Tuesday was cooler—21 C. Visiting the nature centre required a windbreaker and it was just so much more excellent walking. There were lots of Canada geese, wood ducks, and mallards at the pond, as well as a single Solitary Sandpiper – the first time I had seen one at the park!
All About Birds describes them: “The natty Solitary Sandpiper, with its olive-gray wings, black-and-white tail, and bold eyering, is a distinctive exception among the many lookalike sandpipers. Its helpful habit of bobbing the back half of its body or trembling its tail (and often feet) while foraging make it instantly recognizable. In flight, look for blackish underwings against a white belly, a pattern unique among North American shorebirds. As the name suggests, this species is normally seen singly. On migration, it turns up very widely, even in very small or temporary wetlands.”
From the map below you will see that this little bird is on its migration. What a distance it will go!
There is a small flower garden, and every blossom seemed delighted that the heat had passed. It feels like fall and even some of the leaves are changing colour.
It was a great walk!
News of fledglings from the UK in the Iberian Peninsula on their migration are reaching us. Threave’s 4B9 was seen and photographed on a stork nest in Portugal! These youngsters are making good progress. This is the first confirmed sighting of a fledgling from a public nest this year.
Geemeff sends us her daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Tuesday 27th August 2024
A lot of rain, a bit of sun, and no visitors to the nests – the season appears well and truly over. However, LizB reports: “One osprey spotted flying west to east along Loch Arkaig yesterday afternoon. Possibly the Bunarkaig male heading back to the nest but no way of knowing.” Perhaps we may yet have a final Osprey visitor before this comments page closes to end this eventful season.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.22.18 (05.34.50); Nest Two 21.20.17 (05.44.14)
Today’s videos: None
Bonus opinion: State-sponsored environmental vandalism or a good idea? What does WTS think?
At Dunrovin, Junebug was knocked off the nest by a GHO. This caused great fear amongst avid watchers. Junebug did safely return to the nest and Mum Winnie rewarded the bravery of her little one with a nice fish!
Antali had an early breakfast fish on the nest and then Iris is fish calling. Finnegan flies around the nest once and returns with her dinner! Iris flies off. Iris is now taking care of herself – as is Finnegan – so she can prepare for her migration.
Iris and her family have suffered through the most extreme heat for long periods of time, hurricane force winds, and now some are saying the earliest snows are on their ways. We wait to see.
Some concern that the juveniles had not been seen on the Newfoundland Power nest at Snow Lane. Here they are. One had a nice fish! And then Beaumont came in at another time with fish for both! Things are going so well this year.
In Wales, everyone has departed the Dyfi Osprey nest, but Idris, the male, who is keeping his oldest daughter Gwenlais, Blue 6B1, full of fish.
All three fledglings were seen on Tuesday the 27th at the Glaslyn nest. Not sure Elen is still here but Aran is still delivering fish. Will try and find out!
All three fledglings at Fortis-Exshaw along with Dad.
The fight against Omega’s industrial fishing in Virginia waters. Write your Senator to stop this. Our Osprey depend on these little fish to live.
Look at the amount. 112 million pounds. An Osprey family of five needs, on average, 500 fish a season – let’s be generous 750 pounds. Come on!
The antics of Xavier and Diamond are endless. If you are not familiar with Diamond, she does NOT like European Starlings for her dinner! or breakfast. or lunch. or for a snack. Nope. Not a Starling.
‘A’ writes, “The first egg at Orange was laid around lunchtime today (timestamp 12:08:07. TOO exciting. Now we all get to watch Xavier bargaining for egg time (I don’t think starlings are going to cut it, Xavier) and talking to his egg. (He is the CUTEST falcon dad of them all – he has even been known to try and feed the egg!!!) I do LOVE these two. I hope Diamond only lays one more egg. She is not getting any younger and I don’t want her to be overly stressed, though unlike our precious Iris, she doesn’t have to suffer the stresses of migration. She gets to live here in her scrape with Xavier all year round, which is a huge bonus for them and for us! I am SO excited. “
Watching at Poole Harbour to see who is home. Three of the four juveniles along with Blue 022 and CJ7 were seen on the nest on Monday.
Collins Street Falcons are waiting for their second egg at which time hard incubation could start. They might lay one or two more eggs. It has happened at this nest. Until hard incubation begins, the egg will be left unattended now and again.
We have rejoiced at four hatchlings and cried last year when the female was injured and the eggs were not incubated. There are high hopes for this year as this article in The Guardian discusses.
Holly Parsons is a wonder of information. She has included a video with David Attenborough on how eggs are made. I think you might be interested. https://youtu.be/PcI72ldPvx8?
Great photographs of Mum and Dad’s Calypso and her mate, Bradley, on the Tulka platform in South Australia. They have survived quite a wind storm.
Fledglings are still at Llyn Brenig!
‘AR’ sends us some news items…when will the shooting stop? Don’t people realise that eagles (all living souls) have emotions, feel pain, have families, partners and deserve respect?
‘AR’ also brings us up to date on the stunning project to try and eradicate the mice that are eating albatross alive – young and adult. This is the plan:
“It is a joint endeavor between the South African Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries and the environmental NGO BirdLife South Africa—is to deploy helicopters to drop 600 tons of pesticide-laced pellets across the island.”
I am still seeing SE34 being submissive and sometimes not eating because of SE33. The pin feathers are coming in, and surely SE33 will settle shortly. Dad and Lady are great parents.
The first egg for Mum and Dad at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge was 26 August. Today is the 29th in Port Lincoln. You know what that means – egg #2 is expected!!!!!!!
Dad has been making enquiries as to when this might happen!
And both juveniles are still at Osoyoos being fed!
‘The Girls’ and I have started a new book. It is a bit of a how to, but since they enjoy watching the birds and we want to make their lives in the garden as good as we can, there are some interesting ideas. These include making suet, plantings, upcycling items as bird houses and feeders, etc. Calico did listen to the beginning. She tends to like longer narratives so we will see, but for anyone interested in creating a wonderful spot for birds in their gardens, it is a good read. I plan to work on the various birdbaths and ponds next year! When I start you can follow my progress – or lack thereof.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, observations, videos, articles, books, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, AR, Geemeff, J, PB’, All About Birds, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Montana Osprey Project, Dunrovin Ranch, Newfoundland Power, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Heidi McGrue and Fortis Exshaw, Brian Collins and Menhaden-Little Fish, Big Deal, Holly Parsons, Birds of Poole Harbour, The Guardian, 367 Collins Street Falcons, Bazz Hockaday and Friends of Osprey Sth Aus, Brenig Osprey Project, Newsweek, Olympic Sea Eagles, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Dan Rouse, komu.com, thehill.com.
It is the start of the last week in August and today our temperature dropped to 28 C. It didn’t feel like the end of August of years gone by.
Some mark the end of summer at this time with children heading back to school. Others look to the calendar and notice that the fall equinox is on the 22nd of September, a Sunday beginning at 0743. I have yet to see any trees ‘turning’ where I live, but it often comes slowly, barely perceptible, going from deep emerald green through the greens to yellows and reds. What does this year have in store?
There are still hundreds and hundreds of birds in the garden – wrens, finches, sparrows, Blue Jays, Crows, woodpeckers, and the occasional ‘odd one out’. Dyson is here with her big kits, and all of them are starting to get their cold-weather fur. Dyson looks healthy and gorgeous. I hope to get a photo of her for you in the coming days. Little Red is busy, along with a few other little Reds. The Crows are still here, all from the one family across the lane. Everyone survived! Tonight, they were feasting on pizza. :))))))
Hugo Yugo and Baby Hope wish you a very good last week in August! We are going to have their parties on 2 September, Hugo Yugo’s birthday. We will also celebrate the arrival of Baby Hope a year ago and, of course, Calico. There will be dental treats – oh, don’t tell them they are healthy and keeping those teeth clean and gums nice with every crunch! A few new toys and another cardboard recliner scratcher. They have obliterated the one from Missey’s birthday already!!!!!!!!
If I am looking for Hugo Yugo, she will be in the cat tree – the large one in the conservatory. If she wants to find you, there will be the loudest yawl out of the smallest cat. Hugo Yugo has only one volume – extremely high! Calico never meows. Never. She doesn’t complain if I sleep in. All that is left to the little orange tabby that was supposed to be a male!!!!!!! LOL. I do adore her. Hugo Yugo is undoubtedly a character and lives up to her name. She is going to the vet the first week in September. I am concerned about her teeth, and then, of course, there is always the watery eye. I need help keeping up with the eye patch cleanings. She has gotten to the point that she runs if she sees me coming with the pad jar!
Baby Hope (aka Calico Kitty Kitty) is simply the perfect cat for someone who likes quiet. She never scratches the furniture. She never begs for food. She never gets into trouble knocking things over. She loves sleeping in the basket, looking out, and watching the squirrels, the Blue Jays, and the Crows wrestle for food near the Weeping Caragana. Her eyes don’t drool, and her teeth and gums are perfect. She is very strong and healthy (or that is how things appear).
I am so glad that we fed Calico as much as we did as long as we did once she began coming to the garden in the winter of 2022-23. Surely it helped Baby Hope have strong bones. Hugo Yugo’s mother did not have that advantage and I think he has severely compromised Hugo Yugo’s overall health. She was starving and taken in at the last minute before the seven kittens were born.
If you ever want to do the cat world a favour, adopt a rescue, and don’t buy a purebred. Donate food to a shelter, help raise funds through a yard sale or spread the word if there is one. Right now, in Winnipeg, one kitten adoption group has more than 240 kittens in its care, and we are just coming into the next kitten cycle. Advertisements are everywhere for beautiful senior cats whose owners have died and need a home. There are so many. The Girls have given me more joy and love than I will ever do for them. They are surely a cause for celebration when it comes to lowering stress.
The problem today is that you cannot have pets if you live in a 55+ or assisted living, normally. Many apartments do not allow pets. I looked at a condo overlooking Lake Winnipeg not long ago when caring for my husband, and the garden just seemed too much. The problem – they would only allow me two of the four girls. I couldn’t separate them! And, of course, the other problem was leaving the garden animals. — But, it occurred to me that there is a real problem with people being able to have pets live with them. Don’t these places know that pets can lengthen one’s life and add joy, aiding in pain relief and easing tension?
I want to start our day with something entirely different. It does involve feathers, though. I love getting letters and messages, and this story about MOMA moved me. It comes from a reader who rescues budgies. Many are elderly. MOMA was one of those lucky to find their way to this caring home. She didn’t live long, but she lived well and with love. I thought she deserved her own spot, but more news came pouring in, so here we go, first up – MOMA, the gorgeous blue and white budgie. Just look at her below.
These are the words of a lovely woman, ‘J’, who lives in Europe and rescues budgies. She currently cares for fifteen – the maximum she feels she can feed and provide veterinary care. There are hundreds, if not thousands, out there needing homes, found in deplorable conditions. She is contacted often to see if she can take any more. People need to realise the amount of care that is required, the cost of food, and veterinary costs. Even getting beaks trimmed costs at least 30 Euros. ‘J’ has always told me to tell everyone to please help stop the sale of pets at pet stores and their breeding. There are already too many wanting to find homes – sounds like our cat situation, too. So please keep that in mind.
Thanks ‘J’ for sharing Moma’s story with us. These are ‘J’s words:
Since the beginning after I read your bio I wanted to tell you about Momo. Because it involves pottery. In the year 2000 I did a course in pottery. Just a beginner, so I wasn’t very good, but I enjoyed it very much and made cups so small they’re only good for japanese tea ceremonies or such. One day though, my piece got higher and higher… My teacher came and put her hands over mine to stabilize them, and with her help I made a wonderful piece that I made into an oil therapy lamp. Years later, when the birds moved in, I couldn’t use it anymore, so I just put it on top of a cupboard.
Today, exactly four years ago, Mia and Momo moved in. On the same day, but from two different people. Mia came first and her bringer stayed quite a while, because they’re car broke down. Instead of waiting in the car she of course waited in my kitchen where Mia stood in a small cage. Then Momo was brought, and the moment her bringers left, Momo’s bringer said “WHAT is that?!”. Not very nice, but very understandable, because you had to look twice to say that the little bundle of eh what? was indeed a budgie. Or as I said to my vet: If she had been human I would have said Momo was a bag lady who had been living on the streets for many years. She was very small, and bent. Momo was found outside in such a bad state that her first avian vet was surprised she survived. Gotten to know her I’m not: Momo was a Tough Cookie!! Her age of course was unknown, but everyone agreed she had to be over 10 years of age.
Since she needed some peace and quiet now and then from the rest of the flock (the reason she moved into her own home in the first place) and also needed to be underneath the bird lamp, I put her in the big cage, lamp an all, which normally was left open so Momo could get visitors, but that I could close to give her some rest.
dig
I couldn’t leave her on the hard cold floor, because her feet/legs were badly (don’t know the correct word) “hurt” because she was laying on them all the time. You can see what she thought of my efforts. She kept shredding the kitchen paper and throwing it out.
I finally found a solution she accepted in a piece of synthetic cloth that came with one of my early mistakes (I bought a “hut” because it looked so cute). Well, she mostly accepted it…
dig
Even a bird as small as Momo does NOT fit in this lamp, often her tail stuck out through one of the star holes I made – hilarious. Her poor tail had looked poorly from the start, being in the lamp didn’t help. So I went out and bought five different houses with more room. Momo went into one, looked around, walked out and went back into the lamp and that was it.
Going to the vet was easy: why catch her, when I can just grab the lamp? Can you imagine the face of my vet, opening the box expecting a travel cage and instead looking at an oil therapy lamp??
Unfortunately, Momo didn’t get to stay long with us, she died only 7 months later. But what a 7 months they were. I am in awe of this little bird. She was so courageous, so tough and did things HER way. I was lucky to get to know her, she was one special Lady.
What a lovely story. The little bird had “Cataracts, arthritis, sores on legs, scrambled feet, bent back, and this tiny little bird lived the best life she could live.” A bit of a lesson to us all!
At Port Lincoln, the first egg of the season was laid early Monday morning. Congratulations! Mark your calendars for pip watch: 21-22nd of September.
At the NE Florida Bald Eagle nest, Beau continues to wait for Gabby’s arrival with fish on the nest! Typically, she does not return til September.
The Captiva Eagle cam is not streaming yet, but Clive is home! We have seen Jack earlier at the Osprey nest. Poor guy still has that spike in his leg, but he seems to be flying and feeding well.
My goodness C16 is a gorgeous osprey at Charlo! And look at that stunning background.
It looks like Iris and Antali at the Hellgate Canyon nest so far on Sunday (up to 1354).
Finn delivers a massive fish to Antali that will surely make him sleep well!
There have been juveniles at Blackbush at Old Tracadie Harbour osprey platform. Gosh, I wish chicks were banded in the US – at least the ones on streaming cams – so we could see who is still coming to the nest.
There is at least one juvenile coming to the Field Farm osprey platform for food while the nest cleaners wait to see what is left for them.
Juveniles continue to come to the Oyster Bay nest on Long Island.
No one appears to be home at PSEG’s other osprey platform in Patchogue – that is for the little sparrows who have their nest in the bottom of the osprey’s.
Keke is still with us at Sandpoint. She watches as River eats its morning fish.
Only Bob is still home at Boulder and still being fed.
I am seeing no action at the Cowlitz Osprey platform in Washington State. That doesn’t mean the ospreys are not around. I have just not caught them on the nest.
It appears that three ospreys – Louise, Harvie, and a juvenile were at the Fortis-Exshaw nest in Canmore, Alberta on Sunday.
Olsen is delivering fish to the Osoyoos nest. By 1331, he had delivered a goldfish, a twiddler, and another small fish to waiting juveniles. Soo is there too, she took a fish and Olsen worked on the egg cup.
Viki reports that all of the ospreys around Island Creek, except for Mr Bennett, have departed for their migrations. The Bald Eagles are currently returning to the area and that does seem to be the case elsewhere. I will be curious to see if the eagles lay their eggs earlier this year?
At Poole Harbour, one of the chatters (‘HW’) cited the fish deliveries at that nest in southern England: “Fish today – 12:25 (022 -> 5H6), 14:45 (022 -> 5R0), 14:55 (CJ7 -> Unclaimed), 16:00 (022 -> 5R2), 20:07 (CJ7 -> 5H6)”. It would then appear that the female CJ7 is still at the nest helping with deliveries and has not begun her migration.
