Oh, my goodness. I have not seen so much snow in so long. Our weather was so lovely for so long – well into late, late November. Everyone believed we would be clobbered by snow, and we certainly have!
It’s Saturday. Tomorrow, Nellie arrives, and she will be with us for thirteen days. Nellie is a Retriever – a huge White British Retriever. Toby adores her, and they both like the snow, so the pair of them should have some superb romps in the garden.
We have all of our provisions in thanks to Ann who came in the middle of a heavy snowfall to be with Don and Toby. There is enough pet food for several months and surely there will be something in the larder – maybe not fresh fruit – but something for the humans in the house should the weather set in and not go away.
Many have asked what we are doing for the holidays. ‘Nothing’. I am not a grinch – I love and have loved sharing the holidays with friends and family for many decades. I am now ready to put the skids on and enjoy some quiet. We will enjoy the animals. I am not going to cook a big dinner – perhaps a small one with a pavlova for dessert or a Haskap Chocolate Yule Log from the Farmer’s Kitchen. There are only two of us who will be there! Although I suspect it depends on the offerings, as Toby and Nellie might have their noses right up at that table. My idea of a holiday, this year, is relaxing – we have done the big dinners, the fuss and muss and the fun and laughter. This year, I would like to sit under the duvet by the fire with a good book, watching the animals, a mug of hot chocolate in hand.
Indeed, I urge each of us to make our lives simpler and less stressful. Simple gifts, shared meals so that not one person has to do all the work, breathing and relaxing, walks and quiet times and, of course, watching the birds.
Rose and Ron’s first hatch, R9, has arrived at 37.8 days, at the Dade County nest in Florida. Egg 2 is 35 days old. What an incredibly beautiful sight – Ron and Rose looking at their new baby! The little one was first seen around 0813.
There is sadness at the Central Florida Superbeaks nest of Pepe and Muhlady as chick number 2, Froto, has died at 10 days old. It is thought that he got caught in the rails when one of the adults went to ward off an owl (both left the nest).
E26 is doing very well. Cute and already strong and eager to eat!
It appears that the part of E26’s egg that was attached to E27 is now off. No pip yet. Happy to have one healthy eaglet, too.
Country Diary is all about Brent Geese flying over the Isle of White.
Brock came to the feeder around 2000 Friday night after the blizzard had calmed down. He does not mind the woven basket around his heated food tray, but he dislikes one of those plastic bins. Did someone try to trap him with one of them?
I do worry about Brock, but he has no frozen ears, and it has been really cold. His bolt hole must be warm.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care. We will see you again tomorrow! Today is Nellie proofing the house!
Thank you to the owners of the streaming cams, the authors of the FB posts, and The Guardian for covering the environment.
We hope you are well! It has been a cracker of a day, and it all started in the garden at the feeder…
A morning video of the garden and yes! Two Blue Jays. I am so relieved. Junior and Mrs J are alive!
Birds and Squirrels at the table feeder – and look two Blue Jays!
Today we have a news story about Cornell University and its attempts to protect Big Red’s nest during a construction project! Lovely. Now if we could get them to make sure every window on that campus had bird strike preventative measures.
Suzanne Arnold Horning, the admin for the Cornell Hawk Cam Chatters FB group is posting daily images of events from the nest. Today it was a flap fest. Oh, goodness, these end of the year summaries and montages are really quite wonderful while we wait for all the action to start. Let’s see – third week in March for eggs for Big Red and Arthur? What do you think?
Suzanne picked the top five viewing moments. Aren’t they cute?
Speaking of protecting birds from window strike, I am ‘horrified’ that my city, under its mayor, Scott Gillingham, has altogether scrapped a programme to protect birds that came into effect only a year ago. Unbelievable. We will just have to try and fight this decision.
‘J’ in Berlin sent me a great announcement. It has to do with a young man that I mentioned several times in past years – Oliver Hellowell who lives in the UK. I love his wildlife and landscape photographs.
Oliver Hellowell loves raptors and he has photographed many. He is quite the talent. Keep your eyes open for his work.
It might have been ‘only’- 10 °C, but it was cold on the Canadian Prairies. The snow keeps on giving, and today was the photo shoot in the park. Instead of spending half an hour, we stopped at fifteen minutes. It was that wet, cold to the bone. Of course, Toby loved it! We didn’t get a chance to take off our Dyfi toques – so the whole shoot is now dedicated to a great osprey pair, Idris and Telyn. If the pictures turn out, I will post some. I, who do not like to have my photo taken, promise.
We now having a warning for -40 C (with wind chill) coming for Saturday. The frigid cold is to begin tonight!
Heidi gave me the best holiday present. She made a montage of the indoor and outdoor animals set to holiday music for us – and she included dear Lewis. I broke down when I saw him. Oh, how I loved that boy. Since so many of you have been readers for years, you might enjoy seeing HY when she was little and dear Lewis along with everyone else. Thanks, Heidi – that is what it is all about. Giving of your time and love. I so enjoyed this montage. https://youtu.be/yKOeSsFwJcE
You forget how little they once were!
Hope with her first Christmas tree.
No plant was ever safe with Lewis or Missey! He was my darling.
Heidi’s video really hits the holiday spirit even if many, who knew Lewis and saw it, have wept. Please enjoy! There is even a baby HY in there.
Bella and Scout at the NCTC nest are working hard. Last year their three beautifully feathered eaglets perished when their nest collapsed. We wish them a great season this year.
While we wait for eggs at NCTC, we do not have to wait long for little eaglets at SW Florida. My calculations indicate that we should see an eaglet around Tuesday of next week. M15 and F23 are excellent parents. This is exciting.
Gabby and Beau will have to wait a little longer. Egg dates: 23 and 26 November. End of December eaglets!
Superbeaks (Central Florida) has two hatchlings. The third egg was laid four days after the second (Froto). We wait to see if it is viable. Mira and Froto are doing well.
We have eaglets at the Duke Farms nest! No eggs. Just nest prep.
Ron and Rose continue incubating at the WRDC nest. Egg dates: 12 and 15 November. I will be looking for a pip around the 18th of December or that first egg. That would be 35 days.
Clive and Connie at Captiva on Sanibel Island are also resting and waiting while incubating. Egg dates: 16 and 19 November. I do love that camera that Window to Wildlife have installed.
There are no eggs at Eagle Country. The river cam caught the eagles bathing.
Girri is 36 days old today. Female falcons, on average, fledge at 40-44 days, slightly longer than males, because they need to fill out that larger body mass and cover it with more feathers. Girri is quickly losing her baby to all that flapping! Could you take a look at that crop? Diamond and Gimbir keep their only baby full to the brim! I recommend watching because Girri is going to fledge soon, and whether she returns to the scrape afterwards is anyone’s guess.
That’s a wrap for today. Thank you so much for your comments and your letters. We are glad that you are enjoying this daily mix of pets and birds!
Thank you so much for being with us today. Take care of yourself. We will be back tomorrow!
Thank you to Heidi for that amazing holiday present. I am so very grateful – and for the spirit of love, care, and the time it took. These really are the best presents of all! To ‘J’ for sending me the news about Oliver Hellowell and to the owners of the streaming cams and authors of the FB posts, you have my thanks.
Winter is truly here. Snow is falling regularly. The temperature has warmed from the frigid cold of a few days ago to a balmy -9. Our walk with Toby as the snow danced down was wonderful. -9 C is just perfect winter weather. Toby loves the snow. He jumps and plays sniffing every tree or bush along the path.
This is Ellen’s photo from Monday morning. Ellen comes on Mondays and Thursdays. All I have to do is say her name, and Toby’s eyes literally light up. When she arrives, he jumps up and down for joy. Our lad loves his walks. They usually go from 1.3 to 1.7 km in half an hour. Toby is truly tired when he gets home.
One of the things I often get asked is how we stay warm in such cold weather. First, our houses are super insulated, and ours has triple-pane windows with a gas-filled cavity between the mullions and special glass that holds the heat in winter and dissipates it in the summer. Doors fit super tight. Our heating bills can be high, especially in January and February. We dress to go outside. Our coats are rated to -40 C. Our coats are ‘800 fill down’. This means that one ounce of this down expands to fill 800 cubic inches. Our coats are fluffy, very lightweight, and super warm, as are our boots, which are also rated to -40 C. We wear natural materials such as wool. I find a cashmere turtle neck layered with another sweater works when it is truly around -30 C. Hats and gloves are lined, and we have scarves of every thickness and size. I find that when we are moving, we stay warm, but when we stop to chat with other dog walkers, we often start to feel cold, especially our toes.
Holidays are just around the corner, and during the days and weeks ahead, your lives will get busier. Hanukkah begins at sunset on the 14th, Christmas is on the 25th, and Kwanza, St Stephen’s Day, and Boxing Day are on the 26th. For my friends in Japan, the tradition of cleaning comes just ahead of the new year celebrations. Oh, how I would love to be in Kyoto munching on mochi!
Calico reminds all of us that it is the precious time we have together, not the money or the presents (the stuff we will happily discard later), that make us joyful or peaceful. So, please, take a breath. Please just put away the credit card if it is out of your wallet, and think of something that you can do for someone to help them. It could be an afternoon of babysitting. Or taking someone for a walk and giving a caregiver free time? Why not find some objects and greenery and make some small wreaths for friends? Or cook them a simple meal – it does not have to be elaborate. Remember it is the time together that is important. I cannot tell you how much Thursday afternoons with my daughter, Jaine, taking Don out for a long walk means to me. I cannot put it into words. Made some homemade jam? Put a ribbon on it! What a lovely gift. Be creative and smile after the holidays because you will not be agonising over how to pay for them. Then send Calico a ‘thank you’. She would love to hear what you did that didn’t cost ‘the bank’.
