The top three names are now posted on the Kistachie National Forest Bald Eagle streaming cam.
Those three area: Kincaid, Lucky, and Alex.
I do not know the connection for Lucky or Alex. Kincaid refers to the lake that you can see from the nest sometimes. It provides the food for all of the eagles. In keeping with staying local, Kincaid seems like a super name. Last years chick was Kisatchie after the forest that provides the nest.
To vote, please go to the streaming cam. Voting is live. When you vote you will be able to see which name is leading and you will see how many votes have been cast. Voting closes at noon on 9 February.
Jack and Diane are the Ospreys at the Achieva Credit Union Nest in St Petersburg, Florida. Off and on there have been other couples coming and going when they were not on the nest. This morning, however, that is all changing. Diane laid the first egg of the 2022 season around 23:40 on 1 February! Congratulations Achieva!
Diane, I really hope that you stop at two this year! Despite Tiny Tot Tumbles surviving and then thriving last year.
Jack brought Diane a nice fish this morning and took his turn incubating the egg so she could eat and have a bit of a break. Good one, Jack.
There is something going on at the NCTC nest. Where is Bella? Smitty was seen mating on the nest with the intruder female this morning! There she is on the right with the brown feathers in her tail. She is quite easy to identify. It was 08:06.
Deb Stecyk caught it on video:
Ervie likes it down in Dad’s cave. He is still there but Dad is gone!
Anna and Louis’s baby at the KNF nest is 21 days old today. If you look carefully you can see the shafts starting on the wing tips for the flight feathers. The thermal down is really coming in nicely.
Typically, this eaglet has a huge crop as it sits in front of Anna.
I have not seen the final three names for voting posted. Cody has been in Texas until today and I am assuming that him and Steve will meet, figure out the three that were mentioned most often, and then set up the final public voting.
It’s that stage. Thermal down and clown feet and looking like Hulk. White dandelions on the head.
The little eaglet – B15- at Berry College is getting its thermal down, too. It was caught preening this morning! Did you know that the pin or blood feathers will grow where the natal down shafts were? So the thermal down always remains under the feathers to help the beautiful eagles regulate their temperature.
It looks like the eagle nests I have been reporting on will, for the most part, not be impacted by the snow and ice that is coming in through Saturday. The Love Trio along the Mississippi near Fulton, Illinois, the eagles in PA, Big Red and Arthur’s nest and Duke Farms will likely get some precipitation.
This is the current view of the Mississippi Flyway.
The Pittsburg Hayes Bald Eagles are already dealing with some snow. It is egg watch at this gorgeous nest. That is Mum on the left. Dad is looking down to that beautiful river that supplies this couple with some of their food.
Here is the link to the Pittsburgh Hayes Nest. That nest is only 5 miles from downtown Pittsburg on the Monongahela River. Remember this couple raised three lively chicks to fledge last year! Incredible. This nest is looking for 3-6 inches or up to 15 cm of snow with an ice coating tomorrow.
You might not have this next nest on your radar. This is the information on the streaming cam about the region and the eagles. “The Dulles Greenway Wetlands has been home to two American Bald Eagles since 2005. In 1995, TRIP II established a private 149-acre wetlands preserve in Leesburg, Virginia during the construction of the Dulles Greenway roadway to mitigate the loss of roughly 64 acres of federally protected wetlands. Today, the wetlands property is managed by the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and utilized for local wildlife education.”
The first egg was laid at this nest yesterday, 1 February, at 14:47. The adults are currently changing over incubation duties.
Here is the link to this streaming cam. There is also an overhead cam that is off line at the moment. This couple will be seeing more snow and ice along with the nests in PA and NJ.
No worries for the nests in California. Akecheta is currently incubating the two eggs at the West End Bald Eagle Nest in the Channel Islands. Looks like a gorgeous day. The sky is blue in Winnipeg and the snow has stopped but it is bitterly cold. Oh, wish I could twitch my nose and arrive in California for a couple of days to thaw.
The first Kakapo chick has hatched. It was Pearl’s! And Pearl’s second chick is on the way. Here is the announcement from the Kakapo Recovery. Such good news. Hoping that all of the hatches survive and do well. This is so exciting!!!!!!!!! You are witnessing people working hard to recover a population of flightless parrots that could easily go extinct. Incredible the efforts that are being put into this. Makes me smile every day.
