predation – Mary Ann Steggles

Moraine chick knocked off nest, fledge at Glaslyn…Sunday in Bird World

21 July 2024

Good Morning Everyone!

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

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

27 May 2024

Good Morning,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

At Captiva:

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

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

‘H’ also sent us this link:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eclipse is very curious.

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

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

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

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

Where’s your Mum?

Geemeff catches the Bobs battling for top Bob.

We are waiting for hatch at the Niagara Bee Group.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Montreal falcons doing well.

Anticipating hatch watch at Glaslyn for Elen and Aran soon.

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

Watching for changes for Richmond and Rosie’s behaviour.

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

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

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

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

Tragedy strikes at Carthage! Friday in Bird World

23 May 2024

Good Afternoon Everyone,

It was a gorgeous sunny day and I set out to check the number of ducklings and goslings at our local pond. Little did I know the tragedy that was brewing in Tennessee with the recent thunder storms. I am glad that I got out in nature for awhile. To my surprise there was a Greater White-fronted Goose in the pond just paddling about. I was completely taken by surprise by this medium sized goose with its distinctive white face patch and light pink bill. It was a medium ash brown splotched. When it was paddling I noticed its very bright orange legs.

Not a great image. I have not colour corrected. It is migrating through on its way to the tundra in the Arctic region in the far north of our province.

There was a single female Mallard with 9 babies, lots of wood ducks but I did not see any ducklings. I counted a total of 65 Canada Goslings and approximately 250 adult Canada Geese.

They were so cute! The numbers are extremely good compared to previous years!

A new reader asked me why I felt that people needed to intervene to stop the GHOs from taking the Osprey chicks as prey. They reminded me that GHOs need to eat, too, and that this is nature, not a zoo.

My long answer: For me, Ospreys are treasures. They have been on this planet since the Palaeocene Era approximately 65 million years ago, just like the owls. Unlike the other raptors that eat all manner of prey and even carrion, Ospreys eat exclusively fish. There has been the rare occasion when fish stocks were not available and they have been seen to eat birds. Perhaps twice that I am aware of in decades. Osprey talons are made for catching fish, not other types of prey. They do not attack and take the chicks of the eagles and the other raptors. They leave them alone. Have you ever seen an Osprey knock an eagle or eaglet or an owl off its perch or in the nest? In addition, the extreme curved nature of their talons makes them poor fighters against eagles, goshawks, and large owls. Despite the siblicide, they are gentle creatures going on about their business hoping that humans stop overfishing and, of course, they will shortly begin to notice our impact on the climate if they haven’t already. GHOs can live on other prey. In fact, if we would change our agricultural practices and, not use pesticides and herbicides, and stop poisoning rats and pigeons, the owls would help us get rid of those and be quite well-fed and healthy. They do not need to eat Osprey chicks – and if my research is correct, in 2-3 years time, there will be an alarm sounded for a decline in the osprey populations. We will want every chick to survive!

I am a great supporter for intervention in all manner of raptor situations. Not just ospreys. Humans have ‘messed’ with nature so much that the old saying ‘let nature takes its course’ seems wildly inappropriate in the face of great habitat loss, warming seas and dying fish, overfishing to the point that more than 90% of the fish since the beginning of the twentieth century are gone. Because of what humans have done to the planet (our manipulation and control of nature) – including leaving our garbage everywhere – we have a responsibility to all wildlife, and that includes owls, to take care of them and in some instances, that also includes GHOs – but not if they are harvesting osplets.

But, specific to now. ‘H’ and I are intimate with the Raptor families (almost exclusively Ospreys) we monitor for our data information project. I am in my 8th year, and ‘H’ has been with me for nearly three years. The osprey families are a part of us. We understand and recognise their behaviours and can tell when ‘something is up’. We are probably closer to the ospreys we watch than to many members of our own family. Indeed, I can predict the behaviour of many osprey families better than I might my own kids. We sit with them when they are laying eggs, monitor their labour, cheer their hatches, and cry when other osprey intruders attack, such as at Fortis Exshaw last year, and they lose chicks. They are such a huge part of our lives. A piece of us disappears each time one of them dies. We might be accused of caring too much – not being too cold and ‘scientific’. We understand that Ospreys have emotions just like humans do (so do the other raptors/animals). We empathise with them. So, knowing that Lake Murray Mum lost all three of her chicks ast year and seeing how well she and Dad have provided for the trio this year – well, to lose one because the strobe lights or the fish grate protectors were not in place early enough knowing the GHO was there – makes me sad, disappointed, and angry. These osplets are their children like we have children. Do we want someone to steal them and eat them in front of us? That is what the GHO did to Lucy with dear Little.

I hope that answers your question.

The storms going through the central US (or is it the Midwest or both? I forget) have caused havoc for the raptors on the streaming cams and off. We will never know the full extension of the destruction and deaths. In Europe, the gorgeous little storklets, so healthy and happy, have drowned in their nests due to torrential rains. Any that survive are precious and need to be protected.

As all of you know the Denton Homes Bald Eagle nest collapsed. It was rebuilt by the company about 8 feet off the ground, similar to the nest at Fraser Point. The trio of eagles were in care and returned. At least two of the eaglets are observed to have trouble standing or walking. The male came to the tree but did not come down and feed the eaglets. They are now in care. We will never know why the adult eagles rejected the nest and/or their chicks. Human speculation is useless in these situations.

On Friday, storms pounded Tennessee. The Mum at Carthage was doing the best to protect her Only Bob when the nest collapsed with her own it. From the looks of the scene it was not a proper platform but something more makeshift on top of a pole. My breaks for this Osprey family that had done so well this year.

I want to show you images of the Only Bob who could not have survived this tragedy from earlier in the day. ‘H’ has a done a video of the collapse.

It is obvious that all osprey platforms in areas impacted by heavy storms such as the Central and Midwest US should have category 5 hurricane platforms. If anyone wants those specifications, talk to Connor at Window to Wildlife. Poor Mum was holding on tight when the nest just flipped. Additionally, these nests need to be inspected annually and rebuilt, if required.

This is news from Iowa but it might represent many other regions like Tennessee.

Things appear safe at the Johnson City ETSU Bald Eagle nest.

Little Miami Conservancy is OK.

Bluff City is offline and I am concerned as that fast moving storm that hit Carthage is heading right towards the Bluff City-ETSU nest.

One of the eggs at The Port of Ridgefield Osprey Platform has broken and was eaten by the male later on Thursday.

Thank you Lake Murray for keeping those strobes going! It could save their lives.

Strobe lights might help Iris. They could be set up in the parking lot. Too late to install the wonderful fish grates of Cowlitz PUD.

Hatch watch at Cowlitz PUD.

Few Bald Eagles in the Channel Island this year. That baby below is precious.

Gracie Shepherd caught up with the Trio at the West End – my goodness. They really messed with the stats in the Channel Islands because it looks like they are going to fledge three healthy eaglets. Look at that hover!

I was caught off guard. They ringed Monty and Hartley’s Fab Four on Thursday – FOUR GIRLS! Monty must be run off his feet. No wonder feedings are a frenzy!

There is good news out there. And we have to celebrate all these little miracles.

Banding Day Highlights.

‘H’ and I are both worn out from the recent tragedies. Her report for Captiva and Patuxent are below. They are short and this newsletter will probably be short also.

I think I missed a feeding later at Patuxent, but from what I had seen earlier, Little was beaked now and then, but had eaten 243 bites of fish in the first 4 meals.

Captiva: I missed the last two meals, but CO8 was very well fed today; had a bigger crop than CO7 at times.

Louis and Dorcha appear to have another precocious and quite lively Big Bob on their hands this year.

The two osplets of Betsy and Frederick are doing fine.

It is a good thing that Idris and Telyn are very experienced parents and that there is plenty of fish at Dyfi – Big and Middle Bob are already going at it. I hope it is just because their eyes are not focused yet and any beak represents potential fish! And guess what? Three hatched early Saturday morning. Bring in the fish Idris!!!!!!!

And now there are three at Dyfi.

Waiting to see if there is another hatch at Poole Harbour. There was a second pip noticed.

Flora and Harry now have two Bobs at Alyth!

