Category Archives: Sandhill Cranes

Gabby lays the second egg…Sunday in Bird World

24 December 2023

Good Morning Everyone,

To those celebrating Christmas Eve and Christmas Day – and Boxing Day – have a wonderful holiday. Have lots of laughs, good food, make memories!

As we near the end of the year, I also want to thank everyone for your empathy, interest, and dedication to the planet’s wildlife (and domesticated pets). Pictures of your fur babies or birds visiting your feeders are always welcome, and I am so grateful for your letters and comments. It is heartwarming to know that a huge community of caring souls exists. Together, we have wept, and we have celebrated. Most of all, we have marvelled at this wonderful world we are a part of. So, here is to 2024 – may it be a blessed year for our birds and our families- no matter how many legs they have!

My year has been full of joy and utter sadness. I am so grateful to the girls that have enriched my life well beyond anything that I could have even dreamed about. There will, however, always be a tear shed and a little hole in the heart because of Lewis. What a great guy he was. Each one of them is their own person – their own character with their story. I feel lucky to be a part of that journey with them. 

Dear little Hugo decided to confront Calico head on. Seriously. Confronting Calico?! Calico normally takes off to get out of Hugo’s path. It is simply too funny. Notice how her eyes are so much better. And her face is getting a little round. It looks like we will make it!

In the garden, the squirrels are thriving in the warm weather. They have some treats, too – in the form of a big bag of in-the-shell peanuts. Dyson could not be happier! The Blue Jays have not returned and so it must be assumed that they have made their way to warmer climates south of here. I cannot fathom all of them having an untimely demise. Today, there were five Black-capped Chickadees in the apple tree in the front garden. Tomorrow they will get a special ball of seeds just for them. Oh, it would be grand if they made their nest in their in the spring! It is away from where the community cats normally visit so should be safe. 

In Osprey World, it is about 83 days until the first birds begin returning to the UK from West Africa or the Iberian Peninsula. Keep them in your thoughts as they make this perilous journey. 

‘H’ sent me to a posting by Elfruler that is truly a good read and a great way to sit down and contemplate what is happening over at the nest of Gabby and V3. Thanks, ‘H’. 

I am not an eagle expert. But, if Ospreys know who the eggs belong to and if the male even twitches that they arrived a little too early since the pair’s mating, you will see that Osprey kick those eggs over to the next lach! So if Ospreys know, then why wouldn’t Bald Eagles? 

Around 17:13 Gabby went into labour and laid the second egg. She was sooooo tired after. Beau was on a branch looking down. He could hear her. Now. Let us see how this plays out. 

Quick reveal – white spot under feathers near centre.

Tired Mamma. 525 people watching and excited for Beau and Gabby.

I have missed several of the Ferris Akel tours on Saturday and today was a reminder that we really need to slow down and enjoy life. I miss those tours!  Ferris found both Big Red and Arthur, Mourning Doves, and some geese and ducks today along with Bald Eagles! 

Beautiful Big Red hunting.

Arthur on the throne.

So many Doves and they kept flying in! 

Sandhill Cranes flying in and landing.

And then after gathering at their stop, they left.

Kids still being fed well by Connie and Clive. The pantry is absolutely full thanks to Clive’s amazing hunting skills. No need for C10 to be intimidating C11 but it is – dominance. 

I love in when Clive comes in to check on the eaglets and when he feeds them while Connie is away like now.

Connie returns.

‘A’ comments on the activities at Connie and Clive’s nest: ”Meanwhile, at Captiva, yesterday’s feeding record was broken today, with 13 feedings. Yes, you read that right. Thirteen. Here are the time stamps: 6:57:55 Feed1, 8:19:14 Feed2[CE10], 8:52:45 Feed3, 9:47:42 Feed4, 10:57:05 Feed5, 11:37:15 Feed6, 12:33:50 Feed7.1:51:25 Feed8,3:33:15 Feed9 [Clive]. 3:59:34Feed10[CE10] 4:29:25 Feed11, 5:11:15 Feed12, 5:55;20 Feed13.

