The arrival of the fourth eyas at the 367 Collins Street Peregrine Falcon nest took everyone by surprise. Looking carefully, viewers proclaimed a fourth head bobbing about – and they were right. I have no idea when during the night this little one entered the world but all are happy. Parents are busy brooding and feeding!
“Wake up everyone. You have to eat some more pigeon so you will grow big and strong.”
Wakey, wakey!!!!!!
“But, Dad, we just ate. That doesn’t matter darling. Your mother told me to feed you often so no one is hungry.”
“That’s right. Open wide.”
Some of the eyases have their eyes open today.
Ah, beautiful mom with her four babies tucked under her.
Those four little fluff balls will become the fastest animal on the planet. They can fly 390 kmh. The chicks will become ‘flying predators’. It is hard to imagine but before we blink, they will have fledged. Their parents feed them til they can hunt successfully. Then Mum and Dad will do what all birds of prey do – send the kids out on their own to establish their own territory. As far as Dr Victor Hurley, head of the Victorian Peregrine Falcon Project, knows, this couple is the only one in downtown Melbourne. Imagine.
Peregrine falcons were used for hunting in the medieval era. In England, they were called ‘falcon gentle’. Frederick II (1194-1250, Holy Roman Emperor, rated the peregrine falcon as being as good as the best gyrafalcon. Peregrine falcons are 35-51 cm long and have a wingspan of 79-114 cm. The females weigh 740 grams to 1.3 kilos while the smaller male is from 550-750 grams. English kings used the peregrine falcon for hunting herons, cranes, ducks, and rooks.
Here is a great video (8 minutes) about the falcons.
To test the speed of a peregrine falcon against a new generation of electric racing cars, a contest was set up. Have a look:
It is such a privilege for us to be able to watch these four chicks grow into masters of the skies. I love falcons!
Updating news on the Port Lincoln Ospreys. Dad brought in a late night feed yesterday at 18:24:55. He had another fish on the nest this morning early, at 6:09:52. Those three are doing just fine!
Thank you for joining me today. Why don’t you check in on the falcons? Here is the link:
Take care everyone! Tomorrow I will introduce you to some of the visitors to the garden today.
Thank you to 367 Collins Street Falcons by Mirvac where I took my screen shots.
This screen capture was taken yesterday afternoon. Look at how well the three eyases are doing – within hours of hatching. Simply beautiful. Their eyes were closed but they will be open today.
Little Dad arrives with prey.
All of those images came from yesterday.
The following images were taken on 1 October. It is early morning. Mom is going to get up and take a break. You can see Dad standing on guard while she is away from the nest.
In the image below you can clearly see the fourth egg. You can also see the other shells.
Awwww. Sweet. Such a proud and beautiful mom.
Quite honestly I cannot tell you that there are four eyases. that is the same egg shell and well, I just continue to believe that there are three and may always be three.
There is another proud and happy mom and that is the female at the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge. She has every reason to believe that the curse that has hung over this nest – the curse of siblicide – will not happen this year. Life is good on the nest. Dad seems to have a new interest in getting fish on the nest when they are needed. In addition, he has often stayed on the nest for a few minutes or longer after a delivery. I don’t believe he is there to take the fish from Mum but, rather, to help maintain order.
I love how the sun just makes Mum glow.
Dad delivered a fish at 6:51:12. It wasn’t a whopper but it was a nice size for the chicks to start their day. And it came early! Thanks, Dad.
Look at those sweet faces lined up waiting for some bites.
Already their crops are expanding. (One day I would like to actually touch one and see if they are hard squishy).
By 8:24, Mum has the kids tucked in. Eat and sleep, sleep and eat. That is what little ospreys and falcons do!
But wait! Those chicks have hardly gotten to sleep. Is it another fish delivery? Mom is sure off the babes and calling.
She walks around the sleeping babies carefully. She can see Dad coming in with the fish! Wake up kids. Time to eat!!!!!!!! What, again?
One is so full from the previous feed that it can’t even get up to eat. But, if the length of the coppery peach feathers on the neck is anything to go by, Little Bob is up at the table having another plate full. He would be the one up at the table on the left.
