Tag Archives: Anna and Louis

Saturday in Bird World

If you have been reading my blog regularly, you will know that I am tracking the Port Lincoln Osprey lads in terms of ‘who is on the nest’. Ervie and Falky have been alternating. Ervie spent the afternoon and evening and slept on the nest. He is on there right now.

Ervie is fish calling to Dad.

Bazza has been shut out and yesterday he attacked Ervie when Ervie was on the nest. If you missed it, here is that dust up.

We are on hatch watch this weekend for three Bald Eagle nests. That is Captiva, Kistachie National Forest, and Berry College. The eggs for both Captiva and KNF were laid on 4 Dec and 7 December. One of the KNF eggs was broken. Eggs at Berry College were laid on 5 Dec and 8 December. You might remember that it was the female at Berry College, Missey, that survived that horrific hail and wind storm. I hope those eggs are alright. This is a new female for Pa Berry – their second season together. If you were a fan of Ma Berry, she was seen having a spa day at the end of January 2021. Yes, birds do get divorces.

This is the Kisatchie National Forest nest of Anna and Louis. Anna is incubating now.

Here is the link to the KNF Bald Eagle Nest.

This is the Berry College Bald Eagle Nest.

Here is the link to the Berry College streaming cam:

https://www.berry.edu/eaglecam/

This is the link to the Captiva Nest. This is Connie and Clive. I hope that they have a very successful year. This is probably the most narrow Bald Eagle Nest in the world!

R1 and R2 at the WRDC nest are doing just fine. Rita did some clearing of the nest yesterday and some new grasses were brought in. The nest looked amazing but after several hours, little eaglets wandering around and food can cause it to look messy again. Rita used the grass to go to the edges and sticks are still being brought in to this new human made nest for the sides.

Little eaglets full to the brim. The weather is good. It is 24 degrees. They do not need Rita to brood them in that temperature.

Ferris Akel is streaming live as I type. I love to lurk because he finds some amazing birds on his Saturday tours of the Finger Lakes area of Upper New York State. So far today there have been lots of hawks – Northern Harriers and Red Tails. The Harriers are really difficult to photograph.

The Ducks below are American Black Ducks, females. They might look like Mallards but their bill is tinged more green than the orange of the Mallard and their feathers are darker. They are virtually the same size and shape of a Mallard.

This is a female Hooded Meganser looking for food – going in and out of the water flapping her wings.

There you can get a good look. This looks to me like a first year female. Mergansers like to live in forested swamps but today they are in the wetlands. They nest in tree cavities and will also use nest boxes, unlike our favourite little duck, Daisy! They winter in the estuaries and creeks in the eastern United States and along the Mississippi Flyway.

Ferris found a Red-tail hawk hoping to find some lunch. Many of the Red-tail Hawks around the area of Ithaca do not migrate but remain in the region because the winters are not too harsh and there is plenty of prey. Indeed, the one thing that does determine over winter areas is the availability of food.

There continue to be lots of Canada Geese in the Finger Lakes region of NY.

Today, there were also some swans.

Swans feed by submerging their heads into the vegetation below the surface of the water.

These are young Tundra Swans with an adult. The Tundra Swans are smaller than the Trumpeter.

Aren’t they beautiful? We have so many waterfowl in Canada but it was not until Daisy the Duck in Australia that I really began to appreciate the ones around me.

There were also Mallards and Redheads mixed in with the Tundra Swans who are searching for vegetation to eat.

Just look at all of the Redheads!

The GHOWs are becoming a real problem for the health of the Bald Eagles. There was another owl strike at the SWFlorida Bald Eagle Nest of Harriet and M15. Lady Hawk has it on video. Additionally, there are GHOWs attempting to take over the Minnesota DNR Bald Eagle nest of Harry and Nancy, the Savannah Osprey Nest, and, as we know, a GHOW named Bonnie and Clyde took over the nest of a young Bald Eagle couple in Newton, Kansas last year and raised two owlets to fledge.

I am beginning to not like GHOWs at all!

The temperatures on the Canadian Prairies warmed up and we got more snow! It can stop now. The birds have already been fed and it looks like a great day to stay in and read and watch for those pips.

Over the past month I have become very fond of DanniConnorWild. She is a young wildlife photographer who has taken up residence in Northern Sweden. She is living her dream. That is fantastic! She is very keen on squirrels. Indeed, the squirrels in this video are eating spruce cones. I have never seen this. She is earning a living through her videos and photographs so there are ads but, just don’t mind those. I am posting her video from the end of the year that includes squirrels, Reindeer, and beautiful Northern Lights in case you want to have a look.

Thank you for joining me today. It is so nice to have you with me. Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Ferris Akel Tours, Port Lincoln Osprey, Captiva Bald Eagle Cam, Berry College Eagle Cam, KNF Bald Eagle Cam, and the WRDC Bald Eagle Cam.

Sadness on the WRDC Nest and other Bird World News

Yesterday we celebrated the arrival of R3 on the WRDC in Miami-Dade County. The third hatch of Ron and Rita did not make it and died. It would be seriously impossible to tell what caused the death. The nest cup is so deep and narrow that it might have just been suffocated. We will not know for sure. Rita removed its body from the nest cup at 11:18 this morning and placed it along the rim of the nest at 06:00. It will probably become part of the nest unless Rita or Ron remove the body completely from the nest.

R1 and R2 are healthy and growing. Let us celebrate that! As you know I had hoped that R3 would not even hatch. It is always better to have strong healthy eaglets, fewer of them, than more not so healthy.