Three of the four had fish at the nest with the youngest one 5H6 winning two deliveries including a royal battle with the 2007 delivery by CJ7.
Poor Dad. He needs to get out of their quick. Talons are snapping. This is one huge dust up!!!!!!!!!!!
The baby wins the fish.
Key dates for this breeding season and it is 5R1 that we have not seen at the nest on Sunday. CJ7 migrated on 2 September last year after fledglings migrated on the 27th and 29th of August. CJ7 hatched at Rutland in 2015. She is 9 years old. Blue 022 was translocated to Poole Harbour in 2019. He is 5 years old.
Two beautiful juveniles at Hope and Beaumont’s nest in Newfoundland. What a great year they had too!
There is more news coming from Captiva with Window to Wildlife:
Please remind everyone! The stores are now full of Halloween decorations – tell friends, family, and neighbours.
Geemeff’s daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust.
Daily summary Sunday 25th August 2024 Another day with no activity, unless you count the spiders – both nests now have a resident spider who looks spectacular on night cam, appearing huge and spinning a gigantic web. It was as wet and windy as forecast with just the odd moment here and there of sunshine stealing through, no change expected tomorrow. This time last year we saw Ludo LY7 for the last time on nest cam, and off-nest reports from LizB informed us she’d sighted an Osprey with fish in Louis’ perch tree for several hours in the late afternoon which was probably Louis sticking around, but of course, there’s no need for him to do so this year, and he hasn’t been seen since 30th July. I
t would be lovely if Garry LV0, last seen a few days ago on the 22nd, popped in if he’s still around. Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.26.30 (05.26.20); Nest Two 21.24.45 (05.35.29) Today’s videos: none! Bonus reintroduction projects – a David Attenborough video explaining the highly successful Rutland translocation, and a news item about the new Irish Osprey project:https://youtu.be/BR2M1Jgvess https://belfastmedia.com/dulra-let-s-make-the-osprey-a-symbol-of-the-lough https://youtu.be/pRLsj6nkSzM N2 Farewell to Ludo – final visit to the nest in 2023
Watch the Loch Arkaig Osprey livestream 24/7 and join in the conversation here:
I missed ‘A’s post for Sunday at the Olympic Sea Eagle nest. Here it is, “This morning there was a big fish on the nest when Lady decided to have a nibble herself and then, soon after 06:01, start feeding SE33, who seems hungry and is eager to eat. SE34 slumbers on, his back to the table. He wakes up and stretches a little just before 06:02 but immediately pushed the snooze button. Just before 06:11, he wakes up properly and lifts his head to survey the scene. He is still facing the wrong way. He’s in no hurry, lying there just looking around. SUCH a cutie. He is adorable. Soon after 06:16, he finally gets up and turns to face Lady. He is much closer to her than is SE33, and when she offers SE34 his first mouthful of the day, at 06:16:41, he readily takes it. Lady tucks into the fish herself, and while he’s waiting, SE34 edges closer. SE33 is also sitting up at the table, and when Lady finally offers a bite to the eaglets, it is to SE33. Lady returns to eating. The next bite, at 06:18:10, goes to SE33. At 06:18:21, Lady gives a bite to SE34. When he takes it, SE33 immediately beaks him. He lays his head down on the nest, while Lady immediately distracts SE33 with a bite of food. She then feeds SE33 for some time. It is 06:23 before SE34 again lifts his head. But he refuses a bite at 06:23:09 and another 12 seconds later, with SE33 leaning in his direction. Lady feeds SE33. SE34’s head is down on the nest. Lady picks up a dropped piece from next to SE34, who lies still, his head down. SE33 has a huge crop at this stage. There is still plenty of fish, and somehow, SE33 is finding space to eat more of it. 06:25 and Lady is unsure of what to do. She steps back, some fish in her beak, and surveys the eaglets. She eats the bite herself. She walks over to the two, wondering whether to brood them, but with Dad waiting behind the nest on the perch branch, his eyes on the two-thirds of a large fish still on the nest, Lady turns back and grabs the fish, pulling it closer to the eaglets and further from Dad. 06:27 and SE33 surely must be full. It feels so good, it stands tall and flaps its little wings. 06:27:20, Lady reaches out to offer fish to SE34, who refuses it, pulling away and putting his head back down onto the nest. Lady eats it herself, and the next bite. SE34 stretches his little wings, standing up a little and leaning forwards. He looks at Lady, but when she offers him food, he is too scared to take it. Just before 06:28, she again tries to get SE34 to eat but he is again too scared to reach for the bite. He puts his head back down on the nest while Lady offers the bite to SE33.
SE34’s head is up and he is watching Lady as she offers him another bite at 06:28:41 but he pulls away. Lady returns to eating herself, occasionally offering a bite to SE33. Dad has retreated up the branch and has turned his back on the nest, giving up on the idea of removing the fish – at least for now. 06:19:15 and SE34’s head is up. It is 06:28 and mum is still feeding SE33, with SE34 too scared to eat. His head is up and he is watching everything but he stays down. He recoils when Lady offers him a bite. 06:29 and Lady, eating quite a bit herself, is still feeding SE33. 06:29:25 and SE33 finally stands up and waddles away from the table, turning around (carefully, with an enormous crop). At last, at 06:29:39, SE34 accepts a bite of food from Lady without hesitation. He is still nervous when she picks up a dropped piece from near him, which she feeds to SE33, and SE34 pulls away slightly. 06:30 and Lady is cleaning all the dropped pieces from the table and feeding them to SE33. Lady returns to the fish, where she eats several bites herself before offering one to SE34. He is reluctant, and she is very patient and persistent with him, to no avail. At 06:31 she gives up and eats it herself. 06:31:31, it is as if SE34 has suddenly made a decision. He lifts his head and looks at mum. He shuffles forward. SE33 has left the table, but is behind SE34.
However, SE34 is still too nervous to accept the bite he is offered. 06:31:39. At 06:31:47, he finally accepts a small piece. And another 15 seconds later. And a third, larger piece just after 06:32. And another. And another. Lady is eating a lot herself, but every 10 seconds or so, she gives a bite to SE34, who is now taking them all. There is a gap between two of the bites, and when Lady offers the next one, SE34 pulls away sharply, as if startled and fearful. Lady rips the skin off the fish and eats it, leaving the juicy fleshy part of the fish, now easy to get at. SE34 is watching her closely. When she offers him a big bite at 06:33:30, he accepts it readily. Lady has to offer him the next bite three times, however, before he has the courage to grab it. SE33 has sat up now, which has perhaps made him nervous. Still, he is less scared in taking a big bite at 06:34. But in doing so, he becomes aware of the proximity of SE33 and is very nervous about accepting another bite. Probably, SE33’s huge crop brushed him as it turned away, and SE34 takes the next bite. And the next, and the next. SE34 is now eating with more confidence and SE33, full and content, is resting its giant crop, lying behind SE34 and surveying its forest world, having a yawn. Oh, butter wouldn’t melt in that sweet beak. Surely it would never bonk a younger sibling! It’s angelic.
06:35 and finally, SE34 is getting fed some breakfast. SE33 surveys the canopy above, gazing around its nest. It turns to check out the ongoing feeding of SE34 but soon returns to its fascination with its surroundings. 06:36 and SE34 is eating really well. Lady is feeding fast, and giving him big bites, but SE34 is managing them well. He is hungry and eager to eat. Lady occasionally takes a couple of bites herself. 06:37 and SE34 is suddenly in need of a break. He pauses, perhaps dealing with previous bites. He has eaten a large amount of fish in a relatively short period of time, and seems full at 06:37:24, but Lady coaxes him and he takes another bite. And another at 06:37:30. He has his second wind and continues to eat. He is still nervous, though, and when he drops a bite and Lady retrieves it from beneath him, he cringes and refuses the resulting bite. Lady pauses for a short snack, then offers SE34 a bite at 06:38:36. He is ready to take it. Lady continues feeding SE34, now offering him smaller bites. He eats manfully on, 06:40 and Lady is still feeding SE34, who is eating confidently.
This feeding was both reassuring and worrying. SE34 is obviously not confident when eating. Lady is persisting, and there is plenty of fish on the nest, so I remain confident that the outcome will be positive. But the process may be a nervous watch, with SE34 periodically missing out on meals and being fairly randomly bonked by SE33. I think the random nature of the attacks are part of the problem. Sometimes, SE33 is laidback and has no objection to her little brother’s participation in a meal. At other times, she is positively Zoe-like, intolerant of SE34 getting a single bite even when her own crop is absolutely massive. And there is little or no effort from SE34 to ensure he gets himself fed. It is entirely dependent on Lady’s patience and persistence. If she does not ensure that SE34 eats, there is every likelihood that he won’t. This does not bode well for his future survival prospects. If he lacks the drive to ensure its own survival in a relatively friendly nest environment with a helpful and experienced parent, I hate to think of its chances when it comes to seeing off those pesky birds that we know will shadow his every move once he fledges. I hate to say that, but in order to survive, these sea eaglets need some spunk. They need spirit and the drive to survive. I am not seeing that in SE34, which I find disturbing and concerning.
But it’s not meant to be a depressing post – SE34 had a full tummy to start the day, as did SE33, and with plentiful sushi on offer on the nest at most times of the day, let’s hope things continue to work out for SE34. If his size relative to SE33 is anything to go by, he has caught up a little bit in the past week, so the parents must be successfully getting enough food into the little man. I do hope he gains in confidence, which is such an essential quality for a successful future as an eaglet fledging into this forest. He won’t stand a chance against that army of pestering small birds if he can’t stand up for himself against imaginary threats like mum moving too close. Nor has he shown any ingenuity when it comes to getting fed. He has not moved away from SE33 or tried to skirt around it to ensure a better feeding position. He worries me in that respect. But please prove me wrong, SE34. Lady and Dad are certainly doing their best. Even mum is bringing in fish, of which there appears to be no current shortage in their favourite fishing areas.”
Today’s report from A on the sea eaglets and weather: “At 06:42, the eaglets are sitting up at the table side by side, looking adorable, but Lady is only feeding SE33. She sees that SE34 is not confident enough to take a bite. But SE33 soon decided it could no longer fit fish into its giant crop, and turned away from the table 06:42:20. S/he then lay down behind SE34. When he took a bite from mum and was not beaked for it, SE34 was emboldened to take another bite and another. Mum then proceeded to feed SE34 the remainder of the fish. He ignored SE33, who in turn was more interested in playing with nest material than bonking her little brother.
06:42:42 and SE34 is STILL pulling away from Lady offering a bite of fish. SE33 is not interested and SE34 can see that as he looks over his shoulder, but he still cringes away from the next bite offered, just before 06:43 and the next. Mum is patient, offering the bite a third time at 06:43:10 but again it is refused. But six seconds later, SE34 takes the bite and nothing happens. But as Lady offers the next bite, SE33 sits up again and SE34 turns his head away. Lady offers SE33 the bite but s/he isn’t interested and moves away. This gives SE34 the courage to take the bite offered at 06:43:45 and another five seconds later. SE34 turns away from the next bite but Lady is patient, offering it to him again, waiting, offering it again. Finally, it is taken.
Lady keeps offering bites and SE34 cringes away, feeling SE33 moving behind him. Eventually though, he accepts a bite, but cringes away again from the next, even though Lady patiently offers it to him several times. His head is turned away from Lady. After much coaxing, he accepts a bite at 06:45:45 and another ten seconds later. And another two in the ten seconds after that.
From this point, Lady feeds SE34 the rest of the fish. SE34 gets to eat a large amount of very fresh fish and by 06:57, he has a crop that rivals SE33’s. Just LOOK at it at 06:57:15-20!!!! Just look at those bright little eyes and that shiny little black beak. Is that not just absolutely adorable? And that’s a nice way to start the day – both eaglets with giant crops before 7am, and a nice feed for Lady as well. Fabulous.
We are expecting gale force winds over the next 36 hours and I think Orange may be affected. Sydney is on the fringes of the impacted area but should be okay. Melbourne shouldn’t be hit. “
‘A’ reports on the Royal Cam chick: “He is magnificent. It literally brings tears to my eyes, emphasising as it does how very little time we have left with these gorgeous chicks. As I was saying the other day, we are spoiled in the sense that it is a very very long season, with a long incubation period and a long pre-fledging period. But that does have the effect of giving us a very long time to fall deeply in love with these beautiful creatures. Seven or eight months is a very long time to watch them prepare for the flight of their lives. Or, rather, the flight that is their lives. They’ve never even practised fishing and off they go, heading for the coast of Chile, completely alone in the world and without any skills at all. There are no training wheels for albatross chicks.
We will miss you little man. You are gorgeous. Both parents have been in to feed TF in the past few days, so at least we know that they’re okay. It is always a worry for me, waiting for a parent to return and counting the days. “
Scientists are asking us to help them find species of rare birds. Can you help?
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, stories, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today. ‘A, Geemeff, J, VV’, Moma, Melbourne Falcon Cam, Port Lincoln Ospreys, NEFL_AEF, Jenny Peckham, Charlo Montana, Montana Osprey Project, Blackbush at Old Tracedie Harbour, Field Farm, PSEG, Sandpoint, Boulder County, Cowlitz PUD, Fortis-Exshaw (Canmore and Osoyoos), BoPH, Newfoundland Power, Window to Wildlife, and Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Olympic Park Eagles, SK Hideaways, Lady Hawk, and The New York Times.
We hope that you are well. The end of summer (or winter, depending on where you live) is soon coming to an end! Already some children are heading back to school. Here it is the day after Labour Day. That really does mark the end of the summer for many.
It continues to be hot, and the garden birds are spending more and more time in the baths. It looks like another host of House Sparrows has appeared in the garden. I even ‘thought’ I saw a couple of new baby red squirrels the other day, but I am not sure. I feel very sorry for them and all of the eagles and ospreys we have been monitoring who are caught in this extended heat wave. Please put out water for all the animals and change it regularly, and if you can afford it, feed them. If billions of people joined together, the lives of our feathered friends would be much improved.
Wednesday is our local Farmer’s Market. It has grown over the years to have some exceptional vendors as our neighbourhood community grows and grows in population, attracting many young professionals who like the vibe. From the original stalls selling produce, organic meats, and local honey, we now have artisan ice creams, flowers, organic breads, the most amazing dumplings, empanadas, and Japanese baking. The temperature was not so hot making it that much more congenial to mingle with friends and neighbours this afternoon.
Oh, I hope they continue to come to the market. Their handmade dumplings are delicious. And look at the price!
A mother and daughter grow fields of flowers right outside the City for the bouquets. They are lovely. Just the right size.
I wanted to show you all of the goodies, but Hugo Yugo got on top of the table before I could blink. She is always the first to be curious, quickly followed by Missey! For some reason, Hugo Yugo was not interested in dumplings. Could it have been that they were tofu and cabbage? I could easily be completely Vegan if it were not for dairy. I am trying, but ice cream and cream for my coffee get me every time.
Yes, there she is! Missey first tried the tofu cabbage dumpling and loved it. Then she moved on to the Ube Melon roll! Both got her thumbs up!
Calico and Hope are curious and sweet, but they prefer watching the animals in the garden instead of human-related ‘things’.
Before we went to the market, we stopped in at the duck pond. What a surprise. The Canada Geese were feeding on the Cricket grounds and, for the most part, the ducks had the pond all to themselves. OK. There were about twenty geese at the pond compared to hundreds feeding on the pitch. Most ducks were the sweetest little Wood Ducks – tiny compared to the Mallards. Some of the images are pretty dark despite lightening them…apologies.
I am ready for some rain. For an afternoon, curling up in a chair and reading a book, the stack on the bedside table grows, and by the time I get myself tucked in, I am too exhausted to read. I am not complaining! How many of us wish there were at least 36 hours in a day?
And to my great joy, ‘The Boyfriend’ showed up during the daylight hours. I catch him on the video cameras coming in the middle of the night, but had not seen him during the day. He looks to be in good form.
You might have noticed that we are not hearing from Heidi regularly. She is having a much-deserved break after a season of great sadness. The osplets on all the nests she has been monitoring have fledged (or died). Please give her a big round of applause so she can hear it! Thanks, Heidi, for your outstanding contributions and for taking care of all that data for me on those nests. You will never know how much I appreciate it. Thank you is hardly adequate.