Another one gives in to food coma. This is so crazy. Two are already passed out from food comas and it is only 8:32 in the morning. Dad, you amaze me.
Oh, this last chick is going to be so full. What a wonderful way to begin the day.
Mum was still feeding at 8:39. It is a nice fish. Are the others waking up and wanting more? No, looks like one is out for the count.
By 8:44, the fish is gone and all of the chicks are rolled up into balls trying to sleep off those two feedings.
If this level of food delivery and stability continues on the Port Lincoln Nest, this will be the first year in the history of the nest that three osplets fledge. There are so many people around the world overjoyed at the change. It really is something to celebrate.
These are two very proud moms and for good reason.
Thank you for joining me. Take care everyone. Stay safe!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: 365 Collins Street Falcons by Mirvac and the Port Lincoln Osprey Project.
And at 10:02:38 the second eyas broke through its shell. Mum picked through the yolk and it is right in the middle of her breast.
Now she is looking around for Dad to tell him all the good news if he doesn’t know already.
One of the things I find fascinating about falcons (all birds that I know) is that they talk to the chicks encouraging them to hatch. That coupled with hearing the peeps from their siblings must be invigorating.
Let us hope the other two are out by noon. It could certainly happen.
Wait, are there three now? That one egg was pretty smushed. Oh, gosh. It could be. We will wait to be sure.
Meanwhile there has been a feeding at the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge. Dad was taking a fish to the nest around 7:25. The camera was focused on the ropes so it was hard to tell. By 7:48:46, the trio had small crops. (The fish did not look huge).
The babies are so sweet with their big feet, fat little bottoms and tails that are beginning to grow.
Wow. It is an absolutely great morning down in Australia. How could it be any better?
Well, it just did. I heard Mom talking to Dad and she is letting him brood and incubate while she takes a break. Way to go!
Looking forward to the next two confirmed hatches at Collins Street. Tomorrow they will be soft and fluffy with little pink beaks and feet! Adorable. I cannot wait.
Meanwhile, you can check it out yourself on YouTube. If you have never watched peregrine falcon eyases eat and grow, then I encourage you to do so.
Bye everyone,. Thanks for joining me on this very short announcement. Stay safe.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I get my screen shots: Port Lincoln Osprey Project and 367 Collins Street Falcons by Mirvac.
Mum was very restless around 04:00 on the 30th of September in Melbourne. She could hear her babies – and, in particular, she must have know that one of them was about ready to hatch.
That hatch came at 8:36:03!
Look at that little pink eyas covered with soft white down coming into the world.
Mom has dutifully removed the shell and is keeping the wee one warm. Wonder how many more will hatch today?
Look at Mum. She is glowing, not grumpy looking1. One baby has arrived safe. Three more to go.
Peregrine Falcons do a delayed incubation. This means that while they spend some time incubating the eggs that are laid, they do not go into a hard 24/7 style of keeping the eggs warm until the final one is laid. This way they hatch closer together and there is less cause for rivalry. In 2020, all three girls hatched within six hours.
Dad: start stocking up on pigeons!
I couldn’t wait to tell you.
You can watch all of the excitement here:
Oh, it is eggciting. I just love this peregrine falcon family.
Take care everyone. Thanks for checking in!
And thanks to 367 Collins Street by Mirvac for their streaming cam where I took these screen shots.
Go and grab the tissue box or a handkerchief, you are going to need it. Lady Hawk has put out the season highlights for the Royal Cam family – LGL, LGK, and Tiaki! And while you are watching it, Tiaki is off being an albatross 95 km off the coast of Canterbury, New Zealand. She is going about her day, flying, landing on the water, and looking for squid!
Holly Parsons posted an article about Tiaki that appeared in a NZ paper. You might enjoy reading it. There are some interesting facts such as 2.3 million people watched the Royal Cam chick from 1 December til fledge which amounted to 400,000 hours of streaming cam time! Wow.
