26 October 2022
Good Morning to Everyone!
Oh, gosh, golly. Tomorrow I will be telling you what a wonderful day it is but today, it is another grey, cloudy, and miserable day. The joy is seeing all of the birds in the garden this morning. There is a row of lilac bushes about 13 metres long. Every branch is moving a little. If you look long enough, you can see the birds. (There are still leaves on those bushes). So happy that you could be with me and the birds.
Little Red and I hope that you have a fantastic day today!
Making News:
Lori Covert posted an image of the new Osprey platform for Lena and Andy. Oh, my goodness. Isn’t this wonderful! Thank you Lori and Connor at Windows to Wildlife.
There she goes!
It is always nice to have a really good news story and this is one of those. Thinking back on the eaglets from last spring, you might well remember the eaglet from the US Steel Nest, that ‘fludged’. Rosie was taken into care and on the 21st of October, after being in care for 5 months, this beautiful eaglet was released into the wild. Read the full story here:
The Audubon Centre’s beautiful Bald Eagle ambassador, Liberty, has died. She is going to be sadly missed by all the visitors and the staff she has delighted for decades.
Here is her story:
Liberty, Audubon’s Bald Eagle has passed
One of the things that I am looking forward to, when I next visit the UK, is a murmuration. There are many places to travel to see these amazing images of Starlings (and others) – hundreds if not thousands – flying and changing direction is a distinct coordination. A murmuration will take your breath away the first time you see one. Check to see if there are any local happenings near you!
If you are unfamiliar or just want a refresher on murmurations, here is a very good to the point short article by The Woodland Trust.
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2018/11/starling-murmurations/
I would add Gretna to that listing.
Australian Nest News:
Checking on the Australian nests later in the day, another nice fish landed on the Port Lincoln barge at 12:04:11. Oh, I thought Big was going to be a bit grumpy but, she wasn’t. She always demands to be fed first and Middle began his snatch and grab and eating – he is behind Mum – about half way through the fish. Oh, Middle is getting so smart! He is now eating very well in part because Big has calmed, there are big fish arriving on the nest, the pair eat more at a sitting but require less feedings…and also Middle being clever. He can really read the environment and he watches and listens and knows when to stay out of Big’s way!
Middle is behind Mum enjoying the last half of that fish. Big will, like usual, want some late fish but there is lots.
Big decides she wants another bite!
Mum gives Middle some fish scrapes but she also gets to eat a few bites herself.
There is absolutely no discord. All is going well. Dad brought in a bedtime snack late in the day. It was 1953.
The cam operator took some lovely close ups of Big and Middle earlier.
If you have been avoiding Port Lincoln for fear of further beaking, now is the time to return. The nest is very harmonious. These two are getting their beautiful juvenile plumage and they are beginning to be much steadier on their walking. They will be measured, weighed, banded, given names and their genders will be revealed at a time to be determined from the 12-14th of November. Here is the link to their streaming cam:
At Orange, Diamond picked around through the scrape finding tidbits of scraps to feed to Indigo and Rubus around 1050. At 10:54:36, Xavier arrives with what looks like a well prepped parrot. Indigo got the first of many good bites but, then, all of a sudden, Rubus, who had been standing on the Cilla stones, decided he was famished. My goodness is Rubus aggressive when there is food around!!!!!!!!!!!
Here is a cute video of the 1530 feeding at Orange yesterday. There are some great images of Rubus! It is nice to hear the sounds and see the eyases moving and wanting food!
This video was shot from the side cam but ‘A’ is telling me to make sure we look at the ledge cam often as it covers the corner that Indigo and Rubus are liking for sleeping.
Melbourne’s pigeon population is dwindling — OK. I doubt if the number of pigeons will even be noticed but, normally, on an Osprey nest with three chicks, anywhere from 450-500 food items are eaten. I wonder how many on a Falcon nest? Five feedings a day?? Yesterday was an interesting one. At 0834, there was a tug of war and a small prey item was taken and the eyases were self feeding.
After breakfast, there was another pigeon delivery at 1013:07 and then another one at 13:51. The 1013 feeding lasted 10 minutes with Mum and Dad feeding the eyases. The 1351 lasted 18 minutes.
Food is such a great motivator. The eyases will, eventually, get themselves up out of the gutter where they have been running and sleeping for that lovely pigeon.
The Melbourne Four will have another two meals before the day is over. At 1437 there is a terrifically short feeding of two minutes with the longer evening meal lasting seventeen minutes at 1849. Thank you to ‘H’ for providing those feeding lengths and confirming my times.
Just look at those wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This image is from that self-feeding frenzied moment earlier in the day.
Thank you so very much for being with me this morning. Take care everyone. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams, posts, and videos that make up my screen captures: Liz M and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Lori Covert Instagram Post, Observer Today News, Tribilive, Port Lincoln Ospreys and 367 Collins Street by Mirvac.