Calico found a great article in The Guardian, ‘Shop secondhand, shred your veg and try ‘furoshiki’ wrapping: 14 easy ways to cut Christmas waste’. Grab a ‘cuppa and have a good read. I do love the orange peel stars. We are going to work on that this week!
Snow is dancing down. It is really quite beautiful and festive. I will try and capture some of their beauty with the camera phone.
The early morning, but most especially the time right before the sun begins to set around 1600, is magical. There is a golden glow to the light. All of the garden animals are out eating – the Chickadees, the four grey squirrels, Little Red, the Starlings and Sparrows, Mr and Mrs Crow and, sadly, only a single Blue Jay today. This worries me, but we will see about tomorrow. Maybe there will be two.
As I mentioned at the beginning, the frigid temperatures disappeared on Monday, and it was wonderful to be outside in the snow. Toby loves the snow. He runs, jumps, and rolls in his snow suit, and he doesn’t even mind having his boots put on. Boots, you say? Boots for a dog? They have super grip on the bottom, and that keeps him from slipping on the ice while protecting his back legs. We don’t want any dislocations!
On Wednesday, we have hired a local photographer to take some very informal and fun photos of Don and me – and Toby, of course, at our local park. ‘The Girls’ would not sign the waiver!!!!!!! We have not had our picture taken together in any professional way for decades – and I do mean decades. I am so excited. We are just hoping that the warmer temperatures will hold. If they come out, I will be posting them here on the blog.
Pepe and Muhlady’s first hatch at North Central Florida (Superbeaks) Bald Eagle nest has been named Mira. I stopped covering this nest because the owners of the Superbeaks streaming cam took exception to Heidi posting videos of the nest. Over a year later, it appears that the owners have had a change of heart. Paul Kolnik on Bald Eagles 101 now states that they have said that it is alright to post videos and images from the nest on social media.
I have no idea what the term ‘professional scraper’ means, so I am including a FB post today by Maria Johnson so you can see that little grey fluff ball. Since I do not earn any income from my blog, I assume the term does not apply to me. That said, I will rarely post anything from this nest until there is a clear understanding of what is meant by the term. I do love Pepe and Mulady – they are incredible eagle parents.
Pepe has brought in prey, and both adults have fed Mira.
Egg number 2 has a hole and egg number 3 has a crack. Mira will have brothers and/or sisters soon.
The Laysan Albatross are incubating eggs on Kauai. Hob Osterlund keeps us up to date – check out the battle for incubation. Doesn’t this look familiar?
Big things are happening at Big Bear Valley for Jackie and Shadow, and they are really early this season. Has this pair figured out that laying their eggs earlier might lead to a higher hatching success? SPO gives us all the details!
Beau and Gabby continue to take turns incubating their eggs. Do you remember when Gabby had more suitors than days in the week? We wondered if V3 was worthy. There was blood and skirmishes and that first year everything went sideways after Samson disappeared. Then we wondered if Beau was up to the task of fathering after burying the egg. We learned that he is up to the task last year. Fingers crossed that this one is even better for one of our favourite Bald Eagle couples.
The camera operators at the Trempeauleau Bald Eagle nest in Wisconsin (Raptor Resource Project) are to be commended. We got a beautiful look at the nest and surrounding area. Mr T has been chortling with Mrs T. I wonder if he is also doing the same with the ‘other Mrs T’ on the other side of the lake?
Snow in Iowa at the nest of Mr and Mrs North at Decorah.
At the US Steel nest of Irvine (Irv) and Stella, Pix Cams caught the pair fishing and soaring. https://youtu.be/SSV1vj5o09o?
Snow covers the nest at ND-LEEF in South Bend, Indiana.
It’s a little warmer on Captiva where Connie and Clive are incubating their two eggs.
Warmer at Fraser Point, home of Cruz and Andor.
Jolene and Boone are at their nest in Johnson City, Texas.
Ron and Rose – oh, I do love Ron. What a character! Incubating eggs in the heat of a Florida winter.
Knepp Farm reintroduced White Storks to the south of England. Now London will be getting their own in a rewilding programme. Can you feel the smile on my face?
Saving Monarchs posted this really informative image on FB. We have always had a lone rabbit coming to our garden in the winter. This year is no different – it appears that the large rabbit population of fifteen years ago has dwindled due to habitat destruction and road collisions.
Since it is the holiday season, Everything Gardening posted a very appropriate information poster on what can harm wildlife. Please look it over and make certain that you have not inadvertently put decorations outside that will harm our beloved friends.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care of yourself. We look forward to having you with us tomorrow as we continue our daily check in as we lead up to more eagle hatches.
Thank you to the owners of the FB groups and their posts, to The Guardian for covering wildlife stories and the environment, and to the owners of the streaming cams that give us a glimpse into the lives of these amazing raptor families.
I wish all mothers—that is, anyone in the world who has ever cared for another living, breathing soul (feathered, furred, gilled, scaled, or human)—a very happy day today.
Ah, it was hot on Saturday, but the skies were clear, and it was a good day to head to Delta Beach – or so I thought – when I left the City. The wind began to pick up as I neared the wetlands at the south end of Lake Manitoba. By the time I was on top of the lookout tower, they were so gusty that it felt like one could be blown to Oz. The wind and the heat did not do much for bird watching. The Black-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds and the Robin and Song Sparrows were out. A few geese and ducks and a pod of American Pelicans were flying overhead. The Bald Eagle in the nest was hunkered down tight and the frogs were so loud you could not hear a thing. It was a long drive there and back with onerous black clouds overhead and heavy rain on and off on the return.
Pelicans flew overhead.
A Common Tern has a small fish.
A female Yellow Warbler liked to play hide and seek with me in the thick of the tree.
The Killdeer ran up and down the beach in front of the Bald Eagle’s nest.
If you squint you can just barely make out the head of the adult on the nest. This nest makes me really nervous. It is not supported on one side.
Before I left, I checked on the third hatch at Lake Murray. It had some of the first two fish and on my return I did a quick recent check and the little one had a crop.
Felt relatively satisfied that the little one had done alright.
I did a few nest checks in the early evening, but the girls feel a tad neglected, and Calico has stretched out on top of the book we are reading. She is sending a loud message – as loud as Mr Crow, who quickly tells me that the hot dog dish is empty and needs replenishment. What a character they both are! I have noticed that I am later in sending out my post in the summer so, a warning that the post will go out by noon – Winnipeg time from now until the fall. (So you don’t worry that something has happened…you are all so sweet).
‘H’ sends us an exciting report that Mason fledged and then recovered and flew back to the nest. Way to go, Mason!
Two other updates from ‘H’: “
“5/11, Chesapeake, Kent Island osprey nest of Audrey and Tom: Audrey laid the second egg of her second clutch at approximately 18:30. Unfortunately, the egg was broken either during laying or shortly thereafter.”
“5/11, Fortis Exshaw osprey nest of Louise and Harvie: Louise laid their third egg at 22:24, but we have yet to see the egg”
The first hatch at Manton Bay is a cute pie. That baby hatched at 23:19 on Friday the 10th of May.
I know that Redwood Queen is a favourite of many of you for her heroic attempt to save her chick Iniko during the Dolan Fire. Iniko was saved but Redwood Queen lost her mate King Pin. Now she has a new baby with Zenith and it warms my heart.
At Cornell, N1 and N2 are sleeping with their dinner. All that prey and two chicks – these two are growing fast!
I love seeing the comparison of the tree nest and the urban nest on a human light stand. I wonder how many trees Big Red has to choose from and why she choose the light stand? There is certainly much more room for the chicks to run and flap.
‘A’ loves this nest and writes, “Oren has brought in even more green oak leaf sprigs to their RTH nest, and it is full of greenery. I do hope it helps control the insects on the nest (I presume that’s the idea). It does look very festive and cosy. Ruth is preening her sleeping hawklets, and breakfast has not yet been served (it is 12 May and still very very early). The three are doing exceptionally well, with devoted parents and lots of food. They are such cuties. It has been raining a lot at the nest for the past two or three days and poor Ruth has looked absolutely miserable, but her hawklets have remained warm and dry in her underfluffies throughout. They really are very well cared for, these three. “
I have every confidence that if this precious egg of Iris and the New Guy hatches, the NG will supply plenty of fish for Mamma Iris and baby. We could be witnessing something wonderful and remember, I always wanted Iris to have a holiday from Louis. She seems contented and it is so nice to see someone bring her fish and care for her.
Another great mate is Louis at Loch Arkaig! So far they have kept the intruders away.
Remember that banding for the Cal falcons who are getting their tail feathers is on the 15th.
‘A’ writes: “I do so love a falcon scrape. That youngest at Cal Falcons is significantly smaller than its three siblings, who hatched within about 24 hours of each other, with the fourth chick coming nearly three days later (because of course Annie started hard incubation after laying egg three). So it has always been much smaller, but right from the beginning, it has been a little jumping bean just like Rubus, competing vigorously for bites.