Clearly none of us knows what it is like to have to incubate four large peregrine falcon eggs for over a month but, early in the morning the Mom in the scrape box in Melbourne has been getting much more restless. Will all four hatch within six hours? Wow. That will just be crazy. I hope little Dad has been stashing pigeons somewhere close. If Mom refuses to give up her incubation duties, we will know that she is listening to the chicks and there could be a pip or a crack.
Thank goodness the earlier rains have stopped!
Here is the link to this streaming cam so you can watch the action when these sweeties hatch:
It will be about a week before there will be a hatch at the scrape box on the water tower at Charles Sturt University in Orange. Mom is trying to catch all the sleep she can before the trip join her and Xavier.
It would be wrong to put the link to the camera in Melbourne and not the one to Xavier and Diamond. This couple is such a sweet pair.
It is a little wet at Port Lincoln Osprey barge this morning. Mom is, no doubt, giving Dad some ‘Door Dash’ orders for breakfast.
The little one doesn’t seem to mind the few drops of rain. I just can’t get over how well these chicks blend in with the nest. Nature is the best designer!
If you have hesitated to watch this nest, I encourage all Osprey lovers to embrace it. The chicks are doing so very, very well. Here is that link:
The White Bellied Sea Eaglets are doing well this year, too. This nest has also experienced little aggression and both eaglets are thriving. Lady was in early to feed them.
They are beginning to explore the lower branches. It will be a blink before they are really branching. It has been a pleasure to watch the lives of these beautiful sea eagles this year.
I will update you on the feedings on the Port Lincoln Osprey nest later today and if there is any confirmation of pips or cracks at 367 Collins Street.
For now it is 31 degrees C or 87.8 F on 29 September on the Canadian Prairies. Unbelievable. It is a great evening to go and check on the ducks.
Take care everyone. Thank you for joining me. Be kind to all living things.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screenshots: the Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Sea Eagles @Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, The Falcon Cam at Charles Sturt University at Orange, and 367 Collins Street by Mirvac. Thanks Lady Hawk for the video!
Yesterday I waited until the trio at the Port Lincoln Osprey nest had their morning feast before I headed off to read and sleep. There was a smile on my face. The chicks had a huge fish to share with mum at 8:57:45. They looked like they were going to pop those crops! I did one last check and goodness gracious, one of them was having some extra bites at 10:20:16. I hope Mum got some good fish! Where in the world are these osplets putting all this food?
Here is an image of that breakfast fish. It is a nice one and all of the chicks ate well and behaved themselves.
Nice crops.
It’s clown feet time! Just look at how full Little Bob is – and the size of those feet.
Mum offering a chick some more bites. Just in case they might still be hungry. What a great Mum she is!
Dad made another delivery at 13:32:17. The chicks still have some crop left from the morning ‘whale’ of a fish.
Bigger crops. These three should sleep for the rest of the afternoon.
There is another small fish delivery at 17:00:36.
That little fish was gone very quickly.
And another fish was delivered at 18:18:57.
No one went to bed hungry.
It has been raining in Orange and Melbourne. There is no indication that there is a pip in any of the eggs at the 367 Collins Street scrape. That said it is really hard to see because the couple chose to use the scrape at the far end of the ledge away from the camera.
You can see the rain gathering in the gutter area. Stay dry falcons!
It is supposed to rain for the next couple of days. Maybe the eyases will wait. What lousy weather to hatch if you do not have any protection from the rain like the scrape box of Xavier and Diamond in Orange. It is about 8 days for hatch there.
Xavier arrived with a full crop and soaking wet to see if Diamond wanted him to take a turn incubating. While Diamond made up her mind, Xavier caught a little sleep. Oh, what a sweetie. Look at his crop – wow.
But look at how dry it is for these two. I wonder if anyone in Melbourne would consider putting some kind of a cover over those two scrapes for next year? Can’t do it now as it would stress out and disturb the birds but, maybe next.
Lady Hawk recorded WBSE 27 and 28 doing the morning duet with their parents. Oh, I remember when WBSE 26 sang with its parents. That was such a delight. Now we have these two joining in the family tradition. As you can see they are both doing fabulous.
There nest is quite dry. Sleeping duckling style!