I received a letter today from a family on the Potomac River that put up an osprey platform. They attracted a family that fledged two chicks. They wrote to me to enquire about siblicide occurring after fledge. What happened was that the older sibling prevented the younger one from getting any fish, and the younger one died on their lawn. Years ago, when we thought of siblicide and indeed, until a couple of years ago, the older sibling (usually) killed the younger one on the nest before the age of 21 days. With the heat domes and the lack of fish during the 2023 and 2024 seasons, we are seeing more and more competition between the fledglings of a nest and various intruders for local resources such as food.
Siblicide happened at Port Lincoln several years ago, pre-fledged at 65 days. The chick was pushed off the nest into the water and died. So there is a range. As the planet heats up and more fish dive deep or are lost to commercial fishing trawlers (unless that dire practice can be stopped), we will likely see many more deaths on the nests than we have seen this year. I regret painting a gloomy picture, but I would rather be entirely wrong than write as if we live in Disneyland where everything ends beautifully. Oh, how I wish it were so.
The Ospreys are leaving. The Storks are migrating. Shorebirds are flying south from the Arctic to their homes in South America. The move is on. Bald eagles return to check out their nests’ condition and lay claim to them again. The Eastern Ospreys are preparing to lay eggs like the falcons in Australia. We already have baby sea eaglets. For the next few months, the action will be coming to us from Australia, and then the eagles in the US will begin to lay their eggs.
We will start with a good news story about wind turbines sent to us from Geemeff. I was starting to think there was nothing good about the darn things. One of the things I hate about wind turbines is the refusal of so many factories to paint one blade black. What a simple solution someone found Let’s see what is happening here to protect the sea eagles in The Netherlands.
It is fantastic to see the fledglings return to the nest months after their first flight. Today, Alma visited the San Jose City Hall scrape to the delight of all. SK Hideaways caught it.
This is nothing short of animal cruelty. Do people think birds have no feelings? Help spread the word about the use of birds and include balloons when you ask friends to protect wildlife. Thank you.
The dark eye lines on Hope and Beaumont’s osplets are wide and magnificent. Dark beauties they are! There is a rumour that the second chick fledged on Wednesday the 21st. I did not see it and there is nothing on the FB group. Will confirm later.
Dad arrives to much enthusiasm at the Royal Albatross colony to feed the Royal Cam chick.https://youtu.be/3as5kXIFb18?
Geemeff’s daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Wednesday 21st August 2024
Nest One had a few little songbird visitors today despite the wet and windy weather, but otherwise no activity. Garry LV0 was last seen briefly on Sunday 18th and seems to have left the area, so with increasing reports of final sightings from UK Osprey projects, tonight’s bonus is the excellent webinar on Osprey migration by Dr Tim Mackrill.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.35.33 (05.14.32); Nest Two 21.27.36 (05.19.35)
Iris brings fish to the nest. Sometimes there is a fledgling there to nab it! The chicks are looking good and no doubt being fed at the nest and elsewhere as Iris, we hope, is packing in the calories, too, for her long flight.
Beautiful fish arriving on the nest for C16 at the Charlo Montana nest.
Junebug on the perch at Dunrovin waiting for fish.
River has been on and off the nest all day at Sandpoint getting fish! She had a big morning brekkie to help start the day.
One lucky chick at Blackbush has a fish dinner.
I did not see anyone at home at Cowlitz. Maybe I missed our fledgling.
At Saaksilvie #1, ringed and unringed are getting some fish dinners.
Clean up crew at the Seilli nest in Finland.
I saw no activity at nest #4 on Wednesday in Finland.
Both fledglings on the nest in Latvia having some nice fish with Mum.
‘A’ reminds us: “We are on egg watch at Orange. As I mentioned, Diamond laid her first egg on 26 August last season, so we are nearing that time. There is lots of bonding and mating taking place.
22 Aug BONDING 05:50:59, 10.30.59, 14:47:34, 17:30:42 PREY 07.02.32 X takes; 07.04.12 X stashes; 09:15:07 D takes; 13.23.42 D takes
TOWER MATING 07.05.16 LR 17s, 07.06.27 LR 18s, 07.10.49 LR 15s, 07.56.23 LHC 15s, 09:46:48 MW 12s, 13.53.31 MW 10s, 13.54.48 MW 6s
Diamond and Xavier are both looking healthy, unlike the starling Xavier stashed in the front corner of the scrape this morning – Diamond has treated it with the disdain it deserves but it will be recycled in the morning. Nothing is wasted here. There is discussion on the site about the worth of maggots in starlings. Of course we know from bald eagle nests that there’s good protein in maggots. Perfectly edible. “
A big shout out to Mary Cheadle who organises all of the fundraisers for the Lock Arkaig FB group. Thousands of pounds go to The Woodland Trust each year from viewers and fans. Thanks, Mary, for all you do!
There is one more fundraiser. For a donation of 3 GBP or more, you have a chance to win some expensive books on Ospreys, totes, etc. Check out the Friends of Loch Arkaig Ospreys FB if interested. The deadline is 30 August. It is the last fundraiser of the year.
Blue 1RO was 100 days old on Wednesday. Does anyone else think s/he looks exactly like their daddy Blue 33?
It was rainy and looked like a gale was blowing at the Glaslyn nest. The fledglings still think that Aran can pull off a miracle fishing for them! Two came in early in the day but no late fish to keep those crops full during the night.
It was windy with some rain at Dyfi but the wind did not appear to be blowing as strong as it was at Glaslyn. (Maybe just me…)
It was blowing hard at Llyn Brenig – the two fledglings were holding on tight to their nest!
Juveniles at Poole Harbour screaming their heads off for fish at Poole Harbour.
Fledgling still at Mlade Buky. Nice.
New Zealand is rushing to vaccinate its native birds ahead of what they believe will be a huge outbreak of H5N1.
Thank you so much for being with us today. It is always a pleasure!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, letters, videos, images, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff’, dutchnews.nl, SK Hideaways, Birds in Helping Hands, Newfoundland Power, Cowlitz PUD, Cornell Bird Lab, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, Dunrovin Ranch, Sandpoint Ospreys, Blackbush at Old Tracerie, Saaksilvie, LDF, Friends of Loch Arkaig Ospreys, LRWT, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, Llyn Brenig Ospreys, BoPH, Mlade Buky Stork Cam, The Guardian, and Friends of Midway Atoll.
We are about 95% ready to leave tomorrow for our mini-break in Nova Scotia. Cat sitters, garden helpers, outside garden birds and animal helpers – well, it is all under control. Mr Crow & Gang have 12 kg of cheesy dogs, there are large pails with wild bird seed, black oil seed, and peanuts prepared for each day we are away to be distributed, cat food and anything a cat sitter could need is piled high on the island including some new treats and toys. ‘The Girls’ are smart and they have caught on to what is happening. They don’t know it but I am already missing them, too. It is the only thing I dislike about even being away one night – is missing them and not having Hugo Yugo snuggling under my chin at night.
I melt every time I look at Baby Hope. It is those celadon eyes.
Calico and I have been working on items to clean cat hair off of the chairs. We have discovered that those natural coconut scrubbers for dishes are fantastic. They look like a donut and are made from the fibres of the coconut shell.
Everyone shares the one little basket that is fixed so they can look down very low and watch Mr Crow eating his dinner.
Hugo Yugo Day 1 with us and now. She is not afraid of anything and is really pretty much the boss of the gang. Yes, she still looks like a kitten but she will be a year old on 2 September. She is a little ‘toughie’.
I have just received word from the Green Ledge Light Preservation Society that the two osplets in the storm along the coast of Connecticut created by Debby are both fine. Only a couple of sticks at the nest needed to be arranged! Amazing. I cannot tell you how relieved and happy I am for those two. knew you would want to know, too – and I want to give a shout-out to the staff at Green Ledge for letting me know so swiftly.
My goodness. Getting organized for a longer trip takes the cake. I am hope that the neighbour will follow the few instructions and feed the garden animals and water the plants. The cat sitter is fantastic so no worries there. ‘The Girls’ have gotten used to Gary. It looks like the weather will be good in Nova Scotia and I cannot wait to walk across a reasonably deserted country lane and sit and watch eagles soaring in the sky for feeding on the fish at the shore.
There will be no post Tuesday morning. I don’t get into the Halifax airport til late Monday evening despite having to leave the house at noon! I was a little shocked to see all the regulations for just flying within Canada. Goodness.
The news in Bird World is dwindling and that is a good thing. We want everyone out there to be safe and building their strength for migration. On my radar are only a handful of chicks to fledge including Antali and C16 and ours in Canada.
That cute little Hobby fledged. Just quick as a wink. They change from bobblehead to Hobby so quickly. I can’t get used to it. It is like the California Falcons – one minute they are hatching and the next they are flapping all the baby down off their wings preparing to fly.
SK Hideaways always does the best videos and here is hers of the little Hobby fledging! Check out her other posts too – especially if you are missing the Cal or San Jose Falcons!!!!!
We will be watching with great anticipation and much enthusiasm as Diamond and Xavier prepare for those eggies that Xavier loves so much.
Beautiful, beautiful little sea eaglets at the Olympic Park nest. Dad couldn’t be prouder. He even fed Lady some bits of bird today – romantic and sweet. The little ones are having some bonking fests. Do not worry. It will end.
‘A’ comments (paraphrased) – The bonking is well underway at WBSE (so far, SE34 is giving as good as s/he gets), it is reassuring because some claim that the WBSE is an obligate siblicide species. Obviously, that is not universally the case, and we therefore have to ask ourselves what is it about this nest that makes it one of the exceptions. I think Lady is the difference. The parents who show a conscious interest in ensuring the younger hatch is fed are the ones who can _ and regularly do – fledge two (or even three or four – look at West End, for example, and some of this season’s osprey nests that fledged four). Lady is careful to feed both her chicks (and Dad keeps the nest well supplied with fish – at least, he has done thus far). Surely this has to make a major difference. But of course we worry when we see sibling rivalry become aggression. I’m sure it will quickly settle down, especially given how very close these two are in size. It’s hard to tell them apart except by the remains of their tiny egg teeth.
There is a live Osprey chat tomorrow sponsored by Explore.org. Thanks to everyone who sent this notice to me. Sadly, I will be on the plane, but I hope they will archive the talk so those who miss it can check it out later. This is the link to join and set an alarm to alert you when the talk is starting:
Do you ever have to pinch yourself when you look at Iris and Finnegan and their two osplets? I still can hardly believe it. What an amazing year it has been, and what a challenging one for these two parents. The heat was enough to kill all the osplets off so many nests, and these two survived without a hiccup. Finn was an amazing fisher, and Iris didn’t allow any shenanigans between those chicks. Each was treated equally. Iris often fed little Antali when she might have wanted a little fish. But thanks to Finn, so many came to the nest that no one was ever hungry.
Antali watches Sum-eh fly all around the area and is often caught watching the train with Mum Iris. She is so protective of her babies. Soon Antali will be flying up and down the river chasing Dad for fish, too.
I am so in love with this family.
Iris made sure that Antali had some fish. She is really incredible. I am so glad that I got to witness her being a Mum to these two.
At Charlo, C16 continues their quest to take to the skies. C16 is really a gorgeous osplet. I am so happy that Lola and Charlie will have one to fledge. Maybe someone can work on some permanent cot rails for that platform during the off-season.
The Dunrovin Ranch chick is dreaming of flying, too – but still loves to be fed by Winnie. It has been doing some wingers but not to the extent of C16.
In Port Lincoln, Dad has been busy decorating the nest. He sure loves Turquoise. Later, he came in with a white piece of rope. I wonder if Mum would rather he was delivering fish? Port Lincoln will remove the ropes so they don’t harm the osplets! We will have eggs at Port Lincoln by the end of the month. I bet Bart is already a guessing pool on the date of the first one.
In New Zealand, the Kakapo are getting their health checks and new batteries for their transmitters. What a great job the Kakapo Recovery does in making these birds safe and keeping them well.
Geemeff’s Daily Summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Sunday 11th August 2024
The little songbirds were back on both Nest One and Nest two, but they were a supporting act to the main event – Ospreys turned up in the shape of Affric 152 and Garry LV0. They spent a fair bit of time together on Nest One, Garry brought a fish which was seized by Affric who proceeded to leave with it, return, munch a bit on the nest and leave with it again. After finishing it she returned and demanded more fish from Garry but only got a half-hearted mating attempt from him. The forecasted thundery showers didn’t materialise today but there’s a weather warning for the Highlands for thunderstorms starting at 2am tomorrow, and more rain throughout the night.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.14.16 (04.49.55); Nest Two 22.11.11 (05.04.26)
What would we do without Suzanne Arnold Horning? She chases Big Red and Arthur and the kiddos (when they are on the Cornell campus) and so generously posts her photographs on FB. This way we always know that our Red-tail Hawk Queen is safe and sound and living a good hawk life – or King if it is Arthur.
Another nest that has had me gobsmacked this season is the Newfoundland Power Snow Lane nest of Beaumont and Hope. I even went so far as to ask if ‘C’ had some historical images of Hope’s necklace and head markings. I could not believe she had gained such maternal instincts. It is her or her identical twin and this huge change in behaviour has meant that the two osplets did not starve, but look amazing in their juvenile plumage and will certainly (knock on wood) fledge!
Oh, that Boulder County nest is sure trying to get the award for the most bin bags in one season to land on an osprey nest. Caught the entire family at home on Sunday. All are safe.
Lots of very loud fish calling from the Poole Harbour nest. Blue 022 and CJ7 have been brilliant – being one of only a few nests to successfully fledge four osplets in the 2024 season. But, I bet they are tired. CJ7 will need to build her strength for migration. Blue 022 will stay behind being Daddy Door Dash til the kids depart. Hopefully he will have some time to eat some good fish alone to get himself ready. We will look forward to another grand year in 2025.
The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum fledgling is safe and getting those wings strong. Comes back for nice fish meals from Mum – fed on the rails like she always wants to do it.
Concerns raised that H5N1, the highly pathogenic bird flu, could break out in Australia in the spring.
Let’s get a ban on the commercial fishing for Menhaden and see if we cannot have a resurgence of healthy osprey families with two or three chicks fledging instead of one or none! Come on politicians. Stand up for wildlife.
Besides window strike, fishing line, hooks, baling twine – and how many more items that cause our feathered friends injury or death – did we ever think of soccer nets?
Always feel free to send me news. Always grateful! One person cannot keep up.
Polish White Storks continue their journeys after arriving in Africa.
A step in the right direction but an all out ban on fishing is needed. Thanks, ‘PB’.
Atlantic menhaden board votes to study more restrictions on controversial Chesapeake Bay fishery
The measure passed this week is meant to help protect birds and fish that rely on menhaden as a key food source. But researchers say more data is needed to understand the dynamics in the bay.
‘H’ reports:
8/11 Fortis Exshaw osprey nest: The intruder was still around, and she spent some time on the nest. She was not aggressive today, but Harvie did jump on her a couple of times to indicate his displeasure. At 0932, an osprey chased the intruder off of the nest-pole, but we couldn’t tell who flushed her off.
Harvie delivered at least 7 fish to the nest, and the intruder took the first one in the morning. All the rest of the fish went to the siblings. Our view is particularly bad in the evening due to the sun shining on the film coating the camera, and we could not tell who made the fish drop at 1855, but it was most likely Harvie. Also, a chick was seen eating a fish at 2116, but I couldn’t find a delivery for that fish through the glare. Besides Harvie’s deliveries, there were two other fish delivered today… and I still can’t wrap my head around this one: At 1242, the intruder landed in the nest with a partial fish, and one of the siblings took it. After about 3 minutes, the intruder left. I know…bizarre, right? Well, many of us scrutinized that osprey for identification, and we agreed that it was the intruder. Go figure. After the intruder flew off at 1245, she was not seen for the rest of the day. At 1630 an adult osprey landed on the t-perch beside one of the juvies, and provided a feeding for about 18 minutes. The t-perch is too far away for identification, but only Louise would have done that. Louise did the same thing once yesterday as well.
Nakoda, the only chick that hasn’t fledged, was on the nest-perch twice today. At 1352 Nakoda actually flew from a high hover and landed on the nest-perch. Nakoda did not fledge today, but s/he is ready.
