Category Archives: wildlife rescue

Hatch in Progress at Dyfi…Monday in Bird World

20 May 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

There is a hatch in progress at Dyfi!

Sunday was a glorious day, and instead of sitting in front of my computer in the conservatory with the girls, I took a trip to a small town in southern Manitoba and paid a visit to their greenhouse. They had helped with a fundraiser (plants) for my grandson’s choir tour, and the quality of their flowers and herbs amazed me. So off I went. It was a wonderful half-hour drive with the sides of the road full of Red-wing Blackbirds flitting about the bullrushes and geese in ponds created by the recent heat rains. Everything was green and beautiful, and – it was quiet. If you live in the centre of a big city, the silence of the rural areas does not go unnoticed! This evening, all those herbs – including two Curry plants – will be put in their containers on the two decks with the hope that Dyson & Co will have pity on me and not usurp them while caching their peanuts. I live in hope.

It is interesting. The garden is not mine OR, rather, I have chosen to give it her to the animals which means that I feel that I am intruding when I am outside. I spent only an hour planting and will finish tomorrow. The heavy rains of the last days have meant that many birds might not have eaten well and it seemed cruel to be out there during the evening buffet period. The fledgling Red-wing Blackbirds are flitting about. One is causing concern. It does loops and I fear that it has a wing problem. I am not able to catch it and to be honest, the Wildlife Centre would only put the darling to sleep so I am going to let it live its life around the wood boxes where there is lots of food and see what happens. It has certainly entertained Calico and Baby Hope. The Baltimore Orioles – and this year more females than males – have been eating oranges. Lots of oranges! For some reason they are not at all interested in the grape jelly. Will try again tomorrow. But what an exciting late spring it has been – baby sparrows galore and now these little Red-wing Blackbirds. Their nest is inside a 30 cm high stack of vines that grow on the back woodbox. A perfect place that is well protected from the Crows and Grackles. Their Mummy was very smart!

Sad news is coming out of Glacier Gardens. Freedom was found Dad. He is the mate of Liberty and the Dad of those wonderful chicks Kindness (2021), and Peace and Hope (2023).

‘H’ and I just want to make everyone aware of what we desperately hope will not happen at Lake Murray. The ages and dates for the predation by the GHO in 2023 were: “Big was taken by GHO on 5/15 at age 26 days. Middle was taken by GHO on 5/23 at age 33 days.” Little died from siblicide. Today, the Osplets are 29, 27, and 24 days old. Mum is not sleeping on the nest at night and is away during the day. The GHO is aware of the nest. I hope that the owner has lights and loud music playing regularly now and will not stop thinking the owls have forgotten! Those efforts might help.

Little ate reasonably well on Sunday. I am no longer counting bites unless behaviours or fish deliveries (or both) change on this nest. For now, we have to stay strong and hope the GHO does not take these precious babies.

There are such simple solutions to protect our beautiful birds from harm – by us or other predators. At Lake Murray, for example, the fish grates or lights – GHOs do not like lights – would help. Right now, lights are the only solution. During migration, dimming or turning off lights can save the lives of millions of birds. You just have to flip a switch. Is that so difficult? Geez, it could save hydro costs!!!!!!! Do you remember the Brown Outs of the 1970s? It really is easy. Geemeff found us a good article.

Lights-Out-Turn-off-lights-to-save-birds-lives-newscentermaine.com_Download

The two chicks on the German streaming cam Goitzsche-Wildnis appear to be doing well.

And then the third one hatched on Monday – so a trio!

We have all been worried about CO8 at Captiva. ‘H’ gives us her report for Sunday. “0722 The first meal of the day consisted of a small partial mullet.  CO8 simply decided to sit this one out, and did not approach Edie.

At 0845 Jack delivered a whole sheepshead.  CO8 was beaked, or intimidated several times over the next several minutes.  While Edie ate the fish, C07 simply hovered over CO8 until 0855.  Then CO7 decided to eat.  CO7 ate until 0901 and then moved away.  Edie then started to feed CO8, and ate until 0913, when CO7 returned to the table.  At 0920 CO7 again stopped eating, and CO8 ate for the next 6 minutes.  CO8 was fed for about 18 minutes at this meal.

Feeding #3 was a partial sheepshead at 1003.  CO7 beaked CO8, then CO7 ate until 1011.  CO8 had a short private feeding until 1017, when CO7 returned and they ate side-by-side for one minute until CO8 was beaked.  CO7 ate until 1023, then CO8 returned and ate for 2 more minutes.  CO8 ate for approximately 8 minutes at this feeding.

At 1557 Jack delivered a large live gafftopsail catfish.  CO7 intimidated CO8 and ate first.  By 1602 CO8 had worked his/her way to the other side of Edie, but was beaked by CO7.  At 1617, CO7 was taking a break from eating, and CO8 was fed…but only for 2 minutes, when he was beaked by CO7 who resumed eating.  CO7 ate for at least the next 30 minutes, and CO8 was only able to grab one or two bites.  At 1651 Edie was alarming and flew off with the fish.  She soon returned with the fish still in her talons, and CO8 ate for 1 minute before being intimidated by CO7.  At 1710, CO7 once again retired from the meal, and laid down to take a nap.  CO8 was able to eat for the next 8 minutes, before being pushed from behind by CO7.  CO7 ate until 1725, then CO8 was at the table and waiting, but Edie was distracted, presumably by an intruder.  At 1728 Edie flew off in a hurry.  Edie returned 5 minutes later.  There was just a small amount of the catfish remaining, and CO8 ate for the next 3 minutes.  CO8 was able to eat for a total of approximately 14 minutes, and only had a small crop after a fish that lasted roughly 90 minutes.  Overall however, CO8 did fairly well today, and had a large crop a couple of times today.”

Dr Ericke Green continues to post good information about Ospreys which I will share with you in case you are not on FB. This is an exciting year and we will know the name of Iris’s New Guy soon!

I had so many lovely letters today. There is news that I want to share with all of you.

‘AM’ has discovered a new Peregrine Falcon nest. It is Kingston College. She tells me, “The mother was badly injured and euthanized and the father is raising the young alone. Recently, a new female has started coming in.”

Here is the link to their streaming cam:

‘MM’ reassures us that the Dad at the MNSA nest is doing a fantastic job! She comments, “Mom seems to feed the littlest chick first and in the few days I’ve been watching there has been one episode of bonking that I’ve seen and it was between the two oldest chicks and it wasn’t at meal time. “

‘MM’ asked about Mum at MNSA begging Dad to feed her. Many of you might not have seen it before, but there are a number of Ospreys that either like to be fed or do the feeding. Iris has been begging New Guy to feed her while she is incubating just like her Stanley did. Several UK nests have the male feeding the female. I wish I had images. This is the screen capture of Dad feeding Mum at MNSA.

I am always happy to get your letters. Please do not ever think for a moment that I do not like hearing from you!

Annie and Archie have really provided a lot of ‘light’ to everyone’s lives this year. ‘B’ writes: “…just to say how much fun it is watching the Cal Falcons this year, and how impressed I am with both Annie and Archie. Annie is even more impressive every year, and she’s lucky to have Archie, too. I wasn’t expecting the fourth egg to hatch, and I was a bit worried when it did that it would be just too much. But Annie and Archie are just not skipping a beat with four chicks. Archie just keeps the prey coming, and Annie is so skilled at distributing the food to the chicks. And wonderful to see Archie again yesterday joining in to tandem feed the chicks.” 

What a shocking difference in size between Small at Amersfoort and one of the two older siblings.

Big Red loves her Ns. They are getting their juvenile feathers and their interest is shifting beyond the world of the nest on the light tower. We can expect fledging in June.

Rose and Oren’s sweet babies at Syracuse University. This nest is going to get really crowded.

Another location for Red-tail Hawks to raise their young – New York City! Yolton commented in his blog, urbanhawks.com, that the female had been picked up earlier in the week and taken into care. She was released and returned to her nest to the delight of her growing community of human well-wishers.

I am so happy that Bruce Yolton is posting his videos on FB for everyone to see.

Other Red-tails are nesting on Governor’s Island.

All three osplets have fledged and returned to the nest at the Venice Golf and Country Club platform. Adults continue to deliver fish – six or seven today!

Waiting for hatch at Boulder County.

Day old osplet at Great Bay doing well.

It looks like Dad will be fishing for two chicks this year at PSEG Patchogue.

Frederick keeps bringing in the fish to Betsy and the two chicks at Outerbanks.

Hebert and Hermine’s trio at Eschenbach are a little older than the chicks at Goitzsdhe Wildness.

For all Ervie lovers, myself included, he is still hanging around Port Lincoln! With all these boys, Mum and Dad could have grandchildren close by in a year or two.

‘A’ sends us the latest on Mum and Dad, the WBSE at Sydney Olympic Park:

“Speaking of which, I am intrigued by Lady and Dad and wondering whether this is their usual schedule and I just have been unaware of it (not checking the nest basically until eggs are due to be laid or have been laid, I think) or whether they are very early in nest-building and frequent mating behaviour this year. I suppose time will tell. We’ll know by the date the first egg is laid. 

Here are the reports for May 18 and May 19.

May 18: The eagles were by the nest last night and came in early, at 6:22am, with a duet and mating soon after. They brought a couple of sticks in, then were off. At 11:10am, a duet could be heard coming from Mangrove Island, though the eagles were out of sight of our observer. Then one was seen soaring overhead – in the picture. It was a windy day. Unknown where they were for the rest of the day. Then at dark, at 5:30pm, both arrived at the nest and settled nearby. Very few sticks were brought in today – Lady two and Dad one.

May 19: A fine day. Our eagles were awake early, with mating. Then both were in and out during the morning with sticks and leaves – five for Lady and seven for Dad. From about 11am, neither was seen at the river or nearby. Finally, at around 4pm, at least one was seen at Goat Island. Then at dusk, at 5:19pm, Dad showed up at the nest with leaves. He settled nearby. Where is Lady?”

More news about Laddie – and yes, I am thrilled they issued an appeal and were on top of what might have happened to our beloved male at Loch of the Lowes. (As Jeff Kear notes, “If the shot went straight through, it would not show up on an X-Ray”. Laddies body was found eight days after he went missing.

Update on death of Osprey ‘Laddie’ from Loch of the Lowes Reserve in Perthshire

If you are lucky enough to live in London, UK you might wish to take in the new exhibition at the Natural History Museum that focuses on how birds survive – and do not.

