All attention has been on the Fraser Point Bald Eagle nest of Papa Andor and Mama Cruz on Santa Cruz Island. Victor and Lillibet fledged on 30 June. On the 8th of July, Victor flew onto the nest around 1038 on 8 July exhausted and appearing to be in distress. Since then issues with his left leg have been noticed.
Santa Cruz is part of the Channel Islands and lucky for Victor, falls under the care of Dr Sharpe. If you watched both the West End nest of Thunder and Akecheta or the Two Harbours net of Chase and Cholyn, you will know that Dr Sharpe and his team rescued eaglets that tumbled off the nest and also ringed the eaglets. Victor could not be in better care.
This is the latest announcement by Dr Sharpe:
Margit the Estonian Golden eaglet of Kalju and Helju and fledged today. What an amazing first flight from the nest in the Sooma National Park. She was 75 days old. This is the video of her first flight.
This is the link to the Golden Eagle cam in case you do not have it.
The whole family is home at the Bald Eagle nest on Gabriola Island.
When Louis arrived with a nice live fish on the Loch Arkaig nest, only the two osplets were home. There was already an old fish on the nest – quite a nice one. Louis moves the old fish to the side of the nest. Meanwhile one of the kids amuses itself with the fish breathing and doing little jumps. It attempts self-feeding. Dorcha arrives with a big branch and immediately sees the fresh fish and – everyone had lots of fish for their tea time meal.
The new little peanut on the Chesapeake Conservancy nest is staying warm and dry under Mum Audrey. They are having some rain today. Hopefully it moves along quickly!
It is raining in Finland at the #1 Osprey nest. Mum and wee one are enjoying some nice fish – regardless. This Mum really does like her fish. She fills up Only Bob, he goes into food coma, she moves the fish and has a really nice lunch! Well done.
It was raining – at times pouring- at the western Finnish nest #4 of Ahti and Nuppu today, too. Nuppu keeping the osplet dry and warm. All appears to be fine on this nest.
The Osplets at the Fortis Exshaw nest had a huge meal today. Just look at the size of the crops! Looks like it has swallowed a small baseball – or large golf ball – each.
It was not a good day for fledging at the Mispillion Harbour Osprey nest. Looks like they were getting some rain and wind.
And a swing to California where Annie and Alden were once again pair bonding in the scape! That should put a smile on your face! Thanks Cal Falcons. Annie initiated the bonding calling Alden…
Thanks for being with me today. Send all your best wishes to Victor and hope, beyond hope, that Dr Sharpe can find people to help him rescue Victor should this be required. Take care all. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and FB pages where I took my screen captures: Explore.org and The Institute for Wildlife Studies, Channel Islands Eagle Lovers, GROWLS, Friends of Lark Arkaig and the Woodland Trust Fortis Exshaw Canmore, Mispillion Harbour Ospreys, Chesapeake Conservancy, and Saaksilvie.
There are reports coming out of the Osoyoos Osprey Nest that moss and baling twine were brought into the nest at around 0531 and that sometime later, at 0645, a chick fell off the edge of the nest onto the ground below. Dr Greene has been warning people of the perils of bailing twine use – certain kinds – because of the impact on the osprey nests in Montana. This is all I know. The closest rehab is in Oliver, BC and today is a national holiday in Canada. I have left a message for them and will keep you posted if I hear anything. Additionally, two locals appear to be going to also check.
We are all very joyous today that Little Bit ND17 is in care – finally. It is unfortunate that those who were giving the park staff advice did not realize that he was sitting in the bushes starving to death. We can never assume that the adults are feeding their eaglet when it is off the nest. You must have a scope or a long lens camera and actually see them feeding and take the date and time. You also have to check frequently to see that they continue. Do not assume that Eagles feed young off the nest – never. Thunder and Akecheta made Ahote get himself back up to the nest! Little Bit 17 could not fly. There is a whole lot of difference. In the future if you see or hear of a situation like Little Bit’s, please recommend care. It never hurts the birds to be checked. ——What a relief though. I hope he had an entire plate of quail last night. He certainly deserves it.
