I did catch a pretty good beaking battle in between meals, and that kerfuffle was started by Little!

6/24  Fenwick Island osprey nest (Capt Mac’s fish House):  Okay now…I am starting to be impressed.  June is keeping her leftover fish, saving it for more feedings, and she is feeding longer.  Just look at the crop on that lil’ 10-day-old osplet.  Now, that’s what I’m talking about!

6/24 Patuxent River Park osprey nest:  It was a veritable fish-feast-day.  There were a total of six long meals throughout the day .  Something really cool happened in the afternoon… At 1410 Mom brought a large fish to the nest (first fish for her this season), and two minutes later Dad landed in the nest with a large fish.  A dual feeding took place, with Dad primarily feeding the two older siblings for 1/2 hour before he left with half his fish.  And, Mom primarily fed Little.  She continued to feed everyone from her fish after Dad left, and her fish lasted an hour.  

6/24 Captiva ospreys:  The day started off with a surprise for Ding and Darling when they had a visitor in the middle of the night…a young heron landed in the nest for a short period of time.  The kids maintained their cool, but we’ve never seen their eyes so big!  Jack brought three fish to the nest today, and Darling had his very own hardhead catfish.  He was able to unzip it, and ate the whole fish.  Edie was last seen on cam on 6/23, but there have been sightings of an adult osprey landing in a nearby tree, and some believe that they have heard Edie.  It is believed that Edie is taking a short break, and that her absence from the nest has nothing to do with the fishing line incident of 6/21.  After the fishing line incident, Edie delivered fish to the nest on 6/21, 6/22, and 6/23, and she seemed just fine.

Thanks so much, ‘H’. That Fenwick Island baby is too cute – and oh, so full! Love it.

That little osplet in Kurzeme Latvia is also so cute. OK. They are all cute little dinosaurs.

Four hot ospreys at Field Farm. Little Mini is getting its feathers.

Birds of Poole Harbour Fab Four are deliriously wonderful. CJ7 and Blue 022. I can’t tell you how much I adore them.

And then there is Louis at Loch Arkaig that brought in a fish at midnight to Dorcha. Yes, midnight. Do ospreys hunt in the dark? how light was it in Scotland at midnight? Oh, I just wish I could send one of those fish over to Osoyoos.

Geemeff’s Daily Summary for Loch Arkaig: Monday 24th June 2024

The day started out a bit soggy but soon improved, and Louis had a bit of a lie-in after yesterday’s midnight fish, not turning up until lunchtime with today’s first fish. He followed it up with three more, taking his tally to two hundred and forty six. Dorcha had fun with a stick but was left hungry as the growing chicks devoured most of the fish, however the arrival of a large 11pm fish supper meant she didn’t end the day hungry. The nest seems to be getting a little crowded now that the chicks are mobile and stretching out their suddenly long wings, perhaps that’s why one chick took a pop at the other and a short sharp fight broke out. There was much discussion on the forum about which chick is which as it’s getting very difficult to tell them apart. Garry LV0 turned up on Nest One again today, bringing nesting materials and doing a bit of nest scraping. Is this a frustration eyrie? Whatever his motives, it’s good to see him. Tonight’s forecast is light rain and light winds, luckily although the chicks are too big to fit under Dorcha, their preen glands are coming through and they’re starting to get some waterproofing. 

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 00.15.51 (02.48.23); Nest Two (03.32.32)

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

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

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/Alfrd7novqE  N1 Garry LV0 arrives early and does some nest prep 06:15:01 

https://youtu.be/fs7pwvQ359g N2 Fish number one, small whole trout, chicks queue politely 12.45.07

https://youtu.be/iQA9jIPeDsE N2 Fight! Is the nest getting too crowed? Chicks have a pop 13.01

https://youtu.be/opTBHM-Q3jk N2 Dorcha brings a stick and hangs it round Chick1’s neck 14.28.44

https://youtu.be/ryxHF_M71io N2 Fish number two, big whole trout, Dorcha gets hardly any of it 15.30.25

https://youtu.be/45KVDHPY0x40 N2 Fish number three, headless small trout, soon finished, Dorcha’s still hungry 17.08.47 

https://youtu.be/Ijm7ts7aZGk N2 Fish number four, whole trout, Dorcha tucks in immediately 23.05.25

Bonus read – Flights, Camera, Action! Postcode Lottery discuss their sponsorship of the nest cam:

https://www.postcodelottery.co.uk/postcode-hub/news/flights-camera-action

Blackbush. Sometimes dual feedings. Sometimes Dad feeding Mum who feeds babies. Send this nest hope. We have seen these little ones before survive. Tiny Dancer. Tiny Little. Blue 464. It depends on the amount of prey and the willingness of the parents to work hard to keep all of them alive – just like CJ7 and Blue 022 are doing.

Beautiful fledglings back on the VIMS nest.

Once in awhile you will catch a fledgling on the Frenchman’s Creek nest. These kids are gorgeous. Look at that clean nest!

Looks like Tuffy had a couple of nice fish today on the Moorings Park nest. These kids of Harry and Sally are gorgeous.

It was 26 C in Osoyoos today. Tomorrow will be 27 – and believe me, it is hotter on the top of an osprey nest than it is at ground level. Then there is to be rain. Oh, please give these babies some fish – some big fish because Soo and Olsen have to eat, too!

My goodness. The plumage on that baby at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is dark. Very pretty little osplet. The image shows Mum feeding the little one from the whole fish that Dad brought in around 1400. There had at least been one earlier fish. It is hot on that nest!

Oh, look at those fat little bottoms at Charlo Montana!

Winnie and Swoop have their second baby at Dunrovin on the 24th.

It is hot in Colorado. Pitkin County Mum is the perfect mumbrella keeping her babies cool. She fluffs her own feathers to keep herself cool as well.

I sure would like to see more fish in the heat at Cowlitz PUD but there are still three osplets that appear to be alright.

Beautiful baby at Clark PUD.

Boulder County Mum keeping their Only Bob cool and fed!

No love lost when it comes to food amounts San Jose fledglings!

Many of us are hoping to find out what happened to Redwood Queen and Zenith’s chick in the Big Sur Redwood Forest. We are joining the Ventana Wildlife Society’s Condor Chat which is on the last Thursday of the month. Very informative.

Got to the Ventana Wildlife Society website to sign up. The Condor chats are also archived and you can view them on YouTube.

Educate yourself about California Condors and the acute challenges they face. The Ventana Wildlife Society led the way in giving their flock vaccines for HPAI. Now they are helping others.

We have another Condor baby. Fingers crossed.

Decorah North continues to thrive despite the nest collapse.

Gorgeous Black Storks in Portugal.

Beautiful Mum at Port Lincoln Barge on the nest and eating a fish she caught and brought back quickly.

‘PB’ has been keeping an eye on Cowlitz PUD and Steelscape. She writes, “I just checked both Cowlitz and Steelcase since they are both in the same area. Fish seems to be coming in slow and far apart, keeping #1 grouchy and getting most of the food. Steelcase is worrisome to me for #3. It’s is constantly bullied by #1 when food arrives. Even bullies away #2. #3 Steelcase could use more fish. #3 managed to bravely grab a few big pieces of the tail section on ladt fish but is hungry. Cowlitz little baby ate a good breakfast but not much after that. Last fish there was 4 hours ago. Still light out so hoping for a late fish but both places need larger fish to feed 3 mouths.”

Smile. Canada Geese enjoying the grass by an airport in Alabama. Thanks, ‘L’. It seems so odd seeing them with palm trees! Oh, I love the Canada Geese – and guess what? They are not the national bird of Canada. The Gray Jay is. Go figure.

And another smile. Ospreys rescued and in care. Thanks, ‘J’.

Menhaden are the primary fish of the Ospreys in the NE USA. If you want to know how bad the commercial fishing industry is impacting these life-giving little fish, you only have to go to the FB page – Menhaden – Little Fish, Big Deal. here is a post from this morning. This is seriously concerning and the commercial fishing needs to stop before the Osprey are completely wiped out. Of course Dophins and Whales eat Menhaden, too, and they are practically disappeared from the area.

Our friend Hob in Kauai sends us news of the first moli fledge for 2024. how wonderful!

Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care. If it is super hot where you live, drink lots of fluids. Consider putting water out for the animals even if you can’t see them – we have visitors during the night that eat and drink. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, letters, comments, questions, videos, images, posts, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, B, Geemeff, H, J, L, MM, MP, PB, TU’, The Guardian, Dyfi Osprey Project, Colonial Beach Ospreys, Montana Osprey Project, Montana Osprey Cams, Pam Breci, The Washington Post, Fenwick Island, Patuxent River Park, Osoyoos, Wildlife Conserve of NJ (Barnegat Light), Window to Wildlife, HorstsHorst, Montreal Falcon Cam, LDF, BoPH, Geemeff, Blackbush, VIMS, Frenchman’s Creek, Moorings Park Ospreys, Osoyoos Ospreys, MN Landscape Arboretum, Charlo Montana, Ashley Wilson, Pitkin County Open Spaces and Trails, Clark PUD, Boulder County, SK Hideaways, Ventana Wildlife Society, Lady Hawk, Tajo International, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Polk County Animal Control, Menhaden-Little Fish, Big Deal FB, and Hob Osterlund.

Monday in Bird World

24 June 2024

Oh, good morning. We are celebrating today. We have a late hatch baby osplet in Latvia!!!!!!!! Oh, tears and jumping up and down. Oh, please let this little one be safe. It appears the second egg has a hole in it. Just overjoyed. Ospreys are so rare in Latvia. Everyone must be celebrating. Congratulations Selgas and Svinga.

The Estonian Osprey nest of M1 and IIris has sadly failed. The ospreys continue to visit the nest on occasion. M1 has covered the egg on and off. The camera is now offline.

There is sad news coming from the Finnish Osprey nest at Seili. First two eggs did not hatch. The third did hatch and was predated by a Crow.

Look at those two beautiful osplets, fully feathered, in Napiwodzko-Ramucka in Poland.

The two Golden Eaglets in Estonia nest #2 are doing so well. It is late on Sunday and no food has arrived yet. They had good ‘ps’ early in the day.

The name given to the only Golden Eagle on the Estonian nest #1 is Diana.

The two gorgeous Eastern Imperial Eagles in Tatarstan RU are doing so well.

The Lesser Spotted Eaglet, Ieva, in Zemgale, Latvia is so cute. It is beginning to get its feathers. Mum Anna spends much time preening her little one. One thing I have found interesting is when Ieva casts a pellet, Anna will often share that pellet with Ieva as food again. There were lots of frogs on the menu for the 23rd, Sunday. After so many, many frogs, Andris shows up with a vole. I have not seen him on the nest recently so this is fantastic.

The first time the chicks in the Tweed Valley nest of Mrs O have seen the sun in 21 days. It must feel wonderful and it will dry out that nest. So many lost to weather. Glad to see these three nicely feathered and surviving!

The three osplets at the Oxford, MA nest (camera run by Oxfordma.us) look to be almost completely feathered and extremely healthy. A little older than the ones in Tweed Valley.

The four osplets at Field Farm are drying out after heavy rains.

Dad got the fish in and Little Mini is at the beak at Field Farm!

At Bridge Golf, both osplets had a nice fish lunch.

Fish on the nest at Moorings Park and Ruffy watches the water.

At the US Steel Bald Eagle nest of Irvin and Claire, their only eaglet, Lucky, fledged on Sunday! Congratulations everyone.

And now there is concern for Lucky. Send positive wishes.

Three babies at Blackush so far looking good. Weather is off and on miserable.

Last breeding season, the lovely Marders nest failed. All the chicks died for no apparent reason. The owner of the property followed all advice and protocols and had them picked up for a necroscopy. It is possible they were too decomposed. This year, the family has one two week old osplet and two DNH eggs.

Two beautiful fledglings returning to the nest for fish at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science platform.

Mum at Pitkin County working hard to keep her three osplets cool in the rising heat of Colorado.

Rainy, hot, and humid at Great Bay. It finally dries up. Three gorgeous osplets.

‘H’ hasher reports for us!

6/23 The Osoyoos osprey nest continues to do well.  The 13, 15, and 16-day-old chicks are looking good.  There were 8 feedings that I saw.  There was no sign of sibling rivalry or aggression.  Some of the fish were tiny, but some were medium in size.  Little missed out on the first meal that consisted of a small fish, because he was sleepy and waited to approach…”He who hesitates….”  Little only ate two bites of fish at the second meal, because the fish was so tiny.  Later, Little ate his/her share at the other meals, right up at Soo’s beak, side by side with the big kids.

6/23 Fortis Exshaw osprey nest:  Harvie is an excellent fisher, and he delivered three whoppers and a smaller fish today.  There were 8 meals, some of which consisted of leftovers from the whoppers.  There was no sign of aggression at the meals.  Little is handicapped…well, by being little, lol.  S/he simply cannot reach as far toward Louise’s beak as the bigger kids, but he manages to get fed, especially toward the end of the meals.  Little did not eat at the last meal of the day, simply because the fish was small.  All is good at this nest.

6/23 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Capt Mac’s Fish House):  There were six meals provided for the 8-day-old babe, which was an improvement.  The meals were also a little longer in duration.  Male ospreys usually wisely remove leftover fish from the nest to avoid enticing predators, and Johnny is very diligent about that.  At 1350, it had been 5.5 hours since the last meal, and June fed from a nice sized fish.  This time, June prevented Johnny from taking the leftover piece of fish.  June fed the osplet again in an hour, and the kiddo had a very nice crop!  In fact s/he had a nice crop a couple of times today.  Good.  Now, if Johnny could just deliver more fish…

6/23 Audubon Boathouse osprey nest:  The 9 and 5-day-old siblings are doing well.  There is never a shortage of fish provided by Skiff.  And, Dory is a great mom, always ensuring that both of her youngsters are fed.

6/23 Captiva Osprey nest:  This family had a very good day.  The new fledgling, Ding, made several flights off the nest, and she made some very nice landings back on the nest, and also onto the perch.  Darling performed her first hover high enough that s/he was out of our view.  And, Darling walked up onto a perch for the first time.  There were five fish delivered to the nest, and Jack brought four of them.  Overnight 6/24, the kids had a 

There has been an accidental fledge at the Avon Lake Bald Eagle nest with three eaglets. More information to follow.

