Tag Archives: Annie and Alden

Late Tuesday and early Wednesday in Bird World

31 May – 1 June 2022

Oh, it is absolutely perfect at the Big Valley nest of Jackie and Shadow. Spirit fledged early Tuesday morning and she is back home being fed by Shadow at 16:46 the same day. You could hear Spirit squeeeeeeeeing on the nest cam. Dad flew in with a big fish and ate a bit and in flies Spirit. This is excellent. She will return to the nest – she knows where it is – and the parents will continue to feed her for a period of time until she is catching her own fish. She will perfect her flying and she will be a success.

Shadow arrives on the nest with a nice big fish.

Spirit arrives not long after. Oh, it is so sweet that Spirit wants to be fed ——-and fantastic of Shadow to want to feed his Spirit!

When dinner was over, Dad and his little girl sat and looked out at their world together.

Spirit remains at the nest. I hope she stays all night. It is so wonderful seeing her back on the nest, eating, and in good shape. She knows where ‘home’ is!

Spirit spent the night on the nest branch. This is just fantastic. Hopefully she will fly and get her wings strong and come home to eat and spend the night in the nest tree so we can see she is alright!

Gosh, it is hard waiting for parents to bring in food to a nest that really needs it. The lull at the ND-LEEF nest gave me an opportunity to ‘look at’ Little Bit 17 a little closer.

The Middle sibling ND16 has been the one ‘plucking’ Little Bit’s feathers from his head. When she gets aggressive about the food or lack of food, she goes for the head. It appears to me that she has pulled out more feathers today than on Sunday or Saturday. It looks like a red spot on the back but no big infected areas. To my knowledge, the eldest sibling 15 has not attacked Little Bit 17, only 16. So she is getting agitated when food is not coming on the nest.

Besides the missing head feathers, you will notice that Little Bit’s flight feathers are growing and showing.

This is a horrific viscous attack by an older sibling.

The image below was taken two days ago on the 29th. It offers some comparison with the loss of feathers on the head.

This is May 28 – three days ago. From this image I have to conclude that 16 is getting more and more aggressive towards Little Bit 17.

So is this a big problem? Yes and yes and no. The feathers on the head do not impact Little Bit 17’s ability to fly. That is the good point. Are they going to grow back quickly? No. It looks like the older sibling has pulled out the hair follicle completely. When bird’s molt (typically once a year), the loss of that feather stimulates the growth of the new feather. If Little Bit 17 found itself in a rehab centre they would probably be applying antiseptic ointment to its head. The other issue is that growing feathers is known as being ‘nutritionally intensive’. It takes a lot of calories along with vitamins and minerals to get feather regrowth. Some of you may have birds and know this. You can purchase products from your vet to help with regrowth. Some nervous birds can pluck out their own feathers. Sadly, we cannot get a vet up to the nest with these supplements nor can we fly in fish — and believe me, I wish I could put three big beauties on that nest!

Some people on the chat thought that Little Bit 17 had a bit of a crop.

It looks like it from this image below. Did he go into his stash on the porch and find some food? It is unknown.

At 20:31:21 an adult landed on the nest with a prey item. It was taken immediately by an older sibling.

Little Bit 17 stayed out of the way.

It is unclear what happened on the morning of 1 June on the ND-LEEF nest. I cannot see any prey delivered before a squirrel arrives around noon. 16 got it, then 15 stole it, and 17 is lurking hoping that 15 will leave it something. All are, of course, hungry.

17 is getting closer to 15. I am certain 17 would eat the tail if that was all that was left.

Hard to tell what will happen. 16 has moved over between 17 and 15 and is more concerned about 17 than anything. I really hope he does not pluck any more of 17’s head feathers. That is just crazy.


There is still squirrel left. You can see it when 15 pulls hard. He almost goes backwards out of the nest with that squirrel. Oh, I hope 17 gets a chance and 16 is not going to grab the prey.

16 wants to steal it. 17 is staying out of the way of 16. We need a huge fish to arrive right now. Leave 16 with the squirrel and 15 and 17 get fed by Mum!

Well, the San Francisco nest of Richmond and Rosie could offer to send some of their spare fish to ND! Today Rosie went fishing and brought in a nice whopper for the two osplets. Shortly after Richmond arrives with an equally large fish! And the kids already had big crops. Of course, there seem to be always intruders about wanting to steal the fish Richmond and/or Rosie bring to the nest on the Whirley Crane. Location, location, location! Some nests have great territory and prey and others don’t. Richmond and Rosie have a gold one – along with Arthur and Big Red at Cornell.

What lucky little osplets these two are – hatched at this nest with these two incredibly hard working parents. You will notice that Rosie is fishing, too, and delivering food. Her babies are just entering the Reptilian Phase. Some of the females pull more than their weight to ensure the success of their brood.

No one is going to be hungry today!

It is 0440 Wednesday morning at the Dyfi nest of Telyn and Idris and the three Bobs. They are having a nice breakfast of last night’s Mullet. Super chicks.

Little Bob got a nice piece of fish. Most of the time everything is fine at Dyfi. Big Bob does like to be a bit of a bully but that will pass. There is regular food on this nest.

The Three Bobs had breakfast at Loch of the Lowes, too. Laddie had a great fish and everyone is eating. Bites all around. The trio are growing and starting to get their dark wooly plumage. Reptiles next!

Louis and Dorcha have been feeding their first hatch regularly. Louis has kept the nest nicely supplied — like he always does! They are going to zoom the camera in so that we can see the chicks better. This will be left for about a week. Thank you Woodland Trust!

History was made again today in Poole Harbour when the first osprey chick hatched! Congratulations CJ7 and Blue 022!!!!!!!!!! The nest and camera are positioned so that we can only see CJ7 bring up the egg shell, removing it from the nest cup. How thrilling. There will be parties in the south of England and in the homes of all who were a part of this great relocation project. It is a success.

There are three at the Glaslyn nest of Aran and Mrs G now. All their hatching is now finished. Lots of fish – and some of it is flounder. Mrs G doesn’t like it but hey ——we know a lot of eagles and ospreys that wouldn’t care what species of fish it was! The third chick hatched on 30 May.

I continue to watch and forget to report on the Golden Eagles in Estonia. The parents are Kalju (Dad) and Helju (Mum) and their chick Margit. So cute. There nest is in the Sooma National Park in the southwestern part of Estonia.