That is the morning check in with our Australian nests and scrapes. Let’s hope that the forecast for rain in Melbourne is wrong! Otherwise, every bird is doing great. No worries here.
Thank you for joining me. It is another blue sky sunny day on the Canadian Prairies. We are blessed. Take care everyone. Stay safe.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: the Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Sea Eagle Cam @ Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, The Falcon Cam Charles Sturt University at Orange and Cilla Kinross, and 367 Collins Street Falcons by Mirvac.
This is just a glorious fall afternoon and with 27 and 28 degrees C, I have spent much of my time today outside.
Underneath all of these beautiful Creepers is a very ugly chain link fence.
‘Something’ decided to break the large cylinder suet holder. All the normal suspects eat without doing any damage. Little Woodpecker loved to hold on to the bars. So what was it? The obvious is the raccoon. But do raccoons eat bug and nut suet with fruit? Or maybe one of the well-fed domestic cats have reached up and pulled it down trying to get to the birds. The nuts and bolts were scattered and a piece broken. It is definitely a mystery. These incidents continually remind me that a feeder cam might come in handy.
Idris brings Telyn a fish after her commanding performance during Storm Hannah.
I have been meaning to share a video with you and until someone else mentioned it today on the PLO chat, I had forgotten. It is about Telyn. Telyn is the mate of Idris at the Dyfi Osprey Nest in Montgomeryshire, Wales. I think you will have a genuine appreciation of how protective and fierce these Osprey mothers can be!
This is the backstory. This is a weather warming that the BBC Weather Service issued on the 25th of April 2019 as the storm ravages.
And here is the video of Telyn incubating her three eggs in 2019 during that monster of a storm:
Wasn’t that incredible?! She just hunkered down deep into that nest. Wow.
What a gorgeous sight – the sun coming up over the horizon full of energy, joy, and hope at Port Lincoln.
It is 16 degrees C with 84% humidit. The weather network mentions the potential for rain and a thunderstorm. The wind is blowing at 13 km/h.
Mum and the babies are all sleeping with the gentle rock of the barge. Oh, just look at them! Old enough to regulate their own temperatures and too big to fit under mom. I bet if it rains she will quickly become the Mombrella! or she will stuff them under her. What do you think?
Sometimes breakfast is early but it seems the average is around often around 9:30 lately.
Mom is standing up looking for a fish delivery. Meanwhile, just look at those chicks and how dark they are today. Will we be able to tell who is Little Bob anymore?
Those feathers must be really itchy.
At 8:57:45 Dad brought in a whopper for Mum and the kids.
Everyone is going to be full. Great fish, Dad!
Little Bob is eating first (of course).
Oh, my gosh. I see food comas coming on quickly. Every chick ate. Every chick has an enormous tight crop. They were completely civilized. Mom and Dad PLO you are doing good!
That is Little Bob closest to the fish. So far I can identify him by his cere. Look at his crop. Do you think Ospreys ever get indigestion? And look at how much of that nice fish is left. Mom eat it up! There will be some left for Dad, too.
Oh, my. Itchy feathers and colossal crops. Time to snooze in the warm Australian sun while Mom has some nice fish for breakfast.
Every once in awhile I get little tears. They start and they must won’t stop. Not because I am sad. It is because I am so joyful and full of hope for this nest this year. Let’s keep up the momentum. Each chick will be rewarded with their very own sat-pak! We can follow them like we do Solly.
Speaking of Solly, she is a year old. Her tracker was out of sorts for a few days and had people worried but she was fine. Boots on the ground spotted her on her favourite tree at Eba Anchorage. Solly, you have done well! We are all so very pleased for you. Happy Birthday!
Just a peek at ‘not an Osprey’. Everyone seems to be fine eating in the beautiful warm sun at Port Lincoln, but in Melbourne, all eyes are on the Mum at 367 Collins Street. Will those four eggs start hatching at once? and how soon will that be?
Gosh, she’s beautiful!
That is it. I waited to make sure that everyone was fed and full at the PLO and they certainly are.
Thanks for joining me. Take care everyone. See you soon!!!!
Thank you to the Port Lincoln Osprey Project and FB page and the 367 Collins Street Falcons by Mirvac for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots.