Vampire-finches-and-deadly-tree-snakes-how-birds-went-worldwide-–-and-their-battles-for-survival-Download

Thank you so much for your letters and for being with us today. Lots of excitement coming up in the next fortnight as we continue with fledges and hatches. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, AM, B, Geemeff, H, MM, MP’, Dyfi Osprey Project, Steven Bowery, Glacier Gardens Nest Cam, Trudi Kron, Lake Murray Ospreys, Animals, Goitzsche-Wildnis, Eschenbach, Window to Wildlife, Montana Osprey Project, Montana Osprey Cams and Dr Green, Kingston Campus STCG, MNSA Ospreys, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, Amersfoort Falcon Scrape, Cornell RTH, Syracuse University Hawk Cam, Bruce Yolton, VGCCO, Boulder County, Great Bay Ospreys, PSEG, OBX Osprey Cam, Eschenbach Ospreys, PLO, Sydney Olympic Cam, Raptor Persecution UK, and The Guardian.

3 Hatches at Cal Falcons…Tuesday in Bird World

23 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

It was a beautiful spring day on the Canadian Prairies! The hundreds of Dark-eyed Juncos remain in the garden. They hop and hop, scratching and pecking trying to find seeds. They are adorable. We will enjoy them for awhile longer and then they will leaving, heading north to return again in the fall.

Calico has asked me to post her ‘new look’. She is now down a little over three pounds. She runs down the hall, through the galley kitchen and straight up to the top of the cat tree. The energy and the joy in play have returned!

In California, it was sheer happiness as the second eyas of Archie and Annie hatched on Earth Day, too!

Archie meets his chicks for the first time.

The chicks first meal.

Can’t get enough of Annie and Archie!

There will be a third one soon!

And then there were three for breakfast on Tuesday! Way to go Archie and Annie!

The first eyas has hatched at Cromer Peregrines, too!

At Mispillion Harbour, Della loves bringing things to the nest she shares with Warren. Sometimes it is something yellow, Della loves yellow. Sometimes it is something else..

The pair also have a full clutch of three eggs.

I did not get a chance to watch Tuffy as closely on Monday. He is definitely being fed. Ruffy is so big compared to Tuffy and requires much more food that it often feels as if Tuffy gets short-changed.

A nice meal at sundown and Tuffy will get a nice crop and go to sleep dreaming of more fish for breakfast.

Heidi reports that there is a possible pip in one of the eggs at the Captiva Osprey nest of Jack and Edie. This would be a welcome surprise. Some have said that they do not have late hatches in the Barrier Islands – so let us wait and see!

And it was a hatch! Welcome to the world little miracle osplet. We now know that opera eggs can hatch with a live chick this late in the season on the Barrier Islands.

Surprise! Two chicks at Lake Murray. Wow.

First egg or Mr and Mrs UV at Kielder Forest nest 5A on the 22nd at 19:47.

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The Ospreys are returning to Finland. Some are finding open water with snow melting while other nests are covered with no ospreys yet (smart).

#1 Nest: The male, Ura, arrived on 14 April at 1516.

#2 Nest, Satakunta: Nothing

#3 Nest: Nothing

#4 Nest: Nemo, the male arrived on 8 April with Nuppu, the female, arriving on the 14th.

#5, LS: Roni and Sara are together. Sara arrived on the 16th with Roni arriving on the 21/22nd.

Janakkalan: nothing

Juurusvesi: nothing

Muonion: nothing

Aran and Elen at the Glaslyn nest in Wales have their first egg.

The second egg has been laid at Dahlgren for Helen and Doug.

What is happening at nest 1 at Loch Arkaig? What is wrong with Prince

Poor Affric. Two males. One female. One nest.

Meanwhile on the other Loch Arkaig nest, Louis is taking very good care of Dorcha.

This is the situation at Frenchman’s Creek Ospreys. The nest is full of fish, the older two osplets are alive and self-feeding. The streaming cam is up and running with notices from Frenchman’s Creek about stealing content, etc. You can go to their site on YouTube to check on the osplets. So far they are alive and it looks as if they are sleeping on fish!

In Latvia, Milda is in the midst of a snow storm. She is trying to care for her two eggs by herself since the absence of Hugo.

The female at the Trempealeau Eagle Nest in Wisconsin has done a top rate job caring for her two little eaglets all by herself! She had to leave alone to hunt for them so the three could eat. They survived that and now have their thermal down. Send positive wishes to this nest, please.

Oh, thank you Stephen Basly. I know we have talked about Meadow but let us go back to ND17. Starved by its two older siblings. We know that he had to eat skin and bones to survive and then he fell from the nest. Spent 3 full days and a bit more on the ground and then, thankfully, Humane Indiana Wildlife rescued ‘our baby’ – he was everyone’s baby. ND17 survived. They taught him to fly and hunt and returned him to a spot near the nest site where he engaged with his parents.

I want to thank Trudi Kron who has been keeping a close eye on the Mum at the JB Sands Wetlands Bald Eagle nest. You will recall that Mum injured her foot and was unable to care for JBS20 for a few days. Dad did a heroic job and continues to help out. But Trudi got a great screen capture and enlarged it and it is showing improvement and healing! Great news.

Watch for Swampy to fledge anytime! S/he is climbing higher on the nest and really working those wings.

The trio at Decorah North are getting their blood feathers. They are growing so fast. It seems only yesterday that they were white little chicks sitting in the morning sun.

There are three eggs at the Great Bay Osprey nest in New Hampshire. The third was laid on the 18th of April.

‘A’ has been keeping a wishful eye on the nest of Angel and Tom. “A male red-tailed hawk that we believe to be Tom just flew onto Angel’s nest. He left after 15 seconds, and there is some debate now about the tail markings, which were apparently different from those of the RTH that shared beakies with Angel on 5 April at 09:02:08. Others say it was definitely Tom, based on the confidence with which he entered the nest and based on the fact that this is Tom and Angel’s territory. There is a view that Tom’s plumage is still changing, even in a the two and a half weeks since 5 April, and that this was definitely Tom. 

Obviously, we all very much want it to be Tom, and it does confirm the report I made of hearing RTH vocals when I was typing my earlier email to have been accurate. It’s now 11:42 on the Tennessee nest and I can again hear the sound of a RTH very nearby. This is probably what I heard originally when I lost the TS – it sure sounds like it. If I check the PTZ cam at around the 11:42 onwards TS (the noises are continuing), I may be able to spot whether it is Angel there or whether it is Tom. or even whether it’s neither of them and some visitor instead. 

I will keep you posted, but I would call that a very hopeful sighting, and I am fairly confident it was Tom. Talons crossed. He (or she, if he was accompanied by Angel) is continuing to vocalise, and it sounds as though the vocals are coming from either the nest tree itself or somewhere within one or two trees either side of that microphone. It sure sounds extremely close. I am hopeful. “

The three Bald eaglets at the Sutton Centre in Bartlesville, Oklahoma are thriving.

Three Osplets at Venice Golf are all feathered and fine. Gosh, isn’t this a relief.

Our darling Ervie.

‘EJ’ wrote to remind me that Any Tan’s book on her backyard birds is being released tomorrow. There will be many articles and there is a wonderful interview with Tan on YouTube. My copy should be in the mailbox by Wednesday. I am so looking forward to reading it, but most of all seeing the drawings that Tan made of ‘her’ birds. She took classes, taught herself. That should encourage all of us to look closer, keep a nature journal, and get really involved with the wildlife right around us.

EJ sent this article:

https://www.npr.org/2024/04/22/1245849320/amy-tan-the-backyard-bird-chronicles-trish-okane-birding-to-change-the-world

Here is the link to the chat:

Another senseless death due to a power pole. This time a White-stork mother with five eggs on a nest. The male stayed for two days incubating and then eggs were removed. Power poles kill. Every new install should be safe at the outset – every old pole should be retrofitted so it does not harm wildlife. Yes, there are a lot of poles, but the solutions are often simple as shown to use many times by Dave Hancock of Hancock Wildlife Foundation and Christian Sasse. So sad. It happened in Germany.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Stop in and see Annie and Archie’s little fluff balls. Turn the sound up to get the full impact during a feeding. Smile. Little falcons can quickly take away the glum of the day. Take care everyone. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, images, articles, videos, and streaming cams: ‘A, Geemeff, EJ, H, PB’, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, Heidi McGrue, Sharon Pollock, Mooring Park Ospreys, Joanna Dailey, Lake Murray Ospreys, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Dahlgren Osprey Cam, Geemef, Frenchman’s Creek, LDF, Aiva Vantere, Stephen M. Basly, Trudi Kron, Raptor Resource Project, Window to Wildlife, PLO, Npr.org, and VGCCO, NY Audubon.

Tuffy smiling at the camera…Monday in Bird World

22 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

It seems that ospreys were busy laying eggs on Sunday. It was like bunnies were delivering them – whether it was the first or the third – to nests around the world. I hardly had time to pull my head out of the data forms to check on other nests! So, today’s posting reads a little bit like a list. And in about 36 days there will be sixty or more osplets hatching around the world. Imagine it…they will join their siblings. Let us hope that all of the nests prosper this year.

I love a good rescue story with a happy ending and the one today comes from a friend ‘S’ who lives in Hawaii. A nestling White Tern had fallen off its branch; they do not build nests. The proper authorities were called, the chick was taken up to a much higher branch and the parent immediately came to it. Saved!

Check out the webbed feet that help them cling to branches where they nest and roost.

Animalia says, “White terns are often seen on their own or in small groups. They are a diurnal species but are more active at dawn and dusk. To eat, it dips its beak to catch prey at the water’s surface or just beneath it. A dive is often preceded by extensive hovering, and the bird may use the wind to sustain its flight. It may catch flying fish from the air, and it is commonly seen foraging near groups of predatory fish and dolphins which drive their prey towards the surface. An individual may carry a few small fish in its bill, taking these to its young with the prey held crosswise. If disturbed by a predator, a White tern will hover, flutter and make buzzing sounds. This bird has a graceful flight. It flies easily low above the waves, without landing. It will touch the surface once it has spotted prey. Its flight is buoyant, involving erratic changes in speed and direction.” They are often called ‘fairy terns’.

