Dad just missed seeing Ervie. In fact, Dad has come several times as if he is checking to see if Ervie is on the barge. Oh, I wish they had connected. Ervie arrives on the barge 17:41.
Here comes Ervie. He is in really good form flying in. No one else is home.
Oh, what a handsome Osprey you are, Ervie! We are so lucky that the cam operator noticed you Ervie and zoomed in so we could have a good look – and also confirm that it was, indeed, you.
There you are. You did come back to the barge as I expected. I think the barge will remain your stopping off point. Oh, I hope it will be!
Ervie, do you have to get to your own home now since no one is on the barge? Were you waiting to see if anyone would come?
Off you go. It is 20:28. You need to get home before it gets really dark. Maybe we can figure out where that is from your tracking, Ervie.
Sadly, Ervie, you missed Dad after waiting for so long by only half an hour.
Dad arrives at 20:58 on the perch.
Dad stays until after 02:25 and then he must fly over to the old barge. Ervie, he would have loved a chat down in the shed with you. He will also want to know that you are hungry or not. Have you found a good fishing spot? Can he quit worrying about his youngest?
It was so nice to see you Ervie! If your fans want to check the footage, they can still see you on the re-wind camera for awhile. The link to your camera is here:
After checking on you Ervie, I went over to see the little osplets at Captiva. They are doing really well. The little one reminds me of you, Ervie, standing tall and getting your food between Bazza and Falky sometimes. This one likes to be up front, too. Hopefully they will be good to one another in the nest like the three of you were.
Thanks for dropping by so all of us could see that you are doing well, Ervie. You are missed enormously.
Thank you for joining me this morning and thank you to the streaming cams at Port Lincoln Osprey Project and Window on Wildlife where I took my screen shots. See you soon. Take care everyone.
Ervie celebrated his 5th month birthday alone on the barge in heavy rain at times. With Dad not around and Ervie hungry, he set off to bring home a fish and he did ——– another Puffer!
Oh, Ervie looked like a wet rat when he arrived on the perch of the barge at Port Lincoln with his prize breakfast.
Can you see the soaking to the bones Ervie on the perch?
Poor Ervie.
When Ervie flew from the perch to the nest he got the Puffer stuck in the corner. He considered it. Flapped his wings, rose up and…
got his prize out and on the nest.
Now how do I unzip this thing?
Poor Ervie. You look like a drowned rat, darling.
It must feel quite odd walking around the nest with a balloon on your talon.
Deflated.
Ervie did a good job eating his fish.
Ervie was cleaning his beak after finishing his gourmet snack at 10:42:37.
I wonder if Ervie is developing a taste for Puffers? or has he found a place on his route around the shore where he finds them easily? Will he bring another one back today?
At 10:44:09 Ervie flies down to the shed waiting for Dad to come and be company with him.
Happy Birthday, Ervie!
Thank you so much for joining me. Take care. See you again soon!
Thank you to the Port Lincoln Osprey Project for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.
There were two nests that I wanted to check on before the end of Sunday. The first was the NEFlorida nest of Samson and Gabby and the second was our dear Ervie at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge.
The winds are still blowing at around 21 km/h and it is 9 degrees C – cold for Jacksonville, Florida – and the NEFlorida Bald Eagle nest of Samson and Gabby. For now, the rain has stopped although the weather forecast is calling for some more light rain before midnight.
Gabby has taken every opportunity to feed NE 26 and 27. Here are some images from three of those feedings. In each, both chicks had crops and were well fed. There is no cause to worry. Even with this storm, Gabby has all of this under control. While she is taking care of the babies, Samson has kept the pantry full and he is being diligent in his security duties. With all of the intruders at so many nests, Samson knows how important this is.
In the image below you can see that both have nice crops. Gabby does a real good job with these two. Any rivalry has been at the minimum even with the storms this nest has had. Great parents!
You can see the thermal down coming in below that soft natal down. There are very clear – it is all good.
Both will have nice crops after the feeding.
Oh, those are the sweetest little babies. I did worry about sibling rivalry between the two but it was so minimal. Gabby has good control and the chicks seem to be aware that both get fed and there is lots of food. Fingers crossed!
If you watch the Decorah North nest in Iowa, the first egg was laid last year on the 16th of February. Everyone is starting to watch and hope in Iowa!
Hope and Chandler at Port Tobacco Eagles have their first nest. It arrived at 16:11 today. Both parents were on the nest at the time.