The four are being given far fewer feedings per day than was the case a week or ten days ago. They lay about the scrape for more than five hours between feedings today, until the 16:07 feeding, which began with the youngest and one of its older siblings grabbing big juicy bites until they were joined by another of the older chicks, and then finally, the fourth one joined in. By the time chick four arrived, the older of the initial two feeders had given up, the younger one never gives up, and the second two to line up were getting the most of the food. By the time the meal was over, all four had large crops that, if measured, would have been extremely close to being exactly equal in size. Seriously. That’s how good a parent Annie is when feeding her chicks. And if necessary, she would have moved the food, or her own position, or both, to ensure that all four were fed an adequate meal. No-one goes hungry at Annie’s table.
The eyases compete for bites, and sometimes have a tug of prey over a bite, but not once is there any hint of aggression towards a sibling. Never. Not once. It is a beautiful thing to watch, and I do keep wondering how it is that good falcon parents can dole out food fairly to a clutch double the size of most eagle clutches, fledging four chicks instead of one or two. So I still cannot work out how sibling rivalry helps.”
Feathered kids also copy their parent’s behaviour.
‘H’ has been tracking several nests. One is at the Patuxent River Park and she reports that there are now three little bobbleheads.
There are concerns for Swampy from Eagle Country. Swampy was last seen on 9 May at 1006.
Sharon Lee also shows us where Dixie and Mason have gotten to on the natal tree.
Cute little White-tail eaglet peeking out from the adult at the Kemeri nest in Latvia. The other White-tail Eagle nest of Milda in Durbe County in Latvia failed this year.
One beautiful Golden Eaglet in Estonia.
Altyn and Nova, Eastern Imperial Eagles, have two eggs in their nest that they are waiting to hatch. Egg dates were 17 and 20 of April. In about ten days we should have a hatch!
The first of the two eggs of Bety and Bukacek in Mlade Buky has hatched on the 12th of May.
Thank you so much for being with me today. Keep an eye out on Mlade Buky and Manton Bay. Those last eggs should be hatching!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘A, H’, Lake Murray ospreys, Heidi McGrue, Chesapeake Conservancy, Fortis Exshaw, LRWT, Lady Hawk, Cornell RTH, Syracuse University RTH Cam, Montana Osprey Project, Geemeff, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, Patuxent River Park, Eagle Country, LDF, Eagle Club of Estonia, Alton and Nova RU Imperial Eagle Cam, and Mlade Buky Stork Cam.
Remember that I mentioned those two year old returnees are coming! In the regions where banding is not done, you can never get as excited as those platforms that know their chicks have survived. Another one of Dylan and Seren’s fledglings has returned this year. Blue 555 from 2024 landed on Telyn who is incubating eggs at Dyfi a few miles away from his natal nest at Clywedog Reservoir.
Here is the sequence. Telyn hears/sees another osprey approaching. Blue 555 lands. Blue 555 is sent off by our excited mom-to-be. Idris arrives to save the day – all within about half a minute or less.
Telyn looks up.
Here comes 555.
Here comes Idris. No one is going to mess with his Telyn!
Did you see this? Murphy is a foster again!
At Captiva, Jack is keeping the fish coming and it was a good day for the little one. ‘H’ reports: ” CO8 did okay today, and basically I would have the same summary as yesterday. S/he takes a beating from CO7 at times, but it’s too soon to worry. CO8 may not get as much to eat as CO7, but he did have a good crop a few times today. Jack even fed CO8 for 8 minutes at meal #4. ” And then…”Jack delivered a large partial fish at 1907, that provided a long feeding for both of the siblings. They ate side by side without any aggression, and both of them ended up stuffed.”
At Loch Arkaig, Louis has been busy and it was a late fish delivery for Dorcha.
Gosh, Louis is such an attentive mate. Some hardly bring the males any fish. I wonder what those new males will be like when chicks arrive?
Tuffy has grown into an exceptional osplet. Oh, how worried we were.
It appears that one or both of the osplets at Frenchman’s Creek have ‘branched’ to the camera pole OR the camera cannot get sight of one area of the nest. The shadows change and you can see the wings flapping.
The streaming cam at Redding is back up and running. Everyone is OK.
Mason is way up high in the natal tree at Superbeaks. Dixie looks out to the world beyond from the rails. These two will be flying soon. They are very active!
‘H’ reports on Lake Murray: “C3- ‘Little’ at Lake Murray is doing OK. There is some aggression toward C3 by both older siblings, but there was only one meal on 5/7 where Little was shut out from the feeding. Kenny is supplying lots of fish.”
‘A’ sent in a long report on several nests that she is tracking:
“I can hear Iris on an open tab – she is very chatty with her new man. He seems very proud of their eggs (they must be his and not Louis’ or he would doubtless have got rid of them by now). And – omigod, he’s brought in a tree now!!!! Sorry. I just turned over to Iris’ tab and what do I see? The most massive branch that resembles a small tree without leaves has been brought to the nest. I told you that yesterday he was bringing in some large, awkwardly shaped branches, but this one takes the cake. I wonder if he intends to plant a small forest around the outside of that nest. Or perhaps he too is worried about the dangers of an osplet being blown off that platform by that extra strong wind. But seriously, have a look at that tree! Talk about a laugh for the morning.”
Now, let us think about a time for us to begin to watch for these eggs to hatch of Iris and New Guy: 11 June? Pip watch?
Cal appears to have dispersed. Today he is 140 days (exactly 20 weeks) old and it will be the seventh day since he was seen at or near the nest, though of course Connie and Clive are maintaining their territory. So the general consensus is that he has left to find his own mate and territory. Godspeed little one. You will always own a tiny piece of my heart. And remember, you fly for two, as you will also carry Lusa with you in your travels. How sad it is when we say goodbye to them, knowing their chances at reaching their first birthday are relatively low. All we can hope is that Cal learned well on the nest, with that bossy older sister, and has had the very best parental preparation for adulthood. He has great genes and we can only hope he gets the chance to pass them on.
In Tennessee, Angel was last seen briefly (for just two minutes) early on the morning of 3 May, while Tom was there very briefly the following morning. There have been heavy thunderstorms in the area over the past couple of days, and they usually fail to appear on very wet days, but I think we have to admit now that the window is closing fast and that there will be no eggs for Angel and Tom this season. Now, we wish them a safe year until we see them next. Angel is such a rare beautiful creature, and I know her survival is far from assured. To add to the natural hazards they all face, she of course is unable to camouflage herself and even has to worry about unscrupulous individuals who have offered large sums of money to anyone prepared to divulge her whereabouts so she can be captured or killed as a trophy. I find it appalling that Connor has been offered tens of thousands of dollars for that information, though sadly it does not surprise any of us.
At Taiaroa Head, our gorgeous boy was 7.9 kgs yesterday (7 May) at 105 days of age (the average for males of that age at this colony is 7.8 kg) – the same weight as the week before (when he had been fed by both mum and dad just before the weighing). Over the past week, he has had frequent feedings, with both parents visiting more than once, some feeds quite small and others larger. There had not been a feeding for a couple of days before this latest weighing, though, which accounts for his weight remaining the same as the week before. Mum came in yesterday afternoon and fed him around 4.15pm, and both our on-camera chicks have been fed this morning (8 May), with mum LGL feeding TF chick at 7.17am and dad BOK coming in to feed TFT chick shortly before 10am. He is doing well, as are both his parents. Every time they leave on a foraging trip, we worry about when and whether they will return. Of course OGK never did. He has now, finally, been officially declared deceased at this point, as he would have returned to breed this season had he been capable of doing so. Sad news, but this year’s beautiful Royal Cam chick cannot but bring a smile to your face. His gorgeous plumage is pristine, revealing that he has lived his first 105 days of life without an incident of fear that has caused him to ‘spill’. So those snowy-white feathers are, in a sense, the sign of an stress-free childhood (or a very brave little chick or both). Whenever you need a smile, just turn to the albatross chicks on Taiaroa Head, where the rangers are constant and devoted guardians and we get to love our chicks for seven months or more. New Zealand truly is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. “
Those Cal Falcon chicks of Annie and Archie can put a smile on your day, too.
Annie and Grinnell’s grandchildren are ahead in development (they are obviously older). Look at their tail feathers and they are walking around the scrape. Larry (Annie and Grinnell’s daughter) and his mate are doing fantastic. What a treat to have a camera at their Alcatraz scrape!
Speaking of falcons, a wonderful soul posted an image of the screen at the CBD in Melbourne on FB and the falcons are there on the ledge! Maybe there will be chicks this year. I knew you would be excited.
Oh, I am getting excited that they might turn that Melbourne Live Stream on early. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they left it on all year?
The chat for the Cornell RTH is on the livestream and is open in the mornings. Check the time. Arthur had just brought in a nice little chippy for N1 and N2 when I tuned in.
Gosh those kids are cute. It won’t be long til they are pecking away at those chippies.
Watching for Rutland. The two eggs deemed unviable by Maya could have been the first ones that were laid so, it could be a few more days. Good news at LOTL. The new male has removed all the eggs from the egg bowl and maybe Blue NCO will start thinking he could be a ‘catch’. I am hoping so!
Thank you so much for being with me today. I am feeling better in the mornings and pretty horrible in the evenings still. The sun is out and it will be a good day for a walk, regardless. I am wondering if we have more little goslings hatching? Please take care. See you soon!