These two are so adorable, though the bonking has definitely begun. You will note that at feed 2, for example, little CE11 puts its head up to participate, gets bonked once, and is down for the count. That happens at another feeding later in the day too (feed 10). But both are getting more than enough to eat, with Clive keeping fish scattered about the nest and around a dozen feedings a day. I would so love it if there was no bonking, but then I remember that’s why we watch peregrines and RTHs.”

SE31 and family at the river.

A look at Gil and Brad from the egg to the fledge. Thank you Fish Fairies for ensuring that these two were well fed and fledged!

Can the Black-footed Albatross be saved? And is this island free of cats? and rats? A good read from Audubon. Please cut and paste the link to Audubon for the article below the photo credit.

“Black-footed albatross pair. Photo credit: Dan Clark/USFWS” by USFWS Pacific is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

A-Single-Mexican-Island-May-Be-Our-Best-Hope-for-Saving-Black-footed-Albatrosses-Audubon

Want to make a wreath with your family for the birds? Find some suet – grab your bunt pan and read the article. Away you go!

Help-Feed-the-Birds-With-a-DIY-Wreath-AudubonDownload

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

I am so grateful to the following for their notes, articles, videos, posts, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ’A, H, J’, NEFL-AEF, Elfruler, Paul K, Ferris Akel Tours, Window to Wildlife, Chang-Le Dong, PLO, Bart M. Openverse, and Audubon.

Superbeaks wins the first egg of the season…Friday in Bird World

3 November 2023

Good Morning,

Thursday was a gorgeous day. The temperature hovered around 0 C. So it was damp and the wind was a little nippy but it was still a good day for a walk in the park and a party for the girls!

I did not touch the colour. This really was a ‘grey’ day! There is a skim of ice over most of the pond but not all of it.

The gardeners have left everything for the birds that winter there and the birds in the spring when all those insects come to life. Remember that if you see Cedar Waxwings in groups on the sidewalks or lawns looking dead, they have been eating fermented berries and are drunk. They will come around!

I had hoped to get the girls to wear those decorative collars and all sit nice around their cake and food dishes but…well, cats do not cooperate! They are independent with minds of their own. Too funny. Looking forward to many more years with these three. Oh, and ‘the boyfriend’ also got a special plate of food.

Missey licking her lips after some nice chicken.

Missey looked at the little cake with its raspberry icing and thought about tasting it. But Missey is too polite to do that – she only rushes and grabs if it is chicken! or butter.

Hope thought the best thing was the six different types of treats.

The vet might have something to say about ‘little’ (LOL) Hope.

Calico was all excited – she enjoyed the chicken, two plates of special tinned food and then to top it off, she wasn’t shy about checking out the raspberry icing! Happy first birthday, Calico!

It is official. Pepe and Muhlady at the Superbeaks Bald Eagle nest in Central Florida have the first egg of the season. It arrived on the 2nd of November. Congratulations!

Tonya Irwin reminded everyone on the KNF chat of last year’s egg laying: “That’s what happened last season. Superbeaks on 11/2 then KNF E-3 on 11/19, then Metro, then back to Florida at SWFL, then KNF E-1.”

It was a good morning at Port Lincoln. There were two early feedings!

With the chicks full, Mum gets to enjoy some nice fish.

The report for the day:

In other Port Lincoln news,

Parent feedings and self-feeding at the scrape of Diamond and Xavier early morning.

The down is quickly coming off those heads!

Lady and Dad were at the old Ironbark Nest in the Sydney Olympic Park early in the morning.

‘A’ sends the report from Sydney: “November 2: Last evening late (November 1) at 19:27, Dad brought in a good-sized fish. As no juvenile turned up, Lady ate it. This morning, both eagles came to the nest early, moving a few sticks before leaving. All was quiet on the nest during the day. Then, late in the afternoon (17:14), Lady was escorted into the nest area by the currawongs and was seen up high above the camera. Neither juvenile has been seen here today . Later, both parents came in, were seen on the nest and looking down below, before settling in.