Please note the following fundraising from Dr Sharpe and the IWS team:

Want to save birds and do something really beneficial, then get people to either stop using sticky tape on trees or cut it off!!!!!!!!!

Thank you so much for being with me today. If you are in the area of storms, please take extra precautions to stay safe. We hope to have you here with us again soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, images, announcements, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘BHA, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, Denton Homes, DTC-Carthage, Heidi McGrue, 9ABC News Iowa, Johnson City-ETSU, Little Miami Conservancy, Bluff City-ETSU, Port of Ridgefield, Pam Breci, IWS/Explore, Gracie Shepherd, SK Hideaways, Patuxent River Park, Window to Wildlife, Geemeff, OBX Cam, Dyfi Osprey Project, Birds of Poole Harbour, IWS, and Wild Mountain Birds.

Bobbleheads everywhere…Thursday in Bird World

23 May 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

I want to thank everyone that send a note to Lake Murray. They have installed some strobe lights and will turn on music. I hope it works but I would encourage Lake Murray and all nests that have the chance of predation by eagles or owls to look to Cowlitz PUD for the solution – cost effective fish grates on poles positioned on opposite sides of the platform. It is so cheap. They are permanently positioned. No energy is used. The larger raptors cannot swoop to get the chicks!

Your kindness and caring mean so much!

Two beautiful babies. I hope they are not ‘sitting ducks’ tonight.

Lake Murray has the strobe lights on! Lucy is on the perch not in the nest.

Tears. There are two ospreys at Lake Murray this morning. The strobes worked!

Two other females on eggs being attacked regularly by GHOs need strobe lights installed now – Moraine Park where hatch is imminent and Iris at Montana.

I took time on Wednesday to decompress from the predation of Little at Lake Murray. That brave little soul. Sometimes we just have to go out into nature and that is what I did to rebalance myself. It has been a staggering year. Today’s post is going to be rather short. I hope that you will go outside and listen to the birds, stroke your favourite pet or pets, and marvel at the good in the world – it is out there. Sometimes we have to look hard to find it.

‘A’ writes, “I could not stop crying after watching that footage. Did you notice that Baby Bob seemed to have some kind of instinctive warning of the impending attack. He stirred and woke up, moved, snuggled back down, looked up again, and then swoop. Mum immediately woke and alerted, but all too late. Why weren’t the strobes on LAST NIGHT? Why have they not been used since the evening Lucy decided to sleep on the perch instead of on the nest with the osplets? And of course Baby Bob was still alive when taken, and I’m not sure how (or if) the owls really kill their prey or just ‘inhale’ it like a snake. I do love GHOs and their owlets are just the cutest things, so I tried to remind myself that mama and papa owl are only trying to feed their own baby (or babies), but it didn’t help much because I adored that osplet. From the moment he hatched, his courage and determination won my heart. He was a darling little man and I remain convinced he would have had the skills needed to have a great wild life as a fledgling. RIP Baby Bob. Another for the 2024 rainbow bridge memorial wall. Brutal.”

There is so much news in Bird World and today, we will look at a few nests.

First hatch at Poole Harbour for CJ7 and Blue 022. Congratulations.

Dylan and Seren welcomed Bob Two at Llyn Clywedog and Dylan made sure they had a nice trout dinner. Precious little ones. These are great parents with a good return rate and, sadly, a goshawk that lives in the forest who is brave.

In Scotland, Louis and Dorcha welcomed their second hatch! Bobbleheads everywhere! Now if we can keep the predators away from them that would be wonderful.

Thie was Big Bob’s first dinner at Loch Arkaig.

It is snowing in Montana. Poor Iris.

Colonial Beach have their third egg.

Forsythe have their third hatch. This nest was hit badly last year with lack of food during the June storm.

Smallie remains outside the scrape at Amersfoort. Adults place food inside scrape for food tug-o-war by oldest. Will they feed Smallie?

Oh, my goodness. This little one is determined to live. Smallie jumped back in. Now let’s get this baby some food.

Smallie was rewarded! We can all sleep a little better tonight.

Smallie in the corner sleeping with its siblings.

‘PB’ sends us an image of Smallie’s crop today! Lovely.

At Cal Falcons, Little got the prize.

Fledge at Duke Farms on Wednesday. It was Snickers!

All eyes at Denton Homes as we await the return of the eaglets. Was informed by gr8lakes that all three are good. One might have a sore leg. If that is the case then this was a real miracle. So grateful for the quick action by Denton Homes.

One great family taking care of another that could not care for themselves. The nest was checked for structural soundness and comfort. Hats off to Denton Homes! Babies returned and waiting for Mum and Dad to come to the nest. The goodness of these people brings the most joyful tears to my eyes. Send them a thank you in their comments if you have not done so!

One adult has been on the tree but none have returned to the nest. There were storms all over the area last night with the possibility of many other nests being lost.

‘JH’ sends us news about the Peregrine Falcon family in Harrisburg, PA – thanks ‘J’.

Falcon-Wire Download

If you follow the Grand Lake Ospreys, their first egg was laid today.

Does anyone follow the Blackbush at Old Tracadia Harbour Osprey nest?

https://www.youtube.com/live/_5Oyw-Za2xg?si=g7By8APN9C6RTIHP

Gorgeous Ruffie (fledged) and Tuffy (yet to fledge) at Moorings Park. Life is good for them. Wonderful parents.

What is happening at Patuxent nest 1? ‘H’ tells us, “5/22 – Patuxent River Park (nest one): The three osplets are 15, 14, and 11 days old. The oldest chick, ‘Big’ is very dominant, and aggressively beaks both of its siblings during feedings. ‘Middle’ does manage to eat at most meals, but there are many meals where ‘Little’ does not get fed. The days where Dad is able to catch at least one of his specialty giant goldfish, Little and Middle are both able to eat well. There were 7 feedings on 5/22, and Little was observed to eat at least 69 bites of fish. The latter part of meal #5 was blocked from our view, but it appeared that Little was eating. When Little came into view, it was evident by his small crop that he indeed had eaten some fish.”

All three on the nest at Venice. Yes! We know they are safe and sound and are now fighting over fish deliveries. Excellent news.

We are on pip watch at Seaside!

Three sweeties at Maryland’s Western Shore Old Town Home are still alright.

The trio at Goitsche-Wildnis appear to be fine also.

‘H’ reports on Captiva: “5/22 – Captiva ospreys: CO7 is 29 days old, and CO8 is 28 days old. They are only 36 hours apart in age, but CO7 has always been the dominant one. Today wasn’t quite as good a day as yesterday for the youngest osplet, but there were 7 feedings, and CO8 still managed to eat quite a lot of fish. Thanks to Edie and Jack (Mom and Dad), their two chicks are doing very well.”

I sometimes give shout outs to organisations that are fundraising. Today I want to draw your attention to the Friends of South Australia. That is that wonderful group that provided the fish for the osplets at the Port Lincoln barge – the fairies that saved the lives of the babies in 2023-24. They build platforms, put lights under the water at Port Lincoln so that the adults can fish at night. They put trackers on the osplets like Ervie, Giliath, and Bradley. For $20 AUS you can help them continue their good work.

Thank you so much for being with me. It is 2200 in Winnipeg on a Wednesday night and I hope to wake up in the morning and see two osplets on the nest at Lake Murray. If so, then the lights worked. Now leave them on Lake Murray! You cannot – until they disperse -turn them off. We know this from the predation of goshawks against fledged osplets in the UK (Poole Harbour). Take care all. See you soon!

Thank you so much to the following for the notes, posts, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, JH, PB’, Lake Murray Ospresy, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Llyn Clywedog Ospreys, Geemeff, Montana Osprey Project, Heidi McGrue, Amersfoort Falcons, SK Hideaways, Duke Farms, Denton Homes, Falcom Cam news, Diane Lamberson, Moorings Park, Patuxent River Park nest 1, VGCCO, Pam Breci, Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home, Goitsfche-Wildnis, and Fran Solly.

Tuesday in Bird World

21 May 2024

Hello everyone!

The Baltimore Orioles were enjoying their grape jelly and oranges in the garden on Saturday and Sunday. The males are black with the bright orange and the female is the lighter yellow-orange. Taken with my phone and heavily cropped so soft edges.