The sun is bright and it is another blue sky day on the Canadian prairies. By evening, the temperature will be the same as the islands in the Caribbean — 29 C. It is hard to even imagine it and yet, day after day, this has been the story of 2021.
Just as remarkable as my weather is the parenting on the Port Lincoln Osprey nest. The historical information only goes back to 2015 so we know the couple have been together for six seasons, at least. In that time, they have fledged 10 chicks. In 2015, the eldest killed the two younger ones and went on to fledge. In 2016, it was a repeat of 2015. In 2017, the eldest tossed the youngest from the nest. 2 fledged that year. In 2018, two fledged. In 2019, two fledged. They were Calypso and Star. In 2020, the eldest killed the youngest. Solly, the eldest and DEW, the middle, fledged.
2021 will be a record for this nest if all three survive and all three fledge. It is looking good but, anything can happen to change this.
Yesterday, there was a fish delivery at 9:37:58. That was the one where Little Bob was running to the table. Everyone was full after and as far as I could determine no fish was left. There were two other deliveries.
The second delivery came at 14:49:57. The angle of the camera meant that it was difficult to see the chicks being fed. That said, each and every one of them had enormous crops when the third fish arrives at 18:19:09.
Mom sees Dad coming with the fish and starts doing her calling. Look at how the trio blend in so well with the dark material that has been brought to the nest. Also notice that they are now beginning to appear like old charcoal coloured rugs with light grey stripes! These three are doing so well. It is glorious.
Thank you, Dad!
Mom reaches over, carefully, to get the fish without stepping on the chicks.
Look at all of them lined up so nicely. There is no nonsense. Each gets fed til they are full or there is no more fish. There is definitely food security going on and it is shown in the civil way that the chicks react to a fish arrival.
The sun will be going down soon and these chicks are going to sleep with huge crops. They look like they could pop! Dad will have to go and get another fish for him and Mum.
Dad is spending a bit more time on the nest when he delivers a fish. Has this been a tactic by him and Mum to keep the kids lined up like a choir eating and not fighting? Whatever they are doing, it has been a couple of days since Big Bob tried to reinforce its dominance. Indeed, it has been a wonderful Osprey nest to watch!
One other check in. The two adults at the 367 Collins Street Peregrine Falcon scrape are going to be busy soon. They are incubating four eggs and the first one laid is now 38 days old. It is definitely hatch watch for this couple!
Thank you for joining me and checking in on the Osprey chicks. It is so nice to have you with me. Enjoy your day. Take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: 367 Collins Street Falcon Cam and the Port Lincoln Osprey Project.
I have heard the name but have never seen the bird – or, at least, I do not think I have. With my lousy shorebird IDs, I might have even confused this beautiful long-legged shorebird with a Greater Yellowlegs. Of course, everyone would have laughed.
Godwits are ‘very’ long legged shorebirds but their legs are not yellow! Their beak is ‘very, very’ long and is bi-coloured – light rose and espresso -and ever so slightly upturned at the end. They are called waders because they live in the mudflats and the estuaries. See how their legs go deep into the mud, too. They feed by sticking that very long beak into the mud, rooting around for worms and small shellfish.
The breeding adults have a chest that ranges from a deep terracotta for the males to a brighter orange for the females. The wing and back feathers are more brown and white overall with a touch of the breast colour, sometimes. They have gorgeous dark eyes.
What is so miraculous about these shorebirds is their migration. They breed in Alaska and fly in September to New Zealand! They make only one stop, normally. And they do the trip in record time. It is an 11,265 kilometre journey or 7000 miles. They accomplish this in eight days! Yes, you read that correctly, eight days.
Neils Warnock, the Executive Director of Alaska Audubon in 2017, remarked, “These godwits are epic migrants. We had a bird, E-7, that we had tagged, and she left New Zealand in the spring. She flies non-stop seven days, ten thousand kilometres, to the Yellow Sea. All of the Bar-tailed Godwits of Alaska, they stop at the Yellow Sea.”
The Yellow Sea is located between mainland People’s Republic of China and the Korean Peninsula.