Thank you as always to those great people that send me news of the nests they are monitoring – I am calling them the Fabulous Four: ‘A, Geemeff, H, and SP’ along with all the others, the cams, the postings, the videos that helped me to write my post this morning including the Fab 4 and Dyfi Osprey Project, PBS, Window to Wildlife, Geemeff, Moorings Park, Frenchman’s Creek, FORE, Superbeaks, Lake Murray, Montana Osprey Project, NZ DOC, Cal Falcons, Parks Conservancy, Maya Rowe, and Cornell RTH.
Thank you to everyone for your continued good wishes. I am very, very slowly feeling a wee bit better. A good friend dropped off two different types of Covid tests, just in case. Both were negative. So, not Covid. Whatever this is – well, I continue to say I do not wish it on anyone! Keep sending those positive vibes!!!!!!!!!
There is a rhythm to the events in the garden. The Juncos return first, then the White-throated Sparrow, and by then it is time for Mr and Mrs Crow to begin to bug me to fill up their food bowls. I have seen them during the winter but, for some reason, they return at the beginning of breeding season to remind me of their presence. I put out whatever I can gather from the fridge and from neighbours along with their usual cheesy dogs and hard boiled eggs along with cat kibble. This year events are earlier by about 14-16 days, but they are, nonetheless, happening in the same way. After spending the winter ignoring me, the first Crow has returned yesterday. In June, the little crows will come to get peanuts and to learn to dip them in the water. It is something that I look forward to with great delight.
The Crow first checked for peanuts and then went to chip away at one of the solid seed cylinders with large nuts and mealworms. It had previously been on the roof of the conservatory demanding treats! They watched as I filled the bowl with cheesy dogs, some cooked food from a neighbour including carrots….their favourite. (During the winter I have a secret feeding station for them).
The Baltimore Orioles will be here shortly. No matter what happens, the wildlife carry on, perhaps a little earlier, but what fun it will be to look forward to those little Crows splashing about, the baby Sparrows all puffed up sitting quietly waiting for the adults to tell them they can move, and the arrival of the Hummingbirds.
Calico talked to the Crow while it was coming and going during the day. Others slept.
We are now entering the period when the two year old returnees are causing havoc at the established nests – some of them their natal nests. We get a brief look at how this is impacting Kielder Forest, but it is happening everywhere.
There is no new news on the killing of LM12 Laddie near Loch of the Lowes. Scottish Wildlife Trust posted the following information on this amazing osprey.
Our hearts continue to break over this ‘murder’. Blue NCO continues to fish call and incubate the eggs although she is having to leave to try and feed herself.
There is always concern when there are three osplets and Lake Murray is no exception. ‘H’ is keeping a close watch.
The little one is trying. Just look at the size difference. Oh, I hope this sweet baby makes it. Fingers crossed.
The 1610 feeding – ‘H’ reports that all ate and there was no bonking. Yippee.
Wish that little one had some of the fish that landed at the Venice Golf Club. Mum might have even brought in two big fish. Wow.
Despite the mess, the two at Frenchman’s Creek are fine.
Both are eating at Captiva but there is still some unrest and bonking by the oldest.
Amongst the Ospreys there have been several nests that have had eggs out of sync. Today, ‘H’ notes that ” The Fenwick Island nest of Johnny and June: June laid eggs on 4/25 and 4/28, and both eggs were predated by a pair of crows on 4/28. June’s third egg would have been due on 5/1.” ‘H’ notes that that egg did not arrive. We both wonder if this third egg that was laid on the 5th of May belongs to a first clutch or a new one. At Achieva, the egg dates were ‘off’ as well (normally every 72 hours). They were “1/28, 1/31, and 2/8”. (The last one could have been very, very late on the 7th but was not seen until the morning of the 8th).
We are wondering if these could be four egg clutches with the third egg laid somewhere else accidentally. It happens.
Tuffy still likes to be fed. Just look. Sally and Harry have the prettiest babies.
N1 and N2 could not be cuter. Look at the size of the crop on that little one.
Everyone loves Iris and each of us is worried, on the one hand, that raising a clutch of chicks might shorten her life or excited at the potential of the world’s oldest osprey getting to raise her first chick since 2018. I am just like all of you. I have been thrilled when Iris and Louis’s eggs have been taken by the Ravens and Iris has had a gentle summer fishing. Now that she has an attentive mate – and gosh, golly, Louis isn’t doing much about it – bringing her fish, I am getting rather excited and torn. I guess we wait and see what happens. Whatever it is, isn’t it nice seeing our Queen being treated well? Getting fish delivered to her for a change!
Here he is at 1640 bringing her another fish. I love this ‘Snake eyed guy’.
Iris flies off and takes it to the owl pole to eat.
There is something magical going on. Maybe it would always be Iris’s last year and maybe this is an extraordinary year for her. I watch with wonder.
Second egg expected. It was raining and I did not see anything. Iris not on the nest.
The New Guy is incubating the egg while Iris is off eating breakfast. Iris tells us ‘I will do it my way’.
The GH owlet at Wolf Bay is doing fine. Look at those legs!
Lady Hawk’s last coverage of E23, the darling of the SW Florida nest of M15 and his new mate, F23. Why oh why doesn’t someone band these hatches?
They are getting a little itchy at Cal Falcon scrape with all those pin feathers coming in.
If you need contentment:
‘PB’ reports that the second egg at Charlo Montana was laid on Sunday. It looks like her name is Lola.
‘H’ sent news that we have another egg at Cape May Meadows for Hera and Zeus. “5/6, The South Cape May Meadows osprey nest of Hera and Zeus: Hera laid egg #2 at 06:29.”
Louis continues to take good care of Dorcha at Loch Arkaig. The killing of Laddie at Loch of the Lowes had made everyone nervous. So good to see the others at their nests as we wait for the first hatch at Rutland.
Adorable baby eaglet that fell out of the nest has a foster!
The eaglets at the Bald Canyon nest have names and both are happy that they are in the nest together! Another great rescue.
Muhlady and Pepe continue to provide prey on the nest for Dixie (fledged) and Mason (still at home). There are continual prey wars when there is a delivery. Both look to be doing very well.
Full crops for the two eaglets of Dad and Gigi at the ND-LEEF nest.
Those two will soon be as big as Jersey and Leaper at Duke Farms who are anxiously awaiting their first flight.
For the two eaglets of Liberty and Guardian at the Redding nest, the votes are now being submitted for the final round in naming. Make sure you vote! The deadline is 7 May – that is Tuesday!
‘A’ sends us the latest from the Sydney Olympic Forest: “
May 5: Both eagles were at home last night and woke early, well before 6am, with duets and mating. They both left by 6:19am, and over the next hour or so, more duets could be heard. Mid-morning at 10:15am, neither could be seen at the river but were spotted at Goat Island. Mid-afternoon, both eagles were still there, and at 16:45pm, one was noted flying off to the west. Both turned up at the nest around 17:16pm – one may have brought a stick – then mating nearby. A duet, and mating again at 5:42pm, with Lady bowing her head to indicate she was ready and willing to mate. Both then settled by the nest for the night. There was rain on and off today.
May 6: There was lots of rain overnight, with both eagles close by. They were awake early, with mating, then both flew off and one returned with a stick. Then both were off again before 6:30am. At 9am, both were seen at the very muddy river , landing on River Roost. Shortly after, there was a duet at 9:15am, and then both were seen flying together, heading north and further. The rain had stopped by then, but it was very windy. There have been issues with the cameras today, with livestream not available for most of the day. One eagle was seen flying over the forest at around 3pm. Just after 4pm, it seemed that two eagles were at Goat Island. Neither was reported at the river at 4:30pm. Then we were able to see the adjacent camera live and saw Lady come home late. She seemed to have just eaten, wiping her bill. She then settled.
This is interesting, especially with Lady initiating mating. But is it really early for Lady and Dad or is it their normal pattern of behaviour? They presumably regularly engage year-round in various forms of bonding behaviours, including mating, to maintain the strength of their pair bond. Yes? So maybe it’s not at all early for them to engage in the early phases of nest-building. “This is interesting, especially with Lady initiating mating. But is it early for Lady and Dad or is it their normal pattern of behaviour? They presumably regularly engage year-round in various forms of bonding behaviours, including mating, to maintain the strength of their pair bond. Yes? So maybe it’s not at all early for them to be engaging in the early phases of nest-building. “
LGK comes in for a feeding for TF chick! Always good to put a smile on your face. TF is so fluffy – like a soft cloud floating around the hill.
There is a lot going on at the nests. I hope to be able to provide some news each day until such time as I am back 100%. We are waiting for hatch watch at Rutland! Take care. We hope to see you soon.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, H, PB’, Kielder Ospreys, Jeff Kear and SWT, Lake Murray Ospreys, VGCCO, Frenchman’s Creek, Window to Wildlife, Fenwick Island, Moorings Park, Cornell RTH, Montana Osprey Project, Wolf Bay, Lady Hawk, Cal Falcons, Charlo Montana, SK Hideaways, SCMM, Jann Nichols, Gracie Shepherd, Superheats, Geemeff, ND-LEEF, Duke Farms, FORE, Sea Eagle Cam.
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!*
Thursday and Friday were difficult days. Jackie and Shadow said goodbye to their eggs after one cracked, with Jackie covering them later. The miracle babies hatched at the NTCT nest of Bella and were killed and eaten by the male, Scout. Audacity surprised everyone with another egg, but it broke Friday morning. Little B17 died and Meadow is ill. It felt a little bit like a roller coaster of emotions. Others call it ‘hope fatigue’. These events take their toll and sometimes we need to go outside and listen to the birds or sit and stroke a beloved pet. Then we need to stop and be very thankful for those that survive – they are very precious.