‘The Girls’ and I are watching a male American Redstart in the garden. This species is passing through going North but this little fellow seems to have a bit of an injury. Like the others, it would be nearly impossible to catch him and the outcome would be bleak at the wildlife centre where they are full to running over with ‘babies’ at the moment. I will let him heal and see how things work out.

Isn’t he a beauty!

I could get on a soapbox today, but I am afraid I would give each of you a headache and you would never return. Last week a woman stole two goslings from in front of a shop in my City. She just took them from Mamma Goose. First it is a wildlife crime and second, why on earth would anyone do such a thing? How would that woman feel if someone stole two of her children?

There was a positive event when some goslings were saved recently and orphans added to another family. It is nesting season and we need to care for all the wildlife.

First up – please vote!

The four in San Jose are keeping Monty busy hunting!

For several years, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, we have wondered what will happen and how will this military conflict impact the birds. Many of us tracked and marvelled at the late Karl II and his mate, Kaia, as they flew through Ukraine and then, at times, diverted to other countries. Scientists have now discovered that the birds use different flight paths to avoid the conflict.

Eagles-shifting-flight-paths-to-avoid-Ukraine-conflict-scientists-find-Birds-The-Guardian Download

I missed the pip/hatch at Llyn Clywedog for Dylan and Seren in Monday’s post. We are also on pip watch at Loch Arkaig.

This little one of Dylan and Seren’s is doing so well with its egg tooth that by Tuesday when I publish this post, it will have hatched.

Loch Arkaig’s nest 2 – Louis and Dorcha – is on pip watch.

Keeping an eye on Dyfi’s eggs. There is the little one!!!!!!!!

I saw the 0919 fish come in to Lake Murray and Little was positioned perfectly to be fed. The older ones do not seem that interested in eating first thing in the morning which allows the baby to get a nice start on the day. Little had at least two other good feeds during the day – I did not follow with a microscope. They are getting all their plumage and the aggression should be stopping as long as Kenny continues with fish deliveries.

There are still three osplets on the nest at Lake Murray.

Beautiful Ruffie and Tuffy. Ruffie has fledged and takes some short flights – returns to the nest quickly if she spots a fish delivery! Dear little Tuffy has yet to fly and that is OK. We love seeing both of them on the nest – so healthy and such amazing parents. That Harry is a really good provider just like Kenny at Lake Murray.

Parents continue to bring fish to the Venice Golf and Country Club nest and today Little Bob had a private feeding.

Thankfully Olivia has abandoned the eggs at Severna Park.

It appears that Blue NCO is accepting the dark plumaged male as her new mate after Laddie’s passing at LOTL.

At Rutland’s Manton Bay, Only Bob – that got flung out of the egg cup by a fish and returned to the centre by generous caring staff – is now in the Reptile stage!

At Loch Arkaig, Dorcha is caught off guard by the Tawny Owl.

Did Larry’s eyases fledge? or are they in another area?

‘H’ reports on Captiva: “First meal started at 0657 with a whole sheepshead delivered by jack. CO8 was able to eat first, and ate for 4 minutes before s/he was beaked by CO7. CO7 ate until 0719. Then CO8 ate again from 0720 to 0736, for a total of 20 minutes at this meal.

The second feeding at 0900 was a partial sheepshead. CO7 ate. CO8 ate one bite at 0910, and also ate a large piece at the very end of the meal at 0915.

Feeding #3 was a small whole needlefish. The meal lasted for 5 minutes, and CO8 ate for about a minute.

The fourth feeding was whole fish that lasted 38 minutes, and CO8 was only able to eat 4-6 bites of fish at this meal.

The next fish was a small whole pinfish. CO8 was fed the whole fish including the tail (minus Edie’s bites), in about six minutes.

Jack’s sixth fish of the day was another pinfish, and at 1512 CO8 started to eat on Edie’s right side, and eventually CO7 worked its way over to Edie’s left, but was mostly hidden from our view. It did appear that CO8 was offered the most bites of fish during the 6-minute feeding.

Fish #7 at 1745 was a partial fish, and both osplets still had moderate crops to start out. It was a 16 minute meal, and CO8 was fed the first 14 bites of fish from Edie, before CO7 exerted its dominance. At 1759 CO7 moved away and CO8 ate 11 more bites of fish to end the meal.

Overall, it was a good day, with Jack delivering ample fish for his family, and CO8 had his/her crop filled a few times.”

Beautiful Iris. Her new mate will get his name today. I sure hope nothing happens to him before these babies fledge.

At PSEG’s Oyster Bay nest, Dad is determined to put up privacy rails so we cannot see the babies! I wonder if someone is pruning their trees?

‘H’ reports on Patuxent River Park and their trio of osplets.

‘R’ reports that there was water in the camera box that was causing the problems at University of Florida-Gainesville. Once it was back on there was Stella doing a good job providing for Big Bob. Beautiful plumage. Grateful that one survived after Talon went missing.

As you will have noticed, I do not report on the eagles as much as I did before the Ospreys began laying eggs and hatching. Murphy has another foster eaglet and it looks like he is showing it how much fun you have in a puddle pool.

Jasper and Leaper, at Duke Farms, have branched higher and higher into the tree, but have yet to fledge. Their first flight will be soon.

The third eaglet at the George Sutton Avian Research Centre in Oklahoma has died of siblicide on 19 May 2024.

All three at Little Miami Conservancy survived.

Are Jackie and Shadow building a new nest?

At the ND-LEEF nest in South Bend, Indiana (St Joseph’s Park), Gigi, the new female, is the sole provider for the eaglets as Dad has been missing since 8 May. Oh, this is sad.

Big Bob hatched at Llyn Clywedog at 2208 Sunday evening the 20th of May.

Port Lincoln is trying another experiment. They have placed underwater lights so Mum can see the fish and catch them! It is working. You really have to appreciate all the things that are being made by this group in South Australia to not only protect the Ospreys but to help them if there are difficult times in getting food. Three beautiful fledges in 2023 can be attributed to their tenacious efforts in getting fish on that nest for the osplets.

There are two beautiful white fluffy Golden eaglets at the Bucovina nest in Romania. I wish there was a possibility that the second would survive the historical ‘Cainism’ that drives this species.

Later, Mum removed the second eaglet from the nest, killed it, ate part of it and fed the rest to eaglet 1. Sadly, the little one was still alive and had a slow and agonising death.

At Amersfoort, Small has a good crop and appears to have grown some.

Smallie has gotten out of the scrape. Will he be able to return to be fed

‘J’ brings us good news about the Kakapo Recovery efforts: “The kākāpō population has increased almost fivefold since the programme started in 1995 and has doubled in the last 10 years. There are 247 kākāpō alive today. This is great news, especially since kākāpō only breed once every 2-4 years when the rimu trees are fruiting.

The last breeding season was in 2022. To help predict the next breeding season, we compare seasonal temperatures year-on-year and collect rimu samples from the predator-free breeding islands to count fruit tips.

We know some kākāpō will breed if more than 10 percent of rimu tips bear fruit. It also seems that a greater number of kākāpō breed as the percentage of fruit increases.

Data so far tells us that there will be no large breeding event in 2025 and the difference in seasonal temperatures indicate a likely breeding season in 2026. After further fruit tip counting early next year, we will be able to confirm this predicted season and may even have an estimate of how many nests to expect in 2026!”

Now isn’t this interesting? Raptors are gaining immunity!

As-bird-flu-spreads-to-dairy-cows-Minnesotas-raptors-show-signs-of-building-remarkable-immunity Download

Thank you for being with us with this morning. Please take care! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘Geemeff, H, J, PB, R’, Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, Sharon Pollock, Cal Falcons, John Williams, Geemeff, Dyfi Osprey Project, Lake Murray Ospreys, moorings Park, VGCCO, Severna Park, Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), LRWT, ParksConservancy, Window to Wildlife, Montana Osprey Project, Heidi McGrue, UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey Cam, World Bird Sanctuary, Deb Stecyk, Jonathan Coleman, Little Miami conservancy, Cindy Alicno, ND-LEEF, Llyn Clywedog, PLO, Bucovina Wild, Amersfoort Falcons, Kakapo Recover, and The Star Tribune.

