Tag Archives: Achieva Credit Union Osprey Nest

Late Thursday in Bird World

5 May 2022

Tonight, the Audubon Society believes that 380 million birds will be on the move from the south where they wintered to the north to their breeding grounds. Manitoba is set for a huge number of birds flying in especially to the very north near Churchill and to the wetlands in the middle of the province. I draw your attention to the Wapusk area because I want you to see Churchill. Churchill is now as the ‘accessible Arctic’. Here beginning in June you can see many species including Ross’s Gull, the Northern Hawk Owl, Smith’s Longspur, Spruce Grouse. the Three-Toed Woodpecker, and Harris’s Sparrow. Of course, the list is endless for the ducks and geese that make Hudson’s Bay and the area around Churchill their summer home. Raptors include the Northern Harrier, Gyrafalcons, Merlins, Bald Eagles, and Golden Eagles. Lots of other wildlife abound in the area including Polar Bears.

North of Riding Mountain National Park, also in Green to the south and west of Wapusk is Winnipegosis. This is the place to see Osprey. Directly east and north of Gimli near Hecla Island is a large concentration of Bald Eagles. Canada Geese have arrived and the Trumpeter Swans are arriving now along with the American Pelicans and Red-winged Blackbirds. The shores of the two very large lakes, Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg, are home to a huge variety of shorebirds that are beginning to arrive.

It felt like I watched Annie and the wee hatchling all day under a microscope. Alden got to see the chick and brood it and incubate the other two eggs. There is a dent in one of the two remaining eggs.

Alden checked earlier to see if Annie wanted a break and she wasn’t ready yet.

The baby was wanting food so Annie gave Alden a shift. I noticed how extremely careful he was with his lame leg not to stop on the chick. Well, done, Alden.

Annie arrives with a bird for the little one’s first meal. I could not possibly tell you what species this is. It is not familiar to me in Manitoba.

First hatch had a nice meal.

Annie catching some sleep. She is going to need all she can as the next eyas appears to be working on its shell. So happy for Annie. Things feel like they are going to turn out just fine.

Afterwards I went to check on the osplets at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest. I had been watching earlier in the day but not early enough to catch a morning feed. It was apparent that the chicks and Mum had eaten as all three had crops heading into the evening.

It is good to see the Mum on the nest and the osplets – and her – nicely fed. Middle is the one closest to Mum.

Middle is growing. A few days of good meals makes all the difference in the world.

Big Red has a nest full!!!!!!! She must be in her glory. Oh, I hope the weather holds.

L4, the smallest one, hatched a week after the first, likes to be at the front of the line. Gosh, sounds like another Ervie!

At 19:32, two Crows arrived at the Achieva Osprey nest in St Petersburg, Florida. This is the nest of Jack and Diane. Last year Jack and Diane fledged three – this is the home of Tiny Tot -. Those chicks hatched the beginning of March. Jack and Diane had a previous clutch of eggs that went down a hole in the nest. Diane laid three more eggs but the dates were unknown because the cam was offline. I know that the Achieva nest is a favourite of many but, perhaps this is a blessing in disguise. It is really late to have osprey chicks in Florida due to the extreme heat.

It is doubtful that any of the eggs made it. Crows watch and wait just like they did with Daisy Duck’s clutch. Eggs left alone even for a few minutes will be eaten if there are Covids around.

Bird flu continues to be in the news as 37 million factory farm birds are killed.

https://kdvr.com/news/bird-flu-not-just-affecting-colorado-bald-eagles-other-wild-birds-dying/?fbclid=IwAR21A8vcIZW0WgdOK4c4rYk9prFMvvUbxDm3u6BqNHLQkV4cEq-YYHkkG6k

We are one week away from pip watch for Richmond and Rosie at the SF Osprey nest on the Whirley Crane in SF Bay.

One of my favourite Osprey nests in the UK belongs to Idris and Telyn at the Dyfi in Wales. Idris is know as Daddy Long legs but he is also one of the best fishers amongst all the UK osprey. Look at this one he hauled in today!