Golden Eagles often hunt as a couple. They are known to dive down to their prey (called quarry) at speeds of 150 mph. They have great maneuverability and they can see clearly and in colour for a very long distance. One eagle might dive and drive the prey out for the other. They also hunt alone catching rabbits, squirrels, Pine Martens, foxes, and even deer. They will also eat carrion if fresh prey is low. Unlike the Black Stork, Golden Eagles are fairly common in Estonia.

Margit is a little cutie.

Here is the link to their camera:

Karl II and Kaia’s three Black Storklets in the Karula National Forest in Estonia are also doing very well. There is one egg remaining in the nest which was laid on 1 May. If it is to hatch it will be soon.

Karl II has the transmitter on his leg and he is on the nest now. Both parents are active in fishing and bringing food to the nest for the chicks who have incredible appetites.

The five storklets of Jan and Janika, also in Estonia, are doing really well. The parents have not done any sorting out of the smaller ones. This is incredible. There must be lots of food for everyone this year.

While we wait for the official names of the two chicks, Alden continues to bring in prey items for the eyases who are growing and getting interested in the world outside the scrape. What a quick hand over! Off for more!!!!!!!

Alden is also doing a fantastic job of feeding the two eyases.

The Great Spirit Bluff eyases continue to grow and are changing their plumage just like the chicks at Cal Falcon’s scrape.

There was bad weather in South Australia on the 29th of May. That is the last log in and report on Ervie. Port Lincoln says he managed to stay out of the wind and rain by staying close to the silos. Here is his map of that day. Sure miss seeing him at the barge!

And to put a smile on everyone’s face, a Dove has decided to make her nest on a palm frond at my son’s house in the West Indies. The couple will incubate their eggs for 12-14 days. The chicks will be born with their eyes closed and will be covered with a soft grey down. They will remain in the nest being fed by their parents for about 11 days before fledging.

It looks like a Common Ground Dove. They are very common across the Eastern Caribbean and can grow to 15-18 cm or 6 to 7 inches or about the same size as a large House Sparrow. They lay 1-3 eggs. They eat seeds and insects.

It is sunny today and no rain. I am heading out to enjoy this beautiful day and hopefully see some American White Pelicans and some ducks. Hopefully a few other Waterfowl surprises. Take care everyone. Thank you for being here with me in Bird World. Wish for fish to land on the ND-LEEF nest! Nasty 16 is busy eating the rest of the squirrel so hopefully 17 can have some lunch if something comes in! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: fOBBV, ND-LEEF, SF Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, Dyfi Osprey Project, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Wildlife Trust, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Friends of Loch Arkaig, the Woodland Trust and the People’s Post Code Lottery, Eagle Club of Estonia, Cal Falcons, Port Lincoln Osprey Project FB page, and Explore.org

Late Saturday and early Sunday in Bird World

28-29 May 2022

Saturday was an incredible day for a long walk at the nature centre. Thankfully individuals have donated benches in their loved one’s names and they are scattered about the trails. Much of Ft Whyte has been covered with water and there are areas that are more wetlands than anything else. Those are the interesting places. The Red-winged Blackbirds and the Yellow-rumped Warblers seemed to love eating the seeds? of the bull rushes. It was a fascinating day. Way across the lake were two adult Double-breasted Cormorants and nine juveniles. The Cormorants make their nests on islands or in the tops of trees or platforms. Normally there are 5-7 eggs that are incubated for 25-59 days. This couple seems to have hatched 9!

They were at a great distance and the sky was getting very dark. Not touched up but a lovely scene.

The usuals were around – beautiful Yellow Warblers, American Goldfinches, the Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a Downy and a Hairy Woodpecker.

What a striking difference between the male Red-winged Blackbird and their female mates, below. She is having a wonderful time gleaning for insects and seeds on the ground.

This female American Redstart flitted around the Cattail branches. She was very difficult to photograph! She was hovering around the pools of water foraging for insects.

The Canada Geese are still incubating. No one seems to know when the eggs are due to hatch at Ft Whyte! (or not anyone that I could find).

You often see evidence of the woodpeckers presence but, most times, you do not actually see them. So to see both a Hairy and a Downy over by the songbird feeding station was quite a treat.

A female Hairy Woodpecker.

The female Downy Woodpecker.

In fact, today was a fun day because so many of the female birds were out feeding. What a joy!

I had hoped to head out today, Sunday, but right now it is raining. The birds in the garden are not happy! Hopefully the sun will come out later for them and they can dry off and I can go for my walk.

Sadly, Saturday was not a good day on the ND-LEEF nest. The lack of prey coming to this nest is becoming highly problematic. The two older siblings have figured out how to self-feed. Little Middle 17 had an advantage when they didn’t know how to do this! There was someone on chat that made a comment that Little Bit 17 had some food from Dad last evening – a heron?? I did not see it. Perhaps some of you did. My notes indicate 48 hours without substantial food. Let us hope that the fish get on the nest tomorrow and are plentiful. In fact, one of the older siblings – I do think it is the Middle one 16 – attacked Little Bit today and Mum flew down from the branch and intervened. We need fish on this nest quickly. Send all positive thoughts to Little Bit 17.

Two fish have so far come to the ND-LEEF nest on Sunday morning. The second one right before 10:58 when Mum flies down and feeds 17. Originally the fish was left on the nest but no takers and Little Bit seemed reluctant to eat it. He is staying back in the part beyond the camera. After a few minutes Mum comes down and takes the fish. Little Bit eats. Then in a few minutes 16 steals the fish. How much did Little Bit get? It isn’t clear but when 16 stole the fish, there was only about half of it left. I know Little Bit can eat fast – he has had to. Let us hope he got enough and that another fish comes and then another. We need to get out of this bad loop on this nest. 16 continues to attack Little Bit. 16 is one nasty bird.

If you are at all sensitive, I would not watch this nest for a few days. Let it sort itself out. I am very concerned about the level of hunger and the attacks by 16 on Little Bit.

The eyases on the Red-tail Hawk nest of Big Red and Arthur are changing by the day. Those juvenile feathers continue to grow and grow. Watch their tails. It is best if they have 5 or more dark tail bands for fledging.