This nest is in Port Tobacco, Maryland. The couple fledged two chicks in 2019 and two again in 2020. Two eggs laid last year on Feb 7 and 10th. No fledges. I will be checking closer at the history of this nest for you shortly.
Here is the link to the camera. There is no IR. There is a monitored chat during the day.
It has been a lonely day for our Ervie on the Port Lincoln Osprey barge. It is now mid-afternoon. This morning Ervie flew off the nest at 10:36:37.
Ervie is an excellent flyer. He will be away from the nest for 46 minutes. He returns at 11:22:05 soaking wet – I meant wet to the core. It was obvious to everyone watching that Ervie had been fishing. He had no crop but, never mind. He tried fishing again! The toadfish is still on the nest – a reminder of a successful attempt of a horrid fish that not even a pigeon wants to eat!
Here he is soaking wet.
Ervie has flown off the nest and returned a couple of times. Once I believe he flew down to the cave.
At 15:07:07 Dad delivers a fish to Ervie. Oh, thank you, Dad!
Ervie is so loud. They could probably hear him on the other side of the bay.
Ervie was absolutely raveous.
He has been moving backwards on the nest. I really hope he does not lose this fish before he finishes eating it.
This fish delivery brought much relief to streaming cam watchers! Dad is still there for Ervie. Ervie is so hungry he is not fish calling in the middle of the bites!!!!!! His silence and just flat out eating says a lot about Ervie’s level of hunger. Perhaps he will have some energy to maybe go and try fishing again today???
I couldn’t call it a night without checking on Ervie and the NEFlorida nest. Relief all the way around. If you are a Redding Eagle watcher, there appears to have been two incidents of intruders at that nest and a chase.
Intruders into well established nests seems to have been the them this year as breeding season progresses in various areas around the US. Hopefully this will stop at the Redding Nest because everyone is on egg watch and it is the time between now and the 12th of February that Liberty likes to lay her eggs.
That is it for Sunday the 6th of February. Take care everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: NEFlorida Bald Eagle Nest and the AEF and Port Lincoln Osprey Project.
I have to admit that I have been feeling rather sad for Ervie. He was so excited – and proud -to bring his catch to the nest. Then for it to turn out to be a toadfish, something that he cannot eat (or did not eat – he did eat the puffer fish!), had to be a real disappointment.
That fish remains on the nest and every once in awhile Ervie takes a look at it. You can see the fish to the right of Ervie. It also sticks to Ervie’s feet when he jumps around the nest trying to get a delivery from dad. I wonder why he doesn’t just shove it into the side of the nest?
Yesterday Dad brought in two fish meals for Ervie. Those times were 12:55:43 and 17:56:51.
Here is Dad delivering the first lunch for his lad.
Ervie is really lucky that Dad continues to feed him! Ervie reminds me of Izzi, the cutest peregrine falcon, at the scrape in Orange. Izzi did eventually leave the area but not until it was nearly time for his mother, Diamond, to lay her eggs for 2021. Some thought Izzi would have to stay and help take care for his siblings! It has happened in the UK.
It appears as long as there is a chick crying in the nest, no matter how big and old, Dad will continue to provide some food.
Ervie is really mantling his precious fish. He gives Dad a bit of a nudge to get him off the nest!
Dad is amazing. Ervie is really going to enjoy that fish.
Ervie slept in the nest last evening. I wish the camera could give us a view of the nest and Dad’s shed area. Is Dad not there? Is that why Ervie is sleeping on the nest? I have more questions than I will ever get answers.
In other Bird World News: Thunder has now laid her third egg at the West End Bald Eagle on Catalina nest with Akecheta. Bald Eagles Connie and Clive, realizing that their egg was not fertile, each helped bury it in the nest at Captiva. Today they are bringing in new soft materials covering the egg and the nest area. Does this mean they are going to attempt a second season?
There is a storm raging at the NEFlorida nest of Gabby and Samson. Gabby and the nest are almost at the point of being so deluged that she might not be able to keep the chicks dry. The other issue is that the temperature at the nest is 9 degrees C (49 F) and there is a wind advisory. Gusts up to 40 mph will ravage the area until Monday afternoon. The rain should stop by early evening. My heart goes out to Gabby.
Pa Berry has the nest stocked and while it is a little breezy, all seems well at the nest with Missy and little B15 at Mt Berry, Georgia.