I wonder if Ervie will leave the Dad’s mancave today? Will monitor our beautiful boy. He is certainly settling in to a nice life on the barge! Who would have thought?
Thank you for joining me today. It is lovely to have you with me as I do a hop skip and jump around the nests. Take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or their FB pages where I took my screen captures: Kakapo Recovery, KNF Bald Eagles, Berry College Bald Eagles, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Dulles Greenway Eagle Cam, NCTC Bald Eagles, Pix Cams, Explore.org, Achieva Credit Union, and CNN.
There is definitely snow and more snow and it is either still coming down or blowing like it is! Goodness.
Both Mr and Mrs Chickadee were flitting around on the vines under the eaves trying to find a place to get out of the wind. The Starlings are waiting for the Butter Bark feeder to be filled and dozens of House Sparrows are eating snow. It is a ghastly day for them. And for people. I think my appointment for a hair cut is once again cursed. Wish me luck though. I am going to try and make it!!!!!!!!
In all the flurry of the storm news, I missed the quick change over at the Royal Albatross Quarry Track Nest. No sooner had YRK returned to relief OGK and he was back – in a day! Oh, the foraging must have been really good. That is fantastic.
There is the Royal Cam dad, OGK, first thing in the morning looking so content.
Someone is sleeping on the nest on the deck of the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge. Is it Ervie? Sleeping in the nest seems ‘odd’ for the adults. What do you think? Is that a sat-pak on the back of that Osprey?
The winter storm warning for the US appears that it will be hitting Oklahoma around 21:00 tonight and moving eastward. I wonder what some of the nests will look like tomorrow?
The eaglet-without-a-name-but-soon-to-have-one is really getting its thermal down! Changing every day. There is another duck delivery and a bird with white feathers was slipped in some time when I wasn’t watching. Wind and some slight rain at the nest currently.
It is a bright sunny day at Big Red and Arthur’s nest. The snow and ice has not reached there yet.
It is still nice and sunny and clear in Hillsboro, New Jersey where our Mum at Duke Farms is incubating two eggs.
It still looks alright at Berry College. B15 is also getting its thermal down and it is such a cute little baby. Pa Berry and Missy must be proud.
R1 and R2 are doing great. You can see what full coverage of that thick thermal down looks like when you look at them and then look up at the little eaglet at Berry where the thermal down is just coming in.
R2 is the one at the front holding on to the fish that it will continue to nibble on. These two can be real comedians.
NE26 and 27 are doing grand as well, the youngest of the eaglets now. If you want soft, cute, and cuddly that is the place to watch – NEFlorida with Gabby and Samson!
This has been a quick check on some nests. So far all looks great. The system that is moving through the US is going to impact lots of birds and wildlife as it pushes its way through. Hopefully nests with chicks on them or eggs will be spared the worst of it.
Thank you for joining me today. Stay safe. Stay warm.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: KNF Bald Eagles, NEFlorida and the AEF, NZ DOC, Berry College Bald Eagles, WRDC, Cornell Bird Lab, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, and Duke Farms.
The ‘Alberta Clipper’ is just starting to impact Winnipeg with some light snow flakes. We are in an extreme blizzard warning area until tomorrow morning when the winds and snow – getting up to 90 kph (or 55 mph) – dissipate. The garden birds were a little strange today. They ate and left. Normally they come and stay all day but a couple of waves of different groups came and went. I suspect they were going to try and find a place to hunker down for the duration. This storm system is also going to impact a huge part of the US including my childhood state of Oklahoma.
It is snowing on the Storks near Freiburg, too.
There is wind and blowing snow in Durbe, Latvia, the home of Milda, the White-tailed Eagle. The sound from the camera’s microphone makes you shiver – the wind is just howling through the forest.
The female Bald Eagle at Duke Farms is also under some snow and it looks like she might get more as this weather system moves through the eastern US.
There is good news in Bird World. Both of the USS Bald Eagles were seen at the nest today. The worry last night over whether or not there was an injury melted away. Nice.
The thermal down is coming in on the eaglet at the KNF in Central Louisiana. The light natal down is giving way to dandelions. Notice how much longer the beak is and how large the cere has become. The cere is the soft fleshy part above the black beak, seen below. The cere varies in shape, size, and colour amongst raptors. The beak will turn that beautiful yellow when this eaglet is approximately 4-5 years old and be pure yellow by the time it is 6 years old. At that time, it will also finish getting its adult plumage including that full beautiful white head.