Even rehabbers, especially rehabbers, need to remember. IF you can PICK UP a Peregrine Falcon and hold it and you are not doing that to put on its bands, then THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE BIRD. It truly is that simple. You don’t want that raptor rendering your arm useless.

Oh, Monty and Hartley’s chicks are soooooo cute.

Iris and Finnegan have their hands full with these two osplets. You can immediately tell the difference in development just looking at them. But, oh, so cute! Finnegan spent Saturday night on the perch protecting Iris and the babies. Gosh, I love this guy.

‘PB’ reports that some bonking/dominance is taking place between Iris and Finnegan’s chicks. The oldest is in the Reptile Stage. Maybe it is a female. Iris is good, though. She makes sure both of those babies get stuffed to the top!

Bless his heart. Finnegan just keeps bringing in the fish for the family!

Cute little babies at Charlo Montana.

The camera is not great but we can now clearly see three osplets on the Collins Marsh nest on top of a relocated Wild Fire Watch Tower in Wisconsin.

Cowlitz PUD is looking good!

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

Daily summary Sunday 23rd June 2024

Calm was the order of the day, the weather was settled and the two chicks behaved impeccably. Dorcha had a bit of fun with an unwieldy stick which, after causing chaos, was lost overboard. Garry LV0 paid a flying visit to Nest One and a little bird did a quick flit round too. The star of today was Louis, who loomed up out of the darkness at 14 minutes and 23 seconds before midnight with a record-breaking latest delivery fish, to take his total for the day to five fish and his season’s tally to two hundred and forty one. Tonight’s forecast for Inver Mallie which includes the nest area, is partly cloudy and light winds. Perhaps Louis will do a spot more fishing – it will be interesting to see what time he delivers the first fish tomorrow.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 00.09.26 (03.09.37); Nest Two 23.30.31 (03.43.42)

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

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

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/Mw1wYciPyBg  N2 Fish number, one live trout, chicks line up politely 06.28.23

https://youtu.be/NiluW_gKrG0  N2 Fish number two, headless trout, chicks still polite 08.26.17

https://youtu.be/e1DJpaL8Dlo N2 Dorcha causes chaos with a stick, tbut it soon goes overboard 11.02.20

https://youtu.be/e3oZRUuHIzs  N1 GarryLV0 visits for just seven seconds 13.31.19 (zoom)

https://youtu.be/gZDgFJrJfMo  N2 Fish number three, smallish headless trout, Dorcha doles out evenly 13.47.14 

https://youtu.be/0yXwS1_ft18 N2 Fish number four, whole flatfish, chicks are not very enthusiastic but queue up anyway  15.48.34

https://youtu.be/kqS35fIdnn8 N1 A little bird makes a brief flit around and underneath 20.38.30

https://youtu.be/35Zn71fWiCg N2 Fish number five, headless trout – breaks all-time latest delivery record! 23.45.37

Bonus watch – Woodland Trust’s video for World Rainforest Day 2024:

Oh, wonderful news coming from ‘AM’ and Port Lincoln: “Ervie arrived at the nest at 11:42 in Port Lincoln! He was kicked out by his mother at 12:17:43!”

I was just able to rewind. Ervie on the nest and then on the perch. There is some suspicions that Ervie is a female because Mum kicked ‘her’ out. Mum did not respond that way to Calypso (2019 hatch) who was believed to be female but turned out to be a male. The pair mated on the nest.

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

Thank you to the following for their posts, notes, comments, pictures, articles, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, AM, Geemeff, H, J, PB’. LDF, Eagle Club of Estonia, Seili Osprey Cam, Pybolowy Online, Tatarstan Eastern Imperial Eagle Cam RU, Tweed Valley Osprey Project, Oxford MA Ospreys, Field Farm, Bridge Golf, Moorings Park, Deb Stecyk, Blackish, Marders, VIMS, Pitkin County, Great Bay Ospreys, Iowa Bird Rehabilitation, SK Hideaways, Montana Osprey Project, Montana Osprey Cam, Charlo Montana, Cowlit PUD, Window to Wildlife, Fortis Exshaw, Osoyoos Ospreys, Kent Island, Fenwick Island, Greemeff and The Woodland Trust, Port Lincoln Ospreys, and Collins Marsh.

Sunday in Bird World

23 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

It is 25 degrees, blue sky with some clouds and predicted rain later today for Southern Manitoba. It is ‘hot’ in the conservatory. Calico is in front of Mr Dyson’s fan. Oh, she loves that fan!

The very last of the summer perennial (as opposed to the annuals) planting is finished. All of the greenhouses have their stock on sale and it is the perfect time to plant the Milkweed and Daisies. Everyone should be trying to find a place for one Milkweed on their property. For the butterflies.

‘The Girls’ are doing fine. In fact, they are adorable. Yes, I am biased. Today, each one sat on my lap while I trimmed their nails. The only wiggly one was Hugo Yugo, but we still got the job done. They love watching Mr Crow come get his hotdogs and peanuts. Today Mr BlueJay and Junior were retreating cheesy dogs which makes me think that the baby Blue Jays have hatched. Like Crows (both are Corvids), the babies need meat. It uses less energy to get the cheesy dogs than it does to chase down insects and worms – although I only give them enough to ensure plenty of food for the little ones but not enough to keep them from foraging.

If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you will know that the Ospreys in the NE area of the US, the Chesapeake Bay Area, depend on Menhaden as their primary food source. Ever wonder why so many are dying in the nest? or nests are just failing? Take a moment to watch this video:

‘VV’ has been monitoring a number of nests that are also in the area impacted by Menhaden fishing. She says, “The nest failure rate is so  disappointing. Leading up to the past 4-5 years was a stunning population boon. The nest with the lost chicks was erected in 1990, the first of the 19+ on my excel. At its height we’d be cursing by now, every nest screaming for breakfast and really big time soiling our cars, etc. Now I’m watching a handful of bored females waiting for the boys to come in from fishing. As is proving the case with everything, the population fell faster than it rose.” ‘VV’ sent images of the nests that failed.

That water should be full of fish.

I want to run through a number of nests and just see how they are doing. Some have gotten neglected but we are going to begin with ‘H’s reports today.

“It is very hot at the mid-Atlantic and northeast US nests that I follow, with temperatures in the mid to upper 90’s, and over 100 degrees in some locations.  Not only will the young ospreys need more fish for hydration, but fishing can become more difficult, as fish may seek the cooler deep waters.

6/22 Patuxent River Park osprey nest:  The dad at this nest is amazing.  He delivered eleven fish to the nest for his family.  Unfortunately, most of them were not very big.  Little did manage to eat at all but two of the meals, but only ate for a few minutes at each of the other meals.  Throughout the day, Little never had a really big crop.  At 11:25 pm Dad delivered a large partial fish to the nest in the dark!  Little had a private feeding at the beginning of the feeding for 7 minutes, then shared the rest of the meal with a sibling for the next 30 minutes.  Thanks, Dad…you are ‘way cool’.

6/22 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Captain Mac’s Fish House):  I am always worried about this nest.  It just seems to me (not an expert), that the lil’ 8-day-old nestling doesn’t get enough to eat.  I rarely see this baby in a food coma or with a very large crop.  There were five feedings on a very warm day, and they averaged about 10 minutes in duration, but that included June eating.  The fish that Johnny delivers to the nest are usually a good size.  It is thought that June may be a new mom.  I would like to see this baby have more frequent feedings.  Get it in gear, June!

6/22 Forsythe osprey nest:  This is one of the nests I worry about in the heat.  Fishing does seem to become more difficult during heat waves at this location.  There were four fish brought to the nest, and Opal caught two of them herself (thanks, Opal).  The remaining two siblings, ages 32 and 31 days, seem to be getting along amicably.”

6/22 Osoyoos osprey nest:  This brood of three, ages 15, 14, 12 days of age, are doing well.  Dad brought fish to the nest 8 times (some may have been leftovers).  Some of the fish were tiny, but a few were a good size.  The siblings are still getting along nicely, and Little is able to eat his/her fill at most meals.

6/23 Kent Island (Chesapeake) osprey nest:  The last potentially viable egg was laid 38 days ago.  Viewers are hoping that Tom and Audrey will have a lil’ baby to raise this season.


6/22 Captiva osprey nest:  It was quite a momentous day for this osprey family.  Ding fledged in the morning, and returned to the nest seven hours later.  Ding had been seen flying circuits around the bay and nest area.  In Ding’s absence, Darling thought s/he had died and gone to heaven, lol.  Three fish were delivered in that span of time, two partials from Jack, which Darling ate, and a whole catfish from Edie that she ended up feeding to Darling.  Darling had not eaten that well for some time.  Ding’s first trip back to the nest was with a landing on top of the camera, and an eventual hop down to the nest (landing on Edie).  A couple of hours after Ding’s return, Jack delivered a whole sheepshead, which Ding devoured.  In the afternoon, Darling performed a few ‘personal best’ high hovers. “

Thanks so much, ‘H’.

That hot weather was everywhere. Even up in Ithaca where it was 87 yesterday when Ferris Akel was doing his tour.

The first egg has hatched at Dunrovin for Swoop and his new mate, Winnie. Congratulations everyone!

The two osplets and the DNH egg at Steelscape are doing very well.

The one surviving osplet at Sandpoint is good.

It is hot in Boulder, too, like in many places. Mum is shading her Only Bob.

Lola and Charlie at Charlo Montana have the sweetest kids.

The camera at Field Farm is focused on the road and not on the nest.

Bruce and Naha at the Seaside Osprey nest and their new osplets are doing fine.

Little concerned about the heat and the level of hydration and fish for the four at McEuan Park in Idaho. Will keep monitoring.

‘MM’ reports on Osoyoos: “Just wanted to drop a quick note as I was watching the Osoyoos nest and dad brought in a decent size fish compared to his usual catch. All the chicks had a nice crop and were so cute 😍. I hope things get better food-wise for this nest. “

‘Pam Breci’ reports that Little Bob did really well on Saturday. This is fantastic news. “Cowlitz looking good, little 3 just has a good dinner. Needed to wait so good thing fish are large to feed all 3 and mom.”

Dr Greene is delighted with Finnegan and the growth in his and Iris’s two chicks over the past the past ten days.

Everyone loves Iris and Finnegan and their two miracle babies.

‘A’ reviews the early morning with Iris and Finnegan: “Finn arrived at 05:27 for the big fish he brought in late yesterday (22 June). He ate for a while on the nest, then took the fish to the perch. At 05:36 he brought the fish back. Iris decides to get up for a stretch and soon after 05:42, she flies off the nest, leaving Finn with the fish and the osplets. 

She is literally back within seconds, and she comes over to the fish and begins feeding the chicks. Omigod!! What I have been waiting to see is finally happening. Both Finn and Iris are simultaneously feeding the osplets from the same fish! Little Bob is front and centre, with Big Bob behind and above him. There is, as usual, absolutely no aggression between the pair. 

It is however a fleeting moment, and Iris takes over the fish as Finn moves away. He has some blood on his breast, probably from the fish. Little Bob is doing well at this feeding but Iris is careful not to forget Big Bob, who is behind his sibling. It is wonderful to see these two getting along so well, but each day as I wait for Big Bob to transform into a mini-dinosaur, I wonder whether it is just a countdown to the inevitable bonking stage. Perhaps we have two very laid-back brothers here. I SO hope so. 

Finn has a chunk of the fish that he has picked up and turns away from the feeding with it. Iris continues giving bites to the osplets, primarily Little Bob, who remains sitting up confidently in front of his sibling. He is the cutest wee osplet with the sweetest little round bottom. He is seeing well and his balance is much better, though he does still face-plant a fair bit as he lunges forward for mouthfuls. He is managing much larger bites now. I do love the way Iris carefully feeds both chicks, sometimes changing her mind when she thinks one is getting too much. 

The other day when Little Bob ended up on his back three or four times, I was tremendously concerned, especially on the first occasion, but the way Iris was immediately aware that this situation was problematic and required intervention was impressive, as was the way she carefully circled the stricken chick and observed exactly what she was dealing with, then set about trying to right the wee one. On each occasion, she managed to do so, primarily through very carefully manoeuvring one or both feet into position underneath Little Bob so she could then lift him slightly by judicious shuffling. It was impressive. 

As you know, we have lost at least two chicks already this season to exactly such a situation, and I was really scared for Little Bob, especially when he repeatedly seemed to end up on his back – I began to fear some neurological problem or even an uneven nest surface – something that was causing this. I still wonder why, as it did not appear to happen the following day, and yesterday afternoon it did happen once, briefly, but he rapidly righted himself with a single effort (he did seem a little panicky but got it done). 

So today, I am not nearly as worried as I was, and he is eating wonderfully well. I adore the way he is getting on with his older sibling, though I am aware we are right on the verge of finding out whether we are going to go through a bonking period on this nest. Big Bob is being VERY patient, with Baby Bob getting at least twice as many bites at this feeding because he is at the front and mum doesn’t have to lean as far to feed him. Periodically, she leans over to give a bite to Big Bob, but not nearly often enough to be even-handed, and there are several moments when I am wishing she would feed the older sibling at least half a dozen mouthfuls. I don’t want an episode of food frustration! 

Iris is feeding Little Bob at least three or four mouthfuls for every one that she offers BIg Bob, who is handling the situation admirably. After a while, she starts having three or four bites herself between each one she gives to Little Bob – Big Bob is missing out almost altogether by now. There is still a huge amount of fish left over (that monster fish brought in last night is not even half gone yet). At 05:52 she finishes feeding and settles down to brood. Little Bob has a huge crop, Big Bob not so much. There is still about half the fish left. Just before 05:55 Finn removes it from the nest. Iris is not overly pleased – again, she would have fed the osplets (and herself) again in about 90 minutes had Finn left the fish (or at least some of it). “

It is so hard to believe but the Fab Four on the Poole Harbour nest are all feathered. Mini Little Bob is right there, big and healthy! These parents worked and worked to make sure there was lots of fish and every one of their babies was fed. Four are surviving. Tears.