Kincaid is growing and doing well. Louis doesn’t have quite the pile of fish he had on the nest. Thinking about those 10 fish and Coots reminds me. There was a question the other day and I am certain we have all thought about this. How well can Bald Eagles smell? That nest of Anna and Louis’s in the Kisatchie National Forest had to just reek.
Eagles have high temporal resolution – keen eyesight – and they rely more on their vision than smell. Turkey Vultures and others who rely on Carrion as a food source do have a developed sense of smell that helps them find their food. Eagles have functional olfactory glands meaning that they can smell but the numbers of those glands is relatively small in comparison to mammals. I will post a link to an article on Olfaction in Raptors at the end of this blog if you want to access it.
Kincaid is sitting up nice and straight. He is not yet walking around the nest but he sure manages to move relatively quickly, regardless. Anna keeps him full to the brim, normally!
There is an interesting story coming out of Alexandria, West Virginia Audubon Society about an Osprey that caught a crow. Have a read:
It is -18 with a bright sky on the Canadian Prairies. I am hoping to go out and check on some birds this afternoon for awhile. February is always the month for ‘cabin fever’ and this year is no exception! I do have some images of our dear Dyson yesterday in the garden. He is sure enjoying that hard suet cylinder!
He managed to share it with the European Starlings yesterday. Sometimes I see him chasing them about the Lilac Bushes hoping that he will get them to move so he can have some seed.
For some reason Dyson likes to eat this hard seed cylinder or sit in the open square feeder and eat just Black Oil Seed. I cannot get him interested in anything else.
Dyson becomes a bit like an acrobat hanging on to that small branch of the tree and the wires of the suet holder.
He sure does bring me a lot of joy!
Little Red was out yesterday, too. When the temperatures dropped from -32 to -15, the squirrels became much more active. It was nice to see them all! Reassuring.
Thank you so much for joining me. I hope that you are all well. Stay safe! See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screencaptures: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Berry College Bald Eagles, KNF Bald Eagles, and NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF.
Before I begin, I want to thank ‘A-M’ for alerting me that Ervie had caught a fish and brought it to the nest yesterday. I was not watching at the time and in my excitement to tell you, I forgot to thank her. My sincerest apologies. I always appreciate all of the news you send me, especially when I can only be in one place at a time! Thank you ‘A-M’.
Yes, Ervie caught a fish and brought it to the nest yesterday. It was magnificent and happened at 13:37:14. Ervie had to be so excited.
Ervie was so proud of his fish and rightly so. Indeed, he was so happy that he wasn’t paying full attention. And the fish was still alive. Yes…if you are thinking fluttering fish on nest, you have it. Ervie was a bit shocked when the fish started moving away and fell into a hole at the top right of the nest!
There is Ervie looking down that hole in amazement. It ate his fish!
Everyone had faith that Ervie, the chick who could dig out old fish tails from the nest, would be able to retrieve his fish ——- and he did!
Well done, Ervie. Today you gained some confidence and you learned a lesson – pin your fish down hard while you eat it!
The very curious thing is that Ervie, who was obviously hungry, did not gobble up his fish. He also walked around the nest like something distasteful was stuck to his foot. One of the knowledgable chatters suggested that it was a ‘toadfish’ and that maybe he didn’t like the taste of it.
So what is a toadfish? The Common Toadfish grows to approximately 15 cm or 6 inches in length. The fish is actually covered with some prickles which could account for why Ervie didn’t like it stuck to the pads on his feet. They are found along the coasts in shallow water and sometimes bury themselves in sand with only their eyes showing. The fish is toxic to humans who, if they consume the fish can die of respiratory failure. It carries the same neurotoxins in its tissue as the Blue-ringed Octopus or the Pufferfish. Those toxins are Tetrodotoxin.
I asked a biologist if this could harm the transfer of information from Ervie’s nerves to his muscles and they were unclear as to the impact. Perhaps the toxins do not harm the sea hawks like they do humans. Still, as my grandmother would say, it is a good thing Ervie did not like the taste of the fish and didn’t finish it just in case. Over time, Ervie will discover the fish that are good to eat and those that aren’t.
Dad watched his son closely. At 17:52, he brought Ervie a nice fish to eat. Thanks, Dad!
Dad has a nice crop. It looks like he made sure that the fish was dead by eating its head before delivering to our sweet boy.