That is little L4 showing off his beautiful wings. Big sister is in front. It is awhile til fledge from the look of the tails!

At the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest, Middle was busy eating a really nice fish. And guess what? He did not share!

This nest is so civilized now. If you just tuned in you could never imagine that the third hatch died from siblicide or that the Middle chick had been beaked and stopped from eating. It is a lovely nest to watch.

Middle was making some headway 9 minutes later. It is hard for the osplets to figure out how to hold the fish down and unzip it at the same time. They need to watch Mum carefully when she digs her beak into the skin and pulls hard!

Both of the osplets have been eating on the UFlorida-Gainesville nest Sunday morning. Each has had a turn at a fish and there are fish on the nest if you look closely – well, pieces of them. These two are healthy and doing so well.

As the sun went down on a beautiful Saturday at the Loch of the Lowes, Blue NC0 was feeding the three nestlings. I am cautiously hopeful for this third hatch. It is a nice strong little one.

It was so windy earlier in the day that Blue NC0 was literally blown off the nest.

It is Sunday morning and Blue NC0 and the trio of Bobs are waiting for Laddie to deliver a fish!

Laddie came through – of course, he did! They have all eaten well and Little Bob felt like he wanted to start a fight. He is a little toughie. LOL. You can see the plumage changing on Big Bob.

Telyn had gone for a break at 0503 and Idris flew in with the breakfast fish two minutes later. He thought he was going to get to feed the Three Bobs but, no. Telyn had a different idea. Gosh, they are so cute…I wish they would stay this soft grey downy chick for awhile longer before becoming a Reptile-Dinosaur showing their DNA chick.

It is quite amazing how quickly they get stronger. Adorable. Nice dark bands around those eyes.

The Dyfi Osprey Project created a video log of the hatching.

Aran and Mrs G now have two Bobs at the Glaslyn Valley Osprey nest. One more egg to go!

These two look like they will be a hand full.

CJ7 and Blue 022 have already made history by laying the first osprey eggs in a nest at Poole Harbour in more than 200 years. The eggs were laid on 23, 26, and 29th of April. That means that the first egg is 36 days old now. I am thinking pip watch in a couple of days?? This morning CJ7 ate her fish off the nest so no hatch yet! Gosh this is going to be a difficult nest to see those historical hatches!

Oh, those three Bobs on the Manton Bay nest of Blue 22 and Maya are getting huge. It seems it was only yesterday that we were worrying that the flapping Perch had killed one or both of the nestlings. It was 13 days ago!

This is such a good nest. A fish is right there when Maya gets the chicks up in the morning. It must surely help to have a stocked lake that is free from leisure vehicles and people.

You can almost hear Maya saying, “Oh, please, just have one more bite.”

Maya looks like she is in shock as Blue 33 arrives with a fish.

And what a fish that was!!!!!!!!!! Oh, gosh, is it going to land on the chicks?

All lined up like the Osprey lads at Port Lincoln last season. No need to fight over food on this nest – everyone is fed regularly til they are full. Would love to send this fish to Little Bit 17.

Blue 33 also brought in some nesting materials this morning and dropped them over the chicks. The look on Maya’s face was priceless!

After Blue flies off, Maya turns and looks at the camera. My goodness she is a beauty.

I haven’t mentioned them for awhile – shame on me. There are three osplets in the Osprey platform at Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes, Delaware. They are doing fine and from their heads you can see they are now moving into the Reptilian phase.

Bukachek and Betty have five White Storks this morning in their nest in Mlade Buky, The Czech Republic. Everyone is so excited. There is one more egg to hatch.

Here is an adorable video of the six storklets at the nest of Jan and Janika!

There are wee ones on the nest of Karl II and Kaia, too. With all the nesting material it is hard to see how many.

It is rainy and blowing at the MN-DNR nest. Nancy has gotten food on the nest and E1, Harriet, continues to do very well. Hopefully Nancy will have a new mate next year. So many of us still miss Harry. What a real shame to lose him – he was only 5 years old. Just starting his life really as an adult. And what a wonderful mate he was while he was with Nancy!

There are way too many nests! And too many things happening. There is Annie looking up at us at 05:53 this morning in San Francisco. She is asking you to pick ‘nice’ names for the two chicks that her and Alden have raised. Suggestions stop and then there will be a vote…it seems that there will not need to be a run off for the name of the male. Grinnell is running away with the numbers! How could it not be Grinnell, seriously?

To suggest a name go to https://calfalcons.berkeley.edu and click on the Facebook tag. Scroll down a few entries and put in your desire names. Suggestions end on the 30th with voting starting immediately for the finalists once they are listed. They are giving us a short time so do not delay choosing your favourites of the short listed. I will try and remind everyone, too.

Take care everyone. Have an absolutely fabulous Sunday. Thank you for joining me today. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Cal Falcons, MN-DNR, Eagle Club of Estonia, Mlade Buky White Storks, Osprey Webcam for Cape Henlopen State Park, LRWT, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Brwyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Dyfi Osprey Project, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Cornell Bird Lab RTH cam, and ND-LEEF.

Saturday in Bird World

28 May 2022

Do you like condors? If so, then you should be listening to the once monthly Condor discussions and updates from Ventana Wildlife. They take care of Central California’s Condors – Big Sur and Pinnacle. The home of Iniko 1031!

Part of today’s discussion touched on the issue of lead toxicity. The Bay Area has high levels of lead caused by the old mining industries. Because the California Condors and the Buzzards in the areas feed on carrion – dead carcasses – they are susceptible to the lead from the ammunition used in hunting. Did you know that part of the programme of thee Ventana Wildlife Society is to get lead-free zones? Since 2012 they have been providing lead-free ammunition to the farmers and hunters in their area to attempt to eradicate the problem in their area.

Before the pandemic there were 100 California Condors in the Central California area. Today there are 87. That is the bad news along with stories about those special birds lost – some just turning 2 years old, others just getting to their prime and ready to breed. Condors normally live to be 50-60 years old in the wild so these were significant young loses. Those who work with the birds talk about how each is such an individual and how they get to know them so well – losing one is a very personal issue. The good news is that the hatch rates in Central California are catching up with those in Southern California and they are hopeful that next year will be better.

The next discussion is slated for the 30th of June. Here is the link to the presentation of 26 May. Very informative.

