Writer, Conservationist, Activist, Bird Lover
31 March 2022
It is with tears flowing so hard that I can hardly type that I bring you this very tragic news from San Francisco.
Annie and Grinnell are the Peregrine Falcon couple at The Campanile on the campus of UC-Berkeley. Annie was due to lay their third egg this evening.
This is the report from Cal Falcons:
I will have more to say about this wonderful falcon tomorrow or later tonight. Fly high, Grinnell! You were very much loved.
30-31 March 2022
Wednesday was a day with super highs and lowest lows in the animal world. A group of hunters in the UK chased a Buck for 7 hours straight until it collapsed and died. Seriously horrific. River brought in a beautiful fish for the kids at the nest she shares with her mate, Obey, at Dale Hollow Lake. This is in northern Tennessee bordering Kentucky. It had a hook and fishing line. River broke the line and tossed the hook over the edge of the nest but some line remains and some – not sure how much – is on Middle Little’s foot. I hope it works itself off naturally without cutting into the talons and leg. Poor thing. Little Middle has been through so much. I could not – and still can’t – believe this happened. One of our readers has the e-mail of Al Cerere that started the American Eagle Foundation with its headquarters in Tennessee. Perhaps he can help Little Middle in some way. Thank you, ‘L’ for reaching out to him. Fires are raging the Pigeon Forge Tennessee home to Dollywood and the AEF Ambassador Eagles – and Al will also be busy with this. The wildfire is being monitored and there are plans for evacuation. In the positive column, White YW arrived today to join his mate, Blue 35, on the Foulshaw Moss Osprey Nest in Cumbria. Last year they almost arrived at the same time. So excited. These are Tiny Little’s parents!! It is a great nest but an aggravation as there is no rewind!
Akecheta feeding his triplets always puts a smile on my face! Just looking at them gives me hope.
All is well with the West End triplets this morning, Thursday the 31st.
The triplets at Pittsburgh-Hayes are also doing well. A dry morning has turned, however, into a miserable one and the three will need to stay dry and snug until it passes.
The storm that hit points to the west that is hitting Pittsburgh is starting to blow in Washington, DC where Mr President and Lotus have their only nestling to keep dry, warm, and fed.
There is lots of food but it is difficult to feed a new hatch in torrential rains!
There are storms moving through large swaths of US. The storm and heavy rain at Berry College where B15 has his nest with parents Pa Berry and Missy is just starting.
This morning at 09:17:55 Pa Berry and Missy’s eaglet B15 fledged!!!!!!! Here is B15 at 09:00.
I cropped the image so you can find B15 easier. It is the black silhouette at the top centre flying out of the frame.
Parent is on the nest trying to lure B15 back with a fish for breakfast – nice reward! Send positive wishes that B15 stays for the 4-5 weeks to learn its flying and continue to get prey from parents!
Gold stars go out to Rosie and Richmond. My goodness they have been working hard to get their Osprey nest on the Whirley Crane in the Richmond Shipping Yards fit for eggs. Well done!
Middle and Little (or Little and Mini) at the Captiva Osprey nest are ‘itchy’. Unless they are eating it is extremely difficult to get a good image of both of them standing together!
There is still no news on the cause of Big’s death. That was 15 March. Only 16 days ago. It could be another week or more.
A lesson learned that many wildlife rehabbers know is that if there is a nest where an eaglet needs to be removed so the others thrive, remove the oldest. Not the youngest. Both Middle and Little have done well, getting along perfectly well since the death of Big. I don’t want this to sound callous but it is the thing to remember. Often we think the one that needs food needs to be removed but it is actually the oldest who will do well in care while the young does best on the nest.
A sub-adult or juvenile White-bellied sea eagle has return to the nest in the Sydney Olympic Park. Is this 25, 26, or 27 or 28? They are attempting to identify the bird. This is done, ironically, through the talons I believe.
Sea Eaglet is quite hungry but lovely to see. I wonder if this is not WBSE 27 that went into care twice? Will confirm when anything is posted.
The Black Stork Karl II flew into the Ukraine and instead of heading north headed back south to where it was on the 29th. Did something scare it? Individuals are hopeful that Karl II will go a different route to the west. Fingers crossed.
There is a fish pool at Mindic where Karl II can get food.
I have no information on the situation with regard to Little Middle at the Dale Hollow Nest. Yesterday River brought in a fish that had a hook and line stuck in its side. River removed the hook breaking the line. She threw the hook over the nest. Monofilament line remained and it got on D15 Little Middle’s left foot. This morning at 08:28:09 there is a clear view of the issue. The line, at that time, had wrapped around the 4th toe the hallux needed to carry fish and the third and over the first toe. Last night it was only around the top of the foot. It is tighter. Little Middle ate well last night. I did not see it eat this morning. Here is an image of that line:
I posted the image and the issue on Bald Eagles 101 this morning and send a message to the USFWS at Cookeville, TN.
If you feel so inclined, here are some phone numbers of appropriate authorities to call in Tennessee. Remember that Carol Moore called The Raptor Centre who was to call the USFWS yesterday. I believe this was done. It is unclear if there is any way to access the nest. Some trees are just not safe for someone to climb. It is imperative to remember that this is a human caused issue and, as such, warrants an intervention if, indeed, it is at all possible to do so. What we do not know is if there is any way to access the tree. That said, here are some phone numbers in the area if you feel you would like to add your voice. The Mid-South Raptor Center at Celina TN. 901-685-8827. The Army Corp of Engineers that own the property is 931-243-3135. The Cookeville USFWS is 931-528-6481.
There is no guarantee that anyone will do anything. I was hopeful that this morning Little Middle would be relieved. It is possible that there is absolutely no access to the nest. As one of my falconer friends reminded me yesterday, ‘Nature kicks you right in the gut just when you think everything is going well’. And it couldn’t be truer. Little Middle was clever and eating and Big didn’t bother it yesterday like the days before. Both of them are 31 days old today, 32 if you count hatch. Being gutted is pretty much what it feels like this morning but I live with hope.
Speaking of hope, Cal Falcons has estimated that Annie will lay her 3rd egg tonight around 21:10!!!!!!!!! I can’t wait!!!!!!! Something positive to look forward to.
Thank you so much for joining me today. I wish beyond wishes that I had good news for you about Little Middle. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: West End Eagles and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, Pix Cakm, NADC-AEF, Berry College, SF Ospreys and Golden Gate Audubon, Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Sydney Sea Eagles at BirdLife Australia Discovery Centre, Anne7 at Looduskalender Forum, and Dale Hollow Eagles.
28-29 March 2022
This is actually more a quick glimpse of late Monday activities in Bird World up to noon on Tuesday.
At 20:57:27 Monday night, you could see an eaglet with the two halves of the egg acting as book marks at the National Arboretum Bald Eagle nest in DC. It is home of Mr President and Lotus. They lost their first eaglet to a tragic accident during pipping so it looks like once the AEF officially announcements the hatch, it is congratulations!