The meals are more spread apart but the eaglet is eating longer and its crop is getting much fuller. Just look below. The crop is a pouch along the espophagus. It stores food before it gets to the stomach. It also processes prey items that cannot be processed in the stomach. The raptor will regurgitate a compressed pellet of those items that do not go to the stomach.
The Wildlife Biologist has just confirmed that this crop is at least 3-4 inches (10 cm) long! Wow.
Poor Baby. It took some maneuvering with the weight and flopping of that crop for it to get in a position to PS. Obviously the crop weighs more than the chick’s bottom does.
This baby has really grown in the last 4 or 5 days and is changing more and more with every blink it seems.
Despite being full to the brim and hardly able to move, Anna is making certain that the little one is topped up before bedtime.
NE26 and 27 are awash in Spanish Moss. The nest seems to be covered with it and fish. Lots of fish.
There are those sweet little fluffy dumplings in the nest bole.
Sleeping quietly under Mum.
At the WRDC Nest in Miami, R1 and R2 have popping crops, too. The pin or blood feathers can be seen coming in through the thermal down.
R1 is closest to you. R2 without the fluffy hair is in the back and also has a large crop. Both eaglets are doing well and there is plenty of food on the nest.
The 2022 Albatross Count on Midway Atoll is completed. Here is the information as it was posted by Friends of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge today:
YRK flew in and switched places with OGK yesterday at the Royal Albatross Quarry Track Nest in New Zealand.
Lady Hawk caught that sweet reunion.
The camera is still offline in Port Lincoln. Would love to have had a good look at our Ervie.
Tuesday February 1 is Lunar New Year for many of our friends. For all of you celebrating the Spring Festival, we wish you a healthy, happy, prosperous Year of the Tiger.
Thank you for joining me today. So happy to have you with me. Stay safe, stay warm!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Cornell Bird Lab and the NZ DOC, Friends of Midway Atoll WildlifeRefuge FB Page, KNF Bald Eagle Nest, NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF, WRDC Eagle Cam, Duke Farms, Latvian Fund for Nature, and the Stork’s Nest Livestream.
As many of you know, there are problems for the Bald Eagles with the Great Horned Owls wanting to take over their nests. We saw Bonnie and Clyde be successful in stealing a young eagle couple’s nest in Newton, Kansas located on the grounds of Farmer Derek. Those two have visited the nest as recently as 2 days ago. Great Horned Owls have taken over the Savannah Osprey Nest and laid eggs so no more Ospreys there, sadly.
Those are two instances on streaming cam where the owls have been successful. It has to be more common in the wild. I imagine that you could also provide me with several more examples. We know that a GHOW has been systematically attacking M15 and Harriet on their nest in Fort Myers, Florida. Just a few minutes ago a GHOW flew and knocked the female adult eagle off the US Steel Eagle nest at the Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant in West Mifflin, PA.
The camera operator for the USS Bald Eagle nests is panning around the area. It is not a search and they said that the panning does not imply a search is needed. They are simply looking to see where the GHOW might be. These are the time stamps for the events this evening according to the camera moderator: “18:52:20 GHO swipes USS female(?) off her roost, 18:55:42 USS male(?) reacts to nearby swipe, 18:58:07 USS male relocates, chatter from both follows through 19:01”. The eagles cannot be heard on the streaming cam. Previously you could hear them so they are probably roosting at a distance and are safe and sound.
This is a daylight view of the nest. It is a gorgeous area.
Here is a link to the USS Bald Eagle cam:
The situation in PA at the USS Bald Eagle nest is unclear. It is my understanding that neither eagle has been seen on the streaming cam this morning. Everyone is hoping that they will show up so that worries can be put aside.
I was reminded, by someone using a three letter code for the Great Horned owls, to provide you with a listing of the proper four letter Alpha codes for all birds. Great Horned Owls are GHOW. The listing provided by the Carolina Bird Club also discusses the origin of the codes. Have a look:
Liberty (f) and Guardian (m) were on the nest doing renovations and checking out the nest cup at Redding today. This couple raised triplets last year: Honor, Glory, and Rebel. We should be looking for eggs to be laid mid-February. Wouldn’t Valentine’s Day be nice?