Little Bit 17 really deserves a standing ovation. I am so impressed with this wee eaglet on Friday! Little Bit 17 had some big meals on the 26th – the last being an overly stuffed crop at 21:25 Thursday night. Indeed, Little Bit had full crops every day from the 16th of May to the 26th.

It was rainy today. A small fish was dropped off by one of the adults after 20:15. The oldest ND15 got the fish – it was not that big. What was significant was that Little Bit 17 went right up into 15’s face for the entire time Big Bob was eating the fish. Little Bit 17 really earned his name as the ‘Snatch and Grab King’ today, though. Yes, he got a little fish that was dropped – actually one nice piece. But the heroics was when the snatched and grabbed and got the fish tail!!!!!!! I know you don’t believe me. It is true.

There is 17 moving to get right up at the front where the action in. Little Bit is clearly a very brave eaglet that given half a chance can survive in the wild because he is not afraid of the hard work in getting food.

Little Bit 17 showed no fear when ND16 was coming up from behind.

Little Bit has the tail – it still has a nice bit of tender fish left! Go 17!!!!!!

Little Bit 17 is mantling his cache. So far 16 has not noticed that 17 has the fish tail. Remember 16 is also hungry.

Then 16 notices and starts to try and get the piece of fish. 17 mantles harder. 17 will also keep the fish in its beak and mantle turning around and around.

Little Bit gets his treasure over to the other rim of the nest away from 16. However, he is alongside 15 and 15 would very much like to have that fish tail as well.

Little Bit 17 was able to get a few bites of the fish before Big Bob took the tail back but, what a brave little eaglet to go up against both wanting his food. I am so proud of Little Bit. That is really something to go up against these two – just look at how big they are compared to him.

We really need more fish brought on to the nest. If the adults just drop off small fish Little Bit might lose out. He does better when Mum comes in and if he can feed on an opposite side. Little Bit can also self-feed as good or better than the older siblings. So if they are full and there is fish available there is no issue with this ‘Little Eaglet Who Could’ feeding itself! We just need fish!!!!!! Lots of fish. No time for parents to be cutting back the fish. Both of the adults should be out fishing and providing 5 or 6 fish to the nest. We would really see a huge growth spurt in 17 because the other two are levelling off now.

Saturday morning has not been good for Little Bit. The big siblings are really hungry today with so little food since the evening of the 26th. There have been three deliveries: 08:44, 09:01, and 10:54. The power of the bigger siblings was really pronounced. At 08:43 Little Bit was attacked by one of the big siblings. We are now assured that it is not a lack of feather growth on its head but a bigger sibling – I suspect 16 – pulled it out!

The parents at the ND-LEEF nest need to come in with a huge fish and then another one and another to get this back on track after that single day of bad weather.

The two osplets at UFlorida-Gainesville cannot blame the parents for being hungry today. A catfish with its head came on the nest a little after 08:00. Catfish are problematic for the best self-feeders until they figure out how to unzip them. Both chicks had a bit of a go at it and then the fish was moved over to the rim of the nest.

Their looks were priceless. Think they learned a lesson today – keep the fish in the middle of the nest!

Thankfully Dad arrived a few minutes later, at 08:13:52, with a nice chunk of fish.

Looks like Big Bob gets it.

Middle is sniffing around for that fish. Stop for a moment though and look at the dark bands on their tails.

Middle gets it! Remember Middle is really good at snatch and grab. Meanwhile the adult was watching everything that was going on with its kids. There will be more fish today. Th adult did not have a crop so he needs to eat, too.

Middle really enjoyed that chunk of fish. Big did not try to take it nor did she try to attack. This nest really turned around with two nice osplets that are healthy and will fledge. Middle finished the fish tail at 08:48.

I wish every eaglet, storklet, eyas, or hawklet – whatever you wish to call them was fed as well as the two osplets on the nest of Richmond and Rosie in the SF Bay. Today the duo were fed for over half an hour – you can compare this with the length of feeding at some of the nests with much larger offspring. They were so full that when one rolled backwards with a flake of fish in its mouth – it could not get up!

Mom is on the nest at the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge. Is she thinking that Ervie might be going to land with one of his puffers and she wants to be there to chase him away? While it is true that other parents like Diamond and Xavier had to chase Izzi away as breeding season approached, I lived in some kind of ‘delusional’ hope that Mum and Dad might tolerate Ervie at the barge.

Ervie’s talon has not grown in but he has brought a significant size fish to the nest, not just puffers. That demonstrates that he can catch larger fish. We should not worry about that. We will just miss him as he has been such a character – and oh what joy he has brought to our lives!!!!!

Hats off to Dylan and Seren who did a tandem feeding at the Llyn Clywedog Osprey nest today. I had said that I was concerned about the third hatch on this nest – it looks like they were, too. Well done – great parenting! Now if we could only get Laddie to stay in that nest and feed Little Bob (Loch of the Lowes).

This is just wonderful to see. Tears!!!!!

As the sun rises, Seren is feeding the trio. They are all lined up and it looks like everyone will have a wee crop. Nice.

Idris has the fish on the nest and Seren is doing the first feeding of the day at the Dyfi Osprey nest in Wales.

And then – there were 3 at the Dyfi nest! I love how Emyr Evans at the Dyfi Osprey Project collects and puts the data out there. Chick 1 hatched on 25 May at 39 days in the shell. Chick 2 hatched on the 26th of May at 36.9 cays in the shell. Chick 3 hatched on 28 May at 35.7 days in the shell. All look great and all hatched within the normal range with the eldest being the longest and the third being the shortest gestation period. Let’s see if this impacts their growth over the season. The closeness of the hatches will certainly bode well for the third osplet as it is only two days younger. Telyn really ‘nailed’ that incubation. These three should thrive. Congratulations Telyn and Idris!

Daddy Longlegs (Idris) has brought in a nice fish for Telyn and the trio.

Good Morning Dorcha at the Loch Arkaig nest. It looks like it is going to be a beautiful day! Now where is Louis with the breakfish?

Blue 33 has the fish on the platform as the sun rises over the water at Rutland. Maya is waking up but the Three Bobs seem to be wanting to sleep in on Saturday!

Blue NC0 had to take a personal break at the Loch of the Lowes. There are the three wee ones in the nest. They look good.