Beautiful Maya at the Rutland Manton Bay nest she shares with her mate Blue 33 (11). We are on pip watch for this couple!

Another fantastic Osprey Mum, Blue NC0 at the Loch of the Lowes nest in Scotland that she shares with Laddie. We will be watching for her eggs to hatch after Maya’s. What a beautiful setting for a nest!

The oldest Osprey in the UK is Mrs G. She is believed to be 22 years old. She is incubating the three eggs of her and Aran’s. They will be hatching late as Aran was late returning from migration. Today Aran was busy keeping intruders away from the nest.

Of the nests I have checked, all seem to be doing just fine.

Thank you for joining me. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dfyi Osprey Project, LRWT, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Cal Falcons, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, SF Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, and Achieva Osprey.

Late Wednesday in Bird World

Ever since our big storm with all the snow and -35 temperatures the number of birds visiting the garden feeders has decreased. The European Starlings that once graced the Lilac Bushes and all the neighbouring trees are down to a handful from a record number of 58. The regulars are here along with about 40 Sparrows. That is also a huge decline. I wonder what is going on?? It is -9 and the wind has ranged from 23 kph to now 16 kph. It was the first time that my fingers felt like they were freezing when I was on my walk. One bird and lots of squirrels running around, a few people walking dogs. The garden was so peaceful.

Diane at the Achieva Osprey Nest laid her third egg this morning, 9 February, at 07:36. She has been incubating the other two eggs since the second was laid. 37 days is the average for hatching to begin. So the middle of March there should be bobbleheads on this nest. My intention will be to stock up on all manner of ‘calming’ teas should sibling 1 turn out to the brute that it was last year.

The third hatch survived only by its sheer determination not to die many times over and finally, Diane recognizing this and she began to go and catch catfish and made sure it ate. Chatters dubbed #3 ‘Tumbles’ because it was tripping over its feet. I called it Tiny Tot and then merged the two names together. Turns out that Tiny Tot Tumbles became the most formidable chick on the nest, taking over control and staying to even help Jack defend the nest. She was an incredible bird.

The nest is located in a parking lot of an Achieva Credit Union in St Petersburg, Florida. There is a chat connected with the streaming cam but there has been no moderator. Here is the link to the Achieva Camera:

This morning Big Red and Arthur paid another visit to the Fernow Tower Light Stand. This has been Big Red’s nest choice for the past few years. The nest is on the grounds of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. The hawks live on their campus territory year round.

The couple will continue to refurbish this nest for at least another 5 weeks. The earliest Big Red has laid her eggs as on 13 March and she did that only once. She laid the first egg on 14 March once and the 16th twice. I tend to think of her as laying on average around the 23rd but, the birds are surprising everyone this year.

Arthur flew in with a stick at 09:56:36.

Getting the right placement of the twigs on the nest is important as Big Red is very particular.

Here comes Big Red to join Arthur with her own big stick.

Oh, there is our beautiful Big Red, the Queen of all Red-tail Hawks, in good form landing on her nest. She is 19 years old. Hatched in 2003 in Brooktondale, NY, just down the road from Ithaca. Banded on 10 October of that same year. Arthur is from a nest adjacent to Big Red’s territory. Arthur is 7 years old this year. Big Red and Arthur became a bonded couple after Big Red’s first mate, Ezra, was killed in 2017. This will be the 5th breeding season for Big Red and Arthur! Can’t wait.

Both are carefully looking at what needs to be done to whip this nest into shape for this season.

If you look carefully, Arthur has already had breakfast. The evidence is on his talons. Oh, I hope this is a good year for chipmunks for the Ls. Yes, they will be the Ls.

Arthur flies off to get more twigs and Big Red settles in to work on that nest cup.