At 07:07, you can get a good luck of the dried fluffy baby. Congratulations Mr President and Lotus. This is wonderful news. May DC9 stay healthy! This is now the historic moment of having a hatchling in the DC nest for the first time in four years.
Oh, you are cute and you are blessed. You will be an only eaglet like Jackie and Shadow’s baby.
Here is a really short video of that hatch.
Jackie and Shadow have certainly had a terrible day with the strong winds, rain and ice pellets.
There is snow on the Big Bear nest this morning but the winds have lessened. Thank goodness. Everyone is just fine!
What a gorgeous landscape!
Samson made the egg cup quite deep the other day knowing that the baby would be snug as a bug when the storm hit. Lovely family.
Amanda777 made a short video of Jackie feeding the baby in the snow.
The rain and the winds stopped on Monday for the West End eagle nest of Thunder and Akecheta. This morning it is beautiful. Someone who knows fish species told me that the red flesh fish that are brought to the nest are Alders. They are apparently quite good if you like to smoke your fish.
How many stared at Annie in the scrape watching for every moment? CalFalcons predicted around 20:10. I hung on waiting for a little longer only to get up later and, thankfully, to a note from ‘B’ discovered that second precious egg of her and Grinnell’s had been laid around 21:18:37. Thank you! Both were clearly visible at 21:41:17 when Annie rose up to display those beautiful deep red eggs.
CalFalcons made a quick video of Annie laying that second egg.
Here are the two eggs this morning! Good thing egg collectors have learned that their actions almost made many bird species extinct in the late 19th century and early 20th. They are beautiful! We will look forward to them being fuzzy white eyases in 33-35 days.
While I was watching Annie I was also checking on Karl II. Oh, bless that Black Stork’s heart! Now if he will continue his north westerly route avoiding the area of The Ukraine…Fingers crossed. Looking forward to having him back on his nest at the Karula National Forest in Estonia.
He spent the night in Motoseni, Romania.
My happiness at Karl II’s route was matched by Obey flying into the Dale Hollow nest at 18:02:32 with a small fish last evening. At 18:02:51 Little Middle went into submission.
Big had finished at least a fish and a half, if not two, one hour earlier. Big could not be hungry!
Watching and watching and listening, Little Middle gets to the rim, head down.
He sits up and looks over hoping, perhaps, that Big wouldn’t finish that small fish! Big did not attack.
Little Middle moves around the nest. Big doesn’t do anything. Is there any fish left?
He gets up there, beside Big.
Little Middle gets his first bite at 18:09:22.
Little Middle got the remainder of the fish thanks to Obey. The tail was gone at 18:14:12. Not a long feeding and not a lot of fish but Little Middle had a crop. Oh, I would love to see this wee one get to eat an entire fish by itself! Talk about a growth spirt.
I loved this image of Little Middle looking up at his Dad. Obey has done some nice feedings for the wee one, holding back, going slower, moving the fish. It is nice to know that Little Middle went to bed with a full tummy.
This morning a really large fish on to the Dale Hollow nest. I cannot comment on what happened prior to 08:14 on the feed as it will not rewind beyond this and I could not check this nest earlier. It appears that the two eaglets were fed half of the large fish with half remaining on the nest. There is no discord between them after 08:14 so maybe there wasn’t any! I live with hope.
It appears that Big ate first and Middle moved in later. That would be my guess based on past experience.
Big is obviously full.
The parent turns the other way to feed Little Middle. Big has moved away already having consumed 1/3 of the big fish. There will still be fish left when Middle finishes eating.
I have included the three images below. It is hard to get a sense of the true difference in size or even the actual size of the eaglets.
It is nice to see them looking out at the big world together. Big has almost lost her dandelions and, of course, Middle Little had his pulled off so he is ahead with that regard.
Little Middle is surely growing and has some nice blood feathers at the tip of its wings coming in. Big has quite a few. Both are doing a lot of preening. Hopefully more fish will come in today – surely there will be!
Everything continues to go well for Andy and Lena and the two Osplets at the Captiva Osprey nest in Florida. Both are healthy and continue to eat well and grow in their juvenile plumage.
Every once in awhile you can get a glimpse of all the triplets at the Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagle nest. It can be tricky though. I have waited and waited with no luck!
The two eaglets of Liberty and Guardian seem to be going through the bobbling head phase. One had a great PS this morning while the other stood up and watched it. Cute. Their rain has stopped and they are drying out.
There was a Great Horned Owl that landed below the nest in the middle of the night. Hope it stays away!!!!!
There are so many nests to cover and Ospreys arriving or not. It is difficult now to keep track of all that is going on. I have not seen any announcements of any of the monitored nest Ospreys returning in the UK since Telyn arrived at Dyfi late Monday. I will continue to monitor that situation.
Thank you for joining me this morning for a bit of a hop, skip, and jump through the nests. We are expecting rain and then 100% chance of more snow – just when we thought spring was coming!!!!!!! I recall actually having snow on the 15th of May one year. Hopefully it will not be that late in 2022. Take care everyone. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures and video clips: Friends of Big Bear Valley, Dale Hollow Eagles, Cal Falcons, Pix Cam, Redding Bald Eagles, Captiva Ospreys, Looduskalender Forum, West End Eagles and the Institute of Wildlife Studies, and the NADC-AEF.
28 Monday 2022
A wonderful lady from Poland who rescued a Crow and took care of it for 5 months so it could return to the wild asked me how I could stay ‘distant’ and not get involved emotionally in the nests. That was perhaps two years ago now. I hope she still joins us here with the birds. The truth is I often scream at the screen, get upset, yell at particular birds as if I know better than then, can’t sleep at night if a bird is encased in ice, etc.
Most of the time the nests are brilliant but sometimes you meet up with one that simply doesn’t make sense the way the others do. For me, this year, that is Dale Hollow.
At 17:02:41 today, River returns to the nest having been there earlier. She has decided it is time to feed the eaglets even if they are sleeping. Immediately Big gets up – has a leftover crop from the 11:52:51 feeding. Big attacks Little Middle just to make sure it didn’t move up to eat. Even then Big hangs back close to Little Middle so he won’t move up near to the food. Middle Little tucks its head in way under and he stays that way.
In the middle part of the feeding, there is another attempt at intimidation. It is clear from the first part that Middle can still get up to Little Middle’s head.
In the third part, Middle begins to move, finally. River reaches out and gives it a bite of food. Why did she not slow the feeding? Why did she not turn with her head to the rim? It is an easy thing to do – after all, she has done it before. Little Middle could have eaten but it was too frightened. I find this nest to be so sad. Even with 6 fish coming in yesterday nothing stopped Big’s wrath.
Thankfully the weather has cleared at the West End Bald Eagles nest. Thunder, Akecheta, and the three babies are fine! In the image below, Dad is drying off his wings. The babies are in front of him sound asleep.
