Tag Archives: Bazza flies

Captiva Ospreys have their first egg and other Bird World News

Calling all Osprey fans. We have lift off. The new couple at the Captiva Osprey Nest have their first egg. Meet Lena and Andy 2. (The previous pair were also Andy and Lena).

Lena 2 laid her first egg at 10:04:08. From her actions, it appears that she could be a first time Mum from her reactions to the egg. She was very cautious which is a good thing and seemed a bit unsure about incubation at first.

Just imagine laying an egg for the first time!

The wind was really blowing. The weather station says it is 18 kph but, the gusts have to be much more than that. I have to remember that the breeze would feel good in southern Florida where the nighttime temperature is currently 24 C.

There is our proud Mum. Isn’t she lovely?

Oops. A big gust caught Lena when she was trying to incubate the egg and almost sent her flying off the nest.

Hang on, Lena!

Ahhh, nice and settled.

The nest is on the same property as the Captiva Bald Eagle nest. The land is owned by a Canadian, Lori Covert.

The first Andy and Lena laid eggs on this nest before. Sadly, the Corvids in the area come to the Osprey nests once the chicks hatch and eat them. As a result, Andy and Lena 1 did not fledge any chicks.

There is currently a discussion about having a poll to see if watchers want the cam left on if the eggs do hatch or have it turned off so that if the Crows come, we do not see what happens. The ultimate decision is, however, with the land owner.

This couple arrived early and laid their egg a month ahead of most. Hopefully that will help them with the Crows as well as any issues with the red tide that can occur in this area. Currently there is no red tide. If you would like to know the impact of the red tide, here is some very good information:

https://www.mysanibel.com/Departments/Natural-Resources/Protecting-Our-Water-Quality/Sanibel-H2O-Matters/Red-Tide-Information

Oh, let’s send this young couple positive wishes. You can watch Andy and Lena 2 here:

My intention was to report -again- on the Port Lincoln lads but it was so exciting to check on this nest first and find an egg had just been laid. Oh, I sure hope they do well.

It is quite clear from happenings on the Port Lincoln Barge why Ervie and Falky don’t have enduring brotherly love for Bazza. But, before I begin, this morning both Ervie and Falky had fish delivered which they ate on camera. Ervie got the first fish from Mum at 07:08 and Falky got a fishy shortly after from Dad at 07:23:25. When I went back to look at Bazza he had a nice crop so he has eaten off camera. I expect that one of the parents made a delivery to him but, it is possible Bazza was fishing and caught it himself.

In the image below, Bazza is on the bottom right perched on the yellow and black ropes. You can see he has a crop. It looks nice and full to me.

A few minutes earlier an incident between Bazza and Falky occurred. Please watch carefully as Bazza attacks Falky shoving him into the water. You will see Falky floating in the water below the ropes. Falky will make three attempts to get out of the water.

Falky kept his cool and did not panic. He managed the situation really well. That said, it is possible that Falky might have drown. I know that I have been watching the dust ups between the three brothers but there are instances when it can go very badly. It was such a relief to see Falky flying free of the water.

Ervie remained on the nest all day. Mum delivered a small fish to him at 15:29:44. Port Lincoln provided some really nice close ups of Ervie.

He’s a lovely juvenile.

There is a rare Stellar’s Sea Eagle that is making its way South. It was up around the Atlantic coast of Canada not that long ago and bird watchers, especially those working on Life Lists were ever so excited!

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2022/01/07/stellers-sea-eagle-maine-boothbay-harbor/?fbclid=IwAR2j9R5vZTrVaT46gMvLavzwKgUupiHysJMAoJDsUWnmYbKbVuRZrNSYsN0

I want to leave you with a smile on your face. Have you seen anything cuter today than Harriet and M15’s babies, E19 and E20? It is getting much more difficult to tell them apart! They are adorable with their clown feet and big wings. They both have crops and enjoyed the ‘mystery’ meal that Dad brought in.

We could have pips Sunday morning from Captiva and the KNF Nest. Stay posted. We are also monitoring Berry College. So much going on.

Right now there is snow falling on Missey at Barry College. My goodness she just survived a hail storm and incredible winds. Now snow.