‘The Girls’, and I hope you had a beautiful day. It was sunny and warm—16 C—on the Canadian Prairies, but a brisk, cool wind was accompanying it. Ice cream did not taste the same, even with a heavy jumper!

Archie was encouraging the pipping chicks to hatch! What an incredible Dad he is – ‘SP’ has often wondered if he has raised chicks before and lost his mate. We will never know, but I hope that he is with Annie for eons. Cannot wait to see these fuzzy little ones with their pink beaks and legs jumping for food.

Falling in love with Archie. His enthusiasm is contagious.

The four Osaka Peregrine Falcon chicks being fed on the 20th. This is what Archie and Annie will be looking forward to very, very soon!

We have not been able to follow Nancy and Beau at the MN-DNR nest as they moved nest when theirs collapsed last year. Trudi Kron reports that the couple have two eaglets in 2024! Fantastic news.

As you know the posts by Audubon caused a stir in Bird World and everyone wanted to know what had happened to Meadow and when. The Raptor Centre of Tampa Bay posted this on their FB page on Sunday:

It certainly is a worry for those chicks that we love and who might suffer from lack of food and/or abuse by their siblings. Even Hugo Yugo craves anything with Calcium; we often think it is because her mother was starved when carrying those 7 kittens. What will Hugo Yugo’s life be like? Is this why Mini at Patchogue had the injured leg, ‘AE’ ponders. We won’t know, and sadly, we cannot tell, but there is concern for these chicks who suffer and do not get food regularly like the others. As you might recall, Meadow was beaked often and kept from prey at one time. This includes our dear Tuffy, who had a bit of a rotten ride for a while.

Today, Tuffy has been eating well. ‘H’ sent me the first screen capture below showing Tuffy smiling at the camera. How adorable. I hope that Tuffy’s health has not been compromised from lack of food and beaking for those days we worried about this little one.

He is right up at the beak at 1700 and no doubt will be smiling again.

Tuffy having a nice meal before bedtime on Sunday. Great crop, too.

On Sunday, Louis brought Iris a fish gift. — Don’t fall off your chair! Iris has been thwarting his advances. Keep it up – get some more fish, Iris!

‘H’ reports that the second egg was laid at the Seaside Nest in Oregon.

The third egg for Boulder County was laid on the 21st!

There are three eggs at Ferris State University’s Osprey nest. The three egg clutch was completed on the 21st. Their camera is now on Twitch and there is no rewind that I can see, but they do have an up-to-date FB page.

There are three eggs for Herbert and Hermine at the Eschenbach Osprey nest. Sunday began with a snow-covered nest that gradually melted during the day.

The second egg at the Cowlitz PUD osprey nest in Washington arrived on Sunday the 21st.

The three osplets at the University of Florida-Gainesville are entering the Reptilian Phase!

Waiting for the arrival of the first egg for Aran and Elen at Glaslyn.

First egg in the nest at GribSkov on the 21st.

There are now three osprey eggs in the nest in the Ramucka Forest in Poland.

‘BHA’ reports that the third egg (and hopefully the last) was laid at the Port of Ridgefield on Sunday.

It’s three eggs for Mispillion Harbour on the 22nd!

Second egg for the new couple at Dahlgren.

And then there were three at Alyth for Flo and Harry!

Bety and Buky have been incubating their two eggs in Mlady Buky.

Dunrovin Ranch’s latest newsletter reflects on the absence of Harriet and the great matriarch she was of their osprey nest.

Honoring-Queen-HarrietDownload

The American Eagle Foundation posted some images and information on Mr President and Lotus and their eaglets at their new nest. I know that many of you loved this eagle pair and are so disappointed not to be able to see them raise their chicks.

The GH owlet named Wyatt branched at the nest on Farmer Derek’s land on Sunday.

Down in the Sydney Olympic Forest, Dad and Lady are starting the nest renovations for the 2024 season! Wow. Cal Falcons hasn’t even hatched their eggs yet….did time start moving at warp speed?

The Cream-Coloured Courser is only one bird that is beginning to breed further north than its norm. Climate change is driving more and more birds to cooler areas to make their nests.

“Cream-coloured Courser (Cursorius cursor) Tal Chhapar, Churu, Rajasthan, India February 15th, 2013” by Dibyendu Ash is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Cream-coloured-Courser-found-breeding-further-north-than-ever-before-BirdGuidesDownload

All About Birds shows this normal distribution map.

Key:

Animalia describes them as wading birds that forage for insects. Their numbers are decreasing but so far they are listed as of Least Concern.

“These coursers are found in Canary Islands, Cape Verde, North Africa and Southwest Asia. Their two eggs are laid in a ground scrape. The breeding season extends from February to September, but they may breed also in autumn and winter when local conditions (especially rainfall) are favourable. They are partially migratory, with northern and northwestern birds wintering in India, Arabia and across the southern edge of the Sahara. Some birds also breed in the southern desert regions in northwestern India and Pakistan. They are rare north of the breeding range, but this species has occurred as far away as Finland, Ireland and Great Britain.”

Thank goodness some communities understand. Portsmouth stops seaside condos from being built due to worries over wintering bird habitat! Give them five gold stars.

Portsmouth-seafront-flats-delayed-over-habitat-concerns-BirdGuidesDownload

There appears to be an egg at the Balgavies Loch nest on the 21st also. So many eggs on the 21st – it is raining them.

Movement has been noticed in one of the eggs at Captiva. ‘H’ reports that egg 3 is 37 days old today.

And, sadly, dear Audacity laid another egg on Sunday and it had a puncture.

Thank you so very much for being with us today. Things are going to get quite exciting the third week in May when these osplets start hatching! Take care all. Happy Earth Day.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, articles, screen captures, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘AE, BHA, H, PB, SS’, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, Osaka Peregrine Falcon Cam, Trudi Kron, Raptor Centre of Tampa Bay, Moorings Park, Montana Osprey Project, Seaside Ospreys, Boulder County, Ferris State University Osprey Cam, Fischadle Eschenbach LiveStream, Cowlitz PUD, University of Florida-Gainesville Osprey Cam, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, GribSkov, Ospreys in Napiwodzko-Ramuka Forest, Port of Ridgefield, Mispillion Harbour Osprey Cam, Alyth Ospreys, Mlady Buky Stork Cam, Dunrovin Ranch Newsletter, American Eagle Foundation Live Nest Cams, Farmer Derek, Eagle Cam, BirdGuides, OpenVerse, Animalia, and All About Birds.

Spring, eggs, and Tuffy starts a fight…Thursday in Bird World

18 April 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

I want to thank one of our readers from Japan, ‘AM’ who sent the most beautiful images they took of a Sparrow Hawk and a Warbling White-Eye. Notice the magnificent cherry blossoms! It is spring in Japan and I would so love to have been there to see these birds in person. Thank you ‘AM’ for sharing with us! This is a wonderful way to start our day!

If you are not familiar with the Japanese White-eye, please have a read. The Canon Bird Branch Project provides some good information.

Canon-Bird-Branch-Project-Biodiversity-Initiatives-Bird-photo-guide-Japanese-White-eyeDownload

I had a question today that many of you might also be wondering about so I thought I would post it. Thanks, ‘AJ’ for allowing me to. The question: “I had a question about the Meadow situation. From what I saw, it appeared that Meadow did not eat for about 48 hours. She was fed around 10am the morning of her fall and then not rescued until she fell off the branch, two mornings later. I was wondering if there is some law preventing them from intervening unless the eaglet has fallen to the ground?” This is an excellent question and will help us to understand the complexity of the situation that Meadow was in. First, the Migratory Bird Act does now allow for anyone to approach a nest in North America during the breeding season without a permit from USFWS. Rescuers can get a permit if the nest occupants have been injured due to a human action – such as fishing line. We saw this at Dale Hollow and other nests. Other instances include infections that might be of interest to the public. We saw this at SW Florida when the two eaglets E17 and 18 had conjunctivitis. Neither of those cases would apply here because Meadow was blown out of the nest. You might recall the images of Meadow on the branch close enough to the nest for some to believe that Meadow might have been fed by the parents there or that Meadow might have been able to scramble up to the nest. A permit to rescue Meadow at that particular position might not have been given for two reasons: Rescuers arriving via rope or cherry picker might have caused Meadow to fall further causing injury or death OR those same actions might have caused Swampy to bolt and be injured or killed. Great caution has to be exercised in a situation like this. Still a permit has to be obtained and there has to be individuals skilled to make this type of rescue. The trees are quite tall. I do not know the terrain so I cannot comment on what could have been used or if anything could have. Permits take time. Getting a rescue team together takes time as well as the equipment. It is possible that was being undertaken – we might never know. What we do know is that Meadow fell. No permit is required to rescue an eaglet on the ground. That was what was done at that time. This was a very sad situation and there will be continuing debates over what should or could have been done, why postings were worded the way they were, and whether or not the infection weakened Meadow’s system and how its bone broke. A real tragedy for a much-loved eaglet. —– Thank you for this great question.

The same act applies throughout North America – the main law is the 1994 Migratory Bird Act. At times there have been some changes but anyone approaching a nest with occupants must have a permit.

Migratory-Birds-Regulations-2022Download

It is such a relief to not have to worry about Tuffy. No more going to bed wondering if the little fella has to wait til nearly 1800 to eat or if he will be beaked continually. Now, we can sit back and watch Tuffy grow and that little bottom get even fatter. What a turn around – a wonderful event and, if we had not witnessed the struggle of this second hatch, we would not be finding the joy that we are now that the food competition appears to be over. Sally is a great Mum and all is well. Tuffy ate so much and is now enjoying a good sleep.

Tuffy had nice crops and could be found eating much of the time. Then Tuffy got all fired up and started a fight with Ruffie. ‘H’ is making a video. ‘PB’ posted a screen capture and I am adding a few more. It was a hilarious exchange. Watch Tuffy’s posture. The confidence is growing.

Meals are peaceful.

Big Bad Tuffy telling Ruffy he has had enough.

Here is Heidi’s video clip:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/605504046583864/permalink/1832483540552569

There was a surprise delivery of a fish tail at Moorings Park in the night caught by ‘H’. “4/18, At 0235 Harry made a somewhat clumsy landing on the nest in the dark.  He was holding a small fish tail.  It took the sleepy family a few moments to react.  Sally was like: Harry dear, do you have any idea what time it is? lol.  Lil’ Tuffy started chirping away.  Ruffie was slow to wake up.  Sally began to feed Tuffy some bites of fish at 0238, although Tuffy found it difficult to find Mom’s beak in the dark.  Tuffy had only eaten 3-4 bites of fish by 0239, when Ruffie inserted herself in between Sally and Tuffy, and Tuffy reflexively moved away.  Sally and Ruffie finished the fish tail by 0254.”

