It feels like summer again, but the tips of the trees tell me that it is decidedly pre-fall on the Canadian prairies. Migration is definitely underway. The ducks had left the pond at Assiniboine Park, while the Canada Geese are fattening up on the golf courses around the City. We continue to enjoy the fantastic weather and spend most of our time outside. The Girls (for the most part) and Toby are doing well, and I can tell you that a new sense of calm has come over the house. My husband is doing very well.
The only hiccup in the ointment is Baby Hope. Nine days ago, something happened. We do not know precisely what happened, so we cannot place blame. Baby Hope is injured. She had been play wrestling with her Mum, Calico. But then there is Toby. It appears that ‘something’ got caught in her fur and tore a slit through the fur about 7 cm or 3 inches long. Two days ago, it had healed, but today it is oozing again. The underlying issue is that Hope is partially feral. She will allow us to sit next to her and give the occasional strokes. I cannot put antibiotic ointment on the wound, but she allowed me to see it this evening. Tomorrow, I will see if any of the mobile vets have experience with ‘these cats’. Wish us luck. Hope never complains. I might never have known she was hurt if I hadn’t paid particular interest in her face that morning. She is eating and has never stopped. She loves flowers and always enjoys the ones I bring from the farm, which are pet-friendly. Send her some love.
And if Hope’s injury was not enough, then there is missing Xavier. My heart has sunk to great depths. It has been a wretched year. You might hear me saying that a lot.
At Orange, Australia, Peregrine Falcon Scrape, there is hope tinged with a hint of potential sadness. My heart sank when I saw this. I adore Xavier. His name means ‘Saviour’, and that is what he did – he saved Diamond’s clutch when her previous mate did not return after eggs were laid. Xavier took care of Diamond and the chicks, and she then bonded with this wonderful lad. Was that nine or ten years ago? This was posted on Thursday, and I know that you will be as concerned as I am for Xavier. Please send your good wishes to him!
In the wild, peregrine falcons typically live an average of four to five years, although they can live much longer, with some documented cases reaching 15 to 20 years or more. High mortality rates, particularly in their first year due to learning to fly and other factors, shorten the average lifespan, but survival improves for adults. The record for a banded peregrine falcon in North America is 19 years and 6 months. This fall, Diamond is at least 12 years old, and Xavier is at least 11 years old. Diamond arrived in Orange in 2015 and Xavier in 2016, and since peregrine falcons typically begin breeding at 2–3 years old, they would have been at least that age when they started their courtship at the Orange falcon scrape.
And then there was the missing MO from Dunrovin Ranch Osprey Nest, who was seen to have a very raspy voice. Sadly, she has been found dead. The other three have been returning to the nest. So sad. It has been a wretched year. Thank you ‘PB’.
‘A’ sends us the Ranger reports for the WBSE:
August 26: An early feed at 6am – both fed with no pecking, but SE35 had more. Then Lady settled again. Soon after another short feed. It was a sunny, warm morning. The nestlings were left uncovered in the morning for over six hours – parents often close by with duets and matings seen. Dad brought in a trevally (fish) after 12, and both ate more. Dad came in to the fishy remains later and fed them as well. Lady came with a really big fish after 3pm, and fed more. Seven good feeds today, and then last thing, Dad fed them a few extra mouthfuls. They were uncovered in the afternoon until Lady came in at last light. She was standing by them – will she cover them now?
August 27: Lady spent the main part of the night just covering the nestlings, rather than complete brooding. It was a milder night, and after an early morning duet, she fed them from the remaining tail end of the fish. Both ate, SE36 second. Later, SE35 was busy grooming its itchy down, with a very full crop. Dad came back with a bream just after 7am, grabbed by Lady and fed to the young. SE36 did very well. She then went to cover the chicks. After some time, Lady was up and eating some herself. She then fed them both well again – three feeds before 9am. Dad came in and ate some fish – the youngsters were full and not interested. Late in the afternoon, Dad bought in another two fish, and during the day there were a total of seven feeds. The day became cooler and Lady spent longer brooding than she did yesterday. At the end of the day, she was over the chicks, settled for the night.
