The squirrels were busy this morning loading up with nuts. Little Red has made his home in the wood bin and can scurry back and forth very quickly from the feeder to his cache.
There are still a few European Starlings that come for suet or to eat off the seed cylinder but only three or four compared to the original twenty-eight.
If I told you I put on my lightweight winter jacket and toque for my walk on Monday, would you believe me? The temperature dropped! The nice thing was that the ducks and geese were in the water or eating grass instead of trying to stay cool on the little islands in the pond.
It was so nice to see so many wood ducks back at the pond. Many of the females were incubating eggs while the males were out foraging. Someone had brought seed for them, too.
Things are really starting to pick up at the osprey nests. Our heads are going to start spinning like an old LP shortly! I am checking on a few of the nests to see what is happening and how close we are to pip or hatch watch. Today I am just running through some of the nests.
Hellgate Canyon: Dr Greene and his team have a list of four names for Iris’s new mate! Please vote on your favourite.
Dunrovin: Swoop and Winnie have their first egg on Monday 13 May at 0654. Swoop was right there giving support to his new mate.
Captiva: The fishing line was removed and they commented that there was a really large hook on the end!
Here is the video WingsofWhimsy made. It is 27 minutes long but you get to see how anxious the adults were for their chicks and what was happening on the nest.
Rutland Manton Bay: Blue 33 and Maya will have one healthy Bob this year. The time has passed for the other remaining egg in the nest to hatch. Some of you will recall that Maya was ill shortly after her return from migration, and many worried we would lose her. I am happy for one healthy chick and one healthy Mum!
Dyfi Osprey Project: Telyn having a nice nap before those eggs hatch and she is a very busy Mum. 12, 15, and 18 of April. Four to five days away from Pip.
Glaslyn: Elen incubating in the rain. Eggs 22, 25, and 28 of April – two weeks away for Aran and Elen.
Loch of the Lowes: The latest news:
Loch Arkaig: Dorcha reminds me so much of Mrs G. Eggs 14, 17, and 20 of April. Six days away til pip watch.
Alyth SS substation: Harry and Flo are doing fantastic. Eggs 15, 18, 21 April. So we are 29 days for the first egg today. Still a week to go.
Poole Harbour: CJ7 and Blue 022. Eggs were 15, 18, 21, and 24 – yes, there are four of them – of April. A week away. You can see we are really going to be busy next week with all these hatches! Really raining here.
There is another very tearful moment when Blue 22 sees his daughter 5H1 land after two years from when she fledged! How amazing and wonderful news for Poole Harbour.
Clark PUD: Eggs were 7, 10, and 13 of April. We are on hatch watch!
Cowlitz PUD: 18, 21, and 24 of April. More than a week to go.
Bundstiftung Goitzsche-Wildnis: Eggs laid on 9, 12, and 15 of April. We are on hatch watch!
Moorings Park: Ruffie and Tuffy are doing fabulous.
Patchogue: MP found some funny moments with these adults and the two new chicks. “08:42AM. The chick wasn’t getting fed so when the other chick turned away and mom was handing the food to them the second chick grabbed hold of the food and mom’s beak and was lifted up into the air. Feisty little one.”
The slope that PSEG created when they tipped that nest upside down is causing difficulties for Mum to stand stable and feed the chicks.
Lake Murray: The third hatch had a crop a couple of times on Monday, but was shut out of some feedings. The two older osplets need more food than the little one, but this little one continues to worry me. I want to be wrong. ‘H’ also reports: “I was only able to watch the last two meals. 12 bites at the 1840 meal, and 0 at the 1916 meal. What a shame.”
‘H’ reports first thing this morning: “5/14, 0619 Kenny delivered a very small partial fish to the nest for breakfast. It was only a five minute feeding, and the typically cantankerous older siblings were both in a good mood! Little ate 24 bites of fish, and there were no attacks on Little. It seems as though Big and Middle don’t have the energy to be uncooperative first thing in the morning.”
Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home: The trio seem to be doing alright!
Barnegat Light: ‘H’ reports: “It looks like Daisy and Duke at Barnegat Light will not have chicks this year. Just in the past several days, they are not mating (that we see) or improving the nest. They mostly hang out on the beach together.”
Jackie and Shadow make me smile.
Fledging is in the offing at Johnson City-ETSU. Sara A caught it on video!
Big Red and Arthur are doing fantastic. I am so glad that with her leg injury there were only two babies this year.
The Cal Falcons continue to provide our daily dose of cute and happiness.
Just look at how fast those San Jose falcons are doing. Monty and Hartley can handle one – or four! Yeah to these second year parents.
Bowling Green has four flacon babies, too.
Jeff Kear posted this wonderful article that goes back to the beginning of the 20th century with the UK Ospreys. Good read regardless of where you live. Where the birds chose to build their nests was quite interesting: “There were nests to be seen placed in every available situation, some on the top of withered maples, some in the thick vines and creepers that clung round their stems, while others (so favourably have the birds been protected) were placed flat upon the ground, more especially on the beach, where the piles of sticks rose, in one instance at least, to some five feet in height. The favourite situation for ground-nests was a narrow strip of beach separated from the rest of the island by a stretch of marsh (vide Fig. 1). Here we counted no less than four nests in half a mile or so. One nest, presumably inhabited the year before, was built upon the top of a shed.”
Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care all. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘AE, A, Geemeff, H, MP’, Dunrovin Ranch, Window to Wildlife, Wings of Whimsey, LRWT, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), The Woodland Trust, Alyth SS, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Birds of Poole Harbour, Clark PUD, Cowlitz PUD, BUND Goitsche-Wildnis, Moorings Park Ospreys, PSEG, Lake Murray Ospreys, Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home, Wildlife Conservancy of NJ, SK Hideaways, Sara A, Cornell RTH, BirdGuides, and Bocian Czarny Online.
A young woman came to relieve me of a pile of ‘junk’ – for lack of a better word – Friday morning. She was coming and going from 0900-1330. During that time, I was using lots of energy (LOL) watching the Canada Goose cam at McEuen Park in Coeur de’ Alene, Idaho. The goslings hatched on Thursday and would be ready to jump. The mother dithered for hours. Three or more.
The minute I went to pay for the cleaning and hauling – turning my back to the computer -well, they jumped! There is no rewind on HDonTap streaming channels. I hope they made it!
‘H’ turned and blinked and then there were four eggs at the Osprey Nest at McEuen Park. What’s with all the four egg clutches this year?
Things happen quickly.
The first hatch of an osplet on a streaming cam happened at Rutland’s Manton Bay nest of Blue 33 and Maya on 10 May.
‘MP’ sends good news. It looks like the female is listening to the male at Minnesota Landscape and is working on a proper nest for their chicks. Now, let’s see if he can convince her to feed all of them when they hatch! ‘MP’ notes there are even flowers! Lovely.
‘MP’ adds: “The female was on the perch and dropped her fish on the ground and she beelined it on the ground. She didn’t seem to know exactly where it was when she got there however. I’ve often wondered if adult osprey ever drop their fish while eating it. Well, she did! “
Lake Murray makes me so nervous. That nest always does. That third hatch needs some fish. I am worried we could be losing this baby. ‘H’ kept track and confers. She notes, “5/10 Lake Murray – Kenny has delivered 4 fish so far today (by 18:00), but it is not enough for his family. Perhaps he will bring in a late fish and Little will be able to eat a decent meal before nightfall. At 0903 Kenny delivered a partial fish. Little was beaked by Big several different times. It wasn’t until 0919, when Little had managed to position himself on the other side of Lucy that he was able to be fed. He ate 19 bites of fish, but then the fish was gone. At 1154 Kenny brought in a small whole fish which did not last very long, and due to aggression from both of its siblings, Little never made it to the table. Kenny delivered a large whole fish at 1538. Little suffered several vicious attacks from both of the older siblings, and was prevented from eating. At 1802 Kenny delivered another large whole fish, and the two older osplets still had large crops, but they still would not let Little eat. Finally, by 1810 Little had managed to position himself on the other side of Lucy and she fed him several bites of fish. Unfortunately, Lucy soon shifted her position which in turn exposed Little and he was beaked. Little ate 24 bites of fish at this meal. So far today, Little has only eaten 43 bites of fish.”
The little one got a couple of bites. Look at the crop on the one osplet and the size difference.
It was hot in San Francisco. Archie was in the shape panting. The Fab Four were in the shade keeping cool. Remember – we are four days away from banding at The Campanile.
Larry’s chicks are doing fantastic. You can easily tell, from the plumage, the oldest and the youngest.
In contrast, Monty and Hartley’s chicks are still pink with soft white down.
Hartley feeds the chicks.
Last year we struggled with that one little hatch at the Evergy Energy scrape in Topeka. There are eggs again this year – well, at least one so far.
Our little fluff balls at Salisbury Cathedral’s scrape box.
It was so nice to hear that my statement about ‘the green perfect lawn’ and all the companies trying to part you with your money while, at the same time, killing the bees and other pollinators, insects, and birds, touched your hearts. ‘B’ found a very timely article in The Washington Post that was published on Friday about all the reasons not to mow your lawn! Have a read. Think about it.
Years ago, one of my neighbours caught the attention of the perfect lawn brigade. They did absolutely everything to try and persuade the City to force him to clean up his garden. We will just call him ‘the man living at the corner’ was Cornell educated in math. He is quite brilliant and, also, a little ahead of his time. He had a pollinator garden and was rewinding before anyone even knew the terms. ‘The Man Living at the Corner’ won his argument and for the past twenty years has tried to educate people in biodiversity and wilding. He doesn’t own a lawn mower.
The other ad that is prominent is tree trimming. Isn’t this nesting season?
Big Red was drenched earlier on Friday. If you stopped in to check on her, you probably felt really sorry for her. She kept N1 and N2 perfectly warm and dry.
We know that the Port Lincoln ospreys fish at Delamere. Ervie learned from Dad and so did his brothers, Bradley and Giliath. Well Bazz Hockaday posted some footage so we could see what Delamere looks like! Thank you!
Missing Karl II and his family.
The golden glow of the evening falls softly on Tuffy after Harry delivers a late evening fish.
Enjoy them while you can!
‘H’ reports on Captiva: “5/10, Captiva osprey nest: At 0703 Jack arrived with a small fish tail. Edie fed both of the sleepy osplets. Jack delivered a whole sheepshead at 0818…CO7 ate and CO8 waited its turn. CO8 ate for about a minute at 0827, but was then beaked by CO7. At 0832 and 0840 CO8 started to eat, but was beaked by CO7. Ditto at 0844. At 0846 CO7 moved away and it was ‘go-time’ for CO8. CO8 had eaten for about 3 minutes when Edie suddenly became disturbed by human activity below the nest, and she flew off. Meal over, and CO8 only had a small crop. At 1356 Jack arrived with a small partial fish. CO8 moved toward Dad, but Edie was distracted and CO7 stayed in the shade of Mombrella. It seemed as though CO7 was not even aware of Jack’s fish delivery…good one, Edie…keeping the fish out of view of CO7! Jack fed CO8 for about 5 minutes…Yay, Jack!. At 1542 Jack delivered a large prepared fish. Most of the feeding was blocked from our view by Edie. We didn’t know if CO8 was eating, but we also did not see CO8 scurry away from the table as if he had been beaked. It was a very long feeding, and eventually Edie shifted and we were able to see both siblings being fed side by side, and both had large crops!”
The trio at Venice Golf and Country Club are doing so well. I can hardly tell them apart.
Liberty and Guardian’s eaglets have been named.
Clair and Irvin’s only eaglet USS7 at the US Steel Plant nest in Pittsburgh has been named Lucky.
In Montana, the New Guy continues to bring whoppers for Iris to eat and dutifully incubates their only egg.
Thank you for being with me today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘B, H, MP’, McEuen Park, LRWT, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Lake Murray Ospreys, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, Parks Conservancy, San Jose City Hall, Energy Energy, Sue Smith, The Washington Post, Cornell RTH, Friends of Osprey Sth Aus, Bazz Hockaday, Eagle Club of Estonia, Moorings Park, Heidi McGrue, Window to Wildlife, VGCCO, Ofelia Finch, PIX Cams, Montana Osprey Pr9oject, and Haikai Magazine.
I have an early appointment tomorrow, so I apologise for this post going out late on Monday evening.