Cute little Tuffy. Seeing this baby getting bigger, chubbier’ is so nice.

The three osplets at Venice Golf and Country Club ate well on Wednesday.

Little Miami Conservancy third hatch 7 ate quite well on Wednesday.

There is incredible news coming out of Rutland Water. 1H1, the eldest of a clutch of all females of Blue 33 and Maya at Rutland in 2022 is in Germany! Now, did she meet a wonderful German osprey male during her wintering in West Africa that invited her to join him? Everyone is delighted. That clutch kept Blue 33 so busy – all big healthy females. You might remember it! I am in tears – tears of joy. I watched those three grow up and am so thrilled we know this one has survived. I look forward to seeing her chicks.

Did I ever tell you that Maya and Blue 33 are super Ospreys? No only do they set records for raising healthy chicks, but their return rate is going to shatter some records, also. Good DNA and good luck – that is what my friend Tiger Mozone says is needed. Well, this bird has both.

I posted the following on 2 July 2022 when 1H1 fledged!

A close up of the nest of Richmond and Rosie.

We might never know the fate of the two remaining osplets and the Mum (the Dad appears to be fishing fine) at the Frenchman’s Creek Osprey Platform. After the death by siblicide-starvation of the third hatch and observers questioning the health of the female, the streaming cam has gone black. Actually, it is completely removed from YouTube. Anyone who wrote to Frenchman’s Creek might have received a reply that this is only a technical glitch.

It is like you have never seen it before! Beautiful done footage of the nest of Louis and Dorcha at Loch Arkaig before the birds returned by the Woodland Trust (on X, thanks, Geemeff). Some screen captures:

It is snowing in Missoula, Montana and Iris has been at her nest. Louis came over to pay a visit. Now I know that many are going to be upset with me, but I would like to think that Louis will give Iris some attention, she will lay the eggs and then the Crows will eat them because Louis is busy with Star at the baseball field. Then Iris will go of and have a very leisurely summer catching award-winning size trout and warming herself in the sun. As someone said, maybe we have Louis to thank for Iris’s longevity. She has not had the stress of raising osplets since 2018. I hope she has a lovely serene spring and summer and returns to us again in 2025 to have all of this repeated again.

Ospreys-Have-Great-Fishing-Skills-Bird-Watchers-General-StoreDownload

Iris shows us just how good she is. She brings one of her whoppers to the owl pole late Wednesday.

It is snowing in Colorado at the Dunrovin Ranch and Swoop is at the nest with his new mate. They probably wished they had waited a few days to return to the north!

Snow at Charlo Montana but it melted later in the day.

First egg at Boulder County Fairgrounds.

No eggs at Crooked Lake, yet.

Jack and Edie exchange incubation duties at Captiva. You can still see the bean shaped egg. We wait to see if any of the other eggs are viable. We are on hatch watch.

After her incredible reporting on the Moorings Park nest, ‘H’ is back monitoring all manner of other Osprey nests and brings us this news to be aware of this morning:

“At Captiva, Edie was listening to the eggs some more yesterday (4/17), but so far no pip seen in the IR lighting tonight.  

Steve and Callie are both back at Hog’s Island.  They may not actually use the Hog Island on-cam nest, but it will be a pleasant surprise if they do.  Last season they simply protected the nest, and may have used another nest on the Island.  

Oscar and Olivia at Severna Park have been bringing a lot of soft grasses to line the center of the nest, as well as a few clothing items, lol.  Perhaps eggs soon.

Today is day 35 for egg #1 at Lake Murray, I don’t know if Lucy delayed incubation.”

Trudi Kron caught JBS20 returning to the nest in Texas in video:

JBS20 continues to return to the nest for prey. You want to see this: the chick fledges and returns to the nest. They might not do it immediately, but you want to see them return and follow their parents to the nest. Fantastic. Thank you ‘AE’.

The trio at Centreport seem to be doing well as per the post and image by Robert Schwartz. So happy!

Nothing sweeter than watching Liberty and Guardian with their eaglets.

Their dream of a family this year might have shattered, but Jackie and Shadow are as strong a bonded pair as ever. They dreamed, they hoped, they persevered. Now they are moving on. Good lessons for all of us.

Ask me how much I admire Isabella Tree and the rewinding of Knepp Farm and the return of the White Storks – you will get an earful and more.

Buky and Beth are incubating their eggs. The first one was laid on 7 April. Oh, we have 33-34 days on average to hatch so mark your calendars for 10-11 of May. Gosh, we are going to have some osplets hatching then, too!

There is a Black Stork at Nest 3 in Estonia. Is there a mate? And who is this stork? The nest in Estonia was found and a camera installed in 2022. According to Looduskalender :

“Nest site is situated in Pärnu county, near wind farm development area. That was the reason to track Kergu, male stork who nested here last year, as well as reason to install webcam. There are proposed some mitigation measures, like preparing better feeding conditions in other sectors of home range. Hopefully results of those measures will be visible also through webcam in time. The measures are at the moment in planning stage, yet. So if somebody has ideas for mitigation measures in that situation, those would be valuable to analyse in current situation.

Kergu has rings (incl. left leg 7047) since childhood, he has been ringed in 2011 as one of three chicks in nest situated about 10 km of current Kergu nest. Three chicks fledged in Kergu nest in 2022 and they were in good condition during ringing. Female in this nest we did not know, most probably she was without of rings. In 2023, here we did not see female in nest. Kergu refreshed nest properly, few times neighbour male Nurme visited the nest as well as not ringed immature individuals. But in general Kergu was in nest alone, listening neighbour bird species, like woodland owls, passerines, etc.”

A close up confirms that this is indeed the male Kergu 7047 at the nest.

In Latvia, we have, according to Sassa Bird, the hope for the couple Ogris and Urga at this nest of the former Jan and Janikka. Black Storks are so very rare in Latvia and Estonia and the loss of Karl II (and perhaps Kaia and the others, also) makes any presence of the Black Stork such a special rarity. I see below the nest a full stream which could provide frogs and little fishes for a family here. It would be wonderful if this happens. (Note: Please correct me if any of this information is wrong).

Want to know how to identify White-tail eagles in the UK?

White-tailed-eagle-guide-how-to-identify-and-where-to-see-in-the-UK-Countryfile.com_Download

Missing little falcons? The four are getting fed at Osaka!

Hawk Mountain’s first migration chart. They note, “The damp start to April has made for challenging migration, and counting, conditions. Low cloud ceilings and persistent rain kept our spring trainees off the rocks for the first three days of the season! In between showers and fog, the trainees have counted 302 raptors through April 15th. Highlights from the 14 species of raptors seen from the lookout include a sub-adult golden eagle observed April 11th and migratory bald eagles and ospreys dodging the local bald eagle pair. The first broadwing of the season passed the lookout on April 5, and numbers have been gradually increasing with 54 broadwings observed on April 15 giving the current high-count placeholder at 74 migrants. During the solar eclipse, clouds marred the 95% coverage, but the lookout continued to count sharp-shinned hawks migrating throughout the window.”

If you missed it, this man has spent decades recording the sounds and he knows the birds are disappearing.

‘These-birds-are-telling-us-something-serious-is-happening-the-songbirds-disappearing-from-BritainDownload

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

Thank you to the following or their notes, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘AE, AJ, AM, Geemeff, H, MB, MM, PB, SB, SK, TK’, AM, Canon Bird Branch Project, Government of Canada, Moorings Park Ospreys, Pam Breci, Heidi Mc, VGCCO, Little Miami Conservancy, LRWT, The Woodland Trust, SF Bay osprey, Montana Osprey Project, Bird Watchers General Store, Dunrovin Ranch, Owl Research Project/Explore, Boulder County, Timothy Dygert Live Stream, Window to Wildlife, Hog Island Ospreys, Severna Park, Trudi Kron, Rob Schwartz, SK Hideaways, Knepp White Stork Cam, Mlade Buky, Looduskalender, Eagle Club of Estonia, LDF, BBC Countryfile, Osaka Peregrine Falcons, Hawk Mountain, and The Guardian.

Leaps of Faith…Tuesday in Bird World

16 April 2022

Good Morning,

It rained. The skies opened up late Tuesday night. I stood outside and listened to the drops falling; the wet earth’s smell was amazing. It is supposed to rain periodically on and off until Thursday, when things will change to a mix of rain and snow. We are finally getting the moisture that the prairies need, and it is wonderful. The grass will turn green immediately! The geese will have something to eat besides the dead blades they have been living on for weeks. The Robins will be busy pulling the worms out of the soil tomorrow. I wonder if the Starlings will join them? Or the Brown Thrashers? It will be interesting to see how ‘The Girls’ react when I open the windows a bit so they can get a sniff.

Today’s news is mixed. ‘H’ and I are celebrating the triumphs of Tuffy at Moorings Park and new Osprey eggs while another Osprey nest is struggling to survive, and our dear Meadow has died. I do not want to get desensitised to the struggles and the deaths, and I do not want you to either. Last year, significant declines in osprey fledges were observed, especially in the NE USA. This year, we see low numbers of eaglets fledging on the streaming cams. This impact will not be noticed for a couple of years, but it could be substantial in terms of the declining population numbers of these raptors. At the same time, we must celebrate those that survive. Remember those that we have lost or the ones struggling. Find the joy because it is there. On the day that Meadow died, Swampy branched. S/he looks very healthy. Others laid eggs, and Tuffy continued to eat without much interference.

What can I say? Devastating news coming out of Audubon. Meadow was euthanised. The stated reason was fractures to the wing as in the announcement below and poor condition. On the 8th of April, Audubon put out a post stating that they had not found any breaks or fractures. Everyone is quite sad about this and felt encouraged that Meadow would recover. I wonder if he damaged his wings while flapping about in care?

‘H’ did the first-morning feeding and turned the rest of the day over to me to monitor. I hope to do half as good a job as she does! Tuffy had an extraordinary day on Monday. This nest has turned around because of the regular deliveries of large fish and the willingness of Sally to feed her chicks continually throughout the day.