November 3: Both parents were seen at the nest early and later down on the river. Otherwise no sightings during the day – all quiet. I went for a walk in the forest again, searching, and could not see either of the juveniles. I did find lots of gull feathers under the nest – remains of prey – though no fish bits. Maybe a fox has cleaned them up? There were also clumps of possum fur here and there and a few furry remains – maybe signs of Powerful Owl prey? The picture is from the forest in the ironbark roost area and shows our original hide. We used to watch the original oldest nest from there. This was BC – Before Camera.”

There are Bald Eagles at Decorah and in Manitoba, where I live, they are gathering along the river – juveniles, sub-adults, and adults. They will almost all begin their migration soon although some are choosing to remain here in the winter.

Clive and Connie were at Captiva. (I wonder if we should check the osprey cam soon?)

At Dulles-Greenway, Martin brings Rosa a rabbit lunch!

Looks like Ron and Rose are thinking eaglets, too! Let us hope their second season together at the WRDC nest is fantastic.

Ahhhhhh….love is on the minds of all the eagles. Louis and Anna, both recovering from some injuries, were working diligently on their nest in the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana.

M15 brings a huge fish and for the first time, his new mate, F23, eats it on the nest!

Jak and Audacity always hopeful – at Sauces in the Channel Islands.

Graceful. Beautiful. The Sandhill Cranes feed on the farmer’s fields here in Manitoba in the spring and the fall. Ferris Akel captures some video of the ones near Ithaca, NY this past weekend that are undertaking migration.

The National Wildlife Foundation provides the following information on the range of the Sandhill Crane: “Sandhill cranes spend most of their lives in freshwater wetlands, including marshes, wet grasslands and river basins. Three subpopulations of sandhill cranes are migratory: the lesser, greater, and Canadian sandhill cranes. All of these subspecies spend winters in the south and summers at their breeding grounds. The cranes winter in Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico. In the early spring, they begin the migration to their breeding grounds. Throughout the spring, the cranes can be seen resting and feeding along rivers and wetlands throughout the Great Plains and Pacific Northwest. The largest congregation of sandhill cranes occurs from February to early April along the Platte River in Nebraska. During the late spring, summer, and early fall, sandhill cranes can be seen at their breeding grounds. Some breed in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Others breed in Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. Three subpopulations of sandhill cranes are non-migratory. The Mississippi sandhill crane is found on the southeastern coast of Mississippi. Florida sandhill cranes occur in many inland wetlands of Florida. The Cuban sandhill crane lives exclusively in savannas, wetlands, and grasslands in Cuba. Mississippi and Cuban sandhill cranes are critically endangered.”

New records were set for counting on Big Bird Day! How wonderful.

Global-Bird-Weekend-Soars-to-Success-BirdLife-InternationalDownload

We have Lesser Scaup in Manitoba during the spring and summer breeding seasons but not the record numbers they are seeing in Cornwall that I am aware.

Rarity-finders-record-breaking-Lesser-Scaup-flock-in-Cornwall-BirdGuidesDownload

As the weather gets cooler in the Northern Hemisphere, people worry about mice and head to the shops to get rodenticide. Please don’t.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care of yourself. I hope to see you soon.

Thank you to the following for the notes, posts, articles, videos, graphics, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A’, Tonya Irwin, Superbeaks, Sassa Bird, PLO, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Sydney Sea Eagle Cam, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Window to Wildlife, WRDC, Dulles-Greenway Eagle Cam, KNF-E1, National Wildlife Federation, Lady Hawk, Ferris Akel, BirdLife International and BirdGuides.

Pips everywhere…Sunday in Bird World

26 March 2022

The sun is bright, and the temperature is only -2 C, but a 22 kph wind makes it chilly! I have not seen them, but others have witnessed 45 Bald Eagles and 1 Golden Eagle arriving from their winter migration. First American Robin seen, also. Amazing. Last year many of the eagles who make their nests on the ground and the ducks’ and geese’ nests were ruined by overland flooding. Hoping that does not happen this year!