I so hope that your week started well. It was cold in Winnipeg. 5 C. We live on a weather roller coaster. One day, we put up the winter coats, and then we had to go and drag them back out again along with the toques. The leaves continue to break open on the lilacs; a few Dark-eyed Juncos are still here, along with the White-throated Sparrows and European Starlings. The normal garden birds are here all year, but this spring is different. There are so many Black-capped Chickadees that we have a chorus! It is incredibly beautiful. I will try to make a recording one day for all of you.
Gosh, it is a mixed bag. Eaglets are still growing, with many getting ready to branch and fledge. Falcons, along with the hawklets, are jumping and munching around the world. Osprey eggs are still being laid, and Europe will hatch some in the UK next week. I continue to be busy entering data – egg and hatches in our data forms, changes of partners. It seems a little more hectic than last year and yet, there are not nearly as many eggs in comparison. We are waiting for all of those in the NE to come on board! ‘H’ and I will not be able to catch our breath or have a cup of tea. Severna Park has one and the others are going to quickly follow suit.
If you are monitoring a nest that is not on a streaming cam, I would love to hear from you. In Manitoba, I watch three nests—one is at the University of Manitoba, and the couple has now returned for another year on top of a light stand. The other two are at different sites on Lake Winnipeg. No would would ever know about them and perhaps not about the nest you watch, so please, write to me. There is a comments section and you can always e-mail (maryannsteggles@icloud.com). My interest is in Osprey behaviour and, in particular, siblicide. If you see something, also let me know. I appreciate all the news I receive and try to answer within 24 hours. Sometimes it takes me longer to respond to the comments section, but I do read them daily. Thank you so much.
I will also try to get some good images of ‘The Girls’ this week. They are all fine, including Hugo Yugo, who is chasing Calico through the house. I’m not sure the attention is appreciated! I always wonder about Hugo Yugo. Today, I had a small Brioche roll, and she attacked it – so she loves cheese and bread. Did they give her grilled cheese sandwiches at her foster home? Or is it just her crazy character? She is so different from any cat I have ever owned. Some of you have told me about your lovely ginger cats, and it seems they are a force on their own.
At the nests –
At Superbeaks, ‘H’ caught Mason branching! Congratulations. What an exciting milestone.
My ‘inbox’ lit up like fireworks were going off – I kept hearing pings while I was at my appointment, and then there it was. The culprit was Connie, the resident female bald eagle at the Captiva nest, taking the opportunity to steal part of a fish off the Captiva Osprey nest of Jack and Edie. The problem: two little osplets were in that nest. Lady Luck was sure on hand as those two little ones were not pulled out of the nest along with the moss. My heart sank.
Many of you will have noticed that ospreys do not often leave fish on the nest. I often see comments in the chat asking why they don’t. Well, this is the reason for that. The male will remove the fish, and then he will return it if there is fish left after he eats. Some males have stashes. Leaving the fish on the nest invites predators or the nest cleaning Crows, Ravens, and Gulls to stop by for lunch. Food draws attention to a place we don’t want others to be. Today, Jack and Edie were lucky. Connie won’t forget. She lives right by them – she will swing by that nest to see if there is a fish. Why catch one when Jack and Edie will leave you a nice big piece? Oh…this could have been so tragic.
Heidi has it on video:
What would Connie do if she saw the fish at Frenchman’s Creek? The two kiddos are eating, sometimes being fed, and growing. It is hard to believe, but these two will probably fledge, and we should be ever so glad. The Dad has been feeding, and they are self-feeding, and the nest is still full. The Crows and Gulls and any other carrion eaters in the area will have a feast when these two leave the nest.
In the UK, Blue 372 laid her third egg at the Llyn Brenig nest on Monday the 29th of April.
The Fans of Redding Eagles (FORE) is looking for names for Liberty and Guardian’s two eaglets. Here is the information. The deadline is Wednesday.
At Leighton Moss, Yellow-legged Gulls have taken over the Osprey Platform.
At Moorings Park, dear not-so-little-anymore Tuffy is doing just fine. What a lovely little osplet he is. You just have to watch his behaviour and facial expressions and you will have a smile from ear to ear. He is growing, doing well, and unless some bloody tragedy happens, he should fledge. Meanwhile, Sally and Harry are busy with intruders just like most of the other nests. That is so sad because the exchanges sometimes become violent and one or the other, or both, could get injured or die.
Blue 33 taking an opportunity to cuddle with Maya. He loves doing that! In about six days, he is going to be busy fishing for a new set of osplets. First to lay their eggs, first to hatch. Can’t wait. Mark your calendars for pip watch 5-6 May at Rutland Water.
It was a soggy day for Blue NCO at Loch of the Lowes. Someone at the loch saw Laddie sitting near the nest yesterday, I believe it was. There have been worries that something had happened because of a lack of fish deliveries—and even I get nervous watching this nest. Siblicide is entirely possible. It has happened for the past two years.
I am starting to wonder if the other two eggs on the nest of Big Red and Arthur will hatch. If they don’t, it is fine. Big Red had a leg injury that appears to have healed. Feeding four and caring for them might delight her and make her glow like the sun on a bright day, but caring for two is much easier. It might be nice to have a more relaxed year. N1 and N2 are rather feisty!
The camera operators really want to see those eggs clearly and it is hard. N1 loves to go after N2’s neck and twist it about. But, remember, this is really play fighting like Hugo Yugo does with her sisters. It is not the harm that we see on nests with either siblicide or Cainism.
Dear Archie must have had a chat with Annie and convinced her that he is perfectly capable of helping to feed the chicks. Tandem feeding. Monday 29 April. This should put a smile on your face.
It is frightening how fast these chicks of Annie and Archie are growing.
At Syracuse, there are two chicks and the other egg is pipping. Update: That chick has hatched!
‘J’ sent me a super reminder that the PA-DNR falcons have hatched! Here is the link to their cam with an image of the scrape with Mamma and eyases below.
The news coming out of the UFlorida-Gainesville osprey platform of Stella and Talon is not good. The first chick died from siblicide. Talon is rarely seen – a Dad that was known for bringing a good amount of fish to the nest. Only one fish on Monday and the weather is to be quite hot according to ‘R’ who is monitoring the nest. So we have to think of dehydration. We could lose another chick, so sad.
‘R’ gives us an update: “1700 – Stella brings in big fish. #2 learning how to hide behind her and getting some good bits, even a small crop. #1 is brutal, but speed seems to be working. Talon is gone!” Sadly, another one to add to the Memorial Pages. Another Mum has to be everything to her chicks – security, hunter, and feeder. Thankfully they are well feathered and will be able to thermoregulate when she is out fishing.
The lives of males are often filled with danger that is not visible on camera.
All three are well at the Venice Golf and Country Club Osprey nest. Growing and growing. Sometimes it is hard to tell the third hatch now from the second.
The female at the Wells Fargo Osprey Cam in Des Moines, Iowa has laid a fourth egg on the 29th of April. Last year the couple fledged two chicks.
Two eggs visible at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum nest on Monday. These would be the first egg that got soaked and then buried as the third egg is not due to hatch yet.
Two cute little White-tail Eaglets in the Tucholskie Forest in Poland.
There is at least one egg at Pitkin County! The egg bowl is so deep.
A brief glimpse of some eggs at Clark PUD.
Male brings a really nice fish and relieves the female at the Kalakotkas 2 nest in Estonia.
‘H’ reports: “The Osoyoos osprey nest of Soo and Olsen: Soo laid their first egg of the season on 4/29, at 12:55:56. This was approximately three weeks earlier than last season.”
ZE brought a fish to the Goitzche-Wildnis nest in Germany and the female was really telling him not to eat it all! Cute.
The eaglet at Fraser Point has a name – ‘Reign’.
An Osprey nest in a tree in the US. How many of you can say you have seen this? (There are many, many in the UK and Europe using beautiful big trees).
The GH owlet at Wolf Bay in Alabama looks better. Heavy rain came late on Monday. The drops were so big that on the streaming cam they looked like snow. I have not seen a feeding, but those generally happen at dusk and dawn. If you have, please let me know.
Thank you so very much for being with us today. It is always a pleasure to hear from you and we look forward to having you with us again soon. Remember to look up!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘A, B, Geemeff, H, J, MM, PB, R’, Superbeaks, Heidi McGrue, Frenchman’s Creek, Llyn BGrenig, Julie LaLima, RSPB Leighton Moss, Moorings Park Ospreys, LRWT, Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), Cornell RTH, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, SU RTH-Cam, PA-DNR, University of Florida-Gainesville, VGCCO, Iowa DNR, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Bieliki Online Bory Tucholskie, Pitkin County Open Space and Trails, Clark PUD, Eagle Club of Estonia, Osoyoos Ospreys, Goitzche-Wildnis, Gracie Shepherd and IWS/Explore.com, Connecticut Osprey Group, and Wolf Bay Ospreys.
*Disclaimer. Every effort is made to identify the individuals, groups, and institutions that supplied information for my post today. Please let me know if I missed anyone!*
‘The Girls’ are just fine. We are enjoying Amy Tan’s new book and read an entry or two every evening. Oh, how I wish I had the time to learn to draw like Tan! This morning we are enjoying having no heat on in the house and listening to the Chickadees sing to us. The sky is heavy overcast and I am hoping for a lot of rain.
Hugo Yugo is quite the character and if anything happens one has to look no farther than a little ginger cat. She has ‘decided’ that the butcher block area is ‘hers’ especially when we are away. The key is not to leave anything there that could be knocked, eaten, or tossed off to the floor. This included a yummy packet of cookies today. It appeared she had knocked them off and then played hockey with the bits and bobs. Either ‘on’ or ‘off’ and nothing in between, looking for mischief at every turn. We picked up a small bag of tiny pinecones today in the hope that they would be of interest!
She is ready to run! This look just spells trouble.
Missey has decided that she likes the vintage wicker cat carrier.
‘The Boyfriend’ comes about 4 to 5 times a day. I am constantly checking his water bowl sine it has been so warm. Must find another place for his feeding location soon.
It was 24 degrees C in Winnipeg on Thursday, 25 April. Unbelievable for this time of year. The soil is so dry that when I was going down country roads it blew everywhere. We need moisture! After such a successful Wednesday at Delta Marsh and Delta Beach, it was time to go and check on the pelicans.
The American White Pelican lives on our main lakes and near the dam at Lockport, Manitoba. They arrive in April and set off for their southern winter grounds in September. They fish by diving into the surface of the water to get small fish. The ones with the barnacle-like disk on their bill are breeding pelicans. The others are not. They make scrape nests lined with pebbles or lay their 1-3 eggs on mounds of debris. Normally only one chick survives because of the high percentage of siblicide associated with this species.
There were hundreds and hundreds of them on the river.
The one below is a breeder. Notice the keel plate on the upper mandible – the barnacle-like protuberance – indicating a breeding bird.
The only other birds that I saw, other than a few ducks, were a small group of Ring-billed Gulls.
Have a giggle. Thanks, ‘MB’ for the link – Silly Idris wants incubation time!
Big Red and Arthur had their first hatch on Thursday morning. Oh, goodness, gracious.
‘A’ gives us her perspective: “Wasn’t it lovely to see a hawklet hatch yesterday? We could see the half shell shortly before 13:00 and we get our first really good look at the still-damp hatchling at around 14:33, at which point mum decides it is ready to be fed. It is able to sit up strongly and hold up its head (though the baby fox that’s on the menu today retains a little more fur than is ideal for the baby’s first feeding). I must say the sight of that crushed and mangled shell does worry me slightly. We have had several of these this season, most with happy endings but at least one (at SWFL) with a very sad outcome. Let’s hope the other eggs are not in this condition. Arthur is a very proud dad. Are there pips on egg 2 and/or egg 3? That was definitely egg one that hatched, based on the amount of speckling, which means the pip I thought I saw (which was on egg 2, I’m fairly certain) was likely not a pip, as the mark in question still appears to be on that second egg and has not enlarged at all. Thus, it is probably something stuck to the egg. Still, we are expecting pips in eggs 2 and 3 at any time, based on the timing of the delayed incubation principle followed at Cal Falcons. I believe Big Red did something similar here.”
Oren and Ruth have their first hatch, too!