Remember if you want to help your local wildlife rehabber clean old towels are always needed. Look what is in Little Bit’s enclosure! Save them and drop them off or ask someone to do it for you. They also need donations of laundry detergent, etc. Most have wish lists on their websites.
So far the clinic with Little Bit has over $1800 in donations. Thank you to everyone for showing your love.
My plan is to write to the clinic. There was an incident this year with a WBSE fledged from the nest in the Sydney Olympic Forest – WBSE27. Found starving and emaciated. Taken into care. Released when strong. Then found starving and emaciated and being attacked on a public sidewalk. It is essential that these fledglings be taught how to fly and how to hunt. This takes quite a long period of time. It is not weeks. So fingers crossed for our baby that he is being given the best care and love he could possibly have.
The ND-LEEF nest continues to fall apart but there is a fledgling up there waiting for a feeding!
One of my readers, ‘c’ reminded me today that the Lobby that is against Nature is huge. It is! But that does not mean we cannot have an impact or that we should back down in our care and concern. No matter how big or how small, never give up working for the betterment of those who cannot – in my case, I am talking about our beautiful feathered friends. Thank you for everything that you do — and if you are reading this, I know that you are concerned and doing whatever you possibly can. Just spread the message.
There is a big intervention experiment happening in Estonia. You might remember the Black Stork nest of Jan and Janika. There were five storklets and then Jan disappeared and is presumed dead. Janika could not get enough food for the storklets – two died. In an effort to save these rare and beloved birds, Urmas, the senior ornithologist for Estonia, worked with Dr Madis Vialis at the Estonian Veterinary College at EMU. They removed the three surviving storklets and placed them in the clinic where they had a decoy mother and a step father Toto who delivered fish.
This experiment appears to be successful. So Urmas has now tried something else. He has introduced the largest of the three storklets from the clinic to the nest of Karl II and Kaia in the Karula National Forest. He did this when he ringed the storklets two days ago. The 4th storklet is named Bonus!
This is bonus in the nest around 17:45 on 30 June with his step siblings. Bonus is the large one to the left – that is not a parent!
It is now Friday morning and the sun is rising. Karl II and Kaia have seen their new off spring. On the first day in the nest, Bonus is treating the adults, Karl II and Kaia, like intruders and is hissing! You might recall that Little Bit ND17 also hissed when anyone came close to him in the bushes. They also raise their wings.It is a natural way of trying to protect themselves.
At the first feeding with Kaia, Bonus has his wings raised like Kaia was an intruder but life on the nest is much better and reports say this behaviour by Bonus is diminishing.
This second phase will also allow the smallest and the middle storklet in care to grow larger because they will have more fish. It also solves another problem. Urmas and Dr Madis wanted the storklets to be in a real nest in the forest. Fish would be brought but there was no one trained that could do that work – and it would take a lot of effort. It will be interesting to see how this works out but – what we have to remember is that they are trying to make the lives of the storklets better so they can be free and live in the wild. (Thank you ‘T’ for clearing up where Bonus originated!)
Bonus is eating along with all the others!
He also ate well when Kaia brought food today and this is excellent. After eating some are resting, some are preening. Bonus is standing but he has rested on the nest in a clump with the step siblings. By the end of 1 July perhaps he will not react to the adults at all!
There are also four storklets on the nest of Betty and Bukacek at Mlade Buky in The Czech Republic. The red iron rich clay makes such a mess on their beautiful feathers and legs. It has been raining but I hope that some nice new straw might by some miracle show up for them!
I find Lindsay and Grinnell Jr fascinating. Cal Falcons caught them playing at night! Remember Alden hunts at night – how much more of Alden’s behaviour is going to influence the behaviour of the two fledglings?
I wonder how many reading my blog saw the efforts of Daisy the Duck to hatch her eggs and have ducklings? in the White-bellied Sea Eagle nest of Lady and Dad? Daisy took me down a rabbit hole and when I came out of it — I loved ducks and all manner of water fowl.
Out of all the long lists of waterfowl I want to see a Loon. Seriously I have never seen one! There should be Loons all around me but, no. So part of this summer will be a hunt to locate these loons. In the meantime I have found a Loon nest in Central New Hampshire. They are attempting to restore Loon populations to the state. The information under the streaming cam states, “LPC’s mission is to restore and maintain a healthy population of loons throughout New Hampshire; to monitor the health and productivity of loon populations as sentinels of environmental quality; and to promote a greater understanding of loons and the larger natural world.” LPC is the Loon Preservation Committee.