Monday in Bird World

29 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

I am finishing this posting late Sunday evening as I must leave the house early Monday morning. So, whatever happens between midnight CDT and Monday morning will be covered on Tuesday. It is also going to be cooler tomorrow. 2 C. We were 24 C last week. I do not know about the birds and animals in the garden, but it has been quite the past few months with the weather fluctuating daily.

Hugo Yugo and Missey want to wish everyone a great start to their week. These two are inseparable, just like Calico and Baby Hope. It is not just Missey that washes Hugo Yugo – that little ginger gives Missey a good going over. It is so precious.

Beautiful chortling from Jackie and Shadow to start your day.

I spent Sunday with my daughter and her three children to celebrate the granddaughter’s birthday. You will recall that this young woman is quite an inspiration to me and others. She has the most empathy and is a social worker helping those who struggle to live independently due to long-term abuse and addiction. She is also Vegan and has been for seven years. Her commitment to the welfare of animals and people warms my heart.

There are some sad and horrifying things happening in Bird World and I would like to dispense with them right away and get on to some of the more positive events that happened in our nests on Sunday.

I have great concerns for the second hatch at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest. ‘R’ did a great job monitoring the nest and confirmed my fears. He writes, “At 0647 a fish was brought in. It looks like Stella as only one Osprey came into the nest. At 1247 Stella again brought in a fish. She is gone most of the time so I suspect she is doing the fishing. After this feeding both osplets had decent crops. At 1247 Stella fed part of a fish that was laying in the nest (catfish). At 1447 Talon brings in a fish. This is the only time he is in the nest for 12H. This is also the last feeding for the 12H period. Stella spends most of her time off the nest and occasionally brings in nesting material.

The birds must be getting very hungry as #1 (my numbering for the biggest and aggressive osplet) occasionally attacks #2 even when there is no feeding going on. #2 is getting very little food. Very strange and hard to follow with such a poor arrangement of the camera.”

The image below is well after ‘R’s’ reporting. Sibling 1 has been eating all the fish and has a huge crop and is attacking the middle sibling. The third hatch died of a very vicious siblicide.

Tragedy was brewing Sunday afternoon when both Claire and USS7 got caught in fishing line on the US Steel Bald Eagle nest. In an incredible effort, Claire got that line off herself and her chick. She then gathered it up and flew off the nest! Well done – an experienced Mum working to save her little one.

‘H’ reports that the two eggs laid at the Fenwicke Island Osprey nest in Delaware have been eaten by Crows. Both adults were off the nest!

The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum ospreys are being rained on. The first egg which had been left in the pouring rain is now well hidden under nesting material. The second egg was laid on Sunday and it has been walked on and rained on…It could well be a blessing if it does not hatch.

Good news coming from Decorah North. NC18 no longer has fishing line hanging from its beak. It appears it has been cleared as per Raptor Resource Project.

‘B’ writes: “I couldn’t believe it! Archie snuck in there at 8:38:45 while Annie was away and began feeding the chicks. He must have had that TINY bit of prey stashed somewhere, just waiting for his opportunity. It only lasted a minute, because Annie returned at 8:39:45 and snatched it from him, also having a couple of words with him. Way to go, Archie!”

Cal Falcons caught this magical moment.

Sometimes it is hard to tell how much fish Tuffy gets, but he is being fed well and his feathers are continuing to grow and the nest appears peaceful.

Keo and Keke surprised everyone with their first egg laid late on the 27th or the wee hours of the 28th (?) at the Sandpoint Nest.

On Sunday that egg at Sandpoint had some drizzle on it.

‘PB’ found a nest in Canada in the Niagara on the Lake area. It is the Niagara Bee Group Ospreys and they already have two eggs!

Some rain got on the two eggs Sunday afternoon. It is not clear if they will be viable or not.

This is the link to their streaming cam:

Ollie and his mate have returned to the Greens Ledge Light Preservation Society on Long Island. There is a new camera and the nest has been secured from a storm last year that wiped it out. Ollie returned on the 30th of March and his mate arrived a few days later. They now have one egg according to the wonderful moderator of their FB messaging who answered me promptly.

More and more fish deliveries at Frenchman’s Creek. Reflecting on this nest and the Mum who is obviously ill/injured makes me wonder how these two surviving osplets will behave as adults with their own chicks. For example, at the Hopeless Nest in Newfoundland, the female does not feed the chicks. Both died last year and I believe in all the time only one chick has survived and that was in 2019 (please feel free to correct me). Will these two not feed their chicks? if they are female? Or will their instincts or memories drive them to be good parents?

Dad continues to bring fish – thankfully he eats the head so the chicks can eat the fish easier. He is also still spending time feeding his two big babies. I think they are going to be alright. People should not worry about the fish piling up unless it compromises the nest structure. The carrion eaters will arrive and have it cleaned up in no time!

The weather is improving in Finland and the ospreys are busy mating, fixing nests, or laying eggs. There are two eggs at Satakunnan.

There is a new female this year at Juurusvesi. She is Yellow M76822 and was ringed in 2020 at a nest precisely 100 km away at Viitasaaki.

Did not see an osprey on the nest at Paltamon where there is still snow on the ground, but there was a Peregrine Falcon!

Both have returned to Janakkala – obviously eating well. No egg yet.

The male in Germany is feeding the female who is incubating their eggs a fish meal. How cute.

Louis must have been dealing with intruders. She finally got a fish and it was after 1500 – that is decidedly not the Louis we know.

There is a new couple with three eggs on the Estonian Osprey nest in Tartu County. (It is not believed that this is either the former male Ivo or his mate). This is wonderful news for a country where the osprey population is low. In 2018, 210 pairs.

No one will ever go hungry if Arthur is around. The nest of Big Red and N1 and N2 is now lined with squirrel. Do not despair of you see these two beaking away at one another. It will stop. Their eyes cannot focus properly – just like the falcons. Give them 4 or 5 days. Their heads are not steady and any beak is a potential meal! They will get rough – in this instance, it is play fighting unlike what is happening at University of Florida-Gainesville.

Buky and Bette still have two eggs at their nest in Mlady Buky.

Geemeff brings us up to date on the comings and goings of nest 1 at Loch Arkaig. “An unringed female came to Nest One and got two fish from Garry LV0! She spent a lot of time there, fingers crossed she returns tomorrow. Affric 152 hasn’t been seen since the 24th, and the unidentified pair at Bunarkaig are definitely now incubating eggs so it does look like that is her on that nest. So with luck she’ll stay away and Garry will have the time and space to woo this female and they form a bond. There is still time – just – for eggs this year but just seeing him with a mate would make me very happy.”

Geemeff has it all on video.

And then a second fish. This looks promising. There has not been a family of osplets on this nest since Louis moved to nest 2 with Dorcha after Aila did not return.

Swampy had a meal and slept like an adult perched with a parent on the natal tree.

‘H’ reports that Severna Park finally has its first egg – a fortnight later than last year. 17:26:55.

Deb Stecyk did a really nice tribute to Bella. Poor eagle…what a terrible year she had with her new mate, Scout.

When the young woman posted her linocut of Flaco on FB, I could not resist. It arrived and went off to the framers. I forgot to request non-reflective glass. Said with a loud sigh, as it was difficult to get a half-decent image without reflections for her to use on her Instagram page. I thought it came out rather well – the print with the matting and framing. It’s hard to tell the colours, but the largest matt is a deep grey-blue-black, with the little interior section the colour of a deep rust brick.

Thank you for being with us today. Please take care. We will look forward to seeing you again on Tuesday!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, screen captures, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, B, Geemeff, H, MP, PB, R’, SK Hideaways, Baiba, Fenwicke Island, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Cal Falcons, Moorings Park ospreys, Sandpoint Ospreys, Niagara Bee Group, Greens Ledge Light Preservation Society, Frenchman’s Creek, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Fischadlercam, Geemeff, Eagle Club of Estonia, Cornell RTH, Mlady Buky Stork Cam, Eagle Country, Severna Park, Deb Stecyk, and DirtGirl Designs.