It is also wonderful that the adults continue to work on this nest. Spanish Moss is coming in to fill up the nest cup and make everything soft while branches are going up on the side. I was a little worried about these curious Rs climbing on what appears to be chicken wire like construction. Yes, just another worried auntie!!!!

Rita looking lovingly at her two surviving chicks, R1 and R2 after R3 passed.

At the time, I actually thought that R2 might have been dying but it was only in a deep food coma. Seriously, I almost panicked. Thankfully, both chicks are fine as you can see from the time stamp above. They have been eating a green parrot and fish.

As the day progresses, the heat comes on the nest. Rita is busy helping R1 and R2 stay cool. As we know from the heat wave going through the Pacific Northwest in May and June of 2021, heat can cause bird deaths. In Canada, many jumped from their nests to avoid being ‘cooked to death’ during that heat wave. It is currently 27 degrees C in Miami with a chance or rain. These two little ones are unable to regulate their own temperatures so the parents must help them.

Here is the link to the WRDC nest:

Anna and Louis are approaching pip watch and official hatch watch (is there a difference?) tomorrow. The KNF Wildlife staff posted this notice on their FB page this morning. Steve and Cody, the Rangers who maintain the cam, appear to be super excited. So am I!

Here is the link to the KNF nest. There is one egg for Anna and Louis as the second egg was broken by accident when Anna landed one day. They fledged their first chick last year, Kisatchie. Kistachie was the first eaglet to hatch at this nest since 2013. Incredible. It is a beautiful nest close to Kincaid Lake in central Louisiana and belonged to an elderly Bald Eagle couple that quit using it in 2013. Louis and Anna arrived and then last breeding season returned to take over the nest and raise their family. Louis is an excellent fisher! No shortage of fish. Indeed, last year this pair could have started a fish exporting business to other eagle nests as they had way too much food!

Here is the link to their camera:

Well, gosh. There are going to be a lot of little eaglets hatching in the next week. I could not even begin to count them but we have Captiva and, of course, my faves, Samson and Gabby up at NEFlorida.

It is windy and there are showers near the Jacksonville nest of Samson and Gabby today. It is currently 15 degrees C – wow. That is a whole lot cooler than Miami or Fort Myers who are both reporting high 20s today.

Here is the link to Gabby and Samson up at the NEFlorida Bald Eagle nest near Jacksonville. They are a great couple to watch. I put them and Harriet and M15 right up at the top of the ‘do not worry’ list. For those of you that do not know, this was the adult male, Samson’s, natal nest. He has great DNA. His parents were Romeo and Juliet. Samson hatched 23 December 2013. He returned with his mate Gabby after the 2018-19 sadness with his parents. The American Eagle Federation gives this account, “However, the 2018-2019 season was very different, as several large mature eagles disturbed the peace and tranquility of this nest. The expectations of the season ended in heartache as Juliet returned to the nest with an injury and was subsequently driven from the nest by a rival just days before the eggs were to hatch, leaving Romeo to do the work of two. When an egg hatched on Christmas Day 2018, a female eagle following Romeo to the nest swooped down and took the hatchling. This was not A2.” The A2 they are referring to is Gabby who later partnered with Samson. Romeo and Juliet raised 19 eaglets to fledge in 10 seasons.

Gabby and Samson raised two their first season, Jules and Romey. They fledged Legacy – one spectacular juvenile – last breeding season. I am really looking forward to this year. Can you tell?

It is hot on the SWFlorida nest of Harriet and M15 today. All I can say about E19 and E20 is that they are absolutely precious. Harriet is keeping them cool.

You can see that Harriet is shading them but the two eaglets have moved into shady patches on the nest, too. They are older than Ron and Rita’s chicks and are moving quickly around this large nest.

Down in Port Lincoln, Australia, there are wee showers. It looks like Falky did have the nest reservation. He spent the afternoon, all evening on the nest, and he will be there, hopefully, to get the morning breakfast fish in about 3 or 4 hours.

Falky and Ervie had quite the dust up yesterday. Falky might have thought Ervie was not going to honour his reservation departure time!

Falky decided to lay down duckling style late in the day.

It is hard to see him but he is on the nest, nearly in the same spot. For some reason they all stand or sleep there. Must be something magical about that space.

Just look at this beautiful fledgling. Se McGregor posted a recent image taken of WBSE 27 by the National Parks and Wildlife Services of NSW. Gorgeous. She is doing well. Let us all send warm wishes for continual improvement. Many rehabbers believe it takes two years to fully train an eagle that has not been trained by its parents. I wonder how long they will keep 27? I hope a long time til this bird is confident and strong.

Annie and Grinnell continue to bond and have total control of their territory. Cal Falcons posted an image of Grinnell with a large crop on the ledge on National Bird Day.

Other than the death of R3, things in Bird World are looking pretty good at noon on a Friday. It is -27 C on the Canadian Prairies dropping to -32 later today. That is exactly 54 degrees C different than the temperatures Harriet and M15 and Ron and Rita are experiencing in southern Florida today. That is a 129.5 degrees F difference! Whew. Temperature extremes.

Thank you for joining me this morning. I will continue to monitor the reservation rota at Port Lincoln! Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: WRDC Eagle Nest, SWFlorida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, NEFlorida Eagle Cam and the AEF, KNF Eagle Cam, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Center FB Page, and Cal Falcons Twitter Page.