It is sometimes hard to hit a moving beak especially if you are a new Mum and have two little osplet heads bobbling about. Aren’t they cute? The two at Captiva CO7 and CO8. Both have had fish.
That other egg in the Captiva nest. Well, if you read the chat, you might think that a 45-day-old osprey egg – the first to be laid – might hatch tomorrow. Think about that. The average for osprey eggs to hatch is 36.5-38 days, according to the data that ‘H’ and I have collected (as well as many others). At 40 days, we would give up hope -. There is no way that a 45 day old egg will hatch! So sit back and enjoy the two of them.
It looks like dear Tuffy is going to survive Ruffie. Tuffie is now 31 days old and has beautiful, beautiful juvenile feathers.
‘A’ gets pretty excited watching the Cal Falcons. This is from a day ago. “At Cal Falcons we get our first proper view of hatch four, fully out of the egg and still very damp, when mum heads off to the pantry at about 13:43. Of course the little one is not nearly ready to eat and its eyes are still closed. It looks tiny without its fluff. The other three are all fed – again, Annie is careful to make sure all those little beaks are filled several times each. I always worry that one of the three doesn’t get as much as the other two at a feeding, but it never the same eyas as at the feeding before, so she makes sure that with frequent feedings for these youngsters, no-one actually goes hungry. They are ADORABLE. When we first see them as a fluffy cuddle puddle, I wonder how quickly even Annie will become way too small to brood them. They are a largish pile already, and Archie’s valiant efforts at brooding will be entertaining! Oh he is a darling little mate. Don’t you just love the way he leaves beautifully prepared food within 10 or 15 seconds of the nest – Annie seems to be able to collect perfect prey from the pantry in an incredibly short time when she heads off for food – she’s always back within 20 seconds or so with nutritious-looking meat without inedible parts attached. He does a great job. Of course Annie cleans up any bits that are not suitable for feeding to the babies.
By 14:53, Annie is up and heading for the pantry again. This time, the new hatch is dry and fluffy but not yet ready for a feeding. Still, it has been out of its egg for about 90 minutes or so and already, it seems strong. Archie is quick;ly onto the scrape in case anyone is chilly or a bit lonely, e-chupping to Annie as he checks the kids. But again, Annie is back within 20 seconds, the prey this time a little more feathered than usual, and Annie takes a couple of minutes to prepare the food herself. She then proceeds to feed the chicks yet again, and Archie stays a while to watch the meal. Chick number 3 has front position for this feeding and is doing particularly well. A couple of minutes in, the little fourth hatch pokes its head through the fluff and appears at the front of the line, beside chick 3. It opens its tiny beak, whether for a yawn or for food, I cannot be certain. Oh they are just TOO sweet. Mum has her work cut out for her!
Archie is still there at 14:55, when chick 4 stands up (it has to pull its head out from between the others, which puts it into the back row at the table) and opens its beak!!! This chick is less than two hours old (it’s probably been officially out of its egg for about 90 minutes at this point), and it is already standing, holding its head up and opening its beak for food. Wow! At 14:56 Archie continues to watch closely, appearing absolutely fascinated. He is on the edge of the scrape, within inches of the little cohort of chicks standing in the middle of the scrape, little beaks open wide. Small squeaks for now – just imagine how noisy these cuties are going to become en masse!!
Mum is ignoring the fourth hatch, which is at the back of the group and is much shorter than the others so hard for mum to reach. At one point, the baby is even jumping in an attempt to gain her attention! It reminds me of Rubus, and appears to have similar leaping abilities. At such a young age, its strength and balance is truly astonishing. It tries several tactics to try and get mum’s attention but to no avail. Shortly after 14:59 it stands up at the back of the group and appears in danger of falling over backwards. This concerns Archie, who moves around behind hatch 4 to make sure it is okay. He is such a sweetheart. He seems to want something to feed to those open beaks, and e-chups to Annie. I think he’s counting the bunch and realising he now has four children!!!! (No, that’s anthropomorphising, but he definitely appears to be worried by the fact that the youngest hatch, at the back, has not been fed despite all its efforts. Mum continues to try and coax the older three to eat, without success, but continues to ignore hatch 4. Watch at around 15:00 to see Archie’s reaction to this. He seems to very badly want to grab that bite of food from mum and distribute it himself. But of course he doesn’t.
Interesting. I’ve never seen a parental interaction quite like that. He actually seemed to make a half effort at grabbing the food from Annie’s beak to feed the chicks himself. Archie stays beside the chicks, watching with great intensity. Everything Annie does, every movement from the chicks, he absorbs. He is totally engrossed. Several times, he appears to consider taking the food from Annie’s beak, apparently wanting to feed the youngest hatch, at the back, which still has not been fed any food, despite its continual begging for something, its little beak wide open like its older siblings. Of course it does not yet need to eat, only two hours out /of its egg, but it wants to and is trying to, so I am surprised that Annie is ignoring it completely. She is usually really good at reaching the one at the back or the chick facing the wrong way. Perhaps she simply thinks this one is so young, she doesn’t need to include it in feedings yet. I do hope so. Otherwise, this one looks determined and strong, so I suspect it will rapidly learn how to get itself into the front row. It will jump like Rubus if it has to, I suspect, based on what it has been doing this afternoon. I will check for feedings later in the afternoon to see if chick 4 did get fed today.”
A story too good not to tell. A 17 year old male Peregrine Falcon has a mate and a clutch. His name is Dipper.
Frenchman’s Creek has received many letters from concerned viewers of their osprey cam. ‘MP’ wrote and got a response stating, “They were in contact with the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in Florida and several ornithologists who told them of the situation; and per expert opinion, human intervention is neither necessary nor permitted at this time.”
The female was on the nest feeding one of the osplets today while the other was self-feeding.
‘MP’ reports that the first egg of the season has been laid at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum nest on Thursday the 25th.
There are two osplets at Lake Murray and there is a hint of the third egg perhaps pipping. We will see tomorrow.
The third osplet at Lake Murray arrived overnight. Thanks, ‘H’.
One of the Decorah North eaglets has a fishing hook issue. This would qualify for intervention because it is a human-caused problem. Can they get a permit? Is it possible to get a cherry picker up to help? We wait. Poor baby. Please send positive wishes.
Swampy is on the nest and is being fed well. He was eating a fish and there are now two more as I write on the nest for later! Thanks Abby and Blaze.
The two eaglets at Cardinal Land Conservancy have been named Arnie and Neil.
Murphy has a new eaglet to raise!
News from ND-LEEF:
‘H’ caught an Osprey landing on the Cape Henlopen State Park platform – a change from the Black Vultures. Ospreys have not used this nest since the tragedies of 2022 when the Dad was found dead, the Mum chased off nest by intruding and overtaking ospreys, and the chicks starved on the platform as a result.
Glaslyn: Elen and Aran have their second egg of the season at 12:44 on Thursday the 25th.
It actually appears that there is a new male at the nest of Iris at Hellgate Canyon in Missoula who has been bringing fish and there might have been a successful mating. Many believed it was Louis, but after much comparison it appears it is a new male to be named by Dr Greene. Well, this could be an interesting year. Iris certainly likes his fish and heaven only knows she deserves someone to care for her! This is certainly a twist that I did not anticipate.
The Fraser Point eaglet has been named – and we will be waiting to hear the name of the other one.
Both Bald Canyon Eaglets were named.
Dorcha cannot get a break this year! Poor gal just wants to incubate in peace and quiet.
Dorcha takes off with the ‘brunch or lunch’ fish. Louis was late – keeping intruders away?
Jackie and Shadow and the dawn.
New female replacing Charlotte at Charlo Montana is a 14 year old.
Six goslings taking the leap of faith seen from the US Steel Eagle cam. Fantastic. You might have watched the second leap of faith at Decorah. One gosling made it down to the adults. Volunteers looked and found a second at the bottom of the nest tree that night but parents were elsewhere. I do not think that they found the third. I will try to get more up to date news.
Thanks so much for being with me today! Take care everyone. We hope to see you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, tweets, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘A, Geemeff, H, MB, MP’, Dyfi Osprey Project, Cornell RTH, Suzanne Arnold Horning, @CornellHawks, Red-tail Hawk Tales, Window to Wildlife, Heidi McGrue, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, Linda McElroy, Frenchman’s Creek, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Lake Murray, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, Laura Rose, Eagle Country, Cardinal Land Conservancy, World Bird Sanctuary, Carol Mandis-beadle, IWS/Explore, Geemeff, Pam Breci, and PIX Cams.
*Every effort has been made to credit individuals for their notes, videos, photographs, etc. If I have inadvertently missed someone, please let me know so I can rectify that oversight.*
Earth day is the 22nd of April but we have celebrations today across my City so that everyone can participate as Monday is not a holiday.
Today is Earth Day. It is a day for us to remember that conservation, sustainability, biodiversity, and working together to help create a healthier planet for our wildlife and us are paramount. There are many events and initiatives. “The 2024 theme for Earth Day, “Planet vs. Plastics”, calls to advocate for widespread awareness of the health risk of plastics, rapidly phase out all single-use plastics, urgently push for a strong global agreement on plastic pollution, and demand an end to fast fashion.” (Canada Gov). “For over 50 years, Earth Day has been celebrated across the planet as a way to educate the masses about the environment, enact conservation efforts, and promote action towards the environmental movement. It’s a day of action to adjust human behavior and create policy changes for the good of Mother Earth. The annual event is marked with a wide range of events that are coordinated globally by earthday.org—reaching 1 billion people in more than 193 countries!” (Pioneer Woman)
‘The Girls’ and I are working hard to completely end our use of plastics and continue to ‘forest’ our urban garden. This year we will be planting 5 native shrubs along with four new native trees. It only makes a dent. The City’s Million Dollar Tree Project has only planted 44,000 trees, and the City has been cutting down diseased trees to the point that neighbourhoods have lost their gorgeous ambience with the birds and squirrels losing homes. We can all help by doing our part – and often it is close to home. What will you be doing to celebrate Earth Day? I suggest a short walk or a sit outside!
Correction: At the Lake Murray Osprey Platform in 2023, the third hatch was the victim of siblicide. The older two were taken from the nest by the GHO.
Morning Updates to eggs and hatches: The first egg has been laid at Tweed Valley by Mrs O and FKO at 11:35. Likewise, Asha at RSPB Loch Garten has laid her first egg at 10:47. Flo and Harry at Alyth have egg three at 06:53 and the first hatch has happened overnight at Lake Murray in the US.
Dorcha has not been able to catch a break so far this season.
We have been watching several nests getting ready for hatch watch. We should be having pip/hatch watch for Big Red and Arthur at Cornell in a week. On Saturday Arthur spent a lot of time incubating the eggs before Big Red took over later in the day. I wonder if her leg is bothering her and if it helps to have Arthur there during the day since she has to be there all night and if the position over the eggs doesn’t put strain on that leg.
But what is happening at Captiva? The first egg is 42 days old today. Too late to hatch. That would make the second egg 39 days and well, if it was the one that was crushed and went into a bean shape, then that leaves us with eggs 3 and 4. Will they be viable? Egg 3 is 36 days and should pip right away and hatch soon I it is going to. It is late and some believe that no osprey eggs ever hatch this late on the Barrier Islands.
Moorings Park. Harry Delivered a Fish at 0907 much to the delight of Sally who chirped when she saw him approaching the nest.
Harry comes in with a second small fish at 1044 and Tuffy will get some bites this time. Fish were small. Hoping for larger ones.
Tuffy with his/her feathers coming in.
Harry brought in a nice big chunk of fish at 1412 and Tuffy did get some of that fish. Ruffie is being a bit of an agro.
Fish at 1648.
Tuffy had some first bites – for about seven minutes -.
Tuffy had a good day and notice in the last image how ‘healthy’ and how beautiful he is.
It is Sunday morning and Tuffy is enjoying breakfast.
E23 still likes to be a ‘nestling’ and F23 and M15 like having her/him at home. This nest is a very good reminder of how post-fledge should work – fledgling returns to nest, adults bring food, fledgling learns to fly better and strengthen their wings, fledgling observes and learns to hunt all the while being fed by adults.