Everyone is fed.
I yelled at Akecheta last year about his refusal to guard the nest. He was 5 years old and figuring out slowly – very slowly – what his role was. Thunder had faith in him and it has surely been rewarded this year. Cheta wouldn’t let anyone touch those kids of his – and everyone eats. Not one of them has been hungry, left out, or bonked and the little one is 4 days younger than the oldest! They are also very healthy and growing strong. No fear or intimidation just trying to corral curious kids with wooden blockades!
Look at how big and tall the oldest is. Beautiful. Looking out over the sea where she will be flying one day. Too soon.
There is your power couple.
There was a prey drop and a bit of a ritual bonding in the scrape of Annie and Grinnell at The Campanile on the campus of UC Berkeley. Here is a video clip of this ritual….BTW. We are expecting Annie to lay the 3rd egg this evening. Cal Falcons predicts it will be 20:10 scrape time.
Look carefully and you can see the pip progressing in the egg at the National Arboretum Bald Eagle Nest. They say you can hear it peeping now. Mr President and Lotus are not giving a thing away.
It is just miserable at the nest of Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear. The icy snow has turned into rain for now. The nest and adults are soaked to the core.
Poor Jackie. The weather is so bad. Shadow filled up the nest with food, bless his heart. You can see the stacks of fish behind Jackie. Hopefully there is a break to feed the baby who should have a name soon! One of my readers, ‘A’, a teacher who wants to ensure her students are empathetic with wildlife sent in the name ‘Hope’. It is so fitting for this time. I did not mention this while the contest was open but it is certainly what we all must have – Hope.
It is definitely a busy day on the nests. I am going to bring this blog to a close with a look at the female star of the Dyfi Osprey nest in Wales, Telyn, the mate of Idris! These two are so close to my heart. Telyn arrives and doesn’t sit on the nest waiting for Idris to bring her a fish – and he is truly the king of bringing in huge fish. No, she goes off and gets it herself. I sure hope her mate and the others we are missing are home soon. Welcome back, Telyn, Blue 3J. Eat and rest!
Thanks so much for joining me today. You couldn’t hear me yelling at River to turn herself around. It is hard to see one eaglet with a crop eat a fish and a half and the other get a single bite. But…At any rate, take care. It feels like there is going to be lots of news tomorrow. See you soon!
Thanks to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures and video clips today: Cal Falcons, Dale Hollow Bald Eagles, West End Bald Eagles and the Institute of Wildlife Studies, Friends of Big Bear, National Arboretum Eagles and the AEF, and Dyfi ospreys.
27 March 2022
Jack brings in yet more toys for the kids as Harriet lays the third and, hopefully, final egg today at the Dahlgren Osprey Nest on the King George V River.
Not to be out done by the Cornell Red tail hawks with their four eggs, the female at the Syracuse Red tail Hawk nest has now laid four eggs! Goodness. While we might want to think that this is a prey rich summer, I had a conversation about Avian Flu with someone who is involved in that research. They said that Avian Flu H5N1, the highly pathogenic strain, is spreading like wild fire. Could the extra egg be part of a natural reaction to this? The general consensus is that 1 out of 3 fledglings survive. Are the hawks laying 4 eggs with the hope now that 1 in 4 survives this year with the spread of the flu? It reminded me of a quote on the Looduskalender Forum byIrene Ripperberg: “Clearly animals know more than we think and think more than we know.”
I had hoped that the afternoon would be a good one for Middle Little. While Little Middle did eat, those feedings did not come without enduring the wrath of Big. At 12:06:54 a parents flies in with a piece of fish. Big immediately goes after Little Middle who will get nothing of that prey drop. At 14:19:13 there is a large fish and a small piece left from earlier on the nest. Little Middle moves and Big goes on the attack. LM watches as Big is fed. By 14:26:47, Little Middle is at the rim of the nest moving cautiously. Little Middle gets a bite at 14:29:00 and a few more bites. Big gets up and Little Middle goes into submission. Big ate the rest of the fish and the tail. Little Middle did have a crop, part of which was left from the morning. Obey flew in with another fish at 15:28:58. Middle was where he landed. He gave Little Middle some bites which LM snatched and grabbed til Obey flew off at 15:32:39. At 17:52:47 River moves the large fish Obey brought in earlier and begins to feed Big. Little Middle moves over by Dad who has arrived at 17:54:24 hoping he has some more food. He doesn’t. Little Middle moves over to the rim and cautiously up to River who gives him some bites.
Big appears to be sleeping. At 18:15:27 – only three minutes later- Big goes into an attack. Oh, how I wish that Big would have just slept. There is hardly any food left – it ate an entire fish!
She tries to get Little Middle’s head to inflict the most damage which despite a large crop she does. Little Middle appears to be quite frightened. Big moves up to eat again. Middle Little must move – Big goes on the attack again at 18:16:11 in spite of having a big crop. Big positions herself so that she can grab Little Middle’s head and she twists it.
I had hoped that the beaking was going to slow down. It certainly does not appear to have anything to do with whether Big is full of not. One of our readers ‘BG’ observed that Big has a much more difficult time attacking Little Middle if she has a big crop which she does in the image below. It is hard for her to go over the top of the back anymore. That said, she was surely determined today and shifted to the side so that she could grab Middle’s head and neck which she shook.
While Little Middle is getting bigger and Big is often so full she can’t do anything, Little Middle must be cautious. And we have to hope that much more food comes on this nest. As it happens what is being brought in is enough for Big but barely enough for Little to have lots which it needs now. Both eaglets are 27 days old today – 28 if you count hatch day.
In the image below, Big is trying to go down to the head on the side at a slightly different angle than the image above. She has strong legs and, in fact, could, if she got wild enough, push Little Middle out of the nest. Despite being full, she simply could not sand that River would feed Middle Little a few bites of scrap fish.
Big is huge compared to Little middle. Look at her legs!
River feeds Big as he pushes Little Middle from the back. Little Middle raises its head and Bit goes at it again at 18:16:25.
Little Middle tries to get away by moving up close to River. River feeds Big. Nothing for Little Middle.
I am putting the image below in as a comparison of the size of the two. There remain many ways that Big can harm Little Middle but let us look at the positive. Despite not getting lots of food and cheeping wanting more, Little Middle did eat and did have a crop. He also had a really good PS this afternoon.
I am continually checking on Karl II and his movements curious as to if he can ‘smell’ or ‘sense’ war and not go to his normal watering hole in the Ukraine.
One of the British that travel to The Gambia to monitor Ospreys, Chris Wood, notes that many of the Ospreys arrive and go right to the same tree that they have done in many years previous. Will this also be the case for Karl II that he will, nonetheless, go to his normal spots despite the war?
Karl II is through Bulgaria, almost. Will he continue through Poland up to Latvia? We wait for the transmissions.