She is back and is waiting for Laddie to bring the first fish of the day. Just look at those lovely rose gold kissing everything at the loch. Beautiful.

Sometimes Blue NC0 makes it difficult to tell who has been fed and who hasn’t. At one feeding where I could clearly see, all three chicks were fed. Nice. I do not think that Little Bob is out of the woods yet. Fingers crossed.

The falcons at the Manchester NH scrape are really losing their baby down. The flapping of the wings sends it flying all over the scrape. Their legs are strong and – well, this has been an amazing nest to watch in terms of the sheer effort by the parents to make sure that each of the five survived and thrived.

Spirit hatched on 3 March. She is 86 days old today. Bald Eagles generally fledge from 10-14 weeks. Spirit is certainly looking out to the territory!

Kana’kini has been doing a lot of hovering and today she actually did that with a stick in her mouth. Here they are the three of them – whoever dubbed the trio ‘The Three Amigos’ is so right. What a fabulous group of eaglets to watch and the thanks goes to Thunder and Akecheta who kept feeding them and kept bringing food to the nest! Great parenting.

Those little ones at Cal Falcons are so adorable. I was sooooo shocked at the little male. He reminds me so much of the male at Captiva Ospreys – Middle Little. He was really loud too. You could hear him fish calling in Fort Myers. Alden and Annie are doing a fantastic job. It was very interesting to me that Cal Falcons noted that Alden was ferocious in his protection of the scrape with Annie yesterday whereas Grinnell used to leave that to Annie.

Want to take part in the naming. See the band at the bottom of the image.

The sun is beginning to come out. The weather forecast is for rain for four days but I am hoping to get out to our other nature centre sometime. Maybe today! Thank you so much for joining me. Wish for fish for ND-LEEF. The river should be going down and clearing after the storm so Suckers and Catfish will be easier to catch for the eagles. Little Bit 17 needs a lot of fish to be delivered so that it can get some. 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: Ventana Wildlife Society, ND-LEEF, UFlorida-Gainesville, SF Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, CarnyX Wild, Dyfi Osprey Project, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the People’s Post Code Lottery, LRWT, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Peregrine Networks, FOBBV, Explore.org, and Cal Falcons.

Help name the Cal Falcon eyases!

27 May 2022

The two eyases at the University of California-Berkeley were banded today. Annie and Alden both did fly bys while the humans were with the two chicks. The oldest is a female and the youngest and loudest is a little boy. Poor thing he looked terrified to me. I am sure that that pose he took will make it into some falcon literature.

You have to be quick with the naming. Suggestions will only be taken until 6pm or 1800 on Monday the 30th of May (Memorial Day in the US). The time is Pacific time as a deadline. The finalists will be announced on May 31 and the public can then vote for two names. Winning names will be announced on 3 June.

Here is an article showing the banding, the action today, and information on where to go for the naming contest. Please take part!

https://news.berkeley.edu/2022/05/27/name-the-berkeley-falcon-chicks-its-a-boy-and-a-girl-for-annie-and-alden/?fbclid=IwAR2rtIRlZ5W8u1sUNzHq87ApOp-LQRSuex71RVC756IUTqcxsQ80ZWeEfek

Friday in Bird World

27 May 2022

I have been away most of the afternoon and have not been able to check on all the nests on my return. It was raining on the two osplets on the UFlorida-Gainesville nest and it looks like they have been at the hair salon, too!

It has been terrible weather at the ND-LEEF Bald Eagle nest. As I understand it the last big feed for ND17, Little Bit was last evening at 21:25. Little Bit was quite full. Eagles do not have to eat every day but 17 would benefit from having more regular food. I saw a discussion about the feathers on Little 17s head. Chicks show stress in their feature development if they have not had regular feedings or as much food as they should be having. In addition, siblings can during beaking pull out feathers. For 17 it could be a combination of both. He will be fine when food comes in later – except that the big siblings will also be hungry. Fingers crossed for lots of fish once the storm passes and the waters clear for fishing.

Sean and Lynn have posted the banding and Q & A session for Cal Falcons. There is some really interesting information in there and if you are interested, please do take the time to listen. Make sure to start it back at the beginning.

Mrs G and Aran now have two chicks as of 20:42 at the Glaslyn nest in Wales! This is the 51st chick for Mrs G and the third egg is cracking!!!!!! These three will be very close together. Fantastic. I continue to worry about the third hatches at both Loch of the Lowes and Llyn Clywedog.

Idris and Telyn have two of the cutest little osplets on the planet at their Dyfi nest, also in Wales.

Idris has two fish on the nest for Telyn and the kids. He is eating some of the second fish before departing for security duty.

There are three chicks on the Llyn Clywedog nest of Dylan and Seren. Yesterday, Dylan had been missing and the weather was terrible. A fish finally came to the nest. Everything seems to have been fine since then. Things have dried out. The third chick is quite small. A nice fish was delivered at 20:51.

The chicks at Manton Bay are so big compared to these wee hatchlings. They no longer fit well to be brooded by Maya.

Blue 33 was acting like there were intruders around. He kept looking around with his snake eyes.

I can hardly believe it. The rain and wind are gone. Dorcha has been able to dry out. We should be on hatch watch by the 31st for her and Louis’s chicks.

I am very concerned about the third hatch at Loch of the Lowes. Blue NC0 has a tendency not to feed them if they are not right in her face and beak. The two oldest at Llyn Clywedog are a bit of a handful, too. This was the early morning feeding at Loch of the Lowes. The wee one did not get any food and I haven’t seen it get fed today – I hope I missed it and please tell me if I did.

So the worries are Llyn Clywedog and Loch of the Lowes. A great nest to watch, if you are looking for one with little drama is going to be Idris and Telyn at the Dyfi. They are as steady as you go, just like Blue 33 and Maya at Rutland. Mrs G and Aran are the favourites of many and I personally like Foulshaw Moss with White YW and Blue 35 but I do not like their camera – no rewind!

Take care everyone. It was great to know that Annie was in the scrape with the two eyases – a daughter and a son – five minutes after the banders left! That is fantastic. Thank you so much for being with me today. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages: Cal Falcons, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Dyfi Osprey Project, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Friends of Loch Arkaig and the People’s Post Code Lottery, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, and LRWT.