New Year’s Eve in Bird World

The Audubon Society has posted a list of five rules when photographing Bald Eagles. I think that they apply to every bird. Be respectful. Prey is often scarce and if you see a raptor hunting food don’t disturb it, please. Their life could depend on it!

https://www.audubon.org/magazine/winter-2017/five-rules-photographing-bald-eagle-nests?fbclid=IwAR0rgIDuOUG1oXKaHil_H4B_mFz6TF6JzcL-1fuIpMJG8Hgw4Smxbh_02BE

The other day I called E19 and E20 little stinkers. What a pair! One of them was even beaking an adult this morning! E20 holds its own – it just makes everyone a little anxious. They are strong and healthy. The images are a little fuzzy as I tried to crop them so you could see the little ones better.

Here they are going at it first thing while Mum tries to get over to feed them breakfast. Both had huge crops and at the second feeding weren’t interested in eating just dusting it up.

This cheeky eaglet facing Mum was beaking at her feathers!

Even with all the action, they are both adorable with their spiky tops.

Harriet has just finished feeding the pair some nice fresh fish.

Harriet is so experienced. It is often one bite for you and then a bite for your sibling.

Here is a video showing Dad, M15 giving E19 and E20 the last meal of the day yesterday!

It was a gorgeous morning at the NEFlorida Bald Eagle nest of Gabby and Samson.

Gabby is having a break looking over their territory in the morning mist.

Samson always enjoys getting some time with the eggs. Oh, so handsome.

Anna and Louis seem to have perfected transitioning incubation duties while protecting that one precious egg of theirs.

It is a beautiful nest full of pinecones for this little eaglet to use to learn how to grip with its talons.

It is already New Year’s Day in Australia and the Port Lincoln Lads were up early trying to get the first fish from Dad. It was 06:23 and Falky was on the nest!

Dad didn’t even eat the head!

Well done, Falky.

Diamond does not seem to have spent the night in the scrape box on the water tower at Charles Sturt University but she did arrive early. There was a lot of eee-chupping. It sounded like she was calling Xavier to come and join her. Xavier might have been off hunting for breakfast. It was a beautiful morning.

You are so beautiful, Diamond.

Everyone in Bird World seems to be doing just fine today. Big Red and Arthur have been spotted hunting together over by the power plant. It is comforting that all are doing well. We hope that all of the 2021 fledges fly safe, stay healthy, and have lots of prey items.

Thank you so much for joining me. Wishing you all a healthy and happy start to 2022. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: SWFlorida Bald Eagle Nest and D Pritchett Family, KNF Bald Eagle Nest, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Charles Sturt University Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, and NE Florida Bald Eagle Nest and the AEF.

Does Bald Eagle spell adorable?

It is bright and sunny on the Canadian Prairies —— and it is cold, -32 degrees C or -25.6 F. When you walk on the snow it crunches beneath your boots.

The garden birds and animals get double feedings when it is like this. Those little legs. How do they manage? The Sparrows are so puffed up they are the size of softballs.

E19 and E20 are still getting us to ‘coo’. Harriet and M15 are adorable parents, both wanting to be in the nest with the new babies! The images begin last evening and continue through this morning.

Feedings are going well.

These two are seriously too cute.

Just look at that little crop, those tiny wings and that happy face.

Welcome E19 and E20. Be good to one another.

Just a few minutes ago! Adorable.

Many of you will know that the Great Horned Owl (GHOW) has been getting particularly aggressive towards Harriet and M15’s nest. The GHOW knocked M15 off the branch again last night. Harriet was really fed up and flew off the babies to escort that owl out of their territory.

A GHOW couple fought for and were successful in taking the nest from a young Bald Eagle couple in Kansas at Farmer Derek’s last year and right now there is a GHOW couple making plans on the Savannah Osprey nest! Did I say that there are too few big old trees for nests?

None of the lads at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge are any worse for wear after the dust ups between Falky and Ervie yesterday. The sun setting changes the look of the barge while creating diamonds on the water.

I am so used to Bazza being on the nest but it is Ervie eating a fish!

Ervie is still on the nest when the family settles down to sleep. I never imagined that the boys would still be with us at the end of the year. This is wonderful. I am so excited for all five members of this family. They did it this year – they fledged three healthy boys.

There are eagles on nests and nests waiting for eagles!

Gabby is thermoregulating at the Bald Eagle nest near Jacksonville. Looking for hatch the middle of January!

Anna is incubating a single egg down in Louisiana at the Kisatchie Bald Eagle nest. It is hot and humid there today. Some sprinkles for later.

What a beautiful view of the area around the Bald Eagle nest at Duke Farms in New Jersey.

Jackie and Shadow have snow in Big Bear, California.

All is well as we creep closer to the end of the year. That is a good thing! I hope that you are busy watching the little ones at SW Florida today. They grow so quickly! Here is the link to the camera if you don’t have it:

Today will be a quiet day for me. They say the booster can knock your socks off – I think it has. So today is a day of hot Christmas tea, good books, and a warm duvet.

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

Thanks to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: SWFlorida Bald Eagles and the D Pritchett Family, Friends of Big Bear, Duke Farms, KNF Bald Eagle Cam, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, and NEFlorida Bald Eagle Cam and the AEF.

Christmas Day in Bird World

It is a gorgeous Christmas morning over Big Bear Lake in San Bernadino County, California. This is the home of Bald Eagle couple, Jackie and Shadow. What a beautiful view as the sun rises to wake up the forest and the animals that live around the lake.

A little later the camera operator gives us a treat by panning around the area where Jackie and Shadow live.