August 28: Last night was colder and Lady slept over the chicks, only partly covering them as they get bigger. She left in the morning just after 6am. Dad brought leaves in early and later a big stick, dropped on the chicks and then moved by Lady. Both were bringing in more leaves – and the wind was becoming stronger. The chicks were huddled together in the nest bowl, uncovered all morning, though both eagles came in a few times – even the parents tossed by the wind. Of course the nest camera moving makes the wind seem stronger. Finally, Lady came to shelter the chicks at 1:14pm – covering them for some 90 minutes. Then she was up again, with the chicks cheeping for food. At 4pm, both parents were in but still no food. At 4:30pm, Lady settled on the youngsters again. Late in the afternoon, the wind eased a little – both parents were there, but still no prey. At dusk, Lady was settled over the hungry chicks, with a cooler night expected again.
‘A’ adds: “I did miss that crop on SE36. It’s a brave little eaglet. Such a cutie. When these two hatched, they were so similar in size it was very hard to tell them apart. Have a look at tiny little SE36 now. It’s half the size of its sibling. I can only hope it’s primarily a gender-based size discrepancy – otherwise, SE36 would have to be the smallest female I’ve seen on this nest. I wonder how many two-egg clutches have a female first hatch and a male second hatch and how many the other way around. Is it just my imagination or is a first male hatch with a second female hatch quite unusual? Perhaps we are very much aware of the large female first hatch dominating a smaller second male hatch because it leads to a lot of the bonking and siblicide problems we see on the nests, so it just seems that there are more of them. I would be very interested to know.
It is SO windy at WBSE – that nest is tossing around and there are lots of fresh leaves on the nest, shaken loose by the winds and brought by the parents. Today, there has been no food whatsoever brought to the nest, so the chicks have not eaten. It is 6.45pm and there won’t be anything brought in tonight. This is not good. I’m not sure why Dad has failed to provide – he is usually able to bring in something regardless of the weather, even managing to fish successfully in the rain. But perhaps the wind made today’s hunting impossible for him. So we can only hope tomorrow is more productive. It is very cold at nights and the chicks will be using a lot of calories keeping themselves warm now they no longer fit properly underneath Lady (she does have an excellent method of covering them though, her wings spread wide, so she is doing her best to keep them cosy).
I hate to imagine losing Lady or Dad. They are there on the Parramatta River all year round, and we love them dearly. But they are elderly – in their 20s, yes? And they are wild birds, living a difficult life. Two fledglings per year, none seemingly able to thrive in the wild, as far as we are aware. I wonder what happens to them once they do disappear from the area. I wish they would track the fledglings from this nest so we had some idea of their ultimate fate. It is so frustrating not to know.
But back to SE36. The daily ranger reports are the best way to tell what is going on – I find it fairly hard to watch at the moment, although both parents are making an effort to make sure SE36 is getting fed. I don’t need the stress, and I hate watching a younger smaller chick being intimidated and scared away from food. It is just more stress than I need right now. But this is the only nest at the moment, so I have little choice, though I am keeping something of a distance from the nest to keep from obsessing. That’s not good for my blood pressure or my mental health. And days like today, with both chicks hungry and no food for either, are too hard to watch.
At Taiaroa Head, the day draws nearer, and SSTrig chick continues to explore the headland and potential take-off points for her maiden voyage. Only a few weeks to go now – she’ll be gone in under a month. It’s so hard to think that after watching them for eight months, we are now going to have to wait several years before perhaps seeing them return to court and then to breed as adult birds. It never ceases to amaze me that they travel thousands of miles and return to within 50 metres of the nest where they hatched. It boggles the mind. And when they leave on that incredible voyage, they have never flown before, never fished before, never navigated before. It’s incredible. And yet these are the longest-living wild birds in the world, with Wisdom still breeding into her seventies. No wonder the albatross is the stuff seafaring legends are made of. No sailor would ever harm an albatross. “
SK Hideaways captures some of the rivalry between the SeaEaglets and news from other nests:
SE36 Bonks SE35🥊Chicks “Brood” Each Other🪆Lady & Dad’s Duets+Matings💞2025 Aug 26
Sydney White-Bellied Sea Eagles Lady & Dad
Lady and Dad started the day with a duet, followed by a peaceful feeding. SE36 worked on asserting itself with a couple pecks to SE35. The peck was returned each time, but the aggression was mild and brief. The finale brought some family time plus two more duets and two matings by Lady and Dad.