Ervie has spent the night in Dad’s shed hanging on to Dad’s favourite blue rope sleeping.
Other Bird World News: The Ravens came to attack the nest of Jackie and Shadow. Shadow was not home. Jackie defended the nest of two eggs valiantly. This will not be thee last time they come. They know there are eggs in there and Jackie and Shadow are going to have to be vigilant! It is believed that E20 at the SWFlorida Bald Eagle nest of Harriet and M15 has officially started self-feeding. Jean-Marie Dupart has counted 220 Ospreys at the Langue de Barbarie Park in Senegal. This is a record! Ferris Akel will be hosting his birding tour of the area around Ithaca today starting around 1pm Eastern time. Go to YouTube and Search for Ferris Akel Tour Live. For those fans of E19 and E20, they are some of the feature wildlife that are in CROW’s 2022 calendar. The calendars are now 50% off. Here is the link to order: https://bit.ly/2022CROWCalendar There is no news on Bella at the NCTC nest. She has not returned to the nest since the last time she was seen injured on 1 February. The search party was not able to find her. The new female and Smitty have been exchanging fish on the nest. We are on egg watch for the Redding Eagles. Lots and lots happening. The poor weather seems to have moved out of the nest areas!
This is Pittsburgh-Hayes a few minutes ago. We are on egg watch there, too.
The sun is shining down and the snow is melting in Ithaca for Big Red and Arthur.
Not-so-little Kincaid has a big crop this morning at the Kisatchie National Forest Bald Eagle nest in Louisiana. The thermal down is coming in nicely and just look at those big feet! Oh, you are growing way too fast Kincaid.
It is a cloudy day on the Canadian Prairies. No snow warnings and it is now a balmy -15 C. Someone asked me how we stay warm. For the most part, the houses in Canada are well insulated with double or triple pane windows. Central Air is pretty standard. We pay very high heating bills (very high) in the winter even if our homes are insulated well and have great windows if the extreme cold weather lingers for several weeks. Smart persons really bundle up before going out in -35 degree weather. Coats, boots, ski pants all rated to -35 or -45 help tremendously along with gloves and toques (knit hats). I prefer the dry snow over the wet – that makes you cold to the bone!
Thank you so much for joining me today. Stay safe. I look forward to seeing you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Pix Cameras, Cornell Bird Labs, and the KNF Bald Eagle nest.
Where is Ervie? I cannot tell you. Yesterday he spent the day with Dad. Right around 17:25, Dad left the barge and flew out to fish.
Ervie moved up to the nest to receive the fish from Dad about a minute or so before he lands. Fabulous eyesight!
There’s Dad. The day before he brought Ervie 3 fish – yesterday, as far as I know, it was only one.
That was a nice fish and Ervie was still eating quite awhile later.
Ervie was still on the nest and had a nice crop as the sun was setting. The camera has tipped and at the time of my writing this blog, it was positioned so you could not see anything but part of the barge.
Ervie does not expend much energy sitting. That nice big fish would do him just fine – our home-body boy.
Just had to check. The Port Lincoln Nest is up and running and there were a few really good close ups of Ervie on the nest. He has flown off of it and I bet he is down in the cave with Dad.
The snow is really hitting the nests in PA and NY. Big Red and Arthur’s Red-tail hawk nest on the light stand of Cornell University has had a lot of snow. They were even in a snow fall warning area. That snow is due to taper off in the next hour. It is currently -7 C in Ithaca.
Yesterday I kept checking on Pittsburgh-Hays and US Steel Bald Eagle nests. They had lots of rain and now that has turned to snow.
It looks pretty peaceful at the US Steel Nest. One of the eagles is looking out over the territory.
We are still on egg watch for the Pittsburgh-Hays nest. No Eagles seem to be about.
In Hillsborough, New Jersey, the female at Duke Farms is incubating two eggs. It is rainy with some sleet.
In contrast, Missy and B15 are having a not so bad day!
The two eaglets at the Hilton Head Island Bald Eagle Cam are really changing. Those juvenile feathers are quickly coming in on top of that dark thermal down. Both had huge crops. It is not a great image. There is no re-wind on that camera and it is difficult to get good images. .
These two have changed so much since I last checked on them! They are also walking around – not completely steady but getting there. They are adorable. You can see that the one standing has many more dark feathers coming in than the smaller, younger eaglet being a duckling.