There aren’t four but there are three big feathered osplets on the Dyfi nest of Idris and Telyn.

We have talked about osprey nests. We have talked about egg cups, twigs that catch little legs, and all sorts of things. Just look at the nest that Seren and Dylan have for their Bobs up at Clywedog in Wales. What a gorgeous nest.

Babies at Glaslyn of Aran and Elen are getting all those beautiful feathers, too. Nest not quite as comfy as Seren’s.

Younger babies at Llyn Brenig, both doing well.

Those babies in Germany are now as big as their mother! Unbelievable. And beautiful.

A ten-day-old baby at Finland #3 is just a fat little cutie. (One died of a nest accident and the other egg DNH).

Two chicks at Bridge Golf getting their juvenile feathers. Unclear the status of Middle Bob’s leg. Little Bob died of siblicide/starvation the other day.

Gary published a video on the passing of Sol and Luna at Redding.

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

Daily summary Saturday 22nd June 2024
The weather was somewhat unsettled today but no further somersaults were done by Dorcha. Louis excelled himself bringing six fish to the nest and his tally now rises to two hundred and thirty seven. Deliveries included an early breakfast and a late night snack. Dorcha shared out the fish fairly, and the two chicks were models of patience and politemess at mealtimes. Garry LV0 visited Nest One twice today, staying for over an hour the second time. No disturbances for any of the Loch Arkaig residents as the Red Arrows took a different route home. Tonight’s forecast is for light cloud and light winds so with luck the family will have a peaceful and dry night tonight. 
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 00.23.51(03.19.51); Nest Two 23.15.27 (03.56.16)

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

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam
Today’s videos:
https://youtu.be/Bqeq0_3IguI  N2 Fish number one, headless trout, Dorcha blocks the view 04.19.55
https://youtu.be/2Rqe03hrp0c  N2 Fish number two, small whole trout 06.47.28

https://youtu.be/M8F0cHIaW1I  N1 Garry LV0 visits, flying in from the right  07.57.38
https://youtu.be/C9VqBeD-eZY   N2 Fish number three, big whole trout, the chicks form an orderly queue 11.19.12

https://youtu.be/apsDxegpiMs  N2 Fish number four, big headless trout 12.19.57 

https://youtu.be/0kqpLR6pgEw  N2 Fish number five, big headless trout, the chicks line up politely 18.39.53

https://youtu.be/MjzQ3di6UIM  N1 Garry LV0 returns for a second visit today, stays for an hour 19.42.43 

https://youtu.be/pMbvgH-OrHA  N2 Fish number six – late night snack gone in 5 mins 22.18.50
Bonus read – Woodland Trust was one of hundreds of nature organisations marching through London today calling for Government to Restore Nature Now:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2024/jun/22/restore-nature-now-march-in-london-in-pictures

The Peregrine Falcon scrape in Osaka, Japan is cleaned up and will wait for next season. Beautiful fledglings this year.

‘A’ reports:

“Both mums were in to feed the chicks at Taiaroa Head this morning (Saturday 22 June) – BOK to feed TFT chick at 08:20 and LGL to feed TF chick at 09:38. The previous day (Friday 21 June), both BOK and LGL were in, feeding their chicks, at the same time – at 12:23 we have a shot showing simultaneous feedings occurring at both Royal Cam nests. Too cute. TF has begun exercising his wings, and his wingspan is amazing. How did those sweet little wings become these magnificent gliding instruments in such a short time? The preparation begins for a solitary ocean life, surfing the thermals. It’s astounding to think how far these little ones will travel before one day they hopefully return to within metres of their natal nests. Still giant fluff balls, but with wings becoming more defined by the day. Magnificent birds. When we think of 28-year-old Iris, it is amazing to think of Wisdom, in her seventies. No wonder they are such spiritually important birds to so many seafaring cultures. And what an amazing privilege it is to be able to watch them at Taiaroa Head under the tender care of the rangers. Truly blessed.”

 

“WBSE: June 21: A quiet night, then several early morning duets and mating. Both were standing in the deep nest bowl, with Dad chewing and digging at Lady’s feet, settling leaves and twigs in the bowl . Dad brought in a fish at 8:07, but took it off the nest. He returned later with a stick and spent some time moving things about. Then they were both away for some time, then both back a few times with a stick. Off again, until Dad brought in a partially plucked coot at 13:33, which was taken by Lady and eaten on the branch. She ate for over 45 minutes, then off, leaving one coot leg draped on the branch. Dad returned, bringing a stick, just after 4pm with a full crop, so he had eaten somewhere. Lady came in as well, with duets and mating nearby. At dark, both were settled close to the nest.”

June 22: A cold and wet morning – rain started in the night and Lady hadn’t moved. An early duet at 6:21. Shortly after, a long duet as Dad joined Lady – but no mating. After, another duet and this time a mating – still raining. Dad returned with the tail end of a fish at 8:52. Lady claimed it and ate the lot nearby, then away. A duet was heard nearby at 10:03 though out of sight. Then again, and Lady returned just after 11am with a stick. They were away again until 14:13, when Dad brought another fish in, which was claimed and eaten by Lady. Then they were off again, until both returned home before 5pm, and straight into some nest arrangement. Then duet and mating, and more nest bowl work from Dad. They moved to their night roosts. Any action tonight, we shall report tomorrow.

They are everywhere. Seriously everywhere. Plastics. Microplastics. The more I try to escape them, the more they try to sneak into my life and yours. Even at the greenhouse, those bloody plants were in plastic containers. Why? Well, the answer to not taking them home is to have them wrap them up individually in the newspaper. Why can’t they use biodegradable containers??????

It’s terrible for the seabirds and for those on land who get caught in those mesh bags or have bin liners land on their nests. The only good use for plastic I have seen lately is the covers for the large bales of hay or straw on the farmer’s fields, which prevents the birds from taking the PLASTIC twine that holds them together back to their nest to entangle their babies. When did we stop using jute? (Maybe it wasn’t so good either but it was natural.) Oh, some things get me really worked up! Hats off to the company that packages frozen vegetables in the States and does it in biodegradable paper bags!!!!!!!!

Planet-vs.-Plastics-Earth-DayDownload

Very sad news coming out of Ventana Wildlife via Lady Hawk. Redwood Queen’s chick, Aurora, has passed away.

‘J’ sent us the link for Duke Farms’s Eaglet E-book for 2024. Thanks, ‘J’.

http://online.flipbuilder.com/oqzm/xrzi/index.html

It is that time of year. Those baby birds are just out of the nest and people see them and think they are abandoned.

Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care. We hope to see you soon!

Thank you so much to the following for their notes, posts, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A, Geemeff, J, H, MM, PB, VV’, Virginia Beach Menhaden PSA, Window to Wildlife, Osoyoos, Forsythe, Fenwick Island, Patuxent River Park, Kent Island, Dunrovin Ranch, Steelscape, Sandpoint Ospreys, Boulder County, Charlo Montana, Field Farm, Seaside Ospreys, McEuan Park, Osoyoos osprey Cam, Cowlitz PUD, Pam Breci, Montana Osprey Cam, BoPH, Dyfi Ospreys, Llyn Clywedog, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Fischadlerwebcam, Satakunna Saaksett, Bridge Golf Club, Gary’s Eagle Videos, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Osaka Peregrine Falcon, Earth Day, NZ DOC, WBSE Sea Eagle Cam, Duke Farms, Lady Hawk, and Nebraska Wildlife Rehabilitation.

Ding Fledges…Saturday in Bird World

22 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

I had a wonderful visit with my son. It was topped off with a great family lunch in my daughter’s garden on Friday before saying goodbye. So, this posting might be a little thin with my contributions. This post is going to be a little sobering because we, meaning all those studying osprey populations, are seeing how the 2024 season is unfolding. It is not pretty. Every single chick that survives and fledges should be wrapped in gold.

This has simply been a challenging year. One of the hardest things is watching little ones so eager for fish, their parents not finding enough to feed them, and then dying in the nest. Osoyoos is causing my stomach not to feel very well. Olsen tries. He can’t help it if there is nothing for his family. He brings home what he can find. It reminds me of stories from my mother of the shelves during The Depression.

We must begin immediately – well, we should have last year when the Nor’eastern wiped out almost every chick in every nest in the NE US. There is something happening in the lake at Osoyoos. So what is it? Lack of fish? heat? Why can’t someone stock it with fish? I will happily start a GoFundMe for Soo and Olsen (yes, his name is Olsen) to get fingerlings to go in there in the fall. I would do the same if someone would put fish in that nest. Where are the fish fairies in Osoyoos? Maybe we need to tell the authorities about Port Lincoln!!!!!!!!!!!! It is going to be too late if we fail to act for a couple more years. The laws need changing! NOW.

Look at the size of the fish that Louis brought to Loch Arkaig. Now I want you to imagine that this fish landed on the Osoyoos nest. It would feed all the family for two or three days – that is the difference in nutrition that is coming to the nests!

I also have concerns for Little Bob at Cowlitz today. It was always in the wrong place when a feeding was taking place. Too close to the beak, so not in eyeshot of Mum, or just shut out. Perhaps you saw something different. I am hoping for an early evening full crop. It needs it.

I am so very grateful for those who are watching and reporting on nests. Once I finish entering data into the forms, which will be this weekend now that my social life is quiet, we will be monitoring nearly 400 eggs. My fear is that the failure rate this year will hit over 30%. Survival in 2023 was 76%, or a failure rate of 24%. It is growing every year. 2022 was 18%.

The Memorial Wall is now at 82 and climbing. June is always a hard month. It just keeps giving out heart ache after heart ache. We lost so many Osprey hatchlings and so many near-or-fledged eagles, hawks, and falcons. Things will begin to quiet down but, oh, it has been a challenging and tearful year from the onset in the fall.

One of my citizen scientist observers monitors nests right up in the area that is being hit the hardest, the NE USA. For the safety of the Ospreys I am not giving detailed locations. ‘VV’ sends in her report. It is eye opening:

Here’s the brief update going into the upcoming extra hot temperatures:

Nest 4 – two hatches – 6/9 & 1

Nest 5 – hatch(es?) – 6/10 – can only today verify a head btwn twigs

Nest 10 – two (pretty sure) –  @ least 1st hatched by 6/6 – have seen 2 bobs since

Nest 11 – two (pretty sure) – @ least 1st hatched by 6/3 – have seen 2 bobs since

Nest 12 – hatch(es) – cannot see enough of this nest to always be able to see when both adults are in; have seen feeding behavior into nest. These could have hatched even earlier than 6/3, this pair only March return.

This looks to be the total hatches in the 19 nests I have been tracking. I only feel certain that 3 nests (of the 14 w/o hatches) did lay eggs.

Nest 2 (1st uneasy year w/ new female; egg(s?) laid; M stopped incubation, then F, then geese stomped

Nest 3 probably laid a clutch between  5/12-18, rolled out of nest..

Nest 9 (experienced pair) laid eggs no earlier than 5/4; many intruders; possible failed hatch around 6/10;  by 6/12 incubation sporadic; by 6/18-19 both away from nest for hours

Irregularly observed Nests 17, 18, & 19, (SMECO nests like 9, 10, 11, & 12); seems all pairs returned; N17 observed switching egg incubation duties. Nothing suggesting clutch on others; not obs indication of hatchlings on 17, 18, or 19.  

Nest 4 is the only one of the hatch nests I can monitor effectively at this stage – Big Mama brilliantly feeding both Big and Little, neither of whom have I seen today which is worrying me a bit. But I think the actual issue is a feud between M&F over her returning to fishing duties. He’s always been broody.

. Nest 5 I can finally confirm one hatching through movement between sticks. There could be two. Mrs. Perfect keeps a very, very deep nest, which is not a SMECO nest, in fact does not look deep at all. But the nest cup is deep and she keeps her chicks in it.

As I fret over Big Big and Little Big – I hope the osprey week looks up around the cams too. Our rains had been heavy but never to the scale other places are getting. And now there’s not a drop anywhere. Fishing had appeared very good – except for the windy days of course. But slowing down now. I imagine as the water warms up.

It doesn’t seem that Big Daddy is alone, a few of the males in the no-hatch nests are encouraging the females to fish for themselves.

I have been predicting a huge decline in osprey numbers for the past two years, signalling a further long-term decline. It is happening before our eyes. The numbers are now below what they were than when DDT was killing the Apex Raptors. That is a little hard to swallow but, yes. And it is again, our fault.

It is now time to face this reality and do something about it. It was Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and a few others observing Ospreys on Long Island that first sounded the alarm of the declines due to DDT. Now, we have a collective voice and the numbers of ospreys is less than when the environmental issues of DDT practically wiped all of them out. We need to stop the Menhaden commercial fishing – period. End it. We need to stock ponds and we need to provide supplementary fish to nests that are struggling. We owe it to them for destroying their habitat. This might help until they can begin to adapt with the growing temperatures and storms by moving out of their normal habitats.

Now Menhaden are washing up dead on the coast. What is causing it?

‘H’ sent me the latest offering from the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ and they even say it is an ‘unusual’ year.

Unusual-Year-for-Breeding-Ospreys-in-New-Jersey-Conserve-Wildlife-Foundation-of-New-JerseyDownload

There is a pip at Dunrovin Friday afternoon.

There is a big crack in that egg Friday night.

Most of you had your heart in your throat Friday as Iris’s second chick went upside down twice. The first time Iris righted the little one but the second time, we held our breath. It got over.

I do not know about anyone else, but I would love to hear your thoughts. IMHO Iris is so happy being a Mum again. She is fortunate to have a great mate. Finnegan is right up there for me with Blue 33, Blue 022, Idris, Dylan, Aran, Louis. If this is Iris’s last year, I am glad she got to feel loved and to have the joy of raising chicks again. That is why this nest is so precious. Everyone wants those babies to thrive and fledge. I hope Dr Greene rings them!

Finnegan loves being with Iris when she feeds their two babies.

Cornell did a video of the kids before the feeding.