Tuffy had a very good Monday morning. The smallest chick at Moorings Park dominated the first feeding. At 10:20 a large whole fish was delivered by Harry. Tuffy still had a crop from the earlier feeding. Sally begins eating the head of the fish while Ruffy moves into position. Tuffy stays away. Tuffy is intimidated by both Ruffy’s presence and position but is not beaked. Ruffy dominates the entire first part of the feeding. Tuffy tries to get into a position to be fed but cannot. Sally is obviously hungry and fighting with the head of the fish. At 1045 Tuffy does an excellent PS. The little one begins to move. Tuffy gets bite 2 at 1046. Sally tries to give bites to Tuffy but Ruffy moves to get in the way. Tuffy cannot position itself. At 1048 there is still fish and Tuffy begins its private feeding while Ruffy is in food coma under Sally’s tail in the shade. Our little Tuffy managed to get 227 bites of fish at this second feeding. Well, done, Tuffy, for waiting your time. It was a large fish – plenty for all three!

The third fish of the day was a headless large fish delivered at 1252. Harry stayed on the nest for a few minutes. Today Ruffie is 25 days old and Tuffy is 22 days old. They are exiting the Reptilian phase and that could easily account for the more peaceful nest. At 1253 Ruffie had an excellent PS. Tuffy stays back from the feeding at the beginning. He has a large crop. Ruffie goes to eat. Indeed, Tuffy does not appear interested! At 1259 Tuffy begins to move. Ruffie notices and moves her head but does not beak. Tuffy moves closer to Mum at the back of the tail. Tuffy is positioning himself. At 1301, Tuffie has a second excellent PS for the morning. Ruffie moves away and Tuffie is in position to have its first bite at 1303. There is a nice portion of tail remaining. By 1305 Tuffy had 32 bites of fish. Mum is feeding fast. By 1310 Tuffy has had 78 big bites of fish and has turned away. Ruffie moves up to eat again. Eats its fill and Sally gets to enjoy that nice fish tail. Both of the osplets have eaten very well by 1320 on Monday with no physical aggression from Ruffie to Tuffy. Oh, Tuffie gets more. At 1328, he got 14 more bites so a total of 92 good bites of fish for the third feeding of the day. Well done, Tuffy! Those excellent ‘ps’ demonstrate this chick is not dehydrated and is doing well. This nest is changing for the better.

The fourth fish was a slightly headless sheepshead – gosh, which are tough fish for these mums to feed. That fish arrived at 1520. Both Ruffie and Tuffy have big crops. Ruffie is not interested. Tuffy gets right up to the table to eat. Sally cannot feed the fish quickly, and Tuffy is often impatient and picks up pieces of dropped fish from the moss to eat while he waits. Tuffy was fed until 1539, when he had eaten approximately 1/3 of the fish and was quite full, moving away so that Ruffie could have some fish. No aggression was shown during the feeding. Sally was still getting the meat off that fish at 1640! Tuffy never returned to the table.

The fifth fish arrives in 1811 and is a large half-fish. Tuffy is right up there. Ruffy moves to the table, but Tuffy keeps eating. Then, at 1814, Ruffy takes exception hovering over Tuffy to force him into submission. Rufy gets fed, but Tuffy is back up at the table eating from 1829 to 1839. At 1842, Tuffy did an enormous PS right over the edge of the nest! The fish is done around 1843. I did not count bites. It was obvious that all was well despite the single incidence of domination. The two have eaten very well today.

The sixth fish arrived at 1939. It was a partial large Sheepshead. Both osplets were up at the beak. Ruffy ate until Tuffy began at 1946. Tuffy was fed until 1953 when Sally quit feeding. There is lots of fish on the nest. Both osplets had full crops at bedtime.

Sally decided to have a late night snack without the kids!

Tuffy’s ‘ps’. This excellent poop shot going well over the edge of the nest is a testament to Tuffy’s good eating and health over the past day. ‘H’ and I are going to stop counting bites as long as things remain stable on the nest. Tuffy is going to survive this. Both osplets are getting their feathers and I will probably say it several times – they are growing out of the Reptilian Phase and we would expect the aggression to be ceasing as long as Harry continues to provide this level of fish and their regularity.

*Caution*. I continue to worry about the Mum at Frenchman’s Creek. There are still fish piled on the nest. She fed one chick and stopped. The big one is trying to self-feed. This Mum is not lazy, she is ill. I believe it is possible that she has Trichomonosis. It causes severe damage to the tissues of the mouth, throat, crop and esophagus and affected birds may drool saliva, regurgitate food, have difficulty in swallowing food and water, demonstrate laboured breathing and/or have a swollen neck or throat. Several ospreys have died because of this including the Mum at Janakkala Osprey nest in Finland. The Dad piled fish on the nest and the two osplets tried to self-feed. One survived if my memory serves me correctly. The fourth eyas at the CBD in Melbourne died from this disease.

The older osplet is attacking the smaller one. Sheer frustration. Nest full of fish and chicks starving. Mum ill. Very sad.

Older osplets desperately trying to feed themselves in a nest full of fish. Little one has been beaked – leaning over top of nest. Has not eaten for a couple of days and will likely die shortly unless a miracle happens.

Mum is feeding the two older chicks this morning. The third chick is close to dying and by the time you read this will probably have passed.

The ospreys are into hard incubation at Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home with three eggs in the nest.

Only 5 goslings survived the leap of faith at the Decorah Goose Nest on Monday morning between 0802-0804. Believe it or not, another goose rushed to the nest and began laying eggs at 1030! It is quite a year. The Goose eggs are expected to hatch on Nest 2 in about a week.

Here is the live cam from Nest 1.

More Osprey eggs laid in the UK On Monday.

CJ7 and Blue 022 laid their first egg at Poole Harbour at 1540 on Monday. Congratulations!

Harry and Flora laid their first egg at Alyth at 1101.

Idris and Telyn have their second egg of the season at Dyfi at 0801 precisely 72 hours after their first egg was laid.

Audacity and Jak had another egg laid today at Sauces Canyon. The time was 14:55. You can see the flattened thin-shelled egg below in the image. So sad for them.

A little branching but both feet were off the nest bowl for Swampy at Eagle country at 1524 on Monday.

Both eaglets at Duke Farms are little boys. I don’t think this is a big surprise. Their aggression was only limited to a bit of time when prey was scarce.

Wichita and Cheyenne are doing fine at the Kansas City Bald Eagle nest.

It was difficult to tell how much prey the third hatch at Little Miami Conservancy received today. This nest could warrant a *caution* in watching for now.

Johnson City eaglets are big and doing great.

It looks hot on that Osprey platform at the University of Florida at Gainesville. Stella and Talon still have three osplets! What a nice sight to see as I have missed checking on them for a couple of days. The difference between the first and third hatch had me worried, but so far, so good.

Big Red and Arthur’s eggs were laid from the 17-26 of March. The average period for Red-tail Hawks to hatch is normally between 28-35 days, according to most of the guides. Last year, Big Red’s first egg hatched on the 37th day. I have tried to avoid the nervous energy of an expectant auntie….but we are entering the time when we can all get excited.

First Bald Eagle Hatch at White Rock in British Columbia, Canada announced today by Hancock Wildlife that oversees the nest.

The fourth and I believe final egg at the Peregrine Falcon nest in Japan has hatched. Just look at the size difference. It will be a joy to watch that little one catch up.

A glimpse of a day with Hartley and Monty in San Jose.

Smile. Bradley returns with another Puffer! Oh, he reminds me of Ervie.

And another reason to smile. Murphy who incubated a rock and got an eaglet to raise last year will get another chance this year. How wonderful. It is a win-win!

Concerns for White-tailed eagle Milda this year as her mate Hugo has not been seen for four days. She has protected the nest of eggs from intruders but needs desperately to eat. This so reminds me of the year Ramis was killed. Milda, go eat!

For all the lovers of our gal Iris at Hellgate Canyon, a young male visited her nest yesterday and tried mating with our gal. Keep your eye on that nest!

UK Migration in Review for last week:

Review-of-the-Week-8-14-April-2024-BirdGuidesDownload

That’s it for today. I spent my day watching Tuffy which was a sheer delight after the news of Meadow. Please take care. Thank you for being with us.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘H, PB’, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, Moorings Park Ospreys, Frenchman’s Creek Ospreys, Raptor Resource Project/Explore Decorah Goose Cam, Poole Harbour Osprey Project, SSEN Alyth Osprey Cam, Dyfi Osprey Project, IWS/Explore, Eagle Country, Duke Farms, Farmer Derek Kansas City Bald Eagle nest, Johnson City-ETSU, UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey Cam, Cornell Red-tail Hawk Cam, Hancock Wildlife Foundation, the Japanese Peregrine Falcon Cam in Osaka, SK Hideaways, Port Lincoln Ospreys, World Bird Sanctuary, Raine and LDF, and BirdGuides.

Grateful for those that are thriving…Saturday in Bird World

13 April 2024

Hello Everyone,

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.

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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.

The Miracle that turned into a tragedy for Bella…Tuesday in Bird World

9 April 2024

Good Morning,

I have said it before and I hoped not to say it again – it has been an incredibly tough year for our Bald Eagle families. Send your warmest and most caring thoughts to all the nests who have lost eaglets or adults – and continue to send supporting energy to those who have eaglets in the nest. They need it! Life is not easy this year.

Monday 8 April might have been the day of the Solar Eclipse, but it was also a day of joy that ended in tragedy in two of the Bald Eagle nests in the US – NCTC and Hanover. It is not the first time this year a young male eagle has mistook its newly hatched chick for prey and it won’t be the last, but for Bella, this is such a bittersweet moment. I cannot even imagine what she will be thinking when she finds her baby gone.

Regardless of its tragic ending, I want to document what happened at the NCTC nest. We have seen eagle eggs left in the cold and eaglets hatch. The best example I can recall is the Latvian White-tailed Eagle Milda when her mate Ramis died several years ago, right after she laid her eggs. Milda incubated for eight days without eating. She left her eggs in cold weather for approximately six hours to forage so she did not starve. No one believed the eggs would hatch, but they did. Sadly, the ending with the new male was the same result as at the two nests today.

This is what I wrote before I knew the ending: Miracles do happen. Not always when or where we want them, but this is a delight for Bella and Scout who have had difficulties this breeding season. A chick is hatching on Monday in eggs, which is believed non-viable!