Bella feeds her second little eaglet before flying off to find food. She returns, looks around the nest, cannot find the baby while Scout is on the perch, then Bella flies off saying goodbye. It would have been difficult, if not impossible or Bella with the attitude that Scout was exhibiting. Many wondered if this was not a blessing in disguise.
The empty nest says it all.
The Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey is expressing concern over Meadow’s condition on Friday. Send your positive energy to this eaglet.
So what is giving us hope?
Iris returned to her nest at 20:51:22 Friday night. She looked like she had a full crop. So the Matriarch is fine! She stayed til after 0633 Saturday morning. Perhaps she didn’t want Louis to see her!
Annie and Archie. We are 11 days away from hatch watch. ‘A’ is getting excited. “Annie is looking particularly lovely this evening – she really is an exquisite specimen of a bird. Just beautiful. I cannot wait to see four little fluffy eyases lined up with their beaks open in that scrape. Poor little Archie is going to be run off his talons. And if he thinks it’s difficult to incubate four eggs, wait until he tries brooding four chicks. That should take some serious enfluffling.”
Tuffy is getting smarter and is sometimes braver. This nest gives me hope because of “H’s great observations.
‘H’ reports on how Friday morning began well for Tuffy: “At 0728 Harry arrived with a large live tilapia. Sally started to eat, and for once Sally was positioned near the rail facing outward. Her positioning would afford Tuffy an opportunity to position himself on the other side of her from Ruffie. Tuffy was on Sally’s right, and Ruffie hung back a bit. Tuffy received 5-6 bites of fish before Ruffie reached over and beaked him. So much for Sally’s new positioning. Tuffy scooted away and tucked. At 0728 Tuffy was trying to move around to the other side of Sally, but Ruffie saw him and cut him off at the pass. At 0750 Tuffy was getting a little too close to Sally for Ruffie’s liking, so she beaked him. By 0753 Ruffie moved away from the feeding, but still kept an eye on Tuffy and was giving him a warning look. Soon, Ruffie started to eat some more. At 0803, brave lil’ Tuffy decided to go for it, and shuffled right up to Sally in front of Ruffie, and started to get some bites. Ruffie turned away for a PS, and she then stayed away. Good. By 0813, Tuffy had eaten approximately 100 bites of fish. The view was partially blocked and I was not able to see if bites were dropped. I just had to count when Sally leaned toward Tuffy, and he leaned toward her. At that point Ruffie returned to the table to eat some more, and she beaked Tuffy. Ruffie was finished, this time for good, at 0816…Tuffy untucked and resumed eating his breakfast. Tuffy took a break for about a minute at 0822, then resumed eating. At 0831 Tuffy simply couldn’t eat any more and shuffled away from Sally sporting a very large crop. Sally finished the fish. Tuffy ate an estimated 180 bites of fish. Great way to start the day!”
Look at Tuffy’s crop!
“… At 1128 Harry brought a nearly whole tilapia. Ruffie was fed, and Tuffy remained on the sidelines. Harry stayed in the nest for a while, so Tuffy gradually moved to get into Dad’s shade. Even after Harry left, Tuffy stayed away from the feeding line. At 1207 Tuffy moved to be closer to Sally, and was beaked by Ruffie. By 1214, Ruffie had moved aside slightly, Tuffy moved in, and it appeared that Sally was feeding Tuffy (view was blocked). Sally did move a little bit and we were able to see that Tuffy was eating. By 1218 Tuffy had eaten 40 bites of fish before being intimidated by Ruffie, and he shuffled away. Ruffie continued to eat, and around 1222, Sally reached over to Tuffy to give him some bites, before Ruffie again banished Tuffy to the sidelines at 1224. At 1227 Tuffy was again reaching to Sally to receive fish bits. Ruffie simply did not want little brother to eat, so at 1228 she made a big physical display of dominance and Lil’ Tuffy scurried away. At 1234 Ruffie seemed to be finished eating, and our view was partially blocked, but it was obvious that Sally was feeding Tuffy. The meal was over by 1248 save for a few scraps. Tuffy ate at least 78 bites of fish.”
.”..Harry delivered the third fish of the day at 1705, a headless tilapia. It was a smaller piece of fish, which did not bode well for Tuffy’s chances for a nice meal. Ruffie approached Sally, Tuffy moved further away from Sally. I noted that Tuffy’s crop was flat at that time. Ruffie was giving warning glances to Tuffy as Ruffie was fed. However, Sally managed to periodically sneak a bite to her little one who was standing off to the side. Many of those quick bites to Tuffy went under Ruffie’s radar, but some did not. When Ruffie would notice Tuffy getting a bite she leaned toward Tuffy to intimidate him. So, Tuffy would move a little further away, but would then slowly inch closer to Mom as he dared. By 1731 Tuffy had eaten 14 bites of fish by Sally quickly sneaking bits to him. Then he received 5 bites in quick succession while Ruffie was trying to eat a big piece of skin. Ruffie was not able to eat the skin, so she dropped it, but seemed irritated that Tuffy had eaten those bites…so she charged Tuffy who went to the rails. Ruffie then wedged herself in between Sally and Tuffy. Finally, at 1743, Ruffie was full and moved across the nest and laid down. Tuffy made a beeline to Sally, but unfortunately there wasn’t much fish left. Tuffy ate, and some bites were a pretty good size. Sally did her best to pull every last bit of meat from that fish tail, then she offered the tail several times to Tuffy, who simply could not do anything with it. Total bites for Tuffy at this meal = 46, and he had a small crop. Total for Tuffy so far today = 304 bites of fish.”
Sally was calling for fish at 1957.
The three osplets of Talon and Stella at the Florida-Gainesville campus continue to do well. This is excellent news. They are all lined up like the three lads at Port Lincoln in 2022. You can see the size difference now between the first hatch in the centre and the baby on the right. At one time, they were almost all the same having hatched within a 36 hour window.
‘H’ reports that the Canada Geese and the Ospreys have switched nests at McEuen Park in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho. Grateful for Geese and not owls!
In the UK, Idris and Telyn have their first egg of the Osprey season on Friday at the Dyfi Nest in Wales.
Waiting for Seren and Dylan at Llyn Clywedog to have their first egg of the season. Seren was not impressed with the food gift o a frog that Dylan brought to her and when he wasn’t looking, she dropped it overboard.
Intruders have been bothering Aran and Elen at Glaslyn. It was sent packing over to the Pont Cresor Nest of Aeron Z2 and Blue 014.
Louis fishes in the worst weather and delivers beautiful fish to Dorcha.
I am grateful that Laddie LM12 made it home safe this year to Blue NCO. No eggs at Loch of the Lowes yet.
Blue 33 guards Maya. He has been bringing in gold fish – beautiful bright orange-gold Koi. Someone’s pond is getting raided. He must like the colour!
Bradley makes me smile and it is fantastic that Port Lincoln continues to post videos of him bringing his fish to the barge. It is heartwarming when these fledglings thrive. A still form that video. Check out what is happening at Port Lincoln by going to their FB group.
And there are these various stages of some of the bobbleheads that are doing well:
US Steel 7: It is pitching down rain but Irvin has the nest full of fish and Claire is trying to keep the wee one dry while keeping it fed.
Little Miami:
Johnson City-ETSU:
Superbeaks, Dixie and Mason:
Kansas City, Cheyenne and Wichita:
Duke Farms, Jasper and Leaper who will be ringed on Monday:
ND-LEEF – Dad’s new mate Gigi appears to be doing well:
Eagle Country – Swampy in the nest and Meadow in care. Hoping dear Swampy is not sick, too:
Denton Homes – three Majestic babies:
Decorah North:
Redding with Liberty and Guardia:
Port Tobacco:
Bluff City and Viper:
Fort St Vrain. Two little bobbles doing well.
West End. Aklecheta and Thunder showed us how to deal with three healthy energetic eaglets this year:
Fraser Point, two adorable eaglets for Andor and Cruz:
PA Country Farm – a family who can consistently raise three:
Dade County, R6 has fledged and returns to the nest:
SW Florida, E23- so grateful that M15 had a new family this year after the sorrow of losing Harriet and the joy of raising E21 and 22 to fledge by himself:
Poor E23 has had to defend its nest!
JB Sands Wetlands, JBS20. We lost JBS21. Please keep Mum in your thoughts because of her injury:
Trudi Kron captures JBS20 getting ready to fly.
It isn’t all of them, but count these as blessings. In a year when many nests did not have a single hatch, we can be grateful. There is no news on Meadow Saturday morning form the Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey.
Jackie and Shadow start over. What an amazing pair of eagles these are! ‘A’ writes: “Meanwhile, the sadness at Big Bear is felt by thousands of BB viewers. Jackie and Shadow are much loved by so many. This video really broke my heart. They take it in their stride and carry on, together. While they have each other, there is always next year. Spirit was such a miracle. It was a joy watching that couple caring for their precious eaglet. They were so devoted. That little one sure was spoiled for love. And fish, obviously.”
The Royal Albatross are always bittersweet. Little fluff ball TopFlat Chick, the Royal Cam chick, waits for food deliveries. LGK Lew in on Friday to feed the little one who can be heard squeeing. At the end, you see TF flap its little wings copying the adults.