8/11 Osoyoos osprey nest: Olsen delivered a large fish at 0735, and both chicks were able to do some self-feeding. Then the live stream froze for more that six hours. I did not see another fish delivered for the rest of the day. Chick 2 was seen doing some very nice hovering in the evening…Yay! Chick 1 fledged on 8/3 at 57 days of age. Chick 2 is 65 days old on 8/12.
8/11 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Captain Mac’s Fish House): The first part of this season was quite rocky as new parents Johnny and June struggled to get their act together. They had one chick to raise, and it has all worked out wonderfully. ‘Fen’ fledged today at 58 days of age. Fen took off from the perch, and made a nice landing back in the nest about 5 minutes later. Congratulations to Fen and his Mom and Dad!
Thank you so much for being with us today. I will report from the estuary with the eagles on Tuesday morning – it could be a little later than normal. Not sure. So please take care. We look forward to having you with us.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, announcements, photographs, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, C, Geemeff, H, J, L, PB’, Green Ledge Light Preservation Society, SK Hideaways, Cilla Kinross, Olympic Park Eagles, Explore, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, Dunrovin Ranch, PLO, Kakapo Recovery, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Suzanne Arnold Horning, Newfoundland Power, Boulder County Ospreys, BoPH, MN-LA Ospreys, The Guardian, Fairhaven Animal Control and Shelter, SOS Tesla, WHRO.org, Fortis-Exshaw, Fenwick Island, and Osoyoos Osprey Cam.
Some of our morning updates before we get to what is the real thrust of today’s news: SE33 has hatched at the Olympic Park Sea Eagle nest in Sydney. Congratulations Lady and Dad. What a beautiful strong little eaglet!
‘A’ remarks: “August 7 (Afternoon) After another shift for Lady, Dad was on incubation duties again for nearly an hour, though he left quickly when she returned. She then fed the chick again, with gentle, tiny bites offered, before settling again. She is restless, as you would expect with a chick and a pipping egg. Just before 2pm, Lady ate a little of the stored fish, and although she tried to feed the chick, she gave up because it was facing the wrong way. Shortly afterwards, she tried again and this time, SE33 ate a little. The pip on the second egg is more raised now. At 14:51, Dad brooded again, then went to the pantry but didn’t feed the chick. Lady was back after a 15-minute break. She was on the nest from just after 4pm, after a last short feed for SE33. Dad brought in a late fish at dark, and Lady ate a little before settling. She has spent longer on the nest today, though Dad has had a couple of shifts. He brought prey, and SE33 was fed four times. What will this night bring? Last season, the eggs hatched 32 hours and 46 minutes apart.”
‘H’ reports:
8/6 Osoyoos osprey nest: I had a busy day, so when I got home, I primarily rewound the stream to check for a possible fledge for Chick 2. S/he did not fledge today. And, when Chick 2 did his wingercizing, he was still only achieving what seemed to be a few inches of lift off the nest (cam view can be deceiving). A person very experienced with ospreys stated on a chat a few weeks ago, that ospreys typically need to do wingers and hovers for 10 days to build up their muscles for flight readiness. I’m not an expert, just a nest cam watcher… but, I have seen ospreys suddenly have the ability to perform some nice hovers, and then fledge in a day or two. Side note: Little died from starvation on 7/15, and his body has remained in the nest. This afternoon, a strong gust of wind lifted Little’s body and swept it off the nest. ‘AMW’, a very kind and caring viewer that lives nearby, drove to the nest to recover Little’s remains. She posted in the Facebook group: “Little is now buried in my yard … and I will plant a flowering annual plant in Little’s memory.” Thank you, ‘AMW’, from all of us.
8/6 – 8/7 Colonial Beach osprey nest: Cobey was awake early and at 0630 he picked up the old piece of fish and managed to pull off some pieces of fish-jerky. He worked on it now and again, and by 0800 he was still trying. David did not bring a fish for Cobey until 1348. It was a large whole fish. At the very young age of 43 days, Cobey has become quite the self-feeder by necessity. Cobey had managed to eat the head of that fish before there was an intruder issue. At 1415 David landed in the nest first, and it seemed that David may have been tangling with the intruder nearby. The intruder landed in the nest immediately after David, and stole the fish, despite David being on the nest. Oh no, no, no! Poor lil Cobey’s only meal of the day was gone! David did not bring another fish.
The nest owner, host of the live stream, is a very caring and avid osprey conservationist. She and others monitor many osprey nests in the Colonial Beach area. She stated that they are finding many dead ospreys, on the ground or in nests. It is thought that not only was fishing difficult when it was very hot, but that there may in fact be a shortage of fish for the ospreys to catch. Some ospreys are having to resort to kleptoparasitism to survive, or to feed their young.
Cobey’s mom, Betty, will have been missing for 4 days on the morning of 8/7. The cam owner provided a statement regarding a possible rescue of Cobey. “The VA DWR recommends that nothing be done at this time… we will continually monitor the nest, things may change.” Please note that the cam owner’s hands are tied, and she must follow the advice of the regulating authorities. Some comments on the chat were hurtful to her. Go easy on the chat. The cam owner is hurting as much, if not more, than you are. Colonial Beach weather forecast for 8/7: Cloudy with showers, risk of thunder storms, high temp 81.
8/6 Fortis Exshaw: There was a fledge today. It appeared to be the same chick that was doing the high hovering yesterday. We missed seeing them for about 3 weeks when the cam was dirty, and we still do not have a completely clear view. As a result, we were never able to learn how to differentiate the siblings. We know that the oldest chick in a brood does not always fledge first, but I suppose we will simply assume that’s the one that flew. The eldest chick was named BJ, and BJ initially seemed to only go as far as the camera at 0803, then returned to the nest at 0834. But, BJ made a true fledge at 0927. S/he made a nice landing on the T-perch at 1536, followed by a return to the nest at 1538. Well done, new fledgling!
‘CG’: “Blue branched this morning, and between the time she branched and the time she fledged, she was doing wingers, hopping, getting some good height, and went from the nest to the branch a number of times. She went to the back of the nest and totally surprised everyone at 1557 hours by fledging from the back north corner of the nest by the screen. One minute she was there then she was gone. She is 100 days old today.
They have been looking for her but haven’t been able to locate her on the cams. There is a ground crew out looking for her too.
Congratulations Blue! Way to go!!”
Geemeff’s Summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Tuesday 6th August 2024
No activity at all on Nest Two, today’s action all came from Nest One, where Affric 152 turned up at dawn quickly followed by Garry LV0. However the pair fled the nest when a third Osprey appeared in the distance – Affric’s mate Prince, perhaps. Garry returned a little later with a stick but didn’t stay long. A few hours later birds were seen in the distance on nest cam and a Wood Pigeon overflew the nest. It rained pretty much throughout the day, and more rain forecast for tonight and tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.23.05 (04.07.43); Nest Two 22.22.22 (04.27.15)
Thank you so much for sending in the moments during the 2023-24 season that put a smile on your face. I really appreciate the time and thoughtful regard that you put into your choices and for sending them in. Most people will hesitate. Why do we think our voice doesn’t count? I hope that there are some surprises in here. I received 79 e-mails with the single word Iris along with what is posted below. So if you sent one of those in and I did not include your initials, my apologies. Just know that you counted in making Iris and her year with Finnegan, Sun-eh and Antali the top of the charts by a long mile. Also I didn’t ask for images but have included them if you sent them in!
‘MM’: “After a season filled with heartbreak after heartbreak it has made the happy moments even sweeter! One happy moment that happened early on in the season was when Beau finally figured out how to mate with Gabby and she was able to lay two eggs, unfortunately Beau got the mating mastered but that’s where the happiness ended, hopefully next season he’ll be ready.
Another happy moment was the successful fledge of two healthy osprey chicks from Port Lincoln thanks to the fish fairy and the generosity of so many who donated. The two happiest moments of the season for me are tied for first place. I was beyond thrilled when the season started in SWFL and M15 had taken F23 as his new mate after the loss of our beloved Harriet last session. The season got even happier with the hatch of the incredible E23 💜 And of course the other happy moment at #1 is sweet Iris finally getting sweep off her talons by the handsome Finn and their two amazing chicks 💙 ❤️ Thank you for the opportunity to reflect on the good after dealing with so much bad. Praying next season will be filled with many happy moments .”
‘H’: “As I understand it, you are asking for happy stories. Well, this makes me happy. This may sound strange. But, I am happy for Darling at Captiva. Darling fledged on 6/26 at 63 days of age. His post-fledge life was not easy. There was competition for the nest and food from his sibling, Ding. In addition, both of his parents may possibly have had issues with their health, and they stopped bringing food to the nest. Darling had not eaten for 3 days when he ended up in the water and was rescued and taken to CROW on 7/4. He passed away at CROW that night. We don’t know why things turned out the way they did, and we will never understand it. I wish it had not turned out that way. So, why does this make me happy? It doesn’t. The part that makes me happy is that Darling flew. I think of all the ‘littles’ we have known that died from nest accidents, or weather events, or starvation, or illness, or predation, and they never got a chance to fly. Darling was able to experience the sheer joy and exuberance of flying. And, I am so happy for him.”
‘SP’: Amongst all the turmoil of this year, there were more golden moments and miracles to celebrate. (Photos below in order of the list)
Cal Falcons Annie & her new mate Archie fledged four beautiful falcon chicks in Berkeley. This was the first time since Annie’s been a YouTube star that all 4 of her eggs hatched. We were entertained, enamored and completely enthralled with Aurora, Solstice, Eclipse, and Equinox.
San Jose City Hall couple Hartley & second year dad Monty also fledged four beautiful falcon chicks – all girls. Though we lost one, we enjoyed weeks of the girl power brought by Luna (RIP), Zoe, Lucia, and Alma.
Southwest Florida M15 and his new mate F23 fledged the ever-endearing E23, further mending the holes in our hearts left by the disappearance of Harriet the previous year. F23 proved to be a most nurturing and loving mother, while M15 continued his legacy of being provider extraordinaire. E23 was such a character and embraced being an only child with gusto. He proved to be an excellent flyer and at one point a protector of his natal nest.
Oh, thank you for the opportunity to revisit these wonderful moments!”
Cal Falcons.
San Jose.
SW Florida:
‘B’ writes: Too many sad stories, but always some nice ones, too. I liked how you said you think of all the miracles we have seen, to help offset the sadness of the sad stories. I had meant to write you a couple of weeks ago how I followed a similar strategy to help offset the sadness. I had a lower threshold than you, just thinking of the things that make me smile, rather than holding out for “miracles”. But my number one was the same as yours: the arrival of Finnegan, so that Iris has a real and proper (and wonderful) mate for the first time in years. Enough of that two-timing Louis!
In fact, two more of the top things that made me smile were also from Hellgate: the wonderful job Iris does as a mom when having chicks for the first time in years. Especially protecting those chicks in that awful heat. I swear, if “Mumbrella” were an Olympic event, Iris would be a medal winner. And the other is how peaceful and calm those osplets are when there started with such a huge difference in size. Part has to be what a great provider Finn is, and also how diligent Iris is in making sure each chick is served well. Gosh, the larger of the two would just stand and watch patiently if Little was served first, knowing his/her turn would come.
Also, Tuffy’s story always made me smile (even if hard to watch in earlier days), seeing him do what he needed to do to make it to being a beautiful and healthy fledgling in spite of the “Ruff” treatment from Ruffie.
And I couldn’t help but smile whenever I checked in on the Decorah eaglets after their nest (and branch) fell away, to see them happily perched on branches, as if to say, “we don’t need no stinkin’ nest, so long as we got our branch and our parents!”
In spite of all their hard luck getting a hatch, one can never help but smile to see Jackie and Shadow together. I have to hope for another Spirit next year.
And wonderful to see both Annie and Archie at Cal and Hartley and Monty at San Jose have four healthy hatches make it to fledge, even with the sadness of losing Luna at San Jose and the injury to Nox in Berkeley. I was so worried, especially for San Jose, what with the tough urban environment and seeing Lucia get rescued from the sidewalk and taking the elevator back to the roof twice before successfully fledging.
There’s more, but these are some of the stories that make me smile. (And, oh yes, of course there is Treasure and her siblings, also treasures.)”
CG: “My first thought was Tuffy. I watched this nest with trepidation. Tuffy was the underdog. How many times did we think he wouldn’t make it. He was so endearing, and I loved his sneakiness to try to get food. He never gave up. You always talk about the will to survive, and boy, his little body was bursting with it. The last time I saw him was just before they shut the cam down, and he was proudly standing on his nest.
Iris and Finnegan. I knew nothing about her until you talked about her. Finnegan came along and showed Louis the door. He has been a wonderful mate and provider for Iris and their osplets, and Iris has been a wonderful mum feeding and protecting her little ones the way she does. Just look at how they have turned out under their care. They look so healthy, and Big has been a wonderful big sib being so patient with his little sibling except for the one time little sib got uppity and boldly attacked big sib. That won’t be happening again! This has been a wonderful osprey nest to watch.
I could not fail to mention my peregrines Annie and Archie and Hartley and Monty, each pair with four chicks this year. Hartley and Monty went from newbies with one feisty Soledad last year to FOUR this year. What a jump! They handled it all with finesse. No nonsense Annie always handles her chicks with finesse, and her new mate Archie was a great provider and dad. Peregrines are a wonder and miracle every year. I wish all nests could be as calming as theirs with equal feedings, no shortage of food, no predators, and lots of chick shenanigans. “
‘BHA’: My smile of the year has to be Iris, Finnegan and family. (Along with you and probably everyone else.) What a miracle nest this year!!
Also, the San Jose falcons. The antics and shenanigans of the four girls were priceless! (Of course with a bit of sadness that we lost one of them…)
‘PB’: The bird that made me smile is Smallie. He was such a fighter especially how small he was up against 3 big sisters. I’m still sad about it. O18 became my favorite osprey, she was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Her personality matched her beauty. I miss her too! It’s making me cry thinking of them. But before them was a tie between Tuffy and Tiny D. They will all be in my memory forever.
‘J’ loves the Tortilla Bird. ” The photo of that tiny little babe in the tortilla just melts my heart (the feet! the feet!). That someone thought of wrapping it in a warm tortilla to keep it from getting cold is just brilliant – and hilarious at the same time. “
Geemeff: “But just want to say the names chosen for Iris & Finn’s miracle chicks are lovely and very suitable. In a season of sadness, they and the Poole Harbour Four have been some comfort. Iris’ success after so may years of being bullied by her ex, together with the unexpected success of saving one of Louis & Dorcha’s chicks to the point of successfully fledging, are my favourites of this season.”
‘TU’: My favourite article for a good mood is the one in The Guardian about the bird of New Caledonia. I loved it from the first sight.
‘L’: Iris finding Finnegan or vice versa. A wonderful memorable miracle. This nest brings pure joy! Iris is the best osprey mom I’ve ever had the privilege to watch and Finnegan is a precious gem.
Blue is amazing at the Boundary Nest. I think he’s a miracle for surviving erratic food deliveries.
The rescue of Rutland’s Little Bob. Golden moment.
The Purple Martins in Erie PA. All 5 fledged. Enjoyable to watch.
McEuen Park. One, out of 4, that survived to fledge after losing father.
Eagle Country-Tears for Meadow but Swampy lived and fledged.
Thunder, Akecheta and their 3 beautiful eaglets! Koa, Treasure & Sterling. A delight to watch. A stress free nest.
Cowlitz PUD- happiness, a survivor golden moment.
Osoyoos, losing Little which was sad enough. Thankful two will fledge. Happiness and a miracle in my book.
Little Miami Conservancy-All 3 eaglets fledged! Happiness.
Southwest Florida Eagles-One hatch, smart and accelerated in growth. An amazing first eaglet for M15 & F23.
BONUS!!!! Pure joy.
Challenger surviving his health issues.
Hugo Yugo, Calico, Hope & Missey and all the birds and squirrels that visit your garden.
(I could go on and on. So many more miracles and golden moments….The 2 miracle eaglets that definitely would have made my list were unfortunately killed by father Scout at the NCTC nest.)”
‘BA’: “The first time Lucia accidentally fell from the nest area and had to be rescued. First lots of worry about her, and then the smile moment when she was released on the rooftop. And then the chuckle: later watching SKHideaway’s video of it all. Lucia was just out of the box, looking around wide-eyed at all the contraptions and weird stuff, and SKH’s caption said, “She thinks she’s in Disneyland!” That cracked me up. It was such a tense moment, worrying about how frightened Lucia might be, and somehow we knew then she was going to be okay. (And then a couple of days later when she made it back down to the nest area and was reunited with her sisters – that was also a big smile moment.)”