The nest has two eggs – laid on the 17th and the 18th of June. Hatch should be about the middle of July. The amount of information about the nest and its challenges is under the streaming cam images. LPC also keeps an archive and has their own YouTube channel so if you miss something you can go back and see it. I am impressed. So many have nothing as ‘H’ reminded me yesterday.
Here is the link to the cam if you are interested:
You might just want to ‘listen’ to the sounds from the nest area. It is incredibly relaxing. Here is a very short clip of a female Wood Duck and her duckling visiting the nest two days ago.
The size of Idris and Telyn’s largest female is almost shocking. She is the largest female in the history of the Welsh nests. Just look at Paith! She is also the youngest and weighed 1830 grams at 32 days. Incredible. We often worry about the third hatch being brutalized and being much smaller but..not in this instance.
It is a good thing Idris is such a good fisher — or is it because Idris is such a good fisher that she is so big? Some people are joking that they won’t be able to fledge they will weigh too much!!!!!!!!
I promise not to show it again but this image of the three of them and those amber eyes of the juveniles is simply stunning. Juvenile ospreys are incredibly beautiful – their plumage is magnificent. More so than their parents. I wish they could keep it!!!!!!
I want to stay with the Dyfi Osprey Project in Wales for a moment. If you are reading this blog, you not only care about wildlife but you also care about the environment. How environmentally friendly is your nearest nature centre? (I must find out). This is the report from Dyfi – it makes for really really interesting reading and a positive change for the environment.
In terms of Osprey nests, the Boathouse Ospreys on Hog Island are being watched. It is unclear how much food the third hatch is getting. Fingers crossed for this new Mum, Dory.
The Fortis Exshaw chicks in Canmore, Alberta appear to be doing fine. The concern is the nest – there is a very deep nest cup and most platforms are not solid on the bottom.
Oh, the joy of Little Bit in care and now the worry of another gone overboard. It has been a very challenging year.
Thank you for all you did to help Little Bit. Keep sending good wishes his way. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Humane Wildlife Indiana, ND-LEEF, Explore.org and Audubon, Osoyoos Osprey Cam, LPC Loons, Dyfi Osprey Project, and Fortis Exshaw.
I don’t know a person watching a nest on a streaming cam that doesn’t get anxious if food is not brought to the nestlings and fledglings on a regular basis. Most of us start doing a bit of nail biting. Today, for example, Malin had 4 feedings. It isn’t as good as five but it is better than nothing! And last Sunday Malin had nothing. We are all hopeful for tomorrow. The weather is cooling off – Malin we are wishing for six fish tomorrow!
Malin 13 August 2021Malin 13 August 2021 after a feeding
Jake Koebernik of the Wisconsin DNR did a great job answering a lot of questions that some of us have had about Malin’s nest. One was ‘why are the fish that are delivered are so small?’ and the other was ‘why do fish deliveries drop at the weekend?’ This is his answer, “As for the nest at the Collins Marsh NC, the streams and marshes around that territory probably only offer smaller species such as bullhead, bluegills, small bass and northern pike. There aren’t large lakes or real productive rivers in that part of the state, so they are going after what is abundant and available.” Jake’s answers cleared up a lot of the mysteries. —— And tomorrow, when Malin wakes up, Malin will have its official name! Fingers and toes crossed for it to be Malin!!!!!!!
My friend ‘S’ sent a screen shot of a delivery that Telyn made to the Dyfi nest this afternoon. We both agreed that Malin’s eyes would pop out if he saw a fish this big land on the nest at Collins Marsh. That fish is bigger than Blue 491! Wow.
And if you did not hear, Idris had been missing since Wednesday and he was on the nest today, albeit with a completely sunken crop. He brought a nice fish to one of the chicks. Hoping he gets his own fill of fish. Where in the world could he have been? It is worrisome.