Speaking of growing, NE26 and NE27 are changing. Look closely and you will see that they are no longer round fluffy balls. Enjoy them while you can!!!!!!!
Gabby and Samson are both experts at feeding the babes. A bite for you and one for you. Things have been very civil on this nest and the pnatry is kept full. Devoted parents. And the weather is grand. It is 27 C in Jacksonville, so warm on the nest. Quite a contrast with Ithaca, NY!
I decided to check into a few of the nests without eggs. There was snow on the Denton Homes nest in Iowa.
There is still snow on the nest at Decorah Eagles also. Iowa has been hit with a lot of storms this year. Thankfully, it is not time to be thinking about eggs on these nests – not just yet. Soon enough.
The male Bald Eagle is on the Dulles Greenway Nest at the moment. They are anticipating the second egg will be laid there today. We are now over the 72 hour mark from the laying of the first egg. The weather looks good.
Here is the link to this Bald Eagle streaming cam in case it is not on your list.
The Bald Eagle community is saddened by the continuing deaths of the eagles by lead ammunition. Lead ammo is outlawed for waterfowl why not just outlawed? Those that keep track of Bald Eagle numbers anticipate a drop because of the large number of deaths. The hunters could take the entire carcass with them and dispose of it instead of leaving the innards with all the lead shot in the woods. Or they could by all of the various non-lead ammunition. What humans do not realize is that the lead actually gets absorbed through their skin by handling the bullets and the lead expended at sport shooting ranges gets absorbed into the ground – the spent ammo is, apparently, never cleaned up!
Raptors are also dying because there are people who actually shoot them. Someone just shot and killed a Bald Eagle in Iowa. Here is the notice on the Bald Eagles Live FB Page:
I want to leave you with something a little more light-hearted. Can you figure out where Grinnell is and what he is doing? That is Annie on the ledge.
It is a bright sunny cold -27 C day on the Canadian Prairies. I am happy to report that for some reason the Starlings were away from the garden for quite awhile. They have just returned but this gave the Sparrows and the Chickadees a chance to feed in peace. Oh, and yes. Dyson. Dyson was complaining that the large suet cylinder needed replacing. I must go and do that right away! I hope to get some good images of him and the other birds this weekend.
Thank you so much for joining me. Take care everyone! See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams or FB pages where I took my screen captures: Explore.org, Pix Cameras, NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF, Port Lincoln Osprey Project, Berry College, Hilton Head Island Bald Eagles, Dulles Greenway, Duke Farms, Cornell Bird Labs, and Bald Eagles Live Nest FB.
You guessed it! Yes, he is still down in the cave with Dad. He has been there for several days, sometimes flitting back and forth to the nest. Will Dad feed him again today? Dad brought him three fish yesterday!
One thing I noticed was how interesting Dad’s plumage is. We never get to see him other than flying in quickly with a food delivery and out as quick as he can to save his talons. His feathers are gorgeous.
Ervie and Dad seem to be enjoying one another’s company immensely. Maybe this is the first time that Dad has had a chance to spend time with one of his children.
They move a little. Both flew off this morning as if an intruder was in the area. I was told that there are some Cormorants nearby. Wondering where Mum is? She was last seen on camera on 22 January. I suspect she is over on the Old Barge and letting the boys have the nest barge for male bonding. Smart.
Ervie is fine. He is decidedly a home body.
Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope you are all very well. Stay safe. See you soon. My Friday newsletter may be late. I am hoping to get out and get more birdseed before more snow arrives!
Thank you to the Port Lincoln Osprey Project for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures of Ervie and Dad today.
Just about the time I begin to think, and then say, that it looks like the parents at the Port Lincoln Osprey barge are slowing down with fish deliveries, they bring two nice sized fish to Ervie. There was a huge chunk at 07:34 and another nice fish arrived at 15:20. Ervie didn’t actually start eating it until 16:25. Ervie was the only lad about. Bazza was last seen on Sunday the 9th and Falky was last seen on the ropes with Mum and Dad at 19:40 on the 12th. Will Ervie stay or go?
Ervie is still full from the morning fish when the afternoon delivery arrives.
Ervie is still eating at 17:34! My goodness those were nice fish brought to the nest. Ervie finished off his fish and flew off the left side of the nest.
Will that be our last sighting of Ervie on the nest? No one slept on the barge last night. We wait.