Jackie and Shadow have been delivering some nice (some large) twigs to the nest. This wonderful couple live in the hope of hatching eaglets and we send them positive energy as we hope with them.

Harriet and M15 might be wishing for a little bit of the cooler northern Californian weather in Fort Myers. The couple began ‘listening’ to their eggs last evening. It is pip watch!

About four days before hatching, the eaglets will grow their egg tooth. Imagine it as a sharp spike facing outward towards the shell on the tip of the beak. The little ones will chip away at the shell. They will take their first breath and continue picking away until they have broken through and hatched. This whole process can take up to four days.

Last year Harriet and M15, fledged E17 and E18 – the twins that won all of our hearts from their first bobblehead days, to going into care for conjunctivitis, to their return. Beautiful fledglings. Best friends.

I am so glad that Samson and Gabby did not lay their eggs at the same time as Harriet and M15. This way we will get to enjoy having two nests of bobble heads independent of one another! Last year, Gabby and Samson had one hatch, Legacy. S/he turned out to be a beautiful and formidable juvenile.

Gabby is on incubation duties.

Anna and Louis are also incubating two eggs and have a wait similar to that of Samson and Gabby. Their nest is in the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana. This is the couple’s second breeding attempt. Last year they fledged Kisatchie, the first eaglet hatched and fledged on this nest in central Louisiana since 2013. Wow. Cody and Steve have installed sound at the nest this year.

It was fun watching Anna and Louis last year figure out what to do as new parents. Louis is a fabulous provider. When he is not loading the nest down with fish, he is aiming to give Anna the softest Spanish Moss he can find for the egg cup! Just look at it.

Clive and Connie are incubating two eggs over at Captiva. They have had some terrible weather there lately and this image is from yesterday. The camera appears to be down this morning.

Clive is a new mate for Connie. Last year, Connie and Joe hatched two eaglets, Peace and Hope, who died on the nest from rodenticide poisoning.

One of the ospreys over wintering at Urdaibai in the Basque Country of Spain waking up to Christmas morning.

While many of the Ospreys are opting to stay on the Iberian Peninsula instead of making the long journey down to The Gambia or Senegal, there are still celebrations as the December count along the Senegal coast was 1100 birds this year. Jean-Marie Dupart did an amazing job going out and counting all of the beautiful fish eagles. Thank you!

German Osprey along the coast of Senegal.

Closer to home, Jack and Diane have been working on their nest. Some really nice strips of bark have been brought in. Last year, the pair fledged three for the first time: Sibling 1, Sibling 2, and the miracle bird who survived against all the odds and became dominant, Tiny Tot Tumbles.

Cilla Kinross is celebrating the third camera at Charles Sturt Falcon Project. There is a ledge and box camera and now one that shows the falcons flying around the outside of the water tower. Congratulations, Cilla.

Here is the link if you wish to check out the new tower cam:

Big Red and Arthur have been spotted out hunting so all is well with the Red-tail Hawks on the Cornell Campus. Hope to have images I can post for you shortly.

The countdown is on for all the hawk and osprey fans…three months til Big Red is incubating eggs and three months til the first arrivals of the Western Ospreys back in the UK. Oh, and the beautiful storks of Latvia and Estonia. May they all stay safe until then.

Wishing all of the birds who bring us such joy, extra prey items, good weather, and safe flying.

Thank you for joining me today. No matter what holiday you celebrate, I hope that you have a peaceful, joyful day, with something a little special. For those birds not with us today, we thank them for the happiness they gave to us – and as one of my readers ‘B’ so eloquently said, ‘and all they taught us.’ So true. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Friends of Big Bear, NEFlorida Eagle Cam and the AEF, SWFlorida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett Family, KNF Eagle Cam, Captiva Eagle Cam, Urdaibai Biosphere Osprey Cam, Charles Sturt University Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, and the Achieva Osprey Cam.

Note: Port Lincoln Osprey Cam is down or we would all get a look at those lads!

Winter Solstice in Bird World

As all of you know, Daisy the Duck has occupied my mind for some 20 days now without much of a break. She has just arrived home to the nest – it is the Summer Solstice 22 December in Australia – and I am going to take some time to check in on the other nests that are normally watched.

It has been a horrible day for Gabby who is incubating two eggs on the Northeast Florida Bald Eagle nest called The Hamlet. It is just outside Jacksonville.

Bald Eagles generally have 35 days of incubation. Gabby and Samson were really wise. They did not start hard incubation until the second egg was laid meaning that the two eaglets will be born close together with no older sibling advantage. They will just bop each other taking turns! This means that the hatch date is 19 January. Mark your calendars.

For me, this is great timing. Harriet and M15s eaglets are set to hatch in 3-4 days. We won’t be watching two bobble head nests at once. Oh, those high winds are really hitting Fort Myers. You can see Harriet’s feathers blowing.

It is a beautiful day over in Decorah, Iowa with the Decorah Bald Eagles. No eggs – it is winter! But the Eagles are around. The nest is at a trout hatchery – lucky raptors. Smiling. Everyone should have a source of fish for their Ospreys and their Raptors. Takes about 350-400 a season. Not bad for giving life to these beautiful birds and their family.

The Bald Eagles in Iowa generally lay their eggs in mid-February.

The Decorah Eagles are not to be confused with the Decorah North Eagles!!!!! It is home to Mr and Mrs North.

The camera is live at Duke Farms in New Jersey. No eggs yet. In fact, it should be about a month until we see eggs on this nest. I hope this Mum has better weather this year! She was encased in ice and snow most of incubation in early 2021.