The top bird sightings in the UK. Please note the huge decline in House Sparrows since 1979 and the growth of some others. House Sparrows live amongst humans that is why they are seen so often and we are destroying their habitat which is why the huge decline. Feed them. Be joyful when you hear their song. Just imagine if they were not there.
Thank you for being with me. Step outside. Celebrate spring, listen to the birds that live around you. Smile. There are things in the world that we have no control over. We change what we can, when we can doing the best we can. We mourn the little ones that are lost, but remain joyful and hopeful for those thriving on the nests.
*Disclaimer: Every effort is made to credit individuals who send me information, those who take screen captures, create videos or posts, those who write articles, and those who operate streaming cams. If I miss acknowledging someone’s contribution, please let me know so I can rectify that omission. Thank you.*
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, streaming cams, videos, and articles that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, J, H, PB, SK, TK’, NCTC Eagle Cam, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, Cal Alcons, Moorings Park ospreys, Florida-Gainesville, McEuen Park, Dyfi Osprey Project, Llyn Clywedog and CarnyXWild, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, The Woodland Trust (Loch Arkaig), Geemef, The Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), LRWT, Port Lincoln Ospreys, US Steel Eagle Cam, Little Miami Conservancy, Johnson City-ETSU, Superbeaks, FARMER DEREK, Duke Farms, ND-LEEF, Eagle Country, Denton Homes, Raptor Research Project, FORE, Port Tobacco Eagle Cam, Bluff City-ETSU, Fort St Vrain, IWS/Explore, PA Country Farms, WRDC, SW Florida Eagle Cam, SK Hideaways, JB Sands Wetlands, Trudi Kron, Lady Hawk and The Guardian.
Thank you to everyone who sent me news. It is much appreciated and to ‘H’ who delivers a great narrative of the day at the Moorings Park Osprey nest.
We are going to start with two items that should put a big smile on your fast. First is a video o Tuffy being ‘ruffy’. The second is a screen capture of either Cheyenne or Wichita. The prey must be plentiful in Kansas!
I asked Heidi Mc to make a YouTube video of Tuffy showing its attitude to Ruffy. She did, and here it is! Gosh, that little one has some spunk, which has kept it alive. Thanks, ‘H’.
1 minute 38 seconds. Watch that little one and notice its fat little bottom.
What do you think this eaglet had for lunch? Look at the size of that crop – and then look at the overall health of this chick. Unbelievable. FARMER DEREK must have lost of prey on his property.
Isn’t this a beautiful bird?
Stop for a moment and just look at the colours as they blend together from the matte black beak to the deepest navy-black, blending into a dark iridescent purple-blue, a royal blue and then a turquoise before breaking off into a Khaki and brown. The tail is a wedge, and that is a big, strong beak for a large bird.
Do you recognise this bird? Do you have these where you live?
The Common Grackle, but there isn’t anything ‘common’ about it as far as I can see. This is an adult male. The first three are in the garden for 2024. They arrive in April and stay until October. Often they will make a nest in the garden and have successfully fledged ‘gracklets’. That was an event – all the aunties and uncles came from afar, landing on the overhead wires to see the little one leave the nest. It was a community event, and well, it should be because most are lost to Mr Crow and his family right after hatching.
UPDATE: Scout has killed the second eaglet. Friday 12 April.
On the morning of 11 April, the second egg of Bella and Scout hatched. Scout was confused. He poked but did not appear to harm the chick. Bella returned and dug the egg cup quite deep and then left later and returned. Bella protected the eaglet and also had a tug-o-war with Scout over a fish. She needed to eat and she wanted the fish left on the nest to feed the baby. It appeared that Bella was trying to tell this to Scout – he flew off with the fish! This nest feels ‘unsettled’ to me in that Scout doesn’t understand that he needs to provide security and food. Let’s see how he does with the little one, too.
Bella brooding newly hatched chick.
You can see the little head of the eaglet below.
Bella on the chick after eating telling Scout, who is mantling the fish, to leave it alone!
It is going to be a rough few days at the NCTC nest until such time as Scout figures out his role as father and mate.
Ruffy continues to attack Tuffy even if she is full. ‘H’ reports: .”..At 1220 Harry delivered a large headless tilapia. Ruffie rushed to the table, but Tuffy stayed back. At 1227 Tuffy got up and looked at Ruffie, who shot him a glance that said “don’t even try it kid.” Ruffie walked away from the table at 1231, and there was still a lot of fish left. It took Tuffy a couple of minutes to move from the rail, since he knew that Ruffie’s reach has been extended lately. At 1233 Tuffy moved toward the center of the nest, and Sally picked up the fish and met him half way. Tuffy ate 24 bites by 1236. Then Ruffie approached and intimidated Tuffy into moving away, Ruffie ate a couple bites, then left. Tuffy turned toward Sally, got one more bite, and Ruffie beaked and bit him severely on the back of his neck. After that beating, Tuffy stayed tucked for 5 minutes, even though Ruffie was at the rail, not eating. At 1241 Tuffy met Sally in the center of the nest and he ate 5 more bites before Ruffy again approached him and intimidated him into moving away. This scenario played out a few more times, where Tuffy would get a bite or two, Ruffy would intimidate him and he’d move away. Tuffy had eaten a total of 52 bites by 1251. Ruffie started eating again at 1252, and the fish was gone at 1256. Tuffy had managed to eat enough to have a moderate crop.”
…At 1430 Harry dropped off a very large headless tilapia. Tuffy made no effort to get to the table. He stayed away from Ruffie, and he was waiting his turn. At 1441 Tuffy started to make his move…shuffling slowly around the perimeter of the nest, and by 1443 he was close to Sally’s right side. Ruffy didn’t seem to mind. At 1444 Ruffy was sated and moved away from the table. Ruffie laid down on the other side of the nest, and was not worried about Tuffy eating. So, Tuffy started to eat…and eat…and eat. By 1453 Tuffy had eaten 90 bites of fish, took a PS break, and rested a minute before going back for more. Tuffy had eaten 150 bites by 1506, and then laid down to take another break. It really was a huge fish and Sally was still eating, and Ruffie was still sleeping. So, at 1512 Tuffy went back for more! By 1516 Tuffy had eaten 179 bites…and then took another break. Sally kept pulling on all that fish skin. Was Tuffy done? Nope…at 1521 he went back for more. At 1523 Tuffy was finally done when Sally ate the fish tail. Tuffy had eaten at least 191 bites of fish!
‘H’ gives us a late report: “…Despite the wind and rain, Harry brought the 4th fish of the day at 1818, another headless tilapia. Ruffie intimidated Tuffy…Ruffie was fed…and Tuffy stayed back. At 1823 Tuffy approached, and when he got up near Ruffies left shoulder, Ruffie promptly beaked him. When Tuffie finally came out of his submission-tuck at 1831, he was immediately intimidated by Ruffie, and Tuffy waddled away. At 1840 Tuffy again tried to approach the feeding line and was beaked as soon as Ruffie saw him. A persistent Tuffy was near Ruffie’s right side at 1846, and Ruffy gave him ‘the look’. At 1847 Ruffie finally walked away, but the fish was gone. Sally was eating scraps off the nest. Nothing for Tuffy at this meal. Tuffy has eaten pretty well today, though. He has eaten approximately 345 bites of fish at three earlier meals.”
Audacity has laid another egg!
At Big Bear one of the three unviable eggs has cracked.
Then Jackie and Shadow say goodbye to their dream.
The third egg arrived at the OuterBanks nest around 0848 on 11 April.
These three osplets at Frenchman’s Creek are rapidly getting their juvenile plumage. They are gorgeous.
I have a huge soft spot for the Decorah North Bald Eagle family. This fierce Mamma has the sweetest babies.
Two bobbleheads at Fort St Vrain. Cuties. Be thankful for all those that survive this year.
There are three eaglets at the Sutton Centre in Bartlesville Oklahoma.
Mason and Dixie are all grown up.
No egg yet at the Loch Arkaig nest of Dorcha and Louis but an interesting visitor. Have a look and see how big an osprey is compared to a Great Tit.
Bette and Bukachek have two eggs at their nest in Mlady Buky.
Waiting for eggs at the Black Stork nest in Latvia in Kurzeme.
Beautiful Big Red and cutie pie Arthur. It won’t be long til there are four little hawk lets in the nest at Cornell.
The four eggs were laid on March 17, March 20, March 23, and March 26. I am looking for pip watch on the 22-24 April.
Cute little falcon in Japan has hatched. Looking at that white fluff with that little pink beak and legs should get you all excited for the arrival of Annie and Archie’s chicks!!!!!!!
Send your warm thoughts to Iris at Hellgate Canyon. The Matriarch of Ospreys returned to Missoula from her migration and moved some sticks about on the 5th of April. Iris is normally seen working on her nest or eating one of her whoppers on the owl pole. She has not been seen. We can speculate on many things, but it would be pointless. Let us hope that she is thriving at a new nest with a new beau!
‘J’ reports that the banding at Duke Farms has changed: “Due to the forecast of rain and wind tomorrow, the DF banding is postponed for the safety of the chicks and climber. The banding is rescheduled for Monday the 15th at 10am.”
I was asked for the links to donate to the folks at the Tampa Bay Raptor Centre (they rescued Meadow and are fixing the Achieva nest) and Audubon for Meadow. Thanks ‘J’ for these:
Did you know that the flame retardants used on furniture, clothing, etc. – that were banned a decade ago – continue to plague the small Apex predators such as falcons and hawks?