LL: “Anything to do with Iris and Finn”.
JT: “The hatch of E23.”
PM: “Iris, Iris, Iris…West End nest. Those three eaglets were remarkable.”
‘A’: “Just before 09:32, there is a lot of thunder at Hellgate and Iris immediately flies to the nest. The rain really sets in, and Iris opens her roller doors and does her perfect mumbrella, managing to keep two fully grown osplets perfectly dry in the heavy downpour. What a mum she really is. Sumeh is the sweetest big sister ever, and little bro is adorable and such a feisty wee lad. This nest has been such a joy to watch. I could not have imagined enjoying watching a big sister/little brother osprey nest without a moment of stress or worry, but then along came Finnegan.”
I am with you – Iris has put everything into this season, and it may be costly. But it may also give her a reason to return no matter what it takes, as she now has Finnegan waiting for her. These two have bonded strongly and I am really hopeful that the strength of their relationship will give Iris what she needs to make it home again. She truly has been the most wonderful mother. What a waste – Louis truly is a cad.
BT: “Too numerous. 1. Fish Fairies at Port Lincoln. 2. Finnegan ousting Louis and winning Iris’s heart. 3. Annie and Archie raise four little falcons. Jackie and Shadow because they just make me smile all the time.”
RW: “The Fabulous Four at Poole Harbour ties with Iris and Finn.”
CB: “SE31 fledges and spends time with Lady and Dad on the Paramatta River learning to be an eagle. Iris and Finnegan because I never thought Iris would ever raise chicks again. The eagles at Decorah North because they survived so much and continued to be a family at their nest tree even when it had fallen over.”
CD: “I loved Smallie. The wee little falcon longed to live and it did get to fly.”
DDS:
Iris and Finnegan. Never thought this would happen.
Jackie and Shadow and their sticks and hopefulness.
M15 gets another chance to be a Dad.
They didn’t raise a family but seeing Gabby and Beau together made me smile.
The rehabbers that help.
The small Dutch falcon that died but got to fly.
The people who dared to provide fish to the osprey chicks at the barge in Australia.
Thanks to everyone who participated and to those who didn’t but sat and thought about what made them smile this year!
My list in a bit of a narrative and in no certain order:
The day I learned that Bonus was alive, I cried. Knowing that both Black Storks Waba and Bonus, raised by Karl II, are still flying gives me hope that there are others, too. I continue to be ever grateful for the work of Urmas in Estonia and his team in providing fish for the storks, ringing them, and checking on their well-being. It makes me smile to see the fish baskets that he sets up and fills to keep the storks alive. I wish that more people would engage with wildlife positively and constructively. I am grateful to the Roy Dennis Foundation and the Woodland Trust for removing the two chicks of Louis and Dorcha for translocation. Louis was not himself, and while I had an enormous smile when he reappeared after so many days, he needed to get his strength up, so it still felt like a good win-win. But knowing dear Louis is alive is a huge grin and a happy moment. The fish fairies at Port Lincoln took a stand and saved the osplets of Mum and Dad at the barge and I will forever think that this was a miracle that saved the chicks lives. Didn’t you just grin seeing the hand lay the fish on that nest? Whenever I checked on the nest at Poole Harbour, I smiled at the absolute dedication and great parenting of CJ7 and Blue 022. I remember the year they were courting, and it didn’t seem possible that CJ7 would get a mate, and now, to the astonishment of all, in their third year together, they successfully raised four to fledge. The California falcons will always make me smile: Larry at Alcatraz, Annie and Archie, and Monty and Hartley. Incredible families and, oh, our dear little ones that got themselves into some mischief, including Nox, who is recovering. That photo of him with his wing wrapped was lovely. I was happy when Smallie could come and go in and out of the scrape and got to fly and feel the wind under its wings despite its subsequent death. Big Red always puts a smile on my face as does Arthur when he lines the nest bowl with squirrel fur. They love being parents. And this year, because of the year that it was, I am grateful and smile whenever I see one of the nests have a fledge because they are just that much rarer. So many bird families lost so many of their offspring this year. To the delight and relief of many, Hope and Beaumont look like they will fledge two chicks this year from Snow Lane in Newfoundland – the first for many, many years. The Moorings Park nest just melted my heart when Tuffy overcame the abuse of the older sibling, Ruffie, and survive to become a gorgeous osplet that returned time and again to the nest so we could see that he was alright. What made me mad and also sick at times was the Frenchman’s Creek nest with fish after fish piled up and the poor osplets having to learn to feed themselves to survive – not from starvation but lack of parental attention. They triumphed, and somehow, the nasty fish disappeared. That made me smile big time. There were so many moments. Seeing SE31 flying over the Paramatta River with Lady and Dad, free of the harassment of the Pied Currawong, was simply one of the best moments ever, along with Flaco, the Eurasian Owl, who escaped from the Central Park Zoo and flew freely for a year. Perhaps I have said it more than once, but the resilience of Jackie and Shadow makes me smile every day.
The ultimate smile was Iris and Finnegan, though. I never thought I would see Iris raising chicks. Louis drove me nuts, and to see a young male osprey keep Louis on the other side of the territory made me grin every day, especially when Finn chased Louis off the owl pole. Iris is simply amazing. She is old (I have great empathy for her), raising chicks in that heat, and now Sum-eh has fledged. I also smile whenever I get a note or a letter from you. It makes my day, along with my garden animals, my family, and the girls, that much better. Thank you for being there.
Thank you to everyone who sent in their memories and for the images and videos thank you to ‘A, CG, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, NestFlix Memories, Osoyoos, Fortis-Exshaw, Colonial Beach, Menhaden- Little Fish, Big Deal, HWF-BBCentral, Heidi and Windows to Wildlife, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, SK Hideaways for the images of the falcon families from San Jose, Cal Falcons, and SWFlorida Bald Eagles, Wildwest Rehabilitation Centre, Texas Monthly, SK Hideaways, and The Guardian.
This is part of a fabulous message from ‘B’: “Gosh, Mary Ann, Hellgate is breaking the smile-meter today. Not only does Sum-eh “branch” to the perch at 6:53, but then s/he tires of the perch at 7:43 and takes off on a real fledge. And without even seeing her, we can follow the whole flight by seeing Antali track the whole flight, right up to the landing a minute later. At 8:00 Iris lands and begins calling for the celebratory fish, but she must already know it is on the way, because Finn arrives with fish at 8:00:54, and the whole family is on the nest to celebrate Sum-eh’s fledge.”
How many of us just had tears in our eyes when we saw Sum-eh fly? I keep thinking that this is the perfect Osprey family. Everything this year was as if it had been choreographed by someone directing a world-famous symphony or ballet company at the Hellgate nest of Iris and Finnegan. I want it to stay this perfect.
Iris and her family have energized me.
Information on Montana Ospreys and where they migrate and when:
Oh, it was not so hot today but that did not stop the Blue Jays dive bombing the Crow fledglings whenever they came to get cheesy dogs and kibble! The sounds of the fledglings alarming and wanting the parents to come and help was, at times, a bit eerie. And then a community cat came and that really got the Crows going!
The tree you can see is where the Blue Jays nest. They gather there and swoop at the fledgling Crows whenever they come for food. You will see that one of the Crows on the fence has a lighter chest (far right)—it is moulting and an adult.
BirdGuides Photo of the Week is an osprey diving for a fish. Several places in the UK offer hides for taking these amazing images – at a price. Most of all, it helps the ospreys because there is a healthy amount of fish available and, in all cases, as I understand it, the ‘farmers’ who monetised their ponds or fish tanks are making more money from folks like us who want to get that winning image. Note that I have been more than careful not to say ‘shot’ – as the ospreys steal fish at the commercial fish ponds in South America and do get shot. I wish those farmers would advertise hides for taking photographs. They might discover this win-win situation, too.
Geemeff’s daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Monday 5th August 2024
Just a raft of Mistle Thrushes and a Woodpecker on Nest One today – no Ospreys, no other action on either nest, just plenty of rain. Filling in the gap a little, LizB posted more footage of the Bunarkaig nest showing Affric and her chick, links in the bonus section. The wet weather continues tonight and tomorrow, with the possibility of thundery showers in the late afternoon.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.35.04 (04.41.35); Nest Two 22.46.59 (04.49.03)
Concerns for USU at nest #4 Finland continues as migration approaches. Will someone take the osplet into rehab?
‘PB’ caught USU flapping!!!!!!!
We are going to have a fledge at Charlo soon!
The other nest to keep an eye on is Minesota Landscape Arboretum. Our only surviving chick is on the perch with Mum on Monday.
Dad continues to deliver nice fish meals to the Cowlitz PUD nest.
River has come a long way to getting very proficient at self-feeding. Mum Keke looks on at the Sandpoint nest.
All three on the nest at Blackbush at Old Tracadie Harbour.
Nice crops on Mum and the fledgling at Boulder County.
‘PB’ caught a great image of the McEuen fledgling – just look at that crop. Mum did well. Such a sad year for this nest but one osplet survived with Mum despite the heat and having a single parent nest.
Blue (HWF BBCentral nest) was doing some wingers and moving around the nest including standing on the rim.
From the Forum:
‘CG’ reports:
AP Hovasse was out taking videos this morning. Believes Blue is ready to FLY!! He will be out again tomorrow morning.
Cams came back up at 1452 hours.
At 1715 hours, she pulled a plastic bag up out of the nest and proceeded to rip it up scattering it across the nest.
At 1750 hours, a parent delivered food, dropping it at the edge of the nest. Blue grabbed it and mantled it.
She did her usual flapping and seems to have taken to sitting on the edge of the nest. She also had three healthy looking PSs this afternoon.
Close up of Blue.
By 2251 hours, she is lying down asleep.
Weather for Tuesday high of 73F, low 50F, sunny. Temperature predicted to rise to the 80s Wednesday-Friday, then back down to the 70s with clouds for Saturday through the next week.”
Dad brought a really nice fish to Mum at the Port Lincoln Barge Tuesday morning! Oh, these two are getting me excited. Think the fish fairies will be around this year?
Small beak peeking out of the egg at the Olympic Sea Eagle nest in Sydney. The chick has made some progress during the night and Lady didn’t get much sleep. Let’s hope it is out today.
At Osprey House Environment Centre, the three osplets are little reptiles. I wonder if they will continue to play sweet. Let’s hope!
Where does Australia’s Painted Snipe go in the winter?
8/6 Colonial Beach osprey nest: By 0935 this morning, Betty will have been missing for three days. Yesterday, David brought 43-day-old Cobey a large headless fish in the morning, and Cobey ate some of it a few times throughout the day. Cobey is doing well with his self-feeding, but he is not strong enough to tear through much of the skin, especially as the fish dries out. There was an interesting period of time when there was an intruder on the nest for about 1.5 hours. Fortunately the intruder was not interested in Cobey, and he did not take the leftover fish. The intruder simply looked around, and moved some sticks. We were hoping that David would bring a fresh fish for supper, but he didn’t. Cobey was noted to have a few good PS on 8/5, but s/he needs more fish than what he is getting. Unfortunately, David does not do any feeding. As a single dad, we are hoping that David will increase the amount of fresh fish that he provides for Cobey. Today will be mostly cloudy, high temp 90, winds gusting to 17 mph. Please come home, Mommy!
8/5 Osoyoos osprey nest: They had a good day. There were 7 fish brought to the nest, including 2 from Soo. And, both Soo and Olsen delivered some whoppers. Chick 2 is still not quite ready to take that maiden flight. S/he did some wingers with slight lift, but no hovers that I have seen. Weather for 8/6: sunny, high temp 90F/32C, winds gusting to 13 mph.
An Osprey family living in the Turtle Mountains of Manitoba just west of where I live taken by Brenda Lyons two days ago!
In Estonia, three new Black Storks have been fitted with transmitters. Yeah! We wish them a long, long life. We hope that one of those, Kerli, which is believed to be Kergu’s sweetie pie, will return with him next year to breed.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. We hope to see you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, observations, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, B, CG, Geemeff, H, PB, RP, TU’, Montana Osprey Project, Montana Osprey Cams, mt.gov, McEuen Park, Hancock Wildlife Forum, HWF-BBCentral, BirdGuides, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Cathy Cohen, Osprey House Environment Centre, The Guardian, BirdGuides, Colonial Beach, Osoyoos Osprey Cam, Brenda Lyons, Ciconia Negro.
It is getting to the time when you need to be getting your ‘miracles’ of the year in! Deadline: Wednesday, the 7th of August, so Tuesday evening CDT is the deadline—about 2000. Even a single sentence! Let me know what made you happy this year. I won’t spoil it, but there is already a clear winner for the top miracle of the year. Can you guess what that was?
It is cooler on the Canadian Prairies. Imagine extreme heat (32 for us) and then waking up and thinking you need a jumper! That was what it was like Sunday morning. The garden animals are loving it!
I did have a bit of a scare this evening. All the Crows were about and two of them were ragged and had white on their breasts. Took a deep breath. It is Junior and his mate and they are molting. Poor things. Junior stays but she heads south in the fall. I hope one or two of the youngsters will be around with us for fall and winter. They have been busy tonight protecting their territory. Urban crows live in family groups taking over a specific area and making sure that other groups of crows don’t enter! That said, when the GHO arrives, everyone comes to help usher it out of the space.
The blog is a little all over the place today. Osprey nests are winding down with fledglings returning for fish and awaiting the time to depart for migration. People are starting to stop and look at the state of the eagle nests and – we are on pip watch for the Olympic Park White-Bellied Sea Eagles in Sydney!
Update: Confirmed pip for SE33!
The three osprey chicks at the Osprey House Environment Centre are doing very well. Three weeks old!
In Port Lincoln, Mum is resting on the barge nest. Yes, yes, it is all beginning to happen ‘down under’.
Xavier is delivering prey to Diamond in the scrape at Orange, Australia. Now all we need is the Melbourne CBD Falcon cam to come on line. Typically that is after the eggs are laid.
If this is your first time to watch ospreys, you might want to find out about their migration – as most (save for Florida and some Gulf areas, the Caribbean, and Austral-Asia) fly to winter homes.
Many of you will remember the Red-tail Hawk raised by the Eagles on Gabriola Island in British Columbia. You will also recall that the eaglet that shared the nest, Junior, was electrocuted. We all cried. It is too common an occurence. We lost one of two gorgeous osplets raised by Oscar and Ethel at the Russell Lake Osprey nest in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. It was discovered that it was Heidi. She had fledged the day prior. These events are so very sad.
If you recall the discussion with Dr Christian Sasse and Dave Hancock on how to mitigate against electrocution using simple methods and know that YouTube video, let me know. I am looking forward to sharing it with our friends in Nova Scotia. I have written to the HWF but have not heard back from them.
‘H’ reports:
8/4 Osoyoos osprey nest: There were nine fish delivered to the nest, including one from Soo. Olsen had tapped into a good location to catch those small green-colored fish, so his offerings consisted of those fish. Soo brought a large headless fish at 1251 that actually resulted in two separate long feedings. It was interesting to note, with 5 of the 8 fish delivered by Olsen, chick 1 rather easily took the fish from chick 2, after chick 2 had initial possession of it. Chick 2 still displays some residual effects of the psychological conditioning that took place during all those weeks when chick 1 had been very aggressive toward him, and he learned to submit. Chick 2 needs to get over that, and try to hold on to his food! Chick 1 did not eat all of those fish he acquired, and he left a couple of good sized chunks on the nest for chick 2. Everyone had plenty to eat today. Chick 1 took a few flights off the nest throughout the day. And, chick 2 managed to get several inches of lift off the nest during his evening wingercizing! Weather forecast for 8/5: Sunny, high temp 94 F, light winds. There is a chance of strong thunderstorms in the afternoon.