Diamond is starting the day in the scrape box at Charles Sturt University in Orange. Both her and Xavier have been examining the new gravel that Cilla Kinross provided awhile ago. They have also had bad weather with torrential rains but it looks like they will have a nice day today. Fingers crossed.

Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear Bald Eagle Nest in Big Bear, California are doing nestorations. It looks like they are going to have a white Christmas.

Last year Bonnie and Clyde, the Great Horned Owls, took over a young Bald Eagles couple’s nest on Farmer Derek’s property. They raised two owlets. The nest is currently unoccupied but one of the Bald Eagles did a fly by at 07:19 this morning. Will there be a battle over this nest?

The eagle is right at the horizon line with the blue sky. You should be able to see it.

Anna has taken over incubation duties of the two eggs on the Kisatchie National Forest Bald Eagle nest. This is her and Louis’s second breeding attempt. They fledged Kisatchie last season.

Clive is on incubation duty at the Captiva Bald Eagle nest. Another storm is really starting to churn in that area. It will effect the eagles as well as the ospreys – and, of course, it is the same storm that is hitting Harriet and M15 in Fort Myers.

It is a beautiful winter’s day – perfect for the Winter Solstice – at Glacier Gardens. I wonder what Kindness is doing? She was such a special juvie.

Alaska is a perfect place for Bald Eagles, too. When Dave Hancock put the satellite trackers on the 7 or 8 fledglings in British Columbia that survived that horrific heat wave, all of them flew north to Alaska.

Lena is waiting for Andy to bring her some fish at the Captiva Osprey Nest. This couple was really hit hard – along with Connie and Clive at the Captiva Bald Eagle nest – from the storms the other day. It is good to see that all had no problems. There is another storm brewing today.

Ervie got the morning fish and Bazza is not happy. Apparently, Ervie woke up in the middle of the night and kicked Bazza off the nest. I can understand why he is grumpy.

Ervie is doing a great mantling job. Third hatch turned out to be the ‘King Pin’. Wonder if Bazza remembers how he tried to treat Ervie? Do raptors have a memory like elephants?

Daisy is fine. Wishing for a quiet day for her.

This is a wee bit of a catch up with some of our other favourite nests. Cal Falcons raised $3500 through the sale of t-shirts to support Lindsay Wildlife for treating Grinnell. That is fantastic! There is no news of who Annie will pair with for the 2022 breeding season. Watching birds is all about patience. Sometimes I don’t have any!!!!!!

Thank you so much for stopping in to check on the nests. The birds will weather the current storms in Florida. They are used to them but, still, we worry. Wishing all of you a very happy Winter solstice. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: NEFlorida Bald Eagle and the AEF, SWFlorida and the Pritchett Family, Captiva Osprey, Captiva Bald Eagle, KNF Bald Eagles, Glacier Gardens, Charles Sturt University Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Farmer Derek, Friends of Big Bear Eagles, Duke Farms, the Raptor Research Project at Explore.org, and the Port Lincoln Ospreys.

Catching up with Ervie

I have spent so much time watching Daisy, recording the happenings on the nest, and sleeping at odd hours that many of the other nests have been neglected. One of those is the Port Lincoln Osprey nest in Australia. I stopped in today to check on Ervie’s movements by the Sat-Pak and there were some gorgeous images of this juvenile male Osprey by Take 2 Photography, Fran Solly.

Ervie has been all over the place. Many are expecting him to leave the area of the barge. I wonder how far Ervie will go?

These were Ervie’s movements yesterday. Oh, he does love to fly.

Fran Solly went out and took these images of Ervie flying around the coast. Isn’t he just such a handsome bird?! My goodness, Ervie. You are doing Mum and Dad proud.

Male Ospreys tend to return to where they hatched to make their nests. I wonder if all three lads will show up at the same time? And I learned a new word today ‘Dust Up.’ Do you know this word? Remember when Ervie and Bazza were knocking one another about the nest – or off it – that is apparently a ‘Dust Up.’ Love it. Sounds so much better than saying Bazza just knocked Ervie off the edge of the nest! or Vice Versa.

Other Bird News: Gabby and Samson continue to have a sub-adult intruder coming around. No eggs on that nest yet. Aren’t they gorgeous?

Samson on the left and Gabby on the right.

We could be less than 2 weeks away from the first hatch at the Southwest Florida nest of Harriet and M15.

I have seen no weather warnings for Florida – like the disturbances going through the Midwest and the winds up in the Finger Lakes area of upstate New York.

Harriet is alerting. There is a predator around. Is it the Great Horned Owl (GHOW)?

Anna is incubating two eggs at the Kistachie National Forest Bald Eagle Nest in Central Louisiana. Louis continues to be so exciting. He is great for bringing in the fish but he is also softening up that nest with tonnes of Spanish Moss.

Connie is incubating two eggs over at Captiva, too. Her new mate is Clive. Hopefully this nest will have some luck. That said, local pelicans are being brought into care for red algae.

All of the Bald Eagle nests outside of the tornado and storm areas in the US are fine. More Ospreys are being spotted on the Iberian Peninsula and in Africa which is a grand sign. Ferris Akel was thrilled to see three Snowy Owls today on his tour. One even flew for him. I should invite him to Manitoba for the winter. One of our birders spotted 25 Snowy Owls in a short drive around the agricultural fields. — And a reminder. The owls in the Central US have been found to be thin and dehydrated. They are blaming this on photographers trying to get images and scaring away their prey. As you know I am a raptor lover – they often do not eat for several days so when you see one hunting or eating – leave it alone, please. Stay way, way back. Invest in a long lens!