Courtesy Sea-EagleCAM@BirdLife Australia Discovery Centre, Sydney Olympic Park
🪽Mum & Dad Welcome Egg #2🥚🥚Dad Cheerleads Effort🎉(2025 Aug 26)
367 Collins St. Falcons
Juvenile Overnights in Roost Tree 🌲 Visits Nest & Does Brief Clean-Up🥢2025 Aug 28
Big Bear Valley, CA, home of Jack & Shadow
What a beautiful and heartwarming surprise! A beautiful juvenile bald eagle spent the night in Jackie and Shadow’s regular roost tree while they were elsewhere. The nest visit took our break away. We cannot know if the visitor is Sunny or Gizmo, but it was a welcome visit nonetheless.
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Thursday 28th August 2025 The usual – no activity on the nests today, but there’s plenty of interesting material to peruse from Woodland Trust, including history of the nests, sightings away from the nest, how to ID males and females, and fascinating facts from behind the scenes. There are clickable links on the Osprey cam page, and here are some of the direct links:
05.23.48); Nest Two 21.15.01 (05.33.41) Today’s videos: none Bonus watch – link to LizB’s YouTube channel for videos of Loch Arkaig, Nest Two in 2021, the Bunarkaig nest and more:
Geemeff’s Woodland Trust daily summary for Loch Arkaig Wednesday 27th August 2025
Today had the usual lack of action barring a few songbirds visiting, however we have plenty of interesting information from Steve and George to digest. Steve published stats with special reference to age of chicks at migration and the season duration of the adults, and George informed us of a new Nature Scot initiative called Nature30, with Loch Arkaig PIne Forest among the first four organisations, links here:
UK Juveniles have started making their way south to the West coast of Africa (or the Iberian Peninsula). The trio at the Foulshaw Moss Nest of White YW and Blue 35 left on the 13th and 14th of August. White YW remains in the area delivering fish to a fledgling from another nest!
Harry is still delivering fish to Forest at Alyth SS.
On Tuesday the 26th, there were four at Rutland including Mum, Maya!
Blue 3R7 is still at the Rutland Manton Bay nest along with Blue 33 on Thursday, the 28th. She is 110 days old today and is set to break a record for the longest fledgling to remain on the nest. Maya was there on Wednesday, but it appears she might have migrated. It is raining, and Blue 33 is delivering trout.
Brianne is still getting deliveries from Idris at the Dyfi Osprey Platform in Wales.
5R3 remains at Poole Harbour with fish deliveries coming in from Dad, Blue 022.
9K5 remains at the Usk Valley nest in Wales. Dad is busy! Mum has left for migration.
Loch of the Lowes sends their season summary. Will Blue NC0 return early and claim her nest? I am betting on it!
Glaslyn was a failed nest this year with Elen arriving and mating and bonding with Teifi while Aran arrived very late and eggs were destroyed. In the end, Teifi took over the nest. We hope that they both return safely and that Aran does as well and finds another mate and raises a family. Aran is an amazing Dad!
Looks deserted at Dylan and Seren’s nest at the Llyn Clywedog Reservoir in Wales.
Iris was still in Missoula on Wednesday the 27th of August. That nest that she has been working on with the new male will be ready for them in the spring of 2026.
C19 and C20 are still getting fish deliveries from Charlie at Charlo Montana.
In Nova Scotia, the Dads continue to deliver the fish. Nova and Russell, the fledglings of Oscar and Ethel at the Russell Lake Osprey Platform in Dartmouth are no exception!
The Eagles are returning to their nests for bonding before eggs being laid later in the year.
There is some question about the identity of the Bald Eagle that has been at the NE Florida nest of Beau and Gabby. Rain and hail on Thursday at the nest.
If you are a fan of TE3, she remains in the area of the nest at Trempeauleau, Wisconsin according to neighbours.
People continue to fight for the Menhaden! I wonder when the politicians of Virginia will wake up to the fact that having a thriving ecosystem – not a dead one – can only enhance tourism business and the joy and wealth of their State?
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. We look forward to having you with us on Monday!
I want to thank our notable contributors, ‘A, Geemeff, PB, and SK Hideaways’, the owners of the streaming cams listed in bold, the individuals who take the time to create videos ande post them on YouTube, and the administrators of FB groups such as Jeff Kear at UK Osprey Information, and all others, often too many to name. I am very grateful to you and to the newspapers that still cover environmental issues as they relate to our precious feathered friends and to the rehabilitation centres like Ojai Raptor that care enough to try hard to send their patients back into the wild. My blog would not be what it is without your input into the world of birding.