Here is a history of the nest from last year’s breeding season by Judy B on the Hancock Wildlife Forum:
“A new camera was installed at the Turtle Bay nest for the 2021 nesting season (big thanks to Terri/Eaglewoman and the Friends of the Redding Eagles!) – and happily the eagles chose to use that nest! They laid three eggs in mid-February, and the three eaglets hatched March 21, 22 and 24. They were named Honor, Glory and Rebel by a poll of viewers. All three fledged successfully, if a bit non-traditionally. It was very hot in late May/early June as the eaglets turned 10 weeks old, frequently going above 100F/38C. Oldest eaglet Honor (who had never branched) had a very intentional fledge on June 3rd (74 days old). The following day, youngest eaglet Rebel left the nest as well, possibly slipping while trying to branch (the angle of the cam made it hard to be sure); Rebel was 72 days old. Happily local observers found both of them on the ground with an adult perched above; they landed near the river, and were able to have a drink of water. Middle eaglet Glory apparently liked having the nest all to his/her self, staying there another two weeks before fledging on June 18 (88 days old). All three fledglings were seen together perched beside the river on June 22, and all were seen through July 5. Both adults and two fledglings were seen in the area July 18, and one fledgling was around a few days later (it might be Honor who left first, but not sure). A happy year in spite of the challenges of the very hot weather.”
Why did I bring up the Redding nest? Because on 7 November 2021 a GHOW comes to the Redding nest! The video below uses slo-motion, graphics, and a narrative to highlight the encounter between Liberty and Guardian and the GHOW. The video is very insightful into the behaviour of Bald Eagles in alert and attack mode – if they are experienced:
Here is the link to the Redding Eagles streaming cam:
As breeding season continues, we might see more GHOW invasions. While GHOWs look soft and cuddly and through children’s stories we learn they are ‘wise’ – often portrayed as teachers – they are formidable adversaries. Liberty and Guardian are older and more experienced than the young Bald Eagle couple in Newton, Kansas that gave up their nest easily to the owls. Better to be safe than injured or dead.
Harriet and M15 have been the constant targets of GHOW attacks. Just go to YouTube and search for GHOW attacks M15 and you will find pages of videos going back years to the more recent occurrences. Here is one good example just 8 days ago:
On different occasions, M15 has been hit and has fallen down into the nest with Harriet and either eggs or nestlings. If you are a regular watcher of this great eagle couple, you will have seen M15 with injuries on his head because of the stealth attacks during the night.
In other Bird World News:
The first egg was laid at the Venice Golf and Country Club Osprey Nest (VGCCO) yesterday at 08:45. I know that some of you really enjoy this watching this nest in California.
Here is the link to this nest:
Still waiting at Achieva:
Two Osprey cams in New York say it is way too early to be thinking about eggs! Are either of these on your list to watch? Oyster Bay and PSEG?
After the fright the other day, everything appears to be relaxed and back to normal at the KNF nest. I am hoping we get the list of three possible names for this adorable eaglet today!
The eaglets on the WRDC are nice and full. Their thermal down has come in nicely. R1 still has some dandelions on its head. Soon we will begin to see thee contour and flight feathers on R1 and R2.
There are still cute fuzzy nestlings at NE Florida! They are doing great, too.
And just look at the change in Harriet and M15’s ‘babies’! Wow. I love seeing the plumage develop from that light soft down still on NE26 and 27 to the juvenile plumage that is really coming on E19 and E20.
No checks on Ervie. PLO is offline. Warm thoughts going out to the USS Bald Eagles. I am sure this is not the first time they have had to deal with this owl or another. Still, there is always cause for concern. That was a particularly ‘hard hit’ yesterday. Waiting for the final 3 names so voting can take place for the name of the little eaglet at KNF.
Thank you for joining me today. Please take care of yourselves. Stay safe.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screenshots: USS Steel Bald Eagles and Pix Cams, Redding California Eagles, SWFlorida Bald Eagles and D Pritchett, Achieva Credit Union, VGGCO, Oyster Bay Ospreys, PSEG Ospreys, NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF, KNF Bald Eagles, Savannah Great Horn Owl Cam, and the WRDC.
The other day, Jean-Marie Dupart took photographs of a Scottish Osprey in the Saloum Delta in Senegal. The band on the leg, slightly obscured, could read JJ2 or JJ7. JJ2 was believed to be a female at the time of banding. JJ7 was believed a male at the time of its banding.