“As globally distributed apex predators, the peregrine falcon is the ideal canary in the coal mine for monitoring flame retardant pollution in the environment. Flame retardants phased out a decade ago are still accumulating in these birds and into their eggs, which indicates that the threats of these chemicals to wildlife and people can far outlast their production.”
Researchers measured concentrations of a suite of old and newer halogenated flame retardants in peregrine falcon eggs collected from multiple locations in the U.S. (New Jersey, California, Chesapeake Bay, and Pennsylvania) and Canada (Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and New Brunswick) between 1984 and 2016. It is the largest investigation to date of flame retardants in peregrine falcons in terms of both time and space.”
That is my ‘brief’ (LOL, it turned out longer than anticipated) report for today. Tomorrow’s will be short as well with things back to normal on Sunday! Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to ‘AE, Geemeff, H, J, OB, SP’, Heidi MC, Kansas City Bald Eagles, NCTC Bald Eagle Nest, Sharon Pollock, Moorings Park Osprey, Gracie Shepherd, FOBBV, Outerbanks/Carova Osprey Nest, Baiba, SK Hideaways, Frenchman’s Creek Ospreys, Raptor Resource Project, Ft St Vrain Bald Eagles, Superbeaks, Geemeff, Mlady Buky Storks, LDF, Cornell RTH, Japanese Peregrine Falcon Cam, Physical Org, and Audubon.
We hope that you had a really nice weekend and that the coming week will be full of delights, laugher, and love. Plus healthy eaglets and more Osprey arrivals. It is so wonderful to see the bonded pairs reunite and all those males rushing to find a nice fresh fish for the female.
The weather on the Canadian Prairies continues to be mild with +2 temperatures, blue skies, and sun. It is dry and I want everyone to blow those rain clouds my way! The trails are now slushy at the nature centre. More geese flew in today to join the overs on Devonian Lake. I keep saying – at least they have water. If the rains would come the grass would turn green and they might get some nutrition. If the shallow ponds thaw, they can get the pond grasses. I know there are some ducks in with the geese in the image below but I did not have either my binoculars or my long lens – just my phone and it is really rather useless for identification.
The Bison were up close to the road for part of the time on Sunday.
Deer tracks.
Some of the taxidermy exhibitions in the Interpretative Centre. I love this old Snow Goose!
Or the Boreal Owl looking down.
We have a lot of owls in Winnipeg. It is not unusual to see a Great Gray like this one in our urban environment.
The following panel at our nature centre helps explain the change in the winters in Winnipeg.
Calico always knows which of the tiles have the best heat under them.
Baby Hope is never far away from Mamma. Inseparable they are except when Hugo Yugo is around.
Hugo Yugo was nearby but she was sound asleep for most of the day.
Sometimes Hugo Yugo’s tail appears to be bigger than she is.
Missey was the Queen of the Cat Tree on Sunday! It was a nice change. Except for claiming this sacred spot, the four of them are getting along splendidly.
The Ospreys continue to arrive in their summer breeding grounds.
The male, LJ2, is now back at Llyn Brenig in Wales as of Sunday.
Both FS2 and Oscar are at Tweed Valley as of Sunday.
Aeron Z2, Tegid’s brother, is at home at the Pont Cresor nest with his mate Blue 014.
Bay has arrived at the Island Beach State Park Osprey nest.
A memorial plague has gone up to Harriet at the Pritchett Property. I am so glad that they included a tribute to the heroics of M15 last year in raising E21 and E22.
There is the first hatch at the University of Florida-Gainesville nest of Stella and Talon. Eggs were laid on February 21, 23, and 27. If this is egg one, it is 38 days at the time of hatch.
It seems that Richmond and Rosie are building two nests. I find this rather interesting. One is on a light stand the other is on the old Whirley Crane they have used for years.
Jersey did very well, indeed, on Sunday. Food was plentiful – including a squirrel for a change – and there were no perceived hostilities on the nest. This is an enormous relief. ‘A’ gives us a fantastic narrative for the entire day!
Mum stuffing Jersey to the top of its head and those little dandelions that are left.
‘A’ gives us a great narrative: “The chicks had to wait until 10am for breakfast this morning (31 March). They played nice, and were so cute cuddling together and playing with nesting material. Both had healthy PSs. Food eventually arrived in the form of a nice whole fish, courtesy of mum, and although Jersey turned away and allowed his sister to take first turn at the table, he did not take up a submissive posture. He had another PS while he waited for his turn. At 10:04, dad flies in to contribute yet more dried grass, which he spreads about. He then decides to move a large stick, which is partially beneath Jersey, who thinks he is being bonked and goes into submission. Mum has paused the feeding, as dad continues to arrange sticks, and Leaper turns away from the table. Jersey is in submission, wings outspread for balance, and Leaper leans over him, almost as if to check that he is okay rather than to peck him. Whatever the contact, it was exceptionally minor – just a brush of Leaper’s beak against the back of Jersey’s neck/shoulder. It actually looks as if Leaper loses her balance, her crop working against her effort to turn away from the table and head over to the rails to snuggle, and her beak just brushes Jersey. I would not call it a bonking incident. Whatever the reason, Jersey has missed out on breakfast, though there are still a few remains on the side of the nest. Shortly before 10:06 Leaper does another PS and heads over towards Jersey and dad. She is looking hopefully at dad. She shakes her head and in the process brushes the edge of dad’s wing. He responds by making a sudden lunge to his left, as if warding off something invisible in front of Jersey. I had to watch it a couple of times to realise he is reacting to the slight touch with an attacking move, with his head down and neck extended. A reflex action, aborted in mid-air – he withdraws his head as quickly as he had extended it. Shortly after, he flies off. Jersey has not yet eaten. A minute later, Jersey turns around and makes his way to his sister, where he snuggles up beside her and begins preening. He flops down and plays with some grass. Leaper too is playing with nesting material. These two are such cuties now they are getting along so nicely. Little Jersey is not so little any more.. In fact, he is catching up with Leaper, with the size gap not nearly as great as it was a week or ten days ago. So much so that I am starting to think we may have a couple of boys here. Leaper is not so very much bigger than Jersey now, and her (or his) behaviour towards Jersey has not been that of a Zoe. Perhaps, especially given the speed with which the aggression has ceased as soon as the food supply was restored, Leaper’s behaviour has simply been that of a first hatch in a food shortage. In the interests of clarity, however, I think I will leave it as she and he at this stage!! Jersey doesn’t have to wait too long for some brunch. At about 10:16:40 what looks like dad (only his feet and a small bit of head is visible, so it could be mum) flies in with something large and mammalian that I’m sure all Americans could easily ID but which is foreign to me. It has a very long bushy tail and a white stripe. Leaper is closest, and Jersey turns away to one side, just slightly. He does not approach the table but nor does he go into submission. He watches. Dad begins feeding Leaper without defurring the food. I’m not certain Leaper appreciated the taste/texture but she ate several bites. Jersey waits less than a minute before beginning to sidle along the rails towards the table. At 10:17:27, without any hesitation, he takes the first bite dad offers him. And the second. Leaper moves forward beside Jersey, who stays exactly where he is. Dad begins giving alternate bites to each eaglet. Leaper moves forward a couple of steps and Jersey, who is a little closer to dad, immediately shuffles two steps forward himself, leaning in to grab the next bite. This is most definitely not the Jersey we were watching five or six days ago. He takes the next half dozen bites, moves even closer, and eats some more. Leaper is obviously wanting more food but is making no objection to Jersey taking bites from in front of her eyes. The two are side by side at the table, Jersey closer than Leaper to dad, and competing for bites. Mostly, Jersey wins, though occasionally, it appears that he sits one out and allows Leaper to take the bite. This is a very big piece of prey and both eaglets eat until they cannot manage any more. This will be a complicated task if Jersey tries self-feeding, though over recent days, as the food supply to the nest has so dramatically improved, he has not needed to resort to feeding himself, reverting to the joys of being fed by his parents. He occasionally nibbles on something, but only when it’s being held down by a parent. The little one is still very nervous around food when Leaper is nearby. A couple of times during the mammal feeding, Leaper would move suddenly (such as to scratch an itchy spot over her shoulder) and Jersey would immediately turn away in case the sudden movement represented an attack. So although he is much more confident than he was a few days ago, he is still wary of his sister, and I doubt the memories of some of those beatings will not quickly fade for Jersey. The feeding lasts for over 45 minutes. At 11:03, Jersey is still being offered the final leftovers. These eaglets have totally demolished that giant piece of prey with a tag-team eating effort to be proud of. Now, however, they are so full, they can barely move. Mum is back shortly after 12:49 with a nice big fish (again, I think it is mum but it could easily be dad). Dad has darker plumage but that can also be a trick of the light. And their feet are the same colour too, so as I said yesterday, they are hard to tell apart even when they are both on the nest together. The lengthy feeding this morning was more mum’s style, but as we could see very little of the parent, I could not guarantee which parent it was. The same is true with this fish delivery. However, these eaglets only finished a 50+-minute feeding 45 minutes ago, so it will amaze me if they can eat another morsel. Jersey is nothing if not determined, though, and of course he manages to eat some fish. He was asleep at the table when the food came in, so found himself in prime position for the feeding, with Leaper behind him. Of course this made him nervous, and