Update from Glaslyn: “Our eldest chick Blue 6M8 took her first flight at 08:50 this morning at 54 days old. She made a short flight around the field supervised by Elen before returning to the nest.” Congratulations Aran and Elen.
The beautiful osplet at Moraine that might have fledged today was not predated by the owl so many worried about, but became she became the victim of a tragic accident with Mum defending the nest against a raccoon. They will put up a raccoon baffle for next year…but maybe, every nest should be looking at raccoon and pine marten baffles and those that have owl predation a very bright solar (or hydro) powered bright light with red strobes. They will not bother the ospreys but could help with owl predation. Oh, goodness. It is hard enough for the wee babes to make it to be two or three weeks old but to die right before or at fledge, this is so sad.
I am sitting at the airport gate. It is always good to have a break, but it is even nicer thinking of home! I cannot wait to see Hugo Yugo, Calico, Baby Hope, Missey, Mr Crow, Dyson, and all the other animals, including ‘The Boyfriend’, who was caught on the security camera arriving at 0400 this morning. I hope he had food left! That camera identified him as a ‘pet’. It made me smile. It has been hot in Winnipeg – of course, unlike what it is for Iris and all the ospreys who continue to deal with tragically hot temperatures.
I am home, exhausted. More than exhausted. My head is reeling with news of tragedies….’The Girls’ were all wanting attention. What a joy it was to see them.
Her name can be seen by the public so I will include it here. I most often use initials. Ann-Marie Watson has watched over the Osoyoos nest and others in that area of British Columbia for years. When Little died and went over the edge several years ago, she travelled an hour and ventured into town during celebrations to give the little one a rite of passage. She sends this report about what is happening in the area. To me, it rings of the events of a couple of years ago when Cooper’s hawklets were jumping off their nests to save themselves from being roasted alive. I think her words bring home the tragedy that is hitting the area ——and I hope that it will emphasize how preious those nests are that have chicks that are alive. I wish that there were enough spaces for these babies so that the nests could make it through this dire time. Ann-Marie writes:
I put this up on our FB page and copy to you. I think Soo may have abandoned the nest and Dad is not feeding the chicks. I didn’t see Soo in the vicinity of the nest yesterday and the chicks are at risk right now. The sweltering heat is affecting so many nests in the south Okanagan.
As upsetting as it is the heat has been a major factor on a lot of nests. I went and checked on quite a few other nests I know of yesterday and it seems a few the parents have abandoned the nests for their own survival. I called SORCO and OWL rescue for any advice I could get to save our nest in Osoyoos, basically the info I received there are many nests that have been abandoned due sweltering temperatures. Basically too many nests for them to intervene..SORCO is dealing with the owls and Burnaby rescue is at capacity. This may not be good news for our nest as Mum hasn’t been seen and Dad is not feeding the chicks. Thinking of you all and as Ann-Mo said take care of your own mental health. I am taking a break after yesterday’s heartbreaking visits to the nests I went too. So much wildlife is suffering.
20 July 2024
More from Ann-Marie:
Apparently Soo and Olsen returned to the nest today maybe before noon. Both had a partial fish, I’m thinking Soo went off to hunt and cool down, I honestly don’t think she would not be the mombrella for the two chicks yesterday. I have not watched the camera today as needed a break. Things are not looking good for the chicks but if enough fish comes in middle might have a chance. The older chick seems to be getting fed more. The heat is intense and will be for days to come. I did a little ceremony for the littlest chick yesterday near the nest, I was quite heartbroken it passed away.
I wonder if the local fire department would place some fish on that nest for Soo, Olsen, and their chicks until the heat passes. I do understand from Heidi that Soo has been on the nest. Thank goodness.
There is good news coming out of Raptor Persecution UK. Finally, a fine that is meaningful. I would have liked to have seen another ‘zero’ added to it, but this is a beginning! That got hit hard in the wallet and that is all these grouse moor estates understand.
“£40k fine despite not knowing who actually carried out the poisonings, plus £1.5k fine for the director. ” (Geemeff)
In her book, Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults, Robin Wall Kimmerer talks of a revitalisation of our planet, of Mother Earth. She insists that we must make a choice of the path we will take – to heal our planet and bring balance back to the world of living beings, human and non- or turn our head backwards in the blinding dust and continue to live a life of materialism. She says that how we have lived has not brought us contentment, and now it is bringing extinction to plants and animals. We need to bring harmony and balance back to our lives. We must choose ‘the Green path’ of wisdom, respect, and reciprocity’ (280). It is a good book that broaches capitalism and materialism, and market forces creating affluence for some and great poverty for others. Grain sits in elevators rotting because people cannot purchase it. Kimmerer understands that there is enough food for everyone if we view the world differently.