It is very quiet morning at Daisy’s nest. A couple of times I have heard the cawing of the Ravens but Daisy has been peaceful, unfluttered would be a good word. There will be a late night catch up on her nesting activities.

This is not a Raptor Time: Watch this Titmouse modify its nest, bring in nesting materials, and hatch and fledge 11 chicks in Japan. Seriously it will put a smile on your face. I wish I could transport Daisy and her eggs into a box like this! Oh, she even wiggles her little bottom like Daisy. Here is the link:

Happy Saturday everyone. Take care. Thank you so much for joining me.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams, their photos, or their FB Pages where I took my screen captures: Port Lincoln Osprey, Port Lincoln Osprey FB Page, Fran Solly, SWFlorida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett Family, NEFlorida Eagle Cam and the AEF, KNF Bald Eagle Cam, Captiva Bald Eagle Cam.

Thursday in Bird World

The camera for Daisy’s nest is offline. This is the last image and it was raining at the time. Daisy will come to the nest just as she has done for the first 7 days to lay egg 8 today. It will become increasingly difficult for Daisy to cover the eggs as the number increases unless there is a miracle on the nest and a bunch of leaves fall for her to gather. As I pointed out in an earlier blog, Daisy had much more down last year and this was helpful but – it is not helpful in the rain as it shrinks and is for naught. We can only hope that Daisy’s luck continues but we must be prepared that it is a long slog for our little duck until these eggs hatch. Anything and everything can happen.

I will bring a brief update on Daisy later this evening if the camera starts streaming. Just wish our little duck all the luck you can.

There are wonderful reports coming from Jean-Marie Dupart in Senegal. The Osprey count is more than he would have imagined and he is having to report early. Dupart believes, by the end of the month, that he might have counted 1000 individual Ospreys!

At the Kalissaye Reserve, there were 127 for the entire month of November. Already in December for one week, the count is 160. Saloum Park had 64 birds for all of November and now already there are 90. Dupart is overjoyed.

The Kalissaye Reserve is a small nature centre or reserve near the Casamance River. The Casamance Region is know as ‘The Green Garden of Senegal’.

Wet lands and the Casamance River in the background. This is the area of the Ospreys. Wikimedia Commons.

This is Saloum Park or Delta in Sengegal. These look like perfect places for our Osprey to over winter.

Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons

The Port Lincoln Lads had plenty of fish yesterday. Ervie had the first two fish at 06:19 and 08:39. Bazza had the next four deliveries! At 14:22, 15:58, 17:33, and 20:40. Falky did steal one of Bazza’s fish so he did get something to eat yesterday. Mum delivered the 14:22 fish to Bazza – she even looked like she might have even fed her big boy! I think Bazza is indeed Mum’s ‘baby’ despite the fact that he was the first hatch.

The Captiva Osprey Pair, Andy and Lena, arrived back at their nest early.

I will give you this link to watch this nest but there is a word of caution. Andy and Lena have had many successful hatchlings but have never fledged any Osprey. The reason is that the Crows come and eat the chicks. That is so sad. Maybe this year Andy and Lena will have good luck like Port Lincoln.

The Kakapo Recovery has announced that 2021 adoptions are closing today – that is the 10th of December in New Zealand. If you are a supporter of the Kakapo Recovery, you might wish to adopt one of the non-flying parrots as a holiday gift to all your family.

There are two eggs at the Captiva Bald Eagle nest with Connie and Clive and two eggs with Anna and Louis at the KNF nest in central Louisiana.

Connie’s new mate, Clive, looks at the two eggs.

You can watch Connie and Clive here:

Louis is just a great dad down at the KNF Bald Eagle nest. Last year he was so excited when Kisatchie hatched that there were 18 fish on the nest for the eaglet and Mum. There was no way they could eat all of them. This year he is really helping to build up a really cosy nest!

This is Anna and Louis’s second breeding attempt. Last year they fledged Kisatchie. They are in a very old nest in the Kisatchie National Forest. It had belonged to another Bald Eagle couple who had fledglings up to 2013. Kisatchie, last spring, was the first eaglet to fledge from the nest in 8 years. It was a wonderful event.

Here is the link to Anna and Louis’s nest. I promise they are a fun couple.

Thank you for joining me today. It is so nice to have you stopping in to check on the birds. Isn’t that a great count of Ospreys in Senegal? Wow. I am hoping that Blue 463 might be spotted — our very own Tiny Little Bob from the Foulshaw Moss nest in Cumbria. Take care everyone.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or their FB Pages where I took my screen shots: the Kakapo Recovery, the KNF Bald Eagle Cam, the Captiva Bald Eagle Cam, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Sea Eagles @Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, Wikimedia Commons, Captiva Osprey Cam, and Jean-Marie Dupart for his report on the Ospreys in Senegal.

Bald Eagle Season is approaching

As Bald Eagle season quickly approaches, I am reminded that everyone has a few favourite eagle nests. Some like to cheer Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear while others like Harriet and M15 at the Southwest Florida nest or Samson and Gabby at the Northeast Florida nest. Others love Mr and Mrs North at the Decorah Eagles, the Pittsburg-Hayes or the new couple, Anna and Louis, who had the first eagle fledge from a nest in Kisatchie National Forest since 2013, last year. I could list so many because there are so many streaming cams on Bald Eagle nests in the United States. It is their National Bird and there is a lot of patriotism surrounding some of the nests! Some individuals do not like to watch birds eating birds and mammals but, did you know that the diet of the Alaskan Bald Eagles is almost exclusively salmon? the same will apply to many of the Bald Eagles out in British Columbia. Bald Eagles eat what is in front of them; they are opportunists. So the diet will vary regionally. Sadly, they also eat carrion, dead animals, many of which are on the highways and the eagles get hurt or killed flying down to get the food or the remains left from hunters full of lead shot.

