Tag Archives: Annie

Gabby and V3, Hen Harrier chicks stomped to death…and other news in Bird World

15 December 2022

Good Morning Everyone!

My goodness. Can you believe that we are 16 days away from 2023? Did we blink and 2022 flew by? The good news…it seems that Gabby might have been persuaded by V3’s charms. They were in the nest together and on the branches this morning!

In the garden it is snowy wonderland. About 17 cm fell – or should I saw blew in from Colorado with some more to come today. The birds do not like the heavy wet snow any more than I do. Mr Crow flew in and complained along with 27 European Starlings and a host of Sparrows.

The Starlings also knocked a solid seed cylinder to the ground and have been trying to eat it. I don’t think they like getting their feet in the snow.

The lone Blue Jay, Junior, has decided that eating the soft suet like the Starlings is a delicacy. So happy to see him enjoying it. Of course, Dyson is busy working away at the brand new solid seed cylinder that I put out this morning. Apparently Dyson & Co can eat a whole one in two days. That surprised me. They must have been eating all night!

In the World Cup of Birds, it is the French Gallic Rooster versus the Argentinian Rufous Hornero.

“João de Barro / Rufous Hornero (Furnarius rufus)” by Wagner Machado Carlos Lemes is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

“Cockerel, The golden Gauloise, whose male is named Gallic Rooster, (51650492815)” by gailhampshire is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

In Vancouver, a rare Warbler has been found and rescued in a parking garage.

Endangered bird not native to B.C. found in Vancouver parking garage

Channel Islands eaglet seen. San Miguel is the most remote of the islands and in this article Dr Peter Sharpe says he has not been there since 2017. The spotting of the eagle is excellent news.

The Channel Islands’ Bald Eagle Brothers

Deborah North Eagles caught mating. New season. New Hope.

Goodness. That Pepe at the Superbeaks Bald Eagle nest in Central Florida had some good fishing today. Just look at the size of the fish he brought in for the family! Incredible.

At the California-Berkeley Peregrine Falcon scrape of Annie, the new guy continues to come and try to wow her. However, twice he has brought prey and twice he has eaten it! I don’t think he read the ‘courting’ manual carefully. Annie is too much of a treasure. Let’s hope that this new guy shapes up or ships out!

In Louisiana, there was severe weather and tornadoes. Tonya Irwin reports on the nests in the Kisatchie National Forest:

It looks as if the male at the Metro Aviation Nest in Louisiana got hit by flying debris on his head ?? or had some other injury. It seems he will be alright.

This is a long but, a good eye-opening read from the Raptor Persecution UK. It has been suggested by Geemeff that I give you a warning before reading this. It is distressing to the extreme. Baby Hen Terriers stomped to death by humans!!!!!! Having just read Bowland Beth and a stack of books on the plight of the Hen Harrier and the Red Kites, I find this article distressing. How can we convince people that all of the animals have as much right to life as we human animals do?

Hen harrier chicks stamped to death in nest on grouse moor in Yorkshire Dales National Park

Early morning at Port Lincoln and Zoe is wishing for a fish!

We will miss that amazing Indigo when they leave the territory of Xavier and Diamond. Indigo is adorable. He has been stashing his leftover prey in the corner and Diamond has been taking it – obviously to teach Indigo many life lessons. He retrieved his prey from Mum. Look at how proud he is!

As Wednesday ends at The Hamlet, Gabby and V3 are on the nest tree together.

This image of Gabby with V3 is from this morning, Thursday 15 December. It seems Gabby might have made up her mind!

Two other love birds…Samson and Jackie. Oh, stay safe you two!

And last, some very good news sent by Geemeff —especially if you have been following The Flight of the Osprey! A live event…

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php/?fbid=471505791824836

Thank you so much for being with me today. Wherever you are, take care. See you soon!

Thank you to Geemeff for the heads up on the Flight of the Osprey live discussion. Thanks to the following for their postings, videos, and streaming cams that make up my screen captures: FOBBV, Port Lincoln Osprey, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, NEFL-AEF, Raptor Persecution UK, Tonya Irwin and Raptors of the World, Cal Falcons, Superbeaks, Raptor Resource and Explore.org, and Vancouver City News.

Grinnell update!

The plumage on a Peregrine Falcon is incredibly cute. Those beautiful slate grey heads, the horizontal striped pantaloons, the white chest, the gorgeous yellow legs and talons and cere.

One of the cutest is the little 8 year old lad below, Grinnell. Grinnell was, until the 29th of October, the resident male along with his mate, Annie, at The Campanile on the grounds of UC-Berkeley in San Francisco. On that day, Grinnell had an altercation with two falcon interlopers. He was found grounded on a garbage can about a mile and a half from The Campanile. Was he driving the interlopers out? was he fleeing? We will never know. Fortunately, he was found and taken into care at the Lindsay Wildlife Centre. There he had surgery on his wing and received antibiotics, anti-parasites, and anti-inflammatory drugs. He was doing well enough when he arrived at the clinic that he could feed himself. Apparently he quite loved the quail!

As you can see from the FB posting below, Grinnell is doing well.

Decisions will be made as to where he will be released by a couple of agencies. It is not known if Grinnell will return and fight for his territory and Annie, his mate of 6 years. Only time will tell. The good news is that Grinnell is recovering from his injuries.

Meanwhile, Annie has been getting friendly with the intruder. Oh, I wish it would go away! Annie does not know where Grinnell is and she has been scraping in the box, etc indicating that she is receptive to the new male. Falcon experts have stated that Annie will not enter into the battle if the two males rival for the territory – prime real estate! She will want to protect herself so that she will be healthy during breeding season.

Keep sending positive thoughts Grinnell’s way.

I know that some have been worried about the falcon left on the ledge at 367 Collins Street. At 11:12, Dad brought a huge prey item onto the ledge. You can see the eyas beginning to mantle, very excited. The bird was not prepped and Dad worked on it but the chick was not eating. I am not a vet but it appears that something is causing the chick to not be able to open its beak wide enough to eat. The chick appears not to be preening despite the floof (this normally causes them to itch and preen constantly) and I am concerned that there is ‘something’ not right.

I am not that familiar with the birds in Australia but it looks like it could be a Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo or a Gull.

I feel really sorry. The Dad is working hard to feed and get the little one to eat and well, it appears that it can’t. It is only a guess as to what is wrong with the chick. Will anyone do anything to get it into care, I do not know. Every country and even every state is different in their laws and attitudes. All we can do is hope that the wee bird will improve on its own.

The weather in Port Lincoln is dire. One of the boats near the barge has gone under the water in the rough waves. No one was on board. It is a cold front moving through the area. It is 13 degees C with 32 kph winds. It is not a good day for fishing with the choppy water but the osplets have been doing some hovering. I hope they don’t get blown off the nest prematurely! So far they are all safe and secure!

I wish I had better news about the little falcon on Collins Street. Send lots of love and positive wishes for there to be a turn around or — for a miracle and someone approve it going into care.

Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: 367 Collins Street Falcons by Mirvac and the Port Lincoln Osprey Project. I would also like to thank the individuals who have shared the FB posting about Grinnell.