Telyn delivered a whopper for 491, Ystwyth who is 82 days old on 14 August
Oh, if only places that have ponds could stock them for the birds. The Pritchett Family in Fort Myers has a stocked pond for Bald Eagles Harriet and M15 and their kids and the water also allows them to cool off and clean their feathers.
We are told by the IPCC that we can expect the droughts and extreme heat to be with us. Since these changes to our climate are known to be directly caused by human activity, maybe it is time to figure out ways to help the wildlife. Providing water and food is a start.
These two little sea eaglets are just adorable and a little spunky, too. They are growing like the sunflowers in my garden that the birds planted.
Both had nice crops after this feeding.
Judy Harrington, the researcher observing the WBSE Nest in the Sydney Olympic Park forest, just released her report on what these two have been eating during the last fortnight (14 days). In fact, it is the first two weeks of their life. Harrington also records the amount of time spent feeding by both the male and the female has been recorded. Lady took on 109 feedings for a total of 21 hours and 20 minutes. Dad did 8 feedings for a total of 42 minutes. Dad has been providing most of the food – he brought in 25 items and Lady brought in 5. These consisted of the following in total: 16 Bream, 4 catfish, 2 fish, 1 Mullet, 2 Whiting, 1 Yellowtail, 1 Ibis chick, 1 nestling, 1 pigeon, and 1 bird. They have now morphed into sea eagles, the second largest bird in Australia.
Sadly, it appears that Lady was hit during the night by Boo, the BooBook Owl that lives nearby in the forest. Despite its very small size the BooBook Owl has caused injuries to the large sea eagles in the past.
It is thought that Boo, as the little owl is so fondly called, has a nest near to the Sea Eagles. To my knowledge, the WBSE have never bothered their nest but, – hey. Every parent is afraid of a larger predator and wants them to leave the area.
Legacy on the Fortis Red Deer Nest has fledged. She has been on and off the nest a few times today. One was to get some fish! Here she is with Mum. After all the nestling deaths during the heat wave, this is just one of the happiest moments from that nest. Look how big Legacy is next to mom. Congratulations.
It is almost impossible to see what is happening on the Fortis Alberta Exshaw nest up at Canmore. Both chicks appear to be on the nest and calling for food. It is unclear to me if one or both have fledged.
The love story of the two Canada Geese has gone viral. It warms our hearts to see these two devoted birds – Amelia finding and waiting for Arnold during his surgery and recovery and now their reuniting. My friend, ‘R’ found two more stories on them and I want to share with you what she sent to me. You could read about these two all day – and you will always walk away with a smile.
The story of Arnold and Amelia has taught us all something. If you find an injured Canada Goose and are taking it into care, please take the time to find its mate! The outcome might be much more positive. If you live in an area where there are Canada Geese – let your local wildlife rehabber know about the story of Arnold and Amelia. They will understand why it is important to keep bonded mates together (and their goslings if necessary).
And news about Kona. It is nearing 100 F or 38 C on the nest in Montana. The foster mother, Scout, has been shading Kona. Everything is going well with this foster. How grand.
@ Montana Osprey Porject
Leaving you with a gorgeous image of Loch of the Lowes. It just looks so still and peaceful in the early morning hours of 14 August.
And a last peaceful image of Diamond on the ledge of her scrape box on the water tower at Charles Sturt University in Orange, Australia. We will be looking for eggs before the end of the month. Izzi was last in the scrape box of Xavier and Diamond 6 August. He was photographed on 10 August and someone thought they heard him this morning.
Thanks for joining me today. I am off to try and find some hawks tomorrow so this is coming out early. I will bring you some late Saturday news in the evening. Take care. Stay safe! If you hear of interesting bird stories – and in particular, raptors – let me know.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Collins Marsh Nature Centre, Sea Eagle Cam, Birdlife Australia andthe Sydney Discovery Centre, Dyfi Osprey Project, Scottish Wildlife Trust and Friends of Loch of the Lowes, Falcon Cam Project at C Sturt University, Fortis Alberta Exshaw and Fortis Alberta Red Deer. Thank you to ‘R’ for sending methe links on the coverage of Arnold and Amelia and to ‘S’ for the information on Telyn and her whopper of a fish delivery. It is much appreciated!Thank you to the Montana Osprey Project FB page for the image of Scout and Kona.