From Deb Stecyk: Monday, April 8, 2024 – Welcome to Bald Eagles (BE) 101. Could a miracle hatch be underway at NCTC, we think so!! These eggs were left uncovered and not turned for long periods of time in cool temperatures, so we believed these eggs were nonviable!!! However, yesterday we noticed a small pip hole (Day 37) in one of the eggs and Bella’s behavior was highly suggestive that something was going on. Bella was fussing, more attentive and listening to the eggs. She also was sitting up higher while incubating the eggs. A brooding position is sometimes seen when a hatch is in progress. We also thought we heard chirping coming from one of the eggs. Just before dark, Bella took a break while Scout incubated. Bella returned with a catfish, which she did not want Scout to eat!!! The catfish remains on the nest! All these signs are highly suggestive of a hatch in progress. Despite these positive signs we remain guardedly optimistic and glued to our seats waiting to see if Bella and Scout are blessed with a miracle hatch!!! Talons crossed for this new pair!!! If a hatch occurs at this nest it will be precedent setting and unheard of in the eagle community.”

Well, that miracle happened. Remember.

The miracle baby’s first feeding – I hope they call this little one ‘Miracle’. Seems fitting under the circumstances.

It was Stella’s first eaglet to hatch in a few years after losing her mate Smitty. It was the miracle and now at 1930, Scout removed the eaglet from the egg cup and ate it.

The hatch at the Irvin plant of US Steel – parents Claire and Irvin – made the news. Let us hope that this little one remains safe.

Everything is good at the Redding nest of Liberty and Guardian. Experienced parents!

The accidental burial the day prior at Redding.

The little trio at Denton Homes are adorable. Treasure those three heads – this will be a huge effort for the parents to get them all to fledge.

Cheyenne and Wichita are doing fine on a nest piled with fish on Farmer Derek’s property in Kansas.

The two eaglets at Decorah North are getting their thermal down, and some pin feathers. Little treasures they are.

And this is the news you have been waiting for. Every day we hold our breath afraid to check on that Moorings Park nest. The news is good today, too…so read and look! (It always starts out rough but gets better as the day goes on…). It is after 1000 and it is hot on the Moorings Park osprey nest. Tuffie is doing what it can to get some shade. No fish in to the nest by Harry yet. Tuffie hanging in there.

‘H’ reports: “1031 – Harry delivered a beautiful whole largemouth bass.  Tuffy was beaked into submission. Ruffie made sure s/he reinforced Tuffy’s ban from the feeding a couple of times. Sally and Ruffie ate the whole fish by 1049.1219 – Harry delivered a whole tilapia. Tuffie was immediately beaked into submission.  The feeding was mostly blocked from view.  At 1226  and 1229 Tuffie tried to get closer and was driven back each time.  At 1230 Tuffy moved to the other side of Sally, but Ruffy followed and beaked him.  At that point, with Tuffy out of view, we didn’t know if he was getting bites, but thought it unlikely since he was still next to Ruffie.  At 1248 Ruffie moved away from Sally for a couple of minutes, and we knew that Tuffy was eating, then Ruffie returned to the table.  Again at 1256 Ruffie moved away, and we knew that Tuffy was being fed.  Ruffie later returned to the table, and by 1320 the feeding was over.  Sally was still blocking our view of Tuffy.  It wasn’t until 1338 that Sally moved and we were able to see that Tuffy had quite a large crop!  Yay!”

“At 1507 Harry dropped off a headless fish.  Tuffy had been sleeping and did not approach the feeding line for a minute, but when he moved toward Sally he was out of our view.  At 1512 we got a brief glimpse of Tuffy, and he was laying down, not eating.  Then at 1524, we could just barely see over Sally’s shoulder to note that Tuffy was eating.  At 1527 Tuffy was beaked by Ruffie and he moved away.  At 1532, we once again could see Tuffy getting bites of fish, and by 1533 the meal was over.  Tuffy was seen with a nice crop after the meal.

At 1705 Harry arrived with half a fish. From 1706 to 1710 Tuffy was beaked or intimidated several times to keep him from eating.  At 1712  Tuffy managed to get 6 bites, then he was beaked.  At 1718 he got one bite and was beaked.  Tuffy moved further away from the feeding.  Finally at 1731, Ruffie moved away from Sally.  Tuffy moved into position to eat but was out of our view.  Sally began obviously feeding Tuffy.  We could not see the fish pieces actually connect, but just counting the number of times Sally turned in Tuffy’s direction, Tuffy may have eaten 72 bites of fish.  Total  bites of fish for Tuffy at that meal = 79.”

‘H’ continues her reporting with a new fish arrival at Moorings Park: “At 1830 Harry delivered another headless tilapia.  Tuffy was beaked and stayed away.  Tuffy received 3 bites at 1837, then he was intimidated and moved away.  Ruffy did not seem very hungry, but focused mainly on preventing Tuffy from getting near Sally.  At 1841 Tuffy got a few more bites, then a few more bites at 1843.  By 1846 Tuffy was eating solo, while Ruffie just laid there and watched.  At 1849 Ruffie had a little more to eat, and they ate side by side.  At 1851 Ruffie quit the meal for good.  And, at 1852 Tuffy quit eating, walked away, and laid down on top of his large crop.  Sally continued to eat for a while, but left a large tail portion on the nest.  Tuffy had started the meal with a crop, and was noted to be crop-dropping a few times during the meal.  Tuffy ate at least 55 bites of fish at this meal.”

Settled in for the night, you can really see the size difference between Ruffy and Tuffie.

There is beaking at the Fraser Point nest of Andor and Cruz. Nothing to be worried about right now – . Remember that it takes time for the eyes to adjust (for falcons this can take up to 5 days) – and a beak, any beak might mean food.

Mamma Cruz sits on them when it gets too be too much. Too funny. She has been chatting with Thunder.

And this is how you do it – constant food and diligent parenting. Thunder and Akecheta at the West End nest raise three.

At the University of Florida-Gainesville Osprey Platform of Talon and Stella, ‘R’ reports that at day 8 (as predicted), “the bonking has started”. Talon continues to provide lots of fish and the trio are doing well, otherwise.

In the second image, Talon is helping Stella feed the trio that hatched within 36 hours of one another. There is no little and no Big – isn’t it amazing. Eggs laid six days apart and hatch 1 and hatch 3 are the same size. We will see as they age but I am hoping Talon and Stella have them selves three nice little boys.

In contrast to the previous year, ‘R’ notes that the fish are larger this year and that it has been relatively wet as opposed to dry.

‘MP’ confirms that JBS20 has branched at the JB Sands Wetlands on Monday the 8th of April. When there isn’t a tree you must consider that both feet are off the nest and JBS20 flew to the rail. Well done!

‘AE’ sent this gorgeous image of JBS20. She will be fondly missed when she fledges.

The adults have had many problems to overcome at the JB Sands nest this year – the death of JBS21 and Mum’s injury and, the many intruders that still trouble the nest. ‘MP’ describes the scene below: “Dad or Pa at JBS has an intruder chase him as he brings prey (white bird) home with chick quite the spectator. The nest is bussing with activity the last coupe of days. The intruder is the one on the bottom and Pa is above with the white bird.”

I don’t want JBS20 to get knocked off that nest before she is ready to fly.

Mum is still doing all the work at the Trempealeau Eagle nest. Two eaglets. They are often left alone because Mum has to go hunting for food. She is trying. She can brood them without food or hunt and keep them alive as best she can. We have seen this before – M15. Decorah. It is not an easy thing to do, but there is little choice for single-parent couples or those that have a partner who is injured or MIA.

This is the latest news about Meadow from the Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey.

I began to wonder that if Meadow was in this rough of a shape, what is the condition of Swampy. Every eagle nest is infested with bugs, but were the eaglets getting enough food those last days before Meadow was blown off the nest?

Did you know that the folks that rescued Meadow had already rescued 18 eagles this year and it is only April?

There is distress at the Hanover Bald Eagle Nest. The little eaglet hatched and all were excited. Then, like Tom at Angel’s nest last year, the new male attacked and killed the eaglet. Condolences go out to all.

Geemeff noticed Maya’s laboured breathing a few days ago. Now Rutland have called in Osprey expert Tim Mackrill to see what is wrong.

Flora and Harry at Alyth.

Beloved Gary returns to nest 1 at Loch Arkaig.

Dorcha and Louis have an intruder doing a fly-by.

Images of Mr President and Lotus and at least one eaglet.

There was a double rainbow at Loch of the Lowes, too. May Laddie and Blue NCO’s breeding season be doubly blessed.

Send your positive wishes to Bella and the Mum at Hanover who lost their eaglets today. They will be devastated that those healthy, bright-eyed eaglets are gone.

Thank you for being with me today. Please take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, screen captures, and those operating streaming cams who assisted me in writing my post today: ‘A, AE, Geemeff, H, J, MP, R, SP’, NCTC, Deb Stecyk, PIX Cams, FORE, Trudi Kron, Judy Eddy, Denton Homes, FARMER DEREK, Moorings Park, Florida-Gainesville, MP, AE, JBSands Wetlands, Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, Rutland Osprey Project, Stephanie Scofield, Geemeff, American Eagle Foundation, Loch of the Lowes Visitors Centre, and Livia Armstrong.

Hatch at Bluff City…Thursday in Bird World

7 March 2024

Good Morning,

It is 1747 on the Canadian Prairies and we have been in the midst of a blizzard for five hours now. We got all of the donations to the kitten charity and rushed home. Thank you so much for your wishes on bountiful donations. People are generous and it is a good time since many are doing some spring cleaning. I feel so sorry for those people who cannot keep their pets because they cannot afford to feed them.

The wind was really gusting. The snow had piled in where ‘The Boyfriend’ and other feral find their food. There were no birds in the garden and the squirrels had completely disappeared to their dreys or tree homes.

The girls were all asleep. As for me, I was glad to get off the City streets as they got slicker and the wind picked up to the point that in places you could not see. As Dorothy says, ‘There is no place like home!’ When I did look at the kitties, I was drawn to Calico who, this time last year, would have endured several big storms. I am so glad this gentle soul (she is except for the ongoing snit with Missey) is inside this year, safe and warm.