The people of Mlady Buky, The Czech Republic, are awaiting the arrival of their two White Storks. This community is the one who saved the father and the three storklets (originally four but Dad selected) by providing food for them last year.
Are you fond of Goshawks? The Goshawk nest at Riga, Latvia has its first egg today.
For any of the Latvian nests, I urge you to subscribe to The Latvian Fund for Nature’s streaming cams. There is no charge. You can do a search on YouTube and then select the nests you wish to watch. You will get a notice if something happens! There you will also find all of the videos of Milda the White-tailed Eagle at Durbe, her trials and joys.
There is a lovely little video of the adults at the Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagle nest doing a tandem feeding. Oh, I just love this when the parents work together to make sure their chicks survive – if at all possible.
I love Red tail hawks and A Place Called Hope posted this today. I wanted to share it with you. If I were a raptor and needed rehab, I would really like to find myself at APCH.
The second egg for Mr President and Lotus at the National Arboretum Nest in DC is 35 days old. I so hope that this one hatches and the chick survives to fledge. It would be wonderful for this new pair. This is 18:13 this evening. Lotus is being very careful when she rolls that egg!
The following was posted a few hours ago. It looks like there is an internal pip happening. Please send your warmest wishes to Mr President and Lotus for a successful hatch for DC9.
R2 was returned to the nest by Ron Magill at the Miami Zoo. The remaining monofilament was removed successfully from its foot. These images were posted on Ron Magill’s FB page:
How wonderful! So happy for R2. He is sleeping on the rim of the nest tonight.
Everything is fine on the Captiva Osprey Nest of Andy and Lena in Florida. The beautiful juvenile plumage is coming in on both Middle and Little. They are growing so fast! Still no news on what killed Big.
Today, Grinnell protected the egg at the Peregrine Falcon scrape in The Campanile while Annie chased off the intruder. Here is a short video clip of that action.
Cal Falcons just posted another. The couple have been busy with intruders.
And before I close, a quick look at the West End Bald eagle nest of Thunder and Akecheta where the trio of eaglets continues to thrive and grow without a second of discord. Remarkable parenting at this nest!
Look at how big they are. This just brings tears to my eyes. Two parents working together got this fantastic result for Thunder and Akecheta.
It looks like Ervie went out to the water. I hope he caught a nice fish! His tracker continues to work and he remains around Port Lincoln. Joy. Now if we only had news of Falky and Bazza.
Life is good at the nests!
Thank you so much for joining me. My blog may not be out til late on Monday. Hopefully the news will be good at Dale Hollow. Take care all. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB or Forum: Looduskalender, Latvian Fund for Nature, Mlady Buky Stork cam, Captiva Osprey Cam, Ron Magill, West End Bald Eagles and the Institute for Wildlife Studies, Cal Falcons, Dahlgren Osprey Nest, Pix Cams, Port Lincoln Ospreys, A Place Called Hope, and WRDC Bald Eagles.
26 March 2022
Just as I am starting to check all of the nests, there is an intervention happening on the WRDC Bald Eagle nest in the Miami Zoo. R2 got entangled in fishing line. The camera is down and let us all hope that there are no injuries to this amazing eaglet.
The big news of the morning came as a subject line a couple of minutes ago from ‘B’. “Annie has an egg!” Wow. Thank you ‘B’. (I was very busy watching Dale Hollow).
We have all been wondering how the soap opera with Annie and Grinnell was working out. This says it all. It looks like the egg arrived about 08:30:17 nest time in San Francisco. So happy…..wonder if Annie is going to join the ‘4 egg club’ for this year?
Annie is having a nest rest. She should sleep as much as she can. Once the eggs are all laid she will get a reprieve of 33-35 days and then there will be no rest! So, so happy!!!!!!!!!!! This really is turning out to be a joyous morning.
Cal Falcons just posted a video of this wonderful event.
It started out as a promising morning at the Dale Hollow nest. River and Obey had a big fish left on the nest overnight. Because of this, there was no waiting for breakfast and Big did not get herself into a ‘mood’. River was on the nest and at 09:04 she went over to the fish and lifted it up. Big went up to eat first. Little Middle stayed behind watching. Little Middle moved up to the feeding spot at 09:09:54. In other words, Little Middle let Big eat for about three minutes while listening and watching. It all worked out. River fed both chicks together up at the table. There was no intimidation by Big. Oh, joy!!!!!!!
Smart Little Middle. Test the temperature of Big before moving up. That said, Little Middle duly recognized Big as the dominant allowing her to eat first. Perfect.
Little Middle moves up and River stretches to give some great bites to her youngest.
Little Middle’s crop was flat at the start of the feeding. Now look! And also have a look at the size of Little Middle’s feet——– this kiddo is growing. Yippeeeeeeee.
What a wonderful start to the day at Dale Hollow.
River and Obey have found a stash of corn stalks and they are using them to create new railings around the nest. Smart. Big and Little Middle are going to need them. Several times I thought Little Middle was going to fall out of that nest.
By 10:00 the parents are away perhaps retrieving more rails. Meanwhile, the two eaglets are resting and the sucker Obey brought in is hidden.
At 10:50:30 River removes the Sucker from the centre of the nest to the rim where she can feed the eaglets. Little Middle watches and listens but does not go up to River and the fish allowing Big to be there first.
At 10:54:57 Big drops a bite, River holds it up and Little Middle does the snatch and grab!
Big was not happy and attacks Little Middle. Little Middle immediately goes into submission and moves away from the feeding to the rim of the nest.
I could hardly believe my eyes. River stopped and turned so that she could feed Little Middle at 11:01:20. This is quite the change!!!! Wow.
The wind almost blew her off the nest. It is so windy that River is going to have to go back to being parallel with the rim of the nest.
This gives the feeding advantage to Big.
By 11:08 Little Middle has moved up to get some fish.
By 11:17:18 Little Middle has a nice crop that has built up. The feeding finishes at 11:18. There is little to no fish left! This has been a good morning for Little Middle. Some intimidation but nothing that would have harmed him. Just reminders to remain cautious.
The Canada Goose at the unused Bald Eagle nest in Decorah, Iowa laid her second egg last night. She is using the twigs from the former eagle nest to cover them.
It is a Cormorant food fest at the West End Bald Eagle nest of Thunder and Akecheta. In the image below they are enjoying the one that Thunder brought in yesterday. Dad Akecheta’s performance at feeding is excellent. Look at all three of them lined up. No problems. Nothing. Serene and solace. There is a new Cormorant behind the big stick that appears to have been brought in today. By the time the season is over will there be any Cormorants left in the Channel Islands?!
At the Two Harbour’s Bald Eagle nest of Chase and Cholyn, Thunder’s parents, Cholyn is incubating. Pip watch should be soon.
The parents at the Pittsburgh-Hayes Bald Eagle nest are feeding their three now!
Everything seems to be going well at the National Arboretum nest of Mr President and Lotus. The eaglet hatched at 14:55 on the 25th and is the first hatch at this nest in four years. Well done!