*Disclaimer: I make every effort to identify and thank those who have provided information. If I have made an error or omission, please let me know so I can rectify it. Thank you.*

E23 fledges…Sunday in Bird World

17 March 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

It was a cloudy, damp -5C day in Winnipeg on Saturday. The sun tried really hard to break open those dark clouds around 1700. The Starlings were pecking at the suet while the squirrels tried to remove all of the peanuts before the Blue Jays showed up for breakfast. Walking was a bit treacherous. The warm weather yesterday melted the snow and the cold overnight temperatures froze the water. It was several loops around the sculpture garden as most of the trails were solid ice.

Both ‘Boyfriends’ came to the feeder today. The spring will see something better than a drawer and a divider but this worked in a pinch to keep the snow of the kibble and their feet a little drier. A new bright red and white carpet is on its way and the deck should be quite cheerful after a good scrub to get rid of the drab winter we have had.

Hugo Yugo has been relaxing on the cat tree. She wishes everyone a very happy and peaceful Sunday. Saturday evening Calico and Baby Hope disappeared to have a good sleep on my bed. Missey and Hugo Yugo took advantage of their absence to have the most marvellous play fight time. It reminded me of Lewis and Missey running and play fighting and diving through the tunnels. Hugo Yugo was worn out at the end of it.

The news in Bird World has been mixed. It feels like a year when we have to celebrate those who make it out of the shell into the world and fledge. The list of failures is long. I remind myself that the raptors would pull up their talons and get on with their lives after dismay, grieving, and, I imagine, reflection. I want to be more like them.

‘The Girls’ and I have several books stacked up to read. We are going to start Wonderland. A Year of Britain’s Wildlife Day by Day by Brett Westwood and Stephen Moss tomorrow. I will keep you informed. We keep peeking at Tim Mackrill’s The Osprey. It looks fantastic. There is some really good scientific information, but there is also some good solid discussion of ospreys from the years of Tim’s experience working with ospreys. For a starter, though, you cannot beat Tim’s book on Ospreys for the RSPB. It is everything you need to know when you start learning about this magnificent species. It appears that Tim has combined his thesis on migration with his years of field work and added to that RSPB volume.

Moving along. I am finding it difficult to check on all my osprey nests and keep up with what is actually happening so please forgive me if I miss something important – and if I did, tell me. My head feels like it is one of those wobbly dogs that people used to sit on the dash of their cars.

E23 flew. S/he has been wanting to. It really was a fludge but E23 recovered so quickly and flew off returning to the nest that we can forgive that moniker. ‘J’ gives the run down: “We have a fledge! 10:51:27 E23 accidentally fledged, went to West pasture, perched in a pine out front, 11:20:19 landed on W pasture front snag, 11:28:48 flew from front W pasture snag to attic. Landed on attic at 11:29. Congratulations E23!”

S/he loses their footing from the branch near the top right and then flies, goes down low, and over to pasture landing on a wire.

Tired.

In the night an owl knocked E23 off the nest tree!

Annie has a long conversation with Archie about his new duties since their first egg arrived!

Looks like Archie listened!

Jack and Diane looking over their nest wondering where their two eggs and their chick are. Everyone else is wondering, too.

Reviews of the footage (the camera has no IR which would have been very helpful) on very slow motion and with only the light from the street, show Diane disturbed a few times after 1000. Those include 23:39:47, 23:46:48, and 00:55:33 -00:56:50. No raccoon could be seen climbing over the edge. I don’t think there are GHOs in the area – nonetheless, no owl could be seen. There are three possibilities: 1. The eggs and chick fell down that hole in the centre of the nest; 2. A predator such as a rat, a squirrel, or a snake made their way to the nest through the drain holes in the bottom; and 3. The squirrel that originally made the hole dug its way through not intending to eat the eggs (as in scenario 2) and the chick and eggs dropped. The pole is rough and could be climbed easily enough. A mouse appeared on the nest of Jak and Audacity today. Any of the large rats in the area could have gotten up that pole. Could they go horizontal and up the drain holes? Well, that is the 64 million dollar question. We might never know.

I suggest that Achieva Credit Union, working with the local wildlife group, put up a predator baffle and cover the drain holes with a stainless or other metal that rats, etc., cannot chew plates with smaller holes—one that would allow water to pass through but not rats or squirrels to enter the nest area. You probably have other better ideas. Perhaps these could be passed on for next year. There is plenty of time to rectify the situation, unfortunately.

Images courtesy of ‘H’.

Daisy arrived home to the Barnegat Light nest in NJ Saturday afternoon. Here is this fantastic Mum landing. You will remember that she went fishing during the storm that took two of her osplets while Duke was missing. She was able to keep herself and the little osprey alive.

Duke arrived on the 28th of March last year.

Edie and Jack have their third egg at the Captiva Osprey platform. Sweet.

The second hatch at the Venice Golf and Country Club came on Saturday morning. As many know, this area has several lakes and ponds (26 of them), and there should be a lot of fish for the family. This has historically been a successful nest.

Lucy and Kenny, the new male mate, have their first egg of the season at Lake Murray on Saturday morning. Time: 1108.

One egg is being incubated at Sarasota Bay. Gosh, it’s noisy there—it sounds like an early St Patrick’s Day party! Ospreys are not bothered.

Ospreys on and off the nest at Patchogue, Long Island. It will be interesting to see what they do to renovate this nest or will they leave some of PSEG’s masterpiece?

Both at Carova Beach on Saturday.

Beautiful day at Old Town Home Ospreys in Maryland.

An Osprey has landed on the Foulshaw Moss nest in Cumbria. Unknown if it is White YW or Blue 35 as the cameras are not running.

Blue NCO still awaits the arrival of Laddie LM12 and today had to protect her fish from a Crow.

Maya and Blue 33 were quite vigilant as they watched for intruders at their Manton Bay nest at Rutland on Saturday.

There are three cute little osplets on the Frenchman’s Creek Osprey nest in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Here is the link to their livestream. Thanks, Ildiko Pokk for posting this nest on FB!

Raining at Collins Marsh Osprey nest. No sight of the adults yet. Last year there was a new couple and they laid three eggs and had two fledge.

No one home – yet – at Salem Electric Ospreys.

Waiting for Whitney and Noble at the Timothy Dygert Osprey Platform on Crooked Lake.

Ospreys at Moraine State Park in Pennsylvania. Last year their three chicks were predated by a GHO. The owl had a vicious attack on the nest and oddly, ate only one of the three osplets. It was quite a traumatic event. I wonder why these platforms don’t learn from Cowlitz and put up guards. It was a simple solution with a metal grid that already exists in many places or that could be welded together easily and put in place.

At the University of Florida-Gainesville, Stella and Talon are incubating three eggs. They were laid on Feb 21, 23, and 27. This means we are looking for a pip watch in 12 days. Just think… so many nests will have a pip watch in twelve days. We are going to be busy!

The cam operator gave us some great close-ups of Big Red at her nest on the Cornell campus in Ithaca, New York. She looks good.

‘A’ has been watching Angel and Tom. “

Angel and Tom were on the nest early (shortly after 7am) and spent over two hours bringing sticks to the nest. At 09:52, Angel flies in clutching a huge branch in her right talons. It’s gigantic and she spends quite some time wrestling with it. The pair continued to come and go until nearly noon – they were both on the nest again at about 11:42 – and there are lots of RTH vocals off camera during the process.

These two both look so strong and healthy this season. I cannot get over how much Tom has grown. He looks solid and his plumage is gorgeous and sleek. Angel is just magnificent. She looks wonderful, and she and Tom seem very bonded and very confident and relaxed around each other. Let’s hope that continues once we get a hatch. I think Angel will trust Tom this year. He has matured a great deal it seems, but time will tell. They apparently spent the afternoon elsewhere, probably together, and we saw Angel arrive back on the nest around 8.05pm. It was dark and the IR lights had been on for a while when she flew in, so it was a surprise. Both Tom and Angel are doing a lot of cupping, with Angel also lying in the nest bowl for prolonged periods as I mentioned recently. It is SO exciting. I am convinced we will have an egg here any day now – if we don’t have one by the end of the week, I will be very surprised. “

Akecheta is keeping that nest full of fish at the West End and both him and Thunder are providing lots of feedings. All three eaglets look good despite lots of fish juice all over their little heads.