Annie’s 4th ever female chick – and a loud little boy

27 May 2022

The banding at the University of California-Berkeley scrape is over! My goodness! The male chick is so loud you need noise cancelling head phones. Seriously.

Hatch 1 is a girl. This is Annie’s only 4th female in all the chicks she has hatched. You might remember that last year they were all male. Hatch 2 is a male.

Here are some images of the banding – which went very smoothly!

The female is being banded first. The female was quiet during the whole procedure. Her little brother was very vocal. Just look at him in the corner when his sister is moved.

Measurements.

Clamping of one of the bands.

The federal silver band has a different kind of rivet.

“I want my sister back!”

Taking a tiny piece of feather for DNA testing.

All done. Weighed, measured, health check and banding. The little male is vocalizing and in the protective mode.

This is my favourite image of both of them calling at once!

Measuring.

Banding.

Removing a feather from the back for DNA testing.

Checking and measuring the wing.

Both back in the scrape safe and sound.

Cal Falcons have posted the view from the north during the banding. You can see Annie and Alden flying around The Campanile while the chicks are being banded.

Thank you! There is a banding discussion and Q & A session at 12 noon Pacific Time.

Thanks Cal Falcons for your streaming cam and for the video of the banding!

Late Afternoon in Bird World

26 May 2022

The morning started off terrible in Bird World. Dylan was believed to be missing at Llyn Clywedog with three hungry chicks on the nest and Seren calling and calling — and another floppy fish covered the oldest Bob at the Dyfi Nest. Things turned out well and I thought it was a good idea to tell everyone immediately!

The weather is very bed at the site of the Llyn Clywedog Nest. The wind is blowing strong and it is raining. Dylan did manage to get a fish on the nest for Seren and the chicks. Fantastic. The babies were so hungry. You can see one of them at the left.

John Williams says the weather and fishing are set to improve tomorrow. Thank goodness. Most of you will recall the horrific storms, the damp and cold last season.

Telyn got up to eat the Flounder and there was Big Bob. There was also Middle Bob!!!!!!

What a relief.

Just look. Big Bob was so strong when it hatched and so is Middle Bob. Middle Bob is still a little wet from hatching. These two are going to be a handful and we have egg 3 to go.

A look at Aran and Mrs G’s first Bob at the Glaslyn Osprey nest. Cutie Pie. This is chick # 50 for Mrs G.

It seems that the Racoon event at the Fort St Vrain Bald Eagle nest is not a one off revenge attack. EJ searched and found a 2019 incident at a nest in Washington DC involving a Raccoon and an Eagle.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/raccoon-invades-justice-and-libertys-nest-eats-their-eggs/2693/

It doesn’t look like there has been a fish delivery at the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest before 1430. These are such gorgeous chicks. That is Middle flapping his wings this afternoon.

Things are still going well at the Loch of the Lowes!

Here is a good look at that eye. Looks perfect to me.

There continue to be six storklets on the nest of Jan and Janika in Lativa. No elimination so far.

At the nest of Bukachek and Betty, there are three storklets and two eggs. So far everyone is doing well.

The eyases at the Manchester NH scrape are going in and out of the scrape to the ledge. If you go to the streaming camera and only see one or two chicks, do not panic!

Oh, Annie, Grinnell, and Alden’s chicks are getting their beautiful feathers too. Look at the eyes beginning to reveal those steel blue-grey feathers. Gorgeous. There is a reminder at the bottom that the banding is at 0800 tomorrow – Friday the 27th. Set your clocks!

Cal Falcons posted a great growth chart of these two chicks on their Twitter and FB feeds. I am certain that they do not mind if I share this with all of you. Everyone is here to learn!

Mum and chicks doing well at the Great Spirit Bluff Peregrine Falcon scrape.

If you do not have it, here is the link to the Spirit Bluff streaming cam:

Life on the Red-tail Hawk nest of Big Red and Arthur at Cornell is changing rapidly. Juvenile feathers are coming in. Indeed, with the sticks in the nest you can see how well camouflaged the eyases are compared to a couple of weeks ago.

Self-feeding is happening! Lots of little chippies on the nest for the Ls.

Gorgeous peach feathering coming in along with the belly bands!

Every time I go to the Big Bear nest, I fear that Spirit will have taken the leap. She spends a lot of time on the balcony and is now able to go back and forth from the front porch to the back. For viewers this means that she could be on the nest tree and just out of view of the camera.

Today is the last day for the Captiva Osprey cam and chat to be operational. If you would like to be notified of any videos posted by Windows for Wildlife be sure to go and subscribe – it is the bell under the streaming cam image on the right.

The streaming cam at the West End Bald Eagle nest of Thunder and Akecheta is running again! Fantastic. Many of us were afraid we would miss the trio – Kana’kini, Sky, and Ahota – fledging. Oh, how grand.

We are also able to watch Lancer on the Two Harbours Alternative Nest of Chase & Cholyn.

It feels like we can all go whew but the weather at Loch Arkaig is not good. Poor Dorcha. It is great to have the cameras running at West End and Two Harbours. Remember that the banding for the Cal Falcons is at 8am Pacific Time tomorrow morning. Thank you so much for joining me. Take care everyone!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: CarnyXWild, Dyfi Osprey Project, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, ND-LEEF, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, FOBBV, Cornell RTH, Mlade Buky, Peregrine Networks, Cal Falcons, and Explore.org

Late Wednesday in Bird World

25 May 2022

Whew! I am still scrambling from looking at so many streaming cam nests this morning. There are so many different things happening from pips to hatches to fledges to deadly intruders. I took the afternoon off and went out to our nature centre for the 3 km walk. It was just beautiful – not too hot and the rain that came didn’t happen until later.

I was greeted by the cutest little Yellow Warbler the minute I stepped on the path.

One of the real treats was a lone Pelican flying overhead with its fish in its mouth. It was so high in the sky and the image is so very cropped but still, it is recognizable as an American White Pelican. At least 50% of North America’s American White Pelicans come to Lake Winnipeg, Lake Manitoba, and Winnipegosis during the summer. There is also a significant population at Lockport, Manitoba at the dam. I photographed those last year and will do so soon again.