Wonder where that gold fish came from????
All cuddled up next to what could be a younger sibling.
The two eaglets at the Redding nest of Guardian and Liberty have been enjoying a lot of Coot for their first feedings. The oldest hatched on 20 March with the youngest three days later on 23 March.
Liberty is 23 years old and Guardian is 8 years old. Another nest where the female is much older. Liberty has fledged four sets of triplets – in 2009,. 2010, 2015, and last year, in 2021. It is a nice eaglet nest to watch and here is the link:
If you missed it, Mrs G arrived back at Glaslyn today. She is waiting for Aran and in the meantime, she is enjoying a fresh fish that she caught herself!
It has just been a pretty good day all around the nests. I am off to check on the arrival of geese and ducks here on the Canadian Prairie.
Thank you so much for joining me today. Take care. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Dale Hollow Lake Eagle Cam, Cal Falcons, Redding Bald Eagles, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, National Arboretum Bald Eagles and the AEF, Pix Cams, and Explore.org
25 March 2022
Viewers of the Decorah North Bald Eagle nest of Mr North and Mrs DNF were frightened today when 47 mph gusts hit the nest. Those winds will continue until tomorrow. Hatching is never planned and that little one is making keen progress from its pip this afternoon at 12:46. It is being rocked and kept warm.
In 2018 this nest collapsed. It was rebuilt and re-enforced so despite the winds, everything should be fine. Hope.
And then it snowed at Decorah North! The baby is hatching. Dad has come in to take over so Mum can have a break.
It is still unclear what is happening at the Sauces Bald Eagle nest on Santa Cruz in the Channel Islands. This is the nest of Jak and Audacity.
View of the egg this morning. It is getting more possible that the egg is non-viable. Too bad they couldn’t have one of of the 4 and one out of several triplet nests that have hatched.
If you missed it, the big news today is the discovery that there are four eaglets on the nest at the PA Farm Bald Eagles. This is extremely rare. I knew about 1000 Islands in Wisconsin last year. Someone wrote that Norfolk had four eaglets in 2011.
Congratulations to to Mr President and Lotus and the National Arboretum Bald Eagle nest. First hatch after 3 bare seasons. Here is the announcement.
Congratulations Mr President and Lotus. Meet the newly hatched DC8!
Thunder has been bringing in crib railing to the West End nest and wow, it is working in one area of the nest. Thunder watches to see if these three lively eaglets will remain contained!
Sometimes but not when Dad Akecheta wants to feed them the Cormorant that Mum brought in today. Sweet babies. Seriously sweet babies.
We are all going to have to get our worry beads out. These kids of Thunder and Akecheta’s do not sit still!
Sorry for all the videos. The wind doesn’t really show in the stills and it is nice to see the four eaglets bobble. In this last one for the day, put out by Cal Falcons, Annie and Grinnell get down to business. Eggs tomorrow? Sunday? Gosh, I hope the romance drama has settled out on The Campanile.
Since the last feeding right after 12 noon when Little Middle had a huge crop, a fish head was brought in at 12:59:56. River fed Big until 13:08:18 and stopped. Little Middle did not bother to go up. It was more than full and why set off Big? River moves up to the fish head at 15:01:11.
River steps on Little Middle’s head and he pulls back, frightened.
Little Middle looks up at the feeding at 15:16.
Little Middle isn’t quite sure what to do. He has looked eyes with Big. (Often never a good idea as it sets the larger sibling off).
At 15:16:48, River pulls the fish head between the two eaglets. It is now closer so she can feed Little Middle.
A bite to Big and then a bite to Little Middle.
Same again, one for Big and one for Little Middle.
Then several more bites for Little Middle. More for Big and then the feeding stops by 15:30. It was slow. Not much fish on the head. But slow is good. Big gets full faster!
At 16:50;56 River flies in with a teaser fish?? Like a 3 or 4 bite fish??
She offers the first bite to Little Middle who was the closest at 16:51:31. I am watching this live and have no idea how well that gesture is going to play out with Big.
At 16:53:59 Little Middle moves cautiously and with head down away from the feeding. Big has done nothing that I can see – other than her sheer presence – to frighten the little one. I cannot imagine what it is like being that so frightened.
River obviously likes this species of fish. She is taking big bites and eating them herself. I wonder what it is?
Big gets full at 16:55:59 and River begins feeding Little Middle off the fish head.
Little is still being fed at 17:10. Life is good. River returns to clean up scraps around 18:00. Feeds Big a few bites. Little Middle doesn’t bother.
I checked on Estonian Black Stork Karl II’s progress and note that he has flown west. I wish that he would fly a little more west and head to his home in the Karula National Forest through Romania.
On the 23rd of March, Karl was feeding at the north end of the Beysehir Lake in Turkey. I so wanted him to turn west and not go straight north to the nature reserves around Odessa in the Ukraine. He left that feeding area and flew NW! 285 km
Today, he flew 308 km. He is west of Istanbul, west of the Black Sea.
Here is another map. Will Karl II turn to feed along the shores of the Black Sea or will he continue to fly north away from the war in the Ukraine? If he continues to fly west away from the conflict this is quite wonderful. How did he know?
The sun is setting on another good day at the Captiva Osprey nest in Florida. Lena and Andy have done well. Both Middle and Little are getting beautiful juvenile feathering. So happy for them. There continues to be no word from the second lab on what suddenly killed Big on the 15th of March in the morning. You can clearly rule out some physical cause such as choking on a pellet. I believe you can rule out Avian Flu, too as the UGA Vet School would have been able to test for that.
Mum and Dad at the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge have been making more and more frequent appearances there. Both were on the barge today and on the 23rd I did get a shot of Mum eating a fish. Would love to see our Ervie again. He is staying close to home. Here is Ervie’s latest tracking.
It is a good day in Bird World (except for Sauces, sadly). Little Middle is going to sleep full even if nothing else appears on the nest. Big settled during the afternoon but Little Middle remains scared. That is probably for the best. He recovers faster than last week and has eaten almost all day.
Thank you for joining me. Take care everyone. I look forward to seeing you soon.
Thanks to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Captiva Ospreys and Window on Wildlife, Explore.org, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Looduskalender, Dale Hollow Bald Eagles, Cal Falcons, West End Bald Eagles and the Institute for Wildlife Studiews, AEF NADC, and the PA Game Commission.
24 March 2022
The image below pretty much says how the day has gone for Little Middle (notice my new nickname for DH15) at the Dale Hollow Bald Eagle nest. I do not have the time stamp but it was mid-afternoon. River had fed the kiddos all of the food on the nest. You can almost hear the two siblings comparing their crops – Little Middle insisting that his is ultimately larger because he is so much smaller than Big!
It has not been a day without its troubles, without Middle Little striking the submission pose to protect its head when Big would get up to eat. But, so far, it has been nothing like yesterday at all.