There is no news coming out of Big Bear Valley about a pip that I have seen. Indeed, despite the good response to the auction, I have been rather muted and sad today. It is unrealistic, but I wish an ‘Eagle Egg Fairy’ existed. Or someone who had an orphan eagle that needed two great parents. If they could drop that little one into the Big Bear nest, Jackie and Shadow would be elated. That eaglet, like Calico, would have won the ‘so-called lottery’ – a home with loving parents and food. On the other hand, I would love it if that third egg would hatch for Jackie and Shadow. I feel like I am losing hope. The impact of DDT has been horrific on wildlife decades later.

The camera isn’t even going in close. Feeling gutted for them. Egg 1 is 42 days old and I presume it to be non-viable. Egg 2 is 39 days old. Has it begun pipping? No visible pips seen. Egg 3 is 36 days old. Please send positive wishes for that egg to be viable for these two so hopeful eagles.

Jak and Audacity’s single egg clutch looks good. But will that egg be fertile? Oh, please.

Still waiting at Achieva, also.

No eggs, but Milda and her new mate are working on their nest in Latvia. I am expecting eggs right before the end of March.

Red Wing captures all the drama at the Spirit Bluff Peregrine Falcon scrape – who will Newman choose?

It is always a relief when a mate returns from migration. It is always a heart ache when they do not.

Rosie has been home for a few days and Richmond is bringing in the fish gifts.

Annie and Archie are fine. Starling is on the menu.

We are on a countdown for the UK returnees as well as those in Europe – all of the migrating birds, including the storks and ospreys.

Observers of the JB Sands Wetlands Bald Eagle nest report that Mum’s leg appears to be slowly healing. She is not missing. She was on top of the tower and flew down and took a fish from Dad and even fed the eaglet. Dad fed the eaglet as well. It was quite the scene with the live fish. thank you ‘MP’ for this encouraging report! That eaglet is big and is really feeling its wings, too!

Rainy at Duke Farms. Mum fed the eaglets, but less close in feedings than you might have seen at some of the other eagle nests with little ones. It seems to have gotten wetter throughout the day.

The Duckies seem fine.

My dear friend, the late Phyllis Robbins, who loved the Sea Eagles in Sydney also loved Eagle Country. I have to say that at the beginning of this season I really worried for Meadow. Well, just look at Swampy and Meadow today. Abby and Blaze are incredible parents. Despite their age and size, those two eaglets are being constantly fed. They are so well provided for that this eagle nest has quickly become one of my favourites, too.

As the rain came, Swampy and Meadow got a little wet. No problem. They have their thick thermal down and their juvenile feathers are coming in. The little ones like those at Duke Farms must stay dry.

The little ones of Jolene and Boone at Johnson City-ETSU did get wet on Wednesday. I really hope that they do not get a chill. They have to eat and it is difficult for the adults to feed them without them getting some rain.

Close by at the other ETSU Bald Eagle nest at Bluff City, Franklin and Frances have a pip, and it is raining.

And they have a hatch! It is BC24.

At Ron and Rose’s WRDC nest, R6 attempted to eat some fish that Rose had left on the nest. He did manage to get some of it. Unlike Cal, R6 seems to be behind in his self-feeding.

At the ND-LEEF nest in South Bend, Indiana, Dad’s new mate has been named Gigi.

While all the attention was the on the death of Flaco, another owl, this time an Eastern Screech Owl, died. The little one had been an ambassador for 15 years at the Raptor Centre in St. Paul, Minnesota. Unlike Flaco, who could fly and hunt, Warner suffered from lack of vision caused by an early head trauma. She spent 15 years educating people about owls.

This is news from the 5th of March. Sorry for the delay in birthday greetings to two very special Kakapo.

Nothing needs to be said anymore about the trauma and death caused by fishing line. We need to clean up our act if we fish.

I never saw one when I was growing up in Oklahoma, but these lucky birders were so fortunate to see this leucitic Red-tail Hawk there! She is even whiter than Angel.

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Over 400,000 songbirds were trapped in Cyprus so people could eat a delicacy. This really makes me ill. Can it be stopped? And in what other countries is this happening?

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There are many birds that actually winter in the UK. They are now preparing to migrate back to their spring and summer breeding grounds in the far north. Let us all hope that they are not trapped somewhere, but make it home safely.

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Your feel good moment. An osprey in care for 10 days for a soft tissue injury is freed! Remember – some people said ospreys do not do well in care. Others said not to supplement their feeding and look what happened positively at Port Lincoln! So smile…they do well in care most of the time like any animal.

Thank you so much for being with me today as we sit on our hands waiting for several pips or hatches. It’s not easy, especially when they are Jackie, Shadow, Jak, and Audacity.

Thank you to the following for their notes, observations, screen captures, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘J, MP’, FOBBV, IWS/Explore.org, Achieva Credit Union, Heidi McGrue, Latvian Fund for Nature, Raptor Resource Project/Explore.org, SK Hideaways, Lucille Powell, JB Sands Wetlands, Duke Farms, Eagle Country, Johnson City-ETSU, Bluff City-ETSU, WRDC, ND-LEEF, The Raptor Centre, Kakapo Recovery, Lin Lawson, The Red-tailed Hawk Project, The Guardian, and Wild Florida Rescue.

Tuesday in Bird World

27 February 2024

Good Morning,

It is so nice to have you with us today. Thank you for all of your notes and comments. I am catching up on my replies – and apologies for taking a few days.

We woke to beautiful white snow blanketing the garden Monday morning and again on Tuesday. What a sight! It was -4 C, but today, Tuesday, it is -18 C. The gusts have blown the snow in covering the Boyfriend’s feeder and the Starlings are back in the lilacs. They seem to arrive on snow days. Interesting. There were 17 of them along with 60 or so House Sparrows and one of the Blue Jays.

The table feeders had to be cleared yesterday and will need it again today. I did say I wished for snow, right?

One of the Memorial Trees. This one is for Melvin named after the Jack Nicholson character in As Good As it Gets (1998). Melvin didn’t like patterns either! Every cat and family member has a tree.

This Weeping Caragana is gorgeous in the summer. Planted in memory of my adorable Red Abyssinian, Honey.

Mamma Calico and Baby Hope cuddling. They are quite inseparable. I love how Calico is still so gentle with her only ever kitten. Baby Hope will be eight months old on 2 March.

Missey is showing off her new ‘registration tag’.

Missey continues to serve as Mamma Missey for Hugo Yugo. They still love that quiet place in the store room with all the blankets.

Someone wrote asking – does Hugo Yugo really just fit in a shoe box? The answer is yes. She is that tiny! It is so hard to tell scale in images but Dr Green continues to say that she will probably remain the size of an 8 or 10 week old kitten the rest of her life. It is tragic how her mother nearly starved to death carrying seven babies. We feel blessed to have Hugo Yugo – she really is a ray of sunshine.

Calico watches ‘The Boyfriend’ from the conservatory. He is just leaving after having his lunch.

Have to get out and clean his feeding area!

I have included many articles and posts about Flaco. One of the best I have read is an Opinion piece in The New York Times by Carl Safina. A number of his books sit on my shelf and have been read by me, and ‘The Girls’, including his book about the rehabilitation and release of Alfie, the Owl, he mentions in this article. I hope you enjoy it.

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Cal officially branched – the whole meaning of branching – Monday at 0643. Remember – both feet on the branch. Should fly to branch rather than shuffling those talons. Cal did a good job. Congratulations!

R6 turned six weeks old! These are captures from Heidi Mc’s video diary. Did I mention that R6 is trying out for the role of Hulk in a new movie? (And I thought Calico was pleasantly plump – look at this eaglet!)

Lots of good feedings going on at Eagle Country. No one is left out! Swampy and Meadow looked like they were ready to burst a few times on Monday.

Abby loves to feed her babies!

JBS20 had a huge crop Monday at the John Bunker Sands Wetlands eagle nest.

The eggs at Duke Farms late Monday morning. We are on hatch watch. It is day 36.

That little eaglet at Johnson City is strong. My goodness. It was eating right after hatching and it can hold that neck up high and straight. Oh, goodness, I feel for that second hatch!

9667 people were checking on Jackie incubating the three eggs Monday morning. We are now TWO days away from pip/hatch watch on the 29th.

It has started raining at the nest Monday afternoon. Oh, please, don’t let those talons slip!

Milda and her new mate continue to provide nesting materials for their nest in Latvia.

Milda on the left and her new mate, H492, right.

When I think of Milda it draws me to the beautiful Black Storks in both Latvia and Estonia. What will it be like without Karl II this year? Will Kaia return? Will there be storklets in the nest in Karula National Forest? or has the drought decimated the population – along with that horrible bird flu? We must wait with hope tempering our saddened hearts.

If you missed it, Ervie is back on line. His tracker began to work again on the 23rd. Much relief if you didn’t know. Thank you, PLO!

Annie says ‘meet me on the ledge’. Archie obliges.

I love it – Eat, Pray, Love! Monty and Hartley style.

Newmann is a ‘hot’ commodity. Which female will he choose? It looks like there are at least three candidates, but are there more?

Around the world, Peregrine falcons are feeling ‘springlike’. The Norwich scrape streaming cam will go live shortly.

There are ‘definitely two’ ‘R’ says in the screen capture at the UFlorida-Gainesville osprey platform of Sheila and Talon. This is a new nest. The original one was on the light stand and those lights were replaced last year. ‘R’ has monitored the ospreys around the Campus and there were 9 couples, if I remember correctly, last year.

Dixie and Mason appear to be doing just fine under the watchful eyes of Pepe and Muhlady.

Gorgeous Mom at Centreport. She laid her second egg on the 25th of February.

Chase & Cholyn and their egg at Two Harbours. All the guys love to incubate…must be nice to have a soft spot to rest! It looks like it will be only one egg this year for this pair – this is day 4. Let’s hope for them it is viable. They have been together for what? 25? 26? years.

The first egg was laid at Standley Park in Colorado.

Bette shocked everyone when she laid her third egg at the Little Miami Conservancy on the 25th of February!

At Decorah, it seems that there is some competition amongst the Canada Geese for the abandoned eagle nest. Goodness.

Richmond is expecting Rosie to arrive any day and he is getting their home ready!

Many are saying that Flaco was thin and malnourished, suffering from being in the wild. It is always good to read official sources if you can to sift the truth out of a lot of disinformation. So if you missed it, the necroscopy on Falco indicated he was in good health when he collided with a building and subsequently died of trauma. “Flaco had been in good physical shape, the necropsy found, succeeding in catching prey even though he had no experience hunting because he came to the zoo as a fledgling 13 years ago. According to the necropsy report released on Saturday, the owl weighed 1.89kg (4.1lb), just 2% less than when he was last measured at the zoo.”