I would suggest that there is enough fish for every seabird, every eagle, every osprey. That the taking of millions of Menhaden is ruining the balance of the Chesapeake Bay with the profits going into the accounts of Omega while our beautiful birds, whales, and dolphins starve. Omega is leaving nothing! I hope that we can shift this and see plentiful loads of fish for our feathered friends and a return to a bay full of wildlife!
Waiting for fledge at Glaslyn. It was a bit of a wet day. Everyone including Bobby Bach are doing fantastic – that little one had a nice bit of fish.
Fish after fish coming in to the nest of Idris and Telyn at Dyfi. No one is going to go hungry.
Only Little Mini (4th hatch) at Poole Harbour left to fledge now. CJ7 and Blue 022 are both being Daddy and Mummy Door Dash for these four healthy osplets.
The heat in the US and Canada continues.
Iris is the most amazing mumbrella. Finn is having a difficult time getting as much fish on the nest as he did. The best times are early morning and evening.
Iris moves with the sun to keep those precious babies of hers shaded. Look at those beauties in the top image with their Mum behind them. Did we ever think we would see such a sight? I sure didn’t.
Charlo Montana is hanging in there, too.
‘H’ reports on the Osoyoos nest we are so concerned about:
7/20 Osoyoos osprey nest: Today was a better day for Middle. Middle had not had a significant meal since 7/17. Olsen arrived early, at 0539 with a medium sized whole fish, and when Soo didn’t arrive to feed, Olsen left with the fish. He returned 16 minutes later with a headless version of the same fish. Middle grabbed the fish and mantled, and Olsen left. Middle was being harassed by Big, so it seemed that Middle spent more time protecting his food than eating it. Big took the fish at 0609. Big did a much better job of self feeding than s/he demonstrated yesterday. At 0636 Big walked away from a very large tail portion. Middle took the fish, but was not very successful at self feeding. It seemed as though Middle may have lacked the energy to enthusiastically pull and tear off fish bits. After 5 minutes, Middle quit eating and Big took over. This scenario of the siblings alternating, each trying to self feed from the fish, continued to play out on and off over the next few hours. By 1100, there was still a piece of that fish remaining, but it was getting dried up and stiff.
Soo, had not been seen since the afternoon of 7/18. At 1123 Soo arrived at the nest with a whole fish. And, at 1124 Olsen brought a large partial fish to the nest, but when he saw that Soo already had a fish, he left with his. Soo did not start to feed until 1128, and she fed Big. Big had beaked Middle, so Middle was in submission. Big was finished eating at 1155 and walked away from Soo. There was still some of Soo’s fish left over. But, at 1155 Olsen returned with a smaller version of his earlier fish. Soo opted to take that fish, Big beaked Middle, then Soo fed Big until 1201. In the meantime, Middle was trying to eat some bites of the leftover morning fish, which was now the consistency of fish jerky. Soo ate some fish while waiting for Middle to arrive at the table. At 1202 Middle started to be fed by Soo, and had eaten 9 bites of fish before s/he was beaked by Big. Middle retaliated this time, and there was a big fight. Soo continued to eat. For some reason, Middle returned to the old piece of fish jerky, while Mom ate. At 1209 Soo picked up her leftover piece of fish that she had brought in at 1123. Finally, Soo fed Middle a private meal that lasted for 13 minutes. That was more than Middle had eaten in nearly three days. Soo provided shade from the hot sun for her chicks throughout the afternoon, and the temperature reached 102F/39C by 1600. Soo delivered a medium sized whole fish at 2058. The siblings ate simultaneously, one on each side of Mom, and the 10-minute meal was peaceful. It seemed that Middle was fed more than Big, and Middle ate at least 64 bites of fish. Soo finished off the old fish-tail-jerky and fed a few more bites to Middle. Weather forecast for 7/21: Sunny, high temperature could reach 106F/41C, winds gusting to 13 mph.
There has been growing concern for the fate of Blue at the Hancock Boundary Bay eagle nest. The parents have been on the perch but not feeding the eaglet while a fairy has tossed up some fish bites. I have just received word that one of the adults has delivered a good sized fish to Blue. That would be incredible news. Time 1458.