There are several Canada Geese incubating eggs either in the nest boxes or in sites that are raised up close to water. These goslings are so lucky that they will be hatched inside the fence of the nature centre. They will not have to contend with concrete highways and parking lots like so many that have lost their habitat do.

One of the most intriguing images was a tree that had a number of birds on it. At first it appeared that it was only Double-crested Cormorants but then…you begin to see three other species – 2 Bald Eagles (it really is their tree) and a Hawk. There were, in addition, two more Cormorants I cut out of the image so that I could blow it up enough so that you could see the ones that aren’t Cormorants. So on the top left is a Baldie. Central Bottom is a hawk it appears. And on the bottom right is also a Bald Eagle. The eagle couple live year round in Manitoba.

There were Purple Martins, Red-winged Blackbirds, Yellow Rumped Warblers, Black Capped Chickadees and some Mallards today.

In other Bird World news today, there is a pip in one of Mrs G’s eggs at the Glaslyn nest.

Mrs G is sleeping and not giving away any news but part of a shell has been seen on the nest.

There are now three osplets at the Foulshaw Moss nest in Cumbria. I might have mentioned this earlier. This is a favourite nest of mine. Blue 35 is a great mother – especially if the third hatch is small. Thanks to her and to the great fishing of White YW Tiny Tot, Blue 463, became the dominant nest on the bird and fledged. I think White YW is quite handsome.

The fish deliveries and eating were good at ND-LEEF. Little Bit 17 isn’t quite so little anymore. Thankfully.

Alden delivers another moth to the scrape in The Campanile at UC-Berkeley. He is calling to tell Annie. The chicks were much more civilized this time. So cute. So innocent. Annie and Grinnell certainly picked a kind friend to help out if something happened to Grinnell.

Idris and Telyn with their first Bob at the Dyfi Nest in Wales. Just look at that fish Daddy Longlegs brought in for the family! Congratulations again Dyfi!

Here is a video of that happy moment when the first hatch at Dyfi in 2022 became real.

Laddie’s eye looks amazing. He is delivering fish and Blue NC0 is feeding all three chicks! Life is good at Loch of the Lowes.

Father Kestrel at Robert Fuller’s Kestrel scrape in Yorkshire, UK has done an amazing job feeding and providing security for his eyases since the female was lost.

Lots more nests to check on tomorrow! Remember that Cal Falcons has changed the time for banding Annie, Grinnell, and Alden’s chicks to 8am Pacific Time Friday the 27th of May. Thanks so much for joining me this evening. I hope that each and every one of you had a fabulous Wednesday. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Robert Fuller, Dyfi Osprey Project, Brywd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Friends of Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, ND-LEEF, Cal Falcons, and the Cumbrian Wildlife Trust.

Late Tuesday in Bird World

24 May 2022

Oh, it was around 23 degrees C and just a gorgeous sunny day for a walk around one of our nature centres. Earlier, when we had snow, there was a Canada Goose on one of the artificial nests. She was not there but evidence of the downy lining remained. I wonder if the eggs hatched? No sign of the adults. In other areas, geese were incubating eggs – some on the ground and some in the artificial nests. I wonder if these are second clutches? or first? There was no one to ask. The American Goldfinches, Yellow Warblers, Red-winged Blackbirds, Yellow Rumped Warblers were everywhere along with lots and lots of Purple Martins. The whole forest was a symphony of bird vocalizations!

Mr Goose was being for security guard for his mate in the basket nest.
Mother Goose incubating her eggs.
Mother Goose out on the island incubating her eggs.
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-Rumped Warbler

It has been such a sad day for some of the nests and if it is happening on the streaming cams, I wonder how often these occurrences happen in the wild. A raccoon scaled the pole to the XCel Energy Bald Eagle Nest in Colorado and took one of the juveniles. This is the latest report on that incident:

‘A’ was watching the Fort Murray Osprey nest when an owl flew on to the nest. It killed and ate one of the osplets right there! There is the owl landing on the nest at Lake Murray.

These are incredibly sad incidents and in both cases, it appears that there was not an adult at the site.

Raccoons are known to eat all manner of things including rabbits but I have personally never heard of them pulling an eaglet off a nest and eating it. Are we seeing the beginning of a huge problem with the depletion of available prey?

The two larger siblings on the ND-LEEF nest really like to be fed by Mum. Little Bit 17 is very happy to have a fish that has been unzipped to eat. A fish came on the nest around 17:00. Mum fed the two big siblings. Little Bit is very good at watching and reading its environment. The older siblings have been cranky due to the heat. He got a few pieces of fish at the beginning and then moved way around the side and was getting fed when Mum moved. In one instance, an older sibling grabbed a piece of fish and Mum grabbed it back and Little Bit got it. Very interesting. Little Bit had a nice crop at the end – that is perfect.

Little Bit is making its way cautiously along the rim of the nest. Watching. He will snatch and grab some bites of fish.

Can you find Little Bit 17?

So everything seems pretty good at the ND-LEEF nest! Wonderful.

Laddie, LM12’s eye, is much better. He has been delivering fish to the Loch of the Lowes nest where him and Blue NC0 have three nestlings. It is not clear to me but it has been mentioned that in at least one feeding the third chick did not get fed. Just a warning about this nest. That is what happened last year and the wee one perished. Mind you, Blue NC0 is a relatively new mother. She is fantastic at fishing so fingers crossed.

That eye of Laddie’s looks as good as new.

At the Dyfi Nest in Wales, Idris is not only know for his great fishing skills but he loves to incubate and take care of the chicks. Today, when the first was hatching, Idris was insisting on incubating! He has a lot of tactics to try and get Telyn up off those eggs.

And Telyn has her tricks to try and get him up!!!!! These two are way too funny.

Mum has been on the UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey nest this afternoon. I could not find a big fish on rewind but both chicks appeared to have eaten recently. No worries about them.

Rosie and Richmond’s two osplets are 8 days old now. Most of the time they behave themselves but there has been some bopping between them that seems to have started yesterday, on day 7. I am not concerned. Richmond is a good provider and this behaviour will stop. Notice that they are losing the fluffy baby down and will be moving into the Reptilian phase soon, too soon.

They look so adorable when they are being nice!

The two little eyases at Cal Falcons scrape of Annie and Alden are loving flapping their wings.

They are also getting curious about what is outside that open door!