For me, the delight of the day came when about half a dozen Dark-eyed Juncos landed in the lilac bushes at about 1630! They’re back. Mr and Mrs Downy had just departed when they arrived. Do you know what this means? A trip to the bird food store for millet tomorrow.

‘H’ reports that it was quite the day at the WRDC nest. There was a feast with Rose bringing in 2 fish and Ron delivering 7 fish and a duck. Goodness. There was even one feeding. Needless to say neither chick was hungry! Incredible.

Gosh, that fish on the Moorings Park Osprey Platform has been there a long time. Sally started feeding Abby and Victor and Abby took great exception to Victor wanting food. Not that behaviour is any surprise. Poor little Victor. He did wait it out and watched and got over and Mum Sally fed him until he had a nice crop. There is still fish left.

Little Victor finally getting some fish.

Around 1640 Sally ‘decided’ to feed Abby and Victor before they got ravenous. Great idea. They both ate little civilised cherubs. Each got fed a nice meal.

There was even fish left for Sally.

Victor had a nice crop as the sun was setting over the nest. Harry was not around much today. Chasing off intruders? Sally caught one fish herself. Saw it from the nest and went and got it. Don’t think she cared much for that other fish that Harry brought in. Perhaps it was too bony.

Sally and the osplets sound asleep…Victor tucked in under Mum.

There is fish hiding all over the Dulles-Greenway Bald Eagle nest. The triplets are doing just fine. Martin and Rosa seem to managing them well.

This is the listing of the UK Ospreys that have returned. Thanks, Mary Cheadle!

Seren Blue 5F is an amazing fisher. Here she is with a huge trout – too large to finish in one meal. She will have the rest for breakfast.

There is still some rumbling on FB about Gabby ‘being missing since Wednesday’. Gabby has returned from her spa days. The AEF has confirmed this with the following post on the 25th of March.

Here are some images:

Meanwhile Jackie and Shadow keep us guessing at Big Bear.

They certainly have been bringing in more railing!

Our big girl Jackie on the left and Shadow on the right. A great image to see the difference in scale between male and female Bald Eagles.

Shadow provided Jackie with several fish on the nest Saturday. The perfect gentleman…oh, Shadow, you really do want those eggs!

‘A’ sent news that all three GH owlets at the Corona California nest have now branched.

Bonnie and Clyde’s owlets on Farmer Derek’s property in Kansas are enjoying some sun and from being out from under Mum!

E21 is 79 days old today. The average age of fledge at South West Florida is 83 days. Oh, what a bittersweet moment this is all going to be.

Sometimes you can only see a few talons!

They track Dad when he is incoming with prey and get themselves in that nest!

On Saturday, M15 brought in no less than five fish for the Es.

M15 and the kids did defy the odds…fledge watch! We should all be jumping up and down with joy but, the moments are so bittersweet. What an amazing season and what a pleasure to watch M15 rise to every occasion. We do not know what his fate will be after the Es leave the area. Will M15 get a mate and keep the nest? Will he leave on his own for a more quiet life elsewhere after Harriet? We wait.

The miracle at the SW Florida nest this year has made the Naples news.

https://www.news-press.com/picture-gallery/news/2023/03/24/e-21-and-e-22-swfl-eagle-cam-defy-odds-they-prepare-fledge-harriet-missing-since-feb-2/11535484002/

Mum and Dad eating on the nest at Duke Farms along with the two eaglets. These two are so easy to watch!

Three eggs laid on February 20, 23, and 26 at Denton Homes. We will be on pip watch next week.

There is a possible pip at the NCTC nest of Bella and Smitty Saturday night.

There is a pip at Pittsburgh-Hayes, which was confirmed at 16:44 on Saturday. Hatch is now in progress. Oh, the wind is really blowing and it feels cold just watching Mum trying to get some sleep, hunkered down.

Did we not think everyone would have a hatch at the same time. Oh, goodness.

At the Webster, Texas Bald Eagle nest near Houston, Ringo has branched!

Beautiful Mama Goose and her two eggs at the Decorah Goose Cam in Iowa. The second laid on Saturday the 25th at 1000.

Eggs covered with nesting material and down while Mum has a break.