Historically the mudflats of the Yellow-Sea have been rich with food for the Bar-tail Godwits so they can fatten up and make the rest of the journey to their winter homes in New Zealand without having to stop. Today, the mudflats of the Yellow Sea are under threat – they are disappearing with coastal development. This could prove to be a major challenge for these beautiful shorebirds. There have been many studies and the researchers have seen a drop in the number of shorebirds by 30% in the last few years because the mudflat areas have been reduced by 65%.
Today the Pukorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre in New Zealand reported that Bar-tailed Godwit 4BYWW made his flight in 8 days and 12 hours arriving home at 03:00 on 26 September. He flew 12,200 km. His average speed was 59kph. 4BYWW may have set a new distance record for the Bar-tail Godwits. We will know when the others return home. Isn’t that amazing?
What I found most interesting was her route. She does not appear to have gone via the Yellow Sea. Is this because of the decline of the mud flats? Have the birds adapted their migratory route? I definitely want to look at this more closely.
This was the satellite tracking image posted by the Pukorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre FB page:
The Centre was tracking another four adults and 3 juveniles on their journeys home. One of those, 4BWWB, has been reported as flying non-stop for 163 hours and over 10,000 km. Seriously, my head can’t comprehend what that must be like. I am also truly amazed at what these sat-paks can tell us about the birds and their amazing resilience. Just incredible.
Tiaki officially fledged on the 25th of September. The Royal Albatross cam chick of 2021 is foraging off the coast of New Zealand at the present time. She will eventually make her way to the waters off of South America near Chile. We wait for her return in four to six years to Taiaroa Head where we will hear that beautiful Sky call, again.
While millions and millions of birds are moving from their summer breeding grounds to their winter homes, others are waiting for eggs to hatch. Holly Parsons posted a table of Diamond’s incubation history.
Xavier and Diamond’s first egg was laid in the scrape box on top of the water tower at Charles Sturt University in Orange, Australia on 31 August this year. Cilla Kinross, the main researcher, is expecting a hatch from 6-9 October with the most promising day being the 7th. Can’t wait!
Diamond was catching some sleep this morning. If all of the eggs hatch, her and Xavier are going to be very busy!
If the hatch is expected around the 7th of October at Orange, then what about those Melbourne Peregrine Falcons? The first egg was laid on the 21st of August – yes, that is right. Ten days before the Orange falcons. So, I am going to be looking for a hatch at Melbourne starting in two days!!!!!! This means that all of the Melbourne eggs, if viable, will hatch before those in Orange. It will be nice to get to enjoy them without trying to watch both at the same time!
For those of you wondering about those beautiful White-bellied Sea Eagles, 27 and 28, here they are. Talk about gorgeous.
Things will really be starting to ramp up shortly. Bald Eagle breeding season in the United States begins in a few days. Looking forward to checking on some nests to see if the birds have returned – such as Anna and Louis who had the first hatch on a nest in the Kisatchie Forest last year since 2013. His name was Kistachie – very appropriate.
Then there is always the trio at Port Lincoln. They had two feedings this morning and a third at 11:31:27 when Dad brought in a very small fish. All of the chicks were well behaved – quite civil to one another. And, of course, Little Bob is right there in front! Look carefully you can see him.
Life is good. Everything seems to be going really well for all the nests.
Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope you enjoyed learning about the Godwits as much as I did. Incredible birds. Take care everyone!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots or for postings on their FB pages that I have shared with you: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, 367 Collins Street Falcons by Mirvac, Falcon Cam Project at Charles Sturt University and Cilla Kinross, Pukorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre, Sea Eagle Cam @Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, and Cornell Bird Lab and NZ DOC.
One of the problems with the streaming cams is the ‘chat’ feature. There, I have said it. The same persons come on at different times of the day, every day or every other day and say the same negative things. There is one on the PLO chat that always says, ‘The mother never feeds the youngest’. ‘Mama feed in order never feeds youngest.’ Seriously! Either they can’t rewind, they don’t watch, or they just want to stir the pot of negativity. I think that it is all three. So I go back to an old cry out of mine, Streaming cams need 24/7 knowledgable moderators. They need them to stop the bots coming in and they need them to stop the negative chatter. Even more so, if something happens on the nest they need to have emergency numbers to call or place them on the streaming cam site at the top.