8/4-8/5 Colonial Beach: Betty has not been seen since 0935 on 8/3. Last night, 42-day-old Cobey spent his second night alone on the nest. Cobey did not have anything to eat on Friday. On Saturday, David dropped off a headless fish, Cobey self-fed for the first time, and was able to eat most of that fish. On Sunday, David provided Cobey with a headless fish at 0724. Once again, Cobey did a great job with his self-feeding. His technique is not perfect, but he does amazingly well. He ate the fish off and on for several hours, and picked it clean. At 1828 David brought a live fish to the nest. The fish was not very lively, but it took Cobey a while to figure out how to unzip the fish. Cobey managed to do it, and ate the head! Then he reached in and pulled out a lot of the center of the fish, avoiding the tough skin. This morning 8/5, Cobey has already tackled the leftover piece of fish, and managed to pull off a few bites, but it is dry and tough. Hopefully David will bring Cobey a fresh fish this morning. And, we are praying for Betty to come home. Weather forecast for 8/5: Sunny, high 90, light winds. The forecast for the rest of the week may include periods of very heavy rain and some wind, as the remnants of ‘Debby’ moves up the coast. Cobey will need some protection from all that bad weather, and David doesn’t seem to like that kind of Dad. Please come home, Mom.
I am so looking forward to seeing these beautiful Nova Scotian ospreys in real life. Take off in a week! Will be announcing a wee break in normal posting – I will be sending out special Nova Scotia episodes while I am away so you can learn about one of our beautiful Atlantic provinces. It is famous for birdwatching – I am so excited.
Flipping over to Wales. Dylan has been busy delivering his famous Brown Trout to the Llyn Clywedog nest in Wales that he shares with his mate, Seren. The kids are there wanting fish! And if one is eating the other is fish calling very loudly!
Aran is busy at Glaslyn fishing for his and Elen’s kids, too. Everyone wants and needs to eat before migration.
In the south of England, the kiddos are waiting at Poole Harbour, too – and Blue 022 has four to feed!!!!!!!
At the nest of Iris and Finnegan, Sum-eh is getting restless to fly.
She is getting more height by the hover. Could today be the day she flies?
Our friend ‘A’ comments: “I’m hoping that her bond with Finnegan will bring her home. Certainly, she has something to come home to, which has not been the case before now. I know they’re territorial, and she returns to her nest, but now that nest has someone waiting on the perch, she may have an even stronger urge to be back. If indeed the older chick is female, then it is an incredible testament to the mothering skills of Iris, who has raised these two to be as close as any siblings I’ve seen on a nest. Never a hint of aggression or intimidation. They love to snuggle. Little Bob is usually fed first, but regardless of feeding order, they wait their turn. Sometimes, they compete for bites or even eat from each other’s overflowing beaks but never with violence attached. And if indeed Iris has achieved that outcome with a huge female hatched a week before her younger brother, we are definitely in the presence of a super mum. I love the way she has abandoned the nest to the kids, watching from the perch. She does always look to have a good crop, so at least Finn is keeping the family well fed. Perhaps too well fed. Why would these kids bother to leave home? This generation doesn’t, apparently. I do need to remember their names!!
This morning, big sister did a big and healthy PS, which pleased her so much that she had a hover. She is getting very good at her hovering. Oh Mary Ann she is magnificent. Such a beautiful osplet. She is gorgeous. (Little Bro is not yet interested in leaving his version of terra firma.) Iris immediately rises as if in an invisible lift, and she is out of there. Let hovering practice take place without her!! She can supervise from the perch. There is much fish calling (it’s 06:53). Little Bro is fascinated by his sister’s hovering (or perhaps he is just worried she’s about to land on his head)! But certainly, he is keeping his eyes on her. She is really getting some strength as she flaps. She is holding herself aloft for longer and longer, sometimes landing on an outer kiddie rail (is that technically branching or does she have to reach the perch?) and she is really enjoying the sense of wind beneath her wings. Those talons already look pretty deadly to me! “
At nest #3 in Finland, Tuulos and Taika have a fish and mate in the nest.
They are rebuilding at Decorah North!
Only one left to fledge at Blackbush – the other two that are flying continue to return to the nest for fish. Everyone is so well fed that on Sunday even Mum had some time to have a nice fish meal to herself.
In Newfoundland, Canada, Hope and Beaumont’s oldest is starting to work its wings. The chicks are 42 and 37 days old. We could have fledge in a little over a week for the oldest. Fledge dates average around 55 days. (some say 50-55)
Little Eurasian Hobby doing well eating dragonflies brought to the nest. As a fledgling, it will glide over the water catching dragonflies and other bugs for its meals along with small birds.
Everything you wanted to know about the Eurasian Hobby and more:
Geemeff’s Summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Sunday 4th August 2024
A dreich day with no sign of Louis or Dorcha, it’s starting to feel like they’ve headed south to warmer climes as Dorcha was last seen eight days ago on the 27th, and Louis last seen five days ago on the 30th. Of course, those are the dates they were last seen on nest cam so there’s the possibility they are still in the area. Affric 152 and Garry LV0 are definitely still around and both came to Nest One today. Affric looked hollow-cropped and asked Garry for fish but he didn’t have any for her. It’s her mate Prince who should be providing fish for her back on the Bunarkaig nest where their newly fledged chick is probably still returning to, but like last season, there’s a complex relationship with that pair and Garry LV0 which seems to be ongoing. The forecast for tonight and tomorrow is heavy rain with a gentle breeze, and light rain for the rest of the week too.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.29.01 (04.37.17); Nest Two 22.21.56 (04.44.16)
Worries continue for USU’s wing at nest #1 in Finland against growing concerns that Nuppu (Mum) will depart the area. At the moment fish continues to be brought to the nest for the youngsters.
And back in California, Hartley and Monty are bonding after a great season!
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Thank you to the following who sent in notes, posts, comments, videos, articles, and the streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘A, Connie and Don Dennis, CG, Geemeff, H, J, RP’, Hellgate Osprey X, Becky R, Olympic Park Eagle Cam, Osprey House Environment Centre, PLO, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Avian Report, Purpleshrub.com, Audubon, Ospreys of Nova Scotia FB, Osoyoos, Colonial Beach, Llyn Clywedog, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, BoPH, Montana Osprey Project, Saaksilvie, Raptor Research Project, Blackbush, Newfoundland Power, Wildlife Window, The Peregrine Fund, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, CNN Weather, The Guardian, whec.com, obawebsite.com, diesachen.de, Heidi McGrue, John Williams, and SK Hideaways.
Oh, it was a beautiful day in Manitoba. Not too hot and there was a bit of a breeze. Even better to celebrate my daughter’s birthday albeit some days late. She is getting ready to head to Carnival in Grenada and a nice beach holiday for a month. Fantastic.
It was also a beautiful day in the garden. It is filling out all over. It was lovely to hear someone describe it was ‘paradise’. I hope it is for all the animals that live there.
I seem to be suffering from the summer ‘tireds’. Do you ever get that?
The Girls have been having a whale of a time watching the birds and other garden animals, and today, we caught The Boyfriend coming in for a meal. He has really been a concern as I have not seen him during the day. So I checked the front door security camera, and there he is—’pet’—coming in the night and wee hours of the early morning while I am still snuggled up with Hugo Yugo.
Calico is just so beautiful. This time last year, she was running to our house to eat and was quickly back caring for her kitten/s two blocks away under the deck of a house. I thank my lucky stars every day that she chose us. It will be a year since she moved into the house on August 28. Five days later, her only surviving kitten, Hope (aka Kitty Kitty), came to our deck to eat, and we were able to trap her and get her inside. Last night I took the walk that we made trying to find her just to remind myself again – and again – how grateful I am to have these wonderful animals gracing my life. They sure give me more than I can ever give to them!
Oh, and Calico has a tip for everyone who has cats. Those bowls that are elevated and tilt a little bit really work. Even the pickiest of the four, Hope, finishes up all her food.
Missey and Calico are getting along better.
Hugo Yugo is a force to herself and Baby Hope wouldn’t let me take her photo today.
Oh, Hope did stay still long enough! She is staring at Calico who is on top of the cat tree. Calico is swishing her tail – she wants to have a good play fight. Hope doesn’t seem interested.
Calico teasing with the tail.
Out in Bird World. There are intruders everywhere. Some of them are former fledglings returning to their natal nest. Some are ospreys beginning to move south and stopping over.
In many instances, everything goes well. ‘Hey Mum, I just stopped in to say hello!’ might be what Teifi would say to Idris and Telyn. Others are chasing this year’s fledglings off the nest. Some are vicious in their attacks, such as those at Patuxent. Sadly, it is what happens this time of year along with predation – those pesky eagles and goshawks wait til the chicks are nice and plump before they go to the nest, especially in Finland. We must breathe and continue to be thankful for those who have survived this year – for all the miracles that have put a smile on our faces.
Thank you to those that have already sent in wonderful lists of the events with the eagles, the hawks, the falcons, and the ospreys (and others) that put a smile on their face. Please send me your list. I will publish these next week!
What are you grateful for today in BirdWorld? I am grateful to wake up and see the fledgling Yellow USU is alive. (See video later in blog)
I am also wondering if this is our dear Louis who has landed on the Loch Arkaig 2 nest at 1156? If it is, it has been five full days since he has been seen and this would make me cry bucks of happy tears. I have written to Geemeff for confirmation as their are floaters out there at almost every nest.
Before I go on I want to thank those that keep an eye on nests. Heidi can call herself a real osprey expert these days but she is humble enough and will say, like Ferris Akel, that she ‘isn’t’. I am grateful to those community members who are keen watchers of nests and keep an eye on everything that happens that send in reports to me to share with you – A, CG, MM, PB, AM, MP, SP, Geemeff. So many of you. Thank you. It is impossible to have eyes on all the nests!
I missed CG’s report on Blue at the HWF-BBC nest for Monday so I am including it today. Thanks, CG!
“It’s 2210 hours here on the West Coast, Sunday, 7/28.
A parent showed up early this morning, around 0630 hours, with a food delivery. Blue also nibbled on leftovers. The leftovers seem to be tough. Blue spent the day periodically nibbling on leftovers, wingercising, hopping, napping, and looking out over the countryside. At 1900 hours, Blue was calling and a parent appeared with food. This seemed a larger piece than others that I have seen. I have a hard time seeing the food on the nest—maybe because it’s so small and blends into the nest material?
I’m no expert, but even though food is coming in, I’m used to seeing way larger pieces. I watched eagle nests with lone eaglets earlier this year and when a parent brought in a fish, you could tell it was a fish, or if it was a rodent, it had legs and a tail. The little Dorset Hobby in England currently on YouTube is receiving larger meals than Blue (and more often too!).
Happy Birthday Blue❣ Blue is 3 months old today. 🐟🐡”
July 29:
Blue and I woke up to rain. I am just learning about eagles like the rest of us, I am not an expert but someone who is watching and concerned for Blue. She woke up to rain; I woke up and it had already rained. She was a little wet, but maybe it feels good after all that heat. I don’t know if the shade is waterproof. Later in the day, Mere was looking quite bedraggled. She seems to perch often on the south perch.
Parent in with a fish around 0700 hours. I can actually see it and recognize it as a fish!
She horked most of the fish down in one go.
Blue needs way more food; I have learned that eagles need at least 350 grams of food per day up to 550 grams depending on their age. I was also reminded that this food needs to be nourishing, not skin and bones! Like us, blue needs enough food to grow strong bones and muscles, healthy feather growth, and energy. So where is the food? Why aren’t the parents delivering food like we have seen on other nests? I wish that the there was a forum that would discuss this.
Food delivery 7/27, if you can see it! Where’s the rest of whatever it is?
7/28: Largest piece of food that I’ve seen the past few days. Thought to be fish. My question is “Where’s the rest of it?” I’ve seen other eagle parents bring in whole fish to feed one eaglet. I’ve seen chicklets fed more food than this!
Also, if/when she fledges, she will need parental support providing her with food while she practices hunting. I do not even want to go there at this point.
Around 1130 hours, picked at yesterday’s leftover chunk of food/fish but didn’t really eat any. That continued throughout the day.
At 1900 hours, an adult brought food. Have no idea what it was. To me, it looks like scraps left from an adult’s meal. The only thing I have recognized so far was the fish this morning. I’m used to seeing food with legs and tails or a whole fish.
I have to give Blue credit for her continual wingercising. She was been doing a lot of wingercising throughout the day. Don’t know what anyone thinks about the condition of her feathers. When I initially saw Blue, my first thought was “what raggy feathers.” I know I’m not alone. To me, she always looks like she went through a hedge backwards. I have a medium-length-hair cat like that. His sister never has a hair out of place. I don’t know if part of this has to do with camera resolution. I’m used to looking at Jackie and Shadow with state of the art cameras, It’s like looking at their feathers under a microscope. And no, I’m not knocking Hancock’s cameras. I know these cameras are expensive so you buy what you can afford, and it also depends upon your purpose. I think I read that these cameras are good for about 5 years. On top of that there is continual maintenance. All in all, we are lucky we are able to view these nests.
I’m thinking Blue is one of those that Mary Ann talks about—they want to survive, and they fight against all odds for their survival.
We’re here cheering you on Blue. Take it a day at a time, keep up with that wingercising, and fledge when YOU feel you are ready.”
‘H’ reports:
7/29 Osoyoos osprey nest: I only saw three fish brought to the nest. It was not a very hot day, but winds were gusting to 18 mph in the afternoon. At 0534 Olsen dropped off a large partial fish, and Big took it to self-feed. Soo allowed Big to work on it for about 24 minutes before she took the fish to provide a feeding. At that point Middle ate for 6 minutes before Big joined in, and the sibs ate peacefully for the next 7 minutes. Then, Olsen delivered a whole fish at 0622. Soo fed, and once again it was a peaceful and seemingly equitable meal lasting 9 minutes. At 1043 Olsen brought a very large partial fish. Soo started her feeding, but was distracted and flew off with the fish at 1046. There may have been an intruder about. She did not return to the nest with the fish until 1057, but then she resumed feeding. Both osplets had a nice meal, and the total feeding time was around 31 minutes. Of note today was the wingercising. The osplets are 51 and 52 days old, and both of them were doing some impressive wingers with hops. At 1634 Big achieved several inches of lift off the nest! Weather forecast for 7/30: Partly cloudy, high temp 84F/29C, light winds.
7/29 Colonial Beach Osprey nest: Young 35-day-old Cobey is looking really good. Yesterday David delivered all four fish to the nest, but apparently today it was Betty’s turn, and she brought all four of the fish to the nest. That arrangement works fine, as long as David doesn’t go MIA again. The weather is warming up again in the Mid-Atlantic region, with a high of 88 on 7/30, and gradually becoming warmer throughout the week. Winds will gust to 17 mph on 7/30.
7/29 Patuxent River Park osprey nest: We only had one sighting of an osprey today. At 0816 Dad brought a partial fish to the nest. Since no one arrived to take it, Dad flew off with the fish. Stay safe, osprey family. We miss you, and we are thinking of you.
7/29 Fenwick Island osprey nest (Captain Mac’s Fish House): This will sound like a broken record, but this is the most amazing daily story at this nest… There were no fish at all brought to the nest on 7/29, and we didn’t see Johnny. The weather was not too hot, but it was a windy day. Poor ‘Fen’ had nothing to eat. And then, there it was… At 1745 June arrived with her daily huge live striped bass! I smiled and laughed, why had I even been worried? Those big bass are quite strong when they are flopping about, and it seems that Fen has learned to tuck and stay away until Mom gets the fish under control. Fen is 45 days old. (I think these fish are striped bass, but if anyone knows otherwise, please kindly let Mary Ann know)
7/29 Forsythe osprey nest: Larry is 69 days old, and fledged two weeks ago. The past few days there have been fewer fish brought to the nest for Larry. In fact there was only one partial fish today, and it was brought by Opal. Perhaps Larry has had some meals away from the nest. Well, the most interesting thing happened this afternoon… At 1708 Larry brought a large turtle to the nest. This is the first time we have seem him carrying anything in his talons. He toyed with the turtle a bit, but did not spend much time with it, and Larry soon flew away. The turtle had its head and legs all tucked away, so we didn’t know if it was alive. Well, at 2032 Mr. Turtle suddenly ‘came alive’, walked around in circles a bit, then promptly walked right off the nest! The nest is a typical man-made marsh platform, so not being very high, Mr. Turtle was probably okay.
At Sandpoint, we have a family portrait – Keke, Keo, and River. River is enjoying a nice fish meal fromm Mum. Look at the size of River to Keke. Could River be a girl? Gosh, I wish they would ring these osplets at the streaming cam nests!