Missy has been feeding the little one on the Berry College Eagle Nest. It appears to be doing fine. Everyone is watching for the second egg. Sadly that broken shell has really attached itself to that egg.
I believe this is Missy’s first eaglet to survive. She is figuring feedings out!
B15 is getting stronger. You can see the issue with the second egg clearly here. I cannot tell if the extra piece of shell is over the narrow or wide part of the egg. The eaglets pip on the wider end. Pip watch coming for that second egg.
The nest is empty this morning at Big Bear, California but everyone is on egg watch for Shadow and Jackie.
Anna let Louis brood the chick this morning! Last year she waited a long time and Lous is delighted to be involved with his chick. Both Anna and Louis have been on the KNF nest this morning and the eaglet is eating well. Lots of nice fish for everyone on that nest!
There seem to be two words used for Harriet and M15’s E19 and E20. They are ‘nice’ and ‘cute’. Look at the feathers coming on E19 and E20 and then look at Anna’s baby above. They change so quickly!
This is a great little film about the Kakapo. Since it is breeding season and we are looking at eggs, it seems like a good time to refresh what we know about this very endangered non-flying parrot and how they are cared for. The update on the numbers is that there are now 202 Kakapo down from 208 the beginning of last year.
Daisy the Duck has not returned to the White-Bellied Sea Eagle Nest to lay eggs since she visited with her mate on 1 January. That was two-weeks ago. Fingers crossed she has found another spot and is successful. One of the women who visits the centre was to send us images of Daisy paddling but nothing so far. Maybe Daisy is away from the area of water around the Discovery Centre and the Duck Pond.
Great Horned Owls have been mating on the Savannah Osprey Nest and the GHOWs have been mating on the nest that was stolen from a young Bald Eagle couple in Newton, Kansas last year. The couple who became known as Bonnie and Clyde raised two of the cutest little owlets on this nest. When the eggs are laid, I will definitely let you know.
For the most part the Owls and the Eagles live cooperatively but I really don’t like the owls when they try to knock the eagles off or hurt their eyes and heads as at the WBSE Nest by the small BooBook Owls and at SWFlorida when it is a GHOW hitting M15 and knocking him off the branch into the nest, sometimes.
One thing I did not know is that there are no Great Horned Owls near the WRDC Bald Eagle Nest in Miami-Dade County. The Coot delivered yesterday, the second one to arrive as prey on the nest, is gone! They seem to love the taste of that waterfowl. My eagle expert tells me that the WRDC are thinking about putting up more nests like this one for the eagles. Fantastic. It seems to be a really good design and they can work out any kinks watching this nest.
R1 ate well and now Dad is making sure that R2 is full to the brim. Ron, you are a great Dad! You can see R1 passed out in a food coma and Ron has even moved across the nest to feed the youngest sibling. Fantastic.
Today is Day 40 for the eggs at Captiva Bald Eagle Nest on Sanibel, Island. It is the home of Connie and her new mate, Clive. There is some chatter that the eggs might not be fertile. Let’s wait and see.
I haven’t seen any of Ervie’s tracking uploaded since 26 December. I will be checking on the PLO nest during the rest of the day to see if anyone returns to the barge at Port Lincoln. That wing of his could be our last sighting of the Erv until people along the coast send in images of him. There appears to be a huge interest ‘and caring’ for the Osprey in the region. That really helps!
Take care everyone. Have a great end to your week. Thank you for joining me. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, SWFlorida Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, Berry College Eagle Cam, KNF Bald Eagles, Friends of Big Bear, Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Forest, Captiva Bald Eagles, Farmer Derek Owl Cam, and the WRDC Bald Eagle Nest.
How many times have I said that watching the Port Lincoln Osprey lads are better than anything streaming on the telly? From hatch to today, they have not disappointed.
To recap. Bazza, the eldest, has not been seen since 9 January – 2 days ago. It could mean many things. Bazza could be off camera on the nest barge. He could be over on the old barge with Mum. He could be somewhere near to the nest barge OR Bazza could have left to find his own territory. It is interesting to note that Mum has not been seen since yesterday morning and Bazza could be with her. I did often call him ‘Mama’s Boy’. Yesterday, Falky, the middle hatch, caught what I believe is the only fish by a juvenile on camera at the nest. That was just fabulous. He was brilliant. As one of the watchers noted ‘JL’, to celebrate Falky flew a victory lap around the barge! I suspect Falky was so proud of that fish he caught he wanted everyone to see including Mum and Dad!