Thankfully M15 and F23’s nest is reasonably secure but those GHOs did visit. The GHOs and Canada Geese are taking over the eagle and osprey nests at other sites. This situation is not good at Cape May Meadows as ‘H’ is watching for Hera to lay her first egg. GHOs are formidable enemies and are top Apex raptors. They have taken many osplets off nests and injured and killed other raptors. They might be ‘wise’ – all of our feathered friends are – but they are also dangerous, not soft and cuddly!
GHOs took over the Wolf Bay Osprey platform this year in Alabama. I thought there were two owlets but only one is on the nest and waiting for adults to deliver food. Do you follow this nest? Do you know what happened to the other owlet?
Late spring snows have been hitting the nests in and around Montana and Colorado.
This is Boulder County Fairgrounds on Saturday.
The snow is gone at Dunrovin and Swoop is on the nest with his potential new mate.
Three eggs at Clark PUD.
It is nice in Scotland and Blue NCO was right on time with her second egg.
There are now three eggs at the Foulshaw Moss nest of White YW and Blue 35 in the Lake District.
The cam at UFlorida-Gainesville is frozen. There has been rain or so it appears. Do we still have three osplets? Can’t tell. They are under Mum.
At Tweed Valley, it seems to be a bit of a nest swap.
I have been very worried about the fate of Black-Stork Karl II’s family since he was electrocuted in Turkey last fall on his migration south. I have contacted Maria Marika on Saturday and there is no news. She is also concerned about Kaia. The younger storks she tells me return to the north the end of April. I hope we have some news of Bonus and Waba. Last word on Bonus was his battery did not charge on 28 August 2023.
The Royal Albatross Centre asks us to imagine what it would be like if there were no albatrosses. Today, they are protected (have a read how this happened), but what will happen with warming seas and overfishing and if the long haul trawlers do not change the way they load their lines.
I was able to confirm from ‘VV’ that Star and Louis did return before Iris. For a moment I fantasied about whether or not, if Star had not returned, would Louis turn out to be a good mate and provide for Iris and any osplets. — Well, squash that idea.
Loch Garten. Impossible to tell if there are any eggs. Look at that nest!
Great Bay has three eggs. The last one was laid on the 19th of April.
I don’t know why, but I still worry about that tiny third hatch at Little Miami Conservancy.
Bonnie and Clyde’s two eagles at Cardinal Land Conservancy are doing quite well.
Oh, just look at them all lined up being so civilised. They have their Mohawks and are getting their pin feathers – these are the Majestic eaglets from Denton Homes near Decorah, Iowa.
Almost at the precise stage of development, the Decorah North eaglets are quickly losing the downy soft white plumage of their heads and their pin feathers are clearly noticeable.
It was raining in Texas. JBS20 was lured to the nest for a meal.
ND-LEEF eaglets are getting their thermal down and are doing well – it is so good to see so many healthy and well cared or.
Swampy is still on the nest but continues to branch higher and higher. S/he will take to the skies shortly. Let us all hope that Swampy returns to the nest over and over again like JBS20, E23, Cal, and the others who have survived this year to fly.
I realise that camera angles make objects appear larger or smaller depending on the position and angle. That said, just look at how large the eldest chick of Thunder and Akecheta is compared to Akecheta!
Andor and Cruz with their two eaglets. What a beautiful image.
Well, I will say it. I wish more food were coming to the Duke Farms nest for the two eaglets.
Sassa Bird reports that White-tail Eagle Milda, whose partner Hugo has disappeared, finally had a full crop after leaving the nest on Saturday to eat. The eggs were not harmed in her absence.
Have you seen this very informative 25 minute film about the White-tail Eagles in Latvia? Please watch! These are such beautiful and rare birds. It follows the life of the couple from nest building, to an egg tragedy, to a fledge.
Close monitoring of the nests and the eagles in Latvia gives researchers much information on these large raptors.
Thank you so very much for being with me today. We look forward to having you with us again soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, H, MM, SB, SP, VV’, Earthday.org, Geemeff, Cornell RTH Cam, Window to Wildlife, Moorings Park Ospreys, SK Hideaways, Heidi MC, Wolf Bay, Boulder County, Dunrovin Ranch, Clark PUD, Colin Douglas, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, UFlorida-Gainsville Osprey Cam, Tweed Valley Osprey Project, Royal Albatross Centre, Montana Osprey Project, RSPB Loch Garten, Great Bay Ospreys, Little Miami Conservancy, Cardinal Land Trust, Denton Homes, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, JB Sands Wetlands, ND-LEEF, Eagle Country, IWS/Explore, Duke Farms, Sassa Bird, the LDF, and The Guardian.
We woke up to a little more snow Friday morning after the rain and snow mixed on Thursday. It is quite cool at 0 degrees C today compared to other days, and it is quite windy. That snow continued on and off during the day and has now accumulated late Friday night. I feel for the birds who do not know if it is winter or spring. They do better in the snow than in the rain as some of the food does not get sloppy and wet. There were hundreds and hundreds today and south of where I live, people had hundreds of Robins on their lawns pulling up worms!
I should introduce new readers to some of the garden animals so they know who I am constantly mentioning.
Dyson is the matriarch of the Grey Squirrel family. She is named after the inventor of the famous vacuum cleaner because of her skill in ‘sucking up peanuts’ faster than anyone! She is at least five years old; my diary tells me seven. Last year, she had three kits. They still come to the garden. She is much adored and has her own fan club! She is extremely healthy this spring. I love how her little fingers cup the small Black-oil seed and peanuts.
Little Red lived in our garden shed until it had to be torn down for the conservatory two years ago. I tried to build him a new house. Then we purchased a special squirrel house from Finland – Little Red didn’t like it and then Dyson ate the wood around the hole so she could get in and eat the peanuts I had placed in there to lure Little Red. Little Red was always alone. Then Miss Little Red arrived and well, now we have at least four Reds living in and about the garden.
A baby?
There are also Mr and Mrs Blue Jay, who are the parents of Junior, who had his little jays starting two years ago. He does not migrate, and last summer, we had two Blue Jay families living within 10 metres of the garden. The fledglings arrived and ate at the feeders. There are currently six Blue Jays around. I cannot wait for this summer. The garden could be filled with Blue Jays!!!!! Their colours are so magnificent, and the white pattern on the tip of their tails is different for each one – that is how I identify them. Junior’s feathers are a bit of a mess right now. It looks like he has been in a fight, as it seems a bit early for moulting. Indeed some of the feathers appear broken.
Then there is Mr and Mrs Downy, Mr and Mrs Hairy, and Mr Pileated that come throughout the day. I caught Mrs Downy on the suet this afternoon.
The European Starlings are having a feast in the large table feeder. Today they seem to be attracted to the suet while the squirrels – both Dyson and the three kits from last summer – and the two little Reds – forage for peanuts. I have not seen the Blue Jays so far and it is 1322 Friday afternoon.
Four cats bring me more joy than anyone could ever imagine. Missey arrived with Lewis on 2 November 2022; they were adopted from the Humane Society, which takes in stray cats and kittens. Sadly, we lost Lewis in September 2023. Calico lived in the garden and was dumped as a kitten (or so it seems). I lured her into being friends in the winter of 2023 and then once she had her kittens – only one survived (Baby Hope) – they moved into the house. It was quite the ordeal tracking her and then hoping the kitten would find us (it had left their nest and was eight weeks old). The most recent addition is Hugo Yugo, who is a rescue. Her mother was starved when she was carrying her seven kittens. As a consequence, Hugo Yugo continues to be the size of an 8-10 week old kitten despite the fact that she is now eight and a half months old. She was supposed to be a male but turned out to be a Ginger Female (only 20% of Gingers are female). She is a character. I would not part with any of them. They create a life around me that is like a symphony.
Missey has been talking to the Dark-eyed Juncos through the window and Hugo Yugo along with Calico and Baby Hope went into a food coma and have yet to surface.
Mamma Calico and Baby Hope. They posed. I could not believe it. My heart just stops every time I see them together – and they are like this most of the day unless eating or playing. Inseparable. Calico raised Hope. She would come and eat and run back to take care of her quickly. Hope was the healthiest feral kitten I had ever seen. Calico did a superb job. Cannot imagine them living on the streets.
And for those wondering who I am, well, I am a Retired Professor who has undertaken a long-term study of siblicide on Osprey nests. Last year, I increased the number of eggs observed to 341 with ‘H’. This year, we are aiming for 500. The results will be published when we have good annual comparisons – starting with 2 years and then moving next to 5 years. In 2023, many chicks were lost due to a Nor-eastern in the Chesapeake Bay Area and overfishing of the Menhaden. Perhaps that will not happen this year. I am not desensitised to the tragic events on the nests that have deaths – I take each one pretty hard. It is the joy of seeing the chick we might believed would perish thrive – to wonder at their perseverance, determination, and cleverness. Ultimately, I would like to see if these beaten chicks that do survive the nest to fledge have a higher return rate in the second year. Sadly, due to the fact that so few nests band their osplets, it is impossible to determine.
I want everyone to enjoy nature. To marvel at how beautiful the world is right outside our own windows and to realise how important it is to get out and breathe the air and listen to the birdsong. Life is stressful and it is one proven way to calm ourselves down!
Friday was a day for egg laying…I continue to tell everyone to mark their calendars. That third week in May is going to be a very busy one.
On Friday afternoon, 19 April, Dorcha was injured in an encounter with a large raptor—a golden eagle or a Sea Eagle—at Loch Arkaig. According to Geemeff, Ravens were escorting the large raptor out of the area when Dorcha got involved. Dorcha returned to the nest at 1501 with scratches, blood, and an injured leg.
The injuries to the right leg – it looks like a large puncture to me – can clearly be seen when Dorcha gets up from incubating her egg when Louis brings her a fish.
Poor Dorcha. She was due to lay her third egg and she did at 02:26 Saturday morning, the 20th of April. Hard incubation should begin.
I am expecting the third egg if there is to be one at Loch of the Lowes today, the 20th.
All eyes are on the eggs of Big Red and Arthur on the Cornell Campus anxiously awaiting the sign of the first pip.
Positively nothing at the nest of Angel and Tom. Is Tom missing? ‘A’ seems to think he is.
At Eagle Country, Swampy is going higher on the natal nest tree. S/he will fledge shortly. What a seemingly strong and healthy eaglet.
Tuffy had a Good Friday. Harry delivered a huge Tilapia at 0941 at the Moorings Park nest on Friday. Tuffy was in and out of the feeding, but by 1055 was finished and had a nice crop!
Tuffy has had big crops all Friday. This little one is eating well.
Later than the image above, after another fish. Harry must have an excellent spot to land these whoppers…
A fish arrived at 1423. Tuffy had a nice crop at the end of that meal, too!
Tuffy had a crop when the 1602 fish arrived. He looked but didn’t bother to go over and eat. He was full already.
A little bit of a fish came at 1831..Tuffy even got some!
It ‘feels’ like Tuffy and Ruffie have done nothing but eat all day. Each time I go and check Tuffy is up at the beak. If this little one continues to eat this much fish per day, we will have to change the middle letters of its name from ‘F’ to ‘B’. Sssshhhh. Don’t say it out loud. We don’t want to give the second hatch a complex. All kidding aside, Tuffy did really well on Friday. In fact, both were so full that Sally got to finish off a nice fish as the sun was setting on the nest.
First egg for Cowlitz PUD is 18 April! Love these folks. They put up metal fish grates to protect the osplets from being taken by the Bald Eagles!
Egg #1 or Bruce and Naha at Seaside on the 18th of April, too!
We have an egg at Oyster Bay on Long Island.
‘H’ reports: “Opal did it again…she laid the 4th egg at 17.46.” I caution new observers that this is a tough nest to watch if all eggs hatch and fish deliveries are few. Siblicide warning.
All three chicks at the Venice Golf and Country club platform look fine.
The camera has gone black again at Frenchman’s Creek. Now it is only listed as Private so I presume residents only that wish to sign up. We will sadly never know the fate of the two older osplets. I hope that they continue to self feed and that someone from Frenchman’s Creek will let us know if they fledge.
All three eaglets at Little Miami Conservancy have nice crops on Friday.
Snow on Finland’s Osprey nests.
Egg three at Llyn Clywedog nest of Seren and Dylan arrives on the 19th as well.
‘L’ reports: “New female at Charlo is OJ (Wakati) from 2018 Dunrovin nest. She’s got her leg banded.” This might get interesting. Happy for you Charlie if Charlotte does not show up!