Here is the photograph Jean-Marie Dupart took of the Osprey in question:
The Woodland Trust and People’s Post Code Lottery put out the following announcement today:
I had so hoped it was JJ7 but, in the end, it is wonderful to see a healthy Scottish fish eagle that hatched in 2019.
In a sadder note, the H5N1 highly pathogenic strain of Avian Flu that killed the two white-tailed eaglets in the spring of 2021 is striking again in the UK. First swans were culled and now the Whitby Wildlife Sanctuary in Yorkshire.
Ervie has been waiting on the nest hoping that Dad would either bring him a fish or that he would catch one as he focused on the beautiful waters of the cove. And then, at 8:20:39, Ervie finds an old fish tail on the nest. He did several double takes when he saw it a few seconds earlier. What a delight! An old dried up fish tail for our lovely boy.
Ervie really enjoyed that old piece of fish.
Ervie had been standing fish calling to the parents missing that piece of tail down by his talons. In the image below you can see that this is not a big piece of fish but for Ervie, it must have felt like he had found gold in that nest.
Gosh, Ervie is a handsome Osprey.
Ervie is still working on that old piece of dry fish. He is not giving up.
And he is still working on it…
You can see from the time how long Ervie has been pulling this dry fish. He is making good progress. Ervie would love to share some of the fish from the KNF nest! But he is not going to give up until he eats every single scrap of this tail. That is why you are a survivor, Ervie.
While Ervie is dreaming of having a big fish soon, the eaglet at the KNF nest in Louisiana has been filled to the brim by Anna. Look at that crop. Incredible.
Anna is making up for missing the feedings yesterday afternoon but, at the same time, Louis did a fantastic job taking care of the eaglet. The baby was never hungry and always had a bit of a crop. Louis was extraordinary – just like Samson was when Gabby was away for 24 hours before NE26 and 27 hatched.
Diamond did not seem to spend the night at the scrape but she is on the ledge early this morning. I wonder how much the hot weather impacted her and Xavier? As you know, many Peregrine Falcons wound up in care from dehydration.
Last breeding season the Mum at the Duke Farms Bald Eagle nest spent most of it buried in snow. This year is starting off the same way. Whether it is extreme heat or extreme winter storms, our feathered friends are being impacted.
Mum will keep the eggs warm and dry. These eagles are amazing.
I wanted to do a last check on the WRDC eaglets, R1 and R2. They are doing fine. R2 is being fed at the moment which must mean that R1 is full! You can tell the difference between the two because R1 still has a big drop of light natal down on its head.
If you are a Pittsburg-Hayes eagle fan, the couple were just mating on the tree. Eggs are not normally laid til 15 February or after. I wonder if they will be early this year? Looks like they have a nice egg cup created. Last year this couple raised triplets. Yes, three eaglets. 3.
Thank you for joining me today and for all your letters and comments. I really enjoy hearing from you. Take care everyone. Stay safe!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: WRDC, KNF Bald Eagles, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Duke Farms, Charles Sturt University at Orange Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Friends of Loch Arkaig Ospreys, and Pix Cams.
What a Saturday afternoon and night. It was such a huge relief to find Anna on the Bald Eagle nest in the Kistachie National Forest and that there had been either a misidentification or that Anna and Louis switched places at dawn. Whatever happened- Anna is alright. Both birds were stressed on Saturday. It is unclear what was the cause or was it a multitude of things together – humans, gun shots, other intruding birds or animals.
I just love the image below. Everyone is so happy and relaxed this morning.
If you are watching the KNF nest, listen for the ‘laughing’ frogs. They are actually called Southern Leopold frogs but because of the sound they make, they are nicknamed laughing frogs. I hope to goodness that is the only sound that the nest has to hear besides eagles today!
The eaglet is enjoying some of the duck that was delivered earlier.
Eaglet is in food coma. Hopefully by this time next week, this baby will have a name!
The Wildlife Biologist says this afternoon that Anna and Louis would not have made their nest in a place if they were bothered by humans being around. Yesterday was, however, different from any other time that I have watched this nest – last year and this.
I know that many of you are stork lovers. Did you know that there is a live streaming cam with storks at Dreisamtal, about 10 kilometres east of Freiburg, Germany? A pair of storks make their nest on the roof of the Church of St. Gallus. Normally the couple arrive in February but this year, they returned on New Year’s Eve 2021.
The couple come and go for foraging. They sleep on the nest at night. Here is the link to this camera to calm all of your longing-for-storks-to-return!