At Oyster Bay, all three fledglings are home for the night with Mum perched keeping an eye.
Both fledglings hanging out at the nest in Patchogue during a thunderstorm on Monday.
Blue 022 is still busy making sure those four fledglings at Poole Harbour have enough fish! CJ7 will be trying to fatten up for her long migration. Blue 022 will stay on and take care of the kids. Normally, the female leaves first and the male leaves last.
At Saaksilvie Muonion, the family of four is doing well – Aile & Juhu, along with Kajo and Lumi. Nice fish have come to the nest, and interesting twigs offer great camouflage, and the osplets are keeping down. Does this nest also have intruders about?
Surviving osplet at Saaksilvie #4- Yellow USU – is getting fish deliveries from Mum.
Chicks at Blackbush Beach Resort are itching to fly. They are beauties.
I just caught the morning fish at McEuen Park. Baby has a full crop and Mum is getting to enjoy some nice fish. They have survived. She lost three but she has one that is on track to fledge.
Cowlitz PUD fledgling returns to the nest for fish dinners. All is well.
Intruders at the Snow Lane nest in Newfoundland. There are intruders everywhere and our adults and fledglings are getting injured. This is the best year for Hope and Beaumont. Send them your good wishes so that the entire family is safe and well fed.
I have been checking on Hope and the chicks at Snow Lane and everything seems good. These are two beautiful osplets and how could we not be over the moon for this couple? They should ring the bells in Newfoundland. Miracles happen.
Crows are being pesky and not so nice to Australian ospreys.
This is how lucky Iris, Finn, and the two osplets were doing that storm. Have a read.
The only surviving chick at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum nest looks like it is going to fledge any day. It is getting bigger and bigger but not as big as Mum. A little boy?
Winnie and her baby at Dunrovin Ranch look out to the world below with all the horses.
Geemeff’s summary of Loch Arkaig for the Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Monday 29th July 2024
Another day with no sign of Louis or Dorcha, but once again Garry LV0 and Affric 152 visited Nest One, two visits from Garry LV0 and one from Affric 152, no fish were brought today. A Wood Pigeon was the only other visitor. LizB gave us another update on Affric’s nest at Bunarkaig:
The forecasted rain materialised, tonight’s forecast is light clouds and light winds with a chance of rain, but tomorrow’s looks more promising with sunny intervals and a gentle breeze.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.45.51 (04.24.09); Nest Two 22.38.14 (04.30.25)
We hope that Louis and Dorcha are off at another loch filling up on fish, getting strong and gaining some fat for their migration south. Without chicks, they can leave any time. And isn’t it great that the surviving osplet in Spain fledged? Just wonderful.
At the Dorest Hobby nest, ‘SP’ reports that the little Hobby had the following meals and is doing well: “…a decent breakfast at 7:57, then dragonflies at 14:58, 15:53, 16:07, 16:15, 16:36, and 4 more before a wee bird was brought for tea at 19:35. Followed by yet another dragonfly!”
Captive breeding is helping the Condor population and it is bringing the Guam Kingfisher back from near extinction.
If you missed the dawn duet from the Olympic Park Eagles, here you go! My favourite time is when the eaglets are old enough to join in with their parents. So cute.
The Canadian company, Omega, is still trying to take every last Menhaden out of the Bay so that the whales, dolphins, and ospreys (amongst others) starve.
Osprey doing well at A Place Called Hope (one of the absolute best rehabbers in the US).
Iris, Finn, and the kids are looking good. Soon we will know their names. Did you vote?
Iris’s older chick is now self-feeding. It won’t be long til the Little one is trying it out.
Still warm at Charlo.
The Charlo chick is sure working those wings. No hovering but certainly some good wingers.
‘PB’ reports that there is still tension from intruders at the Steelscape osprey platform in Washington. The intruder took the beak of the fledgling that has an injury and was also thought to be pulling out feathers. The chick did get away.
All is well at the McEuen Park Osprey platform.
Skylarks. You might only know them because they were once a model of an American car company but they are, indeed, a wonderful songbird.
But Skylarks have made The Red List! According to the RSBP, “The Skylark is a small brown bird, larger than a sparrow but smaller than a starling. It is streaky brown with a small crest – which can be raised when the bird is excited or alarmed – and a white-sided tail. The wings also have a white rear edge which is visible in flight. It’s known for its display flight, vertically up in the air. Its recent and dramatic population declines make it a Red List species.”
In her entry for the Skylark in Red Sixty-Seven, Ann Cleeves describes the flight of the male Skylark. ” It rises almost vertically from the ground, then hovers effortlessly, sometimes for an hour or more, before plunging back to earth. It’s a tragedy that this iconic bird is under threat. It’s endangered because its habitat ranges beyond the moors and into the cultivated farmland. The spread of intensive agriculture has limited the species’ opportunities for breeding.” (86)
Two of Nova Scotia’s fledglings, Skylor and Heidi. Posts show that other osplets are fledging in Nova Scotia as I write! They had a good year. Everyone should be celebrating the great success of their nests.
I sure hope these two are around in a little over a fortnight. I would love to see them when I am in Nova Scotia.
Richmond and Rosie’s kids, Pax and Tully, are flying around the light pole. Gosh I miss them being on camera at the Whirly Crane.
Remember – vote for the name selections for Iris and Finn’s kids!
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. We hope to see you soon! Remember to send in those lists of the wonders and the miracles of the 2023-24 eagle/osprey/falcon/hawk, etc breeding season! What put a smile on your face instead of a tear in your eye?
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, observations, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘CG, Geemeff, H, PB, SP’, Jeff Kear, Finnish Osprey Foundation, The Woodland Trust, HWF-BBC, Sandpoint Ospreys, PSEG, BoPH, Finnish Osprey Foundation, McEuen Park, Blackbush Beach Ospreys, Cowlitz PUD, Ian L Winter, Friends of Osprey Sth Aus, Raptor View Research Institute, MN-LA, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Dorsett Hobby, BirdGuides, Menhaden-Little Fish-Big Deal, Olympic Park Eagles, A Place Called Hope, Montana Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Labs, Charlo Montana, Dunrovin Ranch, Steelscape Ospreys, The Guardian, OpenVerse, Osoyoos, Patuxent River Park, Fenwick Island, Forsythe, Colonial Beach Ospreys, the RSPB, Golden Gate Audubon, Mary Anne Miller.
Update: You will now know that the cameras in Montana are down due to hurricane force winds. We are grateful that our friend EJ is there, right near Iris. ‘EJ’ reports that a massive storm went through Missoula, Montana Wednesday night. She went to check on Iris and the chicks Thursday morning and they are fine! This is such a great relief.
Kova has fledged at the Surrey Reserve. Only eaglet left is Blue at Boundary Bay for the Hancock Wildlife nests in British Columbia, Canada. Thanks, ‘J’.
Wednesday was a little hotter. 27 C. Today’s excursion was to Delta Beach to check on the Bald Eagles. The humidity and heat were overwhelming from the moment I got to the wetlands. The staff had cut narrow paths through the tall reeds – they didn’t allow any breeze to filter through. There were NO Red-wing Blackbirds doing murmurations. None. The Bald Eagle nest was vacant. I felt bad that I had not gone to check earlier. And then there was a juvenile sitting on a branch overlooking the southern tip of the lake. I bet it was waiting for a parent to return with a big fish! There were gulls and Killdeer along the shore. Stilt Sandpipers, Sanderlings, Ruddy Turnstones, and Semipalmated Plovers danced among the sand and the water. It was a delight. Frogs jumped around the pond while ducks flew off. I could hear Sora. Robins were pulling worms off the grass. Hot, humid – and positively invigorating.
I will post images, other than this frog taken with my phone, when I can find the cable to hook the big camera up to the computer. Oh, the joys of returning from a brief holiday and not being organised.
One of the routines when going to Delta Marsh is to stop for lunch at a small town Chinese restaurant. The owners are the happiest most delightful people. Their food is really good, too. She told me that ‘Canada is the best!’. They were in Las Vegas last week and it was 54 degrees C. She couldn’t wait to get home. This is the heat that is impacting our birds and all wildlife. In Phoenix, they are cooling the animals down with ice and snow surprises.
From kindness to – what? This is the most disgusting article I have read in several months. I have a problem with influencers in the first place having watched young girls at university try to emulate the Kardashians. Now TikTok is getting people to shoot millions of birds over Lebanon!!!!!!!
If you missed the on line chat about Annie and Archie’s fledgling, Nox, here it is! Thank you, Sean and Lynne!
My inbox is full of good news stories. Thank you to everyone who sought the positive and sent it to share!
An Osprey Story:
GAULEY BRIDGE, W.Va. — Sometimes, it takes a village to save an osprey chick.
When Beckley nature photographer Kim Ayers stopped in Gauley Bridge on June 7 to photograph the occupants of a long-established osprey nest built atop a train trestle over the Gauley River, she quickly realized something was amiss.
“I could see an adult osprey in the nest that wasn’t moving, except for a wing, which was blowing in the wind, and I could hear the babies — they were so vocal. I knew right then something wasn’t right.”
Ayers had been visiting the nest for years to check on the progress of the ospreys who made it their home and photograph their activities. She visited the nest once every few weeks since March, when newly-hatched chicks had first been spotted at the site.
During Ayers’ June 7 visit, it was apparent that the adult female was dead, and her two offspring needed food and protection.
“I wanted to just stop and cry,” she said. Instead, Ayers called Three Rivers Avian Center at Brooks in Summers County and asked for help.
“If not for Wendy and Ron Perrone (who operate the avian center), what would we do when something like this happens?” Ayers said. “I’m so thankful they’re here.”
“When we got the call, we knew we couldn’t make it there by dark, so we started working the phones to find a volunteer who was closer,” Wendy Perrone said.
The Perrones soon made contact with Matt Carpenter of Fayetteville, a teacher and experienced climber, who offered to ascend the trestle’s rusty steel beams to reach the nest, secure the young birds in bags, and retrieve the remains of the mother osprey, which had apparently been dead for several days.
Carpenter was accompanied to the scene by his partner, wildlife biologist Lindsay Hermanns, and friend Amber Jaxson, who transported the two young osprey in the back of a Mazda to Beckley to meet the Perrones, who brought the birds back to the avian center.
“They heard the call and volunteered,” Wendy Perrone said of Carpenter, Hermanns and Jaxson.
In the weeks that followed, the two young birds feasted on hand-fed culled trout donated by the Division of Natural Resources’ Tate Lohr Fish Hatchery in Oakvale, Mercer County. After maturing enough to eat on their own, they were moved into the Leon Wilson Flyway in the avian center’s flight barn to learn aeronautical skills.
Unfortunately, one of the chicks turned out to be not as strong or resilient as its sibling, and died in early July. The remaining juvenile thrived in its new surroundings, and on Thursday, was ready to return to Gauley Bridge to be released in the wild.
As a carrier containing the bird was carried to the release site, a short distance from trestle and nest, an adult osprey, likely its father, could be seen winging over the scene, vocalizing as it soared.
“That’s icing on the cake,” Wendy Perrone said. “It means an adult is still around to show the young bird how to hunt.”
When the carrier containing the young osprey was opened, the bird at first seemed reluctant to venture outside. But after Wendy Perrone held the bird on her arm, it began tentatively flapping its wings, then slowly became airborne, flying immediately to the top of the nearby trestle, a few feet from its stick-built nest.
“This is such a relief,” Wendy Perrone sighed, as she watched the bird taking in the view of the confluence of the New and Gauley rivers, also the birthplace of the Kanawha, from its lofty vista. “It’s a good day.”
Ospreys, also known as fish hawks or sea hawks, live along rivers, lakes and coastlines, and can be found in every continent but Antarctica. The birds of prey are smaller than eagles but larger than red-tailed hawks.
When on the hunt, ospreys “are a picture of concentration, diving with feet outstretched and yellow eyes sighting straight along their talons” to catch fish, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s “All About Birds” website.
While nesting ospreys can now be found along the length of the Kanawha River, as well as West Virginia’s share of the Ohio River shoreline and large reservoirs like Stonewall Jackson Lake, such was not always the case.
No nesting pairs were known to exist in the state as recently as 1981, according to a survey by the Raptor Research Foundation, following decades of unchecked stream pollution and widespread use of the insecticide DDT.
Industrial and agricultural stream pollution caused steep declines in fish populations, creating a hardship for osprey whose primary source of food is fish. DDT entering the ospreys’ food chain and being absorbed in their tissue caused their egg shells to thin and break before incubation was complete.
A nationwide ban on DDT use and passage of the Clean Water Act both took place in 1972, which gradually helped restore habitat and improve reproduction odds for ospreys in the years that followed.
By the end of the 1980s, an osprey restoration effort got underway in West Virginia, starting at Tygart Lake, involving six-week-old chicks transported from sites in the Chesapeake Bay area and other locales where osprey were relatively abundant. The young ospreys were taken to sites near Tygart Lake’s shoreline where they were fed and sheltered in screened boxes and allowed to acclimate to their new surroundings, before being released when they had matured enough to be able to fly.
A similar project took place from 1989 to 1995, involving the release of 62 juvenile ospreys from a remote site on Blennerhassett Island in the Ohio River in Wood County, involving volunteers from DuPont’s Washington Works plant, in cooperation with the Division of Natural Resources.
By 1994, three nesting pairs of osprey — all products of the reintroduction effort — had been documented in the state. The population has steadily grown since then.
An investigation is underway by the state Division of Natural Resources Police to determine the cause of death of the newly-released osprey’s mother.
‘J’ sent us the update on Challenger, the celebrity Bald Eagle at the Amerian Eagle Foundation who had cataract surgery:
Geemeff’s daily summary for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust:
Daily summary Wednesday 24th July 2024
Today was a quiet day with time for reflection after the sad news received yesterday. The consensus among forum members is that Woodland Trust Scotland, Roy Dennis Foundation, Fundación Migres and the specialist veterinary team all did their utmost to give 1JR a fighting chance, but his health was just too compromised to survive. In domestic news, neither Louis nor Dorcha came into nest cam view today, only Garry LV0 turned up for a few minutes on Nest One which was visited later by a few little birds, some of whom are possibly living underneath the nest. The forecasted rain has turned up and a wet night is ahead, with a strong possibility of thundery showers tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.12.20 (03.53.19); Nest Two 22.49.19 (04.14.03)
At McEuen Park, ‘PB’ caught the only surviving chick of the four self-feeding. Oh, send good wishes to Single Mum and Babe. We need them to make it through this dire time.
The Middle Chick, 6M7, at Glaslyn fledged on Wednesday the 24th at 0840! She picked a wet morning to to take that first flight. Then she was followed by 6M9 at 1027 – congratulations. Aran and Elen have all their babies flying.
These older osplets are really wanting to fly! Just wait – they will take off at the same time! Just wait.
CJ7 and Blue 022 are making doubly sure that their four fledglings continue to eat well! What an amazing year for Poole Harbour. Congratulations.
Wonder where Seren, Dylan, and the chicks are roosting? It is really windy and wee bit damp at Llyn Clywedog.
Gosh, golly. It sounds like gale force winds at Llyn Brenig in the night. The day wasn’t too bad. Waiting for fledge.
Looks a little lonely at the nest of Idris and Telyn at Dyfi. The cam operator caught someone down by the river!
Only Bob was telling Dad, Blue 33, to get the fishing gear out and get that catch on the Manton Bay nest!
The day was gorgeous at Loch Arkaig nest 2 but then the winds and rain began later in the night.
We will have to wait and see what transpires at Loch of the Lowes now that our dear Laddie LM12 is no longer with us. Will Blue NC0 keep the nest with the new dark male?
Three fish delivered to Alyth on Wednesday. Way to go Harry!
Cowlitz PUD – The only surviving chick did fledge on Tuesday and has been returning to the nest regularly. This is fabulous news. If every one of the nests that have had troubles can fledge one chick – that really is a victory in such a challenging year.
I don’t know about anyone else, but if asked to name one outstanding, devoted, more than dedicated, self-sacrificing Osprey female for 2024 in the US, it would have to be our Queen, Iris. Believed to be the oldest osprey in the world, she took a new mate and is raising two chicks in the most extreme heat circumstances after having her summers off since the last chick of hers fledged in 2018, Le’le.