At 16:56 Obey? arrives with a fish. Big and Middle Little are too full to even think about having any bites of that fish.
Obey takes the time to aerate more of the nest.
Obey? begins calling and flies off. River? returns with a small Sucker.
At 17:11:46 s/he tries to feed Big.
Nope. Too full. Little Middle turns to face parent for a feeding but, ultimately, he is too full. Big does not even acknowledge that Little Middle is moving by the fish. Talk about a 360 degree turn.
Parent begins to bury the fish in the nest. By 17:24:25 Little Middle is ‘thinking’ about fish and drops its crop a bit. But Little Middle is just thinking and not eating. At 17:43:52 Little Middle moves over by the fish and does a couple of pecks at it.
It is now 18:09. The nest is calm.
There are two fish (Suckers) on the nest and whatever else River has hidden. Neither of the two eaglets are interested in eating. So, how to have a happy nest? how to stop intimidation? Keep the fish coming in for several days in a row. Are we beginning to turn the corner at the Dale Hollow nest? Gosh, I sure hope so!
River is looking at them and she knows bedtime is coming. Will she try to feed the pair again?
Yes. At 18:36:51, River unzips the large Sucker at the top right of the nest.
At 18:37:07 River offers the first bite to Little Middle. Is this a mistake?
Little Middle wants to move around to the other side of River. Good move. River feeds Big.
Smart. If Big gets mad, Little Middle is protected by being on the other side of Mum.
At 18:48:25 Little Middle takes a chance and moves up between Mum and Big. What is he thinking???!!!!!!
Goodness. Little Middle gets some bites and also reaches down and eats some of the flakes of fish off the nest. Talk about brave! Whoooooaaaa.
Wow. That worked out. Little Middle is totally stuffed and walks away from the feeding area at 18:53.
You could set an alarm by Obey’s regular 19:00 visit to check on the nest. He must be happy with what he sees – two full healthy eaglets.
The feeding is over. There is one fish hidden and half of the large sucker remaining for tomorrow morning. Sweet eaglet dreams everyone. It has been a good day at Dale Hollow.
Other Nests: There is a pip in the first egg at Decorah North for Mr North and Mrs DNF. That pip started at 12:46. Just after I was thinking that the Cal Falcon scrape of Annie and Grinnell was secure, Annie flies off to hunt or something and Grinnell entertains one of the five juvenile females that are trying to entice him. Grinnell, behave yourself! BTW. This is not normal behaviour and ‘B’ suggested today that Grinnell has not been the same since his injury 29 October. I agree. This scrape is certainly better than the old soap operas that used to be on the telly that my Grandmother watched!!!!!! There is also a pip in the second egg at the MN DNR nest of Harry and Nancy.
Parents at Pittsburgh Hayes are doing great with their two wee ones. Dad hauled in a massive fish after the following video was posted.
Jasper and Rocket at the NEFlorida nest of Samson and Gabby are still home, still self-feeding, and still adorable.
The two little ones of Liberty and Guardian on the Redding Bald Eagle nest need a bath! It is not clear if it was a coot or a duck but they are now being fed one of the organs. They have not injured one another – it is just the feeding!
Thunder brought in a really nice fish to the West End Bald eagle nest. The trio lined up nice and straight and very polite for their feeding.
At the Captiva Osprey Nest Lena is using her peripheral vision and is really hoping that Middle doesn’t hit her with a PS.
Lena has moved over because she knows that Andy is incoming with dinner. The kids are excited to see a fish on the nest.
Martin has at least 5, perhaps more, super large fish on his nest with Rosa at Dulles-Greenaway. Wish he could courier a couple of those over to Dale Harbour.
And if you want to imagine a spread in hatch days, these are the dates for Big Red’s eggs: March 14, 17, 20, and 23. Yes, the difference from egg 1 to 4 is 9 days.
Arthur would really like Big Red to move so he could have a turn incubating those precious eggs.
It has been a good day! Thank you so much for being here with me. Looking forward to seeing you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Dale Hollow Eagle Cam, West End Bald Eagles and the Institute of Wildlife, MN DNR, Pix Cams, Dulles-Greenaway Eagles, Redding Eagle Cam, Captiva Ospreys, and NE Florida Bald Eagles.
24 March 2022
Please pardon any spelling or grammar issues today. I have not had time to proof this report, unfortunately. Thank you!
So far it is a pretty good morning even at Dale Hollow Lake Bald Eagle nest on the border of Tennessee and Kentucky in the US. I turned on my computer just as a small fish was brought in my River, with its head, at 08:11:14.
Big goes to intimidate Middle at 08:23:49 but it is not the level of frenzy that Middle experienced late on the 23rd. Big ate all of the fish that came in. It was finished at 08:35:16. Then River moved over to the piece of Sucker that was still on the nest at 08:36:29.
I was encouraged by River’s actions as she clearly seemed to have feeding Middle in her mind. Middle turned to River to eat at 08:37:23 and then Big entered the picture pushing herself between River and Middle after she had a PS.
It was evident that both Big and Middle had eaten earlier as Middle had a nice crop.
River began feeding Middle at 08:38:25.
Eight minutes later, at 08:46:15, Big decides it wants to eat and starts intimidation. It ate a few bites.
River tries again to feed Middle at 08:47:33. River stops feeding at 08:47:25. There is still a piece of the sucker left. The nest is quiet of any animosity. At 09:03:38 Big turns and towers over Middle and does nothing! River returns to the nest. She is aerating the area by the small piece of remaining sucker. Big moves down at 10:01:20 and River feeds Big all the Sucker.
By 10:11:40 Middle is up at the top of the nest on the left being fed the rest of the old fish tail (not much on it). Big ignores the whole thing! Both eaglets are full. It is just after 10:15 on the nest.
Despite the modest attempts of intimidation, Middle ate this morning and has a nice crop when I stop watching. Big also has a crop. Hopefully more larger fish will come on the nest. Indeed, I hope that obey knows where to find more suckers! We can be joyful. This morning has been good for Middle!
River returns to the nest later to aerate. It is now 11:35. No more food items but not expected. Both Middle and Big have big crops still!
Middle had a really healthy PS at 11:32:41.
There is Big’s Crop. Because Big is such a large bird – no doubt she is a she – her food requirements are probably twice that of Middl now. Continue to send positive wishes for this nest. We are not out of the woods yet but I sure hope we are in a week. Both chicks cast pellets this morning and both had at least one PS. Enjoy this morning. It has been a good one at Dale Hollow.
Here is the first view of the newly hatched chick at Harry and Nancy’s MN DNR (hatched yesterday).
I have received word from ‘S’ in Latvia that a female interloper White-tailed eagle has destroyed the two eggs that Milda had laid on her nest in Durbe County. This is what ‘S’ conveyed: “Just a quick update. Yesterday evening a ringed strange female came to the nest and destroyed/ate Milda’s eggs while Milda was away feeding. Voldis did not stop her. It’s clear Voldis is not in any nesting mode yet, since his incubation skills also did not improve significantly. The intruder female is a Latvian WTE who was ringed in Latvia, near Jaunpils in 2016.”