‘A’ recalls, “When Finn brought the fish back (10:55) mum fed both chicks to the tops of their crops. Baby Bob is so small. The size gap between them seems to have increased significantly since the second hatch but that’s probably just proportional. He has the cutest little round bottom. And mum fed both of them as much as they could eat before she even started to take bites herself. She also keeps a close eye on Big Bob during feedings, so that if she is giving Baby Bob several bites in a row, she knows just when Big Bob is reaching the limits of her patience and might be about to feel resentful. She checks to see that Big Bob is happy before downing a bite herself. It is almost as if she is supervising. But since that one occasion I documented a few days ago, I have seen nothing resembling aggression. No bonking. No attempt at intimidation. Nothing to try and stop the wee one from eating or from getting to the table. And Baby Bob is totally confident to sit up beside his sibling and open his tiny beak. He is still not that great with direction or with his balance. He fell over a few times during the feeding and turned the wrong way a couple of times too. 

Big Bob is getting woolly – she is a strong chick. I am actually wondering whether they may be both males. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? They do both seem very laid back. And even on that one occasion, as I mentioned it could easily have been more based in curiosity than in malice. What is this thing in the nest, I wonder? It seemed to lack any viciousness even at the time. Finn was obviously hungry this morning and had not eaten the head – in fact, he hadn’t touched a scale on it. I’m not sure whether he was showing it off to Iris or whether he thought he should eat first on the nest. But he was very aggressive in his attempts to pull it away from Iris – using his wings for additional leverage and really pulling hard, while Iris not only managed to retain the fish but continued feeding as she fought for it!! What a mum. It was as if she knew he would win eventually but she was going to get some bites into those babies before he did. And she managed that. Both chicks got at least a decent snack before dad removed the fish. When he brought it back, he had eaten at least half of it. I suspect he was eating the entire 55 minutes he was gone with it. Still a young male at heart. At least he brought Iris and the kids half a fish, at nearly 11am. He doesn’t understand that the kids need something early, even if it’s leftovers. But Iris did manage to at least ensure they got some sustenance and some liquid before he finally flew off with it. Iris got up several times during the 55 minutes to loudly let him know she thought he had eaten plenty and where was that fish! She is a powerfully devoted mother, as shown by her determination to ensure both her chicks were well-fed before she even thought about a bite for herself. Yes, she has the luxury of an adult-sized crop but even so, it was endearing to watch as she didn’t even have a nibble until she had taken care of the littles. “

The second hatch at Hellgate has been having trouble staying upright. Three times on its back on Friday. Is it the crowded egg cup, twigs, something wrong with the chick? Let’s hope it stays more upright. It would be the best to have two fledges for Iris and Finnegan.

‘H’ reports:

6/22 Captiva ospreys:  The eldest of the two siblings, Ding, fledged this morning at 60 days of age.  Congratulations to Ding, and the proud parents Jack, and Edie.

6/21 Dahlgren osprey nest:  Some sad news to report… The little osprey baby that was rescued six days ago after it was stuck in a hole in the nest…has died.  The 18-day-old osplet died in the morning, after having been lethargic for several hours.  The cause of death is unknown.

6/21 Patuxent osprey nest:  Things are still going well at this nest, and the 45, 44, and 41-day-old osplets are growing up…even Little!  Eight fish were delivered by Dad, and although there is still some occasional intimidation by Big toward Little, it is rare these days.  Crops were stuffed!

6/21 Captiva ospreys:  It was a slower fishing day, and there were only three fish brought to the nest, and Jack delivered two of them.  But, the major news of the day: We witnessed Edie dive for a fish and get caught in fishing line.  Then, she was dragged through the water behind a boat.  We worried all afternoon, and feared the worst.  Then, seven hours later Edie landed in the nest with a fish!  There was no sign of the fishing line.

Video Link: https://youtu.be/8wSwIuol7IU

6/21 Fortis Exshaw osprey nest:  All is well for this family.  The 9, 7. and 5-day-old osplets are well fed, and so far there is minimal sibling rivalry.

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

Daily summary Friday 21st June 2024

Today started with atrocious weather not matching the overnight forecast. The ‘light winds’ ended up blowing poor Dorcha completely over, showing off her underfluffies and giving her a bit of bother righting herself again, while the ‘light rain’ soaked the chicks too big to fit completely underneath her now. But things looked up when Louis arrived with a tiny breakfast and proceeded to feed one chick while Dorcha fed the other from last night’s remnant, giving a cosy scene of domestic harmony. After Louis had had a quick go at removing the remains of chick3, Dorcha succeeded, flying off with the sad bundle and disposing of it in the forest. Bye bye little bob3 – gone but not forgotten. Louis brought four fish to the nest, taking his tally to two hundred and thirty one. The Hooded Crows were interested in the nest but Dorcha scared them off with her special crow voice. No need to scare off the little Robin who visited Nest One today as there were no other vistors. Tonight’s forecast is light rain and a gentle breeze – let’s hope it turns out that way as the family could use an undisturbed night tonight with the prospect of disturbance by the Red Arrows doing a flypast tomorrow.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.47.27 (03.12.07); Nest Two 23.10.54 (03.55.16)

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/WERbYCv-hTw  N2 A gust of wind blows Dorcha completely over 02.50.08

https://youtu.be/gXy_08Aum1E  N2 Fish number one, trout tail-end 05.36.12

https://youtu.be/hHXYtXsSXnQ  N2 Simultaneous feeding by both parents 05.44

https://youtu.be/oE5jRyFGIpg  N1 A cheeky Robin visits 05.47.13 (zoom)

https://youtu.be/DDlOGyMil1A  N2 Warning – graphic: Dorcha removes the dead body 08.50.30

https://youtu.be/DahvNKRdcZk  N2 Fish number two, large live trout – C1 refuses to be prevented getting a share! 14.48.00

https://youtu.be/QLyDm0Wwygw  N2 Fish number three, large headless trout, the chicks share happily 17.39.58

https://youtu.be/Gd2KYCoS5YY  N2 Dorcha uses her crow-voice on a nearby Hoodie 19.23.00 (zoom)

https://youtu.be/cuMv-BAPvxQ  N2 Fish number four, tiddler snack, Dorcha wolfs it in 4 minutes 19.55.54

Big Red’s N visits the natal nest looking over to the Rice Building where Big Red and Arthur often drop off prey items for their fledglings.

Want a smile? Well, go to the West End Bald Eagle nest of Akecheta and Thunder, and look at those magnificent fledglings. One of them has an enormous crop. I wish I could tell you which one.

Two of them together.

Both eaglets, Manini and Reign, are over on the Fraser Point nest of Andor and Mama Cruz waiting for dinner.

Mr and Mrs North and the two fledglings are all fine. What a wonderful family. Doing so well after the collapse of their nest.

Gorgeous babies at Radord University.

Four osplets at Field Farm are fine.

The Fab Four at Poole Harbour are fantastic, too. These nests are making me smile – big smiles.

Gorgeous falcons in San Jose.

Kakapo Adoption News!

Adopt-a-kakapo-Special-editionDownload

Thank you so much for being with us this morning. Congratulations to Captiva! What an amazing year they have had – full of challenges like a roller coaster but they will have two babies fly. Bravo! Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, photographs, videos, posts, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, PB, VV’, Osoyoos, The Woodland Trust, Geemeff, Cowlitz PUD, Debbie Campbell, Marina Pierce, Conserve Wildlife Blog, Diana Lambertson, Montana Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Lab, Window to Wildlife, Mary Wenz, Patuxent River Park, Fortis Exshaw, Cornell RTH, IWS/Explore, Raptor Research Project/Explore, Radford University, Field Farm, BoPH, SK Hideaways, and Kakapo Recovery.

A better day…Thursday in Bird World

20 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

Wednesday was a tough day. Little Smallie was the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’. Bless his heart. I wonder what his chances would have been if he had been taken into rehab after being found in the moat? ‘J’ said this reminded her ‘of Rubus all over again’ and I consistently say if you can pick up a raptor and hold it, they are sick!!!!!!! Unless you are ringing them. So, that should be something known by everyone —- if you can pick up a falcon or an eaglet or an osplet and they don’t tear your arm off, they are unwell and should go to rehab. Period. No questions asked. Just do it.

‘B’ sent me a great quote and agreed I could share it with all of you. This came after hearing about the passing of Luna after Sol: “About the only halfway positive thing I can say is that it is a reminder to us all how fragile life is out there in the wild.  And to all wildlife, not just our bird friends.  It’s not a reminder that I enjoy hearing, but it is one we need to appreciate.  We humans live very sheltered lives.  All the more reason why it is so unfair that we humans add so many risks to the health and survival of wildlife.”

Thankfully we have some good news.

There is some really good news coming from our friend ‘R’ who has kept an eye on the University of Florida-Gainesville osprey nest of Stella and her former partner, Talon. We can certainly use some news to raise our spirits! ‘R’ went for a good look around the nest of Stella and her beautiful daughter and discovered that “Stella is bringing in some huge fish and immediately flies off. Big sits there and carries on for a while and then finally decides Stella isn’t going to feed her and she devours the fish.” ‘R’ wonders if Stella is fishing in a different lake than Talon or is questioning if the local water source has been stocked. He will check and find out for us.   Then he went to check the nest and discovered “There is another nest nearby and Big and “someone” in the other nest take turns vocalizing back and forth.  I doubt it is Stella.”   Then ‘R’ gives us some really good news! “I found another nest not far from the two I knew about.  It was fairly good size and sitting in it was a nice large osprey!  That makes 3 nests in the vicinity and probably a few others.  The new nest can’t be very old as it is in the new light poles!”  ‘R’ will take some photos for us on their next visit. An acquaintance also went for a drive near Bowling Green, Florida and in a two mile stretch all the poles had osprey nests! Wow. Can you imagine? The thinking is that the ospreys relocated after Hurricane Ian.

What a beautiful sight! Iris and Finnegan and their two osplets at Hellgate Canyon in Montana.

OK. I am obsessed with Iris and Finnegan. This nest gives me hope.

‘A’ writes: “Finn is doing such a good job. I’m not sure about breakfast this morning – Finn brought a nice fish in at 09:50, which is late for him but I don’t think there had been an earlier feeding because both chicks were hungry as Iris waited for Finn to arrive. She was very vocal about calling for breakfast too. 

He is such a darling. Both the chicks are super active and really good at holding up their heads. Little Bob is half the size of his sibling but is holding his own. Iris spends the first couple of minutes feeding Big Bob, although Little is hungry and pushes his way forward to a position beside and slightly in front. Mum is taking any aggression out of Big Bob, I think, and she slips Little a small bite but then returns to feeding Big Bob. Finn has left the nest, and the fish was a decent size and whole, so there is plenty for mum and the kids. 

Once Big Bob has a respectable crop, Iris turns to Little Bob and concentrates on getting food into his beak. He is eager and grabbing for the food, falling flat on his face a few times and failing to hold his head still in the excitement. But mum is patient with him and gets the food to his mouth. She is such a good mum. It seemed to me that she had three days of exhaustion following each hatch, after which she perked up and seems to show great effort and care in feeding both her chicks. Finn is making sure she gets fed, even if he has to do it himself, and he is looking after her wonderfully well. He spends a lot of time on the nest or on the perch, just staying close. I have not once heard him vocalise. Not once. He listens. He acts. He shuts up. What a man! “

This morning Alison notes, “At Hellgate, the kids were hungry, and Iris nagged Finn much of the afternoon for fish. Finally, he brought in a nice fish late in the day (about 20:45) and the chicks played nice, sitting up side by side at the table. As always, mum satiated Big Bob’s hunger and then turned to Little Bob. I saw no bonking at any point today, which was a huge relief, and Big Bob made no attempt to stop Little Bob from eating or from participating in the feeding line. These two are active and are doing well. They both seemed to be born very well developed, as if they had spent an extra day or two in the egg. They were large in size and seemed precocious in both physical development and behaviour. This is a huge bonus, as they began life with a bit of an advantage. Finn is doing a wonderful job. He is a devoted dad. He does need to learn to fish more often and/or leave leftovers on the nest while these two are still so young, but he is obedient to Iris’s demands, and eventually goes out to fish even in a downpour if she nags him enough. He’s going to become a great dad as the seasons progress – I can see him getting into feeding the chicks (he has already had a couple of goes at this, with varying success) and he just adores Iris. “

It is a hot day in Ithaca, New York. One of the Ns is resting in the shade of the natal nest.

Suzanne Arnold Horning caught up with Big Red and Arthur’s family.

Thankful for the two gorgeous osplets at Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home.

Wet osplets at the Goitzshe-Wildnis nest in Germany are waiting for a fish delivery.

The three at Charlo Montana look like they are doing well.

Mum and Dad feeding one another at Blackbush at Old Tracadie Harbour – then they feed the kids. This behaviour of the male feeding the female who, in turn, feeds the chicks, appears to be more common than once believed.

‘H’ will have a better report for us (at the end) but the trio at Osoyoos are getting their crops full with a nice sized fish. Relief.

Nox visits Mum! Oh, no. Eclipse comes!

San Jose Girls seem to be doing very, very well.

In Montreal, Polo and Hugo (yes, another Hugo) playing around.

Suffering from falcon withdrawal? Try the Weston Power Plant scrape in Wisconsin. One chick, one unviable egg it seems.

Wings of Whimsy tribute to Sol and Luna.

Three beautiful babies for Aran and Elen are growing strong and watching the cattle and the rest of the Welsh countryside near Glaslyn.

Three fat chicks at Dyfi waiting to be named. Idris and Telyn have done a superb job, as usual.

Geemeff gives us the Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust summary:

Daily summary Wednesday 19th June 2024

What a difference a day makes! Not only did fabulous fisherbird Louis swoop in with four fish in 26 minutes then follow it up with another three, breaking various records along the way, but there was absolutely no aggro from either of the two chicks today. The reptilian phase appears to be over, and while there will still be the odd fight, especially when they start accepting the fish deliveries themselves, the instinctive aggression of the rapid growth stage seems to have ended. The bundle of feathers that was tragic little chick3 is still visible but is melding with the nest floor and if not removed by Dorcha soon, is likely to just disappear and become part of the nest. Louis’ magnificent seven took his tally to two hundred and twenty three, a remarkable achievement although the wait to see if he breaks his nine-fish record goes on. Nest One had another visit from Garry LV0 who was seen flying to perch on Pole Tree before popping in for a brief visit. The weather was as settled as the chicks’ dispositions, but tonight’s forecast is a damp night with light rain and light winds, with the prospect of a drier day tomorrow. 