And here is Arthur. Big Red has flown off and he is giving this nest cup a once over, too. Look at that magnificent tail. That is what makes the Red-tail Hawks ‘red tails’. The hawks do not get their red tails until they are a year old. Until then they have to settle with two colours of grey stripes. In fact, when Big Red picked Arthur out of other possible mates, he did not yet have his red tail! That tail is almost like a badge of honour. If you survive your first year, you get the mark of the red tail. In reality, only 1 out of 3 eyasses survive their first year. The challenges for the youngsters are enormous.

I am going to start marking the days on my calendar. There are two cameras and a dedicated team of moderators on the chat. You will learn everything you wanted to know about hawks and more. Once the chicks fledge there are birders on the ground (BOGs) that submit photos and videos so that we can keep up with them til they leave the territory.

Here is the link to one of the cameras:

Sadly, the streaming cam to the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge is still off line. Oh, I wonder how Ervie and Mum and Dad are doing.

The Netherlands is reporting the third White-tail Eagle killed by a wind turbine. This is 3 out of 15 specially banded birds. There is an easy fix for the birds – install bird alarm systems and/or paint one of the blades black so that the birds can ‘see’ the moving blade. It is well known that this really helps in diminishing the numbers of birds deaths. As we build more and more wind farms, measures must be taken to protect all of the birds, not just eagles. Painting one blade black is a cheap easy fix that can be done in the factory that has been known about for a number of years. So why isn’t this being done?

There was another ground search for Bella at the NCTC Bald Eagle Nest with no luck in finding her. Meanwhile, Smitty and the new female have been working on the nest and mating. I hope that Bella is somewhere recovering from her injuries.

Harriet and M15s eaglets continue to change into juveniles right before our eyes. They sure love to eat! And they have gorgeous juvenile plumage with only a few dandelions lurking about. The top image is E20. What a crop. Don’t need to worry about this one getting its share anymore.

Harriet and M15 keeping the babies full.

Things are going alright on the WRDC in Miami. Both R1 and R2 are progressing in their feather development. Both are getting much more steady on their feet and there is a nice big fish on the nest for dinner. R2 has survived. Worry time is past (for me anyway).

NE26 and 27 are doing great. They survived all the torrential downpours in Jacksonville two days ago. Gabby was such a trooper keeping those kids dry and fed. I was ever so impressed.

Still on egg watch at the Pittsburgh-Hays nest. The adults are busy watching a train pass on the upper tracks at the moment.

Here is a link to their streaming cam:

There is egg watch for Liberty and Guardian at the Redding, California nest. My goodness the wind is just blowing and howling there.

Here is the link to their streaming cam. Also watch out for those very informative videos by Gary.

This coming weekend it is hatch watch for Lena and Andy at the Captiva Osprey Nest on Santibel Island, Florida. I cannot find that streaming cam live anymore. The owner of the property said that he would cut the power once the eggs hatched so maybe it is just offline. I will check again later and report back if i find it operative tomorrow.

Everything is just fine at the Kistachie National Forest nest in Louisiana. The pantry has food and Kincaid is growing like crazy. This is the best set up to actually hear Eagles chitter with one another. Yesterday little Kincaid joined in. It was precious. Highly recommended. There is not a lot of action since the feedings are spread out but it is a great nest ‘to listen’ when the parents are about on and off the tree.

This is not even a dent into all the on line nests. B15 at Berry College is doing great as are the pair of eaglets at Hilton Head. Jackie and Shadow continue to incubate their eggs. So far so good. The same with Thunder and Cheta. While we wait for Big Red to get her clutch started, the wait is also on for the return of all the European birds from African to their spring and summer homes in Europe and the UK. In addition, Lady and Dad have been visiting their nest in the Sydney Olympic Park. Expect eggs around the beginning of June. Wow. Time melts.

Take care everyone. Thank you so much for joining me today. I am so happy to have you here with me and the birds.

Thanks to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Achieva Credit Union, SWFlorida Bald Eagles and D Pritchett, WRDC, KNF, Pix Cameras, and Redding Eagles.