Here is a video summary of the events:
As ‘S’ points out, many of the experienced watchers of Milda’s nest believe this to be better as it is clear that the situation could have gotten worse – no care for hatchlings, lack of prey to nest, etc.
‘S’ also included a message sent out by the Ornithologist, Jan Kuze:
“Today we have witnessed a very interesting turn of events – at least I am not aware of any other such cases. The role was played by the fact that the male is young and inexperienced, its connection with the territory and this partner is not sufficiently strong yet. The female continues to incubate due to inertia, but it cannot be ruled out that another egg will be laid in this nest, the next week or two will show.
I ringed the egg-eating female bird in the vicinity of Jaunpils on 25.05.2016. It is a young female who has reached the nesting age and is looking for a nesting area, it cannot be ruled out that we will continue to see her here and that some conflicts will continue.”
In Montana, members of the Raptor Resource Project are installing some ‘goose exclusion’ mechanisms to the Osprey nests. Here is the message from Dr Ericke Green:
It is not an Osprey nest but an unused Bald Eagle nest at Decorah, Iowa. The Canada Goose that has been checking out this nest has now laid her first egg. This is going to be a terrific nest to watch as long as there are is no predation. Imagine all those little goslings jumping off the sides.
The goose laid the egg and then covers it. Did you watch Daisy on the WBSE nest? If so, you might remember that the goose or duck will lay their eggs and then begin to add down from their breast to make the soft nest. After 24 hours, the goslings will all jump down! They have quite a ways to go but video has been taken of goslings jumping 106 m or 350 feet. They bounce! It is really exciting. They will then follow their Mother to water where they will begin eating. Ducklings and goslings are precocial – covered in feathers and able to eat on their own after hatch. Amazing.
On the Cornell Campus yesterday, 19 year old Big Red surprised everyone when she laid a 4th egg! Perhaps most surprised was her 6 year old mate, Arthur. Cornell called it “unprecedented” on Twitter. Red tail Hawks can lay up to 5 eggs. Since the camera became operative in 2012, Big Red has consistently laid 3 eggs. It is not know how many she laid in years prior.
I will alert all of you as pip approaches for Big Red and Arthur as well as for the Peregrine Falcon couple, Annie and Grinnell. If you are used to watching eagles, it is very educational to observe the smaller raptors and how they manage larger clutches.
Speaking of Falcons, it is not time for any egg laying by the Australian falcons at CBD 367 Collins Street or Xavier and Diamond at Orange. That will come in late summer. For now, there are several nests. That said, I am playing close attention to Annie and Grinnell (as much as Dale Hollow allows for). This morning Grinnell was in the scrape at 06:44:05 calling Annie. I sure hope he had her breakfast! In terms of hunting, Peregrine Falcons, the fastest birds in the world flying up to 370 kph, capture their prey when flying. That prey can range from parrots, doves, pigeons, Starlings, to geese and herons depending on the falcons location.
For those just starting/thinking about observing this scrape, there is one quick difference between Grinnell and Annie. Grinnell has a black ID on his left leg and a standard silver band on the right. I would also like to draw your attention to the hue of Grinnell’s legs, cere (the yellow part above the beak), and the yellow around his eyes. Notice how the colour appears to be an orange-yellow. This deep colour indicates that Grinnell is extremely healthy.
At 08:48 Annie returns to the scrape. Peregrine Falcons may have first laid their eggs in twig nests but, if they did, they evolved to using cliffs with sand or pebbles. It is believed that this allows for few, if any, diseases unlike Eagle nests that constantly have to be aerated.
The eggs that Annie will lay are some of the most beautiful in the avian world with their rich red-brown colour. Indeed, because of their beauty and size they became the target of egg collectors. Once Annie begins hard incubation, her and Grinnell will take turns for 33-35 days. On occasion, as at the CBD Collins Street Nest in 2021, all three of their eggs hatched within a few hours. It helps to avoid the issues that we have seen at Dale Hollow and with Eagles and Ospreys in general. Once hatched, it is 5 to 6 weeks til fledge. The parents will then train the eyases to hunt and feed them for about another month. On occasion, the fledglings return to the nest area.
I sure hope Grinnell had a good breakfast for her. Annie appears to be ‘thinking’ about laying eggs. We wait.
Here is a recap by CalFalcons of the 2021 year. You might want to turn the sound down a little – the music is quite loud (or maybe not). It compresses the season from mating to banding to fledge.
At the Berry College nest of Pa Berry and Missy, B15 is one sweet and energetic eaglet! The nest has become a launch pad for ever higher jumping. B15 loves the wind between its wings. This morning he was up checking out the DVR. Fledge could come any day now. It has been a terrific year for this nest.
About four hours ago, Harriet at the Dahlgren Osprey nest laid her second egg. Jack continues to bring in toys. Oh, dear. Last year an egg got lost in all the items on this nest. Poor Harriet.
As we wait for Richmond and Rosie to finish their nest and the arrival of Iris in Montana, the Ospreys heading to Europe are on the move. A couple of days ago there were 51 on a site in Senegal and today only 10.
I want to check on Karl II, the male at the Karula National Forest Black Stork nest who is making his way home for the spring and summer breeding season in Estonia. Yesterday, 23 March, Karl was making good progress and was feeding at Lake Beysehir in Isparta Province in Turkey.
Karl II would normally be heading for an area around Odessa in the Ukraine on the Black Sea. Is it possible that he might revert and fly slightly West? We wait.
The day is half over on the Dale Hollow nest and I would suggest that it was a good start. River is currently on the nest shading the eaglets.
Thank you so much for joining me. I have skipped around checking on other Bird news this morning. All of the other nests are doing well and there is a lot going on. A storm is heading to Captiva that might put fishing off for Andy because the air pressure drives the fish deeper in the Water. Jackie and Shadow have been dealing with intruders. I may not get to all of those today. It could be a very late report. Take care everyone!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams and/or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Cornell Bird Lab and the Montana Osprey Project, Cornell Bird Lab and RTH, Dale Hollow Eagle Cam, Cal Falcons, Berry College Eagles, Looduskalender, Google Maps, Dahlgren Ospreys, and Explore.Org. I know that there are more pressing concerns in the Balkans but I am extremely grateful to ‘S’ who took the time to alert me about Milda’s eggs being predated. Thank you ‘S’, I know the birds are your solace right now.
23 March 2022
I am going to start with the ‘Ugly’ so that the ending of this posting can possibly be joyful. Please forgive any typos or grammar today. It has been crazy!
The Dale Hollow nest continues to be quite unsettled. Yesterday morning both of the chicks enjoyed about half an American coot each. They were still filled late in the afternoon. As many of you know the camera was turned away from the nest for some time. It was speculated by many, including me, that River had been digging in the nest and fed Little Bit’s body to Big.