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.59.35 (03.07.48); 

Nest Two 23.23.40 (03.45.50)

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

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

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/tysEIpOpLAY  N2 Fish number one, small whole trout – no fighting! 03.49.37 

https://youtu.be/Q0EGdJY0uLw  N2 Fish number two, another small whole trout – 7 minutes 12 seconds N2N between F1 & F2! 03.56.59 

https://youtu.be/rzoZoHCbQic  N2 Fish number three, another small whole trout – still no aggro 04.07.04

https://youtu.be/RruBa6SD1qs  N2 Fish number four, large whole trout, flapping – 8 minutes 19 seconds N2N between F3& F4! 04.15.39 

https://youtu.be/k3QtoOOPyGk  N2 Fish number five, large whole flapper trout looking surprised 04.51.25 

https://youtu.be/FRf9mHWRQ7Y  N2 Fish number six, headless trout – lovely calm feeding 06.10.10

https://youtu.be/RbzwLU7h1H8  N1 Garry LV0 flies in from Pole Tree for a quick visit 11.30.20

https://youtu.be/FTgfA522SzI N2 Fish number seven, but everyone’s too full 14.11.59

Blast from the past, this day in previous years:

The legendary queen of the mountain gave us an unforgettable moment on this day in 2020: Aila has a brain fade and decides to move an awkwardly shaped stick from one side of the nest to the other, apparently oblivious to the presence of her chicks. They duck this way and that trying to keep out of her destructive path, and when Aila finally leaves the nest, one of them delivers a parting shot with perfect emphasis.

https://youtu.be/g-T2vcO-j0sIn the Hall of the Mountain Queen 2020 (Classic Ospreys – Grieg, quicktime)

The female at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum was much more attentive to her only surviving chick on Wednesday. The little one had several feedings, each with a resultant crop.

No hatch yet for Beau and Hope at Newfoundland Power’s Snow Lane nest. This is another problematic female who prefers to eat the fish and not feed her chicks. I do wonder if she is modelling her behaviour after the nest where she hatched?

A family portrait (of sorts) at Field Farm. You can still tell Little Mini as it has only a few feathers unlike the three older siblings. Nest is doing well. Bravo!

Blue 022 delivers a fish and CJ7 immediately begins feeding their quartet.

‘PB’ reports that Little Bob at Cowlitz had a good day! Fantastic. This nest had been concerning me.

There are two beautiful Golden Eaglets on Estonian nest 2 at Kaljukothkas. This nest is getting enough food that the obligate siblicide did not occur. This is a good thing. One of those beautiful miracles of a year filled with much sorrow.

Bety and Bukacek had one storklet this year. It is alive and healthy. Another life to be thankful for.

Let’s end on another smile. World Bird Sanctuary, home to Murphy the Bald Eagle who incubated a rock and got to raise an eaglet, has a great story for us. Thanks, ‘J’.

World Bird Sanctuary

Last year, one Bald Eagle couple’s nesting season ended in tragedy when a tornado destroyed their nest, killing one of their chicks and sending the other to our hospital. That chick was 23-126, and we all fell in love as we watched him grow and be fostered by Murphy. This year, we are delighted to report that 126’s parents have rebuilt! Their new nest is only about 100 yards away from their old one and they have 3 healthy eaglets! We’d like to thank 126’s finders for passing on the good news and Frank Melliere Photography for taking and allowing us to share this photo of the 3 eaglets.

Oh and one last smile – I feel like we need lots of them. Ruffie and Tuffy are still knock out gorgeous fledglings, coming to the nest for fish. This is Wednesday. Both look to have nice crops.

‘H’ reports:

6/19, Osoyoos osprey nest:  Oh my, they had a great day.  Ollie brought eleven fish to the nest, wow!  The meal times remain peaceful between the siblings, and everyone ate their fill, including Soo.  There were some ‘minnows’, some medium sized fish, and one ‘whale’.  At 2105, Ollie brought in a very large whole fish.  I overheard one of the kids ask: “Mommy is that a whale?”  Soo: “Yes Dear, Daddy caught a whale for you.”  Soo only fed the whale to her kids for a few minutes, then walked away from the fish, so Ollie removed it.  He returned the partial fish to the nest at 2137, but Soo did not feed at that time.

6/19 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Captain Mac’s Fish House):  June and Johnny’s 5-day-old chick seems to be doing well, and June is providing shade from the sun.  There were seven meals provided to the lil’ one, which was an improvement.  Very warm temperatures are predicted in the upcoming days, so keep those fish coming in, Johnny!

6/19, Fortis Exshaw osprey nest:  Louise and Harvie are great parents, and are taking good care of their three chicks.  Bonking has started…the eldest has been bonking both of its siblings.  Ages: 7, 5, 3 days.

6/19 Dahlgren osprey nest:  ‘Hope’, the 17-day-old only chick of Helen and Doug, is doing quite well.

6/19 Patuxent osprey nest:  There were only three meals for the osplets, but the first two fish were very large and provided for long meals.  Each chick ate multiple times.  It appears that Little’s feathers are finally starting to grow better, but s/he remains far behind the older sibs.  Big has been doing some impressive wingers!

6/19 Captiva osprey nest:  Edie and Jack delivered five fish to the nest.  Jack’s injury seems to be healing, and he is functioning normally, but the ‘spike’ is still embedded under his skin.  Darling performed a nice mini-hover for the first time, and Ding continued to perform hovers out of our view.  One of these times, Ding’s hover may just turn into a flight!

Geemeff sent us the ringing video of Blue 33 and Maya’s chick at Rutland:

I am getting word from ‘J’ that a Peregrine Falcon female with chicks in the scrape appears to have died from something poisonous in EDE. Will confirm with more news tomorrow.

There is more news from FORE today and I have abbreviated this. Please go to their FB page for the entire post.  🙁

“As we mentioned, we were able to retrieve Luna’s body since she passed away on the ground & not up in the Nest. But, we still don’t know yet if they can perform a necropsy or not? In this Redding heat decomposition sets in quickly. 🙁 And, if they can do a necropsy, we may not get the results of those tests for several months. So, this is going to take some time. Try to breathe & heal while we wait for those answers…Rest assured our Liberty & Guardian are doing fine, so please don’t worry yourself sick about them right now. We will continue following them & sharing their journey until they leave the area, as we always do. We don’t know when that will be this year since their work is now done… 🙁We will not know the cause of death without the necropsy results, but we are looking closely at several indicators pointing to severe dehydration brought on by a variety of mitigating factors. Some of the factors that we are looking into include; extreme sustained heat including several consecutive days of 100+ degree temperatures in a row in June, no canopy or shade above the Nest due to a completely dead nest tree, and numerous fluctuations in nearby river levels beginning in late Feb/early March which may have affected the eagle’s typically bountiful rainbow trout supply in April & May 2024. We did not see nearly the number of trout, which has a lot of hydration for the eaglets, coming into the nest during those crucial months as we typically have at this nest. 🙁“

Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care! We hope to see you soon.

Thank you to the following for the comments, observations, notes, posts, videos, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, B, Geemeff, H, J, PB, R’, Montana Osprey Project, Montana Osprey Cam, Cornell RTH Cam, Suzanne Arnold Horning, Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home, Fischadlerwebcam, Charlo Montana, Blackish at Old Tracadie Harbour, Osoyoos Ospreys, SK Hideaways, de’Montreal Falcons, Weston Power Plant Peregrine Falcon Cam, Wings of Whimsy, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Twin Cities Metro Osprey Watch, Newfoundland Power, Field Farm, BoPH, Pam Breci, Eagle Club of Estonia, Mlade Buky, Osoyoos, Fenwick Island, Dahlgren Ospreys, Patuxent River Park, Fortis Exshaw, Window to Wildlife, World Bird Sanctuary, LRWT, and FORE.

Too many deaths…Wednesday in Bird World

19 June 2024

Hello Everyone,

As I wake up, sadness has just drifted over Bird World again. Dear Luna is gone and so are Zeus and Hera’s chicks. Bless his heart, our little sweet Smallie is gone, too.

It feels like a day for quiet reflection and to give thanks for those little ones that are surviving this year. They are VERY special!

I am writing this sitting at the nature centre eating a lunch-type breakfast and sipping Moroccan Tea. The Woodpeckers and the Red-wing Blackbirds are pecking away at the feeders. I find it interesting that the Blackbirds are not out foraging. Is it our horrific weather? It rains every day. I am surprised my house is not covered in mould and creepers! And then there is Steve, the resident Muskrat. Steve lives under the deck of the nature centre and loves eating bird seed~. The forecast is for yet another thunder storm this evening. This has been weeks with some breaks. The water in the river is very high making it difficult for the eagles and ospreys to fish. Our wildlife and raptors are suffering like they are elsewhere. We certainly needed the rain after our dry winter and it has stopped all of the wild fires but it is time to let somewhere else that needs the moisture have it. Famous last words. Our rain gauge can’t even keep up!

I am so glad that I have ‘The Girls’, the garden animals, and my walks. They help me to keep balanced in a Bird World that is decidedly unbalanced this year.

These two had been taking turns washing one another when they turned around and ‘sort of’ looked up.

Such an angel when she is sleeping.

Calico and Hope had been on the top snuggled together, too. Of course, I went to get the phone camera and look what happened.

Little Red was the first to find the new seed cylinder!

This is the season that just keeps on gifting – and the gifts are grief. Luna, the only surviving eaglet of Liberty and Guardian at the Redding nest in California on the Sacramento River, is dead. Her brother Sol died on the nest on 14 June.

Are these deaths related? or not? Is it possible that this is HPAI? Hopefully the necroscopy will tell those that need to know. Condolences to Liberty and Guardian who faced a challenging year with rising water and a nest tree that was very frail and to all the Friends of the Redding Eagles.

I will start with Heidi’s reports.

Last year, Hera lost her chicks to the weather We thought she had lost her mate, Zeus, too. This year dramatic sadness:
“6/19, South Cape May Meadows osprey nest of Hera and Zeus:  There is no night light at the nest, and it was very dark.  It sounded like a GHO knocked Hera off the nest at 0359.  The GHO then landed on the perch, and went to the nest for a short time.  The owl returned to the nest  at 0420.  There is no sign of the babies or Hera this morning.  The osprey nestlings were 8 and 5 days of age.”

Hera came to the nest at 0906, she was dirty and disheveled, but she otherwise seemed (physically sic) okay.

6/18 Osoyoos osprey nest:  There were six feedings that I saw from 5 fish.  A few of the fish were medium in size, some smaller.  All of the osplets ate well at each meal, except meal #5, during which Little decided he’d rather sleep!  I did not see any aggression during the feedings.  The osplets are looking good.  The osplets are 11, 10, and 8 days of age.

6/18 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Captain Mac’s Fish House):  Johnny and June have one baby this year (the remaining egg will not hatch).  I’ve been concerned that the 4-day-old chick may not be getting enough to eat.  I tried to follow their activities more closely today.  There were five feedings that I saw, and the feedings seemed to go well between mom and baby.  Usually the young osprey babies require small, but more frequent feedings.  Johnny is not bringing fish to the nest very often, and he removes leftovers.  The baby looks okay, though.  I will continue to monitor.

6/18 Audubon Boathouse osprey nest:  Congratulations to Dory and Skiff on the hatch of their second baby!

6/18 Forsythe osprey nest:  Oscar brought six fish to the nest, all were at least medium sized, and a couple of them were quite large.  The osplets both ate well, and there was no aggression.  Very hot temperatures are predicted in the upcoming days, so keep plenty of fish coming in if you can Oscar.

6/18 Patuxent osprey nest:  We saw the ‘return of the whopper’, and Little had a much better day today.  The first meal was from a small whole fish, and Little didn’t get any of that.  At 0730, Dad delivered a medium sized partial fish, and Little started to eat first.  Dad turned right around and brought a medium whole fish at 0737, and  a dual feeding took place, with Dad primarily feeding Big and Middle.  Little had a mostly private meal and ate for 17 minutes. Little ate for a total of about 27 minutes at the following three meals.  At 1659 Dad delivered the whopper.. a huge whole fish, that would feed the family for the next two hours!  Each osplet had a few meals, and Little ate on and off for approximately 33 minutes.  Dad showed up with a huge goldfish at 1806, and his family was still eating from the whopper fish, so he left with it.  At 2020 Dad returned with the headless version of said goldfish, and he barely got a nod from anyone.  They were all zonked out with their huge crops, so he left with the fish again.


6/18 Captiva osprey nest:  Captiva had a wonderful day.  Edie brought three fish to the nest, and Jack contributed one.  Poor Jack was swarmed by Edie, Ding and Darling when he brought in his fish, and he could barely escape from the nest, lol.  So, there was plenty of food to go around.  The really big news of the day was the incredible hovering by Ding, as she took advantage of a brisk breeze.  On one of her hovers in the morning s/he found herself hovering over the right perch, and landed on it.  Ding enjoyed being on that perch so much that she landed on it a few more times throughout the day.  Ding was on the perch at the time of one of Edie’s fish deliveries, and it took a while for Ding to gingerly make it back to the nest by shuffling her feet along the perch brace.  The osplets are 56 and 55 days old.

Polo 7422 caught some wing action Hope was doing at Lake Murray. She is our fledgling, the Middle Chick, that survived the GHO attacks.

The female at MN Landscape drives me nuts. She now has only one chick to feed. The male is bringing in big fish. There is no excuse. She requires the chicks, little ones, to move to her wherever she decides to feed and she takes about 25 bites to their one. I hope this last one survives. It is damp and cold and it needs to be warm and well fed.

In comparison, you have several osprey families that are fantastic and can feed and care for four. Think Field Farm and Poole Harbour. I am holding my opinion of McEuan Park right now. I want to see how Little Mini does in a week.