What gorgeous plumage these Storks have. Incredibly beautiful!
Ervie had a full crop and was being blessed by diamonds all around. Oh, our glorious boy! He has quite the crop in that image. While there are few fish deliveries captured on the streaming cam, it is now believed that Ervie is catching almost all of his fish himself.
Dad does still continue to deliver a fish on occasion when Ervie is crying on the nest. Ervie loves being an ‘only child’.
The other day a word showed up in respect to Ervie – extreme philopatry. Yes, it is possible that Ervie is tied as tight as he can, more than others, to this very nest and that he will not wander too far afield like Falky has done. Indeed, one day we might see Ervie as the adult male on the barge with his own family.
Look a Ervie’s crop! Our young man is doing well. It is a relief to imagine that Ervie is an excellent fisher now.
At the Achieva Osprey nest in St Petersburg, Florida, everyone is waiting for the first egg to be laid this breeding season.
Of course, we are also waiting for Big Red and Arthur to begin working on their nest. It is, actually, awhile still. Last year Big Red laid her eggs on 26 and 29 March and 1 April! So we have about 7 weeks and a few days til our beloved Red-tail Hawk is incubating.
About the time Big Red is laying eggs, Iris will be returning from her winter migration. It is a snowy cold day in Missoula. I hope Iris is enjoying the warmth of her winter home.
At this very same time – as Big Red lays her eggs and we are on watch for Iris to land on her nest, Milda will be laying eggs on the White-tailed eagle nest in Durbe.
When I looked at my calendar and saw those three events – Big Red, Iris, and Milda – there was a big exclamation mark. Of course, all of the Ospreys and Storks will be returning from their winter homes to breed in the UK and Europe! It is going to get really, really busy.
For now, I will turn my attention back to the Bald Eagles. I don’t think NE26 is being an angel but it appears that s/he is not a ruthless brute either to NE27 – that is all good. Samson continues to have the pantry full and the fuzz balls nothing short of adorable.
In the image below, NE 26, the tallest, was trying to peck at 27. 27 did a pretty good job of standing up to its big sib. Bravo!
NE27 still has quite a dominant egg tooth. Sweet little babe with the golden glow of the morning sun shining on it.
A banana leaf was brought on to the WRDC nest. R1 thinks it makes quite a comfortable bed! So cute. It kinda’ fits with having a Papadam Chair for a nest.
R1 and R2 with their charcoal thermal down are growing and growing. Both are eating well and Ron has just brought a nice big fish on to the nest. It will not be long til these two eaglets are walking with ease around the nest. Just look at how big R1 is – looks like Hulk.
The eaglet at Berry College is wanting to have an afternoon snack and is looking intently at what the adult is plucking on the nest. This little one is a real little sweetie. Look at that lovely soft down head. You can see the thermal down coming in on the body of the eaglet. In a couple of days that soft light grey down will be nothing but dandelions!
And, last for today, if you are a Thunder and Akecheta fan, Thunder laid her first egg at the Channel Islands Bald Eagle Nest at 16:54 on 29 January! This is Cheta’s third breeding season and he no longer minds incubating the eggs. Last year the Ravens (or Crows?) got the eggs so this year, hopefully, neither adult will leave them alone!
Here is the link to the Channel Islands streaming cam:
Whew. All is well at the nests. Thankfully. It is supposed to warm up and start snowing on the Canadian Prairies in a short time. It is a good day for a walk out in the fresh air!
Thank you so much for joining me. Take care everyone and just breathe a sigh of relief. Anna is fine.
Thanks to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: KNF Bald Eagle Nest, Berry College, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, NEFlorida and the AEF, WRDC, Explore.org, Latvian Fund for Nature, Montana Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Lab, Achieva Credit Union, and Storks Nest Live Stream.
At 12:12 Anna, the female Bald Eagle at the Kisatchie National Forest nest (KNF) lets her mate, Louis, take charge of the eaglet so she can have a break. It had been a good morning.
Anna, the perfect Mum, protecting her growing eaglet from the hot sun. Look at how nice he is standing up so straight.
Louis took over the task of caring for the little one. Anna touched down on the nest and was last seen at 14:06. There she is standing on the fish.
Louis got better feeding the little eaglet over the course of the afternoon.
Louis is brooding the chick. He is not only a great provider but proves he is up to the task and is taking charge. He isn’t sleeping though. He is awake and alert listening.