Blue had a good sized crop early in the morning.
Deb Stecyk caught that fish delivery to Blue on video:
Mum at McEuen Park holding in there, too, with her only chick.
Everything seems alright at Minneapolis Landscape Arboretum.
Fledge at Field Farm.
Mum feeding her beautiful osplet at Cowlitz PUD.
So far so good at SandPoint.
There are issues with the Marder’s streaming cam. It looks like there is a single osplet being fed at the nest.
One with a full crop, one self-feeding, and the other with a sunken crop at PSEG’s Oyster Bay Osprey nest.
One of the fledglings on the nest at Patchogue calling for a fish.
At the Newfoundland Power nest of Hope and Beaumont, the chicks are getting their feathers. Hope is shading her kids and feeding them – and, I will knock on wood and not say that word that beings with an ‘f’ and ends with an ‘e’. I don’t want to jinx anything.
And then you can’t see anything.
‘PB’ reports that something knocked “CO18 Moraine baby off the nest. It looked like it tried to snatch her but didn’t, and she went off the nest.” ‘PB’ rewound and discovered what happened: “I rewound back and saw the racoon on left side of nest and moving branches and can see it’s eyes…mom was alerting and baby was looking at it…then the racoon moved over to the baby’s side of nest…baby alerted and then mom flew to chase off racoon but knocked baby off balance and baby fell. You can hear branches being hit. Now I’m worried if CO18 is safe with the racoon around. Wish someone could check but probably won’t be until morning.”
Sadly, this beautiful osplet did not survive the predators on the ground during the night. Oh, my goodness.
Beautiful babies at the Kurzeme Forest nest in Latvia.
Heidi reports on Carthage:
West End Eaglets enjoying themselves!
Geemeff’s Daily Report for Loch Arkaig and The Woodland Trust.
Daily summary Saturday 20th July 2024
A very slow day indeed, with no sighting of either Louis or Dorcha – the first time no Osprey was seen on Nest Two since Louis returned on 28th March. The weather was very wet today, and not very inviting, so have they left on migration, are they still around, will we see them tomorrow? Nest One saw some activity today, with visits from little songbirds and a visit from Garry LV0 who arrived with a stick and proceeded to do some nest prep before flying off. Tonight’s forecast is partly cloudy with light winds, but rain is forecast for the rest of the week.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.05.33 (04.14.02); Nest Two 23.24.21 (04.24.56)
Owl lands on Saaksilive nest #3. This is probably the same owl that a week earlier killed beloved osplet Taiko.
Monty and Hartley sure make beautiful and mischevious babies!!!!!!!
Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care! See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, videos, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Ann-Marie Watson, Geemeff, H, L, MP, PB’, Raptor Persecution UK, Robin Wall Kimmerer, William Dunn, The Center for Conservation Biology, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, BoPH, Montana Osprey Project, Charlo Montana, HWF-BBC, Deb Stecyk, Trudi Kron, McEuen Park, MN-LA, Field Farm, Sandpoint Ospreys, Marder’s, PSEG, Newfoundland Power, Moraine Park, LDF, Heidi McGrue, Newstflix Memories, Geemeff and The Woodland Trust, Finnish Osprey Foundation, SK Hideaways, Osoyoos Ospreys.
We hope that you had a lovely weekend. Sunday was beautiful in southern Manitoba. Blue skies with lots of wind to keep the mosquitoes away. We did the 10 km walk, the long path, around Oak Hammock Marsh. The Red-winged Blackbirds followed us. There were songbirds, ducks with ducklings, goslings, Pelicans, and Swans. There was even Killdeer. It was a glorious afternoon spent outside.
They were clearly ‘white’ but, for the sake of saving my arm today, I went with my phone and not the long lens. Bad decision. They look like Snow Geese or Swans to me and not Pelicans, but they were approximately 30 metres away. Please feel free to disagree! The image when cropped and blown up is too faint to tell accurately.
I really hope that you got to spend some time outside, away from the computer screen. Hearing the birds, listening to the wind, feeling the sun – it all makes everything better and it has been a particularly rough week in Bird World.
First news for Monday: We have a second chick at Hellgate for Iris and Finnegan!
I am going to start with the sadness so we can move on to the gladness.