So the question is this: Is it the female behaviour at Minnesota? The male is bringing big fish? or is it a lack of resources? weather?

Field Farm.

Poole Harbour.

McEuan Park also has four and the difference between Big and Little Mini is very noticeable. Let’s hope Little Mini can make it.

Janis Kruze rings the storklets. Liznm caught it.

At Loch Arkaig, C1 (I think he is a male) is starting to react to protect itself and eat.

Geemeff’s Daily summary from Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:

Daily summary Tuesday 18th June 2024 Today was all about fish and the situation between submissive older chick C1 and dominant younger chick C2. Louis brought six fish to the nest including a late night snack-sized one, taking his tally to two hundred and sixteen. C1 is learning some strategies to deal with C2 including the odd lunge at its sibling then beating a hasty retreat to tuck down and await the swift retaliation, but the most successful one is waiting when fish arrives then sidling round the side of Dorcha and getting some mouthfuls from her – in one case, getting a ten minute exclusive feed from her while C2 was resting its bloated crop. C1 even took a cheeky nibble which is very encouraging – the sooner C1 starts self-feeding confidently, the better. As today ends, both chicks have full crops. On the anniversary of Dorcha removing the sad remains of 2022’s Bob3, body disposal was a topic of discussion on the forum as it was observed that dominant C2 attacked the body of C3 several times with some vigour. Was it just attacking, or attempting to feed? Will the body gradually be subsumed into the nest or will Dorcha remove it? Meantime, it is still clearly visible. In other news, Garry LV0 visited Nest One and stayed for over an hour, bringing nesting materials and doing some nest-scraping. What this means in terms of gaining residents remains to be seen, his visits are infrequent enough to assume he’s nesting somewhere in the area with a mate, but with Garry, nothing is certain. The weather was settled and set to continue tonight with a clear sky and light winds, and sunshine tomorrow.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 00.20.14 (03.16.26); Nest Two  23.34.57 (03.45.34)

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

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

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/WZyXxYRAsfo N2 Fish number one, C1 self-feeds 04.47.10  

https://youtu.be/bB9Dwon2I3o N2 Fish number two, C2 attacks C1  09.30.47 

https://youtu.be/Wxu_Vl1wvlw  N2 Fish number three, C2 seems to have prevented C1 eating.. 10.50.06 

https://youtu.be/tZeYWxBU94U N2 ..But cunning C1 waits, and gets an exclusive feed  11.11.54

https://youtu.be/tGKhmichhqo N1 Garry LV0 visits with nesting materials and does housework 11.50.26  

https://youtu.be/U-tu9Y00WH0  N2 Fish number four, younger chick attacks older chick 13.47.43 

https://youtu.be/JeleU0HE-Iw  N2 Fish number five, headless trout, C1 sidles round and gets some  20.54.59

https://youtu.be/wYOfQq2c0dg  N2 Fish number six, snack-size trout, C1 gets nothing 22.41.54 

Bonus read – who knew you could put a backpack on a beetle? Woodland Trust, that’s who!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz55jm0m80ro

It will not be long til we have White-Bellied Sea Eagle eggs in the Sydney Olympic Forest!

The weather has been one of the leading causes of death of osplets. Today, it is pouring at the nest of Iris and Finnegan. Not good for newly hatched osplets or for feeding – they can’t thermoregulate yet – and for fishing.

‘A’ comments: “Iris has been trying to feed it but then clears up what look like the bites it was fed, so at yesterday’s feedings, I am not sure it actually ended up swallowing much at all. And the weather is not helping, with a very wet day. Iris is hunkered down on the kids, looking soaked. It is 17:31 and despite the rain, Finn has brought in a nice-sized fish. Iris is telling him that she wants the fish but it is too wet to feed the babies at this moment so he should leave the fish and she would grab the next break in the weather. (At least, that’s what I would be saying to Finn, and Iris is a girl of like mind.) She is VERY chatty. He as always just stands quietly, the strong silent type. She gets up though and dad hands over the fish.

Big Bob turns and watches dad, so Little Bob is the only one in the feeding line. Mum tries to feed him but dad’s tail keeps bonking him in the head! Nevertheless, he gets a bite and Iris tries with another. Another tail bonk! And again! But she finally manages to give him the second half of the bite. He takes it but it gets stuck on his beak! By now, Big Bob has worked out where mum and  the food are and has turned around. Feeding Big Bob is much easier for Iris, who may be a little stiff and resents having to lean over and down to a young chick (she was like that when Big Bob first hatched too), so she feeds him. Little Bob is not offered food, as he is still not entirely sure which direction to face and is also getting an occasional tail bonk from dad, knocking him down onto the nest. He pops straight back up though – he is a lively little chick and seems healthy and active. Iris has obviously got some food into him. (At this stage, I am assuming Big Bob is a feisty girl and Little Bob is a younger brother, because that is the usual nest order apparently, but of course it could be the other way around, which would be wonderful.) 

So far, things are going well in the sense that Finn is providing enough fish and the chicks are eating when they are given food. I am a little concerned that Iris seems tired, and perhaps even a little lazy. She is sometimes reluctant to feed for long enough and finds it hard to reach down to the little one. Only time will tell. At this stage, both are looking healthy and active and that is the best we can hope for. “

‘A’ continues, “Finn was in early as usual to say good morning to Iris. She packed him off to get breakfast around 7am, and was far from pleased when he arrived back nearly 45 minutes later with a giant stick but no fish! She has a great deal to say about it and she does NOT sound at all happy. She has two hungry osplets who are becoming slightly unruly beneath her, it’s nearly 8am and she has nothing to feed them. And Finn thinks it’s a good time to consider baby rails? 

Now, as Finn continues rearranging the nest structure, Iris keeps nagging at him constantly. He does not appear to have a crop, though his underfluffies do appear to be wet. They could merely be a little messy. Finally, shortly before 07:47 he flies off again. 

Iris is hunkered back down as if it was raining. She could simply be tired. She tends to lay her head down on the nest and literally pass out, rarely if ever sleeping tucked. She does seem to have been particularly tired for a couple of days following each hatch, which makes a lot of sense, as she got little or no sleep on those nights the chicks were hatching (two nights of disturbed sleep per chick, with a third night at the beginning when she was not so restless because she was not constantly moving but was aware of movement and peeping inside the egg, so was awake and listening to the chick the night before the outer pip was visible). 

She is an elderly osprey, and it is lovely to see Finn doing things like feeding her on the nest. She had to work very hard yesterday afternoon to get the fish off the remaining skin (Finn had returned a fish that by then had largely been eaten and was feeding the last remnants to the younger chick, Big Bob having passed out in a food coma some time earlier). It was a shame really because it meant she fed very slowly, so that Big Bob eventually woke up and got food that should have gone to the little one. 

So far, it seems to be growing well and eating enough. It had a dear little round crop yesterday afternoon – its first one (you know how when they’re really young, they don’t really eat enough at each feeding to get noticeable crops – they just don’t look sunken). Of course its older sibling had a very large one, as it usually does nowadays. 

My heart sank yesterday when the older one started bonking the baby. The good part about it was that the little one had no real clue what was going on. It is not quite able to see properly (it’s still a little vague about where things are and who is what) and can’t really tell the difference between being bonked by dad’s tail feathers and being beaked by Big Bob, who is not at all vicious in his pecks. They’re tokenistic at this stage but definitely intended to make the pecking order clear to Little Bob. 

So far, there has been no attempt to stop Little Bob from eating or from lining up for food. It was simply boredom, I think, and maybe a little frustration. There was no food involved. We will wait and see what happens today. I was pleased to see that Iris was making an obvious effort to feed Little Bob, both after she has filled up Big Bob and also when she gets the chance at a private feeding, such as when Finn returned the remnants of that fish when Big Bob was asleep. 

So I remain hopeful that dad will bring enough fish of a really good size to ensure there is enough for everyone, though his tendency not to leave leftovers on the nest is a bit of a worry. He doesn’t seem to realise that these chicks need half a dozen feedings off that big fish he brings in for breakfast (remembering of course that he has usually eaten the head off this gigantic fish, so has had a seriously large amount of food himself). Both Finn and Iris have voracious appetites, and although Iris is definitely prepared to sacrifice some of her own share to her osplets, Finn takes any remaining fish off the nest with some alacrity, sometimes despite loud protestations from Iris. 

At 08:03 she is still waiting for Finn and a fish.”

Not a bad day for Boulder County and its Only Bob.

The Decorah North eagle family is surviving without their beloved nest. They hang around the old nest and it is simply beautiful.

‘PB’ has been monitoring the Cowlitz PUD nest and shares concerns that Little Bob might not getting enough food and he is being bonked. Send positive wishes for them. This is a difficult area because of all the competition for food. The Eagles like to steal from the Ospreys.

Lucille Powell caught both of the osprey fledglings on their Sun Coast nest.

Look at Aurora!

Things are looking OK for the surviving fans at San Jose.

Beautiful Only Bob at Rutland is ringed. It is a boy!

We need a big smile and here it is – this is what happens when a community comes together and feeds the osplets on a nest so that they can grow and thrive. Thank you, Port Lincoln, you are a role model!

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, photos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, Toni Hoover and Amersfoort Falcons, FORE, SCMM, Forsythe Ospreys, Patuxent River Park, Osoyoos Ospreys, Audubon Boat House, Fenwick Island, Polo7422, MN Landscape Arboretum, Field Farm, BoPH, McEuan Park, Liznm, Geemeff, SK Hideaways, Montana Osprey Project, Boulder County, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Pam Breci, Lucille Powell, SK Hideaways, Rutland Osprey Project, and Port Lincoln Osprey.

Tragedy at Minnesota…Tuesday in Bird World

18 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

I had a wonderful Monday with my son. The rain did not come until 1600 and now the sun is trying hard to peek out from the grey clouds. ‘The Girls’ have all come out of hiding now that he has returned to his sister’s house. They really do not like company!

Early morning news from ‘IB’. MN Landscape nest back up and yes, two babies have died. Soar high little ones.

‘PB’ wrote early that Smallie had gotten himself into some mischief by landing in the city’s moat. He was rescued by the Animal Ambulance – the staff seem to know Smallie rather well by now – dried off and sent on his way. They note that his flying is not that good yet. But he is safe and back with the big sisters fighting for food or getting a private feeding. It is likely we won’t see much more of the falcons on the ledge but maybe Smallie will spend the night inside the scrape.

‘PB’ reports that Smallie has not been seen since he was rescued in the canal. Sisters have. Send him good positive wishes this little fellow.

The fledglings are still around the Campanile! Good news for us to grab a view. Maybe not for a tired Annie.

Iris and Finnegan welcomed their second hatch Monday morning.

Both are getting a nice fish dinner as a drenched Dad, Finnegan, looks on as Mum Iris feeds. The water in the Clark Forke River has cleared up and Finnegan is really doing some marvellous fishing. He is just the best thing that could have come into our beloved Iris’s life.

‘A’ comments: “At the 16:43 feeding (medium-sized whole fresh fish courtesy of Finn) our rapidly growing osplet (who looks like a mini dinosaur already) it is easy to see the tiny second hatch, its beak open, initially with its back to mum and the food, but it turns around, albeit behind its sibling so without much chance of getting fed in this position. I have no idea what time this little one hatched (I’ve been so busy today, this is my first chance to check the nests and it’s nearly 8.30pm here in Melbourne). 

Iris is doing a great job of feeding Big Bob, who eats well and holds his head up perfectly, as s/he has done since it hatched. The little one is facing the wrong way. Its little beak is open but it cannot see mum. Mum is going to have to move if she is to feed the baby. It is probably not particularly hungry yet, but that depends on what time it actually hatched. That was a large hole I saw, so it could have produced a hatch by dawn, which would definitely make it time for a feeding. I am unsure whether it has been fed earlier in the day. 

By 16:46 the baby is facing the right way, Iris considers offering it a bite but changes her mind and continues feeding Big Bob. Little Bob is right beside its sibling but further from mum, who is already reaching to feed Big Bob. At 16:46:53 she gives it the first tiny flake of fish. At 16:47 she feeds it a larger piece, which it seems to manage. And another at 16:47:15. She is now feeding one bite to Big Bob and one to Little Bob but quickly reverts to feeding the larger chick. Periodically, she carefully gives Little Bob a mouthful of fish. It is begging for food, keen to eat, and it seems to be doing pretty well with the bites it is being given by Iris. She is a good mum – filling up the larger osplet and then starting to offer bites to the little one. There is no bonking at this early stage from the larger chick. 

At 16:49:30 Iris has a bit of fish for herself, returning to feeding at 16:50:16. Mum has moved the fish, and Big Bob has turned to his right to accommodate the change in position, but Little Bob turned to his left, so now his back to the feeding again. Iris continues feeding Big Bob, who has eaten a LOT of fish in the past ten minutes. 

Iris takes a bite of fish and carefully moves all the way around the nest to Little Bob’s side, where she appears to be preparing to offer him the fish, but then eats it herself and begins cleaning up the dropped pieces from around the chicks (suggesting that Little Bob failed to swallow much of the fish he was given). Finn immediately flies onto the nest as if to take the remaining fish Iris has temporarily deserted, but then he seems to be considering feeding the chicks. Instead, he waits for Iris to finish eating the leftovers so that he can offer her the bite. Eventually, having waited some time, he swallows it himself. Iris retrieves the fish and at 16:53 resumes feeding Big Bob.

Little Bob is again facing the wrong way. Big Bob is eating and eating. Iris moves the fish around the nest, as if intending to feed Little Bob, but instead decides to try and hork the tail down. It is still attached to quite a bit of flesh and Iris has to work to try and get it down. She tries twice, failing both times, and eventually returns to feeding Big Bob with it! Finn watches on. Little Bob is right beside Big Bob now, facing mum and begging for food, but mum has not offered him any. Big Bob refuses a bite and at 16:54:45, Iris leaves the last piece of fish and decides to brood. I would like to think that Little Bob had at least a couple of bites of fish that he didn’t drop. Finn flies to the perch, waits until Iris is settled and flies in to retrieve the tail piece of fish. “

Fab Four at Field Farm are doing fantastic. Looks like they are going to beat the odds.