I caught up with a few of the Bald Eagle couples recently. Anna and Louis have returned to the nest they used in the Kisatchie National Forest. Cody and Steve have really worked on the camera situation and there is now sound, too. You have a broken screen showing the landscape and then another view looking directly down into the nest. Cody and Steve are part of the forestry staff. They also ‘man’ the chat. I am terribly grateful for their active involvement in the nest. They have worked hard to make it a fabulous viewing and learning experience for all of us. It was a real joy to watch the first time parents figure out how to parent a growing eaglet last year!

Samson and Gabby have been working on their nest for quite some time. It is comforting to wake up in the mornings and see them roosting on the branch together.

I use that word ‘comforting’ because at any moment something could happen to one or both of the adults. That is certainly the history of Samson’s parents, Romeo and Juliet, who raised their young in this nest. So for both of them to show up every morning and every evening is simply – well, it takes a lot of weight off the mind. Of course, the same applies to all birds on all nests.

Here is a very short slide show that someone posted showing various stages of Legacy’s development last year. Legacy was such a sweetheart. Samson and Gabby did not hold back on the teaching. They had to be parents and siblings, too, so that Legacy would learn how to live in the world beyond the nest.

You may also remember all of the worries over Legacy’s survival when she got Avian Pox. It was a mild case and she not only survived but, also thrived. Legacy became a gorgeous strong fledgling.

Harriet and M15 are getting ready for another season. Harriet has been bringing in monstrous size sticks (someone referred to them as logs) to the nest in Fort Myers. I am so excited.

E17 and E18 were riots last year. I originally thought 17 was going to kill 18. You might recall they were sent to CROW for their eye infection and 17 had ‘time out’. I think the two of them in care for those five days melted everyone’s hearts. Harriet and M15 are old hands at raising chicks and when the pair got into too much bonking, both parents stepped in and fed one or the other. By the time the pair fledged, they were inseparable, best buddies.

Lady Hawk catches one of their first ‘rock’em sock’ems’.

Here they are as fledglings battling over a prey drop. There was not a dry eye in the house when these two finally flew away to find their own territory.

Harriet and M15 have been at the nest since September working on it for another year. What a beautiful couple!

If you have been watching the territorial battles going on at the Captiva Nest on Santibel Island in Florida, word has come that the former male adult, Joe, has reclaimed his nest. I cannot confirm this as none of the eagles have leg bands. That is what someone posted on the Bald Eagle 101 FB page.

I will have lots more Bald Eagle news in the days to come. There are also other birds beginning to get their nests ready for breeding season. Jack and Diane have been at the Captiva Osprey Nest in St Petersburg, Florida and the Royal Albatross are arriving at Taiaroa Head, NZ. There are now 80 adults there. One of the founders of the colony was Grandma and this is a lovely video on the importance of her to the present and future of the colony.

https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/grandma-1990/credits?fbclid=IwAR2AwcNqLyVQ_lqyb2wxAYmfoU0Ohzg3aXVHWLF3AvrHpl2D4TFZJkhxfgA

A quick check on the Australian falcon nests show that all are doing fine. The Collins Street Four run up and down the gutter. As a result their legs are getting really strong. Diamond continues to get Yurruga to stretch for food so that she will strengthen her neck. At the 12:23:40 fish drop on the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge, Little Bob didn’t think he wanted any food at first. Then he changed his mind and went barreling in between Middle and Big so he could get to Mum’s beak. Neither of them blinked. This nest is so civil! Ringing will take place sometime during the first week of November and one or all three will be fitted with a GPS satellite tracker. (I was told all three awhile ago).

For those who want to see the Season of the Osprey, this is a reminder that it is showing in the US tomorrow. Please check your local stations for the correct time in your region.

Take care everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. Have a great day wherever you are.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: the KNF Bald Eagle Cam, NEFlorida and the AEF, SWFlorida and the Pritchett family, and the Port Lincoln Osprey Project.

Bird World 9 September 2021

WBSE 27 and 28, the two little sea eaglets in the old Ironbark Nest in Sydney’s Olympic Park, had an early morning breakfast of bird.

Ah, just guess who was the first one up at the breakfast table? If you said, 28 you are absolutely right.

The little bird filled up their empty tummies but it wasn’t big enough -like a grand fish -to fill their crops, too. After breakfast the pair did some wing flapping, standing, and attempts at walking. They still need their wing tips to help with their balance.

Look at the tail that is growing on WBSE27! 27 is the one flapping its wings below.

Well, the Australian Magpie was not giving the White-bellied Sea Eagles a break today. For a couple of hours after feeding the eaglets, Lady defended the nest ducking and honking as the Magpie swooped down trying to hit her.

In the image below, Lady is honking at the Magpie.

Here is a good image of the bird as it goes to land on a branch of the nest tree. This bird is cheeky – they must taste terrible or Lady could have that Magpie for lunch! I would not blame her.

In this image you can see the Magpie caught in flight right above Lady’s head.

Here the Magpie is flying around Lady. It is right over her head.