Geemeff sends us the report for The Woodland Trust and the Osprey nests at Loch Arkaig:
Daily summary Sunday 16th June 2024
Sadly, there’s only one story today – the death of little bob3 at 24 days old. The youngest chick succumbed to weather, lack of food, and stress from aggression by the middle chick. Although s/he did get some fish today, it was too little too late and two days of cold wet weather plus being left uncovered in a downpour this morning when too weak to crawl under mum was too much for the chick to overcome. It will be interesting to see how the other two chicks react to having one less competitor, but it looks like chick1 is already working out strategies to prevent chick2 getting all the food. Louis brought five fish to the nest today, taking his tally to two hundred and seven. No activity on Nest One except for a little songbird who pootled around for a few minutes. It was very dreich today but tonight’s forecast of partly cloudy with light winds and 9°C temperatures is slightly better.
RIP little chick three: 24th May – 16th June 2024
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 23.42.37 (03.13.33); Nest Two 23.20.40 (03.51.29)
Watch the livestream 24/7 and join in the conversation here:
And now for the giggle of the day which comes form ‘A’:
In Sydney, the eagles have been on the nest this morning (in fact, Lady is there at the moment). The magpies chose Saturday to start mating all over Melbourne. Nature strips, medians, backyards. It’s avian pornography wherever you look. Even the noisy mynahs are joining in (not with the magpies, obviously!) so it seems it is about a week or two until egg-laying begins in southeastern Australia. We are keeping an eye/ear out for our falcons in Collins Street – they must be around their scrape by now if they are planning to use it this year.
It is time for some good news! Smallie is flying. ‘PB’ reports that he was seen sitting on a bicycle and was flying back and forth to the nest. Smallie was the much loved Amersfoort tiny, tiny falcon with the humongous siblings. Many thought Smallie didn’t have a chance. The parents kept feeding and Smallie, by his/her own nature didn’t give up. She/he got out on that scrape and ate anything they could. Now Smallie is flying! Tears.
‘PB’ reports that Smallie flew off the ledge like a pro! There he goes!
Another tragedy that has turned out alright. Both Decorah North eaglets are flying. Their nest collapsed Sunday morning and it was feared one might be grounded and couldn’t get up. But now they are together on a branch – the last news that I had. Mr and Mrs DNF are incredible parents and they will make sure these two are well looked after! No worries there.
The power on the camera at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum went down at 0530 on Sunday morning after the storms and rain went through the area.
All four osplets at Field Farm are doing great.
And smile. All four at Poole Harbour are doing fantastic, too. Little Mini is turning into a Reptile!
Reports from ‘H’:
6/16, Fortis Exshaw osprey nest: The third baby hatched at approximately 14:04. Louise’s new mate, Harvie, has taken good care of her this season, helping with security, providing fish, and incu-brooding. We know that he’ll be a great Dad.
6/16, Patuxent osprey nest: There were six fish brought to the nest. It wasn’t the best day for Little, but he still did okay. There was no ‘whopper’ fish that would allow for a prolonged private feeding for Little. S/he ate well at 0752 and 1237, but was only able to eat for about 9 minutes at the last four meals of the day.
6/16 Mispillion Harbor osprey nest: Della and Warren, and their two 21 and 20-day-old chicks are doing great. Warren is a fishing machine, and it seems like these two osplets are always eating.
6/16, Captiva osprey nest: It was another fish-filled day…and as you know, fish make ospreys happy…so everyone was happy! There were seven fish brought to the nest by Edie and Jack, and Jack delivered five of them! Oh, my goodness, what a great Dad…tirelessly providing for his family despite being injured.
We are on fledge watch for the last of the San Jose falcons! And SK Hideaways shows us how silly these kids are.
Food fight at San Jose!
Three beautiful babies at Cowlitz PUD protected by those fish grates by the PUD.
Three beautiful babies enjoying a fish dinner at Osoyoos.
More good news. The two Eastern Imperial Eaglets of Altyn and Nova in the RU nest appear to be very healthy.
I continue to hope that the two Golden Eaglets in the Estonian nest 2 will survive. They appear to both being doing well, also.
There was some concern about the osplet of Iris and Finnegan. It had gotten itself upside down in the nest, but that drama, thankfully, has passed and the chick is right side up again!
‘A’ comments: “Finn is still the perfect partner, feeding Iris and bringing in fish for her and the youngster. He just loves being on the nest when Iris is feeding the chick, which he is absolutely besotted with. He is fascinated and delighted by the little one and takes every opportunity to see it. He is very careful around the chick now, using his wings to keep his balance and ensure that he does not stumble or step on the chick – a major improvement on his initial clumsy clomping around the nest.