The Port Lincoln Osplets are doing fine! And it is something to celebrate. One of the most exciting things is to watch them grow and grow they are. these chicks are losing their light grey coat to get their second, darker grey down. You can see the little pin feathers starting. still, each retains a tiny bit of its egg tooth. The feet are getting bigger, wings are growing and the tiny tails are starting. If you didn’t know the different species at this age of 9-10 days, just look at that beautiful dark mask going from the cere to behind the eye. that is the distinctive bandit mask of the Osprey!
Dad comes in with another fish. the big one that arrived earlier is all gone.
The chicks are getting bigger and they don’t like sleeping under Mum like they did when they first hatched. Indeed, these little ones seem to be tumbling around underneath her much of the time.
Awwww. Such sweeties.
Because it is winter in Australia, the light changes early. Mum and dad are on the nest and the little ones are getting another feed. Notice how much they have grown. It is as if someone took them and stretched them in the last couple of days. They no longer appear like short fat little chicks but they are entering another phase where they will begin to look like thin reptiles with long necks.
Each is doing fine. There were not as many big fish yesterday as during the high winds but everyone was fed and no one was left out.
I literally checked into the White Bellied Sea Eagle nest to see how WBSE 27 and 28 are doing. Lady was feeding them.
That is WBSE 28 at the front of the nest with its big crop. 27 is practicing its self feeding with a small piece of prey.
This nest will have two fledges this year. I so hope the Pied Currawong do not chase them out of the forest so they can fly and return to the nest for more meals while they get their piloting in order.
Lady Hawk did a video of 27 learning to self-feed and 28 nibbling at her toes. Have a look:
The strongest earthquake in recorded history hit Melbourne, Australia yesterday.
The first thing many thought of were the four eggs of the Peregrine Falcons at 367 Collins Street.
Dad was on the eggs at the time and stepped off wondering what was happening.
Everything appears to be fine. Some buildings were damaged but no one was killed. Thankfully! We are nearing hatch watch for this couple.
In Orange, the running joke has been Xavier wanting his time to incubate the eggs.
Xavier doesn’t want to give up his incubating time!
Do you know why the male Peregrine falcon is called Xavier? It is one of those heart wrenching stories that makes you love this little male bird even more.
Diamond’s eggs were ready to hatch. Her mate, Bula, disappeared and was presumed dead. As we all know, the chicks would have died. Instead, enter a new male who starts helping with the chicks and raises them as if they were his own. Because he was a ‘saviour’ of the family, he was named Xavier.
The researcher at Orange is Cilla Kinross. She did a cute video of the negotiations between Diamond and Xavier over the incubation duties.
Everything is changing at these four nests in Australia. The White-Bellied Sea Eagles are exercising their wings, jumping, and hopping about. They are getting more adept at self-feeding although 27 still is the one that gets to the prey first it seems. Lady does come in and feed them. Branching will be next but not for a bit, thankfully. We will be watching for the four at Collins street to hatch in about four or five days. Diamond and Xavier’s chicks will follow but not for a week or a little more. And, of course, the change in the Osplets at Port Lincoln will be significant. They will look like skinny reptiles all wound around one another. The key is that everything, at this moment in time, is just fine. There are no worries. So enjoy them!
It is another beautiful fall day in Manitoba. The Green Heron has departed and I always missed it. Perhaps another will come next year! The Blue Heron is also gone but I hear there are waves of Dark-Eyed Juncos headed towards the city. I cannot wait. They love to pick apart my red outdoor carpet. Such cuties. I am going out for a long walk and to check on the Wood Ducks. Perhaps they will cooperate and there will be some good photos for me to share with you.
Thank you for stopping by. Check out the streaming cams – the birds are doing great. And, if you feel up to it, shut down the negativity. There is already enough in the world. The birds bring us joy. Take care all. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, 367 Collins Street by Mirvan, Falcon Project Cam at Orange, Sea Eagles @ Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre.