Lucy and Kenny’s three eggs at Lake Murray Ospreys. For new viewers, a GHO took all three chicks off this nest in 2023. Former mate, Ricky died and difficult for Mum to feed, hunt, and offer security.
Iris was at her nest in Missoula, Montana on Friday.
It is hard to believe that these two are Liberty and Guardian’s little eaglets.
Lots of soft bedding for the two tiny eaglets at Fort St Vrain – and a good thing, too, as the snow began to fall Friday evening.
Port Tobacco’s only eaglet appears to be doing just dandy!
Do you have a dream to see the geese that winter in the UK? Before the climate changes so much that they stay in Greenland and Siberia? Here is a file to help you identify them. It is on my bucket list!
To my knowledge, all nests are doing well. The snow has again started, and I am behind in my data entry. I will check on some of the eagle nests tomorrow, along with what is happening at our hawk and osprey nests. Take care everyone. Thank you for being with us today.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, articles, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, L, PB’, The Woodland Trust, Geemeff, The Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), Cornell RTH Cam, Window to Wildlife, Eagle Country, Moorings Park, Cowlitz PUD, Seaside, PSEG, Forsythe Osprey Cam, VGCCO, Little Miami Conservancy, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Llyn Clywedog and CarnyXWild, Charlo Montana, Lake Murray Ospreys, Montana Osprey Project, FORE, XCel Energy, Port Tobacco Eagle Cam, BBC Countryfile, and Audubon.
*Disclaimer: Every effort is made to acknowledge those that provide information and material for my posting. If I have failed to credit someone, please do let me know so that I can correct this. Thank you,’
I want to thank one of our readers from Japan, ‘AM’ who sent the most beautiful images they took of a Sparrow Hawk and a Warbling White-Eye. Notice the magnificent cherry blossoms! It is spring in Japan and I would so love to have been there to see these birds in person. Thank you ‘AM’ for sharing with us! This is a wonderful way to start our day!
If you are not familiar with the Japanese White-eye, please have a read. The Canon Bird Branch Project provides some good information.
I had a question today that many of you might also be wondering about so I thought I would post it. Thanks, ‘AJ’ for allowing me to. The question: “I had a question about the Meadow situation. From what I saw, it appeared that Meadow did not eat for about 48 hours. She was fed around 10am the morning of her fall and then not rescued until she fell off the branch, two mornings later. I was wondering if there is some law preventing them from intervening unless the eaglet has fallen to the ground?” This is an excellent question and will help us to understand the complexity of the situation that Meadow was in. First, the Migratory Bird Act does now allow for anyone to approach a nest in North America during the breeding season without a permit from USFWS. Rescuers can get a permit if the nest occupants have been injured due to a human action – such as fishing line. We saw this at Dale Hollow and other nests. Other instances include infections that might be of interest to the public. We saw this at SW Florida when the two eaglets E17 and 18 had conjunctivitis. Neither of those cases would apply here because Meadow was blown out of the nest. You might recall the images of Meadow on the branch close enough to the nest for some to believe that Meadow might have been fed by the parents there or that Meadow might have been able to scramble up to the nest. A permit to rescue Meadow at that particular position might not have been given for two reasons: Rescuers arriving via rope or cherry picker might have caused Meadow to fall further causing injury or death OR those same actions might have caused Swampy to bolt and be injured or killed. Great caution has to be exercised in a situation like this. Still a permit has to be obtained and there has to be individuals skilled to make this type of rescue. The trees are quite tall. I do not know the terrain so I cannot comment on what could have been used or if anything could have. Permits take time. Getting a rescue team together takes time as well as the equipment. It is possible that was being undertaken – we might never know. What we do know is that Meadow fell. No permit is required to rescue an eaglet on the ground. That was what was done at that time. This was a very sad situation and there will be continuing debates over what should or could have been done, why postings were worded the way they were, and whether or not the infection weakened Meadow’s system and how its bone broke. A real tragedy for a much-loved eaglet. —– Thank you for this great question.
The same act applies throughout North America – the main law is the 1994 Migratory Bird Act. At times there have been some changes but anyone approaching a nest with occupants must have a permit.
It is such a relief to not have to worry about Tuffy. No more going to bed wondering if the little fella has to wait til nearly 1800 to eat or if he will be beaked continually. Now, we can sit back and watch Tuffy grow and that little bottom get even fatter. What a turn around – a wonderful event and, if we had not witnessed the struggle of this second hatch, we would not be finding the joy that we are now that the food competition appears to be over. Sally is a great Mum and all is well. Tuffy ate so much and is now enjoying a good sleep.
Tuffy had nice crops and could be found eating much of the time. Then Tuffy got all fired up and started a fight with Ruffie. ‘H’ is making a video. ‘PB’ posted a screen capture and I am adding a few more. It was a hilarious exchange. Watch Tuffy’s posture. The confidence is growing.
There was a surprise delivery of a fish tail at Moorings Park in the night caught by ‘H’. “4/18, At 0235 Harry made a somewhat clumsy landing on the nest in the dark. He was holding a small fish tail. It took the sleepy family a few moments to react. Sally was like: Harry dear, do you have any idea what time it is? lol. Lil’ Tuffy started chirping away. Ruffie was slow to wake up. Sally began to feed Tuffy some bites of fish at 0238, although Tuffy found it difficult to find Mom’s beak in the dark. Tuffy had only eaten 3-4 bites of fish by 0239, when Ruffie inserted herself in between Sally and Tuffy, and Tuffy reflexively moved away. Sally and Ruffie finished the fish tail by 0254.”
Cute little Tuffy. Seeing this baby getting bigger, chubbier’ is so nice.
The three osplets at Venice Golf and Country Club ate well on Wednesday.
Little Miami Conservancy third hatch 7 ate quite well on Wednesday.
There is incredible news coming out of Rutland Water. 1H1, the eldest of a clutch of all females of Blue 33 and Maya at Rutland in 2022 is in Germany! Now, did she meet a wonderful German osprey male during her wintering in West Africa that invited her to join him? Everyone is delighted. That clutch kept Blue 33 so busy – all big healthy females. You might remember it! I am in tears – tears of joy. I watched those three grow up and am so thrilled we know this one has survived. I look forward to seeing her chicks.
Did I ever tell you that Maya and Blue 33 are super Ospreys? No only do they set records for raising healthy chicks, but their return rate is going to shatter some records, also. Good DNA and good luck – that is what my friend Tiger Mozone says is needed. Well, this bird has both.
I posted the following on 2 July 2022 when 1H1 fledged!
A close up of the nest of Richmond and Rosie.
We might never know the fate of the two remaining osplets and the Mum (the Dad appears to be fishing fine) at the Frenchman’s Creek Osprey Platform. After the death by siblicide-starvation of the third hatch and observers questioning the health of the female, the streaming cam has gone black. Actually, it is completely removed from YouTube. Anyone who wrote to Frenchman’s Creek might have received a reply that this is only a technical glitch.
It is like you have never seen it before! Beautiful done footage of the nest of Louis and Dorcha at Loch Arkaig before the birds returned by the Woodland Trust (on X, thanks, Geemeff). Some screen captures:
It is snowing in Missoula, Montana and Iris has been at her nest. Louis came over to pay a visit. Now I know that many are going to be upset with me, but I would like to think that Louis will give Iris some attention, she will lay the eggs and then the Crows will eat them because Louis is busy with Star at the baseball field. Then Iris will go of and have a very leisurely summer catching award-winning size trout and warming herself in the sun. As someone said, maybe we have Louis to thank for Iris’s longevity. She has not had the stress of raising osplets since 2018. I hope she has a lovely serene spring and summer and returns to us again in 2025 to have all of this repeated again.
Iris shows us just how good she is. She brings one of her whoppers to the owl pole late Wednesday.
It is snowing in Colorado at the Dunrovin Ranch and Swoop is at the nest with his new mate. They probably wished they had waited a few days to return to the north!
Snow at Charlo Montana but it melted later in the day.
First egg at Boulder County Fairgrounds.
No eggs at Crooked Lake, yet.
Jack and Edie exchange incubation duties at Captiva. You can still see the bean shaped egg. We wait to see if any of the other eggs are viable. We are on hatch watch.
After her incredible reporting on the Moorings Park nest, ‘H’ is back monitoring all manner of other Osprey nests and brings us this news to be aware of this morning:
“At Captiva, Edie was listening to the eggs some more yesterday (4/17), but so far no pip seen in the IR lighting tonight.
Steve and Callie are both back at Hog’s Island. They may not actually use the Hog Island on-cam nest, but it will be a pleasant surprise if they do. Last season they simply protected the nest, and may have used another nest on the Island.
Oscar and Olivia at Severna Park have been bringing a lot of soft grasses to line the center of the nest, as well as a few clothing items, lol. Perhaps eggs soon.
Today is day 35 for egg #1 at Lake Murray, I don’t know if Lucy delayed incubation.”
Trudi Kron caught JBS20 returning to the nest in Texas in video:
JBS20 continues to return to the nest for prey. You want to see this: the chick fledges and returns to the nest. They might not do it immediately, but you want to see them return and follow their parents to the nest. Fantastic. Thank you ‘AE’.
The trio at Centreport seem to be doing well as per the post and image by Robert Schwartz. So happy!
Nothing sweeter than watching Liberty and Guardian with their eaglets.
Their dream of a family this year might have shattered, but Jackie and Shadow are as strong a bonded pair as ever. They dreamed, they hoped, they persevered. Now they are moving on. Good lessons for all of us.
Ask me how much I admire Isabella Tree and the rewinding of Knepp Farm and the return of the White Storks – you will get an earful and more.
Buky and Beth are incubating their eggs. The first one was laid on 7 April. Oh, we have 33-34 days on average to hatch so mark your calendars for 10-11 of May. Gosh, we are going to have some osplets hatching then, too!
There is a Black Stork at Nest 3 in Estonia. Is there a mate? And who is this stork? The nest in Estonia was found and a camera installed in 2022. According to Looduskalender :
“Nest site is situated in Pärnu county, near wind farm development area. That was the reason to track Kergu, male stork who nested here last year, as well as reason to install webcam. There are proposed some mitigation measures, like preparing better feeding conditions in other sectors of home range. Hopefully results of those measures will be visible also through webcam in time. The measures are at the moment in planning stage, yet. So if somebody has ideas for mitigation measures in that situation, those would be valuable to analyse in current situation.
Kergu has rings (incl. left leg 7047) since childhood, he has been ringed in 2011 as one of three chicks in nest situated about 10 km of current Kergu nest. Three chicks fledged in Kergu nest in 2022 and they were in good condition during ringing. Female in this nest we did not know, most probably she was without of rings. In 2023, here we did not see female in nest. Kergu refreshed nest properly, few times neighbour male Nurme visited the nest as well as not ringed immature individuals. But in general Kergu was in nest alone, listening neighbour bird species, like woodland owls, passerines, etc.”
A close up confirms that this is indeed the male Kergu 7047 at the nest.
In Latvia, we have, according to Sassa Bird, the hope for the couple Ogris and Urga at this nest of the former Jan and Janikka. Black Storks are so very rare in Latvia and Estonia and the loss of Karl II (and perhaps Kaia and the others, also) makes any presence of the Black Stork such a special rarity. I see below the nest a full stream which could provide frogs and little fishes for a family here. It would be wonderful if this happens. (Note: Please correct me if any of this information is wrong).
Want to know how to identify White-tail eagles in the UK?
Missing little falcons? The four are getting fed at Osaka!
Hawk Mountain’s first migration chart. They note, “The damp start to April has made for challenging migration, and counting, conditions. Low cloud ceilings and persistent rain kept our spring trainees off the rocks for the first three days of the season! In between showers and fog, the trainees have counted 302 raptors through April 15th. Highlights from the 14 species of raptors seen from the lookout include a sub-adult golden eagle observed April 11th and migratory bald eagles and ospreys dodging the local bald eagle pair. The first broadwing of the season passed the lookout on April 5, and numbers have been gradually increasing with 54 broadwings observed on April 15 giving the current high-count placeholder at 74 migrants. During the solar eclipse, clouds marred the 95% coverage, but the lookout continued to count sharp-shinned hawks migrating throughout the window.”
If you missed it, this man has spent decades recording the sounds and he knows the birds are disappearing.