he refused the first bite he was offered, turning away and doing a small crop drop. Thereafter, he took whatever mum gave him. Leaper watched, still resting that gigantic crop, one leg fully outstretched. At 12:54:20 Jersey gets offered such a gigantic piece of fish that he is intimidated by it. You can see him thinking omigod, what does he expect me to do with that? Leaper thinks she is up to the challenge, however, and moves up behind Jersey, which causes him to duck and tuck. Mum reaches over Jersey to offer this massive chunk of innards to Leaper, who grabs at it. But mum thinks better of it, and pulls the food back out of Leaper’s mouth and eats it herself. Leaper is not impressed. She is soon given a few more pieces but that’s all she could manage. She backs up for yet another PS and then heads for the centre of the nest. This is the signal for Jersey to lift his head and return to eating. He manages half a dozen more bites but it is obviously hard for him to fit anything into that giant crop. He has learned his lessons well over the past week, and he knows he must eat as much as he can when he can. So he does a valiant job, but even he has limits, and he reached them around 13:00. As he turns away, Leaper returns to the table for a second (or is it a third?) helping of fish. By 13:04 the feeding is over. At least half the fish (possibly three-quarters of it) remains on the side of the nest. Mum hangs around the nest with the eaglets for a while after lunch. Both eaglets are in food comas. Mum leaves shortly before 14:06. At 16:20, Jersey lines up for a PS while Leaper plays with nesting. By 16:21:30, both are side by side at the table, playing beakies. SO adorable. Their crops are still gigantic. That size gap is shrinking rapidly. I think that in another week, or even sooner, these two will be the same size.At 16:39:25, Mum returns to feed the eaglets the remainder of the lunchtime fish. Leaper is in prime position and appears to have a smaller crop than Jersey, so Jersey just lies and watches until 16:44:30, when he heads up to the table. Mum feeds him about ten consecutive bites. Leaper eventually stands up and leans in for a mouthful. Mum feeds three bi9tes to Jersey, then Leaper leans in and grabs one. Another three bites for Jersey, then one for Leaper. Jersey is given the next 14 bites in a row. Leaper tries to grab one about halfway through the 14 but fails and sits back to watch in awe. This pattern continues, with Jersey eating multiple consecutive bites and Leaper occasionally leaning in to try and grab a mouthful. She fails more often than she succeeds – when competing for bites, Jersey sure is the king of this nest. Soon after 16:49, Jersey begins to flag and Leaper gets some bites. Jersey still takes one bite in three or four but at this stage, Leaper is finally getting her share of the fish. By 16:54 Jersey has had enough and turns away. He has a HUGE crop pillow for tonight. Leaper stays at the table. Somehow, Jersey finds a bit more room and returns to eat a bit more. The fish is finally finished at 17::03, and Mum cleans up the nestovers. She finds a chunk of something (the remains of the mammal perhaps?) and starts to feed it to Leaper. Jersey stretches and moves up for his share. He is eating AGAIN. By 17:09 the food is finally gone and mum flies off the nest. These are two very well-fed eaglets. They will both go to sleep with happy tummies tonight. They are in a cuddle puddle in the middle of the nest when, at 17:30, yet another fish arrives, this one from dad, I think, but it is so hard to tell because we can only see his feet, and part of his head when he reaches forward with a bite. At 17:32, Mum arrives with some grass, which she spreads around. Already, both chicks are too full to eat. I think you get the drift – a great day at Duke Farms. Lots of food for both eaglets and not a hint of aggression that I witnessed.”
And here is the text or Monday morning. “
Mum left the babies alone overnight, flying off the nest shortly before 00:40. An early fish was delivered for breakfast by what looks like dad, but in this light, the difficulty in telling these two apart is even greater than usual. Either way, food arrives at 07:04:19. It looks like a large fish.
Leaper immediately heads for the table. Jersey looks up but remains where he is, sprawled in the middle of the nest. He makes no move of submission. Dad is slow to get a bite off the food for Leaper, then drops the bite he does prepare. This frustrates Leaper, and at the same moment, Jersey decides to stand up. This provokes the first aggression I have seen in days, as Leaper turns around, spreads her wings and looms over Jersey, to grab him on the back of the neck. He lets go, then grabs Jersey again by the back of the head. She quickly drops him and returns to the table. Jersey is a little startled and remains ducked and tucked. Wake up on the wrong side of the nest this morning, Leaper?
Leaper eats. At 07:06:20 Jersey unfurls himself though he stays low. By 07:07 his head is up, and he periodically glances at the feeding. At 07:08:36 he stands up, his back to the table. I’m fairly sure this is dad – his plumage is looking darker as the light improves and his normal feeding technique involves much smaller bites than mum’s. Just before 07:09 he stands and leans over forwards for a big stretch. Leaper turns and looks at him, then turns back to eat more.
Jersey is glancing over his left shoulder at the food now, He moves closer to the rails, the start of an attempt to sidle around to dad and the food. When Leaper drops a large bite, Jersey sees his chance. He moves closer, and when dad picks it up, he offers the big bite to Jersey, who leans in and grabs it. There is no reaction from Leaper, who has a good crop by now. After Leaper takes one more bite, Jersey takes over, with all but one of the next couple of dozen bites going to him. Small bites, in the main, as is dad’s pattern;.
By 07:11 they are both eating, most bites still going to Jersey, who is eating confidently but still being careful to defer to Leaper, ensuring she does not want the food before claiming some bites. He has had a recent reminder of who is the older sibling on this nest. (Mind you, that’s all it was – Leaper was frustrated that dad took so long to get that first bite to her, and Jersey bumped into her at exactly the wrong instant, it appeared. It was a fairly tokenistic bonking effort.)
By 07:12:30 Leaper has had enough, refusing a bite offered to her by dad at least four or five times, then standing up, stretching and turning away from the table. Jersey is left to continue eating. Leaper has a good PS and flops down in the middle of the nest. Watch her turning her head almost upside down at 07:13:37 as if she’s looking up dad’s nostril. TOO funny. What IS she doing? Dad thinks she’s asking for food so offers her a bite. She refuses so he gives it to Jersey. He also has a few bites of breakfast himself. Good for you, dad. He sure got the short end of the stick (fish) yesterday.
Jersey seems to have had enough but Leaper gets a second wind and dad feeds her as she lies duckling style in the middle of the nest. Jersey is sitting up beside her, watching, and occasionally refusing a bite of food. By 07:15 both eaglets seem to be full. Dad eats some more himself. There is a lot of food left over on the nest and the chicks both have excellent crops. A nice start to the morning, with the exception of Leaper’s minor temper tantrum. Nothing more than an older hatch reminding the younger of the pecking order. Certainly not something to worry about and nothing to stop Jersey from eating his full.”
I do not think we have to worry about Little Jersey any more.
Duke arrived at the Barneghat Light Osprey platform in New Jersey on Sunday afternoon! What a mate – he flew in with a partial fish for Daisy. Time was 1623. Avid viewers had been watching and worrying – this is such a relief.
Watching for Iris to return to her Hellgate Canyon nest in Missoula, Montana.
Snow remains at some of the Finnish Osprey nests. No signs of any returnees yet.
Watching the Ospreys at Old Town Home Western Maryland for an egg.
Thunder and Akecheta are busy feeding the trio at the West End. Lots of really awful looking prey on that nest – must seem like a Sunday buffet to the kids!
Feeding behaviour and confirmation of a hatch at Centreport!
Cute little bobbleheads in Iowa! Denton Homes and Decorah North.
At Decorah North, I am afraid the chicks are having the Easter Bunny for dinner.
Port Tobacco had squirrel. The mammals are awake and the raptors are catching them.
The pair at Little Miami Conservancy Bald Eagle nest are enjoying their Sunday dinner, too.
I am not seeing any issues at the Bald Eagle nests unless it is eggs that are not going to hatch. All eaglets and ospreys on the other nests as of Sunday evening appear to be doing well.
Ruffie and Tuffy at Moorings Park had lots and lots of fish thanks to Dad Harry’s phenomenal fishing skills.
E23 likes being with its parents high up in the nest tree!
Swampy and Meadow and the turtle Dad brought to the nest.
Yesterday, I included a post from FB by Toni Hoover. That post identified Lewis and Rosa at the Dulles-Greenway Nest. After much consultation with many and comparing images, I believe TH is incorrect and this is the new couple on that nest.
What happens when birds experience a total solar eclipse? Remember, it is coming on 8 April.
Missed the Condor Chat? Want to catch up with what is happening at Big Sur and Pinnacles? Here’s your chance!
On Monday, Prince returned for a visit to Loch Arkaig nest 2.
I reported that Elen returned to her nest at Glaslyn on the 26th of March. Aran returned but Elen has been no where to be seen. (Did they make a mistake in identification?). We will wait to see what transpires. Did Elen go for a fly about? Did she get injured? Maybe it wasn’t her.
The bird with Aran is 372 who visited Llyn Brenig the other day.
Thank you so very much for being with me today. It is always a delight to hear form you – either by email or through your comments. Thank you for taking the time! We hope to have you with us again soon. Take care.
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, videos, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J, MM, SP’, Fort Whyte Alive, Llyn Brenig Osprey Cam, Tweed Valley Osprey Project, Welsh Osprey, Erica Crowley, Diane Lambertson, Pam Kruse, Wildlife Consere of NJ, Montana Osprey Project, Finland Osprey Foundation, Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home, IWS/Explore, Centreport Eagles, Denton Homes, Raptor Resource Project, Port Tobacco, Little Miami Conservancy, Moorings Park Ospreys, Lady Hawk, Eagle Country, Earth Sky, Geemeff, and Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn.