There was, however, an unidentified object on the nest that I have now IDed. I finally put a scope up to view it. Go down to the bottom. Those are the whitish-pink feet and talons of a nestling Bald Eagle. Move up. You can see the wing. The ‘fur’ is the thermal down of an eaglet and it is not Little Bit who did not have her down and was not that big. This object is no longer on the nest. But it is decidedly a nestling eaglet.
Is it possible that the reason the camera was turned away was the delivery of live nestlings to be eaten taken from another nest?
Middle has had nothing to eat since the Coot. There was an unidentifiable object that appeared to be a pelt of some kind brought on and today at 13:24:29 River flew in with what looked like a sheet of dry fish skin. Big clearly wanted to send a message to Middle. “There is only enough for me!” and Big went on the attack before the dried skin landed on the nest.
There needs to be a couple of big fish or another Coot brought on to this nest right away to calm Big’s warpath down! So where are the fish? or the Coot? It is nearly 14:00 – every other Bald Eagle nest had food early this morning!
Update for Dale Hollow: At 14:18:49 a big fish with head is brought on to the nest. The adult begins to feed Big immediately.
Middle is listening and carefully watching. He begins to mov slowly around to the right of the nest rim at 14:26:22.
At that same moment, the adult moves the fish and Big who stopped being fed notices Little and goes on the attack.
Middle is so terrified that once it gets up to the beak of the parent – thankfully they turned to face the rim so it could be on the opposite side – it first refuses. Middle takes its first bite at 14:40:36.
It is extremely difficult to see how much fish – during the feeding – that each of the eaglets got.
At 15:16:07, you can see that Middle has a nice crop. There is also some fish on the nest.
So, Middle has eaten today and that is wonderful. There is enough fish for each of them to have something later but…that will depend on the mood of Big. It is terrifying to the garden birds when Sharpie comes and is successful in its hunting. I cannot image what it would be like to live with something like a ‘hawk’ right in the nest with you. Middle will need to continue watching and listening. He did well today. It was only when the adult moved the fish that Big noticed Middle was moving. If that did not happen, Middle would have quietly gotten up front. Still, after being beaked many times, he moved up to eat. It is wonderful.
I was getting ready to close and well, Middle gets the ‘Gold Star’ of the day. It quietly went up to one of the two pieces of fish and began self-feeding. Not the full blown self-feeding we think of but it was holding the tail piece down and getting fish. Big had no idea what was going on!
River has flown in to feed both of the eaglets the remaining fish. Big did beak and tower over Middle because it was already up there ready to eat.
It did, later, get some of the fish.
Middle has a nice crop and has moved away from the feeding area.
At the Dulles Greenaway Bald Eagle nest, Martin has been fishing. He brought in another big one for Rosa’s pantry with several on the nest! This little one is never going to have to worry about being hungry.
Martin took time to feed Rosa some of the fresh fish before the baby was fed. Sweet.
No one is going to mess with the three eaglets at the West End nest of Akecheta and Thunder. Dad is doing a great job shading the babies from the hot California sun today.
For those of you who might have missed it, Big Red and Arthur now have 4 eggs on their Cornell University campus nest. Four. The newest egg was laid at 12:17:40.
Here is the link to Big Red and Arthur’s camera, one of only two RTH cams:
My first and continuing loves were hawks and falcons. While Big Red was laying that 4th egg, Annie was spending an awful lot of time in the scrape box. In fact, it is 13:47 in Berkley California and Annie is still there. She first arrived at 07:39 staying until 10:18. She returned for a really quick visit at 11:06 returning at 12:40. She has been in the scrape since then.
If you have not watched Peregrine Falcons raise their chicks, I highly recommend that you do. You will learn a lot and can compare them to the bigger raptors.
Congratulations to Harry and Nancy at the MN DNR nest. Their first egg hatched yesterday. Poor Nancy was soaked to the skin but she kept those eggs and that baby warm and dry. This is a really beautiful couple. Here is the video.
This is today. You can just see the one fur ball. Harry was an amazing day last year at the age of 4. Looking forward to this season. Just hope the rain and cold will blow away!
‘B’ sent me a note while I was out shopping for birdseed. R1 at the WRDC nest flew back into the nest at 13:10. Thanks ‘B’. I would have missed it. This is wonderful news.
If you are looking for the eagle cam link at the Miami Zoo, here it is:
https://www.zoomiami.org/bald-eagle-cam
E19 has been enjoying the pond at the Pritchett Farm. I wonder how many times the eaglets watched their parents enjoying the water? Beautiful view.
Mr North is on the Decorah North nest in Iowa. We are on pip/hatch watch.
It is time to turn the attention to the Ospreys in the UK. At the Loch of the Lowes nest, LM12 or Laddie has been working to create the most wonderful nest for Blue NC0 since March 13. NC0 arrived at 18:19. The same bit of cool greeting for Laddie when he flew in as met Blue 33 (11) at Rutland. Go and get a fish Laddie. She has flown a great distance to get back to you safely. Oh, it is getting dark. Hurry up! or she will be hollering all night.
Last Osprey breeding season, person or persons took a boat and chainsaw and cut down the Osprey platform at Lyn Brenig. This halted the breeding season of the Ospreys that were there. They never recovered. A new pole has been installed and the streaming cam is now live.
At Rutland Water Manton Bay, Blue 33 (11) and Maya are working on the nest. Maya is supervising after Blue kept hitting her with that branch.
Here comes Maya with soft nesting material. Blue brought Maya a nice fish later and there has been mating on the nest.
Reports of an Osprey just south of Loch Arkaig. Is it Louis? We will find out tomorrow!
It is all good. Middle at Dale Hollow is full and sound asleep.
If you missed the talk on restoring Bald Eagles to the Channel Islands, here is the link. Explore.org does a lot of very interesting presentations – not just on eagles! The one prior to this was about the need to maintain the large Sequoyah Forests and how this might done.
It has been a pretty terrific day in Bird World except for the Sauces nest of Jak and Audacity. It appears that their egg might not be viable.
We are almost at the point that other than tossing him off the nest, Big’s actions will not mean much other than intimidation. Thank goodness. Both hatched on 28 Feb so they are 25 days old today. Oh, River started feeding the remaining piece of fish. Big ate first but she positioned herself and Middle moved up and is being fed. It is 17:17:41. Look at middle’s fat legs and bottom. This eaglet is filling out. Tears!
Will close on this magical moment.
Thank you for joining me today. It is lovely to have you here with me and the raptors. Take care!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: Dale Hollow Eagle Cam, Dulles-Greenaway BE, Rutland Manton Bay, Loch of the Lowes and Scottish Wildlife Trust, Pix Cams, Decorah North, WRDC, MN DNR, Cal Falcons, Cornell Bird Cam RTH, and the West End Bald Eagles.