It is the same at the other Montana nests. Fish are not as plentiful as they were ten days ago and the males are working hard to get one or two into the females and chick/s before the heat sets in.
Swoop, Winnie, and chick at Dunrovin. Oh, yes, the chick’s name is Junebug. Cute!
Gosh, the fish look small at Charlo Montana compared to what is coming on the nest at Hellgate.
Keke and River waiting for Keo to get some fish on the nest at Sandpoint on Wednesday.
Only Bob at Bridge Golf Course returned to the nest ten hours after fledging. Thanks ‘H’ for catching that landing – looks like the kid needs some more practice!
‘H’ reports:
7/24 Patuxent River Park osprey nest: The live stream was down for five days, and resumed this morning. Fortunately before the cam had gone down, we had been able to witness Little fledge and return to the nest on 7/18. And, it was also awesome to watch him battle for a fish on the nest that day with his siblings, and come away victorious! We missed being able to observe all the post-fledge action while the cam was down. Big was in the nest when the live stream resumed. At around noon, Dad brought a fish to Big. Earlier, a visiting fledgling had been repelled by Big, but the juvenile returned while Big was eating her fish. The young visitor looked hungry, and seemed to be waiting for Big to leave some leftovers. Haha, boy were we wrong. At 1421 the juvie suddenly flew from the nest, and returned two minutes later with a very large headless fish. This young osprey was a lot more capable than we had thought, and had apparently taken a fish from another osprey eating close by. At 1534 an intruder adult osprey began to buzz and dive-bomb the visitor while he was eating his fish, twice striking him and knocking him over. As the intruder approached the visiting juvie for the fourth time, the juvie quickly left the nest and we did not see him again. The intruder landed in the nest, grabbed the fish, and after several minutes, it left with the fish. At 1557 Dad dropped off another partial fish and Big grabbed that one. Middle arrived at the nest at 1609, and took the large fish tail leftover from Big’s first fish. Over the next several hours, there was some good old fashioned sibling interactions, with Middle stealing the fish from Big and Big eventually stealing it back. Middle left the nest before nightfall, but Big stayed to protect her fish. Much to our dismay, we did not see Little today.
7/24 Colonial Beach osprey nest: There were no fish brought to the nest today to feed 30-day-old Cobey, but Cobey did eat pretty well yesterday. David was not seen on cam at all. Betty left the nest for some extended periods of time, and she returned with a crop and was feaking her beak. We are hoping for an early breakfish for Cobey in the morning.
7/24 Osoyoos osprey nest: The live stream was offline all day until 1824. We immediately saw Middle mantling and eating, with Big hovering over Middle a bit. So, Middle had apparently won a battle for a fish. Very good. At 1832 Olsen dropped off a partial fish for Big, that she ate for 38 minutes, leaving the fish tail behind. Middle finished eating his fish by 1857, and at 1914 he ate Big’s leftover fish tail. There was a strong breeze in the evening, and Big was doing some wingercizing and managed to lift off the nest several inches.
Thanks, ‘H’!
Kristel had one large prey delivery today at the Estonian nest #2.
There has been another miracle besides Iris and Poole Harbour – and that has been the ‘Hopeless’ nest in Newfoundland. The Sow Lane nest of Beaumont and Hope is one of Hope – not hopelessness this year. Hope is feeding her chicks, Beaumont is providing nice fish, and if we hold our breath and send the most positive energy that nothing untoward happens, this nest could have two fledges this year. That would be the best gift!!!!!! A miracle. These two osplets who are getting their soft juvenile feathers have no idea how speial they are.
Fledge for Richmond and Rosie. ‘Pax’ fledged from the new Golden Gate Audubon nest in San Francisco on Wednesday!
In Nova Scotia, the chicks are preparing to fledge. Skylor and Heidi from the Russell Lake nest are looking to the skies. Skylor looks to go first.
‘NP’ caught this great post of the osplet at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum spreading its wings! Isn’t this amazing? This baby wants to fly.
Thank you for being with me today. Please take care of yourself. We hope to see you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, photographs, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘EJ, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, The Guardian, Cal Falcons, J + unknown source, American Eagle Foundation, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, McEuen Park, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Pam Breci, Pitkin County Open Spaces and Trails, BoPH, Llyn Clywedog, Llyn Brenig, Dyfi Osprey Project, LRWT, The Woodland Trust, Scottish Wildlife Trust (Loch of the Lowes), Loch of the Lowes Visitors Centre, Alyth SSEN, Cowlitz PUD, Montana Osprey Project, Dunrovin Ranch, Charlo Montana, Sandpoint, Bridge Golf Course, Eagle Club of Estonia, Looduskalender, Golden Gate Audubon, Osoyoos, Patuxent River Park, Connie Dennis and Ospreys of Nova Scotia, and Colonial Beach.
Update from Glaslyn: “Our eldest chick Blue 6M8 took her first flight at 08:50 this morning at 54 days old. She made a short flight around the field supervised by Elen before returning to the nest.” Congratulations Aran and Elen.
The beautiful osplet at Moraine that might have fledged today was not predated by the owl so many worried about, but became she became the victim of a tragic accident with Mum defending the nest against a raccoon. They will put up a raccoon baffle for next year…but maybe, every nest should be looking at raccoon and pine marten baffles and those that have owl predation a very bright solar (or hydro) powered bright light with red strobes. They will not bother the ospreys but could help with owl predation. Oh, goodness. It is hard enough for the wee babes to make it to be two or three weeks old but to die right before or at fledge, this is so sad.
I am sitting at the airport gate. It is always good to have a break, but it is even nicer thinking of home! I cannot wait to see Hugo Yugo, Calico, Baby Hope, Missey, Mr Crow, Dyson, and all the other animals, including ‘The Boyfriend’, who was caught on the security camera arriving at 0400 this morning. I hope he had food left! That camera identified him as a ‘pet’. It made me smile. It has been hot in Winnipeg – of course, unlike what it is for Iris and all the ospreys who continue to deal with tragically hot temperatures.
I am home, exhausted. More than exhausted. My head is reeling with news of tragedies….’The Girls’ were all wanting attention. What a joy it was to see them.
Her name can be seen by the public so I will include it here. I most often use initials. Ann-Marie Watson has watched over the Osoyoos nest and others in that area of British Columbia for years. When Little died and went over the edge several years ago, she travelled an hour and ventured into town during celebrations to give the little one a rite of passage. She sends this report about what is happening in the area. To me, it rings of the events of a couple of years ago when Cooper’s hawklets were jumping off their nests to save themselves from being roasted alive. I think her words bring home the tragedy that is hitting the area ——and I hope that it will emphasize how preious those nests are that have chicks that are alive. I wish that there were enough spaces for these babies so that the nests could make it through this dire time. Ann-Marie writes:
I put this up on our FB page and copy to you. I think Soo may have abandoned the nest and Dad is not feeding the chicks. I didn’t see Soo in the vicinity of the nest yesterday and the chicks are at risk right now. The sweltering heat is affecting so many nests in the south Okanagan.
As upsetting as it is the heat has been a major factor on a lot of nests. I went and checked on quite a few other nests I know of yesterday and it seems a few the parents have abandoned the nests for their own survival. I called SORCO and OWL rescue for any advice I could get to save our nest in Osoyoos, basically the info I received there are many nests that have been abandoned due sweltering temperatures. Basically too many nests for them to intervene..SORCO is dealing with the owls and Burnaby rescue is at capacity. This may not be good news for our nest as Mum hasn’t been seen and Dad is not feeding the chicks. Thinking of you all and as Ann-Mo said take care of your own mental health. I am taking a break after yesterday’s heartbreaking visits to the nests I went too. So much wildlife is suffering.
20 July 2024
More from Ann-Marie:
Apparently Soo and Olsen returned to the nest today maybe before noon. Both had a partial fish, I’m thinking Soo went off to hunt and cool down, I honestly don’t think she would not be the mombrella for the two chicks yesterday. I have not watched the camera today as needed a break. Things are not looking good for the chicks but if enough fish comes in middle might have a chance. The older chick seems to be getting fed more. The heat is intense and will be for days to come. I did a little ceremony for the littlest chick yesterday near the nest, I was quite heartbroken it passed away.
I wonder if the local fire department would place some fish on that nest for Soo, Olsen, and their chicks until the heat passes. I do understand from Heidi that Soo has been on the nest. Thank goodness.
There is good news coming out of Raptor Persecution UK. Finally, a fine that is meaningful. I would have liked to have seen another ‘zero’ added to it, but this is a beginning! That got hit hard in the wallet and that is all these grouse moor estates understand.
“£40k fine despite not knowing who actually carried out the poisonings, plus £1.5k fine for the director. ” (Geemeff)
In her book, Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults, Robin Wall Kimmerer talks of a revitalisation of our planet, of Mother Earth. She insists that we must make a choice of the path we will take – to heal our planet and bring balance back to the world of living beings, human and non- or turn our head backwards in the blinding dust and continue to live a life of materialism. She says that how we have lived has not brought us contentment, and now it is bringing extinction to plants and animals. We need to bring harmony and balance back to our lives. We must choose ‘the Green path’ of wisdom, respect, and reciprocity’ (280). It is a good book that broaches capitalism and materialism, and market forces creating affluence for some and great poverty for others. Grain sits in elevators rotting because people cannot purchase it. Kimmerer understands that there is enough food for everyone if we view the world differently.
I would suggest that there is enough fish for every seabird, every eagle, every osprey. That the taking of millions of Menhaden is ruining the balance of the Chesapeake Bay with the profits going into the accounts of Omega while our beautiful birds, whales, and dolphins starve. Omega is leaving nothing! I hope that we can shift this and see plentiful loads of fish for our feathered friends and a return to a bay full of wildlife!
Waiting for fledge at Glaslyn. It was a bit of a wet day. Everyone including Bobby Bach are doing fantastic – that little one had a nice bit of fish.
Fish after fish coming in to the nest of Idris and Telyn at Dyfi. No one is going to go hungry.
Only Little Mini (4th hatch) at Poole Harbour left to fledge now. CJ7 and Blue 022 are both being Daddy and Mummy Door Dash for these four healthy osplets.
The heat in the US and Canada continues.
Iris is the most amazing mumbrella. Finn is having a difficult time getting as much fish on the nest as he did. The best times are early morning and evening.
Iris moves with the sun to keep those precious babies of hers shaded. Look at those beauties in the top image with their Mum behind them. Did we ever think we would see such a sight? I sure didn’t.
Charlo Montana is hanging in there, too.
‘H’ reports on the Osoyoos nest we are so concerned about:
7/20 Osoyoos osprey nest: Today was a better day for Middle. Middle had not had a significant meal since 7/17. Olsen arrived early, at 0539 with a medium sized whole fish, and when Soo didn’t arrive to feed, Olsen left with the fish. He returned 16 minutes later with a headless version of the same fish. Middle grabbed the fish and mantled, and Olsen left. Middle was being harassed by Big, so it seemed that Middle spent more time protecting his food than eating it. Big took the fish at 0609. Big did a much better job of self feeding than s/he demonstrated yesterday. At 0636 Big walked away from a very large tail portion. Middle took the fish, but was not very successful at self feeding. It seemed as though Middle may have lacked the energy to enthusiastically pull and tear off fish bits. After 5 minutes, Middle quit eating and Big took over. This scenario of the siblings alternating, each trying to self feed from the fish, continued to play out on and off over the next few hours. By 1100, there was still a piece of that fish remaining, but it was getting dried up and stiff.
Soo, had not been seen since the afternoon of 7/18. At 1123 Soo arrived at the nest with a whole fish. And, at 1124 Olsen brought a large partial fish to the nest, but when he saw that Soo already had a fish, he left with his. Soo did not start to feed until 1128, and she fed Big. Big had beaked Middle, so Middle was in submission. Big was finished eating at 1155 and walked away from Soo. There was still some of Soo’s fish left over. But, at 1155 Olsen returned with a smaller version of his earlier fish. Soo opted to take that fish, Big beaked Middle, then Soo fed Big until 1201. In the meantime, Middle was trying to eat some bites of the leftover morning fish, which was now the consistency of fish jerky. Soo ate some fish while waiting for Middle to arrive at the table. At 1202 Middle started to be fed by Soo, and had eaten 9 bites of fish before s/he was beaked by Big. Middle retaliated this time, and there was a big fight. Soo continued to eat. For some reason, Middle returned to the old piece of fish jerky, while Mom ate. At 1209 Soo picked up her leftover piece of fish that she had brought in at 1123. Finally, Soo fed Middle a private meal that lasted for 13 minutes. That was more than Middle had eaten in nearly three days. Soo provided shade from the hot sun for her chicks throughout the afternoon, and the temperature reached 102F/39C by 1600. Soo delivered a medium sized whole fish at 2058. The siblings ate simultaneously, one on each side of Mom, and the 10-minute meal was peaceful. It seemed that Middle was fed more than Big, and Middle ate at least 64 bites of fish. Soo finished off the old fish-tail-jerky and fed a few more bites to Middle. Weather forecast for 7/21: Sunny, high temperature could reach 106F/41C, winds gusting to 13 mph.
There has been growing concern for the fate of Blue at the Hancock Boundary Bay eagle nest. The parents have been on the perch but not feeding the eaglet while a fairy has tossed up some fish bites. I have just received word that one of the adults has delivered a good sized fish to Blue. That would be incredible news. Time 1458.
Blue had a good sized crop early in the morning.
Deb Stecyk caught that fish delivery to Blue on video:
Mum at McEuen Park holding in there, too, with her only chick.
Everything seems alright at Minneapolis Landscape Arboretum.
Fledge at Field Farm.
Mum feeding her beautiful osplet at Cowlitz PUD.
So far so good at SandPoint.
There are issues with the Marder’s streaming cam. It looks like there is a single osplet being fed at the nest.
One with a full crop, one self-feeding, and the other with a sunken crop at PSEG’s Oyster Bay Osprey nest.
One of the fledglings on the nest at Patchogue calling for a fish.
At the Newfoundland Power nest of Hope and Beaumont, the chicks are getting their feathers. Hope is shading her kids and feeding them – and, I will knock on wood and not say that word that beings with an ‘f’ and ends with an ‘e’. I don’t want to jinx anything.
And then you can’t see anything.
‘PB’ reports that something knocked “CO18 Moraine baby off the nest. It looked like it tried to snatch her but didn’t, and she went off the nest.” ‘PB’ rewound and discovered what happened: “I rewound back and saw the racoon on left side of nest and moving branches and can see it’s eyes…mom was alerting and baby was looking at it…then the racoon moved over to the baby’s side of nest…baby alerted and then mom flew to chase off racoon but knocked baby off balance and baby fell. You can hear branches being hit. Now I’m worried if CO18 is safe with the racoon around. Wish someone could check but probably won’t be until morning.”
Sadly, this beautiful osplet did not survive the predators on the ground during the night. Oh, my goodness.
Beautiful babies at the Kurzeme Forest nest in Latvia.
Heidi reports on Carthage:
West End Eaglets enjoying themselves!
Geemeff’s Daily Report for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust.
Daily summary Saturday 20th July 2024
A very slow day indeed, with no sighting of either Louis or Dorcha – the first time no Osprey was seen on Nest Two since Louis returned on 28th March. The weather was very wet today, and not very inviting, so have they left on migration, are they still around, will we see them tomorrow? Nest One saw some activity today, with visits from little songbirds and a visit from Garry LV0 who arrived with a stick and proceeded to do some nest prep before flying off. Tonight’s forecast is partly cloudy with light winds, but rain is forecast for the rest of the week.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.05.33 (04.14.02); Nest Two 23.24.21 (04.24.56)
Owl lands on Saaksilive nest #3. This is probably the same owl that a week earlier killed beloved osplet Taiko.
Monty and Hartley sure make beautiful and mischevious babies!!!!!!!
Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care! See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, videos, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Ann-Marie Watson, Geemeff, H, L, MP, PB’, Raptor Persecution UK, Robin Wall Kimmerer, William Dunn, The Center for Conservation Biology, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, BoPH, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, HWF-BBC, Deb Stecyk, Trudi Kron, McEuen Park, MN-LA, Field Farm, Sandpoint Ospreys, Marder’s, PSEG, Newfoundland Power, Moraine Park, LDF, Heidi McGrue, Newstflix Memories, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Finnish Osprey Foundation, SK Hideaways, Osoyoos Ospreys.