The Manchester NH eyases are also flapping their wings. Sometimes there is downy fluff flying everywhere adding to the feather fed they already sleep on.

Here is a lovely video of the three Peregrine Falcon chicks at the Great Spirit Bluff scrape having dinner. So cute.

Nancy and E1, Harriet, have eaten today. Thank goodness the intruders that have been around allowed Nancy time to go out and get some prey. It is hard being a single parent to a growing eaglet with sometimes dangerous intruders.

Beautiful Lena from the Captiva Osprey Platform. It was a good year despite the mysterious death of the eldest osplet, Big. Middle Little and Little Mini fledged and are doing well. Mum desires a good rest and a day at the spa!

Big Red and Arthur’s four eyases at the Red-tail Hawk nest are really getting their juvenile feathers. Several are wing flapping and all are eating very well!

Unlike Blue NC0 at Loch of the Lowes, Big Red will stretch to get to a hungry chick!

Rita and Ron are still providing fish for R2 on the nest in the Miami Zoo. How wonderful. You can pop in there early or re-wind and see them.

R2 will eventually arrive and another big fish will come to the nest at 1330.

Thank you so much for joining me for a spin around some of the nests. still more to check on! I hope everyone has had a lovely day. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Lake Murray Ospreys, ND-LEEF, UFlorida-Gainesville Ospreys, Captiva Ospreys, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Explore.Org, MN-DNR, Wildlife Rescue of Dade County, Cal Falcons, Bald Eagles 101, Dyfi Osprey Project, Peregrine Networks, SF Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon.

Late Sunday and early Monday in Bird World

22-23 May 20

I have been holding my breath and sitting on my hands. In an earlier blog I wrote and attached screen captures of Dale Hollow’s Middle – we call Warrior – going up the branch. Dale Hollow posted that Warrior had fludged – meaning he fell off that branch. Indeed, there was a video posted of that fall. Well, someone has now spent some time looking at that footage and has captured Warrior fledging from a lower branch. This is a relief. It is not nice worrying that they are grounded.

The parents continue to leave fish on the nest but so far neither DH14 or DH15 have returned and it is also reported that they have yet to be seen.

There is also news coming in of a Peregrine Falcon couple who are using the chimney of a thermal power plant in Japan for their scrape! I wish they would put a streaming cam up there for all of us that love falcons!!!!!!!

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20220520/p2a/00m/0li/032000c?fbclid=IwAR1fx8O4Dp_C_7w4jfIHPTatm7eIY5ma1UWZKD9QtYRpK_24gNLK9qRacII

I love Kakapo – even though they are not raptors. The news coming from the Kakapo Recovery is pretty good. Sadly, one of this years hatches has died in the Dunedin Veterinary Hospital since yesterday.

I want everyone to give a quiet applause for Little Bit 17 at the Notre Dame – LEEF nest. Look what that wee one did this morning!!!!!!!! It doesn’t get much better than this.

The adult arrives and leaves the fish on the nest. Little Bit has its head turned to the rim of the nest listening and turning around watching. The parent does not feed the bigger chicks – it flies up to a higher branch.

Between the arrival of the fish and 0702, Little Bit 17 pulls the fish over to ‘its area’. This is actually Little Bit’s stash or prey kitchen where he keeps things for later. Mum has found it but the older siblings do not root around there. Little Bit is busy eating on that fish and is already getting a bit of a crop. One of the elder siblings is nibbling and watching. No dominance tactics are noted.

Still eating. Other sibling is curious. Little Bit just keeps eating.

One of the older siblings is touching Little Bit’s beak wanting it to feed it! (or alternatively it is trying to get the fish out of Little Bit’s beak)

Little Bit has an enormous crop by now. You can see the fish piece over at the side of the nest.

When Little Bit was finished the older siblings pulled the leftover piece to the edge and started feeding.

One big sibling on the rim and the other down in the nest with Little Bit doing beak kisses again.

That is Little Bit 17. Look at those nice wings this morning. He has energy to spare. What a wonderful way to start the day!!!!!!!!!

The University of Florida Osprey nest at their Gainesville camera had issues with their streaming cam this morning and it was off line. The students of the Wildlife Conservancy course did post the winning names (by public vote). Big sibling is Breezy. Middle sibling is Windy. Mum is Stella while Dad is Talon. There was a tie for the name of the nest – Cheep Seats or Home Plate.

A lovely image of Blue 35 at the Foulshaw Moss nest in Cumbria feeding the eldest chick just after the second one hatched.

The four eyases in the Dolina Baryczy Peregrine Falcon nest in Poland near Lodz are really filling up the nest! Dad has just delivered a prey item for them.

The five Peregrine Falcons are not as big as those in Poland. They are losing the down around their eyes and the beautiful wing and tail feathers are coming in. Everyone had a good breakfast this morning in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Cal Falcons has posted that the banding of the chicks will take place on the 27th of May at 1400 Pacific Time.

All of the eggs have hatched at the Black Stork nest of Grafs and Grafiene in Jogdeva County, Estonia. There were six eggs and the moderator of the chat says there has been no elimination of any chicks this year so far. So this is a historic moment in the history of the Black Storks in the Balkans and in Estonia – six chicks! Fingers crossed that there is enough food for all of them.

We are waiting for the eggs to hatch for Karl II and Kaia at the Karula National Forest nest, also in Estonia. Their last egg was laid on 1 May.

We are also waiting for Bukacheck and Betty’s eggs to begin hatching in Mlade Buky, The Czech Republic.

If we blink they turn into hawks not little nestlings. Look at the feather growth and that gorgeous peach on the breast of Big Red and Arthur’s eyases on the Cornell RTH nest! Gracious. Fledge is what? 2 or 3 weeks away. I will have to do the calculations but they should have fledged by the middle of June. Hard to believe. L4 still has a lot of feather development needed and one rule of thumb is that it is better the more dark bars they have on their tails – 5 is the minimum, preferably 6 at fledge.

Thank you so very much for joining me today. I hope that each of you has a wonderful Monday. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: ND-LEEF, Kakapo Recovery, Cornell Bird Lab RTH, Mlade Buky White Storks, Eagle Club of Estonia, DHEC, Cal Falcons, Dolina Baryczy, Peregrine Netrworks, and the Cumbria Wildlife Trust.