If you are into wading birds, do you know about the Alligator and Spoonbill Swamp Cam in St Augustine, Florida?

https://www.youtube.com/live/M4P_GzA6H80?feature=share

Ferris Akel had the most extraordinary images of the Sandhill Crane migration. These images were taken in Nebraska. Ferris said the tour was 1000% worth it! Even getting up at 0400 for the fly off.

Ferris Akel is a gem. He has a streaming tour of the Ithaca area every Saturday. You can see it later archived on YT. He also shares so much and taking us with him on this amazing tour was very special.

There are upwards of 400,000 Sandhill Cranes in this area migrating right now. They expect 600-650,000 at peak migration, according to Ferris.

This is a gathering place. They will gather around marshes often surrounded by prairie forest feeding and then flying off at dawn. Every crane set off at the same time to continue its travels north.

Those Sandhill Cranes will be flying into Southern Manitoba any day now!

Ferris has this fantastic spectacle – with the sound of the cranes – now on YT. Thank you, Ferris Akel!

This is why we need everyone to stop using lead in hunting and fishing equipment (and military).

Conservation without Borders are heading back to West Africa to see if they can find Tweed Valley Osprey Glen whose tracker says he is still in Morocco. I hope he is there for their arrival and not on his way back to the UK. Go Sasha Dench and Crew!

Meanwhile, we are going to band together and try to locate Glen’s brother, Kirk 707 beginning this week!

Good Morning, gorgeous. Big Red and Arthur have sure been trying out that egg cup. All eyes are on the 20 year old Red tail Hawk, the Queen of the Cornell Campus.

On the Canadian Prairies, people are just getting ready for gardening season. With the high cost of food, many are converting lawns into gardens or, if they have a small space, container gardens. This article in The Guardian challenges us to reconsider our garden because it should be a vital place for wildlife. Have a read, get some ideas! Send me some pictures if you join in. I would love to see what you are doing to help everything from a small insect, songbirds, beavers, deer, and waterfowl!

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/mar/25/garden-multilayer-forest-biodiverse-tom-massey-rhs?CMP=share_btn_link

Missy is going to help us review a new book for next week. It is Water Babies. The Hidden Lives of Baby Wetland Birds by William Burt. Oh, just in time for the new season!

She has already started evaluating the images!

Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care. Remember to get outside and take in some fresh air, even if it is on your balcony or front step! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, tweets, streaming cams and videos that helped make up my blog today: ‘H’, ‘A’, Moorings Park Ospreys, Dulles-Greenway, Mary Cheadle, Carnyx Wild, AEF, NEFL-AEF, FOBBV, Baiba and FOBBV, Corona Owl Cam, SW Florida Eagle Cam, Duke Farms, Denton Homes, Deb Stecyk and the NCTC Eagle Cam, Pix Cams, Paul White and Webster Texas Eagles, Decorah Goose Cam, Alligator and Spoonbill Swamp Cam, Ferris Akel Live Tour, Terry Carman Bald Eagle Live Nests and Cams, Conservation without Borders, Cornell RTH, and The Guardian.

Ervie, Indigo…and more news in Bird World on Sunday

13 November 2022

Good Morning Everyone.

Saturday was one of those quiet stay-at-home days. It gave me a chance to think of the ways that those of us who live in wintery climates cope with the weather. As it is, the sow is dancing down right now. The European Starlings are eating suet and Butter Bark and Mr Crow cawed so much that I gave him high protein kitten kibble. Oops. The Starlings have found the kibble!

Inside the house, the candle holders have been cleaned and given new candles. An apple crisp is in the oven. So, instead of starting out birds today, we will begin with something simple to make your house cosy on a crisp day. Put 1 sliced orange and 1 sliced lemon in a 2 litre (qt) pot. Leave the peel on – that is where the lovely oils are. Add a few bay leaves, 2 or 3 cinnamon sticks, a good tablespoon of cloves, and cover the whole with water. Bring to a boil then lower the heat and let it simmer. You can add water as needed. I used to add tea bags to the brew. It is a lovely spiced tea but needs some straining. The other thing you can do is to take the peels of your oranges and lemons and use them. I always have bags in the freezer! It is part of a strategy to have zero waste.