Akecheta makes sure that everyone is fed. Like so many of you, I wonder if he remembers being the third hatch and having two older siblings?

You can see the change in the Dukies. That white down over the thermal that is now coming in.

Chase and Cholyn’s only egg is 24 days old today. Twelve days to go!

Everyone mourned when Jak and Audacity’s only egg broke. There appeared to be nothing inside.

Pip watch beings for Cruz and Andor at Two Harbours on 29 March, 12 days from now. So you can check on both nests that still have eggs on the same day!

Jackie and Shadow are protecting their eggs in another blizzard. What are all the words you could say to define these two? If we could get the energy and materialise an eaglet this might be the nest to receive it.

The John Bunker Sands eaglet is 7 weeks and 2 days old today (forgive my math if I am wrong). What a beauty. Mum has been in the nest. Her limp appears to be improving. So happy. Look like all those juvenile feathers are in!

Swampy and Meadow are terrific. I love the close-ups of Swampy. Finally buddies.

Willow is really having to really stretch that neck to get some prey. Oliver seems to always be in front at Bluff City.

Johnson City kids are now being left alone at night. They are losing that baby down fast and their thermal is coming in. I always feel like this happened overnight. Nice to see them doing so well.

Cam was frozen at Duke Farms. Jersey was getting some nice bites the last time I checked.

This is more than disturbing. Where are the CCTV cameras we so often hear about? Well, they were there, and the shop provided the footage to the police. So, let’s see what happens. ?

Dozens-of-dead-wild-animals-dumped-outside-Hampshire-shop-Hampshire-The-Guardian Download

Thank you so much for being with me today. All of the bald eagle nests are doing well – eaglets are growing and parents are very attentive. Next fledge should be R6. Take care all. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, videos, and the streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, B. H. J’, SK Hideaways, Lady Hawk, Achieva Credit Union, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, Window to Wildlife, VGCCO, Lake Murray Ospreys, The Bay Sarasota, PSEG, Carova Beach, Old Town Home Maryland Western Shore, Livia Armstrong, LRWT, Frenchmen’s Creek, Collins Marsh, Salem Electric, Crooked Lake Ospreys, Moraine State Park, UFlorida-Gainsville, Cornell RTH, IWS/Explore, Duke Farms, FOBBV, JB Sands Wetlands, Eagle Country, Bluff City-ETSU, and Johnson City-ETSU, and The Guardian.

Calypso intrudes at Port Lincoln, Bella battles intruder alone…Monday in Bird World

30 October 2023

Hello Everyone!

It is a beautiful blue sky, a bright sunny day on the Canadian Prairies. -3 C. The snow is beginning to melt, so some ice is building up on the walkways in front of the houses. Not good for walking, but getting outside today and having some fresh air was nice. Every year, I promise to document all of the bird nests within a five or 6-block radius from where I live. Now is the perfect time. I want to ‘learn’ these nests just like I want to continue learning the sounds/songs of the birds using Merlin Sound ID. Most of the ones I found today appear to belong to the sparrows. I could not find the Crow’s nest, but they were landing in a tree where I know they raise their young. I did find a new woodpecker home!

New woodpecker home.

Now I thought that this was a sparrow nest but I am beginning to wonder if it is not a drey made by a squirrel or a Blue-Jay nest. Any nest experts out there? Happy for any advice.

There were hundreds of sparrows at the feeders during the day.

Some puffed their feathers to stay warm.

Nearly 30 European Starlings visited.

All four of the Blue Jays appeared during one time or another during the day.

The girls watched from the comfort of the conservatory – sometimes the birds and squirrels and often one another. Missey is staring down Calico who is on the floor wanting to cause a hiccup but, she didn’t.

Hope loves spending time with Missey.

‘The Boyfriend’ visited the feral feeding station 5 times on Sunday. He had to be very hungry. I feel so sorry for the outdoor cats. He has food, water, and an insulated home with a heating pad if he wants. His fur looks good, and the patches pulled out in the summer during fights have grown back in. Hopefully, his life will be a little easier now that he has had a visit with the vet. Oh, and I want to reassure anyone that neither cat that was ‘fixed’ by the vet belonged to someone. They are well known for being feral, but, just in case, communiques were sent out a fortnight before the vet’s arrival. Geemeff named the white one with black patches and the teardrop on its eye – Dadpa. So fitting. He has not been around!!!!!!!

There is a contest for the Bird of the Century in New Zealand. Please go over and see the list of birds. Read about them and the challenges they have faced or are facing, and cast your vote for 5. Thank you. t is free. There is a donation page, but you can just say ‘no, thanks’ and continue. It is a great way to learn about what is happening with birds in a region of the world that might be unfamiliar to you.

Bird-of-the-Year-‹-Forest-Bird Download

One of the birds is the Kakapo. Attempts to reintroduce the Kakapo to their homeland on the mainland of New Zealand are underway. And those very smart tree climbing non-flying parrots are giving their handlers some headaches!

Ranger Sharyn has confirmed that our beloved OGK is lost. I had listed him on the Memorial Page last year when he did not return to feed Lillibet after 45 days. He went missing on 19 May 2022. When he passed and what the circumstances were will never be known. Lady Hawk has included the following information under a video of the new arrivals looking for mates. One of those will be YRK, who had been OGK’s mate since 2006.

“Ranger Sharyn Broni gave an update on OGK today and it is not the news we have been hoping for. It confirms what our hearts knew but our head kept hoping for that miracle return. OGK was a magnificent albatross and one of the best Royalcam Dad’s and faithful mate to YRK since 2006. He will always be remembered for his devotion to his family, especially returning injured in 2020 just so he could feed Atawhai Pippa. OGK & YRK have fledged 6 chicks and raised one foster chick over their years together including the Royalcam chicks Atawhai & Lilibet, & daughter KBR and sons RLK & LWK. Our hearts are heavy with this loss but our hopes lie with YRK finding love again next season. Here is the message from Sharyn. “Although we do not know for sure it looks like the much-loved OGK has not returned following his disappearance in the winter of 2022 while raising Royalcam chick, Lilibet. He would be 26 years this coming January and was one of the first cohorts of chicks that I saw raised here at Pukekura. https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native… OGK and YRK first nested in front of the Royalcam in 2020 when they raised Atawhai during the pandemic and we all had many hours more of viewing time. https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native… OGK has been with YRK since 2006 as toroa typically mate for life. 2022 was their eighth breeding attempt. They have fledged six of their own chicks and one foster chick (This was a chick of Button’s). They have raised the foster chick after the egg they laid was broken during 2018. The first chick they raised is a breeding female and the natal mother of the 2018 Royalcam chick, Amīria. During 2021 their 2012 chick RLK (male) raised a chick known as SSTrig near the Royalcam chick, Tiaki. YRK would, by late October be preparing to lay an egg. Instead, she is looking for a new mate as is typical of bereaved toroa as the urge to mate is strong. There is no way of knowing what has happened to OGK. We do know that there are certain risks on the ocean such as plastic pollution and long-line fishing. Disease and starvation cannot be discounted either. OGK had sustained an injury in 2020 and we do not know what long-term impact this may have had. In the event you come across any wildlife in NZ call our emergency hotline 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468). Although as a group albatross are at high risk from long-line fishing this does not seem to be the case for Northern Royal Albatross. Comparatively few are recorded on long lines compared to Antipodean Albatross, for example. The conservation status of Antipodean Albatross is Nationally Critical due to bycatch and marine pollution. in comparison the Northern Royal Albatross are Nationally Vulnerable. Read more about the Antipodean Albatross here: https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native… z/albatrosses/antipodean-albatross/”

OGK was my all-time favourite, and he will not be forgotten. Let us all work towards safer seas for these magnificent birds that can live well past 70 years in his honour.

In the world of the Bald Eagles, some are having to really defend their nests. Belly and Smitty are busy trying to hang on to their NCTC nest on a daily basis with injuries seen on some of the eagles.

The problems continued on Sunday for Bella who is defending her nest alone against a male. Myth busted: Females only fight females. Not in this case.