Take care everyone. See you soon! Thank you so much for joining me today.

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen shots: Window to Wildlife Osprey Cam, Berry College Bald Eagle Cam, SWFlorida Bald Eagle Cam and D Pritchett, and Port Lincoln Osprey Project.

A Perfect day in Bird World. 2 fledges and a discovery

What a day it has been. Yurruga fledged from the scrape box in Orange, Australia and is doing well. Will she come back to the scrape box? Maybe she will put in an appearance, maybe not.

Bazza has been down on the deck twice and has flown to the nest. I must admit I thought flying over the nest counted as flying but apparently it isn’t quite for some. So today, at 09:25:45, Bazza flew.

Ervie has been cleaning up on the fish. Falkey is looking at the fish and Bazza is over in the left hand bottom corner.

That really is a nice fish Ervie has and, unlike yesterday, he is eating first thing.

Bazza spreads his wings.

So it is an ‘official’ fledge.

There are boots on the ground and probably out in boats looking for him. He had to land somewhere!

Whew. Bazza landed back on the nest at 10:24:48. You could see the family looking and chirping. And guess what? He even got to eat a nice big piece of fish that Ervie left on the nest. Fantastic.

Even Mum and Dad are looking up.

Last but not least, Cornell Bird Lab posted an image of Big Red and Arthur taken by Boggette at BeeBee Lake. BR had not been seen since 16 October. They were together on a tree obviously fed up with the construction noise on Campus. They are alive. BR has been located. That is all that matters.

It just cannot get any better. Congratulations again to the Port Lincoln crew on a historic moment. First time all hatched and all fledged from this nest. Incredible. I am positively giddy.

Thank you for joining me. Take care. See you soon.

Thank you to the Port Lincoln Osprey Project for their streaming cam where I took my screen shots.

Bazza was brilliant!

Shortly around 14:00, Bazza, the only osplet yet to fledge, and Ervie, the first to fledge when he was 60 days old, got into an extraordinary fight. It was not friendly banter. The incident had been provoked by the expectation that a fish would be landing on the nest. Fawlkey and Ervie got into a wing battle but, somehow, Bazza who had tried to stay out of the feud, found himself upside down under Ervie. The pair fell off the nest. It could have been tragic – and a repeat of history on the nest. In 2017, Nurrin tossed Stevie (65 days old) off the nest and into the water. Stevie was taken into care but died. So there was nothing humorous about the scuffle. Ervie flew away and Bazza found himself in Dad’s man cave.

And then something remarkable happened. Mum was on the nest feeding some of the fish that Falkey claimed to Ervie. Bazza was hungry. Hunger is a great motivator. It took Calypso, the 2019 fledgling, two days to figure out how to get out of the man cave by flying to the ropes. Well, it only took Bazza 2 hours and 2 minutes!

So on the 19th of November at the age of 65 days, Bazza fledged! It was 16:10:09. He might not have planned it but it was a remarkable moment.

There is Bazza in the Dad’s man cave. Mum is up in the nest feeding Ervie.

Hunger does marvellous things and, in this case, it propelled Bazza into flying. He calculated so well reaching the ropes without a problem. People had been saying that it would be difficult to get the lift to go straight to the nest so the proper way was to the ropes and over. Well done, Bazza. You figured that out quickly.

Bazza wanted some of the fish. Look at the shocked look on Ervie’s face when Bazza does a bit of a crash landing into Mum.

I looked several times and I could not see Bazza getting any fish. I think Mum was finished by the time he made it to the nest.

Bazza will have a real chance at the next fish. Falkey is super full and Ervie has eaten twice. Fingers crossed. Our newest fledgling deserves it!

Congratulations to the Port Lincoln Osprey Project and to Mum and Dad. It has been a fabulous year and this was a historic moment. At the moment Bazza flew to the ropes, then to the perch, and did a fly around before landing on the nest, it was the first time that this couple and this nest had three fledges. Every chick that hatched has now flown. What a terrific feeling. As rowdy as it may get in the next few days, nothing can take that away.

Thank you for joining me. I wanted you to know first thing!

Thank you to the Port Lincoln Osprey Project’s streaming cam where I took my screen captures.