The nest is in a non-hunting area. There were, however, two gunshot sounds in the afternoon at 16:14:35. There were also loud voices of people. At 16:57 it sounds as if there are two eagles chatting to one another. One of them with a hoarser voice than normal.
Is Anna injured? The rangers will go out and search for her. Was she shot? Let us all hope not. It was way too sad when the Eagle couple from area 2 were killed by gunshot.
Please send all your warm wishes to this fabulous nest – so full of hope, full of food, and two loving parents. This just shows us how challenging life is for these beautiful birds and how their good fortune can turn in an instant.
I am so sorry to bring you this news. I wish it were not so and we all wake up in the morning and realize it was Anna on the nest after all! Take care everyone.
Thank you to the KNF Bald Eagle streaming cam where I took my screen captures.
Yesterday I took a walk in the English and the Leo Mol Sculpture Gardens. They are part of the larger Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg. In the summer, these areas are full of people walking and looking at the flowers, of people clamouring to see the latest hummingbird arrival, or me – sitting on a bench hoping to see the juvenile Cooper’s Hawks again.
There was not a single bird in this area of the park yesterday. The wind was bitter against your face. The only remnants of the birds were the nests, sometimes two to a tree. As I looked for nests I also notice this colossal Blue Spruce.
And another one full of Spruce cones. We planted a Blue Spruce in our garden. I am hoping that one day it will be full of cones like this for the Red Squirrels to eat.
There are a few snow flakes falling in the garden. Dyson & Co were up early eating off the suet cylinders and the square hanging feeder. Each had a spot – 3 civilized squirrels all having breakfast. Close your eyes and imagine it! By the time I had the charged battery in the camera they were off, chasing one another in the Lilac bushes.
I checked on Ervie first. The camera has been on and off at Port Lincoln due to the storm. One of the chatters posted a fish arrival time stamp for Ervie yesterday afternoon and thankfully, I could still rewind and find our beautiful boy.
Dad arrives with a nice fish. Here he is flying off. Ervie has it in his talons.
Ervie spends the next hour eating that fish – it was a nice sized one.
I wonder what has happened to Ervie’s feathers on his left wing?
It was just so nice to see Ervie and see him eating that I could have stopped checking on the birds right then! How much longer will we see this incredible Osprey on the barge? Every day is a gift.
It is good to see Port Lincoln posting updates. That means that they survived the big storm as well. Here is the latest tracking for Ervie from yesterday. Yes, he is traveling further afield! So glad he has a tracker!
Port Lincoln also posted information on Calypso. 2019 hatch. Here she is! What a beautiful Osprey!!!!!!
The little chick at Berry College is so adorable. You can see the dark thermal down coming in replacing the soft light grey natal down. Soon our wee one will be able to thermoregulate its own temperature. For today, however, it wants to be close to Mum to stay warm.
A great comparison is the plumage of E19 and E20 yesterday but first, look at that crop. Harriet and M15 have been keeping these two full and I have not seen any of the rivalry when I have been watching them that we did in early days. (Feel free to correct me!)
The thermal down layer now covers E19 and E20. There are a few dandelions of the natal fluff left. You can now see their contour and flight feathers coming in.
The image below shows the juvenile Bald Eagle at the Osceola Florida nest. Notice that it is a dark espresso brown/black. It will not be that long and E19 and E20 will look like this beautiful only Eagle.
The little eaglet is growing and growing at the KNF nest. It is out of its ‘hole’ that Anna had made for it and is up sleeping by the eleven fish and the turtle that Louis has in the nest. The pair have been busy moving Spanish Moss around covering much of the pantry at times.
Look at the size of that leg! You can see the thermal down coming in on the Anna’s baby. Soon there will be only dandelions, faint hints of it as a wee babe. It seems like it has doubled in size overnight.
The eaglets really grow fast. Samson and Gabby’s wee babes are some of the only ones now with natal down. They are darling. Samson seems to have been in some kind of contest with the number of fish on the nest with Louis. As someone reminded me, Samson has 2 to feed, not 1. Regardless, Louis and Samson are two of the best prey providers. Incredible what they bring to the nest.
These two appear to be getting along. They are both doing very well.
The two are not really that much difference in size. The camera angle and 26 having its neck pulled all the way out makes it look much bigger. Gosh they are cute.
The nicest thing about this year in terms of hatching is that the nests vary so much in the age of their nestlings. It is fantastic to see all the stages of development including their plumage!