Dad came to help Lady. All of the big raptors – at the top of the food chain – attract all the small birds and owls. It is surprising how much physical damage these small feathered creatures can do. Last year, BooBook Owl injured Lady’s eye. They can, of course, knock the eaglets out of the nest.

Tiaki looks out to the world that awaits her. Her name means protector of the land and the seas. I hope that they also protect her.

As Albies fly around her in the strong winds, Tiaki raises her wings. She will be off on her big adventure soon.

The chicks are all hovering in the strong winds. In a blink they will be gone. I think I put down 12 September on the guessing game but it could just be any time. Quarry Chick fledged 3 days ago.

Tiaki received her GPS tracker today. Ranger Sharyn Bronte said, “A wider study of the entire Northern Royal Albatross is being conducted this year. And in a first for a Royalcam chick Tiaki as received a tracker. Trackers have deployed on northern royals on the Chathams where 99% of the world population of this species breeds.We are extremely lucky to have 20g devices are available to track LGK, LGL and Tiaki. Although LGL’s device failed it has provided valuable data. Devices are extremely light compared to the weight of the bird and attached to back feathers. These feathers molt within a year and the device will fall off. The device is solar powered and will remotely send data until molting.”

If you read my column regularly, you will know that I am a big supporter of GPS trackers. I also support Darvic bands. Much new information on the migrations, winter and summer breeding grounds – and yes, deaths, are revealed amongst other things. Studying birds or watching them in their nests is never for the faint of heart. Their lives are full of challenges, most placed on them by humans.

Last year, a lovely Polish woman wrote to me to tell me she didn’t know how I could be so calm when ‘bad things’ happened to the birds. Those were not her exact words but that is what she meant. I was not the least bit offended. The truth is I feel for each and every one of them. That caring is inside a bigger box that is now labelled ‘ avian activist’. I want to help stop those things that cause the birds injury or death when it can be avoided. Rodenticides, sticky paper traps, lead shot, lead bullets, lead in fishing equipment, fishing line, fishing nets, windows, garbage dumped on the roads, habitat loss, wild fires caused by arson, electrocution, bread fed to the birds —— and simple neglect or oversight. Like having emergency contact numbers for the streaming cams where there is no 24/7 chat with knowledgable moderators.

I am working on a way to remember Malin, the Osprey nestling at the Collins Marsh Nature Centre, whose life was needlessly cut short. The Malin Code. Osprey streaming cams that follow The Malin Code would have either 24/7 moderators who can access emergency help immediately or emergency numbers at the top of the historical information on the nests. Individuals who are in charge of parks or areas with nests would be trained to recognize the physical signs (11 of them) from food begging to alerting and the 8 vocalizations. It is the least requirement. The other is that they pay attention to what is happening on the nest. They need to know the difference between a juvenile and an adult. Etc. Whew. Yes, I get worked up. If you can think of anything else that these organizations should be doing, let me know. Don’t be shy! At the end of the year, the streaming cam that best implemented The Malin Code would get a donation, big enough to motivate them to do what is right for the birds.

OK. On to what is happening in some of the scrape boxes:

Diamond and Xavier spent some time in the scrape box together today. There was a bit of a conversation between Diamond and Xavier. I need to learn to speak falcon.

There is a real soft spot in my heart for the little male Peregrine Falcon in Melbourne. Maybe it is the ledge where he comes scurrying in to take his turn incubating the eggs or when he brings prey to the eyases.

He is the cutest thing and makes the biggest messes plucking pigeons right in the nest with the eyases. But, last year, I noticed that those three girls really knew what to do with a feathered bird. They were not shy. By the time they fledged, they were professional pigeon pluckers. Can you say that fast 10x?

What a cutie! Our stealth raptor.

Have you ever wondered about the black faces of the Peregrine Falcons? Did you know that the size and intensity of the black varies by region? Have a read.

Photos Reveal Purpose of Black Facial Markings in Peregrine Falcons

Cody and the lads down in Kisatchie National Forest have done a great job with the camera for the Bald Eagle Nest of Anna and Louis. Cody says that the sound is going to be fantastic.

Isn’t that a gorgeous sunset over Lake Kincaid? Such a lovely spot for a Bald Eagle nest —- and, of course, there is the lake that is stocked with some really nice fish. Couldn’t get much better. Everyone is just waiting for the Eagles to return.

Speaking of Bald Eagles returning, both Samson and Gabby are at home in Jacksonville and Harriet and M15 are in Fort Myers. All that reminds me I have to check and see what is happening at Captiva.

I want to leave you with an image of Tiny Little. She is one of the fledgling Ospreys in my long time study of third hatch survivors. She has a Darvic ring-Blue 463. Here she is as a wee one.

Blue 35 is feeding Tiny Little by herself. Look at ‘big nasty sister’ in the middle. It really is thanks to excellent parenting that Tiny survived – and became the dominant bird. Gosh, I wish she had a tracker. Is she at Poole Harbour? has she made it to Brittany? will she go to The Gambia? or Senegal? or Southern Spain? My ‘wish list’ includes getting someone to look for her if I can’t be there myself during the winter of 2022.

That’s it for me tonight. Tomorrow I am off in search of a Green Heron. Take care everyone. Stay safe. Be kind. Remember: Life is for living.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I take my screen shots: 367 Collins Street Falcons, Sea Eagles @ Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, The Kisatchie National Forest Bald Eagle Cam, The Falcon Cam Project Charles Sturt University at Orange and Cilla Kinross, Cornell Bird Lab and NZ Doc Royal Albatross Cam and FB Page and The Cumbrian Wildlife Trust and the Foulshaw Moss Osprey Nest.