Making News:

Our darling Ernie. Poster child of handsome beginning to do some moulting.

For the very first time successful fledges at Maine’s Hog Island Boathouse Osprey platform. Dory and Skiff are making the news! Congratulations to this Osprey couple who successfully fledged three osplets from the Hog Island Osprey platform this year. What an amazing family this was to watch.

https://www.audubon.org/news/for-first-time-osprey-chicks-have-successfully-fledged-hog-islands-boathouse?ms=digital-fund-social-facebook-x-20221100-nas_eng&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=20221100_nas_eng&fbclid=IwAR0MljZqxAZltUyO7_by2nUPzcfcBfWzx-esyVLSDPFOy5xb6Rua96Dd8b8

Oh, so very grateful to Cilla Kinross for finding Indigo and showing us how this handsome lad is doing after fledging. Isn’t he a stunner?

Tweed Valley fledged three ospreys this year. Two of them have perished. The other, Glen, found himself on a couple of container ships before finally making it to Spain! Here is the latest on this youngster.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-63584969?fbclid=IwAR1vsE2ErGcB71e711Z9k01Xt4GWUC4PDPCn03KH3yCzRLdl3MECQnPSDz8

In the Mailbox:

‘EJ’ sent me some grand news. It is amazing what we can do when we get together to help benefit the environment and wildlife. A community joined together and raised 2.2 Million GPB to purchase a tract of land to enlarge a nature reserve. Just think – this could be a way of halting development in areas that are needed by the wildlife. Is there land where you live that is adjacent to a nature reserve that could benefit from such an endeavour? Keep this positive action in mind if ever you get a chance to work with your community.

“File:The Ewes Water Valley – geograph.org.uk – 1538379.jpg” by James T M Towill is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

You can read about this successful project here:

https://www.scotsman.com/heritage-and-retro/heritage/langholm-moor-ps22-million-raised-to-complete-community-buyout-3793764

Australian Nests:

All eyes are on Port Lincoln. Ian Falkenberg was up at midnight finishing up the permit forms – that myriad of red tape that Port Lincoln has to do in order to ring the osplets on the nests. Fran and Bazza said that he was up again at 0600 getting ready. So, today, Big, whether you like it or not you will be weighed, measured, hopefully a sample of your blood is taken for DNA, and you will be given a sat pak. Big, we all know that you are one big cranky girl that won’t let any bird get in your way. You are now the only hope of Port Lincoln for 2022 – you carry a heavy responsibility. Please do not ever land on a hydro pole no matter how much you might want to.

Ian Falkenberg has made the call to postpone putting the tracker and ringing until later today or tomorrow. This cannot be done in wet weather. In addition, it really is now or never. In the UK, birds are not banded after 45 days because of the great fear of scaring them off the platforms and fledging early.

Mum and her ‘Big’ Girl crying out to Dad.

Dad brought a fish in around 0815. Big kind of rushed Mum once she had the fish. Mum got the catch anchored to her talon and flew around the nest arriving on the other side where she had control of the fish. It was headless so Dad has his share, too. Mum and Big had a nice chunk.

A small headless fish arrived around 1515.

The rain began. Mum and Dad had been perched together. Mum flew over to the nest to Big and Dad joined them at 19:44.

It appears that three of the Melbourne Four have now fledged. One remains at night and some of the others show up on the ledge for prey deliveries.

At Orange, Rubus is shedding many of the dandelions and is watching for Xavier and Diamond to deliver prey. They do not disappoint. Here was yesterdays recap from the moderators: RECAP 10 41 15 D w/ prey, Rubus takes; 11 25 12 X w/prey, D arrives/feeds: 13:31:22 X w/juv star, feeds, X takes: 16:30:10 X w/prey, feeds 18 53 31 Xw/prey, Rubus takes, D arrives , tug o war, D feeds.

There was a tug o war and lots of excitement. Just look at how much of the baby fluff is now gone.