The Quartet at Poole Harbour are equally as fabulous. They are managing with four mouths to feed splendidly. Such calm. I still think the majority are little boys if not all of them!

‘J’ sent me something that I think you will enjoy. The Institute for Wildlife Studies (IWS) with Dr Sharpe and the people who care for the Channel Islands eagles released the reasons for the names given to the eaglets in the Adoption Challenge. I don’t think they would mind if I share it with you. ‘J’ compiled the information from their individual posts on FB. Images of the eaglets are on the IWS FB page.

The second Pinnacle Rock eaglet has been named Sean ‘Olol ‘Koy after the Institute for Wildlife Studies San Clemente Loggerhead Shrike Project lead! These siblings celebrate Sean and Nicole’s effort to rescue the Bald Canyon eaglet earlier this spring. From the donor, ” ‘Olol ‘Koy is Chumash for dolphin. The Chumash Creation story is that Hutash, Earth Mother goddess created the first Chumash people on Limuw Island (now Santa Cruz Is.) When the island became too crowded she created a rainbow bridge to send half the people over to the mainland. Some looked down and fell into the ocean to drown. Hutash saved them by transforming them into dolphins. Chumash consider dolphins their brothers and sisters.”

One of the two chicks from the Pinnacle Rock nest has been named Nicole Tauri! From the donor, Tauri is a Native American name for Young Eagle, and “We all know our New Hero, Nicole! Thank you for your service Nicole!”. The photo is of a pair of chicks from 2014.

The Los Pinos chick has been dubbed Kāwika (Kaa-vee-ka), Hawaiian for Dave. From the donor: “For appreciation of all the awesome views, experience and knowledge of the Channel Islands Nest. His dedication speaks for itself. Our friend goes back all the way to 2006! He was a IWS Chat Mod back in the early 2000 and then the CamOp after Dr Sharpe. The first and Head IWS CamOp for Explore and Mod for IWS YouTube. “

The second chick at Twin Rocks has been named! No ‘Nah Me is named after the donor’s grandparents, and a street in Quartzite Arizona. “In 1965 [my Gramma and Grampa] bought property in Quartzsite, AZ along with 5 other couples. The other people argued about what to name the street. All wanted their last name used! My Grampa quietly left and went to the recording office and submitted No-Name Street. It was granted. I went to Quartzsite in 2020 to visit their resting place. I talked to the lady at City Hall and told her that story. The lady said ‘Really, we’ve been pronouncing it No ‘Nah Me!’”

The two eaglets from the Seal Rocks nest on Santa Catalina Island have been named! They are “Milo” and “Merida Jane” in honor of two beloved pets who have recently passed.

The second Fraser Point eaglet has a name- Reign! This bird was adopted and named by a group of seven friends who call themselves the Cruzors gave this name because “Cruz is royalty herself being the first natural hatch on the islands since the bald eagle restoration project. Therefore, it is only fitting that her offspring embody her legacy.”

One of the two eaglets at Empire nest on Santa Catalina Island has been named Charley! 

The story behind this name, in the words of the IWS supporter adopting this nest:

“The first name of my beloved ex-husband. We had a relationship that spanned nearly 20 years & after our divorce we eventually became nearest & dearest friends. At the end of his life he battled 2 different cancers over 3 years & I was his caregiver through both. When he was diagnosed with the 2nd cancer (Stage IV pancreatic) he asked me, “Will you help me get ready to go to Heaven?” I, of course, said yes. His last wish was to travel with a friend to their cabin in the woods to see the wildlife. On the trip we came across a Bald Eagle perched where it could be clearly seen in an unusual area near a well-traveled highway. We stopped & our friend got a great picture. The eagle was one of the last of earth’s creatures Charley saw–he died at the cabin less than 24 hours later. That was coming up on 13 years ago this November & to this day I keep a framed picture of that eagle nearby.”

We have a drawing winner who named the eaglet from the Middle Ranch nest on Santa Catalina Island. This eaglet will be named Avalon, in honor of the city where they were married in 1990. Congratulations on getting to name an eagle, and on 34 years of marriage!

The first Fraser Point eaglet has been named Manini, the adopter’s family name, and an homage to the advisor and doctor to King Kamahamaha I who brought plants, including pineapples to the Hawaiian Islands.

I am reposting the announcement for our first Fraser Point eaglet because I misplaced the title “King.” The first Fraser Point eaglet has been named Manini, the adopter’s family name, and an homage to the advisor and doctor to King Kamahamaha I and who brought many plants, including pineapples to the Hawaiian Islands.

We have names for the Bald Canyon eaglets! Hatched on the day the moon covered the sun, the older sibling is named Eclipse, and the younger Selene after the Goddess of the Moon in Greek Mythology. 

The proverbial West End middle eaglet has been named Treasure. From the adopter: “Well, each of these eaglets is a treasure, and, with full respect to his/her siblings, I would like this one to carry that name: Treasure.”

The eldest eaglet from the West End has been named Koa. From the Level 1 Nest Adopter who gave this eaglet its name “WE1 is the offspring of Akecheta and Thunder. Akecheta means “fighter” in Native American language. As the eldest triplet, WE1 will carry on its father’s legacy as the protector. Koa is the Hawaiian word for warrior. Koa warriors served to protect lands, natural resources, and the ruling chiefs. They were seen as brave, bold, fearless, valiant & courageous.”

We have a new name! The youngest of the West End chicks has been named Sterling in honor of the adopter’s late father.

We have our first named chick! Pimu, from the Twin Rocks nest on Catalina Island, named “to recognize and honor the Tongva People who were the indigenous custodians of the Southern Channel Islands, including Catalina Island, over 7000 years ago. The Tongva called Catalina Island ‘Pimu.’”

The weather is bad at Charlo Montana. Not good for newly hatched chicks.

There is bonking starting at Osoyoos and the fish that I have seen have been small. This nest really needs a good supply of food to feed five. Not Olsen’s fault. He is doing the best that he can in a tough situation. ‘H’ might have a further report.

The Loch Arkaig is difficult to watch. C1 now goes after C2. I did not see a lot of fish deliveries. This is really sad. C3 reminds us how fabulous nests can change. It takes one ferocious, normally female, oldest sibling and a day or two without a lot of food deliveries and mayhem can occur – the result, the loss of one or more babies.

Geemeff’s Daily summary Monday 17th June 2024

After yesterday’s sadness at the loss of little Chick3, today was calmer all round, both for the family and for the watchers. Louis brought three fish to the nest, taking his tally to two hundred and ten. He put on a sprint between leaving the nest after delivering the first fish and returning with the second fish, and achieved a remarkable Nest to Nest time of 9 minutes 37 seconds. However, this doesn’t beat his all-time N2N record of 5 minutes 23 seconds on 31st May 2020. The third fish was basically just a tail end, and as with the earlier fish, dominant C2 got most and wouldn’t let submissive C1 have any. C1 is looking very hollow-cropped while C2 has the usual golfball – so it was heartening to see C1 suddenly decide to stand up to C2. Several attempts were made in quick succession, none lasted long and inevitably C2 soon subdued C1, but this bodes well for the future. There was discussion around the fate of the sad bundle of feathers that was C3, it’s possible Dorcha will dispose of it in the forest as she’s done before, or bury it within the nest vegetation, or it might even get eaten. C1 had the odd peck at it today, right before Dorcha had to deal with an intruder Osprey overflying the nest. No activity on Nest One, the weather was much more settled, and tonight’s forecast is a dry night with light cloud and light winds.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 00.03.50 (02.54.38); Nest Two 23.19.46 (03.48.07)

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

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

Today’s videos, all Nest Two:

https://youtu.be/rcFGjw9ggH8  Fish number one, very small whole BT, C1 gets none 04:27:10 

https://youtu.be/IVqA6qiQegI Fish number two, small whole trout, arrives <10 mins Nest-to-Nest time!  04.37.12 

https://youtu.be/vxpIhe93244 Chick1 pecks at Chick3’s body, Dorcha deals with intruders 14:29:47

https://youtu.be/sAFaD-IV1No  Fish number three, just a tail-end but C2 stops C1 getting any 17.48.52 

https://youtu.be/UVmvmdGrrgo Chick1 finally makes an attempt at standing up to C2 18.10.01

Bonus watch (not for the faint-hearted) –  LizB talks about Ospreys eating their dead chicks. Warning: graphic content.

Rosie and Richmond continue to construct their new nest on the light stand now that two chicks have hatched.

Challenger, the Eagle that soared to fame during the Super Bowl and has served as an ambassador for decades is to undergo cataract surgery today at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. Send this amazing eagle good wishes for a full recovery.

Even-Eagles-Get-Cataracts-Discover-MagazineDownload

Siblicide is horrible to watch. ‘H’ and I can predict some nests where it will occur because we are aware of the weather and food availability. Others we can’t. Loch Arkaig threw us a curve ball. A perfect nest where there is fish and good parenting. Weather sets in. Things go sideways. We are watching several nests at the moment and hoping they might turn around.

There is some concern over Little Bob at Cowlitz. It ate at breakfast but had only a handful of bites of fish from the second feeding due to the eldest keeping it away. Smart little one went on the other side of Electra to eat. We wait to see how this unfolds. There is plenty of competition in the area for fish and the eagles there do steal from the ospreys when they fly to their nests with fish.

I have concerns about the osprey nest at the Bridge Golf Club. We lost Little Mini and we could lose Little. Big is hampering it eating.

One of the things that touches my heart is seeing the fledglings return to the nest to eat their fish. We see this at University of Florida-Gainesville and I am sure it is happening there while the camera is down. We see it at Moorings Park with Ruffie and Tuffy and also at Venice Golf Club. I would, however, dance around the room if all three fledglings showed up at the nest at once – just to know all are safe and sound.

Split screen shows both at Moorings on Monday having fish like the two above.

Change in date for the ringing of Rutland’s Only Bob.

In Scotland, the Golden Eagle Recover Programme is working hard.

Golden-Eagle-recovery-continues-in-southern-Scotland-BirdGuidesDownload

Good night Lake Murray. I hear predator grates like the ones at Cowlitz PUD will be installed if the Cowlitz chicks are once again saved from any predation this year like they were in 2023.

‘H’ reports:

6/17 Forsythe osprey nest: It was another good fishing day for Oscar.  There were only five fish, but three of them were quite large.  The first meal of the day lasted for 75 minutes, and both of the osplets ate three times.   As you might expect, sibling rivalry was quelled today. 

6/18 Kent Island (Chesapeake) osprey nest:  It looks as though egg 1 of Audrey and Tom’s second clutch is not going to hatch.  It is at 41 days, and had been pecked by a crow over a month ago.  Egg 2 broke at laying.  Egg 3 remains, and will be 33 days old later this evening.

Lavc58.134.100

6/18 The Boathouse osprey nest:  Dory and Skiff’s lil’ babe is four-days-old already, and is cute as a button!  Egg #2 is at 37 days today, with no pip seen at the time of this note.

6/17 Patuxent osprey nest:  The three osplets are 37, 40, and 41 days old.  There were seven fish brought to the nest.  Little ate nothing of the first small fish.  Meals two and three were sort of combined, as there ended up being two fish in the nest at the same time.  Little ate very well at those feedings, and both of the older siblings tried a little bit of self feeding.  Little did not eat again until the last meal of the day, and ate 32 bites of fish plus the fish tail.  My impression over the past two days is that Little needs to have more to eat.  The temperatures will be very warm in the upcoming days, and I hope Dad will bring in some whoppers so that Little will have enough to eat.

6/17 Captiva osprey nest:  They had another splendid day.  There were five fish brought to the nest, two from Edie and three from Jack.  There were feedings and self-feedings.  Darling has become quite adept at self-feeding, and s/he was able to maintain possession of a fish or two when Ding attempted to steal it.  Progress!  Ding was doing some major helicoptering, including a few times completely out of sight for several seconds.  

And how wonderful. A Black Stork nest and the chicks getting ringed in Latvia!

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, posts, articles, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘A, Geemeff, H, IB, J, PB’, MN Landscape Arboretum, Amersfoort Falcons, SK Hideaways, Cornell Bird Lab, Montana Osprey Project, Field Farm, BoPH, IWS/Explore, Charlo Montana, Osoyoos Ospreys, The Woodland Trust, Geemeff, SF Bay Ospreys, Discover Magazine, Cowlitz PUD, Bridge Golf Course, VGCCO, Moorings Park Ospreys, LRWT, Forsythe, Patuxent River Park, Lent Island, Audubon Boat House, Window to Wildlife, BirdGuides, Lake Murray Ospreys, and LDF.

Tragedy at Crooked Lake…Sunday in Bird World

16 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

To all those wonderful men – human and not – for taking care of living breathing things, protecting them, feeding them, loving them – Happy Father’s Day. And to one special Osprey this morning who is injured with a spike in his leg – Jack at Captiva. You are amazing. Despite all, you are still helping feed your family this morning!

There is a lot going on in Bird World. Rescues, uprightings, sibling rivalry, hatches, GHO attacks, and death. You name it, it seems to be happening. The very beautiful and good is tinged with the sorrow and sadness. We just have to breathe and as someone said today, ‘life is very fragile, embrace someone and hold them tight, you don’t know what is coming next’. What a year it has been and we are only half way through. As one reader said to me, “The Memorial Page has exploded”. It has and I am still catching up! It is always sad to lose one of the birds and, please, take the time to check out the Memorial Page. If I am missing one of our feathered friends, please write and tell me so I can add them. I am still working on the European Storks that died so tragically from the horrific weather. And, another thing, the second hatch at Hellgate has not happened. I was sent incorrect information and the more I looked for a second head, I could not find it.

In all of this, Saturday was a gorgeous, hot windy day and we spent it at the duck pond watching the little ducklings and goslings, of all ages, flitter around the pond enjoying the shade and the cool water despite the build up of algae. People were happy being outside. There was a wedding reception in the garden area, and the ice cream man with his bell could be heard at a distance. Even deer were coming out to eat grass in the shade. Now the skies are pearl grey to dark charcoal and you can just feel a storm building up. Despite saying we would have no rain, we are now in an area of Extreme Weather with high winds, hail, and rain predicted. If this continues, we will need machetes for the garden instead of clippers and mower.