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A new book by Isabell Tree will be released in North America on the 7th of May. Its title is Wilding. How to Bring Wildlife Back. An Illustrated Guide. The Guardian has a review. Tree is one of my heroes. She dared to take part of the estate of Knepp Farm and create an ideal location for wildlife to return. As a result, the first White Stork hatched in the UK in 600 years on the property in Sussex.

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One of my favourite rehab clinics is asking us to please, please fight against the use of rodenticides. Tell your neighbours, your friends, your family, and speak to those in power where you live. There are alternatives. Imagine…Cal, E23, Meadow, Swampy — all those dear bobbleheads dying because their blood will not coagulate from a designer poison.

We need to get rid of rodenticide and come up with some solution for fishing line and all that lead in fishing and hunting equipment. This is a good news story. We always need them.

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There have been sightings of Bradley and Ervie as well as others in South Australia.

In other news, Lewis and Rosa have left the Dulles-Greenway nest. It is not clear what has happened to them. A new couple have taken over the nest. The Bald Eagle pair in Bartlesville, Oklahoma at the Sutton Centre have two eggs. Indeed, it is raining eagle eggs as my friend SP said and it is hard to keep track.

‘J’ has a list of hatch dates for us to watch for -. Some have already hatched!

Ventana Wildlife Society’s Condor Chat will be held on the 29th, Leap Year Day. Here are the details. Go to the Ventana Wildlife Society to sign up!

Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, articles, photographs, charts, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘Geemeff, H, J, R’, The New York Times, Window to Wildlife, WRDC, Eagle Country, JB Sands Wetlands, Duke Farms, Johnson City Eagles, FOBBV, LDF, PLO, SK Hideaways, Raptor Resource Project/Explore.org, Norwich Cathedral, Florida-Gainesville and RM, Superbeaks, Centerport Eagles and Liz Schwartz, Jeni McDaniel, IWS/Explore.org, SF Bay Ospreys FB, The Guardian, A Place Called Hope, BirdGuides, Brooke Copp, and The Ventana Wildlife Society.

Flaco dies from building collision, Third egg at Florida-Gainesville Ospreys…Saturday in Bird World

24 February 2024

I am not sure it is a ‘Good Morning’ but Hello to everyone,

My focus has been entirely on the JBS Wetlands Eagle family. I have not seen both eagles on the nest since Wednesday and this has been concerning. However…any concerns have now dissipated.

JBS Wetlands has also written to MP: “

“Thank you for reaching out! The other adult eagle has been spotted several times this week activity hunting and spending time on the top of the tower on the lookout. We spotted the adult yesterday several times as well, twice on top of the tower while the other parent was on the nest with the eaglet!”

Finally, I caught a feeding at 16:03 and JBS Wetlands contacted me to tell me that both eagles were on the nest at 1832 with a feeding in progress. Relief.

Sadly, this morning, the world woke to the news that Flaco, the Eurasian Owl that escaped from the Central Park Zoo just a year ago, has died from injuries after colliding with a building. Oh, I loved this little guy – like all of you.

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We are now five days away from pip/hatch watch at Big Bear. Jackie and Shadow are too funny. Shadow persisted, going in and out all day Friday, wanting turns to incubate! At one point, I looked at the eggs, which were intact. I returned for a screen capture and couldn’t find that split second. Jackie is being ever so careful. Extremely careful.

Five days. That is next Thursday. Mark your calendars. I have my tiny tiny bottle of champagne ready. At 1600 nest time on Friday there were 8595 people watching. I believe we will hit 10,000 when there is a hatch. Incredible. Bells should be ringing around the world in celebration.

This is a recap of Friday’s nest activity at Big Bear.

Chase and Cholyn have their first egg at Two Harbours!

Isn’t she the most beautiful 25 year old Bald Eagle? If you do not know, she is Thunder’s mother (Thunder the partner of Akecheta at the West End nest). And if this is Cholyn, my apologies!

The Canada Geese are back! Will we have a nest and be delighted when there is a hatch, and they all jump down to go to the stream?

Two eggs for Mr North and DNF laid on the 15th and 18th of February. Pip/hatch watch 35-36 days from then. Both taking good care to do incubation duty!

M15 feeds E23 as F23 looks on. They will relish these last weeks before their first eaglet takes flight.

I wasn’t expecting to see them, but Beau and Gabby did spend the night at the nest tree on Thursday. Gabby stayed longer in the morning and even went down to the nest. I wonder what she is thinking?

Lewis needed to help with the incubation at the Dulles-Greenway Nest. He did not. Rosa knew this and was half-hearted in doing her share. On Friday, the Crows did what was necessary – they pecked holes in them when left alone. It is best this happened now, not when there are eaglets.

Everyone is being fed at Eagle Country. There is some unidentifiable prey o that nest and piles of bits and bobs of fish and mammals. No one could go hungry. I do keep saying this, but some nests are prey richer than others. This is a good one!

Much smaller feedings, but more of them at Superbeaks. Mason and Dixie are so tiny compared to Swampy and Meadow!

At Captiva, Cal continues to be fed and is standing on the rim of the nest looking around. It appears that Connie and Clive will leave Lusa to become part of their nest. So sad to know how big that beautiful bird was and not to know what caused its demise.

Look how big E23 is. Anyone think this eaglet is a female besides me?

Everything continues to look good for Jak and Audacity at Sauces. Could this be the year that both Sauces and Big Bear have eaglets?

A big milestone. R6 caught self-feeding! He got some really good bites, too!!!!!

The deer and bunnies are keeping the eagles at Decorah North company while they incubate their eggs.

At the University of Florida-Gainesville, Stella and Talon have their third egg of the 2024 season. Thanks, ‘R’.

Big Red and Arthur were at the nest on Friday. Big Red stayed and spent a lot of time in that nest bowl making people think that today could be the day. It seems it wasn’t but we are moving into a window where we can begin to anticipate…think 13 or so of March.

So far, everything has stayed the same at the Patchogue Osprey platform. When the crew came to clean the nest of harmful objects, they flipped it over after more fishing line was noticed. It has created a mound that would cause – potentially – the eggs to roll. The Ospreys will have to create a nest cup in the mound and build off the sides, which we know that they can do watching Richmond and Rosie do this many times. Still, it would be helpful if the crew got the bucket, flipped it over and fixed the sticks along the edges to help Mum and Dad!

PSEG has posted that the ospreys will fix the nest the way they want. In other words, nothing will be done.

I received an update from Australia. Those adorable Lorikeets that used to check on Daisy the Duck at the WBSE nest have had paralysis issues. Here is the latest news on their treatment. I thought you would be interested. It is long. I could not post a PDF, but we all learn something every day. These rehabbers at WIRES are so dedicated!

Lorikeet Paralysis Syndrome

Further to our update a fortnight ago, we are now thankfully seeing a reduction in the number of Rainbow Lorikeets impacted by Lorikeet Paralysis Syndrome.We were able to provide prompt medical treatment for several hundred affected Lorikeets, and well over 400 survivors are now in recovery with their WIRES carers. We’ve included a little clip below. 

Why did this happen? 

Lorikeet Paralysis Syndrome has occurred more frequently over the past four years, with this season being the most serious. Thousands of Lorikeets were impacted and had more serious and immediate symptoms. It appears to be a toxicity that affects a Lorikeet’s kidneys, liver and muscles. We believe it could be caused by a fungus or bacteria following heavy rain events. 

Dr Bishop treating an affected Lorikeet

Our Wildlife Veterinarian Dr Tania Bishop, treating a Rainbow Lorikeet affected with Lorikeet Paralysis Syndrome.    

Can it be treated?  

When a Lorikeet is rescued early enough, a vet can flush out the kidneys with fluids and provide glucose for energy to support getting the toxin out of their system. They can also provide medication for any complications like aspiration and pneumonia, and lubrication to make sure their eyes aren’t permanently damaged. 

Whilst affected birds are extremely hungry and thirsty, it is impossible for them to swallow whilst the toxicity is in their system as it affects their muscles.

When the Lorikeet can start swallowing again, a wildlife carer needs to support-feed them until they can feed themselves, and then provide up to eight weeks of dedicated care before they are fit enough to survive in the wild.  

Two Lorikeets after receiving fluids with glucose

The photo above shows two Rainbow Lorikeets who had started to revive after receiving fluids with glucose. The towel is supporting their necks.

The photo below shows Lorikeets after receiving treatment. They’re no longer using their neck supports and whilst they’re still very wobbly and weak, they’re starting to get up, hop and chirp. 

Recovering Lorikeets after treatment

What was WIRES’ response?    

Since the first build-up of cases many weeks ago in south east Queensland and northern NSW; local groups, WIRES volunteers, and veterinarians have been managing this crisis, including rescuing, evaluating, and providing immediate care. 

When the event escalated, we deployed four Emergency Responders with Wildlife Ambulances to assist vets and carers with the rescue, transport, and immediate care of thousands of birds. 

We opened a temporary Community drop-off centre in Grafton, the worst affected area, and deployed our Wildlife Veterinarian Dr Tania Bishop to personally treat large numbers of Lorikeets on site and provide treatment advice for local vets.  

Hundreds of recovering Lorikeets are now in WIRES’ care. They will require many weeks of rehabilitation before they are strong enough for release. Below is a clip from just one of the pre-release aviaries erected at our carer Robyn’s property. Robyn has hundreds of recovering Lorikeets currently in care. 

Rehabilitating Lorikeets in WIRES care

And continuing on with learning. Do you know the 8 birds that mate for life? Make your list and then read this article by Audubon. How well did you do?

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Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care. Looking forward to seeing you soon! (And please ignore that Pop Up Subscribe – it irritates me, too! I am trying to get it removed).

If you want to subscribe, you can do so here.

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, screen captures, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘AE, B, Geemeff, H, J, MP, R’, WC# News, The New York Times, FOBBV, IWS/Explore, Raptor Resource Project/Explore, SW Florida Eagle Cam, NEFL-AEF, Dulles-Greenway, JB Sands Wetlands, Eagle Country, Superbeaks, Window to Wildlife, Gracie Shepherd, Heidi Mc, UFlorida-Gainesville, Cornell RTH Cam, PSEG, WIRES, and Audubon.