It was reassuring to check on the WRDC nest and see that R2 (in front) and R1 (eating) both have crops albeit R1 is going to have the larger. The wind is very brisk at the nest. In fact, there is a wind advisory for Miami with a temperature of 13 C (or as you see on screen at 57 F).
There is a cold front moving through all of the Eastern US.
It is much colder in Ithaca. Indeed, Ithaca is -11 C which is precisely the same temperature as we have in Winnipeg today. Crazy. It is difficult to imagine that in less than 8 weeks we could have Big Red incubating eggs on this nest!
Except for the extreme wind and cold temperatures, everything seems to be just fine with all of the nests. Most of all it was wonderful to get a good look at Ervie and know that he has eaten in the midst of all the horrific weather in South Australia the other day. Good news continues to come out of Senegal. The Osprey count along the coast for the month of January was 1206. That is simply amazing Jean-Marie Dupart.
Take care everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I will see you tomorrow!
Thanks to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, KNF Bald Eagles, NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF, SWFlorida Bald Eagles and D Pritchett, Berry College Bald Eagles, WRDC, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, and the Osceola Bald Eagle Nest.
I am just home from a wonderful day outside. Did not see a single bird! Yes, seriously. I did spot a lot of nests and it was just nice to be outside in the fresh air on a beautiful sunny day.
The image below is the nest of Anna and Louis in the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana.
What caught my eye was an invitation by the Wildlife Biologists Steve Shively and Cody Austell of the US Forestry Service at the Kistachie National Forest for people to come and get up close to the Bald Eagles, Anna and Louis. OK. Not that close. They have a great eagle viewing area set up with spotting scopes and they will be giving private tours.
If you live near Central Louisiana and are free at 10 am on either February 10, 17, or 19 at 10 am, give them a shout to sign up. The e-mail is visitKNFeagle@gmail.com
I am also super excited. Cody and Steve will be setting up another camera stream with the same super sound they have for Anna and Louis for the other Bald Eagle family in the forest. Last year there were three nests. Sadly, both adults in area 2, were found dead. They had been shot. At any rate, there will be two different streams watching both nests next season. Fantastic. I wonder if the male on the nest is as great a fisher as Louis? There were 10 new fish on the nest today. The duck and the Coot have been eaten and I am not sure where the turtle is.
Just a couple of quick comments about happenings in Bird World. The camera is now back on in Port Lincoln on the Osprey barge. Ervie had been there earlier so he is fine. A huge storm ripped through the area and did tonnes of damage. Just waiting to see how everything is with the hearts that beat and run Port Lincoln Osprey Project. There is not an egg yet on the Achieva Osprey Nest even though Diane has been on the nest for long periods.
The winds and rain seem to have subsided at the NEFlorida Bald Eagle Nest of Samson and Gabby. I have not been home long enough to see how NE26 and 27 are behaving but there are at least five fish in the pantry so food is not an issue!
They look like they are getting along. Fingers crossed!
OGK is busy being a great dad down in New Zealand at Taiaroa Head. This little Royal Cam chick is going to gain lots of grams! Sooooooo very sweet.
Lots of beautiful water birds were out on the Mississippi Flyway this morning.
If you like Roseate Spoonbills as much as I do, you need to check out this streaming cam in St Augustine Florida. Spoonbills forage in shallow water. This is an adult in the nest. The juveniles are a pale pink while the adults have that bring cherry red/pink on the wings. Their head is bare and is a yellow-green colour. Their name comes from the flattened beak that looks like a spoon!
B15 at Berry College seems to be doing just fine, too. The worry over an injury to the wing is gone. It is a really sweet little eaglet.
So if you are anywhere near to Central Louisiana and want a personal tour to see the Bald Eagles nesting in the Kisatchie National Forest, please do get in touch with Steve or Cody. I would love to go on one of their tours. They are so knowledgable and – need help identifying prey on a nest – they are great at answering those questions. I have learned all about turtles this year! Send all your positive and warm wishes to all the nests (and people) who are going to get really low temperatures in areas that do not normally have them!
Thank you for joining me today. Take care everyone. See you soon!
Thank you to the KNF FB Page, Berry College, NE Florida and the AEF, Explore.org, Achieva Credit Union, Cornell Bird Lab and NZ DOC, and KNF Bald Eagle Cam for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures.