There were lots of ducks and geese on the islands in the pond which is shaded. The wind was keeping everyone cool despite the 27 C temperatures. Some of the geese had been in the water with their goslings. Some went in and out, in and out. Others foraged for little pebbles to aid their digestion. The goslings range in size from those that are about half as large as their parents to tiny wee ones that looked like they hatched only a couple of days ago. All of the adult geese are moulting. They will exchange all of their feathers. They will not be able to fly and leave the area until their full moult is complete. I don’t think anyone minds. Each trip I gather a handful of feathers for ‘The Girls’. They go crazy for them. Besides boxes and bags (without handles), these feathers are their next favourite toy. Their most favourite are the tunnels that they race in and out of late in the evening or early in the morning.

Baby Hope will be one year old on 2 July. As so many of you know, just thinking about her brings tears to my eyes. After Calico ‘decided’ that she was coming in the house on 28 August 2023, we thought we would never be able to find her only surviving kitten. (We could tell there was only one by the single teat being suckled). It appears that Calico might have lost ‘Hope’ and that was why she was ready to leave her life on the streets and come inside where she had lots of food, a safe place to sleep, comfy beds and toys and, of course, lots of love and stories. Five days later we looked out at the feral feeding station and there was a mini Calico. We knew it was her kitten. In three hours, Hope was inside suckling on Mum and life was good. We are trying to figure out precisely just what kind of party to have for her!

Hugo Yugo says that she thinks we need grilled cheese sandwiches along with ice cream for the party! What do you think?

Hugo Yugo is still tiny, a little peanut, but she remains the boss of all the others. Despite eating her food and theirs, she has hardly grown. She is a bundle of energy that never stops. She still sleeps draped around my neck at night. And she still begs for her pieces of cheese around 2100. I have been able to wean her off the kitten milk at the vet’s request. She is dynamite!

As I go to press, I am getting sad news. It appears that a GHO attack has taken all of the osplets from the Crooked Lake nest in Iowa. ‘H’ says, “This is without a doubt the most bold owl attack I have ever seen.  Just unbelievable. The owl stayed in the nest and killed all three osplets right in the nest in front of Mom, then flew off with one of them.’

Geemeff is also writing that C2 at Loch Arkaig is now dead or death is imminent. This is so sad and is due directly to siblicide by the ever aggressive C1. First time ever to happen at Loch Arkaig.

We will begin with news from ‘H’.

6/15 Forsythe osprey nest:  There were eight fish delivered to the nest by Oscar, and a few of them were fairly big.  How many times have we seen situations where the fish production at a nest increases after the starvation deaths of one or two of the osplets?  I know I’ve seen it happen a few times, and it just leaves me shaking my head.  After the siblicide/starvation deaths of Mini and Little, there is still some aggression from Big toward Middle.  But, Middle is managing to find ways to eat.  S/he most often squeezes around to the other side of Opal from Big, where there is just a small space between Opal and the outer rim of the nest.  Middle ate at least 345 bites of fish in eight meals.  I hope Oscar continues to have fishing success.  

6/15 Dahlgren osprey nest:  The baby named ‘Hope’ was stuck in a deep hole in the nest for about 1.5 days.  Dahlgren Osprey Cam arranged for a rescue by Tidewater Wildlife Rescue.  TWR performed the rescue this afternoon, and repaired the hole in the nest.  Little Hope is doing well, and we are so grateful.  Keep the fish coming in, Doug!

6/15 South Cape May Meadows osprey nest:  The two little bobs are doing very well.  Zeus has really stepped up, and he is providing lots of fish for his family.  We are so pleased!

6/16 Chesapeake, Kent Island osprey nest:  We wait to see if the first egg of the second clutch for Audrey and Tom will hatch.  The egg is 39 days old, but it was pecked by a crow on 5/16.  I hope there will be at least one 

6/16 Boathouse osprey nest:  The little osplet of Dory and Skiff is doing great.  Their second egg is 35 days old today.

6/15, Patuxent osprey nest:  Dad continues to deliver tons of fish, and many of the fish are huge.  He brought fish to the nest six times today, but we could tell that a few of them were the large leftovers he had previously removed from the nest.  All of the chicks were stuffed many times over.  There was very little aggression today, and Little was even seen eating at the ‘big kids table’!


6/15 Captiva ospreys:  There were 7 fish brought to the nest, four by Edie, and three by Jack.  There was a lot of eating going on…feedings and self-feedings.  Ding and Darling ate their fill.  And, at 53 days of age, Ding was hovering!  We are still worried about Jack.  He still has that foreign body ‘spike’ sticking through his leg.  But, he is able to fish and help take care of his family.  Bless his heart.

I want to thank Heidi – again and again. I could not keep up with the nests without her. So everyone, give her a loud shout out, please!

Those watching the Dahlgren nest and getting ever more anxious that the wee babe named Hope was stuck in a hole can now relax. It has been rescued and all the time it was there, dear Mum kept feeding it. Thank goodness. This is one of those really feel good moments that we need when tragedy seems to be lurking at many of our nests. Thank you to everyone who alerted the owners and to the rescue team that saved the wee one. Bless their hearts they filled in and repaired this nest with sticks, mud, and grasses/moss. Well done!

Tragedy may have been averted at the Wells Fargo Iowa DNR Osprey Platform. The little one with a full crop got on its back and could not right itself. It took the entire day. Will it be alright? We have to wait and see.

My favourite capture of Iris and Finnegan. I hope she lives many more years to enjoy this wonderful relationship.

Zoe fledges and Lucia returns flying strong several times.

Middle flew back to the osprey platform to be with Mum at Lake Murray after avoiding the GHO by flying. Magnificent. Fingers crossed everyone. This is such good news. Seriously this is incredible news. So happy happy.

Polo 7422 published a video of the hit by the GHO on Hope. (Have you noticed so many named Hope or Hugo??)

Going to check on some of the Finnish nests today! I had a lovely note from ‘SP’ today. I have been covering some of them as best I can but I also learned that some of my confusion with the numbering and names is because there are two separate organisations. That is why I cannot find 10 nests on this one site! ‘SP’ elaborates, “The link I gave in my previous male, Sääksikamerat (kaikki näkymät) | Sääksilive (saaksilive.fi), with 5 nests, and 2 views of the active nests (I follow mainly these):                     

Here nests 1, 3 and 4 are occupied. 

  • Number 4 has last year’s couple, 3 chicks, eating a lot, and the making heavy exercises (fighting) from the very beginning (genes from the female). A video in the web by a non-native follower:
    Brutal fight between two eaglets #ospreycam #ospreys #siblingfight #shorts (youtube.com)   
    Hope the fishing weather will be good in July … (Last year the yongest chick got fiercely killed by the sibling.)
  • Number 1 has an older, experienced couple, with so far 1 chick and 2 eggs left.
  • Number 3, with a first time mum (bride from last year) and last year’s male, has 1 chick, one to pop up soon (hole in the egg already). First chick died.

(Last year the female disappeared and the 3 chicks died.

Number 5: the last year’s couple arrived, but somehow they ”changed their mind” abt nesting. The two eggs, not taken care about, were taken by a raven. Very ”nicely”, indeed, both times:

The other robbery:  6.5.2024 – #5 – Korppi ryöstää Saran munan mukaansa – YouTube

This nest, number 5 was interesting last year: After the own 2 chicks had left, a foreign chick, from Sweden, landed on the nest, and stayed very long, for weeks, and got fed by the male.”

Number 1 – adults doing incubation. Waiting for pip/hatch watch.

Number 2 is a failed nest. No activity.

Number 3 has a beautiful osplet. Dad brings a huge fish!

Number 4 has three healthy osplets.

Number LS/5 is a failed nest. No activity.

From separate organisations:

Seilin in the West of Finland. Couple incubating eggs.

Janakkala in the North has three osplets.

Muonion, in the far north, is incubating eggs.

At Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Dad delivered no less than five fish, several large. There is also rain and Mum is keeping those babies warm and dry. Everyone ate.

‘L’ writes: “Dad stood near mom while she fed the babies at Minnesota. I think he is trying to teach her. She literally went over the head of the oldest one to feed the third one. ” It seems that the latter part of the day was not so good at this nest. We live and hope.

Olsen is doing the best that he can at the Osoyoos Osprey Platform. Most of the fish brought in were so small but he landed a whopper later in the afternoon and everyone did eat well.

It has been a miserable day across much of Wales. Telyn and Idris worked to feed their three chicks and to keep them dry even though they are getting their juvenile plumage and can thermoregulate.

Blue 022 is working hard to get lots of good fish to CJ7 so that their four Bobs will all be full and happy.

I know how sad everyone has been after the loss of Sol, so close to fledge, at the Redding nest of Liberty and Guardian. Everyone at FORE is simply heart broken, too.

Luna is alive and well and for this we must be very glad.

All three eggs have now hatched at Niagara Bee. They are all looking good.

I will now be carrying the daily summary by Geemeff that she publishes for the Woodland Trust. It is the happenings on the Loch Arkaig nest of Dorcha and Louis. Lots of good information and links to videos! Thank you, Geemeff, for allowing me to publish this information.

“Daily summary Saturday 15th June 2024

No action on Nest One, and very little on Nest Two. Louis only brought one fish mid-morning, and wasn’t seen again until suppertime when he caused consternation by arriving empty-taloned. Dorcha couldn’t believe it and gave him a right earful while he cleaned bits of fish off his beak. He’d obviously eaten recently and had a nicely rounded crop which added fuel to Dorcha’s ire. Earlier Dorcha had caused a bit of consternation herself when she arrived with an awkwardly shaped stick and proceeded to drag it through the huddle of chicks, although she quickly redeemed herself by being an excellent mumbrella and keeping her three big chicks warm and dry during a torrential downpour. As usual, chick2 got all the fish and beaked the other two to keep them away from the food, therefore it will be good if Louis arrives early tomorrow morning with a fish big enough that C1 & C3 get a share too. Statto Steve Q provided us with a thorough analysis of the fish stats to date – despite the odd blip, Louis’ current total of two hundred and two fish is pretty much comparable with previous years. The weather was very unsettled today with a misty start turning into a rainy day and more of the same forecast for tonight.

Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.36.53 (02.58.59); Nest Two 23.10.58 (03.27.50)

Watch the livestream 24/7:

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

Today’s videos:

https://youtu.be/2hIydufKS3I Fish number one and only, headless trout, C2 gets it all 10.17.28

https://youtu.be/FlvoO8n_ZAk  Dorcha: from menace with a stick to brilliant mumbrella 17.32

https://youtu.be/OiKvZO7vkTU Louis finally arrives but he’s fishless! Dorcha can’t believe it  20.13.30

Bonus info – Steve Quinn’s fish stats for week 11:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=15060802

Blast from the past, this day in previous years:

https://youtu.be/ntv71sF-N_s  N1 Simultaneous feeding – mum and dad each feed a bob! 2019

https://youtu.be/1RzPgaEWMr0  N1 Limbo dancing 2020

https://youtu.be/PvklkJGfZIc  N1 Home alone chicks amuse themselves 2020

https://youtu.be/J8geReKxLxc  N1 Mumbrella Aila does her best to shelter the chicks 2020

https://youtu.be/FJYbKk1hA-4  N1 A Jay visits the empty nest 2021

https://youtu.be/tsAAz0z9Ac8  N2 Hooded Crow intrudes and perches on the nest 2022

https://youtu.be/k6W6PKYMMYQ  N2 Chicks battle it out as soon as mum leaves 2022

https://youtu.be/LTMLWBLOZnY  N1 LV0 just won’t get the message 2023

https://youtu.be/hFbYpDjHeyI  N1 Affric reaffirms her bond with Prince 2023

https://youtu.be/yvMLAjhrNaA  N2 Hangry chick attacks Dorcha 2023 (quick-time)”

Looks like we have one hatch at the Green Ledge Light Preservation Society nest on Long Island.

There was a lot of discussion over which eaglet it was that fell from the Fraser Point nest of Andor and Cruz. It appears it was Manini and not Reign as I reported earlier. Congratulations on fledging!!!!! BVS Girl has that first flight on video.

The two Golden eaglets in Estonia nest 2 are plump and healthy. They are flapping their wings and walking.

This is the second hatch spreading its wings. Look at that fat bottom and those big strong legs. I am so happy for this nest. I hope the good fortune continues.

Fish dinner arriving at Cowlitz PUD and we have three hungry osplets.

I cannot tell you how much fish Little Mini got at Field Farm on Saturday. It is often difficult to tell, but the wee one is growing and had a sort of half crop in the morning.

Checking in on the San Jose Falcons.

For images of the Cal falcon fledglings, please go to the Instagram account of moon_rabbit_rising!

Suzanne Arnold Horning posted some lovely images of Big Red and Arthur’s Ns. They have fledged and were found in spots near to Fernow and Tower Road. Both fledglings are doing well.

Tweed Valley Osprey Project gives us an excellent view of Mrs O feeding her three osplets.

Thank you so much for being with me. Watch for that hatch of Iris and Finnegan from Sunday-Tuesday according to Dr Greene. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, observations, videos, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A’, Geemeff, H, L, MM, PB, SP’, Timothy Dygert Live Stream, The Woodland Trust, Forsythe Ospresy, Dalgren Ospreys, SCMM Kent Island, Boathouse Ospreys, Patuxent River Park, Window to Wildlife, Heidi McGrue, Sunnie Day, Montana Osprey Project, SK Hideaways, Lake Murray Ospreys, Polo 7422, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Nesting Bird Life and More, MN Landscape Arboretum, Osoyoos Osprey Cam, Dyfi Osprey Project, BoPH, FORE, Niagara Bee, Feemeff, Green Ledge Light Preservation Society, BVSGirl, Eagle Club of Estonia, Cowlitz PUD, moon_rabbit_rising, Suzanne Arnold Horning, and Tweed Valley Ospreys.