Iris was a lot better today, feeding the osplet more often and generally looking a lot more alert and active. I wonder whether she was very tired from the first hatch,she had three nights (two that were particularly disturbed) when she was awake for much of the night while the first chick was hatching. She was aware on that first night of the activity beginning in one of her eggs, and over the following two nights she had a hatching egg, and then on the third night, a just-hatched chick. She had very little sleep, and she really did appear lethargic to me over the past couple of days. But today, she appeared much more energetic
Meanwhile, that osplet is MONSTROUS. Surely it cannot possibly be only five days old. It looks twice that age, and it is growing so fast, it appears to be entering the dinosaur phase already. I am extremely nervous about a potential second hatch. This size discrepancy is ridiculous. Surely a hatch as tiny as this second one is likely to be has absolutely no chance against a sibling literally ten times its size. And I am not entirely sure Iris has the energy to give a new very tiny chick. Certainly, Finn will do his best to support Iris, and I love the way he feeds her on the nest. She sure is demanding! I never saw her with Stanley, but if he also fed Iris, then perhaps it is Iris who is dictating the behaviour of the males in her life. It is most unusual behaviour in my experience. Certainly, we have seen males occasionally offer a mouthful to a female on the nest, but I have never seen feeds of this length and this regularity. She is being feted by this handsome young man. Our Iris sure is an impressive cougar. “
And the news is still good. Richmond of SF Golden Gate Audubon is a Grand -Dad. Robin B caught Lassen and his family on video for everyone.
Sharon Dunne reports that both Royal Cam chick parents were in today! What luck!
Sara and Sota at the Sun Coast Osprey nest had two fledges this past week. Congratulations! (screen capture by Lucille Powell)
The two chicks at the WDNU Tower in South Bend, Indiana appear to be doing well. No rewind so it is hard to catch a great image of the entire family!
Charlie and his new mate at Charlo Montana have three beautiful osplets. Mum is not too happy with the delivery of ‘something’ – it certainly wasn’t a fish! She uses her beak to push it to the rails.
There are many benefits to having only one osplet to feed. Parents do not use up as much energy. There is normally enough fish for three. The Only Bob usually grows big and strong. Boulder County is a good example.
Only Bob at Manton Bay is doing fantastic. ‘She’ – seriously I believe this is a nice big female – will be ringed this week. Blue 33 and Maya doing well after Maya’s earlier sickness. (I still owe you the entry for Manton Bay. I have not forgotten. The deaths and tragedies seem to have overtaken everything lately).
After the issues at the Dahlgren nest, Sandpoint’s platform is starting to worry me. Old fish, new fish. Baby gets fed.
There are growing concerns for C3 at the Bridge Golf Club. We have already lost Mini Little to siblicide and it looks as if we could lose Little on this nest. It would appear that the supply of fish might only be enough for two chicks, not four and maybe not three.
The two osplets at Ferris State University have all their beautiful juvenile plumage. One egg DNH.
The trio at Radford University are at the same stage as those at Ferris in their plumage development. Aren’t these babies beautiful?
Two little sweeties at Blackbush. Hoping those eggs continue to be DNH.
Is it dangerous to be a fledgling eagle parent? Ask Akecheta!
There are so many people who have helped wildlife. At the moment I am completely behind Isabella Tree and rewinding. I am hopeful that what she has done at Knepp Farm might translate into urban and suburban gardens. After adding more trees to our property, we added more annuals to attract the pollinators. Every little bit helps. You can do it with a single pollinator friendly potted plant!
Thank you so much for being with me today. Have a great week. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, MP, PB’, Geemeff for The Woodland Trust, Sea Eagle Cam, Amersfoort Falcons, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, MN Landscape Arboretum, Field Farm, BoPH, Patuxent River Park, FortisExshaw, Window to Wildlife, Mispillion Harbour, SK Hideaways, Cowlitz PUD, Osoyoos Ospreys, Eastern Imperial Eagle Cam RU, Eagle Club of Estonia, Montana Osprey Cams, SF Bay Ospreys, Robin B, Sharon Dunne, Sun Coast Ospreys, Lucille Powell, WDNU Tower, Charlo Montana, Boulder County, LRWT, Sandpoint Ospreys, Bridge Golf Club, Ferris State University, Radford University, Netflix Memories, 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.