Here is the video of the battle:

The only hatch at Windswept Heights, Tumby Island, South Australia has been predated by a raptor. Little Blythe was approximately 18 days old when she was taken although the precise time is unknown as the camera does not stream continuously. She hatched on the 11th of October. Her parents are Partney and Marrum. Condolences to all.

Port Lincoln has put out a weekly summary in video format.

At Port Lincoln, Dad delivered a whole fish to Mum, Goliath and Little at 0645:18 on Monday. Look at those two happy chicks. Goliath is really oily today – the fluff is gone entirely from her head. In a couple of days Little will look the same!

Oh, my goodness. There was drama at Port Lincoln. Dad delivered the whole fish at 0645 and the Fish Fairy came with 4 fish at 11:49. Then there were intruders wanting ‘free’ fish! This is the report from the ops board: “It starts normally with Mum feeding the 2 chicks. Giliath’s in front. Then there’s are intruder osprey that interrupts! It was Calypso and her mate! Dad to the rescue! Both chicks full. Mum done for now. 2 fish remain.”

Fish left and Mum protecting her babies. Mum will eat some more fish – she appears to be very hungry today but as always, she stuffed her babies to the brim.

‘A’ gives us her report of the day at Port Lincoln: “The day at Port Lincoln began with a large whole live fish delivered by dad at 06:45. Both chicks ate well before mum settled down to brood them. Dad took the fish, bringing it back 15 minutes later and Giliath ate briefly again (Little Bob was in a food coma). At 08:35 mum left to stretch her wings and Little decides to bonk Giliath, who retaliates. The fighting stopped when Little lay down. Mum returns and Little lifts its head, resulting in Giliath bonking him again till he submits. Mum leaves again and the siblings lean on each other, preen a bit and eventually fall asleep in a cuddle puddle. This aggression is all about pecking order (their crops get in the way of their bonking at times!) and it is relatively minor and brief. Not only that, it is being started by Little Bob as much as by his big sister. At 11:49, four medium-sized fish were delivered by the food fairy and an extended feeding took place (49 minutes!!) Both chicks ate themselves into food comas, and then CALYPSO (a previous fledgling from this nest) interrupts and his mate actually lands on the nest (12:08:47)!!! During the afternoon, there were six small feedings and no bonking between that massive feeding and the next fish delivery – Little Bob ate at all but one of those feedings, as did Giliath. At 18:38 dad arrived with a headless medium-sized fish and the dinner feeding began. Little Bob has the front position but soon turns away, still full from all the eating. Giliath downs a few bites and also gives up. The kids have eaten well today.”

Banders can get it wrong. Unless a DNA test is taken and processed, no one is ever certain of the gender. I recall once being told by Tiger Mozone to ‘not question the banners’. Of course, he said it in jest! Now there is reason at Port Lincoln to wonder if Calypso, always presumed to be a female, might actually be a male – and that, of course, could explain why she has stayed so close to Port Lincoln like Ervie.

Marri and Barru, the Orange eyases, were hungry and very excited when the first prey item arrived at 0711. Marri had a nice tug of war wanting the prey to herself but…that didn’t happen!

More food later..

Marri and Barru scamper all over that scrape box. They are flapping their wings, doing some self-feeding, and running their talons off!

‘A’s report for Orange: “At Orange, our fluff balls are zooming about and their feathers are getting more prominent each day. And those eyes! Here are the time stamps for the day: PREY 07.11.26, 08:10:53, 16:24:51, 16:42:44, 19.08.08 FEED 07.12, 08:11, 16:25, 16:43, 19.08 (M+B) HIGHLIGHT 16:28:50 M & D tug of war; 17:54:27 Barrru running with morsel.”

The sea eagles nest is quiet. ‘A’ sent the report from Sydney but we both wonder what in the world they mean by progress? It takes many many weeks for fledglings to learn how to fly and hunt. They are normally cared for by their parents and this has been the issue at Sydney due to the Currawongs. “October 30: A quiet night, with neither parents nor fledglings seen at the nest – though they may have been nearby. Parents were heard calling in the forest in the early morning. Later, they were seen down on their off-season River Roost, on mangroves along the Parramatta River. Currawongs even swoop them down there. The fledglings have not been seen today – they may be anywhere in the forest or nearby – all part of their progress.”

The Redding Eagle Cam is live and there is an adult on the nest.

An eagle at Pittsburgh-Hayes where there will be a new male this year. This is V, the new male.

Eagles at Superbeaks. All of the eagles are getting serious about their nests. Pepe and Muhlady have been working hard. Will they win the race for the first egg to be laid?

Gabby is at NEFlorida with a HUGE crop!

Two eagles at Duke Farms early Sunday morning. It is not clear if this is Mum with a new male or if this is entirely a new couple at the nest. Waiting for confirmation.

Eagles at Decorah.

Non-breeding European Starlings and M15 at the SW Florida nest checking it out for the new lady, F23.

Ron at the WRDC nest in Miami.

Abby and Blaze have won the territorial dispute over their nest at Eagle Country with the GHO.

Martin and Rosa working on their nest at Dulles-Greenway on Sunday. There were some friendly beak nips…

That buzzard continues to visit the Loch Arkaig nest and is, as Geemeff notes, awfully talkative. Is it calling Louis to bring in dinner?

Saving vultures in Tanzania.

Nature-Tanzania-tackles-belief-based-killing-of-vultures-in-Tanzania-BirdLife-International Download

I received a note asking about the hunting in Scotland (both fox and beaten grouse) and why I am so against it. The girls and I are reading H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald and in the chapter we were reading today, she recounts T H White’s first fox hunt and what he said after. ” Riding out with the Old Surrey and Barstow Hunt, White recorded the first time he saw a kill with distanced fascination. The fox was dug out of a drain where it had taken refuge and thrown to the hounds. They tore it to pieces while a circle of human onlookers ‘screeched them on’. The humans, White thought, were disgusting, their cries ‘tense, self-conscious, and hysterically animal’. But the hounds were not’. The savagery of the hours,’ he wrote, ‘was deep-rooted and terrible, but rang true, so that it was not horrible like that of the human.’ I think that says it all. The gameskeepers at the grouse hunting estates are (some of them) as viscous in killing the raptors that take some of the grouse for meals. One recent incident of the stomping on a nest of little goshawk hatchlings was particularly gruesome in my mind’s eye.hese are sports of the wealthy and the influential and I hope that they stop due to the fact that people care about wildlife and the compassionate voices, I hope, will prevail.

Mark Avery’s, Inglorious. Conflict in the Uplands, gives particular insight to field sports – grouse hunting – and their links to the class system in the UK. Of course, it is also political as many of the men (they are almost exclusively men) are wealthy donors or politicians or even sit in the courts. It will be difficult to abolish the practices but not impossible. Ever so hopeful.

As you know, I am a big fan of Merlin Bird ID. Here is a list of some other apps that might be helpful.

The-best-apps-for-nature-lovers-–-from-identifying-birdsong-to-tracking-lions-Environment-The-Gu Download

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

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to compose my blog this morning: ‘A, Geemeff, H’, Forest & Bird, Kakapo Recovery, Lady Hawk, Deb Stecyk PLO, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Sydney Sea Eagle Cam, FORE, PIX Cams, Superbeaks, NEFL_AEF, Duke Farms, Raptor Resource Project, SWFL Eagle Cam, WRDC, Eagle Country, Dulles-Greenway, Geemeff, Birdlife International, and the Guardian.

There are no words – Banff is home, Mini has 3 fish…Bird World for Tuesday

15 August 2022

Good Morning Everyone,

It is a great morning! There are just two incredible things. First up, Banff is home! I will leave the rest of the blog as is for those that do not know what happened at Fortis Exshaw yesterday, but, Banff is home! She survived. I thought ‘H’ and I were going to have to pack it in for a few days to deal with the stress but, relief. Second, Mini has had three fish delivered this morning to the nest and has eaten well. Her leg looks a little better. Should I pass the tissue box all around? It is the overwhelming joy that we experience when they survive that makes all of this worthwhile. The intruder is still at Fortis. Maybe Louise will move Banff off of the nest and begin to feed her elsewhere. it would be a good idea as they prepare for migration.