Other Bird News:

One of the things that changes for me – during the winter – is that I do not travel on the roads as much nor do I go to the nature centre 5 days a week for a walk. Saturdays become very quiet and one of the joys is having Ferris Akel in the background doing his live stream around Wildlife Drive, Montezuma, Sapsucker Woods, and Ithaca, New York. We have a few ducks still in the City and a few geese were flying overhead this evening. Someone even has a Baltimore Oriole in their garden today – with the snow! I am, however, having duck withdrawal and Ferris does seem to find them this time of year! I really recommend Ferris Akel’s tours on Saturdays beginning about noon Eastern time. Ferris is humble always saying he doesn’t know this or that but, he does. I have learned so much for him. In fact his tour is often on in the background to whatever else I am doing. You can also check out some of the archived tours of Ferris by going to YouTube and entering Ferris Akel Live.

‘A’ said that she had learned to embrace ‘brown’ never realising that there are so many shades and hues. Fantastic! That brings me great joy. Most of the female birds are considered dull compared to the flamboyant colours of some of the male species. Here is a female Ruddy Duck. Just look at all those wonderful browns and tans, there is a touch of caramel and espresso, and that lovely sort of grey-brown.

All of the birds are at a great distance from where Ferris is streaming. The images are then quite soft. Nonetheless, I hope that you enjoy the few that I am including.

Just a slightly different angle.

A female Shoveler. You can never mistake a Shoveler for a Mallard. Just look at that bill. It is massive in comparison to the size of the head.

There were American Coots and I know that none of us will ever make the mistake of saying a Coot is a duck. It isn’t.

Oh, how I love Sandhill Cranes. They glean the farmer’s fields just after the seed crops have been harvested. There are many in Southern Manitoba in October doing this exact same thing. Gorgeous.

I don’t blame the Canada Geese getting out of Canada. Gosh, golly, it looks like much more fun in the pond at Sapsucker Woods than it is walking around in the snow in Canada and not finding any food.

What shocked me is precisely how much smaller the geese are when compared to the swans.

Just look at that. It makes the Canada Geese look like miniature ducks. Seriously. And I have always thought of them as large.

There was a juvenile Bald Eagle lurking about at Sapsucker Woods also.

Looking for some lunch?

No 6 The Red List: The Hawfinch

Ah, this is another one to pull out those shades and hues of brown. With its head the colour of rust or Corten Steel, its black bib and black eye surround, and heavy beak, this beautiful little bird, the Hawfinch, has a jaw and beak so strong that it can exert pressure of more than 50 kilograms on a seed! The strong triangular beak is black in the winter changing to a blue-black in the summer. Notice the rusty head in comparison to the grey-brown back and that intensive brick-brown eye. Both males and females are similar in appearance.

Hawfinch bill

Hawfinches like to live in woodland where they will feed off various hard seeds. Some, if you are lucky, can be found around gardens eating cherries. The male builds the nest out of dry twigs and grasses lining it with lichen. The female will take over in roughly a fortnight.

Today there are less than 1000 breeding pairs of Hawfinch in the UK. There are a number of causes. Nest predation by Jays and Grey Squirrels is one of these. In Wales, the culprit has been trichomonosis. Trichomonosis is an infectious disease caused by the parasite Trichomonas gallinae. The parasite attacks the upper digestive tract, mainly the crop and esophagus making it difficult for the bird to eat. It can also impact the liver, lungs, and air sacs. The fourth hatch at Melbourne last year died of trichomonosis as did the Mum at the Janakkalan Osprey nest in Finland this past summer.

That’s it for today. I hope that each of you have a wonderful weekend. It looks like it could be dry at Port Lincoln so maybe, at the age of 57 days, Big will be ringed and get that sat pak. We wait to see.

Thank you for being with me. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their posts and streaming cams which make up my screen captures: Friends of Osprey, Audubon, Cilla Kinross and the Orange, Australia Peregrine Falcon FB, BBC, Tweed Valley Ospreys, Port Lincoln Ospreys, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, and Ferris Akel Tours.