Ervie was ‘prime time Erv’ today. He might have been on the nest for several days and not moving too much but, there is nothing wrong with his flying and his attitude. Twice this morning Ervie engaged with Falky in what can only be described as ‘aerial dog fights’ just like you might have seen in movies or airshows about World War II. It was Ace Pilot Ervie at his best.
There are two main events with an intermission.
As you can see I cut out some of the time in between. In those minutes, you could see the shadows of the two going over the barge but, you could not see them. When they landed, before Ervie took after Falky again, they had both arrived wet so somewhere the pair of them went into the water. Good gracious. Is this really boys playing? or is this dominant Ervie deciding he wants the nest and barge all to himself?
That attitude of the third hatch wanting to take over the nest completely as the dominant bird has been seen elsewhere. Tiny Tot Tumbles at the Achieva Nest returned and even fought off adult interlopers. I clearly think that Ervie would do the same if that same instance happened.
I wonder. Will Ervie return to this barge and want it for his nest in a few years time? Only time will tell. So glad that he has a tracker on.
Ervie is not behaving like Falky is on the barge. When he sees someone he fish calls but he doesn’t appear to be willing to give up that nest to go out fishing independently – yet – since his return from his long flight a few days ago.
Here is the link to the Port Lincoln streaming cam.
I was going to bring you a report on the lack of streaming cams for raptors in Japan today but this will be delayed by a few days. I have not had time, sadly, today, to put all the strings together.
I have also not seen any news of any pips although Anna at the Kisatchie National Forest Nest looks like she is expecting something. She has been rolling the eggs and try as we might it is difficult. There is a mark on the egg but I think it is vegetation and not a pip. Perhaps later this evening.
The first egg at Berry College Eagle nest of Pa Berry and Missey is 35 days old today.
Gabby and Samson have been listening to the egg and rolling. They are getting really close to a pip watch.
R2 and R3 continue to do really well over at the WRDC Bald Eagle Nest in Miami-Dade country. Rita removed the Coot that had been on the nest and had a big meal herself. You can ‘sort of’ see the nice crop she has. The kids are well fed, no worries!
It is a wrap for today. We will wait together for those pips at Captiva, KNF, Berry College, and NEFlorida Bald Eagle nests!!!!!! Waiting is hard.
Thank you for joining me. I am delighted to have you here with me. Take care. See you soon.
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures and my video clips: Port Lincoln Osprey Project, KNF Bald Eagle Cam, Berry College Bald Eagle Cam, NEFlorida Bald Eagles and the AEF, and the WRDC Eagle Cam.
Anyone watching the Port Lincoln Osprey Barge has felt that all three of the lads have been out fishing elsewhere. To date, as far as I know, none of the brothers – Bazza, Falky, or Ervie – have caught their own fish on camera.
Bazza has not been seen on camera today. Ervie picked up the 06:28 fish and the 10:41 fish. Falky flew over and tried to take that one from Ervie but he failed.
Falky takes off from the ropes when Dad delivers the fish to Ervie on the nest.
You can see Falky on the upper left above the nest.
Dad had better get out of the way. Falky is hungry!
Ervie secures the fish by moving it over to the rim of the nest in his beak.
At 11:30:00 Falky is watching the water closely. Have a look at what happens!
Oh, Falky was hungry and he was really enjoying that fish he caught.
I have never seen a juvenile fledgling catch their fish, not this young. This is a rare glimpse into their lives as they adjust to becoming independent. Each of them might have caught a fish off camera but this was quite incredible today.
I am hoping that Falky and Ervie will set up a fishing competition! At this very moment, Falky is on the perch looking for another fish.
That was just marvellous. Earlier in the morning a dolphin jumped close to the barge.
Another fish was delivered at 14:15:46. Here comes Dad with it to the nest. Falky sees it. Ervie wants it.
Here comes Falky!
Too late. Ervie gets it!
It has simply been a super morning on the Port Lincoln Osprey barge in Australia. There is more news in Bird World but it can all wait til tomorrow. This is to be relished. It is rare to see a juvenile catch a fish. Enjoy it – and it alone.
Thank you for joining me. Take care. Stay safe. See you soon.
Thank you to Port Lincoln Osprey Project for their streaming cam where I took my screen shots and my video clips.