Thank you so very much for being with me today. Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following or their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘AE, AJ, AM, Geemeff, H, MB, MM, PB, SB, SK, TK’, AM, Canon Bird Branch Project, Government of Canada, Moorings Park Ospreys, Pam Breci, Heidi Mc, VGCCO, Little Miami Conservancy, LRWT, The Woodland Trust, SF Bay osprey, Montana Osprey Project, Bird Watchers General Store, Dunrovin Ranch, Owl Research Project/Explore, Boulder County, Timothy Dygert Live Stream, Window to Wildlife, Hog Island Ospreys, Severna Park, Trudi Kron, Rob Schwartz, SK Hideaways, Knepp White Stork Cam, Mlade Buky, Looduskalender, Eagle Club of Estonia, LDF, BBC Countryfile, Osaka Peregrine Falcons, Hawk Mountain, and The Guardian.
Oh, it has rained on and off all day. During the break some very beautiful birds came to the feeders.
Purple Finch, Adult Male, Eastern. He is a beauty. Look at that underbelly with that iridescent pink on white. Or that solid pink necklace and darker red head. He is pretty gorgeous. Tory Peterson described the Purple Finch as a “sparrow dipped in raspberry juice”. How fitting.
Male Hairy Woodpecker moulting.
Baby House Sparrow. They have been busy.
The Blue Jays were very busy getting peanuts while the rain stopped.
The Dark-eyed Juncos are everywhere searching for those tiny Millet seeds I toss on the deck for them.
This is a non-breeding European Starling.
The girls were busy. They spend a lot of time watching the garden now that so many birds are there – normally a couple of hundred at a time. There is something always moving! Today, the rain also fascinated them.
Hugo Yugo is fascinated by the outside.
Calico watching the Juncos hop around during the rain.
The rain pouring down.
Missey is the only one that enjoys her collar and tag. She is the sweetest most compliant cat never fussing for a second when her teeth are cleaned or her nails trimmed.
Baby Hope.
Hugo Yugo looking up at Baby Hope getting ready to pounce and knock her of the top of the cat tree.
Some really good things happened on Tuesday marked by the expected, but still sad, passing of osplet three at Frenchman’s Creek. Eggs were laid, ospreys returned to their nests, and a fledgling was lured by Dad back at JB Sands Wetlands. The eaglet is safe, strong, and hungry. JBS 20 is now tired, too. Flying is hard work!
Louis and Dorcha have their second egg at Loch Arkaig! Oh, so happy.
The first egg for Laddie LM12 and Blue NCO at 10:49 on the 17th of April at Loch of the Lowes.
There is the first egg at Poole Harbour, too for CJ7 and Blue 022 at 15:40 on the 16th. We are going to be really, really busy right after the middle of May!
I would like to go back to Meadow or a moment. Many of us were confused by the statement of Audubon on the 8th of April that Meadow had no fractures in the X-Rays and then to read that s/he did, indeed, have fracture that caused the eaglet to be euthanised along with his other condition. A very knowledgeable individual who worked in veterinary medicine wrote to me. Meadow was diagnosed with Aspergillosis. “Aspergillosis is a noncontagious, opportunistic fungal infection—is caused by Aspergillus species. It is also known as a mycotic infection, which may cause a fungal pneumonia. Certain species have been reported to be more at risk for Aspergillus infection…Aspergillosis is a difficult disease to treat and cure, and treatment can take months. At the beginning of treatment, hospitalization is often required. Diagnostic testing for aspergillosis includes: blood work, fungal culture, serology, imaging, and endoscopy. Treatment includes: stabilization, stress reduction, fluid therapy with crystalloids, and correction of fluid deficiencies. Typically, birds present with vague and nonspecific signs (depression, inappetence, difficulty breathing, reluctance to fly/perch, drooped wings). Initial physical examination findings typically include weight loss, respiratory abnormalities (dyspnea, tachypnea, cyanosis), lethargy, polyuria/polydipsia, vocalizing, open-beak breathing, tail bobbing, and/or enlarged nares. Some affected birds can have biliverdinuria (biliverdinuria is a condition in birds that causes urine to turn green or yellow). It is associated normally with liver disease which results in poor feather quality.”
I understand that the diagnostics required are a complete blood count, radiographs that might show subtle lesions and later pneumonia or a breakdown of sections of bones, the thickening of the air acts. Serology or antibody tests are required along with DNA testing. Of course, on top of this, Meadow needed to be fed various types of food to get its strength up. We know our eaglet gained weight and then refused to eat, further complicating its progress. I was told that the disease causes great trauma to the patient. Add to that the physical trauma of falling out of the tree and having to survive on the branch for a period of 24 hours plus, without food and in the heat, makes the chances of surviving somewhat tenuous. With everything going on with Meadow, they could have easily missed the fractures and, this individual said, …”I don’t believe s/he would have survived the procedures to determine everything that was wrong (sic); or at the very least it would have been inhumane to put her/him through it all.” I am very grateful for these insights and thank ‘MP’ for taking the time to write to me so that we can all understand the great difficulties that Meadow was experiencing that ultimately led to euthanasia.
Wow. The second Isle of Wight White-tailed Eagle has crossed the English Channel. What an incredible distance!
‘H’ is so excited. Della laid the first egg of the Osprey season for 2024 at Mispillion Harbour Tuesday morning – and she got to see it when it happened on screen!
As you are aware, yesterday ‘H’ and I quit counting bites that Tuffy received at the meals in the afternoon. It was readily apparent that two events had happened. First, Harry is having great fishing and the fish that come to the nest are, by and large, very, very big. He delivered at least 5 a day, but often 7. The second event is the osplets have now exited the Reptilian Phase and have their feathers. The video that Heidi put together demonstrates precisely what Tuesday was like on the nest – best siblings, good buddies, sharing meals! It is wonderful! Smile and enjoy every minute.
BHA writes that the first egg was laid at the Port of Ridgefield Osprey nest in Washington State on April 16. This nest is new to the streaming cam community.
PB sent a message that the couple at the Omaha Public Power District nest at Fort Calhoun Station in Nebraska also have their first egg on the 16th of April. Gosh, we are going to be busy looking trying to keep up with all the hatches coming in May!
The two lads at the Duke Farms Eagle nest have been named by local school children. H44 is Cookie and H45 is Snickers! Cute.
There is a petition to change the speed limit and put up markers by the SW Florida nest of M15 and F23. This morning I was watching the Glacier Gardens new nest of Liberty and Freedom. You should see the fast traffic by that nest. In North America, many raptor nests are located near urban areas with high traffic. The first that comes to mind is Big Red and Arthur’s nest at Cornell. Thanks to a small group of dedicated locals, markers go up and the area is monitored when the hawklets fledge. I would like to see the traffic stopped at Cornell for those two months til the fledglings disperse from that area. All areas near raptor nests should be required to slow or stop, if at all possible, during fledging time including Glacier Gardens. Do you live near an active raptor nest near a busy highway or road? See what your Council says about traffic calming during this time! Smile and be persuasive.
Thank you to so many for caring and for all the messages about the situation at Frenchman’s Creek. . The third osplet passed after having a couple of seizures on Tuesday 16 April 2024. The nest was full of fish and the oldest sibling continued to beak it. We might never know what caused this turn of events. We will hope that Mum is able to continue feeding the new older siblings to fledge, but there could be something wrong with her. The older are trying to self-feed. The nest remains full of fish, and well, we wait to see how this nest sorts itself out. It is always difficult to lose a chick but one with its juvenile feathers is even more disturbing.
There is a new female Blue 500 at Border Ospreys to replace Samson’s Juno who did not return.
Blue 5F Seren has laid the second egg of the season on the nest she shares with Dylan at Llyn Clywedog. The time was 1318.
There are two beautiful White-tailed eaglets in a gorgeous tree in Poland!
We are on pip watch at the Captiva Osprey nest of Jack and Edie. Three out of four eggs remain.
There is no activity on the nest of Angel and Tom in Tennessee. ‘A’ brings us up to date as she impatiently waits for eggs: “I am SO impatient for Angel and Tom, but now that they have returned to their nest and are bringing bark to line the nest bowl daily, suddenly Tom disappears. It has been more than three days since he was last sighted at the nest, and the farmer says he has not spotted him anywhere around the property either (as I mentioned in my comment on your blog, he has not spotted a second nest either, or seen activity from Angel and Tom to suggest that there is one, which is one positive).I am seriously concerned at his non-appearance, as he had been a regular shadow for Angel, but I do try to reassure myself with two things.First, it is now up to Angel to lay. The nest is prepared – there is nothing further it needs or can fit really. And second, Tom’s plumage is the most perfect camouflage. These RTHs, as hawklets, as juveniles and as adults, are almost impossible to see amidst the dappled beams of sunlight and the various branches and leaves. So it would be quite possible for Tom to be perched quite near you and not see him at all. Okay, they’re not quite owl-like in that respect but they are good. Very good. Except of course for darling Angel, whose colouring probably makes her the preferred target she obviously is for those damned blue jays. In any event, there will be no eggs without Tom. So obviously, we are exceptionally worried and very much hoping these two have their own quiet private place where they have been canoodling and mating and generally doing their thing out of the way of prying human eyes. Talons crossed. “
Electra and her mate have returned to Cowlitz PUD in Washington State on Tuesday.
Ospreys are reported on the Exshaw platform near Canmore, Alberta. The streaming cam is not turned on as yet. ‘H’ reports that Soo and Olsen are at Osoyoos! The ospreys are coming north!
For those new to either Exshaw or Osoyoos, I would watch these with caution. There was a nest take over at Exshaw in 2023, the male was presumed killed, the intruders attacked the osplets. One osplet died on the nest and the other survived but no one knows how after she was repeatedly attacked and taken off the nest by the aggressive adult intruders. The Osoyoos nest suffers from the frequent heat domes that hit that area of British Columbia causing few fish to come to the nest and they are small. Chicks have been lost. One fledged last year.
*Caution*. Little Miami Conservancy. The little one LM7 did get some food but has been bonked by the older siblings that have kept it from eating at some meals.
Look where Swampy is! Having branched yesterday s/he is exploring higher.
The two eaglets at Redding are covered with thermal down. Aren’t they adorable?
They are fine at Kansas City also! Wichita and Cheyenne are growing nicely.
The two surviving eaglets at Fort St Vrain appear to be alright. One is an expert at getting out of the egg bowl!
Juvenile fledgling R6 of the WRDC nest visited home on Tuesday.
Decorah is getting rain! That thermal down is working like a great raincoat for the two eaglets of Mr and Mrs North.
We are anxiously awaiting for a pip at the Cornell Red-tail Hawk nest of Big Red and Arthur later this week.
*Caution*. The third osplet at VGCCO had a nice private feeding for about half an hour on Tuesday. Whew! It was intimidated by the older sibling most of the day.
Mamma Cruz takes good care of her two eaglets while Andor keeps that pantry filled.
Chandler was on and off the Port Tobacco nest multiple times on Tuesday. Some had been concerned that he was missing.
Dad and Gigi taking care of the two eaglets at the ND-LEEF nest in South Bend. They are getting their thermal down.
At the White-tail Eagle nest of Milda in Latvia, her new mate Hugo has been missing for a number of days. She is incubating two eggs and had not eaten for four days. On Tuesday she left the eggs a couple of times – and I hope she had some food. It will be impossible for her to raise these two eaglets on her own, sadly. She tried before. My heart goes out to her.
We know that there are areas that need more platforms for Ospreys, but as Port Lincoln points out, there is also a need for perches for our fish hawks.
Remember. If you know of an Osprey nest that I have not mentioned, please let me know the details. Happy to spread the word!
One of my favourite books next to Soaring with Fidel by David Gessner is being republished by Cornell!
Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, streaming cams, and articles that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, AE, BHA, Geemeff, H, J, KR, MM, MP, PB, SB, TK’, JB Sands Wetlands, Geemeff, The Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), Trudi Kron, Roy Dennis Foundation, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Heidi Mc, Moorings Park Ospreys, Port of Ridgefield Osprey Canm, OPPD, Duke Farms, Glacier Gardens, The Guardian, Frenchman’s Creek Osprey Cam, Border Ospreys, Sassa Bird, Window to Wildlife, Cowlitz PUD, Osoyoos Osprey Cam, Little Miami Conservancy, Eagle Country, FORE, FARMER DEREK, Fort St Vrain, WRDC, Raptor Resource Project, Cornell RTH, VGCCO, IWS/Explore, Port Tobacco, ND-LEEF, the LDF, Port Lincoln Ospreys, and David Gessner (Ospreys P).
