Tag Archives: Bald Eagle

The Daisy Chronicles, Day 19 late-20

It is after lunch in Sydney, Australia and Daisy is fast asleep incubating her eggs. The morning has been quiet.

Daisy has 8 eggs in her clutch that she has been hard incubating. Daisy laid egg 1 on 3 December nest time. The 8th egg was laid on 10 December. She began hard incubation on 10 December if not December 9. Today is 22 December – the summer solstice – for Daisy. Daisy has been incubating her eggs for 13 days. Hatch will be 3-6 of January in Australia should the eggs survive.

Daisy really had a quiet afternoon. I could see nothing happening. The cam operator checked several times to see if the WBSE were at the River Roost but they were not.

As I remind everyone, there is no reason to believe they would do anything to Daisy from their behaviour last year which was curiosity about the down and Dad going into territorial protection wanting to catch who was using his nest. He was mesmerized by the eggs and at one time everyone thought he might incubate them. It was like he went into some kind of a ‘trance’ — seeing eggs in that place immediately reminded him of Lady’s eggs. It was quite interesting behaviour. He finally broke one but he did not like the taste. I am hoping that he remembers that if he scares Daisy off the eggs again this year.

Throughout the afternoon, Daisy kept gathering up leaves that she could see. She would stretch her long neck and pick them out from under the twigs. You could hardly see her on the nest when the shadows crossed over where the egg cup is located.

Every once in awhile she would see a piece of a leaf and pull it towards her using her bill as a kind of shovel.

Daisy began to cover the eggs around 18:03.

Daisy flies off the nest at 18:03:18 for her evening meal content that her eggs are covered enough to keep predator’s eyes away from them.

It is almost precisely two hours before sunset. Daisy is taking a chance that the Ravens will not come this time of the evening! On the other hand, the Sea Eagles might and that would be a good thing if she were not on the nest. Remember Lady was chased by the Currawong and was so busy watching them so they would not hit her head that she landed on the nest, honked a few times and flew off – she didn’t even look at the nest bowl and see the down. Oh, Daisy is lucky.

Daisy returned at 20:25:39.

It was – what appears to be – a relatively quiet day and evening for Daisy.

I was surprised, however, when Daisy prepared to leave the nest at 02:56:25. I say surprised because of the visit by the Bushtail Possum in the wee hours of the morning before.

I was even more surprised when Daisy walked straight forward, instead of taking the right turn she normally takes, to fly off. It then occurred to me that Daisy might begin to check places to leave the nest for the ducklings to follow. Could this be why?

She flew off the parent branch. Maybe it is a cleaner drop? If you look at the side she normally flies from there is a large piece of the nest with all its bits and pieces of twigs and branches extending out that the little ones might get caught in.

Sunrise is at 05:41.

Daisy returns from her foraging at 07:05:08.

The solstice is upon us. It is ‘winter’ in the Northern Hemisphere and ‘summer’ for Daisy in the Southern. It is the longest ‘dark’ day for us or the longest ‘light’ day for Daisy. In Canada, we look for the light that each day stays with us a little longer. The word Solstice comes from the Latin meaning the time when the ‘sun stood still’. Today, the sun is at its most southern position from Earth. It seems to stop and stand still at the Tropic of Capricorn only to then reverse its direction. It is a turning point in the seasons. It is a symbol of the Earth’s rebirth.

Wishing the rebirth of the sun to fill your lives, your home, your garden, and your heart with warmth and happiness…. Happy Winter Solstice to each of you. And to Daisy, our most favourite adorable duck, Happy Summer Solstice. We wish you an uneventful, boring day.

Take care everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I will continue to monitor Daisy throughout the day with a brief posting later today on the day’s events. Take care. See you soon!

Note: Congratulations to Samson and Gabby on their second egg which was laid yesterday at the NE Florida Bald Eagle Nest.

Thank you to the Sea Eagles @Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park for their streaming cam where I took my screen shots.

Monday in Ospreyland

How does Osprey fishing differ from Bald Eagle fishing? The National Eagle centre answered the question this way:


“Bald Eagles and ospreys are both raptors (keen eyesight, curved beaks, and powerful talons), and are both primarily fish-eaters, but the technique they use to catch fish is quite different… and that difference directly influences their relationship to each other. Bald Eagles catch fish that are just under the surface of the water by dipping their feet into the water. Their success rate is about 30%. Ospreys, on the other hand, are built to plunge feet first into the water about 1-2 feet, grab the fish with their talons, and then shoot back out of the water and fly to a perch, something a Bald Eagle cannot do. Thus, their success rate is around 70%! Because ospreys (aka “fish hawks” and “sea hawks”) enjoy a much higher rate of success, Bald Eagles in the same area as ospreys will often perch, watch, and wait for an osprey to make a catch. Then they swoop into action and chase it in an attempt to get the osprey to drop the fish allowing the Eagle to scoop it up. In fact, one of the murals in the National Eagle Center features a depiction of two eagles chasing an osprey with a fish! As a result, areas with larger populations of Bald Eagles tend to have smaller populations of osprey, and vice versa.” The author also added a fun fact about Ospreys: “When they catch a fish, they orient the fish in their talons so that the head faces forward because it is more aerodynamic in flight! .”

“Eagle Fish 2018” by The Back Road Photographer is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
“Osprey Fishing” by TomJByrne is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

As the birds migrate from the north of Europe and the UK, many fly through areas where hunting is banned but there are legal loopholes. Did you know that it is estimated 11 million birds are illegally shot each year? Here is a good article on this.

In Malta, legal loopholes give poachers cover to hunt migratory birds

The sad news of the demise of a ringed (tan with number) Finnish Osprey killed has rocked everyone. The poachers displayed the bird as a trophy as it was dying on social media. I refuse to show those images – they made me ill but I urge everyone – wherever you are – to step up and try and protect these amazing creatures. Each of us can play a part to protect the birds whether it is lobbying to get rid of lead in hunting and fishing gear, having cities turn off their lights during migration season, working to ban rodenticide and sticky traps, or making others aware not to feed the birds bread but good food (wild birdseed, grapes, hardboiled eggs, etc). Feeding birds and providing water is right up there, too. Do what you can to help no matter how small or large.

Poor Mum at the Port Lincoln Osprey nest. It is the middle of the night and she is trying to get some sleep. She got up to stretch her legs and the chicks immediately thought “fish!”

Maybe they are trying out for the local choir?

Where is the third one? Behaving itself!

I wish it were not so hilarious. I cannot even imagine having three wiggly bodies under me never mind incubating four eggs like the peregrine falcons in Melbourne. They had a joke on their FB posting the other day that it felt like sitting on four footballs. Poor Mum and Dad.

It is election day in Canada. The sky is cloudy, the leaves are beautiful, and I think we will go for a walk and do our civic duty. Take care everyone. I will have a full report on Port Lincoln tonight. Thanks so much for dropping by.

Thanks to the Port Lincoln Streaming Cam where I took the screen shots today.