‘H’ writes: “Louise was in the nest, and we could hear Banff calling. At 06:29:14 Banff flew to the nest !!! Of course there was an immediate intruder issue, and Louise took off after it. Louise returned 10 minutes later with a fish for her youngster !!”

I thought that I had seen it all but until ‘H’ sent me the video late Monday afternoon of an intruder at the Fortis-Exshaw nest carry Banff off in its talons, my heart sank. Banff, just barely fledged, put up a gallant fight against a bird much larger and street-smart than her. In the end, this Osprey grabbed her with its talons and carried her off – some said across the pond. A kind soul who lives locally went to check and saw Louise in the trees by the pond and thought they heard a faint cry from Banff. Banff has not returned to the nest at the time of this writing. She is terrified and hiding, injured to varying degrees, or worse. Our hearts have been ‘taken to the cleaners’ this year at Fortis. Antacid companies, as are the manufacturers of tissues, are making money off this Osprey season.

‘H’ caught this attack on video and added a narrative to go with mine – “The morning of 8/14 had been so much fun for Banff . . she enjoyed several short flights around the area and had landed on many of the different perches. She had taken her maiden flight less than 24 hours earlier. At 10:35:34 an intruder began an attack on Banff, and she valiantly fought him off. Banff flew off after the intruder, and then she did not return to the nest for three hours. At 13:25:59 Banff returned to the nest, but she had been followed in by the intruder, who resumed the attack on her. Finally, the intruder employed a sneak attack from behind, grabbed Banff with its talons and dragged her off the nest. Twice over the next several hours Louise brought fish to the nest to lure Banff back. She and the stepdad, O’Hara, both stood guard on the nest, waiting for Banff to return. By nightfall, there had been no sign of Banff, but we thought we may have heard her calling in the evening from somewhere close to the nest. TM, a viewer who lives nearby, twice went to the nest area and did a thorough search for Banff. TM thought she saw Louise in a tree, and Louise chasing an intruder, but she did not see Banff during her search. Thanks for your efforts, TM.”.

Louise waiting and worrying on the nest for Banff. Some believe they have heard Banff’s ‘voice’ on the streaming cam. Let us hope that she is not desperately injured, just frightened.

We are used to predators – GHOs and Eagles – taking the Osprey chicks off the nest. We don’t like it but it happens. But seeing what appears to be an attempted nest take over on the heels of JJ starving to death really rattles everyone. This is not the end of Osprey season that we had anticipated – and it surely wasn’t the year we thought we would have. Did I say the birds bring us joy? Of course they do but they also create great anxiety when their lives do not go smoothly. The real question is why all the aggression this year? Thoughts? Let me know.

Now word is coming in that Daisy has been attacking Dorsett at Barneghat-Light.

Meanwhile, at Patchogue, Mini had part of a large fish this morning before flying off the nest. That fish was later dropped to the ground by the Crows. Mini has returned. She actually looks better. Still issues with her leg. She has gone down duckling and is resting that leg – good girl! Let’s hope Dad remembers to bring a fish!

Mini was not impressed when Mum flew in later with one of her sticks. She had a fit – she is hungry. Dad – help us out here.

Mini sleeping on the perch Monday night.

Three fish so far and it is only morning at Patchogue. Our girl is eating well. It helped that they were headless. Her leg appears a wee bit better. Thank goodness.

Someone is not hungry at Boulder County!

It looked like the fledgling at Cowlitz PUD did some nest defense today too. The osplet is safe! All is well. Every nest needs these guards. Imagine just how much it would have helped at FortisExshaw! The predators rely on being able to swoop down and clear and they cannot do it with the wire protective grids.

‘H’ reports on Osoyoos: “The fish count was down at the Osoyoos osprey nest on 8/14. Olsen managed to deliver four fish. The Osoyoos area is still suffering from extreme heat, and the high temperature for Tuesday could go as high as 41C/106F.”

Osprey season will -eventually – be winding down and all the heartbreak will evaporate into the history of the nests. One event I am looking forward to is coming up and it is not an Osprey – it is Gabby returning to the Northeast Florida Bald Eagle nest. Who will join her? V3?

Thunder and Akecheta were both at their historic nest on Monday. What a joy it was to see them!

Quiet at Fraser Point and Sauces.

Can you find Hope at Glacier Gardens?

That wonderful Dad to Ludo and mate to Dorcha, Louis, has been busy supplying fish for everyone. Luco is so loud! You could hear him in Glasgow.

Lou and Annie are still at The Campanile keeping one another company. It is lovely to see their off-season bonding – it gives us something wonderful to look forward to nest spring.

At the Sydney Sea Eagles, ‘A’ reports: “Breakfish was late this morning, and when it came, poor little SE32, despite having front position at the feeding, was completely ignored by mum and got literally two small bites from the entire fish. Lady leaned over him and stepped past him in order to offer every bite to SE31, whose crop is immense. SE32 will be self-feeding soon – he was picking flakes from around the table after SE31’s feeding. Dad flew onto the nest shortly after mum left and poor little SE32 was so hungry he grabbed at Dad’s beak! Dad obliged by searching the nest for leftover fish and managed to find some great material for SE32’s next pellet. At one point, Dad went to offer a piece of skin to SE31 and SE32 dived in front to grab it from Dad. His crop is deflated and flat and he didn’t go straight off to sleep like SE31. He just lay there looking around and hoping for a parent, His little tummy is rumbling. Poor baby. I do hope an early lunch is on today’s schedule. At least the weather is good for fishing.”

Well, have no fear, the food came on the nest and both eaglets were full to the top of their heads!

At the home of the Royal Cam chick, GLY – Dad – showed up to feed Manaaki. Oh, what a relief to see this parent. They had to go a great distance to find food…but they are alive! Our boy was so happy…he will really be gardening tomorrow. Now for Mum – L – to return. We would cry a bucket full of tears. Such good news.

Our lad has so much energy with that feeding!

At Port Lincoln, Mum is playing with everyone. No first egg yet. I am thinking next week but, some are already disappointed with the date they choose. We wait! The camera is up and running fine. It was a small technical glitch.

Diamond willingly took a couple of Starlings that Xavier brought as food offerings today – what a change. Of course she would love a big juicy pigeon or a parrot – a nice Supreme – but, today, she was obliging. S o many times I feel sorry for Xavier when he comes in with prey and gets totally rejected.

I did not believe that Banff could survive that attack. Oh, what a wonderful thing that she returned. Such a relief for everyone. This gives me great hope. The talons of the Osprey cannot injure like an eagle’s could.

One last giggle for all of you. Yesterday I played Hide and Seek with Calico (Geemeff caught that). So..it is now Calico 4 – Mary Ann 0. On Thursday I am going to employ a cat collar with an Air Tag! If I can get it on her – she is very calm around me now. The goal is to find what I believe is a single surviving kitten and get it and Calico in the house for the vet appointment on Saturday morning. Calico may outwit Apple Air Tags, too.

Thank you for being with me this morning. Send your best wishes to every nest and every bird. What seems calm and wonderful can change into something horrific quickly. We want them fat, safe, and ready for their migrations. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to ‘A, Geemeff, H, L, PB, SW’ for their notes and to the following for their streaming cams and videos that helped me to write my blog this morning: Fortis Exshaw, Wildlife Conserve of NJ, PSEG, Cowlitz PUD, Osoyoos, NEFL-AEF, IWSExplore, Glacier Gardens, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, SK Hideaways and Cal Falcons, Sydney Sea Eagles, Lady Hawk and Sydney Sea Eagles, Lady Hawk and NZ DOC, PLO, and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam.

Category Archives: predation

Moraine chick knocked off nest, fledge at Glaslyn…Sunday in Bird World

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

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Tragedy strikes at Carthage! Friday in Bird World

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Bobbleheads everywhere…Thursday in Bird World

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Tuesday in Bird World

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Monday in Bird World

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E23 fledges…Sunday in Bird World

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Calypso intrudes at Port Lincoln, Bella battles intruder alone…Monday in Bird World

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There are no words – Banff is home, Mini has 3 fish…Bird World for Tuesday

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