It rained. The skies opened up late Tuesday night. I stood outside and listened to the drops falling; the wet earth’s smell was amazing. It is supposed to rain periodically on and off until Thursday, when things will change to a mix of rain and snow. We are finally getting the moisture that the prairies need, and it is wonderful. The grass will turn green immediately! The geese will have something to eat besides the dead blades they have been living on for weeks. The Robins will be busy pulling the worms out of the soil tomorrow. I wonder if the Starlings will join them? Or the Brown Thrashers? It will be interesting to see how ‘The Girls’ react when I open the windows a bit so they can get a sniff.
Today’s news is mixed. ‘H’ and I are celebrating the triumphs of Tuffy at Moorings Park and new Osprey eggs while another Osprey nest is struggling to survive, and our dear Meadow has died. I do not want to get desensitised to the struggles and the deaths, and I do not want you to either. Last year, significant declines in osprey fledges were observed, especially in the NE USA. This year, we see low numbers of eaglets fledging on the streaming cams. This impact will not be noticed for a couple of years, but it could be substantial in terms of the declining population numbers of these raptors. At the same time, we must celebrate those that survive. Remember those that we have lost or the ones struggling. Find the joy because it is there. On the day that Meadow died, Swampy branched. S/he looks very healthy. Others laid eggs, and Tuffy continued to eat without much interference.
What can I say? Devastating news coming out of Audubon. Meadow was euthanised. The stated reason was fractures to the wing as in the announcement below and poor condition. On the 8th of April, Audubon put out a post stating that they had not found any breaks or fractures. Everyone is quite sad about this and felt encouraged that Meadow would recover. I wonder if he damaged his wings while flapping about in care?
‘H’ did the first-morning feeding and turned the rest of the day over to me to monitor. I hope to do half as good a job as she does! Tuffy had an extraordinary day on Monday. This nest has turned around because of the regular deliveries of large fish and the willingness of Sally to feed her chicks continually throughout the day.
Tuffy had a very good Monday morning. The smallest chick at Moorings Park dominated the first feeding. At 10:20 a large whole fish was delivered by Harry. Tuffy still had a crop from the earlier feeding. Sally begins eating the head of the fish while Ruffy moves into position. Tuffy stays away. Tuffy is intimidated by both Ruffy’s presence and position but is not beaked. Ruffy dominates the entire first part of the feeding. Tuffy tries to get into a position to be fed but cannot. Sally is obviously hungry and fighting with the head of the fish. At 1045 Tuffy does an excellent PS. The little one begins to move. Tuffy gets bite 2 at 1046. Sally tries to give bites to Tuffy but Ruffy moves to get in the way. Tuffy cannot position itself. At 1048 there is still fish and Tuffy begins its private feeding while Ruffy is in food coma under Sally’s tail in the shade. Our little Tuffy managed to get 227 bites of fish at this second feeding. Well, done, Tuffy, for waiting your time. It was a large fish – plenty for all three!
The third fish of the day was a headless large fish delivered at 1252. Harry stayed on the nest for a few minutes. Today Ruffie is 25 days old and Tuffy is 22 days old. They are exiting the Reptilian phase and that could easily account for the more peaceful nest. At 1253 Ruffie had an excellent PS. Tuffy stays back from the feeding at the beginning. He has a large crop. Ruffie goes to eat. Indeed, Tuffy does not appear interested! At 1259 Tuffy begins to move. Ruffie notices and moves her head but does not beak. Tuffy moves closer to Mum at the back of the tail. Tuffy is positioning himself. At 1301, Tuffie has a second excellent PS for the morning. Ruffie moves away and Tuffie is in position to have its first bite at 1303. There is a nice portion of tail remaining. By 1305 Tuffy had 32 bites of fish. Mum is feeding fast. By 1310 Tuffy has had 78 big bites of fish and has turned away. Ruffie moves up to eat again. Eats its fill and Sally gets to enjoy that nice fish tail. Both of the osplets have eaten very well by 1320 on Monday with no physical aggression from Ruffie to Tuffy. Oh, Tuffie gets more. At 1328, he got 14 more bites so a total of 92 good bites of fish for the third feeding of the day. Well done, Tuffy! Those excellent ‘ps’ demonstrate this chick is not dehydrated and is doing well. This nest is changing for the better.
The fourth fish was a slightly headless sheepshead – gosh, which are tough fish for these mums to feed. That fish arrived at 1520. Both Ruffie and Tuffy have big crops. Ruffie is not interested. Tuffy gets right up to the table to eat. Sally cannot feed the fish quickly, and Tuffy is often impatient and picks up pieces of dropped fish from the moss to eat while he waits. Tuffy was fed until 1539, when he had eaten approximately 1/3 of the fish and was quite full, moving away so that Ruffie could have some fish. No aggression was shown during the feeding. Sally was still getting the meat off that fish at 1640! Tuffy never returned to the table.
The fifth fish arrives in 1811 and is a large half-fish. Tuffy is right up there. Ruffy moves to the table, but Tuffy keeps eating. Then, at 1814, Ruffy takes exception hovering over Tuffy to force him into submission. Rufy gets fed, but Tuffy is back up at the table eating from 1829 to 1839. At 1842, Tuffy did an enormous PS right over the edge of the nest! The fish is done around 1843. I did not count bites. It was obvious that all was well despite the single incidence of domination. The two have eaten very well today.
The sixth fish arrived at 1939. It was a partial large Sheepshead. Both osplets were up at the beak. Ruffy ate until Tuffy began at 1946. Tuffy was fed until 1953 when Sally quit feeding. There is lots of fish on the nest. Both osplets had full crops at bedtime.
Sally decided to have a late night snack without the kids!
Tuffy’s ‘ps’. This excellent poop shot going well over the edge of the nest is a testament to Tuffy’s good eating and health over the past day. ‘H’ and I are going to stop counting bites as long as things remain stable on the nest. Tuffy is going to survive this. Both osplets are getting their feathers and I will probably say it several times – they are growing out of the Reptilian Phase and we would expect the aggression to be ceasing as long as Harry continues to provide this level of fish and their regularity.
*Caution*. I continue to worry about the Mum at Frenchman’s Creek. There are still fish piled on the nest. She fed one chick and stopped. The big one is trying to self-feed. This Mum is not lazy, she is ill. I believe it is possible that she has Trichomonosis. It causes severe damage to the tissues of the mouth, throat, crop and esophagus and affected birds may drool saliva, regurgitate food, have difficulty in swallowing food and water, demonstrate laboured breathing and/or have a swollen neck or throat. Several ospreys have died because of this including the Mum at Janakkala Osprey nest in Finland. The Dad piled fish on the nest and the two osplets tried to self-feed. One survived if my memory serves me correctly. The fourth eyas at the CBD in Melbourne died from this disease.
The older osplet is attacking the smaller one. Sheer frustration. Nest full of fish and chicks starving. Mum ill. Very sad.
Older osplets desperately trying to feed themselves in a nest full of fish. Little one has been beaked – leaning over top of nest. Has not eaten for a couple of days and will likely die shortly unless a miracle happens.
Mum is feeding the two older chicks this morning. The third chick is close to dying and by the time you read this will probably have passed.
The ospreys are into hard incubation at Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home with three eggs in the nest.
Only 5 goslings survived the leap of faith at the Decorah Goose Nest on Monday morning between 0802-0804. Believe it or not, another goose rushed to the nest and began laying eggs at 1030! It is quite a year. The Goose eggs are expected to hatch on Nest 2 in about a week.
Here is the live cam from Nest 1.
More Osprey eggs laid in the UK On Monday.
CJ7 and Blue 022 laid their first egg at Poole Harbour at 1540 on Monday. Congratulations!
Harry and Flora laid their first egg at Alyth at 1101.
Idris and Telyn have their second egg of the season at Dyfi at 0801 precisely 72 hours after their first egg was laid.
Audacity and Jak had another egg laid today at Sauces Canyon. The time was 14:55. You can see the flattened thin-shelled egg below in the image. So sad for them.
A little branching but both feet were off the nest bowl for Swampy at Eagle country at 1524 on Monday.
Both eaglets at Duke Farms are little boys. I don’t think this is a big surprise. Their aggression was only limited to a bit of time when prey was scarce.
Wichita and Cheyenne are doing fine at the Kansas City Bald Eagle nest.
It was difficult to tell how much prey the third hatch at Little Miami Conservancy received today. This nest could warrant a *caution* in watching for now.
Johnson City eaglets are big and doing great.
It looks hot on that Osprey platform at the University of Florida at Gainesville. Stella and Talon still have three osplets! What a nice sight to see as I have missed checking on them for a couple of days. The difference between the first and third hatch had me worried, but so far, so good.
Big Red and Arthur’s eggs were laid from the 17-26 of March. The average period for Red-tail Hawks to hatch is normally between 28-35 days, according to most of the guides. Last year, Big Red’s first egg hatched on the 37th day. I have tried to avoid the nervous energy of an expectant auntie….but we are entering the time when we can all get excited.
First Bald Eagle Hatch at White Rock in British Columbia, Canada announced today by Hancock Wildlife that oversees the nest.
The fourth and I believe final egg at the Peregrine Falcon nest in Japan has hatched. Just look at the size difference. It will be a joy to watch that little one catch up.
A glimpse of a day with Hartley and Monty in San Jose.
Smile. Bradley returns with another Puffer! Oh, he reminds me of Ervie.
And another reason to smile. Murphy who incubated a rock and got an eaglet to raise last year will get another chance this year. How wonderful. It is a win-win!
Concerns for White-tailed eagle Milda this year as her mate Hugo has not been seen for four days. She has protected the nest of eggs from intruders but needs desperately to eat. This so reminds me of the year Ramis was killed. Milda, go eat!
For all the lovers of our gal Iris at Hellgate Canyon, a young male visited her nest yesterday and tried mating with our gal. Keep your eye on that nest!
That’s it for today. I spent my day watching Tuffy which was a sheer delight after the news of Meadow. Please take care. Thank you for being with us.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘H, PB’, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, Moorings Park Ospreys, Frenchman’s Creek Ospreys, Raptor Resource Project/Explore Decorah Goose Cam, Poole Harbour Osprey Project, SSEN Alyth Osprey Cam, Dyfi Osprey Project, IWS/Explore, Eagle Country, Duke Farms, Farmer Derek Kansas City Bald Eagle nest, Johnson City-ETSU, UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey Cam, Cornell Red-tail Hawk Cam, Hancock Wildlife Foundation, the Japanese Peregrine Falcon Cam in Osaka, SK Hideaways, Port Lincoln Ospreys, World Bird Sanctuary, Raine and LDF, and BirdGuides.
Today is full of some good news and some worrying news. As I reminded everyone yesterday, the nests and lives of our feathered friends are not easy. A nest full of happy, well-fed chicks can change in an instant, and that is precisely what might be happening at the Frenchman’s Creek Osprey platform. Across the pond, at Loch Arkaig, dear Louis and Dorcha welcome their first egg with great joy. We never know what will happen. We need to rejoice in the good times, and when we can, we need to reach out and help those birds near us – even if it is just a life-saving bowl of water. It could make all the difference in their life.
Sunday was another gorgeous day on the Canadian Prairies. Everyone is outside in their summer attire despite the nippy wind that is gusting between 30-45 kph. The girls have spent time sniffing out the open windows in the conservatory wishing they were not ‘imprisoned’ in a house! I continue to tell them it is for their own good and the good of those birds that they are so interested in! Calico now has a hassock pulled up to the window. Her and Hugo Yugo are imagining what it would be like running around and chasing the Dark-eyed Juncos they are so interested in. Oh, I adore them!
The garden was busy! It is migration. We had birds visit that I have never seen at our feeders and at the bird bath drinking water. So, I urge all of you to put out water and if you can, some food. Shallow bowls work wonders. You do not need a birdbath! Put in some rocks to get out if they slip in the bowls.
The Red-winged Blackbird was so thirsty and hungry. It foraged all under the feeders and we put additional food on the ground hoping that there was something in the songbird mix that it would find appealing.
Oh, I love it when the Starlings come. Look at that beautiful plumage. I love the purple on their chest that blends with the iridescent blacks, blues, and greens, and the little kisses of gold. This bird has its breeding plumage. Hopefully, some little Starlings will be coming to the garden to feed in the early summer.
The Starlings particularly like the suet. Normally I would have meal worms for them – this week will mean a visit to the shop.
The six Blue Jays were busy trying to get peanuts in-between Dyson & Co visiting the feeder.
The Dark-Eyed Juncos are everywhere. They love Millet so if you have them in your garden spread the millet on the ground. They will find it.
The other new bird in the garden was a White-winged Crossbill. According to the Cornell Bird Lab, these songbirds, “…inhabit coniferous forests, feeding primarily on spruce and tamarack seeds. Like Red Crossbills, they occur throughout forests of balsam fir and red, black, white, and Engelmann spruce. However, they are scarce or absent in most pine, hemlock, and Douglas-fir forests occupied by Red Crossbills. During periods of low food supply, many White-winged Crossbills wander far out of range. At such times, they frequent habitats that vary from weedy fields to ornamental plantings to pine forests. Their preference is for spruce species, and during irruption winters, they are attracted to small stands of spruce, as often found in older cemeteries, arboretums, or university campuses.” I have never had one in the garden before and, I am wondering if this is because of a very low food supply and an extreme loss of habitat by the continual construction of homes on prime agricultural or bird habitat land.
I went to check on the state of the ducks. There were a few at an industrial park pond.
The water in the agricultural fields has dried up and not a feathered friend to be seen. It is possible that we and they are going to be in for a big shock in a few days as the forecast is for either heavy snow or lots of rain. They are not sure which. It doesn’t matter. We need the moisture and I hope it materialises.
I also stopped in at a small antique and collectible shop, and look what I found—an old-fashioned pet carrier just the right size for Hugo Yugo. It reminds me of the ones that are sometimes seen on the television series from the Yorkshire Dales, All Creatures Great and Small. This one needs a good latch. That could prove to be a challenge.
Louis won our hearts during the pandemic with the triplets he raised with Aila. Here he is getting a look at his first egg of the 2024 season with dear Dorcha. He does always seem to be surprised!
Later, Louis brings Dorcha a lovely fish and takes over incubation duties.
Louis and Dorcha made the BBC news with that egg!
Tuffy did not get a lot of fish at the first feeding according to ‘H’ who patiently waited to see if the tide on the nest would change.
Harry brought the first fish of the day at 0958, a medium sized whole fish. Tuffy received two bites but was then forced away by Ruffie, and then Ruffie ate. Tuffy seems to be getting clever… he crawled over the rail sticks, and went around in front of Sally and ended up on her left side away from Ruffie, and ate a couple more bites. Well, Ruffie was on to Tuffy’s little scheme, and didn’t like what she saw at all! Ruffie dove under Sally’s head to get at Tuffy with such force that she knocked Sally backward. Tuffy moved away and Sally resumed feeding Ruffie. At 1005 Ruffie was still being fed, but just could not leave well enough alone, so she went behind Sally to the side and beaked Tuffy who was already in submission. Then Ruffie wedged herself between Tuffy and Sally, and ate some more. At 1016 Ruffie was still eating, but decided to back up, and went across the nest to beak Tuffy again. Ruffie ate some more. Persistent Lil’ Tuffy then went around the nest to end up on Sally’s right side (away from Ruffie), and received a few more bites of fish. Ruffie saw Tuffy eating, and did not immediately react. But, after a minute she decided to intimidate Tuffy into moving. At that point, Ruffie was not eating, but just policing. Sally gave Tuffy the last two bites of the fish. Total fish bites for Tuffy = 18.
The second feeding of the day was tough for Tuffy as ‘H’ reports”
…At 1043 Harry delivered another whole fish, a live ladyfish, that was not very big or meaty. It would take a very nice and pleasant sibling for Tuffy to get much to eat from this fish. Tuffy moved aside, and Ruffie ate. By 1100, Ruffie had stopped eating, and Tuffy received his first bite. However, Tuffy was positioned precariously close to the edge of the nest. By 1102, Tuffy had eaten 16 bites of fish, when Ruffie decided to dominate, went over to Tuffy and nearly forced him off the nest. Ruffie then ate some more. At 1104 Ruffie was no longer eating, only Sally was eating, but Ruffie was laying down right at Tuffy’s tail, forcing him to stay where he was. Sally finished the fish by 1109. Finally by 1114, Tuffy was attempting to extricate himself from that dangerous spot, so he inched sideways toward Sally on firmer nesting, and then he had a great PS. Total bites for Tuffy from this fish = 16.
‘H’ checks on the 1307 feeding:
…At 1307 Harry delivered a very meaty prepped sheepshead fish. Tuffy was closest to Sally but backed off as Ruffie approached, and she began eating. Sally soon moved the fish to Tuffy’s advantage and he got 3 bites, but was intimidated by Ruffie and moved away. Tuffy moved back within beak-reach of Sally, and grabbed bites when he could. For the most part, Ruffie was less aggressive at this meal, tolerating the close proximity of Tuffy. But, at 1316 and 1318, she did intimidate Tuffy enough so that Tuffy moved away for a short while. Tuffy would inch closer and again grab bites from Sally. By 1322, Ruffie was finished eating for a while, although she stayed close by. Tuffy began a long stretch of solo eating, and had eaten a total of 246 bites by 1339. At that time, Tuffy took a PS break and Ruffie woke up and wanted more fish. By 1345 Ruffie retired from the meal again, and Tuffy had another long private feeding. Tuffy had eaten 286 bites by 1350 at which time Ruffie wanted a few more bites, and she and Sally finished the fish.
Despite everything, ‘H’ tells us that Tuff did manage to eat over 500 bites of fish on Sunday. by 1715:
…At 1604 Harry brought a large headless tilapia, guaranteed to allow for a decent meal for Tuffy. Ruffie started eating, and Tuffy was waiting in the rear, crop-dropping in anticipation. Well, Tuffy couldn’t wait, and at 1610 he approached, and got beside Ruffie who proceeded to drive him back to the rail and beak him. At 1612, Ruffie took a break from eating, but laid down where Tuffy could not easily get by her. At 1618 Tuffy did scoot around Ruffie, and Mom started giving him some bits of fish. By 1619 Ruffie was back, intimidated Tuffy, and Ruffie ate some more. Sally reached to her right and gave Tuffy a couple of bites, much to the displeasure of Ruffie who intimidated Tuffy and caused him to scurry away. At 1623 Ruffie was finished eating and moved away…but Tuffy hesitated to come back. By 1624 Tuffy was back at the table, but it didn’t last long, as Ruffie returned at 1626. Ruffie ate until 1629. Again, Tuffy hesitated, and Sally ate. Tuffy returned and ate at 1630, but golly, Ruffie was back eating at 1631. Tuffy moved over to Sally’s right side, and she was feeding Tuffy several bites of fish over her right shoulder, while still feeding Ruffie. Ruffie could have put a stop to this ‘conspiracy’ between Mom and the little brother…but she didn’t. By 1633 Tuffy had eaten a total of 49 bites during this meal. At 1636 Ruffie moved away, and Tuffy had a nice private feeding. Tuffy had eaten 174 bites of fish by 1648, when he started to reject Sally’s offerings. At 1649 Tuffy shuffled over to the rail and laid down beside Ruffie. There was still a decent amount of fish left, and Sally had a nice meal. At 1709, Lil’ Tuffy lifted his head, Mom came closer, and began giving her little youngster some more fish. Tuffy had eaten at least 202 bites of fish by 1712, and then he laid down again. At 1714 Sally was pulling the last bits of meat off the fish tail, and fed a couple bites to Ruffie, when Ruffie suddenly decided she had better lay-down-the-law again… went over to Tuffy at the rail, and bit him on the neck a few times. So far today, Tuffy has eaten at least 522 bites of fish.
The last feeding and report from ‘H’ for Moorings Park on Sunday:
…At 1825 Harry shared a small piece of fish tail with his family. Sally fed Ruffie, and Tuffy did not approach the table at all. The piece of fish was finished in just over 3 minutes.
Tuffy ate very well first thing Monday morning so all is well at Moorings – indeed, it is unusual for the little one to do so well at breakfast so, yes!
At 0637 Harry arrived with a headless tilapia, and it took a while for the kids to wake up. Tuffy got the first bite at 0639, but was beaked by Ruffie. See you later, Tuffy. Ruffie ate. At 0648 and 0650 Ruffie inflicted a little reinforcing intimidation upon Tuffie. At 0706 Ruffie moved away from the table, and Tuffy moved toward his mom. Then, it was Tuffy’s turn to eat some breakfast. Tuffy had eaten 125 bites of fish by 0719, when Ruffie returned. Tuffy immediately turned and tucked. Tuffy inched closer to Sally and got another couple of bites at 0731, and was promptly ‘scolded’ by Ruffie. Ruffie turned away from Sally again at 0733, and she did not return to the table again during this meal, nor did she harass Tuffy. Tuffy feasted, and he was noted to be crop dropping a few times. Tuffy had eaten at least 256 bites of fish by 0753, when Sally downed the fish tail.
The third hatch at Fort St Vrain has died on Sunday. It had gotten out of the egg cup and rolled on to its back and appeared not to be able to right itself. The COD is not entirely clear but Elfruler notes and it sounds reasonable, “Lying on its back at this age constricts the air passages, it probably died of asphyxia. Chicks don’t begin using their lungs and air sacs until after the internal pip, and it takes a while for the system to be fully functional. Same thing happened at the John Bunker Sands nest in January, the chick ended up outside the cup on its back and couldn’t turn itself over.”
There are concerns that JBS20 has not returned to the nest (JB Sands Wetlands) since fledging Sunday morning. This is the area around the nest in the tower. ‘AE’ provided these images of the nest and the surrounding area, along with a screen capture of Dad waiting for JBS20 to return to the nest.
Trudi Kron has it on video!
All of the goslings at the Decorah Goose Cam have hatched successfully. The most likely date for their leap of faith is today – Monday the 15th of April – to the stream below the nest.
There was much concern yesterday about the Mum at Frenchman’s Creek. Fish were stacking up and she had not fed the chicks. I have received news from ‘PB’ that Mum is back feeding the chicks on the Frenchman’s Creek Osprey nest Monday morning. Wonderful news. And there she is with them below this morning! Let’s hope all is well.
Meanwhile, all appears to be well with the Venice Golf and Country Club osplets.
It looks like we have the first egg of the season from Harry and Flora at Alyth!
Despite their sadness, Jackie and Shadow demonstrate that love overcomes everything as they move on from their disappointment.
We are waiting for eggs at the Loch of the Lowes in Scotland with Laddie LM12 and Blue NCO. Blue NCO looked a little ‘eggy’ on Sunday. Fingers crossed.
Blue 022 worked particularly hard on the nest at Poole Harbour that he shares with his mate CJ7 on Sunday. It looks pretty comfy.
The genome of the Night Parrot has been sequenced for the first time. “Scientists have sequenced the genome of Night Parrot, one of the world’s rarest and most enigmatic birds, for the first time.The breakthrough by researchers at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) – Australia’s national science agency – is expected to provide valuable insights into the parrot’s genetics and biology, potentially informing conservation strategies for this recently rediscovered bird, with a live parrot only photographed as recently as 2013.”
Thank you so much for being with me today. This was a hop, skip, and jump around less than a handful of nests today. To my knowledge, the others are doing alright. And, I forgot. The Redding eaglets are the first clutch, one egg broke. I keep saying second clutch and for the life of me I do not know why! Take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, videos, photographs, screen captures, postings, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘AE, Geemeff, H, MM, PB, SP, TK’, Gemeff, BBC, Moorings Park Ospreys, Fort St. Vrain, JB Sands Wetlands, Trudi Kron, Alyth SS, SK Hideaways, Frenchmen’s Creek, VGCCO, Bird Guides, The Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), Poole Harbour Ospreys, and Wiley Molecular Ecology.
*Disclaimer. Every effort has been made to acknowledge those that have provided material for my post. If I have inadvertently missed thanking someone, please let me know so that the omission can be rectified. Thank you.*
